Thursday, October 22, 2009
Lost and Found, Part 37 of 78
TEXT: "But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' And they began to be merry" (Luke 15:22-24).
IDEA: The emphasis of the Bible is not on our character or virtue, but on God’s accepting grace.
PURPOSE: To convince listeners that when God forgives us, He accepts us.
Have you ever noticed how little the Bible says about developing “character”? For that matter, how little the Bible says about cultivating virtues? Colossians 3:14 is an exception, but the virtues in this passage aren’t the classic virtues.
It’s not that character and virtue don’t matter, but an emphasis on them can lead us astray. Why?
Look at the story of the prodigal son. When the boy returns to his father, the father runs to him, hugs him and smothers him with kisses. The father takes the shame of the encounter on himself.
The boy repents, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no more worthy to be called your son.”
I. How might you have expected the father to have treated the young man after he made that confession, given all that had taken place in the young man’s life?
How would people who emphasize character have treated him?
What do you think they might have suggested to the father about handling the delinquent son?
How would the elder brother have wanted to treat him?
How might we have felt he should have been treated?
II. The father’s treatment of his son is almost shocking to us, and it was certainly shocking to the people who heard the story for the first time.
The father treats the young man royally. The actions break all Middle Eastern protocol. No father would greet a rebellious son this way.
The servants are specifically told to dress the son as servants do a prince or a king. (The son isn’t told to bathe and change his clothes.)
Why do you think the father orders the servants to do this out on the road?
It probably assures proper respect from the servants, who naturally are eagerly waiting for some clue from the father to tell them how to treat the son.
Imagine how they would have reacted if the father had shrugged his shoulders and turned away from the boy or ordered him to the house.
The servants are told to dress him completely:
They are to put the best robe on him. The ancient listeners would assume that the “first” robe (i.e., the best) would have been the father’s robe that he wore on grand occasions or feast days.
Wearing that robe will assure acceptance by the community when they have the banquet, and as the people in the village come to see him.
Dressing his son in his finest robe confirms what has already taken place at the edge of the village.
It was not to disgrace but to honor that the young man came home.
They are to “put a ring on his finger.” This is probably a signet ring which demonstrates that the father will trust him in a remarkable way. The signet ring was used for all official documents. He was putting in his control all of his possessions.
The father gave him authority.
They are to put sandals on his feet. Slaves went barefoot, but freemen wore sandals.
They are to accept him as a master. Slaves washed the feet of the masters in the house.
His father gave him freedom.
