The Father's Love

Let me pray now for the reading and preaching of God's Word.

Heavenly Father, in our own flesh, we cannot grasp your amazing love for us.

Heavenly Father, we need you by the power of your Spirit today to open our blind eyes, to dig open our ears, so that we might hear and believe.

Lord, I cannot, I am incapable of conveying the depth of your love for your people.

Amen.

So won't you do what only you can do in the reading and preaching of your Word, so your Word might pierce the hearts of every single man and woman and child here.

Speak to us.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

If you are able, please stand and join me as I read Luke 15, 11-32.

And he said,

There was a man who had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father,

Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.

And he divided his property between them.

Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country.

And there he squandered his property in recklessly.

And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in 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 into his fields to feed pigs.

And he was longing to be fed with the pigs.

And no one gave him any.

But when he came to himself, he said,

How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread?

But I perish here with hunger.

I will arise 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 as one of your hired servants.

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.

And 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 servants,

Bring quickly the best brood, and put it on him.

And put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.

And bring the fattened calf and kill it.

And let us eat and celebrate.

For this my son was dead, and is alive again.

He was lost, and is found.

And they began to celebrate.

Now his older son was in the field,

and as he came and drew near to the house,

he heard music and dance.

And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.

And he said to him,

Your brother has come,

and your father has killed a fattened calf,

because he has received him back safe and sound.

But he was angry, and refused to go in.

His father came out and entreated him.

But he answered his father,

Look, these many years I have served you,

and I never disobeyed your command.

Yet you never gave me a young goat,

that I might celebrate with my friends.

But when this son of yours came,

who has devoured your property with prostitutes,

you killed a fattened calf for him.

And he said to him,

Son, you are always with me,

and all that is mine is yours.

It was fitting to celebrate and be glad,

for this your brother was dead,

and is alive.

He was lost, and is found.

Scott's holy and authoritative word may be seated.

Every culture and every society and religion

has a system of morality that tells us

what is right and what is wrong.

But all the moral systems of this world

can only produce two kinds of people.

The first kind that they produce are the law keepers.

They are those who keep the law

better than some others, relatively speaking,

and they keep the laws in order to get what they want.

They look good on the outside,

but their self-perceived observance of the law

spawns an arrogant, corrosive pride

that makes them self-righteous

and judgmental and patronizing.

They look down on other people

who are not as good or wealthy or successful.

The moral systems of our world

also produce a second kind of people.

And these second kind of people

are the law breakers.

People who break the law

to get what they want.

But their lawlessness

spawns deep guilt

and shame

that plague and haunt them

and eat them up from the inside.

And the point I want to prove to you this morning

is that the gospel

or the good news of Jesus Christ

produces a third kind of people.

People whose pride has been blown up

because they recognize that they are worse sinners

and worse failures

than they have ever imagined.

But simultaneously,

a people whose guilt and shame

have been defused

and defanged

by the unchanging love of God

who sent his only son,

Jesus Christ,

to die for our sins on the cross

and then rise again

from the dead

to save all those

who put their trust in Christ alone.

Do Christians still struggle with pride

and guilt and shame sometimes?

Of course.

But that's to the extent

that we are not living in light

of the good news of Jesus Christ.

And yet,

every day,

every year,

we are

being transformed

from one degree of glory to another

as we behold

the light of the gospel

of the glory of Christ.

Why?

Because there is a fundamental

pride-crushing

and shame-vaporizing

power in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And I want to prove that to you

this morning

through this famous parable

in Luke 15,

11-32.

The parable is popularly known

as the parable

of the prodigal son.

Prodigal meaning

wastefully extravagant son.

But the parable

is really about two sons.

The law-breaking one,

the younger one,

and then the law-keeping one,

the older one.

And it's really

even more than the two sons.

It's about the father's love

and his response

to both of them.

So we're going to first look

at the law-breaking son

and then we'll look

at the loving father

and then thirdly,

the law-keeping son.

The parable begins

in verse 11.

There was a man

who had two sons,

ordinary enough.

And it takes a sharp turn

in verse 12.

And the younger of them

said to his father,

Father,

give me the share of property

that is coming to me.

The man had two sons

and the Jewish law

at the time stipulated

that the first son

received a double portion

of the second son

in terms of the inheritance,

which meant that

in this case,

the younger son

was entitled

to receive one-third

of the inheritance

of the father's property.

And this younger son

is now asking his father

for his share

of the inheritance.

And a son asking

his father for money

is obviously not

an uncommon event,

but there's something

deeply evil

and selfish

about what he's doing here.

Because the way

inheritance is worked

back then

is similar

to how life insurance

works in our present context.

A father names

his two sons

as the beneficiaries

of his inheritance

or his life insurance,

so to speak.

And all of it

belonged to them

legally

at some point

in time.

But that property

does not become

available

and disposable

to the sons

until the father died.

And that was the case

also with his inheritance.

But the son is saying,

give me now

the share

of the property

that is coming to me.

I know it's coming to me,

but I want it now.

He's essentially

telling the father,

I wish you were dead already.

You're taking

a little too long.

I don't want you.

I want what's yours.

The presumption

of the request

is seen

in the father's response

in verse 12.

It said that he divided

his property

between them.

That word property

translated more literally

is life.

He divided his life

between them.

He gave his livelihood,

his very life,

all that he had

son of her,

all that he had

between his two sons.

And then the true intent

of the son

is seen clearly

in verse 13.

He doesn't even wait long.

There's no pretense here.

Not many days later,

the younger son

gathered all he had

and took the journey

into far country

and there he squandered

his property

and records.

He's not trying

to receive

his inheritance early

so he could

stay as a loyal son

by his father's side

and then honor him

and provide for him,

take care of him

in old age.

No, he gathers

all he had,

meaning he has

commercial overtones

of basically

selling everything

and turning

and converting

everything he has

into cash.

And then with that

wad of cash,

he goes to a far country.

He is sick of home,

sick of running

the family business,

sick of living

on a family farm,

sick of his father,

sick of his brother.

He's out of that.

Not a neighboring town,

a far country,

away from the

watchful,

concerned gave

his father.

And he said

that he squandered

his property

in reckless living.

The word squander

is to literally

scatter, right?

And in reckless living

is referring

to luxurious living.

This guy is

throwing money

into the wind,

throwing all caution

and cost aside,

running up

his credit cards.

And later in

verse 30,

the older son

says that his

younger brother

devoured the property

with prostitutes,

which tells us

about some

of the sordid ways

in which this

younger son

spent his father's

heart on life.

This is a selfish

lawbreaker.

This desire to get

away from the

father is at the

heart of every

sin, even the

seemingly more

benign sins that

we commit in our

own life.

If you are not

a Christian,

you're here this

morning, then you

are living your

life without

reference to God.

Even if you live

a relatively moral

life, and I'll get

to that when we

talk about the

older son, you

are still living

in prideful

unbelief, which

is at the root

of all sin.

You're living as

if God didn't

exist.

And in doing so,

you are doing

exactly what this

younger son sets

out to do, to

live without his

father.

In crude terms,

your life is an

expression of this

younger son's

unspoken wish.

I wish you were

dead so I could

have what is yours.

God is from God.

You are enjoying

the good gifts of

God in this world.

Every good thing

in this world is

from God who is

good, who alone

is good.

Love, family,

delightful food and

drink, pleasing

sounds, music, a

stable job, your

intellect, health,

beauty in art and

nature, all of these

are from God.

They all belong to

him, and yet you are

enjoying those gifts

without acknowledging

the one who gave

him.

That is the ugly

reality behind all

unbelief.

Even for the

Christian, the

desire to get away

from the Father to

do what we want is

at the heart of

everything.

When we indulge

our sinful desire,

when we do what

we should not do,

when we say what

we should not say,

when we don't do

what we should do,

when we don't say

what we should say,

we don't do what

to varying degrees,

we are all saying

to God, living

under your

authority in your

household is a

little too

restrictive.

I want to have

my own way.

I want to get

away from it.

Sex outside of

marriage is forbidden.

Marriage is only

between one man

and one woman.

I should give my

hard-earned money

to the ministry of

the church and

service to the

poor.

I shouldn't get

drunk on alcohol.

I should submit

to the governing

authority.

I should consider

others more

significant than

myself and look

out for their

interests and not

just my own.

I should forgive

that person that

has wronged me

again and again.

Okay, stop

right now.

That's a little

too far.

I've had enough

of your authority.

I've had enough

of you.

of you.

every act of sin

from the least

to the greatest

is a vote of

no confidence

against God.

God, I don't

think you're as

good as you say

you are.

I don't think

you're as generous

as you say you

are.

I don't think

you're as gracious

as you say you

are.

And so you

know what?

I'm going to

find my own

way.

I'm going to

make my own

life.

I think I can

do a little

better for myself

than what you

have for me.

Every act of

sin is an act

of rebellion

against God

and that's why

it's so damaging

to your

relationship with

God.

If you think

that you can

create a better

life for yourself

apart from God's

revealed will

for us in

scripture,

then this

story of the

younger son

is a stern

warning to you.

And like all

sinners, the

younger son soon

realizes how

miserable life

apart from the

father really

is.

He says in

verse 14,

when he had

spent everything,

a severe famine

arose in that

country and he

began to be in

need.

He has left

the safety net

of his family,

his community,

he has spent

all of his

money and now

this young man

begins to taste

the bitter end

of his sweet

indulgence.

poverty forces

him to seek

employment.

It says in

verse 15,

so he went

out and hired

himself out to

one of the

citizens of

that country

who sent him

into the

fields to

feed pigs.

pigs.

That's as

on dignifying

as that

sounds.

He used to

be an esteemed

son of a

wealthy,

respected

landlord.

Now he's a

hireling of

one of the

citizens of

the far

country.

He's been

hired, as

the context

implies, by

a Gentile, a

non-Jewish

master, which

we can tell by

the fact that

he's sent

into the

field to

feed pigs.

Not only do

pigs physically

bathe in mud,

which is why we

associate them

with filth,

but they were

considered

ritually unclean,

ceremonially unclean

by Jews,

unfit for

consumption by

God's people

because of

Leviticus 11

Leviticus 11:7

verse 7.

For this

reason, Jewish

people never

grew pigs.

So whenever

in the Bible

you see

pigs, they're

always in the

Gentile region,

and this is no

exception.

The younger

son has taken

on what is

possibly the

most humiliating

job that a

Jew can take.

but he

sinks still

lower.

He says in

verse 16 that

he was longing

to be fed

with the

pods that

the pigs

ate, and

no one gave

him anything.

Not only was

he humiliated

by the

work, he

still went

hungry despite

his work.

The pigs are

treated and

fed better

than he is.

We don't

know exactly

what those

pods were that

the pigs

were eating,

but I

think we

can safely

assume that

it wasn't

fine dying.

The younger

son is so

hungry that

pig slop

looks appetizing

to him.

he is

He is

the sad

condition and

the ultimate

fate of all

who are alienated

from the

heavenly father's

love.

In our

father's house,

we are

cared for.

We are

loved.

We have to

enjoy the

richest affairs.

We're treated

as sons,

but when we

leave our

father's house

and we deliver

ourselves to the

strangers out in

the far country,

we're reduced to

servitude by a

cruel master

named Satan.

Sin is

always a

bait and

switch.

The enticing

pleasures of

sin leave us

less and less

pleased and

satisfied and

more and more

enslaved.

So we long to

be fed with the

pods that

came.

Then in

verse 17,

the focus of the

narrative begins to

shift from the

law-breaking son to

the loving father.

He says,

but when he

came to himself,

he said,

how many of my

father's hired

servants have

more than enough

bread?

But I perish

here with hunger.

The hired

servants,

it's a reference

to the lowest

rung, the

lowest class of

common laborers.

And yet,

when they are

hired for the

day, they eat

bread aplenty at

his father's

house.

The son is

finally remembering

the generosity of

the father.

Why am I

slaving away

here for a

strange master

in a far

country when

they don't

even feed me?

My father is a

better master,

and if I'm going

to be a

hired servant

anyway, I

might as well

be my father's

hired servant.

Then at least

I won't go

hungry.

So he resolves

to return home

in verse 18

and 19.

I will arise

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 as

one of your

hired servants.

He admits that he

has forfeited all

worthiness.

He does not

deserve to be

received back

into the

family.

Normally, a

son who has

so dishonored

his father

should bring

lavish gifts

in return to

his father's

house in

hope of

reconciliation

and forgiveness.

But this

son has nothing

to bring.

He comes

empty-handed.

And that's

the case

for all

sinners.

We must

first get

to the end

of the

road of

self

before we

can return

to God.

Have you

been, have

you gotten

to that place

of despairing,

despairing of

your own

righteousness,

despairing of

your own

worthiness

before God?

Only then,

only when you

have reached

that point

of deep

despair,

can you

start to

rise from

the dead

and live

and receive

eternal life.

Put all

your hope

in the

lavish love

of the

father.

It says

in verse

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.

The word

long,

a long

way off

is the

same word

that was

translated

as far

in verse

13.

The repetition

reveals the

father's heart.

The younger

son took a

journey into

the far

country

because he

didn't want

anything to

do with

his father.

Disgracing

his father.

And yet,

his father

has not

disowned

him.

He has

not given

up on

him.

It seems

that the

father still

spends much

of his

days scanning

the horizon

in the

far country

to see

if he

could just

see his

son,

perhaps

finding his

way back.

And one

day when

the son

comes into

view,

still far

away from

him,

he spots

him and

the father's

heart wells

up with

compassion and

then he runs

to embrace

him and to

kiss him.

And in

doing so,

this loving

father breaks

all ancient

Near Eastern

norms.

Elderly

Jewish men,

well,

elderly men

in general

don't rhyme

very much,

but elderly

Jewish men

never run.

Not in

this culture.

Think about

it, right?

He's not

wearing athletic

shorts and

do balances.

He's got

these open

toed sandals.

Have you ever

tried running

with flip-flops?

There was my

shoe.

Can I go get

that?

Come back

up.

And on

top of that,

he's wearing

these long

robes.

If you

tried running

with the

dress,

you haven't

had pure

men,

you don't

know,

but you

gotta roll

it up,

grab it,

and then

you're running.

Like,

just imagine

how undignified

that looks.

That's

embarrassing.

And in

honor,

shame

culture,

you just

don't

do that.

But the

father is

overflowing

with

compassion.

And it

overrides,

his compassion

overrides all

cultural norms.

And so he

runs,

however clumsily,

through the

dusty roads of

the ancient

Near East.

And imagine

that sight from

the perspective

name of

the sun.

Who is

that man

running,

heating up

guys?

Must be

an emergency.

Wait a minute.

That's an elderly

man.

He should be

a little more

careful.

Wait,

I think

he's running

toward me.

Wait,

he looks

familiar.

Is that

my father?

Is he running

toward you?

Why?

And when

the father

arrives,

he embraces

him and

kisses him.

The word

embrace is

not this

polite hug.

It means

literally to

fall upon

someone's

neck.

It's a

bear hug

that

takes the

breath from

your chest.

Embrace.

Chest to chest,

cheek to

cheek,

tears streaming

down their

faces.

And the

father kisses

his son

affectionately.

The younger

son must

have been

filthy,

a penniless

servant that

had been

working with

the pigs.

And it

doesn't stop

the father.

Before the

son is able

to say a

word,

the father

is already

welcoming him.

loving him.

And then

in verse

21,

the son

begins the

I'm sorry

speech that

he's been

rehearsing

his whole

journey to

the father.

Father,

I've sinned

against heaven

and before

you.

I'm no

longer worthy

to be called

your son.

But before

the son

could even

finish his

rehearsed lines

about take

me on as

one of your

hired servants,

the father

is already

motioning to

his servants

in verses

22 and 23,

bring quickly

the best

robe,

put it on

him,

put a ring

on his

hand,

shoes on

his feet,

and bring

the fattened

calf and

chill it,

and let us

eat and

celebrate.

Taking his

son back as

a hireling

doesn't even

occur to the

father.

He doesn't

berate him

about his

wastefulness

and foolishness.

He doesn't

consign him to

slavery for

the rest of

his life

until he

can't pay

back that

money.

He doesn't

nag him.

All that

preoccupies the

father in that

moment is the

joy of having

his son back.

And he

reinstates the

younger son

with all of

his privileges

of sonship,

putting on his

best robe,

a symbol of

status,

the ring on

his finger,

which probably

has the

signet,

the seal of

the family,

a sign of

membership,

the shoes on

his feet to

cover his

blistered,

dusty feet.

The younger

son understands

at that point

finally that his

father will

take him back,

but not as a

servant,

only as his

son.

And if that

went enough,

the father throws

a party to

celebrate the

return of his

son.

They slaughtered

the fattened

calf,

the fattened

calf.

Meat was a

rare treat in

the first

century Israel,

not like our

day.

The fattened

calf was eaten

only on the

very special

occasions,

like major

holiday.

The meat of

a young calf

is more tender

than the meat

of an adult

cow.

And the fattened

calf is one

that has been

specifically

pampered and

fattened for

just a special

occasion.

would have

been enough

to feed the

whole village.

This is one

of the most

compelling

pictures of

our heavenly

father's love

in the

Bible.

When you

feel like you

haven't been a

good kid,

when you feel

burdened with

guilt, do you

feel like you

cannot approach

God?

do you

think that you

need to cry a

certain amount

of tears and

feel this

certain level

of remorse

and regret

that you have

to spend a

certain number

of hours and

days in

self-imposed

exile from

God in the

doghouse before

you can come

back to God?

Do you think

that you need

to pay God

back for

everything with

all these

good works

that you can

do before

you can be

received and

welcomed into

his family?

Before you can

really be loved

by him?

Some of you

have already

learned this

love of God

and the

grace of God,

but you're

living in

with yesterday's

mercy,

when his

mercies are

new every

morning.

Do you

think that

God sees

you and looks

you up and

down with

disdain?

with this

pleasure?

When God

the Father

loves you,

runs after

you,

welcomes

you,

why do you

see God as

a heart of

him?

God is

gracious and

merciful and

forgiving and

loving God.

No matter how

far you're

straight from

him, the

moment you

confess your

sins and

turn toward

him, he's

right there

seeing you far

off already

well in

upper

compassion.

he's running

to embrace,

to kiss,

to welcome

and rejoice

over you.

Why?

Because you

are his

son.

Because you

are his

daughter.

That's the

heart of the

loving Father.

And then we

see the third

portrait of the

law-keeping son

in verse 25.

It says,

now his

older son was

in the field,

and as he

came and

drew near to

the house,

he heard music

and dancing,

and he called

one of the

servants and

asked what

these things

meant.

Unlike the

younger son,

who left

his father's

house, this

older son is

still dutifully

working at

the house,

working in

the field.

But as he

approaches the

house, he

hears music

and dancing,

and he

wonders what

this surprise

party is all

about.

if he's

like me,

he's probably

thinking to

himself,

well, I

don't see

anybody else

that this

party would

be worth

throwing for.

It's got to

be for me.

Maybe that's

what he

thinks.

He gets

his hopes up

and then he

grabs one of

the servants,

hey, what's

going on here?

And the

servant tells

them, some

rude awakening,

verse 27,

your brother

has come,

and your

father has

killed the

fattened

calf, because

he has

received him

back safe

and sound.

And the

older son is

not happy.

It says in

verse 28, he

was angry and

refused to

go in.

Look at the

dynamic shift.

the younger

son was

formerly

outside the

house, but

now he

has been

welcomed in.

The older

son, who's

always been

at the

house, now

finds himself

on the

outside of

the house

looking.

The

positions are

reversed.

And the

father comes

out to

entreat him.

And the

older son

airs all his

grievances in

verse 29 and

30.

Look!

Many years,

these many

years I've

served you,

and I

never

disobeyed

your command,

yet you

never gave

me a

young goat,

yet I

might celebrate

with my

friends.

But when

this son

of yours

came, who

has devoured

your property

with prostitutes,

you killed

the fattened

calf for

him.

Can you

relate to

his complaint?

While this

son of yours

was scattering

all your wealth

with prostitutes,

I was

working hard

building your

assets.

While he

blatantly

besmirched our

family name,

I was here

serving you

under your

name.

And yet,

you have never

even grilled

hot dogs for

me.

And you're

going to serve

this guy

prime

wagyu

beef.

That's my

fattened

calf.

He's already

squandered all

his inheritance.

This is all

mine.

The relational

strain is

obvious in the

way he addresses

his father.

He doesn't say

that he should

have respectfully

father or

sir.

even.

He simply

says,

look.

And then,

he's referring

to his younger

brother.

He says,

not my

brother,

but this

son of

yours.

He's

distancing

himself from

his father

and from

his brother.

This reaction

of the older

son reveals

that he was

just as

lost as

the younger

son.

The younger

son says,

I'm no longer

worthy to be

called your

son.

Treat me as

one of your

hired servants.

Right?

Because he

doesn't deserve

to be called

a son,

he thinks his

father might

hire him as

a servant

instead.

And look at

what the older

son says.

Look,

these many

years I have

served you.

And I never

disobeyed

your command.

He thinks

he deserves

to be called

the son,

but only

because he

was slaving

away for

him all

these years.

Neither

of them

understand the

nature of

sonship.

Neither of

them understands

the love and

the grace of

the father.

They both

relate to

God as

servants.

God.

I can only

find acceptance

as a servant

if I serve

him,

if I do

what he

wants me

to do.

But the

father loves

them,

not because

they have

served him,

not because

of their

utility,

but because

they are

his son.

And this

is what the

older son

failed to

grasp.

If he

understood

that all

that the

father gives

is a gift,

that his

inheritance

is a gift,

not a wage

for him to

earn,

not a salary,

a gift,

then he

would have

understood

the father's

love.

Then he

would have

not been

so begrudging

about his

brother's

return.

If you

are like

this older

son,

and you

think that

you're going

to find

your standing,

gain your

standing with

God,

your acceptance

with God,

by observing

these commands,

by serving

him and

slaving away

this life,

then you

will,

in the end,

find yourself

on the

outside of

the house

of him.

Because only

those who

know the

father and

know his

love and

relate to

him as a

beloved son

and a

beloved

child will

endure.

The law

breaking

younger son

represents

the tax

collectors

and sinners

who are

flocking

to Jesus,

repenting

of their

sin and

finding

acceptance

in him.

The law

keeping

older son

represents

the Pharisees

and the

scribes

who were

begrudging

Jesus'

forgiveness

of such

people.

The

younger son

left his

home because

he imagined

that his

father is

stingy and

strict.

He thought

that his

father was

needlessly

depriving of

the pleasures

of life.

The older

son stayed

at home

and worked

hard because

he too

imagined that

his father

is stingy

and strict.

He believed

that the

only way to

pry those

blessings out

of his

tight grip

is by

obeying him

always and

doing what

he commanded.

At the

heart of

both licentious

lawbreakers

and legalistic

lawkeepers

is a

distorted

view of

God the

Father.

That's why

in his

book The

Whole

Christ,

theologian

Sinclair

Ferguson writes

that legalism

and licentiousness

are in fact

non-identical

twins that

emerge from

the same

womb.

Licentiousness

says God

doesn't want

to give me

what is good

so I'm

going to

take things

into my

own hands

and run

after those

things apart

from God.

Legalism

says God

doesn't want

to give me

what is good

so I must

take things

into my own

hands and

earn those

good things

and force

it out of

his hands.

Some of us

tend to be

more like

this older

son.

if you

tend to

begrudge

the

generosity

and graciousness

and

mercifulness

of God

if you

tend to

be self-righteous

to see

other people's

sins

with

acute

clarity

but you're

oblivious to

your own

and you

tend to

be.

And you

need to

hear this

tender words

from the

father

verse 31

and 32

son

you are

always

with me

and all

that is

mine

is yours.

It was

fitting to

celebrate

and be

glad

for this

your brother

was dead

and is

alive.

He was

lost

and is

found.

The older

son refused

to call

him

father

but the

father still

addresses

him as

son.

The older

son referred

to the

younger

son as

this son

of yours

but now

the father

reminds him

that this

is after