Not Into Temptation | God Is Gracious

The parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15 reveals the remarkable grace of God. Asking for his inheritance was tantamount to the younger brother saying to his father, “I wish you were dead.” Selling off that inheritance was shameful because it meant losing the family’s land. Moving to another city was a rejection of his family. And we haven’t even got to the wild living yet! Feeding pigs was as low as you could go for a good Jew, because pigs were unclean. And as for wanting to eat their food . . . ! This son is a picture of you and me. We’ve wished
God dead, rejected his love, moved as far from God as we can. We’ve tried to break free from love and ended up in the pigsty, longing to be satisfied with rubbish.

But the gracious behavior of the father is even more shocking. This would have left Jesus’ hearers gasping. If a son asked his father for his inheritance while the father was still alive, he would be disinherited. If a son tried to break free of his father’s rule, he’d be beaten. If a son left home to indulge in wild living, he’d be disowned. But this father runs to meet his returning son. He doesn’t wait for his son to honor him. He honors the son with a robe, a ring, and a party. This is our God— embracing, welcoming, and honoring us.

I used to think that when I let God down I would probably have a bad day or my prayers would go unanswered. I assumed God would act in the way I act when people let me down, giving them the cold shoulder. Or I thought I could atone by having a miserable day or sweating it out in prayer, as if the death of Jesus didn’t quite do the job. And so we stand at a distance from God. And all the time he’s looking for us, ready to embrace us, ready to welcome us home. Indeed, as the other parables of Luke 15 remind us, he takes the initiative to bring us home. If the story of the younger brother reveals God’s grace, in the older son we see many characteristics of not truly believing God is gracious.