The Journey Home
“And He has made from one blood every
nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their
preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they
should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him,
though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and
have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His
offspring.' Acts 17:26-28
Come home, come home,
It's supper time,
The shadows lengthen
fast.
Come home, come home,
It's supper time,
We're going home at
last.
[from old song]
In the Parable of the Sower, thorns and thistles - the cares
of life - overcame some. But all can be
refreshed by the Holy Spirit of God.
“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be
blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the
Lord,” Acts 3:19
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one
who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”
John 6:37
“And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who
sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise
him up at the last day." John 6:40
1. Jesus taught parables to show God’s love and call to us.
“And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son
abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free
indeed.” John 8:35-36
Our world of Time is “on the job
training for Eternity.” Zion
“It is written in the prophets, 'And
they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and
learned from the Father comes to Me.” John
6:45
2. The lost son journeys home.
The father runs out to meet the lost son who is bringing
himself back home. God ran to meet us by
sending the Eternal Word as Jesus the Human One (Son of God).
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while
we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the
unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made
alive by the Spirit,” 1 Peter 3:18
“It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your
brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found." Luke 15:32
3. God forgives us.
The prodigal is the Gentile world. The older brother is the Jews. God loves them both.
"There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One
owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with
which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them
will love him more?" Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom
he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have rightly judged."
Luke 7:41-43
In this parable our Lord means: by the creditor, GOD, and, by
the two debtors, Simon and the woman who was present. Simon, as a Pharisee, is
the debtor who owed only fifty denarii. The woman, is the debtor who owed five
hundred denarii. Both were insolvent (could not pay). Simon, the religious Pharisee, could no more
pay his fifty to God than this poor woman her five hundred. And, if both were not freely forgiven by
God’s mercy, both must finally perish. Having NOTHING to PAY, he kindly FORGAVE
them both.
“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you
may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate [paraclete] with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And
He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for
the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2
“The Father, by raising Him from the dead, and setting Him at
His own right hand, has once for all accepted Christ's claim for us. Therefore
the accuser's charges against God's children are vain. "The righteousness
of Christ stands on our side; for God's righteousness is, in Jesus Christ,
ours" [LUTHER]. —Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Bible Commentary
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