With the Scent of Pigs

Luke 15:20 ~ “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.”

Have you ever wondered at the return of the prodigal son? To refresh your memory, let me give you a bit of the back story. This youngest son of his father demanded his inheritance, squandered it in wild living, and found himself feeding pigs in a foreign land. At the point where he is so desperate that he longs to feed himself with the pigs’ food he finally comes to his senses. He remembers his father’s house, that even his father’s servants are better off than he. With a repentant heart, he longs to confess his sin (see Luke 15:18-19) and return to his father. So he walks away from the pigs and begins the journey home. 

Unknown to the son, the father had been waiting for him, and when he sees his son on the road runs to meet him. With mercy and love, the father receives his son and completely restores him (see Luke 15:22-24).

There are two things absent from this story, and it is of great importance that we see them.

The first is this: the son never cleans himself up before returning home. Think about it. The son of a wealthy, Jewish landowner walks down that blistering path home with the scent of unclean pigs lingering like a malevolent cloud all about him. But the son had “come to his senses” (verse 17). That’s the key. It didn’t matter the lingering memory of his wicked rebellion and his failure—his heart was changed. He longed for home and for his father and though he carried the scent of pigs on his body, it would not hinder him from returning.

That is the humility of faith—that God will receive all who return to Him even though they still have the scent of pigs. How many have refused God because they thought they needed to “clean up” before they came back? How many have stayed away from God because they thought they were “unacceptable?” Of course you are unacceptable! If you were acceptable, you wouldn’t need grace. All of humanity is unacceptable to God—we all have the scent of sin on us. But God loves you and is watching for your return—all you have to do is come to your senses and come back to the Father.

The second is this: the father never demanded his son clean up to be received. Again, think about it. This Jewish man, whose son squandered his wealth, sees his son returning on the road. Anger and resentment might be the normal reaction. But, before the son could protest, the father rushes him and throws his arms around him and kisses him—despite the fact that there remains the scent of pigs. Remember, the father was “filled with compassion.” That’s the key. Compassion—true compassion—receives and embraces those who return in humble repentance.

This is the nature of grace—that God watches and longs for His creatures to return so that He can embrace them and be a Father to all who come. God does not hold people at “arm’s length” until they clean themselves up from all their past and remove the scent of pigs from their lives. God rushes to receive any who come to Him by faith and He casts His mantle upon them, blesses and kisses them with His unending love, and celebrates with great joy when one sinner returns (see Luke 15:10) The rabble of the world flocked to Jesus and He never cast them aside. The Lord knew that the only means of expressing God’s love is to embrace—going so far as to stretch His own arms on the cross and cry out, “Father, forgive them.” 

But what about righteousness and holiness? That will come in the presence of the Father. The “cleaning up” will happen. The longer the son remains in the presence of his father the less he will carry the scent of pigs. The longer we remain in the company of God, living in humble faithfulness, the more we lose the odor of this world, eventually to never again radiate with the scent of pigs. 

In His Grace,
​Pastor Michael

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