SONSHIP—(Boat Name??)
Wow. What an incredible study. There is so much going on in here, it’s hard to even take it all in! Here are some of the thoughts, realizations, and observations I had while reading about the younger son, the father, the older son, and repentance.
The Younger Son:
-In his expedition of wasteful living, the younger son breaks relationships with his father, family, and whole community.
-In his desperate efforts to survive, he takes a Job that was offered to him with the intention to get him off of this man’s property.
-The younger son tries to survive on berries that nutritionally will not sustain him. I definitely see a parallel to the truth that the world will never ever fill us up.
-He could not live on his own. During this famine, if he continued doing what he was doing, the younger son would die. He realizes his only option is to go home and to face his fears of the relationships he has broken. This is only the start, not at all the full picture of repentance.
-His original proposal to his father is set to be a hired servant. This implies his freedom, and that he is able to make up for the money that he had lost. The younger son does not understand his need for a savior. His idea of reconciliation align with the rabbinic view at the time: that repentance was a work that man does to earn God’s favor.
-After experiencing an undeserved, uncalled for, incredible display of love by his father, the son responds with only part of his prepared speech! By leaving out his plan for becoming a hired servant to earn his way back to his community and repay his wrong, he accepts SONSHIP rather than servanthood. Instead of lost MONEY, he sees a lost RELATIONSHIP. A problem that he has no solution to, that he can not fix. The younger son experiences repentance when he turns from his pride and accepts the fact that he NEEDS a savior. It is at the point when he can say “I am unworthy,” that the weight of love his Father shows him is understood and prompts him to respond differently. THE FATHERS LOVE CHANGES HIM! HE IS TRANSFORMED BY THE LOVE THAT HE EXPERIENCES. HE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME. This is such an incredible picture of the gospel. WOW!
The Father’s Actions:
-“But the actions the father takes in the third story are unique, marvelous, divine actions which have not been done by any father in the past.”
-“What the father does in this homecoming scene can best be understood as a series of dramatic actions calculated to protect the boy from the hostility of the village and to restore him to fellowship within the community.”
-“THE FATHERS ACTS REPLACE SPEECH”
-The father takes care of his son, by throwing a party, he is essentially reconciling the son to the entire community, the son’s biggust worry about his journey home. And the father completely takes care of it. He is a Redeeming Father.
-God’s love displayed by the father “Is a love that seeks and suffers in order to save.” Hello, serving a summer at Sonshine! We have definitely all experienced this love that seeks, suffers for, and brings campers to Him first hand!
The Older Son:
-ALSO RECEIVES INHERITANCE v12. Definitely missed this one on my first 25 read throughs of Luke 15. The older son passively doesn’t stand up to reconciliation that is his responsibility, but rather quietly takes his share.
-Custom Requires the presence of the older son at the celebration, but he does not go. By not attending, he is publicly humiliating his father.
-We see the older son defending his position from a place of servanthood. He is appalled at the fact that he has worked so hard for all these years and has never had a party thrown for him, but his younger brother comes home after insulting the father and gets celebrated. The irony of this speech is that he is singing against his father by publicly humiliating him WHILE HE TRIES TO JUSTIFY HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS! The father is showing him incredible undeserved love by not punishing him for his childish actions, yet he does not respond to it. The father again wants SONS, not SERVANTS, but the older brother is MISSING THE POINT!
-“I-am-a-servant-where-is-my-pay” mentality. Entitlement stems from this!!! In reality, it is by grace we breathe every breath we breathe! We aren’t entitled to anything, this life is a gift!!!
Repentance:
-Romans 2:4 his kindness leads us to repentance! This was one of my big realizations when reading this study. God is always seeking. He shed his own blood for us on the cross and took on all the weight of our sin so that we could be reconciled to him and live abundant life through him. He didn’t do this through words, he did this through ACTIONS. His incredible actions display his character more than anything, and it is when we recognize and REMEMBER all of this that we are led back to him.
-“Rather than experiencing the ruthless hostility he deserves and anticipates, the son witnesses an unexpected, visible demonstration of love in humiliation.” How does he react? How do we react?-“Repentance finally turns out to be the capacity to forego pride and accept graciousness.”
-Repentance is the acceptance of pure grace. This is when grace wins.
Bailey’s summary sums it up better than I ever could, this is just so beautiful:
“On his return, the prodigal is overwhelmed by an unexpected visible demonstration of love in humiliation. He is shattered by the offer of grace, confesses unworthiness, and accepts restoration to sonship in genuine humility. Sin is now a broken relationship which he cannot restore. Repentance is now understood as acceptance of grace and confession of unworthiness.”
Amen!
PS. In regards to SONSHIP... it probably wouldn’t fly in today’s emo support pig culture. We would definitely need to have a daughtership too...
-Kyle
The Younger Son:
-In his expedition of wasteful living, the younger son breaks relationships with his father, family, and whole community.
-In his desperate efforts to survive, he takes a Job that was offered to him with the intention to get him off of this man’s property.
-The younger son tries to survive on berries that nutritionally will not sustain him. I definitely see a parallel to the truth that the world will never ever fill us up.
-He could not live on his own. During this famine, if he continued doing what he was doing, the younger son would die. He realizes his only option is to go home and to face his fears of the relationships he has broken. This is only the start, not at all the full picture of repentance.
-His original proposal to his father is set to be a hired servant. This implies his freedom, and that he is able to make up for the money that he had lost. The younger son does not understand his need for a savior. His idea of reconciliation align with the rabbinic view at the time: that repentance was a work that man does to earn God’s favor.
-After experiencing an undeserved, uncalled for, incredible display of love by his father, the son responds with only part of his prepared speech! By leaving out his plan for becoming a hired servant to earn his way back to his community and repay his wrong, he accepts SONSHIP rather than servanthood. Instead of lost MONEY, he sees a lost RELATIONSHIP. A problem that he has no solution to, that he can not fix. The younger son experiences repentance when he turns from his pride and accepts the fact that he NEEDS a savior. It is at the point when he can say “I am unworthy,” that the weight of love his Father shows him is understood and prompts him to respond differently. THE FATHERS LOVE CHANGES HIM! HE IS TRANSFORMED BY THE LOVE THAT HE EXPERIENCES. HE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME. This is such an incredible picture of the gospel. WOW!
The Father’s Actions:
-“But the actions the father takes in the third story are unique, marvelous, divine actions which have not been done by any father in the past.”
-“What the father does in this homecoming scene can best be understood as a series of dramatic actions calculated to protect the boy from the hostility of the village and to restore him to fellowship within the community.”
-“THE FATHERS ACTS REPLACE SPEECH”
-The father takes care of his son, by throwing a party, he is essentially reconciling the son to the entire community, the son’s biggust worry about his journey home. And the father completely takes care of it. He is a Redeeming Father.
-God’s love displayed by the father “Is a love that seeks and suffers in order to save.” Hello, serving a summer at Sonshine! We have definitely all experienced this love that seeks, suffers for, and brings campers to Him first hand!
The Older Son:
-ALSO RECEIVES INHERITANCE v12. Definitely missed this one on my first 25 read throughs of Luke 15. The older son passively doesn’t stand up to reconciliation that is his responsibility, but rather quietly takes his share.
-Custom Requires the presence of the older son at the celebration, but he does not go. By not attending, he is publicly humiliating his father.
-We see the older son defending his position from a place of servanthood. He is appalled at the fact that he has worked so hard for all these years and has never had a party thrown for him, but his younger brother comes home after insulting the father and gets celebrated. The irony of this speech is that he is singing against his father by publicly humiliating him WHILE HE TRIES TO JUSTIFY HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS! The father is showing him incredible undeserved love by not punishing him for his childish actions, yet he does not respond to it. The father again wants SONS, not SERVANTS, but the older brother is MISSING THE POINT!
-“I-am-a-servant-where-is-my-pay” mentality. Entitlement stems from this!!! In reality, it is by grace we breathe every breath we breathe! We aren’t entitled to anything, this life is a gift!!!
Repentance:
-Romans 2:4 his kindness leads us to repentance! This was one of my big realizations when reading this study. God is always seeking. He shed his own blood for us on the cross and took on all the weight of our sin so that we could be reconciled to him and live abundant life through him. He didn’t do this through words, he did this through ACTIONS. His incredible actions display his character more than anything, and it is when we recognize and REMEMBER all of this that we are led back to him.
-“Rather than experiencing the ruthless hostility he deserves and anticipates, the son witnesses an unexpected, visible demonstration of love in humiliation.” How does he react? How do we react?-“Repentance finally turns out to be the capacity to forego pride and accept graciousness.”
-Repentance is the acceptance of pure grace. This is when grace wins.
Bailey’s summary sums it up better than I ever could, this is just so beautiful:
“On his return, the prodigal is overwhelmed by an unexpected visible demonstration of love in humiliation. He is shattered by the offer of grace, confesses unworthiness, and accepts restoration to sonship in genuine humility. Sin is now a broken relationship which he cannot restore. Repentance is now understood as acceptance of grace and confession of unworthiness.”
Amen!
PS. In regards to SONSHIP... it probably wouldn’t fly in today’s emo support pig culture. We would definitely need to have a daughtership too...
-Kyle
Loved the BIGGUST cameo. Thx for this post Kyle. Serious hunk of burning love in this parable and this post. Elvis said it well when he sang
ReplyDeleteYour kisses lift me higher
Like the sweet song of a choir
You light my morning sky
With burning love
That's prodigal father kind of love in this parable and your post!
Thx for sharing!!
Would I burst your BIGGUST bubble if I told you SONSHIP has floated on the waters of the D before?
ReplyDelete