Luke 15:1-2 1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Homecoming & Feasting Luke 15:17-24  17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

Homecoming & Feasting 21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

James & Sarah Sorell

Feasting…  A sign of welcome & fellowship  A way to celebrate & rejoice  Jesus was in trouble with the religious leaders for his feasting practices

Luke 15: “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ 28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

The Significance of His Response “But there is something else. At such a banquet the father sits with the guests. The older son often stands and serves the meal as a ‘head waiter.’ The important difference between him and the other servants is that he joins in conversation with the seated company. By stationing the older son as a kind of hovering waiter, the family is in effect saying, ‘You, our guests, are so great that our son is your servant.’” –Kenneth E. Bailey in The Cross and the Prodigal

The Significance of His Response “But there is something else. At such a banquet the father sits with the guests. The older son often stands and serves the meal as a ‘head waiter.’ The important difference between him and the other servants is that he joins in conversation with the seated company. By stationing the older son as a kind of hovering waiter, the family is in effect saying, ‘You, our guests, are so great that our son is your servant.’” –Kenneth E. Bailey in The Cross and the Prodigal There is no space in his heart for the father lavishing love on him AND on his younger brother simultaneously (comparison & moral scorekeeping control his heart)

The Significance of His Response “But there is something else. At such a banquet the father sits with the guests. The older son often stands and serves the meal as a ‘head waiter.’ The important difference between him and the other servants is that he joins in conversation with the seated company. By stationing the older son as a kind of hovering waiter, the family is in effect saying, ‘You, our guests, are so great that our son is your servant.’” –Kenneth E. Bailey in The Cross and the Prodigal “In his jealousy and bitterness, the elder son can only see that his irresponsible brother is receiving more attention than he himself, and concludes that he is the less loved of the two. His father’s heart, however, is not divided into more or less. The father’s free and spontaneous response to his younger son’s return does not involve any comparisons with his elder son. To the contrary, he ardently desires to make his elder son part of his joy.” -Henri Nouwen in The Return of the Prodigal Son

The Father’s Response Luke 15:31-32  31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

The Significance of His Response  Entitled to disown this son for his public defiance  But if he wants a son, he must go out to him  The father is offering an invitation to joy for a self-righteous son who knows only about duty

There is even more… Feasting is a central theme throughout the Bible  OT festivals  Isaiah 25:6-8  6 On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; 8 he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.

There is even more… Feasting is a central theme throughout the Bible  OT festivals  Isaiah 25:6-8  Revelation 19  marriage feast of the Lamb  Jesus’ first miracle (sign of his kingdom)  turning 150 gallons of water into 150 gallons of fine wine for the people at the wedding to enjoy  The Lord’s Supper (Love Feast)  the mood is to be one of celebration and feasting…not the mood of a funeral…

There is even more… Feasting is rich in meaning  A feast is experiential “There is a difference between believing that God is holy and gracious, and having a new sense on the heart of the loveliness and beauty of that holiness and grace. The difference between believing that God is gracious and tasting that God is gracious is as different as having a rational belief that honey is sweet and having the actual sense of its sweetness.” -Jonathan Edwards

There is even more… Feasting is rich in meaning  A feast is experiential  A feast is material The climax of history is resurrection & redemption

There is even more… Feasting is rich in meaning  A feast is material The climax of history is resurrection & redemption Revelation 21:1-6  1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.

There is even more… Feasting is rich in meaning  A feast is experiential  A feast is material  A feast is personal We usually come away from feasts changed …don’t duty ourselves into joy and fullness, but it just happens…

There is even more… Feasting is rich in meaning  A feast is experiential  A feast is material  A feast is personal  A feast is communal

The Tension of Joy & Sorrow “Jesus lived this joy of the Father’s house to the full. In him we can see his Father’s joy. ‘Everything the Father has is mine,’ he says, including God’s boundless joy. That divine joy does not obliterate the divine sorrow. In our world, joy and sorrow exclude each other. Here below, joy means the absence of sorrow and sorrow the absence of joy. But such distinctions do not exist in God. Jesus, the Son of God, is the man of sorrows, but also the man of complete joy.” -Henri Nouwen in The Return of the Prodigal Son