Love Despite Rebellion

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. – Luke 15:20

In Luke chapter 15, Jesus is talking to two groups of people – sinners and Pharisees. In other words, He was talking to people who were banned from going to church and people who never missed church. One group was so bad they didn’t think God would ever accept them. The other group was so good that they thought God had already accepted them, but they were wrong, so He told the parable of the prodigal son.

A common misconception is that the story is about either son. It really isn’t. The main character of the story is the father. The father is mentioned twelve times in twenty verses. He is the real hero of the story. The story is not so much about a sinning son or a bitter brother, but a forgiving father.

Of course, the father represents God. The whole point of the parable is very simple. The Father’s door is always open and the Father’s message is always “Welcome.” The parable actually falls neatly into two different parts that tell us about the heart of our wonderful God. Let’s look at the first part today and we’ll look at the other part tomorrow.

The first thing we can learn about the heart of God from this parable is that the father loves us when we rebel against Him. The prodigal son had lost everything except the most important thing – the love of his father. In light of this, I want to point out that there is one thing that is true of you and me. No matter who we are, where we are, or why we got to where we are, there is a Father in heaven who loves us.

There is no limit to how far He will let you go and no limit to how long He will wait for you to return. Someone said it beautifully, “A sinner may go to hell unsaved, but he will never go to hell unloved.” The Father loves us even when we turn our back on Him and do everything we can to break His heart. No amount of rebellion can snuff the fire of His love for us.

Dear God, thank you that even when I act in rebellion, even when I make bad choices, you still love me and want a relationship with me. Help me accept your forgiveness and grace, and help me to show the same forgiveness and grace to those around me. In Jesus' name, amen.