The Titanic left England with three classes of passengers aboard. But when accounting for their fate, the White Star Line set up a board listing only two classes: KNOWN TO BE SAVED and KNOWN TO BE LOST. These categories provided a fitting analogy for what John Harper already knew. There are only two classes of people in this world: those who have chosen to accept Christ and will spend eternity with God in heaven, and those who have not chosen Him and will not.14

Which class are you in?

SIX

God Loves You Even When You Don’t Love Him

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

—ROMANS 5:8

A defiant son, a heartbroken father.

A willful journey into the depths of depravity.

An arrival at the place where hope dies; the defiant now the destitute.

The journey home.

A moment of suspense, an uncertain reception.

Eyes watching; heart hoping; aged feet breaking into a run.

The embrace: a sea of joy overwhelming a desert of despair.

No wonder it’s been called the crown and pearl of all parables. One writer said it is “the most divinely tender and most humanly touching story ever told on earth.”1 Charles Dickens described it as the finest short story ever written. Another has called it “the most winsome picture of God ever drawn on earth.”2

This story requires no more than twenty-two brisk verses, yet holds the great themes of human existence. Its cast of characters represents all of us. Its plot captivates us, telling a narrative that, somewhere, sometime, we’ve all lived out. And finally, it redefines the happy ending, nurturing hope and demanding a response from all who hear the story.

While this story is usually referred to as the parable of the prodigal son, it turns out that the father, not the son, is the main character. He is mentioned no less than twelve times in the span of these verses. Entire books have been written on the two sons, but the father, who is the central figure in the story, has often been overlooked. It is the father who loves his prodigal son even when his son does not love him. It is the father who shows the deepest, most compelling emotion as he waits by that lonely road, longing for his son to return home. It is the father who initiates the process of forgiveness. It is the father who leaps to his feet and runs to greet a starving, life-torn son who has done nothing but insult him. And it is the father who never stops loving his oldest son, pleading with him to experience the joy of his brother’s life restored. This story is about a human father and his sons, but it tells an even greater story about our heavenly Father’s love for all lost sons and daughters wherever they may be found.