When Grace Sprinted | Jim Hammond
Recap
If you weren’t here last weekend on Father’s Day, you missed an enlightening message about our Father God’s love. When Jesus walked the earth, one of His missions was to reveal the Father God’s love for us. And one of the ways He did that was through the telling of the Parable of the Prodigal Son. When teaching on this parable, most preachers focus all their attention on the Prodigal Son, and how he repented. However, the whole point of this parable is to reveal the Father’s love. Pastor Jim said, “This may be one of the most-preached messages in history. And I know you think you know what this parable is all about… Well, we shall see.”
Dive Deeper
Pastor Jim talked about the Father that Jesus came to reveal—the Father in heaven that is far better than the best earthly fathers.
Jesus revealed the Father’s love in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
Luke 15:11…
The scriptural reference for the message is Luke chapter 15. In verse 11, Jesus began the parable by saying, “There was a certain man who had two sons…”
The King James translation entitled this parable, “The Parable of the Lost Son.” Pastor Jim said, “I don’t think that’s the right title. I think it should be “A Certain Man That Had Two Sons,” because the parable is about a man that had two sons. And for the dad, they weren’t great sons. Most men would not want sons like he had.
Scholars say that when you read “a certain man,” it means the story really happened. It’s a true story.
In this parable, Jesus is likening the father in the story to the Father in heaven. Jesus used this parable to tell you about your Father in heaven and how He feels about you and how He sees you.
Verse 12 says…
“And the younger of them said to his father, father, give me the part of the property that falls to me. And he divided the estate between them.”
In that Jewish culture, the older son got two thirds of the inheritance, and the younger son got one third. Both sons were very wealthy.
In that day and age, a son could collect an inheritance early. But it was an insult to the father of the family. The Amplified translation explains that the inheritance was not silver and gold; it was agricultural properly. The younger son spent his inheritance. So that meant the younger son sold the property, took the money and left. He took his inheritance before his father died. What that meant is that he took part of the livelihood of the father. This was a total rejection of the father.
Verse 13 says…
“And not many days after that, the younger son gathered up all that he had and journeyed into a distant country, and there he wasted his fortune in reckless and loose [from restraint] living.”
The son got his inheritance that was freely given to him through a simple relationship. He did not earn this inheritance. It was freely given. He wanted everything that father had but he didn’t want the father’s company.
The son got out of there as soon as he could. His fall was quick. He went to a “far country.” He’s backslidden in his heart. He ended up wasting all his money on riotous living in a foreign country. The “foreign country” is a type or picture of the characterization of the world.
Verse 14 says…
“And when he had spent all he had, a mighty famine came upon that country, and he began to fall behind and be in want.”
When you spend all your inheritance, Satan is not going to replenish it for you. There was a “mighty famine in the land.” Famine will come to those who chose to walk away from our Father God.
Pastor Jim said, “I guarantee this was the first time in his kid’s life where he ever experienced want. He always had plenty.” And then the lack increased even more because of the famine.
Verse 15 says…
“Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.” (NKJV)
The word “joined” in the Greek language carries with it the connotation of a person forcing themselves upon an unwilling employer. What that means if that the son was to the point where he began to beg. His desperation was revealed in the fact that he was willing to feed the swine. For a Jewish person, that was degrading. Pastor Jim said, “It was probably the most degrading occupation a Jew could have.”
Verse 16 says…
“And he would gladly have fed on and filled his belly with the carob pods that the hogs were eating but [they could not satisfy his hunger and] nobody gave him anything [better].”
The son is not eating the pigs. He’s eating what the pigs were being fed. No one gave anything to the son. In the Devil’s world, very little, if anything, is given. Everything is bought at a high price.
Note: Another thing you can add to the Prodigal Son’s actions is apostasy, because he literally joined himself to a Gentile man who raised pigs. So Jesus’ audience would have regarded the Prodigal Son as the lowest of the low.
Verse 17 says…
“Then when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father have enough food, and [even food] to spare, but I am perishing (dying) here of hunger!”
The verse begins, “When he came to himself…” That means he came to the realization that he made a serious mistake about his life. He could see death on the horizon. He started to realize how his own father’s servants had more than he had.
Verse 19 says…
“I am no longer worthy to be called your son; [just] make me like one of your hired servants.”
The Prodigal Son realized that everyone that worked for his father had more than enough. He thought it would be better to be one of his father’s servants. So he came up with what he could say to his father, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me one of your hired servants.”
Note: He’s not going home because he missed his father. He’s going home because he’s starving.
Pastor Jim said, “I’ve heard so many sermons on this, saying ‘When the son repented…’ But the son didn’t repent.”
The son decided to go to his father, telling him that he had sinned against “both heaven and you.” That he’s not worthy to be his son and to just let him be one of his hired servants. The Prodigal Son said, “Because then I can have bread enough to spare.”
He decided to come back to his father. There was no repentance. The son came back because he was starving.
You cannot find one place in the Bible where God will turn a son into a hired servant.
In the Jewish culture, there was something called Kezazah; it is a term that refers to an ancient Jewish ceremony described as the cutting off. It was used to publicly shame and ostracize a person who returned to his Jewish community after losing his inheritance to non-Jews. It was to publicly humiliate and reject the returning son and try to banish him from the community.
The father saw him a long way off and had compassion for his son. The Amplified Classic describes it as “pity and tenderness.” When he saw his son a long way off, he began to run toward him. In that culture, it was not modest to sprint like that. Their undergarments under their robes were long, and so he would have to pull up his robe in order to sprint at full speed. That would be immodest.
Outside of the Holy Spirit entering as a rushing mighty win, this is the only time we see God running. The father was in a rush to get to his son. When the father got to his son, he fell on his neck and kissed him.
[The above sermon notes cover the first 14 minutes of Pastor Jim Hammond’s message entitled, “When Grace Sprinted.” If you would like to know what the significance of the father’s sprinting toward his son was about, click on the link above to listen to the rest of the message.]
Read About It
Luke 15:11–20 “And He said, There was a certain man who had two sons; 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the part of the property that falls [to me]. And he divided the estate between them. 13 And not many days after that, the younger son gathered up all that he had and journeyed into a distant country, and there he wasted his fortune in reckless and loose [from restraint] living. 14 And when he had spent all he had, a mighty famine came upon that country, and he began to fall behind and be in want. 15 So he went and forced (glued) himself upon one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed hogs. 16 And he would gladly have fed on and filled his belly with the carob pods that the hogs were eating, but [they could not satisfy his hunger and] nobody gave him anything [better]. 17 Then when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father have enough food, and [even food] to spare, but I am perishing (dying) here of hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; [just] make me like one of your hired servants. 20 So he got up and came to his [own] father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity and tenderness [for him]; and he ran and embraced him and kissed him [fervently].”