Cities of Refuge: Returning to GraceSample

 Day Five: The Father’s Heart  

Yesterday we read about the response of the younger son to his self-inflicted destruction. There is argument to be made that his desperate decision to return to his father’s home, even as a “hired worker,” might not have been as genuinely repentant as it should have been. In fact there are echoes of Pharaoh’s half-hearted plea for Moses to intercede on his behalf with the “I have sinned against heaven” comment (see Exodus 10:16) but regardless of the younger son’s depth of heart-change at the time of his turn-around, the father’s response is what is most important here. 

The picture Yeshua gives here of the son’s return is one of the most emotional and heart-tugging scenes in the Bible in my opinion (Luke 15:20-24). Take a moment and just picture that scene with me. Here is the father, whose heart has been broken by the loss of his child, who has spent every day since he left grieving the hole in his heart. But because he has faith, he keeps watching that road, no matter how hopeless. It may have been weeks, it may have been months, or it may have been years, but the father never gave up praying that the precious child he once tenderly held in his arms as an infant, the one whom he carried on his shoulders as a toddler, the one who looked up at him with adoration as a young boy, might appear in the distance. And then, one day—perhaps when his hope was beginning to waver and the naysayers around him said he was wasting his time—the son comes over the edge of that horizon. Bedraggled for sure, wasted away from lack of nourishment, and still reeking of filth, but finally, his child is home!

There is no carefully weighing out his response, no righteous indignation, no I-told-you-so, only deep compassion for the son who was lost but has now come home. The father doesn’t wait and he doesn’t walk, he runs to his child. Arms outstretched. Maybe with tears of relief and joy on his cheeks. He doesn’t even let the young man finish his prepared speech before he embraces him with all the strength left in his body. Then the father kisses him in welcome, making it clear that forgiveness has immediately been granted, and calls for him to be honored with new clothes, a ring on his finger (a signal of his renewed status), and a celebration. 

Our Father knows we are human, knows the inherent weaknesses we struggle with, knows the wounds on our souls, knows the areas in which we are most susceptible to the enemy’s attack. Because Yeshua walked among us and experienced all of those things in his earthly body, he does not just sympathize with those human frailties from afar, he can actually empathize with us in them. And because of that he feels compassion for us. Psalm 103 speaks to this understanding of our humanness and his steadfast love for us in spite of it. 

In one of his sermons on the Prodigal Son, Charles Spurgeon said, “Slow are the steps of repentance, but swift are the feet of forgiveness. God can run where we can scarcely limp, and if we are limping towards him, he will run towards us.” There may be times when we don’t even fully comprehend the gravity of our sins against the Lord, nor have the entire measure of contrition that we should over our grievances, but the beauty of grace is that it compensates for our humanness. It makes up the gap between our lack of understanding and his incomprehensible perfection. 

But the Word says that if we acknowledge we have sinned and confess it, then he is faithful to forgive us those sins and purify us from our unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). No matter how messed up we are, no matter how confused or ignorant, or bound up in shame, HE is still faithful. And when we take those steps toward him, no matter how faltering, he reminds us that he has already made up the difference, through the blood of Messiah Yeshua and he runs toward us with his arms open wide. And one day he will clothe us in robes of white, gift us with crowns, and throw the party-to-end-all-parties with us as honored guests. 

What glorious hope we have in a God who not only set aside incomprehensible riches to walk among us, who suffered unto death so that we would be spared the punishment for our ongoing rebellion, and who patiently waits for us to open our eyes and remember that he is our place of eternal refuge! 

Questions for Consideration:

As you imagine the scene of the Father running to his son on the road, take a few moments to envision yourself in the place of the Prodigal. What emotions does that exercise evoke in you? Have you internalized the magnitude of Yahweh’s joy over you? Spend some time meditating on Psalm 103 and all the promises contained within it. 

If you feel shame or trepidation at the thought of standing in the presence of Yahweh, the Almighty and Righteous One, have you truly surrendered your life to him and accepted the gift of grace through the blood of Yeshua? If not, do not wait one more moment. Ask him to forgive you, to cleanse you, and to make you new. Open the Word and seek after him with all your heart. He is waiting, arms open wide and ready to rejoice over you!