"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him." – Luke 15:20
A lost son, rejecting His generous Father is a well-worn theme in the Old Testament, and Jesus’ brilliant repurposing of the trope was just as shocking, if not as explicit as Isaiah’s wake-up call. What is easily overlooked by us would have been excruciatingly obvious to the listener–Jesus told the parable of the prodigal son in response to criticism that he was welcoming, accepting, eating with, and thereby identifying with “sinners,” (15:2). The obvious “sinner” in Jesus’ story was the younger son, who blatantly rebelled and had no regard for his generous Father. However, the less obvious prodigal (the surprising punchline of Jesus’ story) was the older brother who, though geographically near to His Father, was a foreigner to His generosity. While indirectly true that God’s forgiveness extends even to the “worst” of us, Jesus’ story begs the question that lies at the heart of his parable: which is worse, the insolent abuse of God’s generosity that drives a person to rock-bottom, or the malignant cancer of self-righteousness that is impossible to self-diagnose and, if not generously and aggressively confronted, progresses to the terminal conclusion, “Away from me, I never knew you,” (Matthew 7:23)?
American rapper, Lecrae, grew up in South Houston, immersed in drugs and gang culture, until an encounter with Jesus. He walked away from dealing, partying, and identifying as “Crazy ‘Crae1,” and began to embrace God’s call on his life, as well as his musical gift. Many years later, after starting a successful label and becoming an icon of “Christian rap,” Lecrae began to make waves in popular Christian and Christian music culture when he decided to begin releasing his albums under mainstream labels and collaborate with other artists, some of whom were not professing Christians. As he began to speak up about his own personal experiences with racism, the backlash increased, and he experienced increasingly vocal rejection by the same sub-culture that had previously made up a large segment of his support and fanbase. The volume would still intensify, as he would see videos of people burning his music, and even receive death threats from the most extreme.2 Ultimately, the rejection would push him further up and into the arms of Jesus, the one who first welcomed him when he was an “outsider” to the family of God.
The irony of Jesus’ parable is that Israel was both prodigal sons simultaneously. They had squandered their inheritance from YHWH, the holy city had become a “prostitute” (Is. 1:21), and they were painting over their rebellion with pious “observance” of the law and festivals commanded by God. Jesus had arrived with his story to remove the make-up and invite both prodigal sons into the Father’s house. May we be given grace to miraculously accept his invitation, and offer that invitation to others who are just as undeserving as we are.
Reflection:
- Where do you need to return to God in your life?
- How can you reflect His grace to others?
- What does this story teach you about His love?
- Art: The Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt, 1662–1669 (Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg) – 5QFIEhic3owZ-A — Google Arts & Culture, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22353933
- Songs:
- “You Keep On Getting Better” – Maverick City;
- “Jireh” – Maverick City;
- “King of Kings” – Hillsong Worship