A Robe, Ring & Sandals

 

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

So he told them this parable:

Then Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” ’ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

“Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’ ”

If there is one story in the Bible that almost everybody knows, it is probably this one—The Parable of the Prodigal Son. No talk, especially on the subjects of grace, love, and repentance, is complete without a teaching on this parable. Now the problem with a story that has been heard so often is that one thinks one knows it all, but I hope that I might be able to give you a few new insights. And because we have the same reading on March 31, I can talk about the other son too, as well as some of the minor characters that we never look at. I might take an extra para.

So, the younger son goes away with his father’s money, spends it all in wild living, then with pockets empty, ends up in a pig sty feeding pigs! There, looking at the pigs, envying them the food they were eating, he thinks that the servants back home had better food to eat. If he goes back and can persuade his father to hire him as a servant, he would at least fill his stomach. So he goes back and when he sees his father, he recites the dialog he has been rehearsing: “Father I have sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be your son; make me your servant.”

His father doesn’t let him continue. He envelops him in his arms, unmindful that the boy is dirty and stinking, then turns to the servants with these instructions. “Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!” Do you have any idea what’s happening here?

He tells the servant to bring the best robe in the house. Who would that belong to? Obviously the father. So if the boy goes out wearing this robe people seeing him will know he comes from the father. The second thing he instructs the servants to do is put a ring on his finger. A ring is a symbol of power and authority. This boy can tell people what they need to do and they would have to do it because he has the power and the authority given him by the father. 

The third thing he tells the servants to do is to put sandals on his feet. In olden days the only people allowed to wear sandals in the house was the owner and his sons. The boy might have accepted being a servant; the father would have nothing to do with it. You are my son, he says. We’ll leave the fattened calf for another time. 

Now we all know that the father in the story represents God, the Father, and unless we are like the elder son, the younger son represents every one of us. And to every one of us who returns home, the Father gives the robe, which in this case is the robe of righteousness that comes from Christ Jesus. See Romans 10. He gives us the ring of power and authority. What power and the authority to do what? The power is the power of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 1:8) and the authority is to make disciples of all nations (see Matthew 28:18-20). And he gives us the sandals of sonship (see John 1:12).

So, let us understand that we have been given the robe of righteousness, the ring of power and authority, and the sandals of sonship. And live accordingly.