What is the main message of
Romans 11?
Romans 11 concludes Paul's discussion about God's plan for the Israelites begun in Romans 9 and 10. Paul insists that, though Israel as a nation has rejected Christ, a remnant of Jewish Christians exists by God's grace. God has hardened the rest in their unbelief until enough Gentiles have come to Him through Christ.
In Hosea 1:2 we read, “The LORD said to Hosea, ‘Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom.’” Hosea obeyed, marrying a woman named Gomer, who was unfaithful to him. Why did God tell Hosea to marry a prostitute?
To begin with, it is important to realize this command could be understood two different ways. First, and more likely, this command could be one of anticipation. In other words, God may have instructed Hosea to marry a woman who would later become unfaithful to him. The other possibility is that the command was for Hosea to marry someone already known as a prostitute.
In either case, the reason for this unusual directive is specified in the latter half of the same verse: “For the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.” God wanted to provide an illustration of His relationship with the people of Israel, who had been unfaithful to Him by practicing idolatry. This theme is carried through the remainder of the prophecies in chapter 1 and the discussion of Israel’s unfaithfulness in chapter 2.
In Hosea 3:1, after Gomer had left Hosea and was living in immorality, the Lord commanded Hosea to find her and buy her back. God was continuing His illustration, except now He wanted to show the greatness of His grace: “Even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods.” Hosea’s faithful love of Gomer was an illustration of God’s faithfulness to wayward Israel. Just as Gomer had been unfaithful to her husband and had to be redeemed, Israel needed God’s initiative to restore their relationship.
The prophet Hosea was commanded to marry an unfaithful wife, and this set up a model of Israel’s broken relationship with God. Israel had been chosen and loved by God yet had been unfaithful to Him by way of idolatry. Just as Hosea redeemed his estranged wife and sought to continue his relationship with her, God promised to redeem Israel and renew their relationship with Him. The story of Hosea and Gomer is an unforgettable picture of God’s strong, unending love for His covenant people.
"Abomination of desolation"
I will stop all her celebrations:
her yearly festivals, her New Moons,
her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals.
I will ruin her vines and her fig trees,
which she said were her pay from her lovers;
I will make them a thicket,
and wild animals will devour them.
I will punish her for the days
she burned incense to the Baals;
she decked herself with rings and jewelry,
and went after her lovers,
but me she forgot,”
declares the Lord.
is a phrase from the Book of Daniel describing the pagan sacrifices with which the 2nd century BC Greek king Antiochus IV Epiphanes replaced the twice-daily offering in the Jewish temple, or alternatively the altar on which such offerings were made.
False prophets have been around since the very beginning. You could say that the first false prophet appeared in the Garden of Eden with the serpent’s lie to Adam and Eve. The truth of the matter is, they were there at the beginning and they will be around until the end.
Because of this it makes sense to know what a false prophet is. These people could be invading your churches and pulpits, so it is imperative to know who they are. Their damage goes beyond just their “prophecies” and teachings, their influence can be damaging to the body of Christ; who disguises a ruthless nature through an outward show of innocence. Jesus taught his followers to “beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
The term “wolf in sheep’s clothing” has biblical origins and is used to describe someone who pretends to be outwardly innocent and harmless. However, within, they are predatory “wolves,” ready to devour their prey. Who they present themselves to be is far different from who they truly are. Many wolves in sheep’s clothing disguise themselves as upstanding citizens and pillars of their community, all while they commit heinous crimes behind closed doors.
Entering the Temple, Jesus saw the money changers, along with merchants who were selling animals for sacrifice. Pilgrims carried coins from their hometowns, most bearing the images of Roman emperors or Greek gods, which Temple authorities considered idolatrous
the animal sales were related to selling animals for use in the animal sacrifices in the Temple. He also explains that the moneychangers in the temple existed to convert the many currencies in use into the accepted currency for paying the Temple taxes.
He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. [18] Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
Jeremiah was a prophet of God, proclaiming that judgment was coming upon Jerusalem. However, Jeremiah was opposed by the king and the priests who did not want to hear his message. In their opinion, Jeremiah’s message of surrendering to Babylon amounted to treason. False prophets, who claimed to speak for God, also contradicted Jeremiah’s message. Jeremiah proclaimed bloodshed, destruction, and judgment when Babylon conquered Jerusalem. The false prophets, on the other hand, said that the future of Jerusalem looked bright—Jerusalem could look forward to peace, not war.
The phrase peace, peace, when there is no peace is found in Jeremiah 6:14 as well as Jeremiah 8:11. It is also found in Ezekiel 13:10 and 16. In all four places, it has the same meaning in the same historical context.
Jeremiah was like a doctor delivering bad news to his patient. His diagnosis was that, unless drastic measures were taken, the patient would die. However, the false prophets gave a “second opinion.” “Don’t listen to Jeremiah,” they said; “you are going to be just fine.” Instead of radical surgery and a drastic change of lifestyle, the priests and false prophets said a light bandage was all that was needed. The following passage is found in Jeremiah 6:13–14 and repeated exactly in Jeremiah 8:10b–11:
“From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say,
when there is no peace.”
When the priests and false prophets said, “Peace, peace,” they were denying that judgment was on the way. They were giving the people false assurances. The explicit assumption is that Jerusalem and Judah had not committed grievous sins and that God was not displeased with them. In fact, according to the false prophets, God was quite happy with His people and wanted to bless them. They promised “peace, peace!” Unfortunately, their promised peace would not come. The book of Jeremiah bears this out, and, in the end, Jerusalem was destroyed by Babylon, just as God had said.
The prophet Ezekiel says something similar: “Because [the false prophets] lead my people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth” (Ezekiel 13:10–11). In the same passage, God says, “So I will pour out my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. I will say to you, ‘The wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it, those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Sovereign Lord”’ (verses 15–17).
There are still false prophets and religious leaders today who issue false promises of peace when there is no peace. The message of peace and prosperity “sells.” Some preachers and teachers today say that the Christian life is all about peace and prosperity, but God does not promise that. There are others who ignore or downplay the seriousness of sin and teach that God is not concerned with their behavior. Others deny that eternal judgment awaits the unrepentant sinner, even though God has promised just the opposite. These are modern examples of false prophets promising peace when there is no peace.
Paul tells Timothy to “preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Timothy 4:2–4). People like to hear good news, and they do not want to hear that hardship may be God’s will for them in this life or that judgment is certain after death. Christians have the job of delivering bad news because the bad news must be embraced before the good news can be effective.
God bore witness against the people to whom Isaiah was sent to minister, calling them “rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction” (Isaiah 30:9). Such people have closed their ears to the Word of the Lord, and desire to hear only “peace” even when there is no peace. They say to God’s prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. . . . Stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!” (verses 10–11).
In his apocalyptic vision in the book of Revelation, the apostle John sees the “beast,” whom we identify as the Antichrist, rising out of the sea having seven heads and ten horns (Revelation 13:1). Comparing this vision to Daniel’s similar one (Daniel 7:16–24), we can conclude that some sort of world governance system will be inaugurated by the beast, the most powerful “horn,” who will “wage war against God’s holy people and . . . conquer them” (Revelation 13:7). The ten-nation confederacy is also seen in the statue of Daniel 2:41–42, where the final world government consists of ten entities represented by the statue’s ten toes. Whoever the ten nations are and however they come to unite, Scripture is clear that the beast will subdue three of them (Daniel 7:8), and the rest will do his bidding.
John describes the ruler of this vast empire as having power and great authority, given to him by Satan himself (Revelation 13:2). This ruler receives worship from “all the world” (Revelation 13:3–4) and will have authority over “every tribe, people, language and nation” (Revelation 13:7). This person will truly be the leader of a one-world government that is recognized as sovereign over all other governments. We see nations today willing to give up some of their sovereignty to combat climate change; it’s easy to imagine that the disasters and plagues described in Revelation 6—11 would create such a monumental crisis that the nations of the world will embrace anything and anyone who promises a solution.
Once entrenched in power, the beast (the Antichrist) and the power behind him (Satan) will move to establish absolute control. In demanding worship, Satan edges toward his goal of being like God (see Isaiah 14:12–14). To truly control people, commerce must be controlled. Revelation 13 describes how this will happen. Everyone, “great and small, rich and poor, free and slave,” will be forced to receive some type of mark “on their right hands or on their foreheads” in order to buy and sell (Revelation 13:16). No doubt the majority of people in the world will receive the mark simply to survive. This new system of commerce will be universal, it will be compulsory, and it will be associated with the worship of the beast (Revelation 13:15). There is a great deal of speculation as to what form this mark will take and how it will be affixed, but the technologies available right now could accomplish it easily.
Those who are left behind after the rapture of the church will be faced with an excruciating choice—accept the mark of the beast or face starvation and horrific persecution by the Antichrist and his followers. But those who come to Christ during that time, those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life (Revelation 13:8), will choose to endure, even through martyrdom.
Hosea 4:12 makes a strong and graphic accusation against Israel: “My people inquire of a piece of wood, and their walking staff gives them oracles. For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have left their God to play the whore.” Why would God say Israel had a spirit of whoredom (“spirit of prostitution,” NIV)?
This provocative label is given to idolaters. We read that the Israelites “inquire of a piece of wood.” In other words, Israelites were consulting wooden idols. They had invested financially in making these idols or in asking others to give advice from idols. These idolaters were “unfaithful” to the Lord as they paid to have a relationship with other gods. God’s people are to be faithful to Him; to chase after other gods is to commit “spiritual adultery.”
The “spirit of whoredom” could be a poetic reference to Israel’s desire to practice idolatry. However, there is a real connection between idolatry and the spirit world: “They sacrificed to demons, which are not God—gods they had not known” (Deuteronomy 32:17). There are spirits, demonic in nature, which set themselves up as “gods” in this world and demand worship. The “spirit of whoredom” could be a literal entity that led Israel astray.
Hosea 4:13 continues to delineate the problem: “They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good. Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your brides commit adultery.” Israel’s spiritual prostitution included offering sacrifices to false gods. This was in violation of God’s Law that commanded sacrifice only to the Lord in the temple in Jerusalem. The worship of other gods often included actual prostitution, a sexual sin that the Israelites had been commanded to avoid.
Such strong words from God through the prophet Hosea were intended to condemn idolatry and call Israel to repentance. God offered forgiveness and restoration even to those who had been so wicked. Hosea himself served as an example of God’s grace: his wife Gomer was unfaithful to him, yet he restored his relationship with her (Hosea 1:2; 3:1-5). In the same way, God was willing to restore His relationship with His people who had strayed into idolatry.
Hosea 14, the final chapter of the book, reveals the Lord’s desire for His people: “Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity” (Hosea 14:1). Verse 4 likewise encourages, “I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them.” Verse 7 poetically describes a restored Israel in the future: “They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine.”
Despite wayward Israel’s following a “spirit of prostitution,” it is clear the Lord’s desire was to restore His people, calling them to repentance and a renewed relationship. This gracious offer to sinners is still extended to individuals today through Jesus Christ. He has offered forgiveness of sin and the opportunity for a relationship with God for everyone who trusts in Him (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9).
In Hosea 2:19, the Lord speaks words of comfort and commitment to the nation of Israel: “I will betroth you to me forever.” This promise is especially remarkable given the context in which it is made. In the first half of the same chapter, Israel is under God’s judgment—it is a passage of disgrace, damage, and deprivation. But God will not forever forsake His people, and He promises a restoration, a renewal of their vows.
Hosea was a prophet primarily to the northern kingdom of Israel. He announced God’s judgment for the people’s breaking of the Mosaic Covenant (Hosea 1:2–4). In 722 BC, shortly after Hosea’s ministry, God utilized the Assyrians as an instrument of that judgment, and the northern kingdom went into exile (cf. Deuteronomy 28:15–68). In predicting the judgment, Hosea used a marriage covenant as a symbol of God’s covenant with Israel. God had been faithful to His people, but they had broken their vows and chased after other “lovers” (see Hosea 1:2; 2:5).
In Hosea 2:13, the Lord lays out His case against Israel: “She burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot.” But God remains committed to the relationship. Still using the language of a marriage covenant, God extends this promise:
“In that day,” declares the Lord, “you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master.’ I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked. . . . Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety. I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord” (Hosea 2:16–20).
In the midst of a dire announcement, Hosea predicts a future restoration of Israel, one characterized by peace, righteousness, love, and faithfulness. God’s grace and love for Israel are on full display here.
Three times in Hosea 2:19–20, God says, “I will betroth you.” The threefold repetition has the effect of intensity and solemnity. God means what He says. Despite Israel’s unfaithfulness to God (as illustrated by Hosea’s wife’s unfaithfulness to him), God has plans to restore the relationship to a place of blessing and abundance. The betrothal will be forever, and nothing will break the bond. The nation that had previously played the harlot will become a faithful wife.
God’s promise to Israel, “I will betroth you to me forever,” goes beyond forgiveness, beyond restoration, beyond kindness. The promise is an intimate relationship that overcomes the past and looks only to the future. God gives Himself wholly to Israel, and Israel will give herself wholly to Him. There will be nothing temporary about the union.
Jeremiah prophesies a similar time of blessing upon future Israel: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place [the land of Israel] and let them live in safety. They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul” (Jeremiah 32:36–41). These promises show that God still has a plan for the people of Israel. These promises are still going to be kept. We can be sure that all God has said is true and will take place.
The New Testament uses a metaphor similar to what’s found in Hosea, as the Church is called the “bride of Christ” (see Ephesians 5:25–27). The Church’s responsibility during the “betrothal,” before the consummation, is to be faithful to Him (2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:24). At the rapture, the Church will be united with the Bridegroom, and the official “wedding ceremony” will take place. At that time, the eternal union of Christ and His bride will be realized (Revelation 19:7–9; 21:1–2).
Praise God, His unconditional promises are not invalidated by the unfaithfulness of mankind. Israel was unfaithful and pursued idols, but God said, “I will betroth you to me forever.” We, as part of the Church, are also unfaithful at times. Our hearts are prone to wander. Yet God’s ultimate purpose to bless His people remains intact. We are held firmly in the grip of God’s grace (see John 10:28–30).
Even when we experience the discipline of the Lord, we are confident in His unfailing love. He has promised to betroth us to Himself forever.
“His anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).
The major theme of this parable is not so much the conversion of the sinner, as in the previous two parables of Luke 15, but rather the restoration of a believer into fellowship with the Father. In the first two parables, the owner went out to look for what was lost (Luke 15:1–10), whereas in this story the father waits and watches eagerly for his son’s return. We see a progression through the three parables from the relationship of one in a hundred (Luke 15:1–7), to one in ten (Luke 15:8–10), to one in one (Luke 15:11–32), demonstrating God’s love for each individual and His personal attentiveness toward all humanity. We see in this story the graciousness of the father overshadowing the sinfulness of the son, as it is the memory of the father’s goodness that brings the prodigal son to repentance (Romans 2:4).
Jesus sets the scene for the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11: “There was a man who had two sons.”
The Younger Son
In Luke 15:12, the younger son asks his father for his share of his estate, which would have been half of what his older brother would receive (see Deuteronomy 21:17). In other words, the younger son asked for 1/3 of the estate. Though it was perfectly within his rights to ask, it was not a loving thing to do, as it implied that he wished his father dead. Instead of rebuking his son, the father patiently grants him his request. This is a picture of God letting a sinner go his own way (Deuteronomy 30:19).
Like the prodigal son, we all possess a foolish ambition to be independent, which is at the root of the sinner persisting in his sin (Genesis 3:6; Romans 1:28). A sinful state is a departure and distance from God (Romans 1:21). A sinful state is also a place of constant discontent. In Luke 12:15 Jesus says, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” The younger son in the parable learned the hard way that covetousness leads to a life of dissatisfaction and disappointment. He also learned that the most valuable things in life are the things we cannot buy or replace.
In Luke 15:13 the younger son travels to a distant country. It is evident from his previous actions that he had already made that journey in his heart, and the physical departure was a display of his willful disobedience to all the goodness his father had offered (Proverbs 27:19; Matthew 6:21; 12:34). In the foreign land, the prodigal squanders all his inheritance on selfish, shallow fulfillment, losing everything. His financial disaster is followed by a natural disaster in the form of a famine, which he failed to plan for. At this point he hires himself out to a Gentile and finds himself feeding pigs, a detestable job to the Jewish people (Leviticus 11:7). Needless to say, the prodigal must have been incredibly desperate to willingly take such a loathsome position. He was paid so little and grew so hungry that he longed to eat the pig’s food. To top it off, he could find no mercy among the people he had chosen as his own: “No one gave him anything” (verse 16). Apparently, once his wealth was gone, so were his friends. Even the unclean animals were better off than he was at that point.
The prodigal son toiling in the pig pen is a picture of the lost sinner or a rebellious Christian who has returned to a life of sin (2 Peter 2:19–21). The results of sin are never pretty (James 1:14–15).
The prodigal son begins to reflect on his miserable condition, and “he came to his senses” (Luke 15:17). He realizes that even his father’s servants have it better. His painful circumstances help him to see his father in a new light. Hope begins to dawn in his heart (Psalm 147:11; Isaiah 40:30–31; 1 Timothy 4:10).
The prodigal’s realization is reflective of the sinner’s discovery that, apart from God, there is no hope (Ephesians 2:12; 2 Timothy 2:25–26). When a sinner “comes to his senses,” repentance follows, along with a longing to return to fellowship with God.
The son devises a plan of action, and it shows that his repentance was genuine. He will admit his sin (Luke 15:18), and he will give up his rights as a son and take on the position of a servant (verse 19). He realizes he has no right to a blessing from his father, and he has nothing to offer his father except a life of service. Returning home, the prodigal son is prepared to fall at his father’s feet and beg for mercy.
In the same way, a repentant sinner coming to God is keenly aware of his own spiritual poverty. Laying aside all pride and feelings of entitlement, he brings nothing of value with him. The sinner’s only thought is to cast himself at the mercy of God and beg for a position of servitude (1 John 1:9; Romans 6:6–18; 12:1).
The Father
The father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son was waiting for his son to return. In fact, “while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him” (Luke 15:20). He runs to his wayward son, embraces him, and kisses him. In Jesus’ day, it was not customary for a grown man to run, yet the father runs to greet his son, breaking convention in his love and desire for restoration (verse 20). The returning son begins his prepared speech (verse 21), but his father cuts him off and begins issuing commands to honor his son—the best robe, the best ring, the best feast! The father does not question his son or lecture him; instead, he joyfully forgives him and receives him back into fellowship.
What a picture of God’s love, condescension, and grace! God’s heart is full of compassion for His children; He stands ready to welcome the returning sinner back home with joyous celebration.
The prodigal son was satisfied to return home as a slave, but to his surprise and delight he is restored back into the full privilege of being his father’s son. The weary, gaunt, filthy sinner who trudged home was transformed into the guest of honor in a rich man’s home. That is what God’s grace does for a penitent sinner (Psalm 40:2; 103:4). Not only are we forgiven in Christ, but we receive the Spirit of “adoption to sonship” (Romans 8:15). We are His children, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).
The father’s command to bring the best robe for the returned son is a sign of dignity and honor, proof of the prodigal’s acceptance back into the family. The ring for the son’s hand is a sign of authority and sonship. The sandals for his feet are a sign of his not being a servant, as servants did not wear shoes. The father orders the fattened calf to be prepared, and a party is held in honor of the returned son. Fatted calves in those times were saved for special occasions. This was not just any party; it was a rare and complete celebration.
All these things represent what we receive in Christ upon salvation: the robe of the Redeemer’s righteousness (Isaiah 61:10), the privilege of partaking of the Spirit of adoption (Ephesians 1:5), and feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, prepared to walk in the ways of holiness (Ephesians 6:15). The actions of the father in the parable show us that “the Lord does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him” (Psalm 103:10–13). Instead of condemnation, there is rejoicing for a son who “was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (Luke 15:32; cf. Romans 8:1; John 5:24). Those words--dead and alive, lost and found—are terms that also apply to one’s state before and after conversion to Christ (Ephesians 2:1–5). The feast is a picture of what occurs in heaven over one repentant sinner (Luke 15:7, 10).
The Older Son
The final, tragic character in the Parable of the Prodigal Son is the older son. As the older son comes in from the field, he hears music and dancing. He finds out from one of the servants that his younger brother has come home and that what he hears is the sound of jubilation over his brother’s safe return. The older brother becomes angry and refuses to go into the house. His father goes to his older son and pleads with him to come in. “But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’” (Luke 15:29–30). The father answers gently: “My son, . . . you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad” (verses 31–32).
The older son’s words and actions reveal several things about him: 1) His relationship with his father was based on works and merit. He points out to his father that he has always been obedient as he’s been “slaving away”; thus, he deserves a party—he has earned it. 2) He despises his younger brother as undeserving of the father’s favor. 3) He does not understand grace and has no room for forgiveness. In fact, the demonstration of grace toward his brother makes him angry. His brother does not deserve a party. 4) He has disowned the prodigal as a brother, referring to him as “this son of yours” (verse 30). 5) He thinks his father is stingy and unfair: “You never gave me even a young goat” (verse 29).
The father’s words are corrective in several ways: 1) His older son should know that their relationship is not based on performance: “My son, . . . you are always with me, and everything I have is yours” (Luke 15:31). 2) His older son should accept his brother as part of the family. The father refers to the prodigal as “this brother of yours” (verse 32). 3) His older son could have enjoyed a party any time he wanted, but he never utilized the blessings at his disposal. 4) Grace is necessary and appropriate: “We had to celebrate” (verse 32).
The Pharisees and the teachers of the law, mentioned in Luke 15:1, are portrayed as the older brother in the parable. Outwardly, they lived blameless lives, but inwardly their attitudes were abominable (Matthew 23:25–28). They saw their relationship with God as based on their performance, and they considered themselves deserving of God’s favor—unlike the undeserving sinners around them. They did not understand grace and were, in fact, angered by it. They had no room for forgiveness. They saw no kinship between sinners and themselves. They viewed God as rather stingy in His blessings. And they considered that, if God were to accept tax collectors and sinners into His family, then God would be unfair.
The older brother’s focus was on himself and his own service; as a result, he had no joy in his brother’s arrival home. He was so consumed with justice and equity (as he saw them) that he failed to see the value of his brother’s repentance and return. The older brother had allowed bitterness to take root in his heart to the point that he was unable to show compassion toward his brother. The bitterness spilled over into other relationships, too, and he was unable to forgive the perceived sin of his father against him. Rather than enjoy fellowship with his father, brother, and community, the older brother stayed outside the house and nursed his anger. How sad to choose misery and isolation over restoration and reconciliation!
The older brother—and the religious leaders of Jesus’ day—failed to realize that “anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him” (1 John 2:9–11).
The Parable of the Prodigal Son is one of Scripture’s most beautiful pictures of God’s grace. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We are all prodigals in that we have run from God, selfishly squandered our resources, and, to some degree, wallowed in sin. But God is ready to forgive. He will save the contrite, not by works but by His grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:9; Romans 9:16; Psalm 51:5). That is the core message of the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
There, on the Holy Mountain, my life found its right track. Almost every day after the Liturgy I knew a feeling of Easter joy.And strange as it may seem, my constant prayer like some volcanic eruption proceeded from the profound despair that ahd taken over my heart. Two seemingly totally incompatible states met together in me. I am recording facts. I did not understand myself what was happeing to me. Outwardly I was no less fortunate than most people.
Later, things became clear to me: The Lord had granted me the grace of repentance. Tes, it was a grace. The moment despair slackened, prayer cooled off and death would invade my heart. Through repentance, my being expanded until in spirit I touch upon both hell and the Kingdom…
The heart is such a strange thing – well revealed by the great Elder’s writings. To be both in a place of despair and yet in a place of prayer. It is why “technique” has so little place in the spiritual life. There are things we can do, and yet all that we do is and must be in relation to God. God is not an object or any such thing. He cannot be found by technique. Christ offers the simple formula: ‘ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7).
The answer to the human heart is to be found in a relationship that is personal, a relationship that is marked by freedom and love. Strangely, we cannot change the heart by our own actions, but only by the gift of God. Thus we pray and thus we wait – ’til He have mercy.
In this sense the goal of the human life is a state of constant repentance – again, not that we can repent as an action of our own. Repentance is the state of the heart when it is in communion with God. This is the reason that Orthodox spiritual writings place such great store in the “gift of tears,” and similar attitudes of heart. It is, in my opinion, why Orthodox spiritual writings are not overwhelmingly concerned with issues of social justice and the like. One ought to do justice, with this there is no disagreement. But it may also be the case that the difficulties one encounters in life is itself are the very occasions in which repentance is born.
I Will Exalt You, My God and King
…17The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds. 18The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth. 19He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.…
John 4:24
God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth."
Deuteronomy 4:7
For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him?
Psalm 34:18
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
Psalm 46:1
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble.
Psalm 75:1
We give thanks to You, O God; we give thanks, for Your name is near. The people declare Your wondrous works.
Psalm 119:151
You are near, O LORD, and all Your commandments are true.
Proverbs 15:29
The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.
The LORD is near to all them that call on him, to all that call on him in truth.
nigh unto
Psalm 34:18
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Psalm 46:1,4
To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble…
Deuteronomy 4:7
For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
call upon
Psalm 17:1
A Prayer of David. Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.
Psalm 119:2
Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
Proverbs 15:8
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.