In our text this morning, we have the Pharisees as they get upset over the fact that Jesus is eating with tax collectors and sinners. They cannot stand that Jesus is associating with the likes of these people. They are dirty. They are grimy. They do horrible things like being extortioners of people’s money and livelihood. They are the people on the fringes. The kind of people who you don’t want to be seen with. But Jesus is willing to associate with them. These, of all people, are the ones who are receiving Jesus’ words to repent and receive the Kingdom of God. The people who are down and out, the ones who realize how they have squandered God’s gifts, are the ones who repent and believe. The Pharisees cannot get over this.
Jesus tells them this parable, which is actually the third parable.
A man has two sons. One of these sons wants to take his inheritance. Which by the way is almost unheard of among Jewish culture of this time. And even more astounding is the fact that this father actually gives him his wish. By all accounts, he is lost.
That my brothers and sisters in Christ is sin. Sin makes us lost. The first sin of Adam and Eve was to turn the back on God. Sin is to be gods ourselves, to want God dead. It is to want things our way. We see it manifest itself in our lives daily.
This son goes and squanders it all. He squanders all that his father had to give him. Go figure, a famine comes into the land and he is left with nothing to live on. The only thing that he can get to barely live on is by feeding pigs. To a Jew, this is perhaps one of the lowest most despised things that you could imagine. Pigs are unclean. They are not pure. And he finds himself so hungry, that he was wanting to eat the carob pods that the pigs were eating. He is as low as he can be.
This younger son hits the bottom. The profundity of his actions have led to this. You see, sin is so much bigger than a moral category. Our sin is much more profound than we realize. Doing a little bad thing here and a little bad thing there might be evidence of sin dwelling within us. But our sin leads to death. In this case, the best thing that we can come up with doesn’t help. Whether we do “good” or “bad” our sinful condition is makes even our good works like filthy rags. Our sin leads to death and is deserving of death. Plain and simple.
It is at this moment that the younger son comes to his senses a little bit, having realized how low he had truly brought himself and he goes back to his father. He has his speech all planned out. If only he could be a servant of his father, no longer a son, it would be better than this. “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am not even worthy to be called your son. Make me into one of your hired servants.” This younger son, realizes that he is only deserving of his father’s rebuke and yet there is something of trust that his father may be merciful.
It’s kind of like that isn’t it. When we reach those moments of clarity. How one time, we thought that we would rather wanting everything our way. But when we get it, it goes sour quick and we want the next thing. The truth is, if we truly get everything that we want, it too often ends like this younger son. In many ways, the worst thing that we could get is to get exactly what we want. If we got everything that we wanted, we would only get death. When God reveals to us our sin, we see in those moments that all we can say is yes, I deserve nothing but rebuke. I deserve nothing but your wrath and anger Lord. But also in those moments when we are given a moment of clarity, we see that we have only one place to look like this younger son.
This younger son who has his speech all planned out is still at a distance and his father sees him. He has compassion, not just pity. No, he has gut-wrenching compassion that moves him to love this lost son. He shows his reckless and extravagant love. No man of any nobility runs in this ancient culture. It is an utter sign of embarrassment. Not only that, he has to lift up his robe to show his knees. This is humiliating and he doesn’t care! He won’t let his son walk that long path to the house as everyone stares at this son squandered his father’s riches. This son who betrayed family. No, the father runs that gauntlet for him. The father allows himself to be humiliated for him. This lost son, cannot even get his well-prepared speech out and he is simply bombarded with love. His father goes on and on. Put the best robe on him. Put a ring on his finger. Kill the fattened calf. Spare no expense! Why?
This MY son, Who was dead lives again. He was lost but now is found!
That my brothers and sisters in Christ is forgiveness. When we confess our sins to God, he is quick to forgive. He is quick to receive us. He is quick to run and greet us with open arms. We deserve one thing and get another. We deserve our dust covered sin stained garments. But he clothes us with the finest of garments in Christ in our Baptism. We don’t deserve to be called sons of God and yet he makes us children of God. We don’t deserve a single morsel of food, and yet he gives us the finest banquet that we can imagine in his Word for us to feast on. And at this table here, where we are satisfied with every good gift of heavenly food to eat. This is the reckless character of God’s grace to the squanderers, to the outcasts, so the sinners. That is, to us. To the squanderers, God becomes reckless in His grace. God takes our shame upon himself so that we might be His. But it only comes to be the case because Christ is all over this parable.
Christ is all over this parable. He can be seen as the father who risks humiliation for the sake of making us sons and daughters. He runs the gauntlet of the cross so that we might receive love upon love. But Christ is also in this parable another way. He, even though he did not need to accepts the role of the prodigal son for us.
But Christ is also in this parable, because he himself lived the life of the prodigal son for us. He came into the flesh. Though he was the Son of God, he did not use his sonship. He was reckless in his use of the good gifts of God. Even though He didn’t need to, he bore OUR sin, taking our shame upon himself. Allowing himself to be a lost and condemned creature for us. He was forsaken for us! Though he had no need, he lived the life of repentance for us! And that in His faithfulness, Jesus is raised from the dead. Behold, he was dead, and now he lives again. He was lost and now he is found.
Because Christ has already lived the life of the prodigal son in our stead, we live the life of repentance. We live the life of repentance that turns from sin and trusts in God by the power of the Holy Spirit. This life of repentance and forgiveness is delivered to you every Sunday in preaching and sacraments. Don’t be surprised if those who are the low among you and the community are the ones who receive it as well. For such to receive the good news of Jesus Christ, died and risen for forgiveness and life, there is only one thing left to do. Even a little in Lent. There is only one thing left to do. It’s celebrate.
