I’ve officially started my 2nd week of Hermeneutics class and with so much to do this week for both class and church, I began reading for week 2 just as soon as I had turned in my last week 1 assignment. In one of my two textbooks, I’m reading a chapter on historical-cultural elements. I came across this great reminder:
In the parable of the prodigal son, we think nothing of the father running to greet his returning son. But when we learn that elderly Jewish men were considered much too dignified to run, we begin to see that Jesus is telling us how God feels about and responds to sinners when they come home. If you have ever been in the far country spiritually, you’ll be glad to know that when you decide to return home, God stands ready to “ditch his dignity” and run to meet you.
J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays, Grasping God’s Word: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible, Third Edition. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 122.
Amazing isn’t it? The thought of our great and awesome God…Creator of everything…laying aside His dignity to run down the road and meet his prodigal son or daughter coming home in shame from sin and from having rejected his own father’s life by unworthily demanding his share of the father’s inheritance.
And every time we sin…and every time we come back in 1 John 1:9 confession and repentance…every time…our Father lays aside His dignity and remembers the price paid on the cross, when God the Son laid aside His dignity to pay for our sins and to offer us eternal forgiveness.
I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t count the number of times our heavenly Father has laid aside His dignity and has run to take me back home.
