"There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.' And he divided his property between them. Not many days later the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. ..."
Luke 15:11-13 ESV
Timothy Keller, in his book The Prodigal God, gives some interesting historical context to this parable...
In those days when a father died the oldest son received a double portion of what the other children inherited. If a father had two heirs, the oldest would have gotten two-thirds of the estate and the younger would have received one-third.
However, this division of estate only occurred when the father died. ...To ask this while the father still lived was the same as to wish him dead.Keller also goes on to explain that for the father to divide his property between the sons meant liquidating a chunk of the land...
To lose part of your land was to lose part of yourself and a major share of your standing in the community. ...
This younger brother, then, is asking his father to tear his life apart. And the father does so, for the love of his son. Most of Jesus's listeners would have never seen a Middle Eastern patriarch respond like this. The father patiently endures a tremendous loss of honor as well as the pain of rejected love. Ordinarily when our love is rejected we get angry, retaliate, and do what we can to diminish our affection for the rejecting person, so we won't hurt so much. But this father maintains his affection for his son and bears the agony.This father... must have been heartbroken over the behavior of his son... yet we see...
While the son was still a long way off... his father saw him...
Did he wait... expectantly... for his son's return...? Did he constantly look toward the horizon... each day... wondering... if this would be the day...?
His father saw him... and felt compassion...
and ran... and embraced... and kissed him...
Upon seeing the lost son... he was filled with compassion... love... joy...
There was no anger... no hurt... or resentment... no condemnation... just acceptance...
This father... a picture of our heavenly Father... waits expectantly... filled with love... for the return of His children...
Love bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:7 ESV
I consider... my heavenly Father... and the wait He endured... with me... the rejection of His love... the squandering of property...
I'm humbled... by that truth...
encouraged... in my wait...
emboldened... to retain affection...
even when the waiting... hurts...
Father God... may I honor You... as I parent my adult children...
enable me... to maintain my affection... while I bear the wait...
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