What is the most
popular parable of Jesus?
Surely the answer
is the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
It is true that
this is the most popular story of Jesus.
You might have
heard a lot of sermons based on this beautiful story.
I too have
preached at many occasions on this parable.
But let me assure
you that what you are going to hear now in this video contains new information
on the story.
This sermon is a re reading of the parable.
So please
patiently continue to read this study.
Luke chapter 15 is
a lost and found chapter.
Jesus narrates
more than one story based on the theme of lost and found.
·
The first story is
about a lost and found sheep.
·
The second is
about a lost found coin.
·
And the third is
about a lost and found son.
The first two parables contain nonhuman
beings – one parable is about a sheep and the second is about a coin.
Only the third story contains human beings.
The story is about a father and his two sons.
Through these
stories Jesus was trying to explain the joy in heaven when a lost is found.
Heaven rejoice
whenever a lost is found.
That means this
story has something to do with the heavenly kingdom.
It speaks about the
character of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Keeping this
analogy let us make a fresh and new approach to the parable.
As I told you
before, this is a re-reading of the parable.
The house of the
father is nothing but the Kingdom of God.
The father
represents God and the King.
In the story the
father had two sons.
We are not sure
why he had only two sons; but he had two sons.
Some theologians
have attributed an allegorical interpretation to the story.
They argue that
the two sons are the Old Testament Church and the New Testament Church.
I am not the kind
of person for any allegorical interpretations.
Allegorical
interpretations are valuable tools in the hand of expert theologians and
dangerous weapon in the hand of uneducated and uninspired preachers.
I, personally do
not go much for allegorical interpretations.
So let us keep
those interpretations aside for a while.
For me the two
sons represent two groups of people connected with the Kingdom of God.
They are living in
the father’s house.
They are called
sons in the parable.
Both have an equal
inheritance in the Kingdom.
But unfortunately
something went wrong with the second son.
He disliked living
under the Lordship of the father.
Finance was not the
real problem with him
Because he had the
freedom to spend from his father’s wealth for a well living.
Later in the
parable we read the father ordering his servants to give him a ring.
Now, ring in this
story is not an ordinary ring.
It has a function
to perform in the financial transactions.
It was the credit
card of the time.
The ring was not a
plain ring; it had a special design on it.
Like the design of
the armour or shield of the feudal lords, this ring was also engraved with a
special design.
The family emblem
was engraved on it.
So the ring worked
as a symbol and delegated authority of the father.
The ring with the
special design of the house is a sign that the wearer has an inheritance to the
wealth of his father.
The bearer of the
ring possessed the delegated authority of the father.
The son could go
out to any shop and buy anything from the shop without paying any money.
Instead of paying
money, he could simply stamp the ring on the soft clay kept by the shopkeeper.
Later the
shopkeeper will present the clay with the stamp of the design from the ring and
claim the money from the father.
The son could
spend any amount of money from his father’s wealth.
But the father
oversees everything.
The father gets a
report of his purchases from the merchants.
Thus he could
understand the way of life he leads.
The father may
check the ways of life of his sons.
He may give
instructions to live in a particular way or to avoid another way of life.
Father always
exercised his Lordship over his sons.
The second son
disliked the Lordship of the father.
So money was not the
real problem.
He wanted to live
a free life without any control.
He might have had
a wish for worldly life and sinful ways.
The father was
against it.
He could not live
such a life as long as he lives in the father’s house.
The father is the
Lord of the house.
The father always
exercises his Lordship in the house.
So the real problem
was the Lordship of the father.
He disliked living
under the Lordship of his father.
Some of our
Christian brothers and sisters are like him.
They claim that
they are born again and living in the father’s house.
The father is
spending for them from his wealth.
They are enjoying
manifold blessings from the father.
But they live
without the instructions of the father.
There is always a
rift between the father and these people.
They argue that
salvation is freedom to live as they like without any strings tied to them.
They deny and
reject the Lordship of the father.
They argue against
the Lordship of the Master.
Think about the donkey
on which Jesus travelled to Jerusalem announcing his royal entrance to the
city.
It was tied to a
post by its owner before Jesus chose it for his purpose.
He asked his
disciples to untie the animal.
Jesus traveled on
it.
It is indeed
freedom for the donkey.
After the journey
Jesus let it free.
Jesus did not tie
it again on any other post.
But at the same
time, it is lost from the scene for ever.
It remained a
blessed animal as long as it was under the Lordship of Jesus.
Once it was free
from the Lordship of Jesus, it went away into oblivion.
There is no story
about the donkey after the journey.
No strings is
freedom, freedom from the Lordship.
But there is no
inheritance without the Lordship.
As long as you are
tied to your father, you have a legal claim to his wealth.
When you deny the
fatherhood you deny the inheritance.
In Romans 10:9 we
read how we are born again.
Romans 10: 9 that
if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that
God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (NKJV)
9 യേശുവിനെ കർത്താവു എന്നു വായ് കൊണ്ടു ഏറ്റുപറകയും ദൈവം അവനെ
മരിച്ചവരിൽനിന്നു ഉയിർത്തെഴുന്നേല്പിച്ചു എന്നു ഹൃദയംകൊണ്ടു വിശ്വസിക്കയും
ചെയ്താൽ നീ രക്ഷിക്കപ്പെടും.
Salvation is
obtained through faith and as we confess with our mouth the “Lord Jesus”.
That means we must
confess and accept Jesus as our Lord.
No Lordship, no
salvation.
Think about the
second son in the parable.
He disliked
Lordship. So He rejected it.
He collected all
his inheritance and wealth and left the father’s house.
It is interesting
to note that he went out of the Lordship after collecting the blessings of the
father’s house.
He wanted the
wealth of his father, but hated his Lordship.
That was the
beginning of the end of his prosperous and peaceful life.
Gradually he lost
everything he enjoyed in his father’s house.
But this son was
not a hardened sinner.
He realized his
mistake.
He realized that
wealth and blessings are not the real source of peaceful life, but the
protection of the father under his Lordship is real life.
Still it is a
tragedy that he had to go through all these evil days to learn the significance
of the Lordship of the father.
He decided to come
back to the Lordship of his father.
See what he
decided to say to his father when he returned home:
Luke 15:19 "and I am no longer worthy to be called
your son. Make me like one of your hired servants." (NKJV)
19 ഇനി നിന്റെ മകൻ
എന്ന പേരിന്നു ഞാൻ യോഗ്യനല്ല; നിന്റെ
കൂലിക്കാരിൽ ഒരുത്തനെപ്പോലെ എന്നെ ആക്കേണമേ എന്നു പറയും എന്നു പറഞ്ഞു.
It is clear what
he means.
The servants are
under the Lordship of his father.
They enjoy all the
blessings of the father’s house.
They live always
prosperous.
He is returning to
his father’s Lordship.
He understood that
the Lordship of his father is real life.
There is no life
away from the father’s Lordship.
As he returned,
the father gave him three things:
1. A rob of son ship.
2. Sandals to his feet.
Only the master
and sons wore outer garments and sandals in the house.
3. The ring -
the credit card.
The ring is the
inheritance of the son to his father’s house.
Despite the second
son’s rebellion and abuse of finances, his father still trusts him.
A returned and
restored son is as equal as a restored sinner.
The father trusts
them.
When we are born again into the father’s
house, one of the titles we receive is the stewardship of his wealth.
All sons and daughters in the father’s house
are stewards of his wealth.
We have the freedom to manage the wealth, buy
and live wisely or foolishly.
But we are accountable to the father for all our
dealings.
So be careful how you manage his wealth.
All the blessings you enjoy in your life now
are from your father.
You enjoy them only because you are in your
father’s house, under his Lordship.
And also all your transactions of the
blessings are accountable to him.
The son decided to return to his father and
accept his Lordship.
And he received a grand welcome back.
Jesus came to this world not to condemn us.
He came to justify us and restore us into the
Kingdom.
Jesus came to seek and save the lost sheep.
A sinner and a backslider are both lost
sheep.
One rebels the Lordship of Jesus from his
birth and another rejected the Lordship after once entering into the Kingdom.
Jesus came for both of them.
Heaven is not happy to send away anyone, but
rejoices when a person comes back to it.
A garment, a sandal and a ring is ready for
all who return to the Kingdom.
What the father
did after this is more interesting and important.
He asked his
servants to kill an animal and arrange a peace meal.
The animal is
killed to shed the blood and the meal is arranged to confirm the restoration of
his son.
The feast he
arranged is a covenant meal.
A new covenant was
established in between the father and his son.
A covenant of
Lordship was established between them.
The blood of the
animal is for the remission of the sins of the son.
The blood sealed
the covenant between the father and the son.
It was a new
covenant of peace between the Lord and a sinner.
The feast is to
affirm the covenant.
It was a tradition
in the ancient Biblical days to conduct a covenant meal after entering into a
covenant between two parties.
Thus Jacob had a
meal with his cousin Laban.
The father and the
son entered into a new covenant of peace.
The blood of the
animal sealed the covenant.
The supper
affirmed the covenant.
The eldest son was
not happy with this covenant.
So he refused to
participate in the covenant meal.
The elder son had
nothing to do with the killing of an animal and shedding the blood to seal the
covenant.
The father did it
all.
The father
arranged the sacrificial animal.
But the covenant
meal is different.
All those affirm
the covenant of peace between the father and the restored son should join the
supper.
Those who stand
out express their disagreement with the covenant of peace.
The eldest son
disagreed with the new covenant of peace between the restored son and the
father.
He stood out and
rebelled.
The first son lost
the opportunity to reconcile with his younger brother.
His father
reconciled with his son.
The servants in
the house accepted the peace covenant by participating in it.
But the elder son
rejected the proposal of reconciliation with his brother.
So he was left
alone in the darkness.
Still the supper
and the celebration went on.
The father did not
stop it.
Because the son
was once lost and now found.
It is a time of
joy and celebration in heaven.
The story of the
eldest son is really sad.
He spent nothing
for the restoration of his brother.
He missed nothing
by the restoration of his brother.
Still he rebelled.
He rebelled and
stood in the dark, outside the father’s house without joy and supper.
He was a religious
boy who always obeyed his father.
But he lived under
the Lordship of his father only because the
law.
The law insisted
that he should accept the Lordship of his father.
So accepted the
Lordship of his father.
But it was not an
acceptance with his heart; it was only obedience to the law.
Whereas, the second son came back voluntarily
to his father.
He realized the
mystery behind the Lordship of his father.
He decided to stay
with his father.
Conclusion
This is the pith
of the story.
Stay with the
father.
Come back to the
father, if you are away from him.
Live under his
Lordship.
Participate in the
covenant meal that restores peace between God and man.
And live a blessed
life.
__________________
No comments:
Post a Comment