Luke 15:11-32, there is one more layer that ties this entire parable to the biggest story in the Bible, the parable has three characters, a father and two sons, one son who left and came back, one son who stayed, but was lost. The Bible has the same structure, humanity left the father, walked into the far country of sin, squandered everything, ended up in the pigsty and God the father, instead of waiting on the porch with his arms crossed, ran, he sent his own son, not to condemn the world, but to save it. Here is the part that makes the gospel more shocking than the parable, in the parable, the father ran to the returning son. In reality, God ran to you while you were still in the far country, while you were still feeding pigs, while you had not yet turned around, while you were still sinners, Paul wrote, Christ died for us.
The father in the parable waited for the son to come home, God did not wait, he came to you, he entered the pigsty, he put on human flesh and walked into the far country himself and it killed him. The fattened calf in the parable was killed for a feast, the lamb of God was killed on a cross. The robe the father placed on the younger son’s shoulders, that is the righteousness of Christ placed on you. The ring, that is your restore identity as sons and daughters of God. The sandals, that is the dignity of no longer being slaves, but heirs. Everything in the parable points to the cross, the father’s willingness to spend everything on a son who deserved nothing, the willingness to be shamed publicly for the sake of love.
The refusal to let the village, the law, the culture, the system of justice have the final word, the father overruled everything. Grace overruled shame, love overruled justice, life overruled death, that is the gospel and it is as offensive today, as it was when Jesus first told it. It offends the younger brother, because the younger brother thinks he needs to earn his way back and the father says no. It offends the older brother, because the older brother thinks he already earned his place and the father says that was never the point. It offends everyone, that is how you know it is true, because the gospel is not designed to flatter anyone, it is designed to save everyone.
The father in the parable waited for the son to come home, God did not wait, he came to you, he entered the pigsty, he put on human flesh and walked into the far country himself and it killed him. The fattened calf in the parable was killed for a feast, the lamb of God was killed on a cross. The robe the father placed on the younger son’s shoulders, that is the righteousness of Christ placed on you. The ring, that is your restore identity as sons and daughters of God. The sandals, that is the dignity of no longer being slaves, but heirs. Everything in the parable points to the cross, the father’s willingness to spend everything on a son who deserved nothing, the willingness to be shamed publicly for the sake of love.
The refusal to let the village, the law, the culture, the system of justice have the final word, the father overruled everything. Grace overruled shame, love overruled justice, life overruled death, that is the gospel and it is as offensive today, as it was when Jesus first told it. It offends the younger brother, because the younger brother thinks he needs to earn his way back and the father says no. It offends the older brother, because the older brother thinks he already earned his place and the father says that was never the point. It offends everyone, that is how you know it is true, because the gospel is not designed to flatter anyone, it is designed to save everyone.
