The circumstances of the parable set out the riches of Gospel
grace much more fully, and to poor sinners ever since it has been
indescribably useful, and so it will be as long as the world exists.
~ Matthew Henry
Yesterday we talked about pride, greed, and idolatry and how they’re intertwined into forgiveness.
Today we’ll discuss humility and repentance in light of forgiveness.
The opposite of pride is humility . . . and humility is required in forgiveness. When pride causes us to think of ourselves as righteous {we’re right, they’re wrong}, forgiveness will likely never come.
You know the saying, “what goes up must come down”? The book of Proverbs says it this way:
Pride leads to destruction; a proud attitude brings ruin.
Proverbs 16:18 {NCV}
And that’s exactly what our prodigal experienced. He squandered his inheritance, found himself feeding pigs, and was so hungry, “he longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.”
At his lowest point, the bottom of the pride-totem pole, he “came to his senses” and thought of returning home. He fully didn’t expect to enter back into the fold of his family. Instead, his greatest hope was to be hired by his father as a servant.
Matthew Henry says, “True repentance is rising and coming back to God.”
For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience
leads us away from sin and results in salvation.
There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow.
But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance
results in spiritual death.
2 Corinthians 7:10 {NLT}
Our prodigal humbly admitted to his father that he’d sinned. Both against heaven, and against his father . . . in that order.
On the other side of that equation we have the father. Luke 15:20 says, “. . . but while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was fill with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”
His father was filled with expectation—faith—knowing his son would return home. His son was a long way off, but his father was waiting, watching, for him.
This prodigal had basically spit in his father’s face. Greedily taking his share of the inheritance. Leaving the family for dead. Squandering every single penny. And then having the nerve to show his face back at the ranch!
Yet his father forgave him.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he forgave his son.
As Henry said, “{With} great love and affection the father received the son. He expressed his kindness even before the son expressed his repentance.”
He didn’t expect his son to grovel and ask for forgiveness. The father had forgiveness buried in his heart.
“Not one word of rebuke,” Henry notes.
True, pure-hearted, forgiveness keeps no record of wrongdoing. <– tweet this
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So powerful!
This is one of my very favorite bible stories of all.
i do love that one line so much!! “while he was a long way off…” and then loved on his son!!! just like Jesus died for us while we were still sinners!
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