The Father’s Heart

Luke 15

In his book Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis described his reluctant yet profound conversion. After years of resistance, he finally surrendered to God's presence, experiencing what he called God's 'compelling embrace' and the awe-inspiring beauty and joy that followed.

You must picture me alone in that room at Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929, I gave in and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England. I did not then see what is now the most shining and obvious thing: the Divine humility which will accept a convert even on such terms. The Prodigal Son at least walked home on his own feet. But who can duly adore the Love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance of escape? The words, 'compelle intrare', compel them to come in [...], plumb the depth of the Divine mercy. The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation. (Surprised By Joy, ch.14, p. 266).

One of the most loved chapters in the Bible is an account of what was probably a single discourse of Jesus.

In response to the Pharisees' accusations that he welcomed sinners and ate with them, Jesus told three parables, which convey the same themes: God's heart is for the lost, He desires to bring them to Himself, and there is great rejoicing in Heaven over one sinner who repents.

The Lost Sheep

'Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep. I tell you that in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. ' Luke 15:4-7

Sheep are herd animals, and their survival depends on staying close to the flock.

They are dependant on the shepherd, vulnerable, and in need of protection and provision.

It wasn't strange that a sheep would get lost, wandering away without any sense of direction.

'No creature strays more easily than a sheep; none is more heedless; and none so incapable of finding its way back to the flock, when once gone astray; it will bleat for the flock and still run on in an opposite direction to the place where the flock is: this I have often noticed.' - Clarke

Surrounded by danger and unable to save himself, the sheep's only hope for safety lies in the shepherd's relentless pursuit, seeking until he finds and restores it to the fold.

The stories Jesus told always carried a deeper spiritual meaning.

The lost refers to those in need of salvation or restoration.

All of us are spiritually separated from God because of sin: 'We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way...' Isaiah 53:6a

And all of us are prone to wander away from God's love.

Yet, the beauty of grace is that God does not leave us to our wandering.

The rabbis in Jesus' time taught that God would receive sinners if they sought His forgiveness earnestly enough. However, Jesus corrected their theology, it is God who actively seeks the sinner to bring them to repentance. Christ, the Good Shepherd, left Heaven with all its glory, 'For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.' Luke 19:10

'He will find what He seeks and will be found by those that seek Him not. God follows backsliding sinners with the calls of His Word and the strivings of His Spirit, until at length they are wrought upon to think of returning.' - M. Henry

His pursuit is driven by love, and its ultimate fulfillment is the rejoicing in heaven over even one sinner who repents.

The imagery of the shepherd carrying a found sheep on his shoulders reveals the tenderness of the Shepherd's heart. He has the strength to support and bear them up: 'Those can never perish whom He carries upon His shoulders.' - M. Henry

Jesus was not ashamed to be known as a friend of tax collectors and sinners. The outcasts of society felt drawn to Him, and He always welcomed them with compassion.

When we read the Parable of the Prodigal Son, it is important to remember that its primary purpose is to reveal God's heart for the lost and His joy in restoring a sinner who repents.

The longest and most detailed parable, unlike most parables, teaches more than one spiritual lesson.

Both the younger and older son failed to appreciate the Father's presence and blessings.

They both failed to understand His heart.

The younger son rebelled outwardly by leaving his father's house, while the older son rebelled inwardly; he was dissatisfied even while remaining in his father's house.

The Father's House

'You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Ps 16:11

There was a man who had two sons.

Each of them enjoyed the blessing of their father's presence and the abundance of his house. But the younger son said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.'

The younger son's request was not only a rejection of his father's authority but a profound insult, implying that he wished his father dead. Yet, the father graciously granted his request, giving him his full share, one-third of the estate.

This is a picture of God allowing us to go our own way. We can enjoy God's presence and blessings, but we also have the freedom to turn away from them.

Then the younger son gathered all he had, 'set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.' Luke 15:13

He fled as far as he could, choosing a way of life that would never have been accepted in his father's house. But in his pursuit of freedom, he lost everything - his honour, his family, his friends, and the abundance and blessings he once had.

Then 'there was a severe famine in the whole country, and he began to be in need.'

Sin often appears appealing, even pleasurable for a time, but the devastating consequences soon follow.

Once an heir to his father's estate, he now found himself a hired servant, looking after pigs in the fields.

For Jesus' Jewish audience, this was the worst sort of degradation imaginable - pigs were considered the most unclean of animals.

Hungry and alone, he longed even for the pods used to feed the pigs, yet no one gave him anything.

'When he came to his senses,' - when he hit rock bottom - his eyes were finally opened to the desperate state he was in. Then, for the first time, he truly longed for all he had lost - first, the presence of his father, and then the abundance of his blessings, which he could no longer rightfully claim.

'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 servants.

So, he got up and went to his father.' Luke 15:18-19

The path to repentance begins with recognising the devastation sin brings into our lives. Apart from the Father, there are no lasting blessings.

Sin breaks our relationship with God.

Yet, repentance restores and renews our fellowship with Him.

'True repentance is a rising and coming to God. He confessed his fault and folly: 'I have sinned.' The confession of sin is required and insisted upon as a necessary condition of peace and pardon. Sin is committed in contempt of God's authority over us; sin is an affront to the God of heaven.' - M. Henry

The Father's Heart

'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.' Luke 15:20b

The younger son had disgraced his family through reckless living, yet his father was ready and willing to forgive him, welcoming him not as a servant but restoring him as a beloved son. Seeing him from afar, the father ran to meet him, embraced him, and rejoiced at his return, revealing the immeasurable depth of his love and forgiveness.

'God's reception of the humbled sinner is like that of the prodigal. He is clothed in the robe of the Redeemer's righteousness, made partaker of the Spirit of adoption, prepared by peace of conscience and gospel grace to walk in the ways of holiness, and feasted with Divine consolations. Principles of grace and holiness are wrought in him, to do, as well as to will.' - M. Henry

The older son resented his brother's warm welcome, seeing it as an insult to his years of obedience and faithfulness. Yet, in his bitterness, he revealed his own heart, his lack of love toward his brother, and his dissatisfaction with all that his father had given him.

'There was a sense in which the older son was obedient, yet far from his father's heart. In this sense, he was a perfect illustration of the religious leaders who were angry that Jesus received tax collectors and sinners. 'His story reveals the possibility of living in the father's house and failing to understand the father's heart.' - Morgan

Yet, the same gracious love that embraced the younger son, the father extended to the older: 'My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.' The father called him 'my child' and the tenderest affection was shown to the older son too.

The mercy and grace of God's loving heart shine brightly in His tenderness toward His undeserving children.

For all who remain close to the Father's heart, there are abundant blessings.

For all who dwell in the Father's house, there is fullness of joy.

'One thing I will ask of You, this I will pray:

To dwell in Your house, O Lord, every day.

To gaze upon Your lovely face,

and rest in the Father's embrace.'

- 'You are my Anchor', S. Townend