WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.880 The Good Father written by Benji Alexander, illustrated by Courtney Gaudion, narrated 2 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:11.720 by Adam Naranjo. 3 00:00:11.720 --> 00:00:13.720 Dedication 4 00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:18.720 This book is dedicated to kids who don't yet know that they are perfectly loved. 5 00:00:18.720 --> 00:00:21.800 Little kids and kids that grew up. 6 00:00:21.800 --> 00:00:26.500 May the power of this story help every part of your heart to discover that you are already 7 00:00:26.500 --> 00:00:30.460 as loved as loved can be. 8 00:00:30.460 --> 00:00:31.460 Acknowledgements 9 00:00:31.460 --> 00:00:35.740 The Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 10 00:00:35.740 --> 00:00:40.980 Thank you for revealing the awe, the wonder, the delight, the ecstasy, the joy, and the 11 00:00:40.980 --> 00:00:43.780 bliss of your love to me. 12 00:00:43.780 --> 00:00:48.980 Thank you for teaching me how to live in the ocean of your manifest love on a moment-by-moment 13 00:00:48.980 --> 00:00:50.600 basis. 14 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:53.460 I have gifts because you gave them. 15 00:00:53.460 --> 00:00:59.320 May they honor you and may they reveal you so that others can enjoy the awe, the wonder, 16 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:05.140 the delight, the ecstasy, the joy, and the bliss of your perfect love. 17 00:01:05.140 --> 00:01:11.260 My dad said to me once, follow your passion, son, and we will do whatever we can to support 18 00:01:11.260 --> 00:01:12.260 you. 19 00:01:12.260 --> 00:01:14.820 I founded my life on that. 20 00:01:14.820 --> 00:01:16.520 Thanks, Dad. 21 00:01:16.520 --> 00:01:21.420 You influenced me and empowered me more than anyone has or ever will. 22 00:01:21.420 --> 00:01:26.500 At the critical stage of my life, your joy, your humor, your fun, your mischief, your 23 00:01:26.500 --> 00:01:31.780 constant delight in me, and your life devoted to God helped me to discover that my father 24 00:01:31.780 --> 00:01:34.540 in heaven is a good papa. 25 00:01:34.540 --> 00:01:38.020 Mom, you've been constantly awesome too. 26 00:01:38.020 --> 00:01:39.380 Thank you. 27 00:01:39.380 --> 00:01:43.260 Words can't articulate the value of a mom like you. 28 00:01:43.260 --> 00:01:48.460 Not only did you survive the process of raising a wild child like me, you've loved me and 29 00:01:48.460 --> 00:01:52.860 championed me and delighted in me at every stage of my journey. 30 00:01:52.860 --> 00:01:55.780 Alana, wow. 31 00:01:55.780 --> 00:02:01.260 I can't even comprehend how you managed to do all that you do and how you do it so well. 32 00:02:01.260 --> 00:02:03.860 You are my world. 33 00:02:03.860 --> 00:02:08.660 It is my desire and my delight to honor, to serve, to enjoy, and to love you with my whole 34 00:02:08.660 --> 00:02:10.020 heart. 35 00:02:10.020 --> 00:02:13.540 You mean more to me than anyone else in this world. 36 00:02:13.540 --> 00:02:17.000 You mean more to me than all my wild dreams. 37 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:20.040 Your love for me is so powerful. 38 00:02:20.040 --> 00:02:26.920 Your kind, gracious, relentless love fills me with joy, bliss, significance, courage, 39 00:02:26.920 --> 00:02:32.160 hope and strength, and with a passion to give everything I've got to loving you, to loving 40 00:02:32.160 --> 00:02:38.400 our family, to pursuing our dreams, and to running in the calling of our lives. 41 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:46.080 Ezra, Zoe, and Alia, you have taught me so much about papa and about the nature of love. 42 00:02:46.160 --> 00:02:49.800 The loving of you causes my heart to flood with love. 43 00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:52.600 Thank you for being exactly who you are. 44 00:02:52.600 --> 00:02:57.000 Each one of you is a priceless source of joy, love, and delight to me. 45 00:02:57.000 --> 00:03:01.520 I feel like I won the best prize in the world to have you as my children. 46 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:05.760 I love you and I love being your dad. 47 00:03:05.760 --> 00:03:10.160 John Steffens, you're so much more than a pastor. 48 00:03:10.160 --> 00:03:13.680 You're the best spiritual father I've ever known. 49 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:17.140 Even when there were literally only a few of us at the very beginning of the launch 50 00:03:17.140 --> 00:03:22.160 of the church, Fiordland and New Life Church has always been the best church I've ever 51 00:03:22.160 --> 00:03:25.280 been a part of because of you. 52 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:29.040 Thanks for being a father and for raising up sons. 53 00:03:29.040 --> 00:03:33.360 Serving you, knowing you, adventuring with you, having fun with you, and dreaming with 54 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:37.960 you has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. 55 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:43.160 Courtney Gaudion, thank you for sharing this fantastic adventure with me. 56 00:03:43.160 --> 00:03:45.800 Your pictures say a thousand words. 57 00:03:45.800 --> 00:03:50.240 I encounter the love of our Papa in heaven just looking at them. 58 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:53.760 You have captured the heartbeat of heaven in your drawings and they create a powerful 59 00:03:53.760 --> 00:03:59.320 synergy with this story that I believe will transform lives all over the world. 60 00:03:59.320 --> 00:04:04.960 May multitudes encounter the Father's love through what you have drawn. 61 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:12.600 I would also like to express enormous gratitude to my designer, Crystal Fleming, from indigoink.co.nz. 62 00:04:12.600 --> 00:04:19.279 Crystal, it is a joy to work with you, and I'm always delighted with the finished product. 63 00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:25.200 Your associate, Don Mega, has also been a constant source of inspiration and encouragement. 64 00:04:25.200 --> 00:04:31.360 Thank you once again for all that both of you have done. 65 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:32.360 The Good Father 66 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:36.360 Introduction 67 00:04:36.360 --> 00:04:40.920 Jesus' most beautiful articulation of the gospel message, or the good news as he called 68 00:04:40.920 --> 00:04:46.640 it, is found in Luke 15, 11-32. 69 00:04:46.640 --> 00:04:52.000 Known to many as the story of the prodigal son or the story of the lost son, it could 70 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:55.960 also be titled the story of the good father. 71 00:04:55.960 --> 00:05:02.960 When Jesus told this story, his audience was a crowd of tax collectors, sinners, and 72 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:06.520 sinners, probably addicts, prostitutes, thieves, adulterers, a whole lot of people who were 73 00:05:06.520 --> 00:05:12.520 all the black sheep of their own families, and grumbling Pharisees, religious people, 74 00:05:12.520 --> 00:05:17.520 who were offended by Jesus's association with all these sinners. 75 00:05:17.520 --> 00:05:21.960 Allow me to use some cultural context and a little poetic license to bring this story 76 00:05:21.960 --> 00:05:23.800 alive. 77 00:05:23.800 --> 00:05:30.600 Please also read Luke 15 11-32 for the full biblical account. 78 00:05:30.600 --> 00:05:34.280 Chapter 1 Betrayal 79 00:05:34.280 --> 00:05:39.240 This story begins with a notorious event that shocks an entire village. 80 00:05:39.240 --> 00:05:45.800 The outrageous news spreads as one of the hot topics of gossip beyond the village itself 81 00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:48.860 to the borders of the nation. 82 00:05:48.860 --> 00:05:54.500 When wives cautioned their husbands, you don't want to be like that incompetent father. 83 00:05:54.500 --> 00:05:57.680 The husbands knew what they were hinting at. 84 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:03.000 When parents cautioned their children, you don't want to be like that disgraceful son. 85 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:05.780 The kids knew what they meant. 86 00:06:05.780 --> 00:06:08.580 The scandal was household news. 87 00:06:08.580 --> 00:06:14.300 It was commented on at the synagogue and other public forums, where the strongest condemnation 88 00:06:14.300 --> 00:06:22.220 possible was expressed at the complete moral failure of both the father and the son. 89 00:06:22.220 --> 00:06:28.140 What was this scandalous news that was spreading from person to person and village to village? 90 00:06:28.140 --> 00:06:34.480 It was the news of a son's extreme rebellion and a father's tragic incompetence. 91 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:40.380 It took place within a wealthy family in Israel, whereby in an act that defied the values of 92 00:06:40.380 --> 00:06:47.040 their entire nation, this son disowned his father and his family. 93 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:51.940 The son insisted that his father give him his inheritance immediately. 94 00:06:51.940 --> 00:06:54.700 He wanted nothing to do with his father. 95 00:06:54.700 --> 00:06:57.140 He just wanted his money. 96 00:06:57.140 --> 00:07:01.300 The son didn't care if his father lived or died. 97 00:07:01.300 --> 00:07:06.580 In the context of Jewish society and culture, honoring your father was one of the highest 98 00:07:06.580 --> 00:07:08.780 duties of a son. 99 00:07:08.780 --> 00:07:13.500 When Jesus' listeners heard that this son had dared to request his inheritance from 100 00:07:13.500 --> 00:07:19.740 his father, they would have seen him as one of the biggest scumbags on the planet. 101 00:07:19.740 --> 00:07:25.540 I can visualize a corporate atmosphere of disgust towards the son rising tangibly amongst 102 00:07:25.540 --> 00:07:27.820 the crowd. 103 00:07:27.820 --> 00:07:31.960 Even with all these sinners in the crowd, none of them are likely to have ever done 104 00:07:31.960 --> 00:07:36.460 something that in their eyes was so vile. 105 00:07:36.460 --> 00:07:40.780 In any culture, this would be one of the highest levels of betrayal and dishonor that 106 00:07:40.780 --> 00:07:44.340 a son could possibly commit against his father. 107 00:07:44.340 --> 00:07:50.420 These Jewish listeners believed the son in this story to be public enemy number one. 108 00:07:50.420 --> 00:07:56.040 In fact, they would have already been anticipating the next part of the story. 109 00:07:56.040 --> 00:08:01.300 They would have been anticipating the son being completely disowned and a punishment 110 00:08:01.300 --> 00:08:03.900 of death by stoning. 111 00:08:03.900 --> 00:08:10.160 At bare minimum, this son should be disowned and receive the beating of a lifetime. 112 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:16.020 They would have been anticipating the father's wrath to be poured out on the son. 113 00:08:16.020 --> 00:08:20.700 Surely this wicked son was about to suffer the wrath of his father. 114 00:08:20.700 --> 00:08:25.920 In that culture, if there was a line to cross which would incur immediate rejection from 115 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:29.300 your family, this was it. 116 00:08:29.300 --> 00:08:34.620 Dishonor your father by telling the whole world that your father means nothing to you 117 00:08:34.620 --> 00:08:37.740 and you would prefer that he was dead. 118 00:08:37.740 --> 00:08:41.620 All he was good for was his money. 119 00:08:41.620 --> 00:08:45.860 The son had publicly disowned and dishonored his father. 120 00:08:45.860 --> 00:08:52.480 In their culture at this time, children could be stoned to death for dishonoring their parents. 121 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:56.860 The fact that this father did not explode in a violent rage would have perplexed the 122 00:08:56.860 --> 00:08:58.620 crowd. 123 00:08:58.620 --> 00:09:03.700 It was a son's duty to honor his father and it was a father's duty to discipline 124 00:09:03.700 --> 00:09:05.500 his son. 125 00:09:05.500 --> 00:09:11.060 The father's failure to punish his son was almost as much of a moral failure as the son's 126 00:09:11.060 --> 00:09:12.060 rebellion. 127 00:09:12.060 --> 00:09:17.060 It would have caused the crowd hearing this story and also the people in the story to 128 00:09:17.060 --> 00:09:20.620 perceive the father as a villain. 129 00:09:20.620 --> 00:09:25.980 This tale that Jesus was telling these people was absolutely scandalous. 130 00:09:25.980 --> 00:09:28.340 It got under their skin. 131 00:09:28.340 --> 00:09:33.380 It was causing an emotional response from the hearers, who were anticipating wrath and 132 00:09:33.380 --> 00:09:35.900 justice. 133 00:09:35.900 --> 00:09:40.940 His father's failure to punish his son caused the crowd to judge him as a morally deficient 134 00:09:40.940 --> 00:09:42.940 father. 135 00:09:42.940 --> 00:09:47.840 The fact that this father did not follow the cultural protocol automatically set him apart 136 00:09:47.840 --> 00:09:52.740 as a very unusual father and a very bad father. 137 00:09:52.740 --> 00:09:58.580 As the story proceeds, we now have two villains in the eyes of the crowd of listeners and 138 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:00.060 in the eyes of the people in the story. 139 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:06.000 story. The Rebellious Son and the Incompetent Father 140 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:11.760 The whole village knew the family. Their culture revolved around community. They were a great 141 00:10:11.760 --> 00:10:17.840 example of the saying, it takes a village to raise a child. Enforcing justice was a 142 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:24.160 community responsibility. However, before the news got out to the whole community and 143 00:10:24.160 --> 00:10:29.760 even before they had time to get organized or gather their stones, the Rebellious Son 144 00:10:29.760 --> 00:10:34.680 had fled. Not just to another village. The news of the 145 00:10:34.680 --> 00:10:39.560 incidents and the resulting fatal justice it deserved would have caught up to him in 146 00:10:39.560 --> 00:10:45.880 another village. Not just to another region. The news and the justice would have caught 147 00:10:45.880 --> 00:10:50.240 up with him almost anywhere he went in the nation. 148 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:57.480 The Son fled the culture, fled the justice, fled the fear, the guilt, and the shame, 149 00:10:57.480 --> 00:11:03.840 and he kept riding with his bags of money until he reached a distant nation. 150 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:10.040 There would be no punishments inflicted on the Father, except that of ruined reputation. 151 00:11:10.040 --> 00:11:16.560 The whole nation passed a condemning judgment on this Father as a bad father. 152 00:11:16.560 --> 00:11:23.160 Jesus goes on to tell us that the Son wasted his wealth on wild living. The crowd surrounding 153 00:11:23.160 --> 00:11:28.800 Jesus would have been reading into that and assuming, just as the older brother did, that 154 00:11:28.800 --> 00:11:35.240 he was hiring prostitutes and was without any moral compass. For this crowd, the fact 155 00:11:35.240 --> 00:11:39.960 that he wasted the wealth of his inheritance was considered as wicked as sleeping with 156 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:47.400 prostitutes. This young man is crossing every line of decency, and they want to see justice. 157 00:11:47.400 --> 00:11:51.960 They want to see punishment. With the escape of the Son and the rumors 158 00:11:51.960 --> 00:11:57.960 of his twisted lifestyle, the story gathered momentum and notoriety throughout the entire 159 00:11:57.960 --> 00:12:02.920 nation. Months had gone by. The Father sat in his 160 00:12:02.920 --> 00:12:09.880 seat on the porch again, alone, in the middle of the night. The servants had gone to bed, 161 00:12:09.880 --> 00:12:16.400 his eldest son had gone to bed. But the Father couldn't sleep. There was a bright full 162 00:12:16.400 --> 00:12:22.960 moon. The Father could see clearly as he looked toward the horizon and the long dusty road 163 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:30.000 coming from the village. He could see that the road was empty. He slowly drank his hot 164 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:37.680 drink warming his hands on the mug. His heart overflowed with love for his son. 165 00:12:37.680 --> 00:12:43.480 In response to his broken heart, a silent, glistening tear rolled its way slowly to the 166 00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:50.240 corner of his eye. The Son sat up that night too. The rumors 167 00:12:50.240 --> 00:12:58.280 were true. Actually, the rumors didn't capture even half of his lost son's story. He had 168 00:12:58.280 --> 00:13:04.800 managed to keep his truly dark and defiling secrets hidden. The rumors did not portray 169 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:11.680 how deep the darkness was in this lost son's heart. The rumors did not portray how a part 170 00:13:11.680 --> 00:13:17.520 of him wished he had been punished and executed. That would at least be a permanent escape 171 00:13:17.520 --> 00:13:23.920 from an internal world of turmoil. Another wave of emotional pain brutally ripped 172 00:13:23.920 --> 00:13:31.200 right through him. Once again he reached for his half-full bottle. A prostitute lay asleep 173 00:13:31.280 --> 00:13:37.920 beside him. She was a sedative to numb the reality that his heart was void of love. 174 00:13:39.280 --> 00:13:47.120 He liked her, but he hated her. He didn't even know why he hated her. He hadn't processed his 175 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:52.880 own emotions deeply enough to understand what was really controlling them and what was really 176 00:13:52.880 --> 00:14:00.800 controlling him. But something about her made him angry. He wasn't aware that he hated her 177 00:14:00.800 --> 00:14:05.840 because she represented the fact that what he desired most was out of his reach. 178 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:14.160 Thinking about the reasons behind his emotions was an unbearable feeling. He never went there. 179 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:21.840 Instead, he had another drink. The truth that lived deeper than his conscious awareness and 180 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:29.120 dwelt in his unexplored subconscious mind was that this prostitute made him angry because he believed 181 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:34.960 that was the only way he could get love. And deep down he knew it wasn't real love. 182 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:41.200 He hated her because she reminded him that he did not believe he was worthy of love. 183 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:48.320 He had never believed that he was worthy of love. That was why he hated his father, too. 184 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:55.040 He had lived in the same house with that man his whole life, and he had never felt worthy of his 185 00:14:55.040 --> 00:15:00.000 love. He didn't simply believe that he wasn't worthy of his father's love. 186 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:06.540 He believed that he wasn't worthy of love, period. He didn't just hate his father because 187 00:15:06.540 --> 00:15:13.840 of this. Most of all, he hated himself. Beneath the surface of things, even as he 188 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:20.720 grew up, he had always been tormented by a ferocious sense of inadequacy. Ever since 189 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:26.500 he could remember, he had felt this way, and had been tormented by the insecurities associated 190 00:15:26.500 --> 00:15:33.700 with beliefs of inadequacy. It festered into a world of shame and condemnation, and a raging 191 00:15:33.700 --> 00:15:41.220 case of unworthiness. Perceived inadequacies had become his prison that isolated him from 192 00:15:41.220 --> 00:15:48.260 the possibility of ever receiving love, regardless of how close and how unconditional that love 193 00:15:48.260 --> 00:15:54.340 had always been. As he looked out the window at the moon, he began thinking to himself 194 00:15:54.340 --> 00:16:04.340 again that his loveless existence could never change. His heart overflowed with hopelessness. 195 00:16:04.340 --> 00:16:10.100 In response to his broken heart, a silent, glistening tear rolled its way slowly to the 196 00:16:10.100 --> 00:16:17.100 corner of his eye. Finally, it starts getting better for the crowd as they hear that having 197 00:16:17.100 --> 00:16:25.100 wasted all his wealth, this wicked son is in poverty. Not only is he in poverty, he 198 00:16:25.100 --> 00:16:31.780 is subjected to the ultimate humiliation of being the servant of pigs. Pigs were considered 199 00:16:31.780 --> 00:16:38.980 ceremonially unclean animals, and raising pigs was unclean work. This son is now completely 200 00:16:38.980 --> 00:16:46.660 defiled and has reached the pinnacle of failure. The crowd is hungry for justice. 201 00:16:46.660 --> 00:16:51.580 He didn't go straight to the pigs. This son was so addicted to his self-medicating 202 00:16:51.580 --> 00:16:57.660 practices that he subjected himself to desperate acts in order to fund his addiction. These 203 00:16:57.660 --> 00:17:04.260 desperate acts only intensified the consuming conviction of his own inadequacy. Eventually, 204 00:17:04.260 --> 00:17:12.359 every door closed on him. His perpetual oppression by inadequacy, shame, condemnation, and unworthiness 205 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:21.960 made healthy relationships impossible. Everywhere he went, relationships failed and chaos followed. 206 00:17:21.960 --> 00:17:30.640 He had nothing. He had no one. He was homeless. He was broke. He didn't belong anywhere. 207 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:35.040 On top of all this, he was going through major withdrawals. 208 00:17:35.040 --> 00:17:40.560 At the end of himself, he sat down in the shade. His back was against a tree, his face 209 00:17:40.560 --> 00:17:47.920 towards the street. The Middle Eastern sun was blazing. Beads of sweat swelled up from 210 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:55.360 his forehead. His tongue dried out inside his mouth. The unsatisfied urges of his alcohol 211 00:17:55.360 --> 00:18:02.080 addiction whipped him repeatedly and ruthlessly. The withdrawals caused his body to spontaneously 212 00:18:02.080 --> 00:18:07.120 spasm and tremble. One of the high-class prostitutes that he 213 00:18:07.120 --> 00:18:14.480 had spent so many nights with walked along the street in front of him, ready for work. 214 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:21.240 His heart rate increased. His blood started pumping. They had shared so many beautiful 215 00:18:21.240 --> 00:18:29.360 moments. He called out to her and she turned. Her eye contact was powerful. Her eyes used 216 00:18:29.360 --> 00:18:36.260 to dance and hold his gaze with erotic invitations, but today her eyes held no affection for him. 217 00:18:36.260 --> 00:18:44.940 No acceptance. Today, her eyes fueled his internal narrative of unworthiness and rejection. 218 00:18:44.940 --> 00:18:50.660 All of the facades that his money had bought him faded like smoke. Despite all the sex 219 00:18:50.660 --> 00:18:55.820 and wild moments they had shared, this was the most vulnerable she had ever been with 220 00:18:55.820 --> 00:19:04.780 him. This was their most honest moment. There was no erotic dance in her eyes. Now the honesty 221 00:19:04.780 --> 00:19:10.980 in her eyes shattered the illusion she had once portrayed. The truth in her eyes struck 222 00:19:10.980 --> 00:19:18.300 him forcefully. He finally realized the painful truth that the shame-inspired hatred that 223 00:19:18.300 --> 00:19:25.460 he had felt towards her was perfectly mutual. The floggings of withdrawal and the floggings 224 00:19:25.460 --> 00:19:31.740 of inadequacy matched each other in their relentless administration of torture. Physically, 225 00:19:31.740 --> 00:19:38.100 emotionally, and spiritually, he was pioneering new depths of internal darkness. His only 226 00:19:38.100 --> 00:19:44.580 remaining friend, his only remaining escape, was sleep. Overwhelmed by everything, he laid 227 00:19:44.580 --> 00:19:52.180 down in the shade and closed his eyes. He slept and that afternoon quietly passed away. 228 00:19:52.180 --> 00:19:58.700 Instead of being woken by a sleep terror this time, he was woken by a bearded man. An ugly 229 00:19:58.700 --> 00:19:59.700 bearded man. 230 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:07.320 This bearded man was graphically ugly, inside and out. The ugly bearded man kicked him in 231 00:20:07.320 --> 00:20:14.800 the leg, hard. The twisted odor of narcissism clung to this ugly bearded man like the stench 232 00:20:14.800 --> 00:20:21.640 of the pigs he farmed. As the son's eyes adjusted to the light and to consciousness, 233 00:20:21.640 --> 00:20:26.440 he could make out the eyes of the ugly bearded man who stood above him. 234 00:20:26.440 --> 00:20:32.680 The first thing he noticed was the absence of kindness and warmth. Instead, he immediately 235 00:20:32.680 --> 00:20:38.940 saw lethal brutality and manipulation flashing in his eyes. 236 00:20:38.940 --> 00:20:45.840 The kick in the leg turned out to be a job offer. He got it, too. He got the only job 237 00:20:45.840 --> 00:20:54.760 he was fit for—feeding pigs. There was no minimum wage. He was a glorified slave. The 238 00:20:54.760 --> 00:21:01.680 ugly, stingy bearded man didn't care if this homeless bum lived or died. If he dies, 239 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:07.520 he can be pig food. Until then, this street rat can feed my pigs, thought the ugly bearded 240 00:21:07.520 --> 00:21:09.560 man. 241 00:21:09.560 --> 00:21:15.920 It was while he was in this dark place that the son began coming to his senses. He assessed 242 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:21.240 his circumstances and came to the sobering conclusion that if he didn't figure out 243 00:21:21.240 --> 00:21:28.080 something soon, he was going to starve to death. But which was worse? Starve to death 244 00:21:28.080 --> 00:21:34.280 or go back and face his father after the way he had publicly betrayed him, dishonored him, 245 00:21:34.280 --> 00:21:37.520 and squandered the family's wealth? 246 00:21:37.520 --> 00:21:41.520 Then there was the fact that the whole village and probably the whole country wanted him 247 00:21:41.520 --> 00:21:48.000 dead. The thought of it instantly released a paralyzing explosion of fear and shame through 248 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:54.840 his whole being. Maybe dying here with these pigs and his ugly bearded boss was better 249 00:21:54.840 --> 00:22:03.560 than that. He carried on feeding the pigs and tried to avoid thinking about his father. 250 00:22:03.560 --> 00:22:09.700 Time ticked by and the famine in the land caused the food supply to slowly wither away. 251 00:22:09.700 --> 00:22:15.600 The choice the son had to make started to become very, very real. Die of starvation 252 00:22:15.600 --> 00:22:22.760 or return to his father and face the consequences, however severe they may be. 253 00:22:22.760 --> 00:22:28.360 Again the thought of it was like a lightning strike of fear, shame, and negative emotions. 254 00:22:28.360 --> 00:22:34.200 The sense of being unworthy that he had felt before he left home was now out of control 255 00:22:34.200 --> 00:22:39.800 and coursing through his soul like venom. He was persuaded that the darkness he had 256 00:22:39.800 --> 00:22:46.640 walked in defined him. His failure to attain moral perfection reinforced his conviction 257 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:53.080 that he was worthless and unlovable. His dark secrets tormented him with an ever-present 258 00:22:53.080 --> 00:23:00.920 excruciating shame. He decided to spend more time with the pigs and his ugly bearded boss 259 00:23:00.920 --> 00:23:05.520 rather than face his father. 260 00:23:05.520 --> 00:23:10.400 CHAPTER 2 Courage 261 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:18.760 The famine continued stripping the land bare. Hope for this nation evaporated like the streams. 262 00:23:18.760 --> 00:23:24.560 He finally decided that returning to his father was his only survival option. The withdrawal 263 00:23:24.560 --> 00:23:31.600 symptoms were subsiding. His mind began to clear a little more. 264 00:23:31.600 --> 00:23:37.680 Throughout this story, the father is a constant. He is always a good father. The culture of 265 00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:42.640 the day had judged him as a moral failure, despite the fact that this father's morals 266 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:49.960 clearly surpassed their interpretation of morality. This father has his own normal. 267 00:23:49.960 --> 00:23:57.680 He was his own standard. And that standard is a love that never fails. The father standard 268 00:23:57.720 --> 00:24:05.000 is a mercy that triumphs over judgment. The culture of the day had judged the father incompetent 269 00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:11.200 for failing to manipulate and control his son with threats, punishment, and violence. 270 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:15.840 He ignored their condemnation and judgment, refusing to stoop to their shallow level of 271 00:24:15.840 --> 00:24:22.680 relationship, which was infused with manipulation and control. The father had something far 272 00:24:22.680 --> 00:24:28.480 more beautiful in mind. He was willing to do whatever it would take to share an authentic, 273 00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:34.240 mutual, loving relationship with his son. The father made himself totally vulnerable 274 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:40.360 before his son by respecting the son's freedom and power to choose who, how, and when he 275 00:24:40.360 --> 00:24:47.580 would love. The father's courageous vulnerability empowered the son to break his heart, over 276 00:24:47.580 --> 00:24:53.880 and over again. If this son had understood how loved he had always been and how much 277 00:24:53.880 --> 00:24:58.520 his father had always desired relationship with him, he would never have come to the 278 00:24:58.520 --> 00:24:59.920 place where he didn't care 279 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:06.800 his father lived or died. The reality is that this son misperceived who his father really 280 00:25:06.800 --> 00:25:13.080 was. This son had a false definition of his father, which caused a dramatic relational 281 00:25:13.080 --> 00:25:20.000 disconnection. The belief that he was inadequate, unworthy, and unlovable prevented him from 282 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:25.080 ever seeing the truth that his father had always loved him with a perfect, unconditional 283 00:25:25.080 --> 00:25:31.640 love. Even as he embarks on that dry and dusty road towards home, it is clear that 284 00:25:31.640 --> 00:25:37.920 he still has no grasp of the extreme love that his father has for him. I wonder how 285 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:43.360 many times the fear and shame stopped him in his tracks, or caused him to turn back 286 00:25:43.360 --> 00:25:51.480 towards the pigs, or even run towards them. Leaving hadn't been easy for the son. There 287 00:25:51.480 --> 00:25:57.200 were internal and external obstacles. One obstacle being that his ugly-bearded boss 288 00:25:57.200 --> 00:26:03.580 didn't like his slaves running away. Officially, he wasn't a slave, but he didn't exactly 289 00:26:03.580 --> 00:26:09.240 have a job contract. In the abusive eyes of his ugly-bearded boss who didn't care if 290 00:26:09.240 --> 00:26:16.000 he lived or died, he was effectively a slave. He slipped out in the night with a stash of 291 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:22.000 stolen pig food to eat on the road, and put as much distance between himself and his ugly-bearded 292 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:29.640 boss as he possibly could. For the first week, he traveled at night and hid by day. He has 293 00:26:29.640 --> 00:26:35.600 now lost count of how many days he has been walking. Hungry, exhausted, and emotionally 294 00:26:35.600 --> 00:26:42.440 drained, the son reaches the border of Israel. After three more days of walking, he can finally 295 00:26:42.440 --> 00:26:48.940 see his village on the horizon. He was wearing a ragged cape with a large hood that covered 296 00:26:48.940 --> 00:26:55.680 most of his face. He didn't want to be seen, and so far, nobody on the road recognized 297 00:26:55.680 --> 00:27:01.680 him. However, as the hills started to become more familiar, and he started coming closer 298 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:08.160 to the village that he grew up in, other travelers on the road began looking twice. He was a 299 00:27:08.160 --> 00:27:15.160 curious sight. With his downcast look, bare feet, poor dress, and unpleasant aroma, he 300 00:27:15.160 --> 00:27:21.920 appeared a little suspicious. Perhaps they thought he was a runaway slave. A boy he went 301 00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:28.200 to school with walked right past him. Did he recognize me? thought the son to himself, 302 00:27:28.200 --> 00:27:35.400 in shock, as his heart began thumping. They both kept walking. He had to go right through 303 00:27:35.400 --> 00:27:41.560 the village to get to the farm, so he decided to walk that section in the dark. He found 304 00:27:41.560 --> 00:27:47.360 a discreet place to camp a day's walk from home. He hid there and tried unsuccessfully 305 00:27:47.360 --> 00:27:54.920 to sleep until just after midnight. Although he was used to fear, anxiety, and stress, 306 00:27:54.920 --> 00:28:00.320 he was now experiencing whole new levels of emotional chaos. But he could see no other 307 00:28:00.360 --> 00:28:07.400 viable survival option. Die with the pigs or face his father? Honestly, right now, 308 00:28:07.400 --> 00:28:12.760 as the fear and shame ravaged him internally, dying with the pigs was becoming more and more 309 00:28:12.760 --> 00:28:20.040 appealing. Compared to how savagely his own mind was treating him right now, his ugly bearded boss 310 00:28:20.040 --> 00:28:27.320 was saintly. The son easily escaped from his ugly bearded boss, but he could not escape himself. 311 00:28:27.600 --> 00:28:35.400 His internal voice of condemnation was a prison, in which he had lived his whole life. The closer 312 00:28:35.400 --> 00:28:41.040 he came to his father, the more intense the mental self-harm became. If he hadn't walked 313 00:28:41.040 --> 00:28:46.040 so far to get to where he now was, he may actually have chosen death with the pigs, 314 00:28:46.040 --> 00:28:54.000 rather than facing his father. His feelings of self-hatred reached a record high. Every step 315 00:28:54.000 --> 00:29:00.120 that he took towards his father and towards the consequences of his past was exponentially harder 316 00:29:00.120 --> 00:29:09.560 than the last. Head down and anxiety high, he forced himself to walk on. It was a motionless 317 00:29:09.560 --> 00:29:18.280 morning. The road into town was dark, silent, and empty. This was it. Today he would see his father. 318 00:29:18.280 --> 00:29:26.000 As he walked, he pondered as many potential outcomes as possible. Every one of them scared 319 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:32.280 him. Every one of them reinforced his belief in his own inadequacy, and every one of them 320 00:29:32.280 --> 00:29:39.280 endorsed this constantly growing hatred of himself. As he walked silently and alone through the 321 00:29:39.280 --> 00:29:46.760 darkness, he considered the fact that today could be the day that he died. What had he accomplished 322 00:29:46.760 --> 00:29:54.680 with his life? More harm than good, he thought to himself. Every thought he had seemed to 323 00:29:54.680 --> 00:29:59.640 inflict another level of punishment. Even his own mind had turned against him. 324 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:06.340 It took several hours to make his way to the edge of the village. A few lamps burned in 325 00:30:06.340 --> 00:30:12.520 houses in the village itself, and he moved from shadow to shadow. The occasional dog 326 00:30:12.520 --> 00:30:18.980 barked and roosters crowed at random. But he made it through the village unseen. 327 00:30:18.980 --> 00:30:25.820 Soon he stood on the crest of a hill overlooking the village behind him. The sun was rising. 328 00:30:25.820 --> 00:30:32.580 The cover of darkness was all but gone. Half a day's walk lay before him and his past 329 00:30:32.580 --> 00:30:39.240 and future. Even though he was walking quickly, his whole body was covered in a cold sweat 330 00:30:39.240 --> 00:30:43.980 of pure dread. He had already passed a handful of people 331 00:30:43.980 --> 00:30:49.960 in the dark. The road would now start to get much busier. Less than an hour later, one 332 00:30:49.960 --> 00:30:56.160 of his old neighbors approached with three donkeys fully loaded and bound for the village. 333 00:30:56.160 --> 00:31:04.220 Shalom! said the neighbor. Shalom! said the sun with his face to the ground. 334 00:31:04.220 --> 00:31:09.480 For a second the neighbor thought he recognized the voice. After they passed each other they 335 00:31:09.480 --> 00:31:15.240 both looked back at the same time and for a brief moment they locked eyes. 336 00:31:15.240 --> 00:31:21.040 The neighbor knew instantly who it was. The sun saw the condemnation begin to flicker 337 00:31:21.040 --> 00:31:27.760 like hellfire in his eyes. They both turned and picked up their pace. The sun knew that 338 00:31:27.760 --> 00:31:33.160 news of his return would very soon be known throughout the entire district. The severe 339 00:31:33.160 --> 00:31:39.100 consequences he had left behind had waited patiently for his return. 340 00:31:39.100 --> 00:31:44.720 The neighbor knew as well as the sun did, the risk the sun had taken in returning. 341 00:31:44.720 --> 00:31:50.200 The neighbor knew that there may be a stoning today. He took upon himself the responsibility 342 00:31:50.200 --> 00:31:56.160 to tell the village the news. Everything else went on hold as the demand for justice took 343 00:31:56.160 --> 00:32:02.280 center stage. The sun hurried on as discreetly as he could. 344 00:32:02.280 --> 00:32:09.840 Despite his desire to remain invisible a number of people recognized him. He heard some people 345 00:32:09.840 --> 00:32:16.700 speaking to him, others shouting to him. But he could barely even register their existence. 346 00:32:16.700 --> 00:32:21.760 He was under so much internal pressure that it required every ounce of his focus and energy 347 00:32:21.760 --> 00:32:28.920 to take each step. He was consumed with agonizing thoughts of his father. He blocked out everything 348 00:32:28.920 --> 00:32:34.120 else and kept walking. 349 00:32:34.120 --> 00:32:36.240 Chapter 3 Vulnerability 350 00:32:36.240 --> 00:32:46.520 Finally, the father's farm was in view. The climactic reunion drew ominously close. 351 00:32:46.520 --> 00:32:53.400 The sun took one more step over the horizon line and came into the father's view. 352 00:32:53.400 --> 00:32:59.320 The sun had no idea what the father's response was going to be. He paused before walking 353 00:32:59.320 --> 00:33:05.120 a little further down the hill. Suddenly, he saw that his father was sprinting towards 354 00:33:05.120 --> 00:33:13.440 him. The sun stopped right there, literally frozen in panic. He was unaware that a mob 355 00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:20.000 had gathered and was fast approaching on the road just a short distance behind him. Justice 356 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:27.460 was a serious community responsibility. Now justice would finally be served. 357 00:33:27.460 --> 00:33:32.740 At best, the sun thought he may be able to desperately beg for mercy and possibly be 358 00:33:32.740 --> 00:33:38.180 given the role of a servant in his father's house. That would be better than dying with 359 00:33:38.180 --> 00:33:44.300 the pigs and dealing with his ugly bearded boss. His best-case scenario was begging for 360 00:33:44.300 --> 00:33:50.380 the right to become a servant. His worst-case scenario were either that beating he deserved 361 00:33:50.380 --> 00:33:54.680 or the stoning that the village would demand. 362 00:33:54.680 --> 00:34:00.380 One thing was very clear. The sun believed that because of his actions he had forfeited 363 00:34:00.380 --> 00:34:06.480 any previous right to sonship. At least the crowd agreed with something in the story that 364 00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:12.639 Jesus was telling. This sun's behavior had completely forfeited him from any right to 365 00:34:12.639 --> 00:34:18.360 sonship. Ever. The closer his father ran the more terrified 366 00:34:18.360 --> 00:34:24.360 the sun became. All the strength that he had mustered to come this far and overcome so 367 00:34:24.360 --> 00:34:32.239 much fear and shame had taken its toll. He was at breaking point. As he watched the unusual 368 00:34:32.239 --> 00:34:39.080 speed of his father charging down the road, his sense of alarm began to grow. He began 369 00:34:39.080 --> 00:34:45.120 to shake physically as fear and shame rumbled through his veins like thunder. He could no 370 00:34:45.120 --> 00:34:53.639 longer hide from his past. He couldn't self-medicate. He couldn't escape. He was forced to face 371 00:34:53.639 --> 00:34:58.440 reality. He was forced to face this great terror in his heart. 372 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.000 His father quickly drew near. 373 00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:09.520 The father had been watching, waiting, and longing for his son to come home. 374 00:35:09.520 --> 00:35:11.640 Longing for a relationship. 375 00:35:11.640 --> 00:35:13.720 Longing for reconciliation. 376 00:35:13.720 --> 00:35:15.940 Longing for intimacy. 377 00:35:15.940 --> 00:35:21.200 Longing for his son to see him for who he really was, and not as the monstrous father 378 00:35:21.200 --> 00:35:25.120 that the son's imagination had invented. 379 00:35:25.120 --> 00:35:29.240 The father had never been able to overcome the son's persuasion that he was unworthy 380 00:35:29.240 --> 00:35:31.320 of love. 381 00:35:31.320 --> 00:35:36.040 The son's own persuasion that he was unlovable had always prevented him from receiving his 382 00:35:36.040 --> 00:35:42.880 father's love, no matter how desperately the father longed to pour it out on him. 383 00:35:42.880 --> 00:35:48.920 Because the son never received love, he never felt loved, and the son used this unloved 384 00:35:48.920 --> 00:35:54.160 feeling as justification for his theory that his father had never loved him and that he 385 00:35:54.160 --> 00:35:57.120 would never be worthy of love. 386 00:35:57.120 --> 00:36:03.000 The son's image of the father was so warped that he expected the worst from this moment. 387 00:36:03.000 --> 00:36:06.720 His father kept running, not jogging. 388 00:36:06.720 --> 00:36:10.760 The father was in full flight. 389 00:36:10.760 --> 00:36:16.440 Jesus' crowd of listeners can't believe that the son didn't die with the pigs. 390 00:36:16.440 --> 00:36:20.080 How did he manage to escape justice once again? 391 00:36:20.080 --> 00:36:25.320 But now that the son has been forced to crawl back to his father, justice can at last be 392 00:36:25.320 --> 00:36:27.040 served. 393 00:36:27.040 --> 00:36:31.600 How cunning of the father to wait until the son has to come crawling back before administering 394 00:36:31.600 --> 00:36:36.240 a severe punishment, on top of his ultimate humiliation. 395 00:36:36.240 --> 00:36:41.000 Perhaps there is hope for this father to redeem himself in the eyes of the crowd. 396 00:36:41.000 --> 00:36:47.160 The father is running towards this defiled, useless, disgusting boy, and this rebellious, 397 00:36:47.160 --> 00:36:52.160 wicked outcast is about to get the pent-up wrath of an offended father unleashed on him 398 00:36:52.160 --> 00:36:54.480 in full fury. 399 00:36:54.480 --> 00:37:00.240 At last, the father's wrath will be fully satisfied. 400 00:37:00.240 --> 00:37:03.840 The son can't take his eyes off his father. 401 00:37:03.840 --> 00:37:05.760 This was it. 402 00:37:05.760 --> 00:37:08.560 This was the moment of truth. 403 00:37:08.560 --> 00:37:12.080 His entire focus was consumed by his father. 404 00:37:12.080 --> 00:37:18.660 He did not see the growing crowd behind him, gathering stones and drawing dangerously close. 405 00:37:18.660 --> 00:37:20.280 They were rushing. 406 00:37:20.280 --> 00:37:22.160 They were aggressive. 407 00:37:22.160 --> 00:37:24.640 They were demanding justice. 408 00:37:24.640 --> 00:37:26.640 They were demanding punishment. 409 00:37:26.640 --> 00:37:31.080 Fueled by wrath, they raced towards the son. 410 00:37:31.080 --> 00:37:33.880 The father could see the crowd coming. 411 00:37:33.880 --> 00:37:38.380 He had sat through many conversations with his own relatives, neighbors, and friends, 412 00:37:38.380 --> 00:37:43.160 as they told him what they would do to his son if he ever showed his face again. 413 00:37:43.160 --> 00:37:48.560 There was no way he was going to give them a chance to inflict their form of justice. 414 00:37:48.560 --> 00:37:53.400 Inspired by love, the father raced towards the son. 415 00:37:53.400 --> 00:37:59.480 Heart-pounding, chest-heaving, covered in sweat, the father reaches his son. 416 00:37:59.480 --> 00:38:05.920 He instantly embraces him with a deep compassion and a fiery love. 417 00:38:05.920 --> 00:38:11.520 Consuming the son in arms of love, the father holds his child, who once was lost, but now 418 00:38:11.520 --> 00:38:14.280 is found. 419 00:38:14.280 --> 00:38:16.800 The son could not hug back. 420 00:38:16.800 --> 00:38:19.340 He could not express affection. 421 00:38:19.340 --> 00:38:24.000 He just stood there, rigid yet trembling. 422 00:38:24.000 --> 00:38:29.640 The son is obsessed with and depressed by the conviction of his own inadequacy. 423 00:38:29.640 --> 00:38:35.520 He breaks down and gets to the root issue of what he has been secretly feeling forever. 424 00:38:35.520 --> 00:38:40.720 It all comes out before his father as he gets more vulnerable than he has ever been and 425 00:38:40.720 --> 00:38:46.240 admits the truth of what's really causing the emotional turmoil in his heart. 426 00:38:46.240 --> 00:38:48.680 Everything inside him explodes. 427 00:38:48.680 --> 00:38:53.320 The tears, the fears, the shame, the desperation. 428 00:38:53.320 --> 00:38:59.040 I'm not worthy to be called your son, he screamed. 429 00:38:59.040 --> 00:39:01.960 Tears and emotion were everywhere. 430 00:39:01.960 --> 00:39:06.880 This conviction that he was inadequate and unworthy to be called his son is what drove 431 00:39:06.880 --> 00:39:09.840 him from home in the first place. 432 00:39:09.840 --> 00:39:13.480 Now it all comes out, messy and painful. 433 00:39:14.080 --> 00:39:18.880 Tears, snot, raw emotion, and full exposure. 434 00:39:18.880 --> 00:39:23.680 The son's broken and infected heart bleeds out before his father. 435 00:39:23.680 --> 00:39:30.480 The son's tears cover his father and the father's kisses cover his son. 436 00:39:30.480 --> 00:39:35.800 Chapter 4 A Seat at the Table 437 00:39:35.800 --> 00:39:40.840 The unconditional acceptance, the love, the honor, and the favor that the father lavishes 438 00:39:40.920 --> 00:39:44.520 on the son leaves everyone bewildered. 439 00:39:44.520 --> 00:39:49.200 The crowd listening to Jesus cannot believe what has just happened. 440 00:39:49.200 --> 00:39:53.120 This is the worst, most scandalous story they've ever heard. 441 00:39:53.120 --> 00:39:55.040 It makes no sense. 442 00:39:55.040 --> 00:39:57.120 In fact, it makes them vibrate with anger. 443 00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:06.480 The son is speechless, hyperventilating, gasping for breath and choking on a rising stream of tears. 444 00:40:07.760 --> 00:40:14.880 The father is ecstatic. When the older brother hears about what has happened, he is wild with 445 00:40:14.880 --> 00:40:22.400 anger. The only one that Jesus' audience can relate to is the older brother and his outrage 446 00:40:22.400 --> 00:40:29.840 at the absence of the flogging of a lifetime or worse. But as this story sinks in, as Jesus' 447 00:40:29.840 --> 00:40:36.800 audience reflect on this foreign love, a deep place in their hearts is jealous to experience 448 00:40:36.800 --> 00:40:42.880 it for themselves. They begin to feel a once-dormant, deprived part of their hearts 449 00:40:43.520 --> 00:40:47.840 physically aching to know the radical love that has been poured out on this son. 450 00:40:49.440 --> 00:40:52.080 In that moment, some of them ask themselves, 451 00:40:52.800 --> 00:40:55.520 What would it be like to be loved so unconditionally? 452 00:40:57.440 --> 00:41:03.440 Shouts begin to rise up from the gathering. Deadly demands for justice ring out from the 453 00:41:03.440 --> 00:41:09.360 priests, the elders, the lawyers, the cousins, the uncles, aunties, and friends. 454 00:41:10.720 --> 00:41:16.160 What will the father's decision be? What shall be done with this worthless son? 455 00:41:17.120 --> 00:41:24.480 They grip their rocks in rage. The gentle love and kindness in the father's eyes blindsides 456 00:41:24.480 --> 00:41:29.040 and captivates the son. They immerse themselves in each other's gaze. 457 00:41:30.480 --> 00:41:33.440 The father's eyes tell a story that the son has never known. 458 00:41:34.800 --> 00:41:41.760 The son has known the looks of rejection, hatred, brutality, and condemnation. But no matter how 459 00:41:41.760 --> 00:41:46.240 deeply he reaches into his father's eyes, there is not a trace of these things. 460 00:41:47.600 --> 00:41:52.640 He plunges desperately into them, expecting that rejection is hidden somewhere inside. 461 00:41:54.720 --> 00:41:59.440 His father's eyes are baptizing him in the purest love that he has ever encountered. 462 00:42:00.880 --> 00:42:04.560 The rejection that he assumed was there had never existed. 463 00:42:05.520 --> 00:42:12.000 Waves of acceptance crash over him again and again. He can't understand why he had never seen 464 00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:18.880 it there before. But he can see it clearly now. The eyes of the father are a cosmos of ecstasy 465 00:42:18.880 --> 00:42:26.080 and delight in his son. The son is discovering that he has always been the focus of his father's 466 00:42:26.080 --> 00:42:33.200 delight. The son can see that this limitless love in his father's eyes could take a thousand 467 00:42:33.200 --> 00:42:40.800 lifetimes to explore. It is beyond his capacity to understand. He doesn't know why he's never seen 468 00:42:40.800 --> 00:42:47.360 it before. But he cannot ignore it. He cannot resist it. And he cannot live without it. 469 00:42:48.560 --> 00:42:53.680 For the first time since he was a little boy, he buries his face in his father's chest. 470 00:42:54.880 --> 00:42:59.600 They grip each other in an embrace that simultaneously communicates a lifetime 471 00:42:59.600 --> 00:43:06.640 full of pain and a future full of hope. The father has an unprecedented response 472 00:43:06.640 --> 00:43:13.120 to the son's begging and the crowd's demands. He does not let the son continue to berate himself 473 00:43:13.120 --> 00:43:18.880 and beg like a slave. The father breaks everyone's cultural protocols and expectations 474 00:43:19.520 --> 00:43:26.400 as he demonstrates unconditional love for his son. The son himself is in serious shock. 475 00:43:27.360 --> 00:43:31.360 Where's the wrath of the monstrous father that he believed had never loved him? 476 00:43:32.720 --> 00:43:37.360 The father's love collides with his false perceptions like a sledgehammer on glass. 477 00:43:38.640 --> 00:43:45.520 The core beliefs that he built his world on are shattering. The love is tangible and strong. 478 00:43:46.480 --> 00:43:52.400 So strong that the son loses all his strength. An electric love surges right through him. 479 00:43:53.360 --> 00:43:59.360 He melts in his father's arms. The father holds him up in this eternally desired 480 00:43:59.360 --> 00:44:05.920 expression of delight. For the first time in his memory, the son drops his guard. 481 00:44:07.760 --> 00:44:11.600 For a moment, his sense of inadequacy is eclipsed by his father's love. 482 00:44:12.800 --> 00:44:17.280 And he receives this divine love into the depths of his love-starved soul. 483 00:44:18.240 --> 00:44:24.800 His love-famished soul feasts at the same time as an uncontrollable flood of tears and snot 484 00:44:24.800 --> 00:44:30.480 and pain continue pouring from him. The double-edged blade of love penetrates his heart. 485 00:44:31.360 --> 00:44:37.440 It's hurting, but it's healing. The father continues to demonstrate to the son and to 486 00:44:37.440 --> 00:44:42.240 everyone watching his unreserved endorsement of the legitimacy of his son's sonship. 487 00:44:42.240 --> 00:44:46.880 At this stage, the son's world is spinning out of control. 488 00:44:49.040 --> 00:44:55.600 The father called for his best robe. Immediately, the father placed his most exquisite garment 489 00:44:55.600 --> 00:44:59.920 on his son. This robe is a statement of the father's protection. 490 00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:06.640 The moment that the father's robe was placed on the son, every condemning accusation against 491 00:45:06.640 --> 00:45:09.880 the son was cancelled. 492 00:45:09.880 --> 00:45:13.200 The son is now wearing the best robe of the household. 493 00:45:13.200 --> 00:45:15.240 It is his father's covering. 494 00:45:15.240 --> 00:45:19.840 It represents the father meeting the son's need for protection. 495 00:45:19.840 --> 00:45:23.560 It is a declaration of safety to the son. 496 00:45:23.560 --> 00:45:29.280 This act of love is casting out all fear of punishment. 497 00:45:29.280 --> 00:45:34.320 This act of love is cancelling every offense and every accusation of judgment and condemnation 498 00:45:34.320 --> 00:45:37.760 associated with the son's failures. 499 00:45:37.760 --> 00:45:43.480 This act of love is a declaration of total vindication and reconciliation. 500 00:45:43.480 --> 00:45:47.600 This act of love is a declaration that the father has completely and freely forgiven 501 00:45:47.600 --> 00:45:49.960 his son. 502 00:45:49.960 --> 00:45:55.320 This act of love is an undeserved declaration of redemption and freedom from the darkness 503 00:45:55.320 --> 00:45:58.140 of the son's past. 504 00:45:58.140 --> 00:46:02.260 The level of offense in the crowd is now rising. 505 00:46:02.260 --> 00:46:04.420 Where is the justice? 506 00:46:04.420 --> 00:46:11.340 To them this is immoral, scandalous, against the laws of God and nature. 507 00:46:11.340 --> 00:46:17.340 This is blasphemy, heresy, and surely Gentile theology all in one. 508 00:46:17.340 --> 00:46:22.260 They believed that justice looked like punishment. 509 00:46:22.260 --> 00:46:25.860 But the father is overwhelmed with delight. 510 00:46:25.860 --> 00:46:30.700 He has no regard for the crowd's preconceived assumptions that he would pour out wrath on 511 00:46:30.700 --> 00:46:32.780 his son. 512 00:46:32.780 --> 00:46:36.020 The father had no intention of punishment. 513 00:46:36.020 --> 00:46:38.940 It wasn't what he had ever wanted. 514 00:46:38.940 --> 00:46:44.780 To the father justice looked like redemption and he gets exactly what he wants. 515 00:46:44.780 --> 00:46:46.740 His son. 516 00:46:46.740 --> 00:46:52.700 The crowd's appetite for blood is left completely unsatisfied by the father. 517 00:46:52.700 --> 00:46:57.260 Moments later the father rushes a ring onto his son's finger. 518 00:46:57.260 --> 00:47:00.260 This ring symbolizes identity. 519 00:47:00.260 --> 00:47:05.460 In giving this ring the father is meeting the son's extreme need for identity. 520 00:47:05.460 --> 00:47:10.220 The father is saying that everything which the son once believed defined him. 521 00:47:10.220 --> 00:47:15.660 All his failures, all his dark secrets, everything negative that had ever been said about him 522 00:47:15.660 --> 00:47:19.980 or that he had believed about himself is irrelevant. 523 00:47:19.980 --> 00:47:24.940 This ring symbolizes the name, nature, and identity of the family and declares to the 524 00:47:24.940 --> 00:47:29.660 son that he is exclusively defined by his father. 525 00:47:29.660 --> 00:47:34.540 This ring declares to the son that the only valid reference point for his identity comes 526 00:47:34.540 --> 00:47:36.760 from his father. 527 00:47:36.760 --> 00:47:43.460 By doing this the father also powerfully communicates that this son has a home and a place of belonging 528 00:47:43.460 --> 00:47:45.380 in his family. 529 00:47:45.380 --> 00:47:50.820 He will be seated at the family table at the father's side. 530 00:47:50.820 --> 00:47:53.380 The son can't stand. 531 00:47:53.380 --> 00:47:57.220 He is overwhelmed with love and emotion. 532 00:47:57.220 --> 00:48:01.740 He collapses to the ground and servants run to him. 533 00:48:01.740 --> 00:48:04.340 Sandals are tied to his feet. 534 00:48:04.340 --> 00:48:07.620 Slaves and servants did not wear sandals. 535 00:48:07.620 --> 00:48:11.580 This act of the father was a declaration of provision. 536 00:48:11.580 --> 00:48:16.220 The father was saying that he would not receive him back as a slave or a servant. 537 00:48:16.220 --> 00:48:21.820 He would receive him back as a son and he would provide as a father. 538 00:48:21.820 --> 00:48:27.500 Each of these three actions endorsed the legitimacy of the son's sonship. 539 00:48:27.500 --> 00:48:32.980 Each of these actions revealed the nature of the father to supply protection, identity, 540 00:48:32.980 --> 00:48:35.540 and provision. 541 00:48:35.540 --> 00:48:39.020 Following this the father killed the fattened calf. 542 00:48:39.020 --> 00:48:42.500 This calf would have been enough to feed the whole village. 543 00:48:42.500 --> 00:48:47.820 It was a custom for wealthy families to invite the whole town or village to a banquet to 544 00:48:47.820 --> 00:48:50.180 celebrate Bar Mitzvah. 545 00:48:50.180 --> 00:48:56.220 A Bar Mitzvah is a coming-of-age celebration which took place on a son's thirteenth birthday 546 00:48:56.220 --> 00:49:01.580 where a son is legally and publicly recognized as a son with all the legal rights, privileges 547 00:49:01.580 --> 00:49:05.440 and responsibilities of sonship. 548 00:49:05.440 --> 00:49:10.160 This was not an official Bar Mitzvah celebration but the father was making a public statement 549 00:49:10.160 --> 00:49:12.760 similar to that of a Bar Mitzvah. 550 00:49:12.760 --> 00:49:17.880 The father was publicly celebrating, recognizing and endorsing the full rights, privileges 551 00:49:17.880 --> 00:49:21.920 and responsibilities of his son's sonship. 552 00:49:21.920 --> 00:49:27.960 The whole village was invited to witness the father testify to the legitimacy of his son's 553 00:49:27.960 --> 00:49:28.960 sonship. 554 00:49:28.960 --> 00:49:35.240 The father wanted to endorse his son's sonship in the most public way possible. 555 00:49:36.040 --> 00:49:39.800 Both the community around the father in the story and Jesus' audience were having a 556 00:49:39.800 --> 00:49:46.160 major culture shock as they tried to process the actions of this eccentric, heretical, 557 00:49:46.160 --> 00:49:48.400 villainous father. 558 00:49:48.400 --> 00:49:54.080 This father defied their cultural expectations for wrath and punishment and dumbfounded them 559 00:49:54.080 --> 00:49:58.400 with his unconditional acceptance and extravagant love. 560 00:49:58.400 --> 00:49:59.960 The lost son was received humbly. 561 00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:06.360 home as the object of his father's delight. While the son still smelt like a pigsty, the 562 00:50:06.360 --> 00:50:11.320 father had wrapped him up in his passionate embrace. 563 00:50:11.320 --> 00:50:17.720 Instead of separation, condemnation, wrath, humiliation, and bloodshed, this son is sitting 564 00:50:17.720 --> 00:50:24.160 in the best seat at his father's side, wearing the best robe with a ring on his finger and 565 00:50:24.160 --> 00:50:30.480 brand-new sandals on his feet, feasting at a celebration thrown in his honor to endorse 566 00:50:30.480 --> 00:50:37.840 the legitimacy of his sonship. This son has discovered his seat at the table. 567 00:50:37.840 --> 00:50:44.760 Seated beside his father, this son has finally found where he belongs. Instead of dying with 568 00:50:44.760 --> 00:50:51.520 the pigs, he's dining with the father. Although the crowd was confused, speechless, 569 00:50:51.520 --> 00:50:57.920 and offended, the story awakened within each of them a deep and ancient desire to experience 570 00:50:57.920 --> 00:51:04.440 such a love for themselves. A jealousy for such a pure love began to sting the open wounds 571 00:51:04.440 --> 00:51:11.320 of lack and inadequacy in their own hearts. Could such a love be any more than mythology 572 00:51:11.320 --> 00:51:15.600 or heresy? They reflected on their own experiences of 573 00:51:15.600 --> 00:51:21.520 what a father's love could look like. They all had different images coming to mind, the 574 00:51:21.520 --> 00:51:26.840 good, the bad, and the ugly. All of their experiences of what a father's love is like 575 00:51:26.840 --> 00:51:33.480 were different, but all of them paled in contrast to the extravagant love of this father. 576 00:51:33.480 --> 00:51:41.440 Could I ever hope to experience a love like this? they wondered, secretly to themselves. 577 00:51:41.440 --> 00:51:46.960 Even the son is seriously questioning whether this is too good to be true. Is this really 578 00:51:46.960 --> 00:51:54.520 happening? All his expectations, his entire worldview, his reality, had been completely 579 00:51:54.520 --> 00:51:59.760 devastated by his father's love. Truth is staring him in the face and declaring that 580 00:51:59.760 --> 00:52:06.640 life is better and brighter than he had ever imagined. His heart, his brain, his emotions, 581 00:52:06.640 --> 00:52:12.840 his spirit, his soul, are all exploding at the same time. It's too much to grasp the 582 00:52:12.840 --> 00:52:19.440 full meaning of everything. This love has blown a brain fuse in the son. He makes the 583 00:52:19.440 --> 00:52:26.560 best decision of his life and chooses to simply receive his papa's love. Even though it's 584 00:52:26.560 --> 00:52:33.360 beyond his comprehension and his mind is spinning, his heart knows that he belongs in this seat 585 00:52:33.360 --> 00:52:41.080 at his papa's table. Truth is convincing him that he is perfectly loved. For the first 586 00:52:41.080 --> 00:52:47.400 time in his life, he is starting to see his papa as he really is. He is discovering that 587 00:52:47.400 --> 00:52:54.680 his papa is a perfect lover. The more accurately he sees his papa, the more he loves him. The 588 00:52:54.680 --> 00:53:01.400 offense and hatred he once held towards his father has been swallowed up by love and honor. 589 00:53:01.400 --> 00:53:07.120 His papa's love is redefining everything that he ever knew about love. He has never 590 00:53:07.120 --> 00:53:15.480 felt so safe. He has never felt so secure. In the context of perfect safety, vulnerability 591 00:53:15.480 --> 00:53:22.360 is losing its terror. Surrounded by safety, authenticity cautiously emerges like a snail's 592 00:53:22.360 --> 00:53:28.760 antenna. The masks of false identities that the son had worn as self-protection mechanisms 593 00:53:28.840 --> 00:53:34.680 becoming irrelevant. This unconditional acceptance is drawing the son outside of himself. 594 00:53:36.040 --> 00:53:40.840 He is discovering that nothing he has ever experienced compares to the ecstasy and the 595 00:53:40.840 --> 00:53:49.320 bliss of this perfect love. This once-lost son has found a seat at the table. This once-lost 596 00:53:49.320 --> 00:53:57.000 son is rediscovering the bliss of sonship. A genuine smile lights up his face. His eyes 597 00:53:57.000 --> 00:54:01.800 radiate with the delight of a son who understands that he is perfectly loved. 598 00:54:04.600 --> 00:54:07.160 Chapter 5 Conclusion 599 00:54:09.720 --> 00:54:16.600 The term sonship is used here in a generic, non-gender-specific way. The term identity 600 00:54:16.600 --> 00:54:21.960 is used here to refer to the generic identity of humanity as those made in the image of God, 601 00:54:22.680 --> 00:54:26.120 not to a person's unique individuality and personality. 602 00:54:28.040 --> 00:54:33.080 The parable of the Good Father is Jesus' most masterful articulation of the Good News. 603 00:54:34.120 --> 00:54:40.760 Jesus exquisitely communicates the essence of the Good News with power and precision. Jesus 604 00:54:40.760 --> 00:54:47.560 presents his definition of perfect theology—who God is—and his definition of the Gospel—what 605 00:54:47.560 --> 00:54:55.160 the Good News is—in one of the most heart-gripping stories in the entire Bible. A father. A lost son. 606 00:54:56.200 --> 00:54:59.960 Betrayal. Scandal. Secrets. Fear. 607 00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:05.000 fear, shame, heartbreak, villainy, tragedy, 608 00:55:05.480 --> 00:55:09.840 brokenness, addiction, bondage, 609 00:55:09.840 --> 00:55:14.800 isolation, courage, vulnerability, 610 00:55:14.800 --> 00:55:19.360 forgiveness, love, redemption, 611 00:55:19.360 --> 00:55:24.360 identity, reconciliation, restoration, 612 00:55:24.680 --> 00:55:29.680 sonship, family, belonging, 613 00:55:29.680 --> 00:55:30.520 hope. 614 00:55:32.080 --> 00:55:35.360 This story incorporates the most powerful themes in life. 615 00:55:36.280 --> 00:55:38.920 It answers the most profound questions in life. 616 00:55:40.080 --> 00:55:42.960 The pinnacle revelation in the midst of it all 617 00:55:42.960 --> 00:55:46.800 is the unconditional, unfailing, unparalleled love 618 00:55:46.800 --> 00:55:48.800 of our Father in Heaven, 619 00:55:48.800 --> 00:55:53.000 whose unshakable love conquers the most hideous betrayals 620 00:55:53.000 --> 00:55:55.600 without flinching or being damaged 621 00:55:55.600 --> 00:55:58.880 or reduced or inhibited or restricted in any way. 622 00:55:59.960 --> 00:56:03.320 It's a love that defies every adversity 623 00:56:03.320 --> 00:56:04.640 and never relents, 624 00:56:05.560 --> 00:56:08.480 a love that yearns for redemption, not punishment, 625 00:56:09.440 --> 00:56:12.040 and reconciliation, not distance. 626 00:56:13.720 --> 00:56:14.760 Using this story, 627 00:56:14.760 --> 00:56:17.960 Jesus exposes the root issues of the human heart, 628 00:56:19.000 --> 00:56:21.120 believing that we are inadequate 629 00:56:21.120 --> 00:56:22.640 and that we won't have enough. 630 00:56:23.920 --> 00:56:26.440 These beliefs flow from false definitions 631 00:56:26.440 --> 00:56:27.920 of our Father in Heaven 632 00:56:27.960 --> 00:56:30.200 and false definitions of our own identity. 633 00:56:31.560 --> 00:56:33.200 When we have a false definition 634 00:56:33.200 --> 00:56:35.240 of who our Father in Heaven is, 635 00:56:35.240 --> 00:56:39.320 we come to believe that we will lack the things that we need, 636 00:56:39.320 --> 00:56:41.400 protection, identity, provision. 637 00:56:42.520 --> 00:56:45.320 Whenever we believe that we will be in lack, 638 00:56:45.320 --> 00:56:46.560 it produces fear. 639 00:56:47.800 --> 00:56:51.240 The nature of love, the nature of the Father, is to supply. 640 00:56:52.200 --> 00:56:55.560 Lack produces fear, but love, love supplies. 641 00:56:56.440 --> 00:56:59.320 That's how love casts out all fear. 642 00:56:59.320 --> 00:57:01.240 Love brings a promise with it 643 00:57:01.240 --> 00:57:03.040 that there will be more than enough. 644 00:57:04.600 --> 00:57:07.120 Lack produces fear, but love supplies. 645 00:57:08.120 --> 00:57:11.200 Love supplies the truth that we need to be free from fear. 646 00:57:12.200 --> 00:57:13.840 Love supplies the revelation 647 00:57:13.840 --> 00:57:16.480 that our hearts need to be fully persuaded 648 00:57:16.480 --> 00:57:18.000 of our Papa's provision. 649 00:57:19.040 --> 00:57:20.560 When we are fully persuaded 650 00:57:20.560 --> 00:57:23.600 that our Father in Heaven will provide for us, 651 00:57:23.880 --> 00:57:26.480 then it will be clearly evidenced by the reality 652 00:57:26.480 --> 00:57:30.360 that there is no fear, anxiety, or worry in our lives. 653 00:57:31.600 --> 00:57:34.320 The only way to get free from fear 654 00:57:34.320 --> 00:57:36.600 is by discovering what this son discovered. 655 00:57:37.680 --> 00:57:40.640 Eventually, he discovered that his father's love 656 00:57:40.640 --> 00:57:44.080 was unconditional and he had always been loved. 657 00:57:45.200 --> 00:57:47.480 Nothing he did or didn't do 658 00:57:47.480 --> 00:57:50.320 ever stopped the father from loving him. 659 00:57:50.320 --> 00:57:53.720 That is who the father is, a perfect lover. 660 00:57:55.200 --> 00:57:59.120 After a lifetime of living in an unnecessary love deficit, 661 00:57:59.120 --> 00:58:02.520 the son came to realize that his actions and mindsets 662 00:58:02.520 --> 00:58:05.080 did not alter or diminish the father's love. 663 00:58:06.000 --> 00:58:08.200 They altered his ability to experience 664 00:58:08.200 --> 00:58:10.600 the present reality of his father's love. 665 00:58:11.800 --> 00:58:15.320 It took great courage from the son to make the journey home 666 00:58:15.320 --> 00:58:18.200 and to become vulnerable with his father. 667 00:58:18.200 --> 00:58:19.880 However, it was in the context 668 00:58:19.880 --> 00:58:22.080 of his courage and vulnerability 669 00:58:22.080 --> 00:58:24.920 that he discovered the present reality of the love 670 00:58:24.920 --> 00:58:27.080 with which his father had always loved him. 671 00:58:28.520 --> 00:58:30.560 The father's unconditional acceptance 672 00:58:30.560 --> 00:58:34.040 establishes an atmosphere of perfect safety, 673 00:58:34.040 --> 00:58:36.360 an atmosphere that is safe to come home to, 674 00:58:37.280 --> 00:58:39.560 a place where it's safe to be honest, 675 00:58:39.560 --> 00:58:43.480 real, transparent, and vulnerable, 676 00:58:43.480 --> 00:58:45.480 a place where it's safe to be ourselves. 677 00:58:46.400 --> 00:58:48.680 In the context of unconditional acceptance, 678 00:58:48.680 --> 00:58:51.000 we can expose ourselves and still be loved. 679 00:58:51.880 --> 00:58:52.840 We can be known. 680 00:58:53.840 --> 00:58:56.480 We can be intimate without fear of rejection. 681 00:58:57.520 --> 00:58:59.440 In this place of unconditional acceptance, 682 00:58:59.440 --> 00:59:01.800 we are given the opportunity to build trust. 683 00:59:03.040 --> 00:59:06.760 As we protect and steward trust with safe behavior, 684 00:59:06.760 --> 00:59:08.000 intimacy grows. 685 00:59:08.920 --> 00:59:12.600 As intimacy develops, a sense of belonging grows with it. 686 00:59:13.600 --> 00:59:15.840 As the son courageously came home 687 00:59:15.840 --> 00:59:19.080 into that atmosphere of safety and acceptance, 688 00:59:19.080 --> 00:59:20.160 his heart melted. 689 00:59:21.120 --> 00:59:23.920 He repositioned his heart from a place of offense 690 00:59:23.920 --> 00:59:26.400 towards his father to a posture of honor. 691 00:59:27.440 --> 00:59:30.080 He discovered that offense shut his heart down 692 00:59:30.080 --> 00:59:31.200 to receiving love, 693 00:59:32.200 --> 00:59:35.920 but honor opened his heart up to receive his father's love. 694 00:59:37.160 --> 00:59:39.840 Honor opened the floodgates for a baptism 695 00:59:39.840 --> 00:59:40.920 in the father's love. 696 00:59:40.960 --> 00:59:43.280 A false definition of our father in heaven 697 00:59:43.280 --> 00:59:46.200 is not only the source of lack and fear, 698 00:59:46.200 --> 00:59:48.720 it is also the root of inadequacy and shame. 699 00:59:50.120 --> 00:59:52.160 We were made in the image of our father, 700 00:59:52.160 --> 00:59:54.120 our papa in heaven. 701 00:59:54.120 --> 00:59:56.360 He is the blueprint of our divine design. 702 00:59:57.440 --> 01:00:00.440 We were made perfectly in the image of our father. 703 01:00:00.000 --> 01:00:06.160 in his image, and he alone defines us. However, if we are not fully persuaded that we are 704 01:00:06.160 --> 01:00:11.400 perfectly made in the image of our Father in Heaven, then we begin to experience feelings 705 01:00:11.400 --> 01:00:17.800 associated with beliefs of inadequacy. Perfection is the secret standard inside of 706 01:00:17.800 --> 01:00:22.960 every human soul that we measure ourselves by. If we come to believe that we are less 707 01:00:22.960 --> 01:00:28.360 than perfect in any way, then inadequacy and shame begin to spread like a vicious rash 708 01:00:28.360 --> 01:00:33.480 on our soul. The pathway to freedom from shame is becoming 709 01:00:33.480 --> 01:00:39.040 fully persuaded that despite what you have been through in life, the only valid reference 710 01:00:39.040 --> 01:00:46.160 for your identity is your Papa in Heaven. Nothing we have ever experienced in life has 711 01:00:46.160 --> 01:00:51.600 any authority to redefine that which our Father in Heaven has already exclusively defined 712 01:00:51.600 --> 01:00:57.880 in his image. Our Papa in Heaven made us in his image and we have been forever defined 713 01:00:57.880 --> 01:01:03.760 by him alone. Believing in lack will produce fear and believing 714 01:01:03.760 --> 01:01:12.280 in inadequacy will produce shame. Humans are allergic to shame. Shame is a toxic substance. 715 01:01:12.280 --> 01:01:17.880 Shame comes from believing that you as an individual are inadequate in some way. 716 01:01:17.880 --> 01:01:22.440 The belief that we are inadequate comes from a perception that things we have experienced 717 01:01:22.440 --> 01:01:29.800 have authority to define our identity. This world is full of extreme trauma. I have 718 01:01:29.800 --> 01:01:34.760 more friends than I can count who have been through extreme abuse and trauma. 719 01:01:34.760 --> 01:01:39.680 The ones that get free from shame are the ones that embrace the truth that their experiences 720 01:01:39.680 --> 01:01:46.040 have no authority to define their identity. The negative words spoken over their lives, 721 01:01:46.040 --> 01:01:52.560 the neglect they suffered, the rape, the violence, the incest, the rejection, the betrayal, 722 01:01:52.560 --> 01:02:00.080 the failure, the sin, the wounds, the fall, the works, none of these things have any authority 723 01:02:00.080 --> 01:02:07.160 to define us. Nothing that we have ever experienced has the authority to redefine that which the 724 01:02:07.160 --> 01:02:11.960 Father has already exclusively defined in his image. 725 01:02:11.960 --> 01:02:17.160 We have been exclusively defined by our Father in Heaven. He is the only valid reference 726 01:02:17.160 --> 01:02:23.600 point for our identity. He is the blueprint of our divine design. 727 01:02:23.600 --> 01:02:29.400 If we are experiencing condemnation, shame, or a belief of unworthiness in any expression 728 01:02:29.400 --> 01:02:34.240 in our lives, it is because we have allowed ourselves to be defined by something that 729 01:02:34.240 --> 01:02:40.160 has no authority to define us. There is one outstanding and exclusive definition 730 01:02:40.160 --> 01:02:47.440 of our identity that has the executive authority to define us, and that is Jesus. 731 01:02:47.440 --> 01:02:54.280 Jesus perfectly revealed and modeled our Father in Heaven, and in doing so, he perfectly articulated 732 01:02:54.280 --> 01:03:00.760 humanity's true identity, as those made in God's image. Every form of information 733 01:03:00.760 --> 01:03:05.720 that you have ever received that gives definition to your identity, which is not in harmony 734 01:03:05.720 --> 01:03:13.240 with what Christ revealed, is not valid. Jesus called the Son a Son for the entire 735 01:03:13.240 --> 01:03:21.000 story. Even in his darkest hour, the Son was still as Son as a Son can be. Discovering 736 01:03:21.000 --> 01:03:26.680 the present reality of his Sonship required the lies in his belief system to be shattered 737 01:03:26.680 --> 01:03:33.800 entirely. His whole way of processing what defined him had to be completely rewired. 738 01:03:33.800 --> 01:03:38.880 He had always believed that what he did, what people said, and what he experienced 739 01:03:38.880 --> 01:03:45.080 defined his identity. This way of thinking is a system rigged to fail, a system that 740 01:03:45.080 --> 01:03:50.920 will keep us chained to inadequacy, shame, and condemnation. The Son discovered that 741 01:03:50.920 --> 01:03:58.000 the legitimacy of his Sonship had never been compromised by all his failures and rebellion. 742 01:03:58.000 --> 01:04:03.380 As the Father endorsed the authenticity of his Sonship, he began to see that the only 743 01:04:03.380 --> 01:04:10.140 valid reference point for his identity was his Father. He was exclusively defined by 744 01:04:10.140 --> 01:04:16.380 his Father and he had always been as Son as Son can be. 745 01:04:16.380 --> 01:04:21.740 Combining these two revelations in our lives empowers us to discover the bliss of Sonship 746 01:04:21.740 --> 01:04:27.420 that this Son discovered in Jesus' Gospel narrative. Discovering unconditional love 747 01:04:27.420 --> 01:04:34.460 and unconditional Sonship is what seats us at our Father's table. Our Papa is a perfect 748 01:04:34.460 --> 01:04:41.540 lover and we are exclusively made and defined in his image. We are all perfectly loved and 749 01:04:41.540 --> 01:04:47.420 we are all perfectly worthy of perfect love. We have not been qualified or defined by our 750 01:04:47.420 --> 01:04:53.380 own failed attempts at perfection. We have been qualified and defined by our Papa in 751 01:04:53.380 --> 01:04:58.860 Heaven, who made us in his image, and who has declared that we are his beloved children. 752 01:05:00.000 --> 01:05:06.660 Just like the son in the story, your Father in Heaven longs to have you return home. 753 01:05:06.660 --> 01:05:10.320 He has reserved a seat at the table for you. 754 01:05:10.320 --> 01:05:15.160 He longs to celebrate you the way the son in the story was celebrated. 755 01:05:15.160 --> 01:05:18.840 He longs to feast with you at the family table. 756 01:05:18.840 --> 01:05:25.000 He longs to place his robe of protection over you, to place a defining ring on your finger, 757 01:05:25.000 --> 01:05:29.840 to promise you provision and to welcome you home as a beloved child. 758 01:05:29.840 --> 01:05:33.900 He wants you to take your place at the banqueting table. 759 01:05:33.900 --> 01:05:39.220 Your Papa longs to publicly celebrate and endorse the legitimacy of your sonship. 760 01:05:39.220 --> 01:05:44.840 He wants the whole world to know that you are perfectly, unconditionally, and extravagantly 761 01:05:44.840 --> 01:05:46.600 accepted and loved by him.