We Are Never Too Far

Jesus Goes to Great Lengths to Find Us

“How deep the Father’s love for us,

How vast beyond all measure,

That he should give His only Son,

To make a wretch His treasure.”

-“How Deep the Father’s Love For Us” lyrics, Stuart Townend

Finding Nemo is one of my personal favs in the world of Disney. Not only is it a menagerie of God’s creation of aquatic life set off the coast of Oceana and a beautifully animated tale about a school of fish riding a magic school bus (insert an enthusiastic stingray in place of the red-headed, eccentrically dressed nut), but it’s a larger-than-life adventure of a clownfish in search of his lost son. Beneath the cuteness of the story is a tale of a kind of love so powerful and so true that its original source can only be traced back to our heavenly Father.

In Luke 15, Jesus tells us a parable about a prodigal son and his father’s unabashed love for him. What’s more, we find Jesus so passionate about teaching the importance of finding what is lost, that He tells not one, but three parables to illustrate the concept. According to Jesus, what is lost is worth being found. No one or no thing is too far gone. If it is God’s creation, it is worth saving. Even before we get to the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus has this to say to the Pharisees who were openly condemning Him for “eating with sinners:”

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’”

“…a tale of a kind of love so powerful and so true that it’s original source can only be traced back to our heavenly Father.”

God is illustrating His shepherd nature: He will leave the 99 for the one. In the beginning of Finding Nemo, in an unexpected encounter with a dangerous sea creature, we find a young father, Marlin, who has lost everything: everything except for one fish egg, his soon-to-be son, Nemo. As with the character of Marlin, Jesus loves us as if we are His only. Each one of us is unique and special in His sight, and He’s deemed us worthy.

“According to Jesus, what is lost is worth being found.”

But not on our account. In the parable of the lost sheep, Jesus is comparing us to sheep. Sheep are not always the most intelligent animals. Though they know and follow the shepherd’s voice, they still have a tendency to go wayward, to be easily distracted, and end up in dangerous situations. This is Nemo. This is us. Even with a very caring and loving father in Marlin, who is cautious and protective, Nemo has freewill and a tendency to stray. While playing with his fishy friends, Nemo is dared to “touch the butt.” Little do Nemo and his friends know, the dark figure they call the “butt” near the sea’s surface is actually a boat, and it’s full of scuba divers, just waiting for Nemo to fall into their trap. Nemo is tempted by pride and dares to “touch the butt” against the clear instruction of his father to steer clear of it.

In moving on to the Parable of the Lost Son, from Luke chapter 15, we learn of a son who squanders his father’s inheritance. The prodigal son lost sight of the value of his relationship with his father. His father guided him, provided for him, loved him, and looked after him. Still, his son gets distracted by the things of this world and asks for his portion of this inheritance from his father, before it’s even his father’s time. In his haste to experience what he thought was the goodness his father was withholding from him, the son realizes every good thing was there in the arms of the father all along. The shiny things calling to him in the world did not in fact produce the satisfaction he was looking for.

“In his haste to experience what he thought was the goodness his father was withholding from him, the son realizes every good thing was there in the arms of the father all along.”

Nemo quickly realizes the same thing as he is placed in a dentist office’s fish tank. His exploration for freedom ended up in imprisonment. Nevertheless, as Nemo and his new eclectic collection of fish friends are tortured by the dentist’s brace-face niece in pigtails, there is another storyline taking place: Marlin and the relentless pursuit of the son he loves. Romans 8:38-39 recalls, that nothing “else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” “Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future,” …neither an entire span of an ocean, nor stingy jellyfish, nor blood-thristy sharks, nor anything else that would have the situation looking bleak.

As deep and wide as the ocean, “…how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” Ephesians 3:16

“Your Dad followed the boat you were on like a maniac.” -Nigel the pelican 🙂

POSTED BY

Jenna

Jenna Kruse is a teacher but not in a classroom. She loves to think outside the box and inside the Word and is daily in need of an attitude adjustment. She is a wife to Justin, a mother to three school-aged children, and a mentor to teenagers and young adults. You can learn more about the heart behind her blog HERE.

See author's posts