03/31 – Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 – A God Who Runs

Isaiah 12:1-6

At that time you will say, “I will give thank to you, O Lord. Although you had been angry with me, you turned your anger away from me, and you comforted me. Look! God is my Savior. I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation.

At that time you will say, “Give thanks to the Lord. Call on his name. Make his deeds known among the nations. Make them remember that his name is highly honored. Make music to praise the Lord. He has done wonderful things. Let this be known throughout the earth. Shout loudly, and sing with joy, people of Zion! The Holy One of Israel is great. He is among you.”

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

From now on we don’t think of anyone from a human point of view. If we did think of Christ from a human point of view, we don’t anymore. Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence. God has done all this. He has restored our relationship with him through Christ, and has given us this ministry of restoring relationships.

In other words, God was using Christ to restore his relationship with humanity. He didn’t hold people’s faults against them, and he has given us this message of restored relationships to tell others. Therefore, we are Christ’s representatives, and through us God is calling you. We beg you on behalf of Christ to become reunited with God. God had Christ, who was sinless, take our sin so that we might receive God’s approval through him.

Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

All the tax collectors and sinners came to listen to Jesus. But the Pharisees and the experts in Moses’ Teachings complained, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Jesus spoke to them using this illustration:

“A man had two sons. The younger son said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the property.’ So the father divided his property between his two sons. “After a few days, the younger son gathered his possessions and left for a country far away from home. There he wasted everything he had on a wild lifestyle. He had nothing left when a severe famine spread throughout that country. He had nothing to live on. So he got a job from someone in that country and was sent to feed pigs in the fields. No one in the country would give him any food, and he was so hungry that he would have eaten what the pigs were eating.

“Finally, he came to his senses. He said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more food than they can eat while I’m starving to death here? I will go at once to my father, and I’ll say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and you. I don’t deserve to be called your son anymore. Make me one of your hired men.”’

“So he went at once to his father. While he was still at a distance his father saw him and felt sorry for him. He ran to his son, put his arms around him, and kissed him. Then his son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and you. I don’t deserve to be called your son anymore.’

“The father said to his servants, ‘Hurry! Bring out the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us celebrate with a feast. My son was dead and has come back to life. He was lost but has been found.’ Then they began to celebrate.

“His older son was in the field. As he was coming back to the house, he heard music and dancing. He called to one of the servants and asked what was happening. “The servant told him, ‘Your brother has come home. So your father has killed the fattened calf to celebrate your brother’s safe return.’

“Then the older son became angry and wouldn’t go into the house. His father came out and begged him to come in, but he answered his father, ‘All these years I have worked like a slave for you. I’ve never disobeyed one of your commands. Yet you’ve never given me so much as a little goat for a celebration with my friends. This son of yours spent your money on prostitutes and when he came home you killed the fattened calf for him.’

“His father said to him, ‘My child, you are always with me. Everything I have is yours, but we have something to celebrate, something to be happy about. This brother of yours was dead but has come back to life. He was lost but has been found.’”