Prayer
Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your sense of anticipation that God is about to speak to you through His Word. Then, before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer:
Lord, as I reflect on Your Word today,
Show me Yourself;
Show me Your heart;
and make me more like You.
Amen.
Reading
Jesus told all three parables in Luke 15 to address the bad attitudes of the religious leaders, as described in Luke 15:1-2:
“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering round to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.’”
At the risk of repeating something you already know very well, allow me to remind you that tax collectors were deeply despised by the general Jewish population because of their collusion with Rome and their exploitation of their own countrymen for personal gain. They were even more despised by the religious authorities because the very nature of their work meant that they were in close business dealings with Gentiles, entering their homes regularly and even eating with them. This made them just as “religiously unclean” as those who fell into the category of “sinners”; i.e. people who were so habitually sinful that they were labelled as notorious sinners by their fellow villagers.
To the great horror of the religious authorities (and to Jesus’ great delight) these were the very people responding to Jesus’ ministry most readily!
In today’s parable, the grumbling, complaining, self-righteous, judgmental, spiteful attitude of the older brother towards his younger, prodigal brother, stands in stark contrast to the loving, gracious, compassionate, merciful, kind, generous, forgiving attitude of the father. The older son resents the return of the prodigal. To the father, his return is cause for a massive celebration.
This was exactly the contrast between the attitude of the religious leaders and that of Jesus when it came to the way the “tax collectors and sinners” were responding to His ministry. To Jesus, their response was a cause for celebration. But the religious leaders despised and resented them and expected Jesus to send them away!
Jesus’ parable is an invitation to self-examination as well as an implicit command to His disciples.
The parable invites us to check our hearts and ask ourselves: What is my attitude towards people I view as particularly vile sinners? Am I eager to present the Good News of Jesus to them and encourage them to join me in the Kingdom? If they repent and turn to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation, will I rejoice, or will I resent them?
The parable’s implicit command is: Be like the Father, not like the religious leaders. Rid yourself of any grumbling, complaining, self-righteous, judgmental, spiteful attitude, and choose to adopt a loving, gracious, compassionate, merciful, kind, generous, forgiving attitude.
And when that attitude feels impossible, remember that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Father lives in you. So allow Him to create the Father’s attitude in you.
Contemplation
Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn these declarations over and over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.
As a disciple of Jesus Christ:
- I will ask the Holy Spirit to give me the Father’s heart towards others.
- I will choose to adopt a loving, gracious, compassionate, merciful, kind, generous, forgiving attitude towards others.
Holy Spirit, please create in me the Heavenly Father’s heart of love, grace, compassion, mercy, kindness, generosity and forgiveness. Amen.
Dave's Diary 