The Feast of the Father

We learn about the human condition

Luke 15:13-18 – 13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. 17 When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go home . . . (New Living Translation)

▸ The younger brother’s sin turns him into an ____________ from his home

▸ The younger brother became an ________________ of the human race

▸ “Home” is the place that truly _____ and ________ us

▸ This world doesn’t address the ___________ of our hearts

We learn about the divine solution

• The centerpiece of the parable is the ____________

Luke 15:31-32 – 31 The father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate and be happy because your brother was dead, but now he is alive. He was lost, but now he is found.’ (New Century Version)

• Old Testament meals ratified __________________, celebrated __________________, and marked special __________________

• This feast in the parable means God will bring us ________ someday

Matthew 8:11 – I assure you that many will come from the east and the west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of heaven. (Good News Translation)

Revelation 21:1-4 – 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” (New Living Translation)

We learn about the new communion

Luke 15:32 – . . . your brother was dead, but now he is alive. He was lost, but now he is found.’ (New Century Version)

 Jesus is our true __________ ____________

Matthew 8:20 – And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (New Revised Standard Version)

Hebrews 13:11-12 – 11 Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp. 12 So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood. (New Living Translation)

 In the parable we can see Jesus calls younger brothers to ____________

 The death and resurrection of the Son, and the love of the Father create a new _____________________