And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. Luke 15:20. ESV

 

One day I as I got to my car I saw a piece of paper under the windscreen wiper. Thinking it was an advertising leaflet, I was about to scrunch it up – until I saw that it was a traffic fine for a thousand rand “for parking in a place obstructing traffic”. I looked around in disbelief: there were no “No Parking” signs, no yellow line, no red line – and besides, I had parked there almost every day for years. Although I knew I’d done nothing wrong, I felt trapped and helpless because it simply didn’t make sense. No-one likes to be wrongly accused, left with unresolved issues and emotions, waiting for an unknown outcome.

 

Perhaps this was how the father of the prodigal son felt at first when his son asked for his inheritance before its due time and went off into a far land to fritter it all away. Surely he was bewildered by the request and saddened by his son’s leaving – how would he fare, and when and how would he see him again?

 

But this father loved his son, and watched and waited for his return as if he’d done nothing wrong. What unfolds is one of the most beautiful pictures of forgiveness in Scripture. The mere sight of his son returning stirred compassion in the father – so much so that he ran to him and kissed him, before even hearing his son’s confession, moved entirely from a disposition of love and grace.

 

That is true forgiveness – the kind that flows from God’s own heart. It’s the kind Jesus spoke from the cross over those who’d rejected and crucified him. It’s the kind he offered the paralytic, saying, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:5) It’s the kind that forgives “seventy-seven times”, as Jesus told Peter (Matthew 18:22) – and it’s the daily posture of the heart, as we see in Stephen, who was “full of the Holy Spirit” when he was stoned by members of the Sanhedrin. (Acts 7:54-60)

 

Paul captures what this forgiveness should produce in us: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32) We don’t forgive because it’s deserved, or because the wrong has been resolved to our satisfaction – we forgive because we’ve been forgiven first, and completely, by a Father who ran to meet us while we were still a long way off.

 

Can we do less?

 

Prayer: Father, thank tou that tou ran to meet me while I was still far off, before I had even found the words to confess. Teach me to forgive as freely as tou have forgiven me — not waiting for resolution, but running out in love, again and again. Amen.

 

P.S. My fine, in the end, was overturned – a small earthly resolution to a frustrating situation.