Jesus continued: ‘There was a man who had two sons.
Luke 15:11 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/luk.15.11.NIVUK
This is a short, but precious verse.
It describes two sons. Two sons with the same father. Two sons with the same upbringing.
But two very different sons.
My grandmother didn’t have two sons – she had four. But, bless her, as she aged, she struggled to remember which was which. So when some of the boys were playing outside and she wanted to call them in, she would just lean out the window of their apartment and shout, ‘David-Joseph-Alex-Thomas! It’s dinner time!’, in the knowledge that she'd get the name of at least one of them right.
But this text goes deeper than that.
You see, both of these sons were, at one time, lost to their father, but in different ways.
One was a rogue. An impulsive, selfish, hedonist. A party animal. One of those boys who does not like playing by anyone else’s rules. First chance he gets, he is going to be out that front door, and doing everything he possibly can that his father told him not to do.
Do you know anyone like that?
Well, here’s an insight for you. Jesus based this parable on a famous folk tale, aimed at stopping young Jewish boys from doing exactly what this boy did. However, Jesus added an amazing twist at the end that changed the entire narrative right around.
We’ll see what that is when we reach it.
However, there is something so beautiful in this verse – a truth we must grasp onto with both hands.
His sin did not stop him from being the father’s son.
And then there's his brother: a rugged, hard working, respectable chap. Always played by the rules. A completely self-made man. Never took a thing that wasn’t his.
But also a completely harsh and judgemental so-and-so with an incredibly poor view of his own father. Not to mention his layabout brother. He was a man for whom everything had to be equal. Everything had to be fair. Everything had to be his way.
And if it wasn’t, you’d hear it.
He was the complete opposite of his brother.
But his hard, merciless, unyielding nature did not stop him from being his father’s son.
Nowadays, we could even tag these people to political polar opposites: one, a lax liberal; the other, a right-wing conservative. It wouldn’t be too hard to make those hats fit.
So let me say it again, just in case you missed it:
They are both the father’s son.
Nothing they could do could change it.
Nothing they could say could change it.
Nothing they could be could change it.
And they, each in their own particular way, were lost and estranged from their father.
Both sons.
Both lost.
And their father wants them both to come home to him.
Discussion nowadays has become heated, immature and astonishingly bitter. Algorithms choose what is presented to us on social media. However, while we are so busy blaming the social media companies (not to absolve them completely of blame) that we forget entirely that the stuff we see and read is governed by algorithms on the basis of the stuff we like and the stuff we follow. In other words, we create our own little echo chambers where we are right, and then we blame the social media companies when we become narrow-minded.
We are too naive to think that it might be a good idea to broaden our reading and challenge our presuppositions.
The upshot of this is that we end up preaching to the choir, and if anyone disagrees with us, we belittle them and dehumanise them.
In other words, we spend all our time with one brother, not the other, and when we do so, we only grow in hatred towards the other brother.
This is not God’s pattern. This is a sure fire way to help us disappear down the rabbit hole.
We are guaranteed to only get ourselves more lost.
Instead, we read these words:
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:27 NIVUK
More than ever before, we need to remember this verse.
More than ever before, we need to realise that we are made in God’s image – all of us. And if we are all made in God’s image, who are you to disagree with His artwork?
More than ever before, we need to understand that the father has two sons.
Not one.
But two.
You see, when this parable is preached, I often hear the question: ‘Which of the brothers are you most like?’
Do you know something? That is an irrelevant question.
It is irrelevant because they were both estranged from their father, albeit in different ways.
It is irrelevant because they were both lost.
It is irrelevant because their father wanted them both home, with him.
So the question isn’t: ‘Which of the brothers are you most like?’
No, the question is: ‘What will it take for you to come home?’
Prayer
Lord Jesus, forgive me if I have become like one of these brothers. Forgive me if I have got lost in polarised opinions on any issue and forgotten to be understanding and compassionate with those who disagree. Help me to repent and come back to you, I pray. Amen.
Questions
1. Why is it so important to note that the father has two sons?
2. Why did their extremes of attitude not prevent them from being the sons of the same father?
3. Do you feel distant from your Father God right now? What will it take for you to come home?
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