The story is told of an Easter dawn in a Russian prison camp in the days of the USSR. A voice called out, ‘Christ is risen!’ and, despite the command for silence, a chorus of voices responded, ‘He is risen indeed!’

The events of the first Easter Day awakened the world to the dawning of a new era and with it the assurance that there is more to life than our experiences now.

In our troubled, conflicted and war-ravaged world, how encouraging this is. The resurrection of Jesus reveals that death need not be the end, but the door to life in all its fullness and joy.

Now you may dismiss the resurrection as fake news because it conflicts with the natural laws, the regularities scientists observe about the operation of the universe. However, such laws don’t prevent God from intervening and overruling whenever he chooses – bringing about an event that we speak of as a miracle.

In the opening lines of Luke 24 we read: But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they (the women) came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body.

The first witnesses. There would have been no joy in the hearts of those women in that early morning. They had watched as Jesus died. Now, filled with grief as they trudged to his grave, laden with heavy spices and ointments for his burial, they were confused and despairing.

But more disquieting news was to come. When they arrived at the grave, they found the massive stone that had closed the grave entrance, had been rolled away. What could have happened? Was it thieves? Was it some underhand action on the part of the authorities? They were totally out of their depth.

While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. And as they were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen…” (24:4-6a).

‘If you want to find Jesus, you’ve come to the wrong place,’ the angels said. “Remember how he told you while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise again…’” (24:6b,7).

The angels themselves could have explained the empty tomb. But instead, they focussed on the weight and authority of Jesus’ own words: ‘Remember what he told you,’ they said.

How important this is. The gospel writers want us to hear Jesus’ explanation of what he did and why. He had spoken of the events that had now come to pass. He had already explained why it had to happen. And, with this reminder, the women remembered (24:8).

It is easy for us today to forget Jesus’ words when we learn troubling news. We forget that Jesus not only predicted his death and resurrection, as well as the fall of Jerusalem (which occurred in 70AD), but he also spoke of earthquakes, conflicts and wars that would occur before his return.

As Paul in his Letter to the Romans writes, We know that the whole of creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved … But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience (Romans 8:22-24a, 25).

During his ministry, Jesus had spoken twice about his death and resurrection. He had come as the savior who would address our greatest human need. He would deliver us from God’s just judgement and open the great doors into God’s kingdom.

Jesus’ words at the Last Supper are key: ‘This is my body given for you,’ he said. ‘This is my blood shed for you.’ Scholars agree that these words are probably the most reliably preserved statements of earliest Christianity. We find them in First Corinthians, written around 50AD, and also in Matthew, Mark and Luke, written no later than the 60s.

‘Love it or hate it, the evidence that Jesus thought of his death as a sacrifice or ransom for sins is strong.’ In fact, when we read Luke as a whole we see that his emphasis on Jesus’ death is so strong we begin to understand that the crucifixion is about God’s justice and love. It was why Jesus came.

Love and justice both matter to God. To say, as some do, that Jesus death was some kind of cosmic child abuse, is to forget that the New Testament insists that he was not coerced into dying at Calvary. Jesus laid down his life voluntarily. In John chapter 10, verse 18 we read Jesus’ words: ‘No one takes it (my life) from me, but I lay it down of my own accord…’

The New Testament is clear. In the case of men and women God is the wronged party. Yet, in his love, he chose to enter the world in person and bear the punishment that we, the wrong-doers deserve. He, the judge has paid the fine owed to him by us.

Jesus’ resurrection confirms for us the truth and trustworthiness of what he has done.

The women who went to the tomb did remember Jesus’ words. And what a difference it made. They didn’t stay at the tomb. Suddenly energised with new vitality and joy they rushed off to tell their friends the breaking news. Who doesn’t want to share good news?

And Dr Luke, that very careful historian, wants us to know that even though the first witnesses to the empty tomb were women, their witness is true. It’s one of the reasons he identifies them by name: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James (Luke 24:10). They were perfectly sane and sensible people, people of integrity. In fact, Luke implies, if you want to find out for yourself, go and talk to them.

How important remembering is for us. How often we forget the words of Scripture. In good times we forget because things are going well. But we also forget God’s words of comfort and assurance when life gets tough – in times of drought or flood, injustice and war. Or you may be single, longing for a partner; you may be in a loveless marriage; you may be longing for a job; you may have a sick or dying loved one.

We need to remember that we are never alone. We have a secure hope. Through his death and resurrection Jesus is the pioneer who leads us into life in a new era in all its fullness and joy.

A prayer. Almighty God, you have conquered death through your dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ and have opened to us the gate of everlasting life: grant us by your grace to set our mind on things above, so that by your continual help our whole life may be transformed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit in everlasting glory.  Amen.

You may want to listen to Christ is Risen, He’s Risen Indeed from Keith and Kristyn Getty.

© John G. Mason

A Maundy Thursday / Good Friday Reflection

Why? Why, despite all the hopes and dreams that with globalization the world would become a better place, is there an aggressive and intrusive war against a peaceful neighbor, Ukraine? Why is it that the four freedoms defined by FD Roosevelt in 1941, ‘freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear’, are in danger of being subverted in varying ways in the spheres of politics, the media and social media, education and family life?

Why, two millennia ago, did Jesus of Nazareth die? He lived a life of unquestionable purity: he was never accused of lying. He showed compassion for the needy and the outcast, and revealed his unique divine power and authority in his care, his teaching and debating. And when Pilate, the Roman governor in Judea, asked him at his trial what he had done, he had responded, “My kingdom is not of this world…, implying there is more to life than our present experience (John 18:36).

Luke chapter 22 records Jesus’ words at a Passover meal with his disciples – what became known as The Last Supper. When he broke the bread and gave it to his disciples he said: ‘This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me’ (Luke 22:19).

Passover is a special occasion for the Jewish people as they remember the time God had passed over their homes when they were enslaved in Egypt around 1200BC bringing about their release. Passover became the annual celebration of God’s goodness and grace and the freedom they came to enjoy.

The Passover looks back. On the night of the first Passover, God decreed that every Hebrew household should take an unblemished lamb, slaughter it, and sprinkle the blood on the door posts of their homes. Each household was to have roast lamb for their evening meal. God promised that his angel of death would pass over every household where the blood of a lamb was on the doorposts.

But it also looks forward. Twelve centuries later, Luke records that Jesus carefully prepared a Passover meal with his disciples on the night before his death. It was a time when the Jewish people had once again lost their political freedom. For some six centuries they had been puppets to super-powers and now they lived at the pleasure of the Roman emperor.

Passover signified freedom. And even the gloomiest of Israel’s prophets, Jeremiah, spoke of a new day of hope: The days are coming when I (God) will make a new covenant with the house of Israel … I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people… for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

When Jesus prepared to celebrate Passover with his friends, patriotic feelings were running high. Believing people in Jerusalem would have been remembering the exodus from Egypt. When Jewish families gathered for Passover they would say, ‘Today we are slaves. Perhaps next Passover we shall be free.’

At his Last Supper with his disciples Jesus dropped a thunderbolt. For when he took the bread, gave thanks, and broke it, he gave it to them and saying, ‘This is my body, given for you’.

The breaking of the unleavened bread is a vital part of the Passover. Every Jewish family member around the table knew by heart the words the host would recite: ‘This is the bread of affliction that our fathers ate in the land of Egypt. All who hunger, let them come and eat, All who are in need and let them celebrate the Passover…’

But Jesus words are electrifying. He didn’t say: ‘This is the bread of affliction,’ but rather, ‘This bread is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance…’ not of the Passover but, ‘of me’. He has made his body, his dead body, the focus of the Passover meal.

And that raises something else that was strange about this Passover meal. Roast lamb would have been the center-piece of the meal. Peter and John may have prepared the meal, but there is no mention of lamb in any of the Gospel records. Jesus was telling them, and is telling us now, that he is the sacrificial lamb around which the new Passover feast must revolve.

This is reinforced with his further surprising words. For when he took the cup of wine at the end of the meal, he said; ‘This cup is the cup of the new covenant’ (Luke 22:20).

‘The Passovers you have been celebrating over the years,’ Jesus is saying, ‘look forward to God’s new covenant. Well, Passover is about to find its fulfilment. This is the last Passover of the old age and the first Passover of the new age.’

Jeremiah said of the new covenant that God will forgive their wicked ways and remember their sin no more. The self-focused desires of people’s hearts had ruined the old covenant relationship with God. Jesus had not come to save his people from Roman oppression.

Neither did he come simply to restore peace – safety and security, prosperity and a good lifestyle. No. Jesus came to save his first followers, and you and me today, from our deepest need – our love of self and our indifference to God. And he has done it in exactly the same way that the lamb had saved the Hebrews on that first Passover night. As he said at the Last Supper, he gave his body and he shed his blood as the Passover lamb to rescue us from death.

Responding to a question about his reason for writing The Lord of the Flies, William Golding reportedly said, I believed then, that men and women were sick – not exceptional humanity, but average men and women. I believed that the condition of men and women was to be a morally diseased creation and that the best job I could do at the time was to trace the connection between their diseased nature and the international mess they get themselves into.

Imagine for a moment you were the first-born in a Hebrew family at that first Passover. A lamb had been slaughtered, the blood sprinkled on the doorposts, and you awoke the next day to the sound of wailing from every Egyptian household. For in each home someone had died. You thought for a moment, and then you really woke up: ‘That lamb died instead of me! Because that lamb died, God spared me’.

‘This is my body, given for you.’ ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood,’ Jesus said. (Luke 22:19-20). ‘I chose to die in your place, to save you from the second death, God’s just condemnation,’ he is saying.

Elsewhere Jesus speaks of wars and rumors of wars in this world. And in another place he says: ‘I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him, who after he has killed, has authority to cast you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! (Luke 12:4-5).

Jesus’ resurrection from the dead authenticates all his words and actions.

At The Lord’s Supper, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer sets out Jesus’ death as the one oblation of himself, once offered, a full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.

When we come to Communion we are called upon to truly and earnestly repent of our sins…  with the intention of leading a new life, … walking in the Lord’s holy ways. We are to draw near with faith to the Lord Jesus Christ, our one and only Savior. He is our only hope in life and death. (1662 Book of Common Prayer, Service of The Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion).

A Prayer for Maundy Thursday / Good Friday. Almighty Father, look graciously upon your people, for which our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed and given up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Addendum:

Below is a revised form for the concluding segment of the Thanksgiving before taking communion, that is found in A Service for Today’s Church – Communion. The section is adapted from the Passover prayers filtered through the lens of the New Testament. A Service for Today’s Church was developed in consultation with others and is approved for use in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney and at Christ Church New York City.

– – –

The minister addresses the congregation: On the night he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup saying, “This cup is the new covenant sealed by my blood.  Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.”

Taking the bread the minister gives thanks: Almighty God, we thank you for this bread, and for all you provide to sustain us. Above all, merciful Father, we thank you for Christ your Son, given for the life of the world.  Amen.

Breaking the bread in the sight of all, the minister says: This bread we break is a participation in the body of Christ.

All respond: Thank you, Father, for making us one with Christ.

Taking the cup the minister gives thanks. Almighty God, we thank you for this fruit of the vine, and for every good gift that gives us joy. We thank you above all for Christ our Lord, by whose blood you have bought us and bound us to be your people in an everlasting covenant.  Amen.

Indicating the cup, the minister says: This cup for which we give thanks is a participation in the blood of Christ.

All respond: Thank you, Father, for making us yours forever.

Come, let us take this holy sacrament of the body and blood of Christ in remembrance that he died for us, and feed on him in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving.

—

You may want to listen to Christ Our Hope in Life and Death from Keith & Kristyn Getty and Matt Papa.

© John G. Mason

Eleven years ago this month the world watched William and Kate’s wedding. More than 2 billion people took time out to view this royal event with its rich pageantry and ceremony. It was all that we would expect of a royal occasion.

How different was Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday.

As Luke’s narrative unfolds, we find that Jesus’ mission has been a movement towards Jerusalem – the city where the Temple symbolized God’s presence with his people. It was inevitable that Jesus’ work would reach its climax there.

But how would the city receive him? During his three years of public ministry Jesus had been confronted by representatives from Jerusalem who had quizzed him and opposed him.

Preparation. When Jesus had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here.  If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it’ (Luke 19:29-31).

The path Jesus trod with thousands of others on their way to Jerusalem for Passover involved a long climb from Jericho, the lowest city in the world, through the villages of Bethphage and Bethany, up to the Mount of Olives. From there, Jerusalem comes into view, and for most Jewish people, the end of the journey – Passover in the city of God.

For Jesus this was a moment for which he had prepared. He sent two of his disciples to a village to fetch a donkey, telling anyone who asked, ‘The Lord has need of it’.

Jesus was deliberately fulfilling the words of the prophet Zechariah, who had spoken some 500 years earlier about God’s king riding on the foal of a donkey. It was always said that no one but the king was permitted to ride his horse. This colt had never been ridden. Throwing their cloaks on to the colt, the disciples set Jesus on it.

Great Expectations. As Jesus journeyed down the steep path from the Mount of Olives into the Kidron Valley that day, people not only spread their cloaks on the road, but also started singing from Psalm 118, one of the festival psalms: ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!’ The cloaks on the road and the singing suggested that a king was entering his city. Psalm 118 is a song of victory.

There’s something here that is quite often overlooked. The crowds that joyfully sang that day were people from the provinces who had seen and heard Jesus outside the city. Now these people saw Jesus coming in fulfillment of their hopes, answering their longings for a king who would bring peace to earth from heaven itself.

The words they sang echoed the words of Jesus earlier in his ministry: ‘If Israel will repent and greet with blessing the One who comes in the name of the Lord, then Israel will experience the advent of salvation’ (Luke 13:35).

A Discordant Note. However, there was an irony here that the crowds in their enthusiasm seemed to have missed. This king was not riding a warrior horse. This was no royal or presidential motorcade with armed security. This king was riding a donkey, fulfilling for anyone who knew the Scriptures, the words of Zechariah 9:9.

Indeed, some of the Pharisees going along with the crowd appear to have become anxious about how the authorities in Jerusalem would respond. ‘Tell these people to keep quiet’, they said to Jesus. But, contrary to his call for silence when Peter had confessed him as the Christ (Luke 9:20), now he said: ‘If I tell these people to be quiet, even the very stones would sing out…’ He is anticipating the day when even the inanimate elements of creation will respond with joy – the day of the full and final redemption of God’s people.

It was time to sing out: God’s king was coming to the city to bring about God’s rescue for his people. Jesus’ work would provide the greater exodus, not just for Israel but for all people, through his own Passover act when he was crucified.

Tears for the City. As Jesus came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes…’ (Luke 19:41-42).

The people thought Jesus was coming to take up his kingship in Jerusalem. But Jesus went on to predict that because Jerusalem had failed to see and welcome him as God’s long-promised king, it would become a smoking, desolate ruin.

With this description of Jesus’ entry into the city of David, Luke turns our attention away from the glory of the kingdom to focus on the suffering the king would endure before the week was out. There would be no glory without his suffering; no crown without his cross.

There is a lesson here for us. Luke wants us to understand that God’s king will come one day in awesome power and glory. Yes, without a doubt that will happen. Jesus’ death and resurrection and the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD, point to the reality of divine intervention in human affairs.

But Luke also wants us to turn our eyes from the political transformation of society to the greatest need of everyone – the spiritual transformation of our souls. Before we experience our great expectations of Jesus’ kingdom in all its fullness and glory, we must first receive him into our hearts.

In every age preachers have wept for the people in the towns and cities where they have ministered God’s truth. I know I have – wept for those who have come and walked away because they didn’t want to hear about what CS Lewis called the divine interferer. Without Jesus, God’s king in our lives we are lost.

A Prayer. Almighty ever living God, you have given to all men and women Jesus Christ our Savior as a model of humility. He fulfilled your will by choosing to take on human form and give his life for us on the cross. Turn our hearts to you and help us bear witness to you by following his example of suffering; make us worthy to share in his resurrection. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

© John G. Mason

You may want to listen to In Christ Alone from Keith & Kristyn Getty and Alison Kraus.

In the 1989 film Dead Poets Society a young English master at a New England Prep School is portrayed pointing out photos of past students to his class. ‘They’re all dead now,’ he says. ‘Carpe diem, seize the day,’ he advises. ‘Seize the opportunities you have before it’s too late.’

Moving from his report of the events surrounding Jesus’ raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44) and the ensuing plot of the Jewish religious leaders to kill Jesus (11:45-57), John the Gospel-writer records that some six days before the Passover Jesus and his followers went to Bethany – which is roughly 3kms (2miles) outside Jerusalem. There Jesus dined with his friends, Martha and Mary, and their brother Lazarus (12:1-8).

During the course of the meal prepared by Martha, where Jesus was guest of honor with Lazarus, Mary opened a jar of very expensive perfume, oil of pure nard from Northern India, and poured it over Jesus’ feet. Diners at that time reclined on couches around a dining table, typically leaning on their left elbow with their feet curled out behind them.

Extravagant devotion. Mary, who had wept and said to Jesus when Lazarus died, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died’ (11:32f), now not only anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume, valued at more than a year’s income, but also wiped them with her hair. Against the norms of polite society, she would have let down her hair to do this (12:3). Her act was one of humility for she anointed Jesus’ feet, not his head. She had seized the moment to thank Jesus with a most generous and extravagant devotion.

However Judas, one of the disciples, was unimpressed. John tells us that Judas’s comment was not, ‘How thoughtful,’ or even ‘What a mess’, but ‘What a waste’. ‘Why wasn’t the perfume sold and the money given to the poor?’ he had asked (12:4-5). John comments that Judas said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief,… (12:6).

Hypocrisy and betrayal. Judas’ concern for the poor was nothing but hypocrisy. Underneath, Judas was greedy. And that’s why, in the end, his love for Jesus proved to be conditional. Indeed, all four Gospel writers report that Judas negotiated a deal with the Jewish leadership to betray Jesus (see, Mark 14:10f, Luke 22:4-6).

It’s said that everyone has their price, and this was certainly the case with Judas. Matthew’s Gospel tersely tells us that Judas asked the religious leaders, “How much will you give me if I betray him?” (Matthew 26:15)

Judas’s kiss in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:47-48) turned out to be a treacherous kiss, for he was the kind of follower who supported Jesus as long as he thought there was something in it for him. When he realized Jesus was not fulfilling his expectations, he cast him off. How money and material things can deceive us.

Seizing the moment can be used for both ill and for good.

Anointing for burial. How different is Jesus’ response to Mary’s extravagance: ‘Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me’ (12:7-8).

Jesus’ words about his burial and the fact that he would not always be with his disciples, echo a deeper theme he introduced in his conversation with Nicodemus. A time would come when he must be lifted up – an allusion to the cross (3:14-15).

As John’s Gospel unfolds it is increasingly evident that those who believe see that Jesus is not only the Son of God incarnate (1:14) but also God’s king. Mary’s anointing of him shows that she understood this. Jesus’ comment that the anointing is for his burial reveals the deeper theme – that before he could take up his kingship, he would first be laid in a tomb. Humanly speaking, his death would be brought about by Judas.

There is something else behind Jesus’ commendation of Mary’s action. She understood the meaning of the first commandment: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might (Deuteronomy 6:5).

Yes, Jesus implies, the poor need to be cared for. But to fulfill the meaning and practice of the second commandment – love your neighbor – we need first to love the Lord, which is what Mary was doing.

Seize the day. Mary seized the opportunity to express in an extravagant way her heart-felt devotion to Jesus. She awakens us to the vital and intimate love and joy we can experience with Jesus.

Luke, in his Gospel tells us of on another occasion when Jesus was dining with Martha, Mary and Lazarus: Mary chose to sit at Jesus’ feet listening to him. And when Martha who was in the kitchen burst in on the gathering asking for Mary’s help, he responded: ‘Mary has chosen the better portion’ (Luke 10:41-42).

How often do we seize the opportunity to sit at Jesus’ feet, reading and reflecting on the Words of Scripture? How often do we pause to pray, asking his Spirit to draw us into Jesus’ presence? How often do we go to church forgetting that we gather, first and foremost, to come into the Lord’s presence as his people? How often do we go out from church with no sense of having met with him, unchanged from the attitudes that we took in?

Let me suggest that before going to bed tonight, read John 12:1-8 and pray over it, asking the Lord to draw you afresh into the riches of his love. Seize the time to offer or re-offer your life in heart-felt devotion, love and loyalty, as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to the Lord. Seize the day while there is time.

A prayer. We beseech you, almighty God, to look in mercy on your people; that by your overwhelming goodness we may be governed and preserved evermore; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

© John G. Mason

You may want to listen to Christ Our Hope in Life and Death from Keith & Kristyn Getty and Matt Papa.

Eugene Ionesco’s, Exit the King is a clever play about life and death. Reportedly, the Romanian-French Ionesco who died in 1994, said about the play: I told myself that one could learn to die, that I could learn to die, that one can also help other people to die. This seems to me the most important thing we can do, since we’re all of us dying men who refuse to die. The play is an attempt at an apprenticeship in dying.

Now I don’t want to be morbid, but I raise the subject for two reasons. First, Ionesco understood that because life is fleeting – as Ukranians know all too well right now – we need to consider our values and priorities. Second, in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal (Luke 15:11-24) a key theme is our lostness: we look for life in the wrong places.

Throughout his ministry Jesus of Nazareth challenges us all to consider our hearts’ desires.

The opening lines of Luke chapter 15 reveal that two very different groups of people were in Jesus’ audience at that time – what we might call the sinners and the saints. The sinners were society’s outcasts, the fraudsters and the immoral; the saints were the religious establishment. The first group needed to learn that at the heart of God’s nature is mercy and forgiveness; the second needed to be shocked out of their self-righteousness. The two groups had two very different views about life and death.

Knowing that mindsets are very hard to shift, Jesus didn’t preach a sermon nor engage in debate. He simply told three stories – about a shepherd who had lost a sheep, about a woman who had lost a coin, and about a father who had lost two sons. I’ll focus here on the father and his younger son.

The clever story opens with the younger son asking his father for his inheritance. The son, by asking this implies that he wished his father were dead. Nevertheless, the father gave him what he wanted. But it was not long before the money was gone. Having no friends or credit line, the son was soon without food and homeless. Worse followed. With a drought and a crash in primary industry, the best he could do was become a day-laborer, feeding pigs. Even so, he starved. His thoughts turned to home – to his father, the farm, and the food.

The son weighed the odds. ‘Here I am, feeding pigs,’ he reflected. ‘The casual-workers on Dad’s farm are better off than me. I’m a fool. I’ll have to bury my pride and go home. I’ll have to tell Dad I’m really sorry I messed up and don’t deserve a thing. I’ll ask him to take me in as one of the hired-workers.’

Jesus’ story would have captured everyone’s attention. Some hearers would have been saying to themselves, ‘That’s me.’ Another group would have said, ‘That son doesn’t deserve to be forgiven’.

How would the father react? That is the question.

Like most fathers, he knew what his son was like and what he would do. But he still loved him. In fact, he’d been on the lookout for his return. And when word came that his son was on his way home, he immediately raced out to greet him.

We need to feel the impact of Jesus’ story. No self-respecting citizen in that culture would ever run down the street. He would walk with dignity and deliberation. Furthermore, this father wasn’t racing out to greet a son who had graduated with a doctorate and made his first million before he was twenty-five. The father’s action came at a personal public humiliation.

Yet the father not only ran but threw his arms around his son and kissed him. The son, no doubt overwhelmed, was honest and expressed his sorrow and deep repentance: ‘Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’  Period. Full stop.

He had planned to add, ‘Treat me as one of your hired servants.’ But he now realized this was not appropriate. For the first time he understood that he’d never really known his father, nor how much his father loved him. He had never appreciated the privilege of being a son.

What was the younger son’s problem? He wanted his father’s wealth so he could enjoy all the pleasures that took his fancy without accountability.

Here is heart of the human dilemma. We think that our possessions and the pleasures we pursue are the be-all and end-all of life. Reckoning they are secure we find they aren’t secure at all. We look for life in the wrong places because we’ve left God out of the equation of the meaning of life.

Jesus’ great longing is for us to be honest and humble enough to say, ‘Lord, I know you are true and I know everything I have comes from you. Please forgive me for turning my back on you. Help me to honor you above all else in life.’

Can God find it in his heart to forgive us? Jesus also answers this. In verse 22 we read that before the younger son could catch his breath, his father was busy ordering new clothes, shoes, and a ring – the best of everything. The most elaborate and expensive feast was prepared, and the father tells us why: ‘For this my son was dead, now he is alive, he was lost but now he has been found.’

The Prayer of Humble Access takes up the principle of God’s willingness to forgive the repentant heart when it says the Lord’s nature is always to have mercy.

We easily miss the force of the father’s words in Jesus’ story, ‘For this my son was dead, now he is alive…’ We may have everything the world offers, but until we have turned to Jesus Christ, in God’s sight we are the walking dead.

How good it is that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). And how good it is to have gospel ministries such as TheWord121 to introduce family and friends to him so that they may not die but have life forevermore.

A prayer. Almighty God, grant that we, who justly deserve to be punished for our sinful deeds, may in your mercy and kindness be pardoned and restored; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

© John G. Mason

(Note: Today’s Word is adapted from my Luke: The Unexpected God, 2nd Edition, Aquila: 2019)