View of the Father's House, First Look...

We have read and heard the story of the prodigal son told in so many ways and so many times that it can easily become “old hat.” There is a danger when that happens because then we tend to miss some of the less obvious truths that Jesus is trying to get across to us. I know I have a tendency to gloss over passages that are familiar to me. Just today I was reading a familiar story in the Gospels, it is told in three of the four, and found a small bit of information I had never noticed or heard anyone else mention. Not earth changing, it is just interesting…ok, I will share. Did you know there were two demoniacs in Gadera? That is right; you will find the account in Matthew 8:28. However, Mark and Luke only speak of one in the same account. Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Jesus shares with us a story of a father and two sons in Luke 15:11. Jesus is trying to convey to His listeners how exciting when you are able to restore that which was lost. He is trying to help them understand the blessing that comes in finding what was lost! He speaks of some natural things to which His listeners will relate. If they had ever lost a sheep they would understand how excited the shepherd is when he is able to return with the lost sheep! Anyone who has ever lost some money, especially a goodly sum, knows how excited he or she was when he or she found the lost money!

Jesus takes the lost and found stories just a bit further as He speaks of a father with two sons and one decides it is time to leave home and strike out on his own. I will never forget the day my oldest son left home.

I remember quite vividly the time just before Justin got his drivers license. I was so troubled and disturbed. It was not that I did not want him to drive or did not trust him that was not the problem at all. I recall sitting with Melinda in a restaurant that was close to the freeway near where we lived. The lights of emergency vehicles flying down the freeway caught our attention. It seemed they kept going by forever. Just a while later, as we were heading home, we passed the scene of a tragic accident and later found out that a person had gone down the wrong side of the freeway and ran head on into another car.

As we passed, I began to weep. Melinda looked at me as if I were crazy and asked what was wrong. It was at that point that I realized what had been bothering me about Justin getting his drivers license. Up to that point, I had been able to protect him. Now, along with the independence gained by him in having a license to drive there was the fact that I would not be able to protect him as I had in the past.

Just a few years later, just weeks before his twentieth birthday, I recall standing on the porch of our home and waving goodbye as he walked to his truck and headed for Arkansas, leaving us in California. Now the plan was that he would be traveling with his uncle and his family. He was going to live with some friends of ours. We were planning to move to Arkansas within a week ourselves. Yet I knew that it would never be the same and it has not.

I can feel for this father as his son came and asked for his portion of the inheritance. This was not a bad thing! It was legal and acceptable in the time in which they lived. At any time, an heir could ask for their portion of their inheritance and receive it. Yet I am sure the father was aware that things would never be the same as before and it was not.

The son, after a couple of days, left home and journeyed to a far away place. The independence that he had so recently obtained became an unrestrained lifestyle. The young man made foolish choices. The results were devastating and it was not long until he spent the whole inheritance, leaving nothing!

The Bible says the young man “came to himself” which leads me to believe that he had not been thinking right. He experienced a brief moment of “temporary insanity” that came from having more money than he was accustomed to. Adding to that unbridled freedom. From that lifetime “high”, he slams into an all time “low” as he struggles for survival without any money, any friends and a famine in the land where he is living. It would be enough to make you unaware of who you are or even where you are.

I can picture the father, in my mind, getting up every morning and looking outside to see if maybe his son had returned during the night. I can see him looking anxiously toward the door every time it opens unexpectedly. I can just imagine him walking to the front porch and looking down the road, hoping to catch a glimpse of his son returning. However days and weeks go by without a word. The rejection of the son to his father sets in to the point that the mourning and loss of the father are as if his son had actually died.

Yet in a distant land, the son comes to himself. He realizes he does not have to continue this lifestyle. He is not destined to a pig pin. Yes, he has made a mistake and yes, he has done wrong. Yet in his heart, he knows the heart of his father and knows that if he returns and asks forgiveness his father will at least find it in his heart to let him be a servant. Being a servant in the Father’s house is better than taking care of the hogs in a distant land. Being a servant in the Father’s house is better than anything he had experienced.

He returns to his Father’s house. The picture in his mind of what will take place is much different from the actual event. He expects chastisement but instead of a rebuke for his foolishness, he is welcomed with open arms. He has pictured a time of making amends and earning his father’s love or maybe just acceptance. However, after a few words of repentance and remorse his father expresses his love and acceptance.

What the son finds on his return to the Father’s house is compassion and restoration. He had made a mistake. He had rejected the Father and all that was his. He had lived a life that brought shame and disgrace to the Father. Yet on his return all, the Father needed to know was that his son was sorry and wanted to live in the Father’s house. Upon seeing him, the father had compassion! He ran to him, grabbed him in a bear hug, and kissed him. Upon hearing his words of repentance, he turns to the servants and declares that his son who was dead is alive and it is time to have a party in his honor.

This reminds me of a passage of scripture that is so dear to me. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1John 1:9
John warns us in this passage we will all make mistakes. How certain he and the other disciples had been in their ability not to ever fail, yet they had. He is alerting us to that fact; there will be times of failure. He is making us aware that anyone can and will fail. Yet, he is also letting us know that in those times of failure we can be certain to find compassion and restoration from our heavenly Father. If we repent, He will forgive and restore.

We as Christians can learn so much from the Father. Be quick to show compassion. Be quick to restore those who have fallen. Lift them up and let them know they are welcome in the Father’s house. Compare the spirit of the Father to that of the eldest son. The Father’s house is a house of compassion and restoration.

Just a Thought…God Bless!