Cities of Refuge: Returning to GraceSample

Day Seven: A Second Look

Today I ask that you read through the entire chapter of Luke 15 again. But this time, look at it through the eyes of a novelist like me and place yourself within the “scene” and perhaps consider it from a different perspective than you have in previous readings.

Imagine you’ve heard about this “Yeshua” who’d been performing miracles, a Nazarene carpenter who spoke with authority about the Torah, and a man who many claimed might be the Messiah Israel has awaited so long, and you’d finally gotten the chance to come listen to him speak. You are skeptical, but hopeful as you watch the scene unfold before you. 

You notice that there is a large group of people gathered about Yeshua, jostling for position among the crowd, straining to hear over the multitude of voices and scuffling sandals. They are people just like you, mothers and fathers, laborers and merchants, farmers and tent makers but there are also a few nondesirables among the crowd—a few despised tax collectors, beggars, and women of ill-repute. To your surprise there are also a number of Pharisees in their distinctive robes and some of the highly educated scribes assembled off to one side. They are talking among themselves, frowns on their faces and obvious disdain in their expressions. 

And then Yeshua begins to speak. He tells a story about a shepherd who refuses to lose even one of his wandering sheep, then he tells a story about a woman who lost one of her precious coins and searches every corner until she finds her treasure. He says that heaven rejoices over the repentance of one sinner and you wonder if perhaps he might be speaking directly to you and feel the tug on your spirit to turn from whatever sins you’ve been harboring.   

Then, as Yeshua begins to tell the story of the reckless and self-indulgent son, you get wrapped up in the telling because you’ve never heard anyone speak with such passion and authority. Perhaps you even know a parent who has dealt with a child like this, or are one yourself. You feel the pain of the father as he watches his son walk away. You feel the disgust at the thought of working among the pigs and then being so hungry that their feed looks appetizing. You feel the shame as the young man considers returning to his father’s house in disgrace. You can imagine the struggle of the father as he prays for the return of his beloved child, even while those around him say the young man is a lost cause. And then you can feel the elation of the father as, after weeks and months of keeping an eye on the road, he sees his son off in the distance and cannot contain his joy that finally his prayers have been answered. You feel the relief of the son as he leans into the embrace of his Abba and the astonishment that you’ve been welcomed home without condition. 

Then, as Yeshua begins to speak of the elder son and his arrogant attitude, you notice that a few of the Pharisees and scribes seem uncomfortable as Yeshua directs his attention their way. But his eyes are not only on the Jewish leaders, they also move over the crowd, calling all of you to examine your hearts and gauge whether some of those same attitudes are rooted there as well. 

As you stand there among a crowd made up of young and old, rich and poor, exalted and despised, you begin to understand that Yeshua’s parables are for everyone. We are all that lost sheep, wandering without direction until the shepherd calls us home, we are all the lost coin—a precious treasure he considers worth seeking after, we are all the prodigal son wasting the blessings we were given by our father, and we are all the older son who allows his pride to get in the way of loving and forgiving others. 

But the really great news is that Yahweh is also the good shepherd who relentlessly pursues us. He is the one who considers us so precious that he does not give up seeking us out even when the world might see us as a lost cause. And he is also the graceful father who loves us with an everlasting love and who will always be standing with his arms open wide waiting to welcome us home, who will one day remove our tattered earthly garments with robes of pure white, who has been preparing an eternal place for us that is far beyond anything we could ever imagine and certainly do not deserve. 

My hope is that this study has been encouragement to you and I pray that whatever season you find yourself in right now, be it a prodigal one, a repentant one, an “older brother” one, or a parent whose eyes are on the empty road as you grieve a wayward child, that you will look to the One who loves you and who has promised that he will never leave nor forsake you. He is your city of refuge. He is your everlasting hope. He is the one who will sustain you through every dark valley. And he is the light on the hill who will guide you to your eternal home. Don’t walk—run into the arms of the One whose hands were scarred out of boundless love for you. 

Thank you for spending your precious time working through this study with me, I hope that you have been blessed and challenged as much by reading it as I have by preparing it. 

‘May the LORD bless you and keep you;

may the LORD cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious

to you; may the LORD lift up His countenance toward you and

give you peace.’ —Aaronic Priestly Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26)