Chapter 1: The People Around Jesus
Discussing his preaching a sermon on this Parable of the Lost Sons to a foreign audience, Tim Keller notes that “some time later the translator wrote to tell me that, as he was preaching the sermon, the had realized that the parable was like an arrow aimed at his heart”¦It brought him to faith in Christ.” He continues, noting that “many others have told me that this story of Jesus”¦saved their faith, their marriages, and”¦their lives.” Why is that? How can such a short story have such a huge impact on those that receive it? Exploring this question is our task for this Lenten season as we read The Prodigal God and consider it is the father, representing God himself, that is the prodigal of this story, the character who is “recklessly spendthrift” in pursuit of his two sons.