Week 6: The Love of God--Part II

God's Love for His Children

Last week, we looked at God's love for the lost. All of us were lost at one time, but for those who have chosen to accept God's free gift of salvation, we receive the right to be called one of his children, and the inheritance that comes with it--eternal life. This week, we look again to the parable of the lost son and examine God's love for us as believers:

Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate. (Luke 15:11-24)

Can you picture the scene? The lost son has returned and the father has given orders to prepare a feast. What a time of joy and happiness for the father and his lost son! But the parable doesn't end here:

"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' "The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' "'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'" (Luke 15:25-32)

This latter part of the parable may seem a bit confusing. While we admire and are awed by the love of the father, it's not hard to understand the older son's perspective either. Were any of us in the same situation, we might well feel the same way. So what's really going on here? To make sense of it all, it's important to first understand the context of the passage. Jesus spoke the three parables we have been studying in response to the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who were criticizing him for associating with tax collectors and "sinners" (Luke 15:2). In studying the parable of the lost sheep, lost coin, and the lost son we learned of God's amazing love for those who are spiritually lost. But here we see something new.

The older son was angry with his father because of the inequity he perceived between the way the father treated him and the way the father treated his brother. He complains bitterly over how faithfully he had served his father for seemingly no reward. From the older son's perspective, it was he who deserved the great celebration that was being held. But instead, this "righteous" son discovers the party is for his brother who had abandoned the family in order to squander his inheritance on a life of depravity. When the Pharisees and teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them," (v.2) they were voicing the same complaint as the older son in the parable. In their own minds, they had served God faithfully--unlike the "sinners" and tax collectors. How then could Jesus feast with such blatant sinners and not with them? Where was the reward for all their good deeds? And more importantly, where was the punishment for those who had squandered their lives in sin? Jesus answers these questions through the words of the father in the parable when he responds to the older son's protest:

"'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'" (Luke 15:31-32)

The older son found himself alone and frustrated because he failed to share in the love of the father for his lost son. Like the Pharisees and teachers of the law, the older son was "always with" the father. Though they both considered themselves to be righteous, both somehow failed to understand the father's love for the lost. The father didn't love the older son any less than the younger. It was the older son who loved his brother less. Just as the Pharisees and teachers of the law loved the tax collectors and "sinners" less.

It's interesting to note the father's words to the older son when he tells him, "everything I have is yours." The implication is that the older son could have celebrated with his friends any time he wanted to. I'm not sure what to make of this. Perhaps the older son was so preoccupied with working hard and not disobeying his father that he lost touch of the freedoms that were his. Or perhaps this was simply the father's way of conveying that he didn't love his older son any less and had more than one "fattened calf" to give. In any event, the point it would seem is that God loves his children, whether lost or not. For our part, when we fail to share in God's love for the lost, we show ourselves to be out of touch with the Father we claim to know and love. God loves us greatly, but his love is not exclusive to us. I can't help but think of how different the story of the prodigal son might have been had the older son truly understood the love of the father, both for him and his brother. Perhaps if he had, this older brother might have gone away in search of his younger sibling with the hopes of finding him before it was too late. Perhaps the older brother could have reasoned with his brother and reminded him of his father's love and compassion. How joyful for the father that the younger son returned--but how much more joyful might the father have been had the older son been the one to bring him back!

But sadly, the older son did not seek after his lost brother. Just as the Pharisees and teachers of the law did not seek out the tax collectors and "sinners." And just as we do not seek out the lost of our day. It's so easy having once lived the life of the prodigal son to return home and settle in to the life of the older brother--working hard, being "obedient," but caring little for anyone other than ourselves. Have we forgotten that everything the Father has is ours through Christ? (John 14:11-15) Or have we forgotten his love for us?

If we have received God's love, we should naturally love His children--our brothers and sisters. If we understand His love, we will seek out the lost and tell them the good news that the Father wants to forgive and welcome them back into His family. If we share in his love, we too can rejoice with the Father when one who was lost returns home.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:10-11)

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