Reflections of the Father - Part 3: The Father's Proclamation

This is part 3 of a 3 part series by John Clark.
Pt 1, The Father's Pain
Pt 2, The Father's Patience

In this third and final part of this series, I want us to see the reunion that caused the father to proclaim a celebration, and what had to take place in order for us to be reunited with our Father.

As you read in Luke 15:20-24, you can imagine that once again the parable takes a shocking turn.

The people listening to this, especially the men, would have been appalled at the behavior of the father.  Men simply did not run in that culture – unless they were in a life- threatening situation such as battle, or to escape being eaten or killed. Running for fun or emotional reasons was considered juvenile and undignified. Proper men, especially the head of the household, never would have run around all willy-nilly in public. The father continued his culturally inappropriate behavior with the gifts he gave. The best robe and the ring were a symbol of full reinstatement into the family. The logical approach to this development was actually presented by the returning son. His plea to be like a hired servant would have been more socially acceptable. This was not a request to be a household servant. The term "hired servant" would be something akin to hiring a contractor or service personnel that would come the house, get paid to do a particular service and leave. The son was asking his dad to hire him for work to pay off his debt. Surprisingly, all was forgiven and he was proclaimed to be a son once again. The father throws a party to proclaim to all around that the lost son had returned.

In a similar manner, but on an unimaginably grander scale, the heavenly Father proclaims those who return to Him as His own children. In John 1:12 we read that as we receive Him we are given the right to become children of God. Like the returning wayward son, we have no right to claim sonship. We graciously receive this gift solely on the merit of God’s love for us (John 3:16, Rom. 5:8). The Father is just as earnest in rejoicing over our return as He endeavors to bring us to Himself (Luke 15:7). In a spiritual sense, this is similar to the proclamation of the Father at Jesus’ baptism when He audibly proclaims, “You are my beloved son; in You I am well pleased!” There is a heavenly party as it were when one of His children is returned from the land of wrath and condemnation. We are ushered into the honorable position of joint heir with God the Son, Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:17). 

We cannot earn God's mercy, forgiveness and favor by any means on earth; it is only by His grace that we receive His gift of righteousness.

 So in conclusion, I would like for all of us to know that just as the father’s response to the actions of both sons would have received shock and dismay from Jesus’ audience, the world today doesn’t understand the grace and forgiveness shown to those who repent and receive God’s free, substitutionary gift of eternal life.  Yet God has no reservations about extending His forgiving mercy to those of us who sincerely come into our right minds and receive His gift of righteousness (Phil. 3:8, 9). Most people from the Old Testament times until today are still mentally entrenched in the law of reaping what you sow; if you are nice and good, God and others will be nice to you. The problem with this is that absolutely no one is nice or good enough. Either we are expecting judgement, indebtedness and condemnation like the younger son, or we believe we deserve the blessings and honorable position that we think our hard work has earned us like the older son. We cannot earn God's mercy, forgiveness and favor by any means on earth; it is only by His grace that we receive His gift of righteousness (Eph. 2:8, 9). To bring this point out in a different light, let’s carry the parable in a different direction. What if the father had agreed to the younger son’s request and hired him to work off his debt. I could imagine some time later you could hear the son talk about it this way, “Man, I’m so happy that my dad let me work off my debt. I didn’t think he would let me back in to the family. It sure took a long time and a lot of hard work, but I finally repaid my debt and now we are actually getting to know each other again.” His acceptance back into the family would have been based his efforts, which would have been socially acceptable. The older son could have boasted about how his years of hard work earned him a prominent place in the family and community. This is of course completely opposite to the operation of God’s kingdom. God was, is, and will always be the only one who could pay the debt of sin that we incurred. We need only to believe and accept the gift of His payment for our judgement and we receive His righteousness and eternal life. Our Father has endured the pain our rebelliousness has caused. He has endured the heartache we have inflicted upon Him as we labor and strive to earn His love and acceptance while we refuse to accept His free gifts, which ironically are the very things we are striving to earn on our own merits. He is patiently and consistently drawing us back to Himself, eagerly on the lookout for our return. When we do repent and turn back to Him, when we repent and give up trying to earn what He is offering us freely, the Father proudly and exuberantly proclaims that His lost ones have returned to the family.

John Clark

John Clark is a husband to Julie, a father of one son living in Valrico, Florida. He has an Associate Degree of Theology from Life Christian University, and serves at Life Center of Brandon where he is a teacher and writer.