The Mark of Resurrection.

John 13:31-35

Transcript

The Parable of the Father and His Sons

There was a father who had three sons. And this father gave them everything they needed to live well. He taught them how to live off the land—how to grow food, how to hunt, cook, keep a home, and show hospitality. 

When they were tired, he gave them rest. When they were hungry, he fed them the best meals. When it was time to do their chores, he joined them—making them feel like work was something they got to do with their father rather than for their father. And when they were afraid, he stirred them to courage. After their labor, he helped them clean up and taught them how to rest well.

But something happened—something that happens to many men when war breaks out. The father was called to serve his country.

With great sorrow, the boys gathered around the front door to see him off. The father embraced each of them and said,

“My sons, I do not know how long I will be away, but while I am gone, I ask that you love each other the way I have loved you. If you do this, my absence will be more bearable and my love for you will be felt.”

Tears filled their eyes. The Knots in their throats made it so that they could hardly speak. They hugged him one last time. And then—he was gone.

Months passed, and their father’s absence weighed heavy in the house. 

One day, as the eldest son was in his father’s room, he saw his father’s old clothes and decided to try them on, for he was a mature boy now, and to his surprise, his father’s clothes fit quite well. 

He liked the way the clothes felt. He liked how it made him feel important, in charge, strong like his Father. He pretended to be like his father to offer his brothers some comfort. His brothers were amazed at how he looked like their father in his clothes, he even sounded like their father, but when it came to acting like his Father, he fell short. He ordered them to do their chores, and he used his brother’s love for their father to serve his own interests, saying, If you had any love for our Father, you would do what you are told.

Eventually, the youngest son had had enough. He stood up and protested to the eldest,

“Just because you look like our father and sound like him doesn’t mean you act like him. You bark out orders and demand we do the chores, but you don’t do any of them yourself. Our father made us feel like we were working with him, not for him. You don’t  love like Father, you’re selfish and controlling.”

Before he could finish, the middle son interrupted…

“What does it matter? Father is gone. He’s probably not coming back. Besides, if He really loved us, he wouldn’t have left us. He left us to fend for ourselves. I’m not listening to either of you. I’m going to do what I think is best and look after myself.”

At that, the boys began arguing and fighting each other.

And if they had just stopped for a moment, they might have heard the sound of the car door shutting. They might have heard boots creak on the front porch.

But they were too loud, too caught up in their arguing, to hear that their father had just come home.

The Father reached for the door. But hearing their arguing, he stopped to listen.

Before things took a violent turn, the father flung the door open and stood in the entryway of the house.

The boys froze. Their faces looked like something between horror and relief. It took them a moment, but they shortly realized their father was home, and tears began to fill their eyes. 

Without saying a word, the father walked over to them and hugged them. He wiped their tears, sat them down, fixed them a meal, tidied up the house, cleaned their feet, and made a fire.

Still, not a word had been spoken. The boys wondered how much of their arguing their father might have heard before he came through the door. They sat before the fire in shame and guilt. 

Then the Father broke the silence.

“My sons, my love for you has been burning in my heart ever since I left. The hope that you would love each other as I have loved you has kept you with me while I was away.

I see now that in my absence, you forgot the love I showed you when we were together. You have not loved one another as I have asked.”

Turning to the eldest, he said, “Had you loved your brothers the way I loved you, they might have seen me in you and found comfort instead of frustration in my absence.”

To the youngest, he said, “Had you loved your brothers like I loved you, you would have reminded them of my words instead of reprimanding them with yours, which would have helped them not forget what my love looks like.”

And to the middle son, he said, “Had you loved your brothers as I have loved you, you would have believed, instead of doubted—even in my absence—that my love never left you, but remained with you and within you all along.”

“My sons, whether I am present with you or absent from you, you are to love each other as I have loved you.”

The point of this parable is for us to reflect upon how we have loved each other because that is what Jesus has asked of us to do in his absence:

John 13:34–35 (NASB95)

34“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The three sons whom their father has loved do not reflect their father’s love for each other in his absence: 

·      The eldest son looks and sounds like his father, but doesn’t act like him; he doesn't love his brothers in the same way his father does.

·      The youngest son scolds the oldest for looking like their father but not acting like him. Yet the youngest, who seemed to remember most of the ways their father showed his love, never reminded his brothers of how their father loved them, causing them all to forget and love in wrong ways.

·      The middle son rejected both of them altogether because he didn’t believe his father’s love could be experienced and felt through the lives of others, but only through the father himself. This led him to doubt the father’s love and to trust and look after himself only.

I don’t know which of these sons best represents us. I want to believe that we are the best of them all, that the love of Christ is present in the way we love one another. But like these sons who missed the mark, we need to assess if we are missing the mark.

We are to be marked by how we love each other. Not just with any love but with a particular love—the love that Jesus has loved us. 

Do we serve one another, carry each other’s burdens, and walk alongside each other in joy and in sorrow? Do we prioritize our own interests or the interests of others? Do we enjoy being together, because when we are together, the Love of Jesus is felt and experienced from each one of us into another? Is this the place, and are we the people who love because Christ has first loved us?

Jesus gave Himself for us. He healed our wounds. He washed our feet. He forgave our sins. He fed our souls. He died in our place so that we might live.

And now He says to us, 'Love each other like that.’

So the question remains: Does that kind of love mark us?

Because if we are, then the world will know exactly who we belong to. And we can find comfort in the fact that we belong to Christ. 

Love one another, as Christ has loved you. Let’s Pray.