A PRODIGAL PROPHET

Read

Luke 15:11-32

Jonah 1:3

Focus

Not long after that, the younger son packed up all he had. Then he left for a country far away.

Luke 15:13

The story of the Prodigal Son is surely the best known of the parables that Jesus taught. The shocking story of the rebellious Jewish kid who not only squandered his family’s wealth with wild living, but ended up snacking with some very un-kosher pigs is familiar. But the focus of the parable eventually turns to the elder brother. This indignant soul is furious with his father for showing grace to his brother, and insists that he has never disobeyed his father’s orders – even as he steadfastly refuses to join the welcome home party! The story of Jonah is a foreshadowing of that parable, because Jonah is both the running prodigal and then the angry, self-righteous elder brother. There’s more than one way to run from God. We can march away and engage in a lifestyle of obvious rebellion, but there’s a more subtle way to hide from the Lord – in the plain sight of graceless religion. A little church attendance here, a commitment to living a decent life there, and we can feel as though we’ve ‘paid our dues’ to God. In so doing, we avoid Jesus altogether. How many people have been successfully inoculated with a small dose of Sunday-only religiosity that makes little or no difference to Monday mornings? And here I find myself challenged: as a ‘professional Christian’, have I settled down into a comfortable, relatively costless faith, that is more a habit than a passion? Let’s commit every day to be faithful followers and friends of Jesus.

Prayer: I want to stay close, Jesus, never distanced from You by the madness of sin or the sleep of empty religion. Keep me by Your side. Amen.

All Downhill

As a (very) occasional runner, I have come to fear the downhill part of my jog. Heading downhill is the most dangerous part of my run; not only am I in danger of muscle and back strain, but the incline makes me speed up – ruining the pace of my workout, and sapping my stamina. It’s difficult to keep an even keel when you’re headed down. Even the pounding uphill slog is better than the torture of trying to put the brakes on during the downhill run.

READ

Jonah 1:3

Hebrews 3:7-19

There are lots of symbolic ‘ups and downs’ in the book of Jonah. It’s no accident that Jonah goes down to Joppa – then down into the depth of the boat, and thereafter plummets into a deep sleep – the word here means ‘dead sleep’, most likely the fruit of severe exhaustion and depression. The man who was invited to step up to the noble calling as a representative of God is headed downhill fast. In every way, his life went south. Disobedience leads to descent.

FOCUS

He headed for Tarshish. So he went down to the port of Joppa.

Jonah 1:3

When we deliberately rebel against God, we shouldn’t assume that everything will eventually straighten out. On the contrary, our hearts may get harder as we resist even God’s most furious attempts to get our attention. Rebellion is no plateau, but a downward spiral. In his downhill trek, Jonah lost his ability to hear God’s gentle voice, and almost lost his life too. There’s no such thing as a controlled descent when we’re disobeying God. Let’s wake up, take our fingers out of our ears, and do what He says.

Prayer: Lord, keep my heart tender towards You. Correct me when I stray and save me from deception that will lead me downhill. Amen.

Thu 20 Jul

READ

Jonah 1:3

Luke 22:54-62

Tarshish Focus

He paid the fare and went on board. Then he sailed for Tarshish.

Jonah 1:3

As we hear that the fugitive Jonah ran away, the writer of the story wants to emphasise where he was headed to. We’re told no less than three times in one verse that his destination was Tarshish. Let’s not miss the point that the writer was making. In Old Testament times, Tarshish, in the southern part of Spain, was thought to be ‘the ends of the earth’. At that time, it would take a ship one whole year to sail to Tarshish and return. Tarshish was, in fact, a byword for a faraway place, in the same way that we use the word ‘Timbuktu’. Tarshish was also in the West, where the sun died each evening – a place of darkness. Sheldon Blank, a rabbi and biblical scholar, wrote: ‘What is Tarshish? In the story of Jonah it is anywhere – anywhere but the right place; it is the opposite direction, it is the direction a person takes when he or she turns their back on their destiny.’4

Moreover, when we read the detail that Jonah ‘paid the fare’, the Hebrew is literally, ‘He paid “her” (the ship’s) fare’. This has led some to believe that Jonah chartered the whole vessel, making it a very expensive trip. While we can’t be certain about that, obviously unfaithfulness to God is costly, as Peter tearfully discovered after he’d denied Jesus. The choices we make can cost us our reputation, our marriage, our opportunity to serve – and ultimately, the joy of living in the centre of God’s beautiful purposes for our lives. What’s our Tarshish?

Prayer: Father, when temptation comes, remind me of the costliness of poor choices. May I be awake and alert to You. Amen.

Isolated

As we saw yesterday, the writer of the book of Jonah emphasised Jonah’s destination three times, and underlined the folly of his impulsive dash by twice affirming that he was running from God Himself. Jonah ran first to Joppa, an area that was never part of Israel during Old Testament times. One commentator remarks:

‘Jonah hopes to avoid further revelatory contact with Israel’s God by going someplace where there are no Israelites. Jonah chose a port where the people he might meet, and the ships he could hire, were not likely to be Israelite. Once in Joppa he was already partly ‘away from Yahweh’ as he apparently conceived it. Jonah, the ardent nationalist, therefore, attempted to flee to a place where no fellow believers would be found, hoping that this would help insure that God’s word would not come to him again.’ 5

Read

Jonah 1:3

Hebrews 10:19-25

Something sparks when we are with other believers – and Jonah was desperate to avoid that potential spark.

Focus

So he went down to the port of Joppa. There he found a ship that was going to Tarshish.

Jonah 1:3

One devastating effect of Covid was that churches were unable to gather for an unprecedented time. But now (hopefully) that season has past, many believers have not returned for worship, teaching, prayer and fellowship. Some simply say they have got out of the habit. While online viewing is surely a blessing, I believe it is not a substitute for being and serving together. Christians in the persecuted church risk their lives because they prize being together. Are we out of the habit? Maybe it’s time to change.

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for the privilege of being part of Your church. Bless the church that I call my home, and may I be a blessing. Amen.

God Runs Too

Before moving on, I’d like us to return to the parable of the Prodigal. But first, having considered Jonah running away from God, I’d like us to celebrate the truth that our God runs towards us. I’m convinced the father figure in the parable is Jesus; He was defending His behaviour when criticised by the Pharisees, and Christ is the One who has ‘run out to us’ in the incarnation, as Paul celebrates in his letter to the church in Philippi.

READ

Luke 15:11-32

Philippians 2:5-11

Going Deeper

lifewithlucas.co.uk/

The sprinting father in this story demanded that a ring, a robe, and new shoes be brought ‘quickly’. Why the sprint, and the urgency for the celebrations to begin? It was because, in those days, if a young man brought disgrace upon his family, and then tried to return home to his village, the people would gather to intercept him. A terrible ceremony of rejection would follow: parched nuts and corn would be placed into a jar, which would be held in his face, and then smashed, signifying the final shattering of the relationship between him, the family and the village. So when the father raced towards his son, and demanded that welcome celebrations begin, he was getting there before a rejection ceremony could begin. He exclaimed his son was dead, but now was alive again, and then the celebration begins. It is a noisy party, and the elder brother hears the sound of music from a distance. In the race between grace and judgement, grace wins the race, and celebrates homecomings! Hallelujah!

To ponder: Does the picture of the Lord, sprinting towards you, seem strange? If so, why?