The God of Great Expenditure

I have just read a very good book - "The Prodigal God" by Timothy Keller. A new and fresh look at the story of the lost sons in Luke 15. First of all he highlights the fact that sinners and tax collectors felt at home and were welcomed in the presence of Jesus. It was the teachers of the law and the Pharisees that could not receive Jesus and it was therefore to them that Jesus told the story.

Jesus told the story to the elder brothers not because he wanted to condemn them but because he wanted them to experience the same homecoming that the younger brother experienced.

This story shows us that both brothers realise there is a debt to be paid. The younger brother feels he owes the father something - that he has to provide restitution for his sin, that through sorrow and repentance he can put it right again. The older brother thinks the father owes him something for his life of unfailing duty. He believes that his life of moral conformity will cause God to hand out blessings and favour. In fact, the truth is, it is the overwhelming love and grace of the father that welcomes them both home.

The key to us entering the feast is not a debt being settled but it is whether we can receive the unconditional and lavish love of the Father.

At the end of the story the 'bad' son enters the party but the 'good' one doesn't. Let me quote you something from the book:

".... the elder brother is not losing the father's love in spite of his goodness, but because of it. It is not his sins that create the barrier between him and his father, it's the pride he has in his moral record; it's not his wrongdoing but his righteousness that is keeping him from sharing in the feast of the father....... ..... This means that you can rebel against God and be alienated from him by either breaking his rules or by keeping all of them diligently"

But to enter the feast there is a debt to pay. There is a cost. An elder brother who truly had the heart of his father would have gone after the wayward younger brother, sought him out and brought him back home to the father. He would have gladly shared his portion of the inheritance with the younger brother. The elder brother in Luke 15 could not do that BUT there is another elder brother who has done it and his name is Jesus.

And so, once again, this familiar story has new and previously hidden truths.....