Friday, September 30, 2011

Response to "From Prodigal Child to Favorite"

I find it very intriguing that a Rabbi would make oblique references to the New Testament in extending his reading of Parashat Ha'azinu.

Yet in referencing the Parable of the Prodigal Son from the Gospel of Luke Chapter 15, Rabbi Korobkin would have done well to heed the outcome. Not only was the wastrel son received back into his father's house, but he celebrated his return joyously with feasting and restoration of honor.

This heartwarming welcome is in store for all who follow the Lord, no matter how far they may have wandered. Yet we can only follow Him to the extent that we receive Him by faith, and this reconciliation is only possible through the redemptive work of His Son Jesus Christ dying on the Cross at Calvary.

True, in Parashat Ha'azinu, the LORD reprimands His people, declaring to them:

"And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.

"They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation." (Deuteronomy 32:20-21)

Much like the older so in the Luke's Parable, the older son, the one who stayed home and behaved like an obedient good boy, is understandably outraged when his father welcomes the prodigal son with the fatted calf, feasting, and a new set of garments.

What sets the younger son apart from the older, "more obedient" kid?

The prodigal demonstrated great faith, believing that his father would take him back as a hired servant, fully aware that he did not deserve anything.

This faith is the very thing that the Lord holds against His chosen people:

"And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith." (v.20)

Because they lacked faith, the Jews had no righteousness, for Abraham, the father of all believer, was justified by faith:

"And he [Abraham] believed in the LORD; and he [the LORD] counted it to him for righteousness." (Genesis 15:6)

What did Abraham believe, exactly? In the context of this verse, Abraham believed that the LORD would give Abraham descendants more numerous than the sands of the sea or the stars in the sky. Yet the verse is more explicit in its economy: Abraham believed in the LORD, not just limited to a specific promise, but he trusted absolutely in the Most High, that He was, is and is to come, and that He would reward those who diligently seek Him by faith (cf. Hebrews 11:6).

In the same resolute fashion, the prodigal Son of Luke 15 believed in his father's nature and endowment, enough that he said to himself:

"And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

"I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

"And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants." (Luke 15:17-19)

In this verse, the younger son was not afraid to appeal to his father as such, though he had practically disowned him by demanding his portion of the inheritance before his father's death.

And behold the warm reception that the younger son receives:

"But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:

And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:

For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry." (Luke 15:20-24)

The father ran to his son, so glad to see him. Of course, in ancient times it was indecent for an older man to run, yet the father would not contain his love for his son.

This is the power and majesty of God's grace, which can only be accessed by faith.

For those familiar with the parable in the New Testament, they are firmly aware of the older son, who upon hearing of the feted return of his younger brother, pouts and shuns the feast. Why was the older son so angry?

"Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:

But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf." (Luke 15: 29-30)

The older son betrays a wicked sense of entitlement and debt. His father, who has fed him and clothed him and provided for him in every way, should also give him more for doing what he was told to do. Such is the deep resentment of all who think that they can earn God's favor.

One can just as well submit that the older brother is jealous, an outcome which the LORD intended:

"They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation." (Deuteronomy 32:21)

Today, the follower of Jesus Christ have received righteousness by faith, believing on the saving Finished Work of Christ at the Cross.

Besides, on what grounds can the older son argue that he has kept his father's commandments and never transgressed them? For it is written in Psalms:

"Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." (Psalms 53:3)

Back to the Parable, the father attempts to entreat his embittered older son:

"Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.

"It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found." (Luke 15: 31-32)

Here, the father makes very clear what the older son apparently never realized: everything that was the father's was already his as a son! All the older son had to do was ask, just as the younger son did upon returning to his home! All this time, while the prodigal son was wasting away his inheritance, the older son was obeying his father, but not from a light and cheerful heart, but from a grudging sense of duty.

This parable demonstrates the weakness and unrest that comes with (attempting!) to keep the law, versus receiving the grace of God by faith. Every since the Law was given to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai, they have attempted to keep the Lord's statutes, and have failed. Joshua told them plainly that that would be the case:

"Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins." (Joshua 24:19)

Yet indeed the LORD would provide a full atonement for our sins, both Jew and Gentile, through Jesus Christ's death on the Cross.

When we come to the LORD with our weak and beggarly elements, unable to even care for ourselves, dependent completely on the good favor of the LORD, then we may enter into the grace of God, who then supplies all our needs.

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