In my last blog I explained a little bit about the compassion of Jesus. For part two, I would like to talk about the compassion of God the Father.
Jesus said in John 5:18-19
“ I assure you: The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does these things in the same way.”
This verse is saying, when we look at characteristics of Jesus, we are also looking at characteristics of the Father. Because Jesus only does what he sees the Father do.
So, let’s look at an example of the Father’s compassion in Luke 15
Context: The beginning of Luke 15 sets the stage for us here. It tells us who our favorite teacher is talking to. He is talking to Tax Collectors and Other Notorious Sinners. These are people HATED by the Jewish leaders. Other rabbis wouldn’t be caught dead talking to these people, much less eating with them, for fear of losing their good reputations. Jesus proceeds to tell 3 different stories, all with the same meaning. One about a Lost Sheep, one about a Lost Coin, and another about a Lost Son.
11: “Jesus also said: “A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.’ So he distributed the assets to them.”
This is the most disrespectful thing a son could ever do to his father.
He was basically saying, “I don’t care about you, I don’t care about how you’ve provided for me my entire life. I’m rejecting you as my father, I wish you were dead. Give me my inheritance so I can be on my way.”
It was the most shameful thing a son could ever do to his father
In Jewish culture if someone did this, they would get a clay jar and fill it with beans. The entire community would gather around and they would break the jar on the ground as the son left.
Symbolism: Just like there is no putting those beans back in the jar, the son could never return home or he would be stoned by the entire community, with the shamed father throwing the first stone.
13-19 “Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered his estate in foolish living. After he had spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he had nothing. Then he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. He longed to eat his fill from the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him any. When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have more than enough food, and here I am dying of hunger! I’ll get up, go to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired hands.’
Have you ever felt like that with God? Have you ever felt like you messed up so much that you are no longer worthy to be called a son? Have you ever judged your own actions so much that you disqualified yourself from your own sonship?
Can I tell you something?
We were never meant to sit on the judgement seat.
That is not our place, and it was never meant to be our place, so get off of God’s throne and let Him be the righteous judge that He is.
20-24 So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.’ And the father is so overjoyed that his son is there doesn’t even let him finish his sentence.
“But the father told his slaves, ‘Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger (A sign of sonship) and sandals on his feet. Then bring the fattened calf and slaughter it, and let’s celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.”
Another fun fact about Jewish culture is that it was shameful for old men to run. The elders were given so much respect that they didn’t have to, the young would always cater to the old, and if an old person was late, he didn’t rush, the young people waited.
But that didn’t matter to the Father. He RAN to him to protect him from the community that was waiting to stone the son.
• It didn’t matter that his son publicly shamed him.
• It didn’t matter that his son told him he wished he was dead and squandered the fortune the father worked his entire life to attain.
The Father was so overrun with compassion that he broke all the age old traditions, and ran to restore his son to his rightful place in the household.
Now, while the son was gone he was searching for his identity in the clubs and with prostitutes and fine living. He searched for his identity in all those things for so long that he forgot who he truly was. The son had forgotten his identity.
Not only did the son forget who he was, but he was so caught up with his own identity crisis and how he was living, he even forgot about the Character of his loving father.
He forgot his Father was merciful, kind, and filled with grace. He forgot about the Father’s unconditional love.
He was still a son while he was in the world partying, and he will always be a son. That is not by his decision, the son has his identity because the Father gave him his identity. Therefore no one, can take that identity from him except for the Father.
Now, the Father was supposed to abandon his son and stone him if he ever tried to come back home, that’s what the jar of beans I talked about earlier represents. Instead he RAN to his and RESTORED his identity.
A long time ago when he asked for his inheritance, in his own mind he abandoned his sonship. However, he was always a beloved son in his Fathers eyes.
So, the Father gazed at the horizon, heartbroken over his son’s identity crisis, and waited, eager to restore his son to the royalty he was. So when he saw that silhouette coming over the horizon he knew his lost son was returning home.
I think the reason I resonate with his story so much is because it is my story.
I grew up in church, I knew about God’s love my entire life and over a period of a few years I abandoned my sonship and told God I didn’t want anything to do with him.
In that time I found my identity in Drugs, alcohol, clubs, women, and everything else the world had to offer.
I was in that pit for so long I not only forgot who I was but I forgot who God was.
Then one day when I “came to my senses” I came crawling back to God because I had nowhere else to go. I was expecting to be a second class servant in the kingdom, but instead, He ran to me and restored me.
Ever since then, especially in the last few months, I’ve been on this journey of sonship that I wouldn’t trade for the world. A few months ago I asked God what it really means to be a son, and if He would teach me how to accept His love as my Father. In doing that, me and my dad reached a new level of reconciliation. God wanted to deepen my relationship with Himself by restoring my relationship with my dad further.
That’s the God I serve.
That’s the God you serve.
That’s our Dad.
• We serve a God that restores broken lives and makes them beautiful.
• It doesn’t matter where we go, our Father is always waiting at the house, staring off at the horizon waiting for his beloved child to return to him. Not so he can shame you, but so He can restore your identity and set a place for you at the banquet table.
Are you disqualifying yourself from your son or daughtership?
Have you been lost in searching for your own identity in other things that you’ve forgotten the loving character of your heavenly Father?
Don’t come to God begging for scraps of bread like a stray dog when you have a seat the the banquet table.
Don’t return home asking to be a slave because God is waiting with the family robe and ring. He is waiting to rejoice at your coming.
Now pray, ask God to show you what it really means for you to be a child of the King. Ask him to teach you how to step into your true identity.
