Coming Home

There was a young man who constantly quarreled with his father. Finally, he left home without saying goodbye. He continued to keep in touch with his mom but cut connections with his dad.

After a few years, he wanted to come home for Christmas very badly. But he was afraid his dad would not allow it. His mom wrote to him and urged him to come home. Inside, he felt he couldn’t do that until he knew his father had forgiven him. They wrote back and forth a few times about it.

Finally, there wasn’t time for any more letters. His mother wrote and said she would talk to his dad. If he had forgiven him, she would tie a white rag on the tree right next to the railroad tracks in their back yard. He would be able to see the tree before the train reached the station. If there were no rag, he would go on and not stop.

The young man started for home. As the train got close to his home, he became so nervous he couldn’t look out the window. So he said to his friend who was sitting next to him, “I can't bear to look. Would you sit in my place and look out the window for that big tree in my back yard next to the tracks. Tell me if there is a rag on it or not.”

So his friend traded places with him and looked out the window. After awhile the friend said, “Oh, I see the tree.”

The son asked, “Is there a white rag tied to it?”

For a moment, his friend didn’t say anything. Then he turned, and in a soft voice said, “There is a white rag tied to every limb of the tree.”

That is what the Bible is saying in John 3:17. Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world. He came to remove the condemnation. He came to save the world.