WWJD Devotion
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBWz66BlHphnW4zZc2f
*THE FATHER WHO RUNS*
*But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.ā [Luke 15:20]*
We have read this parable, many times from our childhood till today. Maybe a thousand times from Sunday school days onwards till today.
We focus our attention our attention was mostly on the son. His rebellion. His hunger. His return.
The fatherās running felt so comforting, but have missed a small detail.
Recently, I slowed down at that word, "ran".
Luke may not have said that the father specifically hoisted his garment,.
*The gospel only tells us that he ran.*
But when we consider the setting, first-century Jewish culture in the Ancient Near East,we begin to understand
what that *"running"* meant.
I work in the middle east and being familiar with the robe known as Thawb, Kandura, or Dishdasha, I have understood what sacrifice needs to be undertaken for a person to RUN.
Elderly, wealthy landowners did not run in public or even in private.
Running required lifting oneās long robes.
It exposes their legs, andin their culture, that was considered undignified, even shameful for a man of status.
Jesus did not need to explain that to His original hearers.
So when He described a father running, He was describing something socially improper.
The father did not walk slowly with measured dignity. He did not even wait for the son to arrive and bow.
*H-E*
*R-A-N*
And he ran āwhile he was still a long way off.ā
- The father saw him first.
- The compassion began even before the apology was finished.
- The embrace came even before the son started to speak what he had planned to say to his father. (Luke 15:21ā22).
It seems to me now that the father was willing to bear public shame in order to reach his son before the village could.
Because those time and culture, a rebellious son who had dishonored his family could be publicly shamed
or rejected by the community.
The fatherās running was also protective in addition to being affectionate.
- He closed the distance as quickly as he could.
- He covered the shame of the son by taking a measure of shame upon himself.
- Then he embraced and kissed him.
- And he ordered the best robe, a ring, and sandals.
This was restoring instead of punishing.
1. The robe covers. The ring restores authority.
2. The sandals distinguish him from hired servants who went barefoot.
The son asked to be treated as a servant, a slave, the father restored him as a son.
When we read this parable carefully, we can see how this parable quietly prepares us for Christ.
The Father in heaven does not remain distant while waiting for sinners slowly make their way back.
*He sent His Son.*
*And in Christ, we see the Son bearing open shame on a cross (Hebrews 12:2).*
Crucifixion then was a public disgrace. It was the highest form of mockery. Our imagination of crucifixion is more influenced by pictures and paintings. But crucifixion was designed to torture and humiliate till death. The person was crucified naked to remove his dignity. The height of the cross was at 8 - 10 feet so the crucified person would see the people looking at him.
Rome made the cross a public spectacle- and with the entire process of flogging, humiliation and torture the person was already at the point of death. *Crucifixion terrified people.*
And if the father in Luke:15 was willing to look undignified to restore his son, how much more did Christ willingly *endure humiliation to restore us?*
- It is about costly compassion.
- It is about a Father who moved first.
- A Father who absorbed shame.
- A Father who restored completely.
And perhaps the question for us today is:
1. Do we still think we must walk all the way back on our own before He will come near?
2. Or do we believe that while we are still far off, He sees, and He feels compassion?
*We serve a God who did not wait for us become clean before accepting us but rather He accepted us and cleansed us by his blood*
WHAT A MIGHT GOD WE SERVE
WWJD Devotion
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBWz66BlHphnW4zZc2f
*THE FATHER WHO RUNS*
*But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.ā [Luke 15:20]*
We have read this parable, many times from our childhood till today. Maybe a thousand times from Sunday school days onwards till today.
We focus our attention our attention was mostly on the son. His rebellion. His hunger. His return.
The fatherās running felt so comforting, but have missed a small detail.
Recently, I slowed down at that word, "ran".
Luke may not have said that the father specifically hoisted his garment,.
*The gospel only tells us that he ran.*
But when we consider the setting, first-century Jewish culture in the Ancient Near East,we begin to understand
what that *"running"* meant.
I work in the middle east and being familiar with the robe known as Thawb, Kandura, or Dishdasha, I have understood what sacrifice needs to be undertaken for a person to RUN.
Elderly, wealthy landowners did not run in public or even in private.
Running required lifting oneās long robes.
It exposes their legs, andin their culture, that was considered undignified, even shameful for a man of status.
Jesus did not need to explain that to His original hearers.
So when He described a father running, He was describing something socially improper.
The father did not walk slowly with measured dignity. He did not even wait for the son to arrive and bow.
*H-E*
*R-A-N*
And he ran āwhile he was still a long way off.ā
- The father saw him first.
- The compassion began even before the apology was finished.
- The embrace came even before the son started to speak what he had planned to say to his father. (Luke 15:21ā22).
It seems to me now that the father was willing to bear public shame in order to reach his son before the village could.
Because those time and culture, a rebellious son who had dishonored his family could be publicly shamed
or rejected by the community.
The fatherās running was also protective in addition to being affectionate.
- He closed the distance as quickly as he could.
- He covered the shame of the son by taking a measure of shame upon himself.
- Then he embraced and kissed him.
- And he ordered the best robe, a ring, and sandals.
This was restoring instead of punishing.
1. The robe covers. The ring restores authority.
2. The sandals distinguish him from hired servants who went barefoot.
The son asked to be treated as a servant, a slave, the father restored him as a son.
When we read this parable carefully, we can see how this parable quietly prepares us for Christ.
The Father in heaven does not remain distant while waiting for sinners slowly make their way back.
*He sent His Son.*
*And in Christ, we see the Son bearing open shame on a cross (Hebrews 12:2).*
Crucifixion then was a public disgrace. It was the highest form of mockery. Our imagination of crucifixion is more influenced by pictures and paintings. But crucifixion was designed to torture and humiliate till death. The person was crucified naked to remove his dignity. The height of the cross was at 8 - 10 feet so the crucified person would see the people looking at him.
Rome made the cross a public spectacle- and with the entire process of flogging, humiliation and torture the person was already at the point of death. *Crucifixion terrified people.*
And if the father in Luke:15 was willing to look undignified to restore his son, how much more did Christ willingly *endure humiliation to restore us?*
- It is about costly compassion.
- It is about a Father who moved first.
- A Father who absorbed shame.
- A Father who restored completely.
And perhaps the question for us today is:
1. Do we still think we must walk all the way back on our own before He will come near?
2. Or do we believe that while we are still far off, He sees, and He feels compassion?
*We serve a God who did not wait for us become clean before accepting us but rather He accepted us and cleansed us by his blood*
WHAT A MIGHT GOD WE SERVE