We will never find God unless He first seeks us, but we should remember that He can do so in very different ways. Sometimes, God jumps on us dramatically as He does with the younger son and we will have an acute sense of His love. Sometimes, He quietly and patiently tries to get us to come around to His way of thinking, as in the case of the older son.
How can we tell if He is working on us now? If we begin to sense our lostness and find ourselves wanting to escape it, we can recognize that such an inclination is not something we could have generated on our own. Such a process requires help, and if it’s happening it’s a good indication that the Holy Spirit is already at work. That’s a great sign! That tinge of conviction is the feeling I warned you about on Sunday, but we agreed to press into the convictions as opposed to ignore them. Right?!
Also, through the grace and mercy of God, there is a way out of allowing sin to rule over us. It is through repentance. If you missed that day, go back to Day 6 to see what we mean by repent. Now, let’s look at repentance in light of the older brother.
When Pharisees sin they feel terrible and repent. You see, as pompous as they could be at times, they were first and foremost authorities on Jewish law and tradition. As such, they may have even punished themselves (I don’t recommend that extreme). When they finish being remorseful, however, they remain elder brothers. They didn’t quite nail down the idea of completely turning from old behaviors in favor of going toward God. They may have turned away from outward behaviors, but their hearts and minds remained unchanged.
Pride in his good deeds, rather than remorse over his bad deeds, was keeping the older son out of the party (i.e., salvation). The elder brother’s problem is his self-righteousness. In this particular instance of sin, we must repent of why we do things right as well as what we do wrong.
Did we take that volunteer role so we could look good? Did we share a story on social media because it elevated us, but not Him? Perhaps not, but if so, we must repent of the intentions behind our actions. If not, we risk staying an older brother. Pharisees repent of their sins, but Christians repent for the very roots of their self-righteousness as well. We must admit that we’ve put our ultimate hope and trust in things other than God.
Sit with this message for a little bit, if needed. It’s OK. Perhaps this is the first time that you’ve seen yourself resembling the older brother. Go to God with that, and allow Him to change you from the inside out. What do you need to repent of? An outright sin or perhaps something more beneath the surface?
The hardest part of this teaching to digest is now past us. Tomorrow we are going to focus on how the older brother figure relates to the character of Jesus, and you won’t want to miss it.
Thank you so much for going on this worthwhile journey with me today. You are all in my prayers!
-Helen
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By now, we’ve well established that there are two different kinds of “lostness” playing out in this parable: the outwardly visible variety and the more inward-facing variety. Also, remember that each brother corresponds to either the sinners or the Pharisees, so we also have another level of storytelling happening: Jesus is pointedly emphasizing out the weaknesses of each camp in his audience.
The older brother was spiritually lost (and, by association, the Pharisees). It’s much more elusive than the undeniable sinful life of the younger brother. Timothy Keller, pastor and author, dubs this as “Elder Brother Lostness”. The latter brings as much misery to others and the offender as being lost in a distant country.
Here, then, is Jesus’ radical redefinition of what is wrong with us. Nearly everyone defines sin as breaking a list of spoken or unspoken rules. Jesus though, shows us that a man who has violated virtually nothing on the list of moral misbehaviors can be every bit as lost as the most offensively sinful person.
How?
Because, in this light, sin is not just breaking the rules. It occurs when we elevate ourselves to a place that is only reserved for God: a place of judgement. It occurs when we believe we have “arrived” and totally get life, faith, and all the things (spoiler: we never will on this side of eternity). We may think we are incapable of sinning, or…at the very least, not as frequently and deeply as others. These are all symptoms of elder brother lostness.
Here’s a loving word of caution: elder brothers almost never even know they are lost. In understanding how this spiritual lostness manifests, however, we will be equipped to better see it in ourselves. If we don’t, we risk never being able to repent and change our prideful ways.
In this light, the younger brother has the advantage: there’s no denying he is lost. He can choose to go home. Older brothers, though? They haven’t a clue. They will remain in their sinfulness, aloof and unawares, blind to their fatal condition.
In fact, the older brother (and Pharisees) would have taken complete offense to the very suggestion that he was rebelling against the father’s authority. No one had ever taught anything like this before the parables in Luke 15.
Remember, this parable is aimed at the Pharisees. Jesus wanted to reveal to them who they were, as well as others who are ridden with pride, and urge them to change.
By the grace and provision of God, there is a way out of this type of sin as well, so all hope is not lost, even for those who suffer from elder brother lostness. That will be our focus for tomorrow!
All my Love,
Helen
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Celebrate a good, good Father who is always calling and welcoming his children home!
Last week we learned how appalling it was for the younger son to ask his father for his inheritance. However, once the older brother hears of his brother’s return and subsequent festivities in his honor, it became his turn to disgrace his father. The older brother was downright furious.
He refuses to go into the party, which, more than likely, was the biggest shindig his father ever hosted. By not going into the party, he is publicly declaring his disapproval. It would have been considered quite demeaning for the father to come out and plead with the older son as he did.
In that culture, the proper way to greet a father might have been something like, “Dear Father…” However, the older brother does not bother with courteous pleasantries. He goes right to the heart of his frustations and addresses his father with a mere, “Look!” We might envision someone waving their fists while yelling, “Look, you!…” while continuing with their tirade in today’s culture. In a society where respect and deference to elders was all important, such behavior was truly ill advised and frowned upon.
When confronted by his father’s joy at the return of his younger brother, we see a powerful resentment come to the surface. We were told how obedient the older son was, so we can surmise that such disrespectful behavior was out of the norm. Suddenly, there becomes a glaringly visible proud, unkind, and selfish person. The anger we see here was a slow burn over many years.
Let’s flesh this out a bit, because its imperative that we avoid the same type of sin when possible. Essentially, the older brother exhibits the stifled feelings of someone who feels they never got what was due to them. He was keeping tabs.
The older brother is especially upset about the cost of the party. It would appear as though the father spent more on the “sinful brother” than he ever did on the “obedient” one. The latter claims he never even had the pleasure of a goat at a party, never mind a fattened calf like the former. The fattened calf is only a symbol, however, because as the choicest, most expensive meat at that time, the calf would have symbolized abundance, pulling out all the stops, etc.
It was grace on top of grace.
Abundance and then some.
The father didn’t just accept the son back; he went above and beyond to knit him back into the fabric of their family and community.
The older son compares himself to the sinful younger brother. He supposes his role and blessing should be relative to others. He thinks he deserves grace AND also that grace should be withheld from his younger brother. For some reason, his brother’s happiness has a bearing on his own level of joy.
As opposed to a both/and scenario, only a either/or scenario plays out in his mind with regard to who can receive blessings and grace. There isn’t room for both sons at the feast (or both type of people as the Pharisees would see it). One has to go, and no one puts big brother in the corner. The Bible calls this self-righteousness, and it needs to be avoided at all costs.
Have you ever compared yourself to someone else? Maybe justify an action by saying, “At least as I’m not as bad as that Karen over there…” Be careful. God sees all sin the same, and herein lies a blind spot for most of us: thinking too little of our sin can keep us from experiencing the fullness of the love of God in the same way that thinking too much of it can.
So, regardless of if we think we’ve sinned too much to come back to God (like the choice we spoke about last week) or we don’t really think our sin is that bad or even existent at all, the Bible unilaterally calls us to repentance.
Now that we have an awareness that our pride and self-righteousness can lead to sin, as it did with the older brother, we are going to examine that particular kind of lostness more tomorrow. It’s one of the most important lessons in the entire New Testament!
All my Love,
Helen
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While this parable is commonly known as “The Prodigal Son” (I even call it this throughout the series), I’d like us to start to think of it a bit differently. You see, that name isn’t quite right. It’s misleading to single out only one of the sons as the sole focus of the story. Even Jesus doesn’t call it the parable of the prodigal son, but begins the story by saying, “There was a man who had two sons.” (Luke 15:11, emphasis mine)
In the younger brother character, Jesus depicts a variation of sin that anyone would recognize. He was openly disrespectful to his father and squandered his inheritance. No one would venture to say, “He’s a totally upstanding human being. Really solid guy. Totally dependable. He’s welcome to date my daughter.” No. People would agree in unison that the younger brother was living sinfully. The listeners would have considered this person to be cut off from God. We revisit the younger son only to highlight a stark contrast to the older brother character.
The latter is seemingly loyal to his father. He has the self-discipline that is so desperately lacking in his younger brother.
So, here we have two sons: one “bad” by conventional standards, and one “good.” Nonetheless, both are alienated from their father. How so? That’s exactly what we are going to unpack this week.
Each brother represents a different way to be alienated from God and a different way to seek acceptance into the Kingdom. The narrative is as much about the elder brother as the younger, and as much about the father as the sons….which is why I’ve decided to break these teachings up by character each week. Moreover, what Jesus says about the older brother is one of the most important messages given to us in the Bible.
Remember last week how we said that Jesus was talking to the sinners and the Pharisees when he told this story?
As it turns out, this parable was actually meant for the Pharisees. Although both groups can certainly benefit from the message, it is directed to the Pharisees. The sinners didn’t ask why Jesus was eating with them. The Pharisees asked, and Jesus responded with the stories documented in Luke 15. The three parables are in response to their attitude, which the Pharisees would steadfastly maintain was right with God. We will see how this was not the case and how Jesus powerfully pleaded with them to change their hearts so they could enter the Kingdom.
Let’s revisit a parallel we learned last week. The sinners are synonymous with the younger brother. But, as we just mentioned, Jesus was talking to the sinners AND the Pharisees.
Two brothers.
Two audiences.
If the sinners were the younger brother, what does that make the older brother?
That’s right. The older brother is synonymous with the Pharisees! That means how he sinned and how he reacted, which we will observe more closely this week, albeit differently than his younger brother, were similar to how the Pharisees sinned and reacted.
Make no mistake: just like the sinners realizing that the younger brother was really them imposed into the tale, the Pharisees would have also noticed. The Pharisees would have also pieced together that they were the older brothers, and they would not have appreciated what Jesus had to say about them either. A sinner being welcomed without restitution?! Nonsense! A clearly obedient and righteous man not getting what he earned?! Preposterous!
Jesus is saying that both the irreligious and the religious (sinners and Pharisees) are spiritually lost, but Jesus was also ushering in a new way to live. One that offered eternal life to the repentant…One that offered a reason to press pause for anyone who thought they were above sin.
This parable of the two lost sons is a total gamechanger in every way. I’m here for it! How about you?
Same time, same place tomorrow? See you then…and bring a warm beverage of choice 😊
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Celebrate a good, good Father who is always calling and welcoming his children home!
Here’s a playlist created just for this series! Celebrate a good, good Father who is always calling and welcoming his children home.
I’m excited to start another week of learning, reflecting and growing with you all! If you are just jumping into the series now, we have been diving into the Prodigal Son. Last week, we focused on the younger brother as well as some really important context. This week, we are switching gears. We are going to examine the older brother figure and find out what he has to tell us about Jesus, the Kingdom of God and how to enter it.
While this story reveals the destructive self-centeredness of the younger brother, it also condemns the elder brother…which is something I never picked up on until recently, no matter how many times I heard this story.
Here’s a gentle word of caution: hearing how the “obedient” older brother was also in the wrong may be convicting for some. It may sting. But that’s OK! I lovingly urge you to press into that and not run from it. Whenever we are convicted there is room for so much growth!
On the first day of this series I mentioned how a pastor once told me that nothing positive ever came from my mouth. That hurt. A lot. But do you know what? Although the words stung, and the delivery wasn’t the best, this particular pastor was almost never wrong when it came to calling people out. There was always some truth to what he had to say. After the sting wore off I asked God to reveal what I could learn from that comment. While it wasn’t true that nothing good ever came from my mouth, it turned out that there was definitely room for improvement. I could certainly speak life over people more often. My words could have more kingdom value.
By pressing into that comment, which I believe was said in love and not animosity, I was able to go to God and ask Him to deliver me from my actions which contributed to such negative impressions. I prayed that He would give me a new voice, a voice to tell others about Him. That was about 8 years ago. I’m so grateful I didn’t ignore the sting. You will be, too, if you take your convictions to the Father in prayer.
OK, thanks for letting me touch on that for a minute. I think we are better grounded to move on together. Agreed?!
This week we will pick up where we left off.
The younger brother left, which was a huge insult. He asked for his inheritance which was insult over injury. He was seeking a life outside of his father’s home. We learned that the distant country he travelled to is really synonymous with anywhere we are living where God is not our priority. We learned that we always have a choice to return to Him. Our Father will always accept us, BUT we have to choose to return back to Him through repentance AND accept his forgiveness. Anything else would be selling ourselves short and not letting God be God. Verse 21gave us a biblical blueprint for repentance: we apologize to the one we offended and to God….and since God is the primary offendee, He’s the one who can primarily restore us.
Jesus is redefining everything we thought we knew about connecting to God. He is redefining sin, what it means to be lost, and what it means to be saved.
That’s last week in a nutshell!
We now have all we need to start exploring the older brother. I promise, you’ve never thought of him like this before!
Looking forward to picking up from here with you tomorrow morning!
Helen
Accompanying Playlist
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Previous posts from the Prodigal Series
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Our first week is already coming to an end! Can you believe it?! Take some time to reflect on everything we’ve covered. What’s something new you learned? Or perhaps a standing perception took on a new shape since we’ve started our time together. That’s great! The Word of God is living so there’s always something else the Spirit can reveal from its verses.
Speaking of revelation, let me share something with you that totally blew my mind. Its one of those things that once you see it, you won’t be able to unsee it.
Remember back to the beginning of the week. I taught that parables tell us something about Jesus. Well, this one is no different. The last parallel we are going to talk about this week is about none other than Jesus Himself. Here it is:
Jesus became the prodigal son for our sake. If I were delivering this as a sermon, I would probably reiterate that for emphasis.
For our purposes, let’s just read over that line again: Jesus himself became the prodigal son for our sake.
Here’s how:
Jesus left the House of his heavenly Father
He went to a foreign, sinful country (although He never sinned)
He gave away all that he had
He returned back to the home of His father
All of this Jesus did, not as a rebellious son, as we saw here with the younger brother, but as the obedient son, sent out to bring home the lost children of God.
If you want to have your minds boggled, reflect on this: as Jesus is telling the parable, He is actually living out the story He is sharing! He is the younger son in all the ways just mentioned while He is teaching about it!
I pray that you are seeing that there is more to this story (and for all of scripture, for that matter) than what meets the eye. Please join me again next week, starting tomorrow, when we take a closer look at the older brother.
In the meantime, let’s close out this week in prayer.
Father God,
Thank you for each and every person reading this today today. Thank you for meeting each and every one of us exactly where we are at. I pray that each of us can get one step closer to you this week. For those who are in a far country right now….I pray that thy choose you. For those who have chosen you, I pray that they ask for forgiveness if they haven’t already, or for those who need to accept- may they accept you with open arms. Thank you for your mercy and for all the distant countries you have already delivered us from. Please keep everyone safe in the palm of your hand until we come together again.
In Jesus’ Holy & Precious Name,
Amen
Accompanying Playlist
Did you know I created a worship playlist just for this series?!
Celebrate a good, good Father who is always calling and welcoming his children home!
Previous posts from the Prodigal Series
Miss one? I got you covered! All teachings from this series are found here.
Y’all, the Lord has put this series on my heart to write for months already! The content was originally shared July 2022 as a 3-part sermon series at my home church. The focus: the parable of the prodigal son. The effect: perspective shifts, convictions and a new appreciation for a very, very old story.
Now I know what you may be thinking: “What can I possibly learn from this parable that I don’t already know? It’s so basic: sinful son leaves home, returns, and is accepted back by the father.” But is it really that simple?
I PROMISE that it isn’t. By spending the next three weeks together in this story, as Jesus told it, you will learn things you didn’t previously know, and the Spirit will reveal biblical truths that were previously imperceptible. We will spend one week focusing on each of the main characters: the younger brother, the older brother and the father. Sound good?!
Now, before we dive in, I want to share the redeeming tale of another prodigal.
This person was born into a typical Christian home and was exposed to God’s love from the time they were born. They went on family retreats for vacations and sang in the choir. They were a straight A student through 16 years of Catholic school, and proudly walked with their dad as he graduated from law school.
However, for brevity’s sake, let’s fast forward to their teen years. This is when a decade-long string of poor decisions really started. This is also when they walked further and further away from the God of their childhood. At this time, they began drinking, first socially, but then every day. By their late teens, a second life their father had been leading was exposed, and that was right around the time he was disbarred. Simultaneously, their mom was diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time.
Despite the world rapidly changing around them, they got a full academic scholarship to college…but the daily drinking continued…a modest inheritance from their grandfather was squandered, in full, before college’s first semester came to an end. Without money, drive, or a relationship with God at this point, they were suffocating by their own internal and external turmoil.
Poor decisions ensued. I think you get the idea. Before ultimately leaving college (and their full scholarship) to get a job for cash in a restaurant, they were diagnosed with major depressive disorder. They often thought that if they just disappeared no one would notice or care. This person would end up with several other diagnoses as a young adult, including Anxiety and PTSD.
By their early 20s, they shut out those who cared for them the most. They didn’t want others to see how far they were falling. At one point, a pastor told this person that nothing of value ever came out of their mouth.
They moved back home after leaving college, but their mother’s heart broke as she watched her child destroy their body and waste their mind. The mother told them to change their lifestyle or move out. The individual left, but not before their depression and the enemy took full hold of them and convinced them that ceasing to exist was the best for everyone.
God had different plans, but it took a few more years for this person to start to embrace what those plans could possibly be.
You see, several more years of selfishness and disregard culminated in unexpectedly expecting.
In that moment, the solid childhood foundation of knowing God’s love flooded back. This person knew that if God intended the child to be born…the child would be…and God, Jehovah Jireh, would provide. In that instant, priorities began to shift and a longing to know God better overtook this person’s heart and mind.
This person suddenly couldn’t get enough of Him! The new little family moved out of state where they didn’t know a single person. Bit by bit, God replaced old parts of their life with Him. He placed godly women in this person’s life and provided examples of how someone could walk with Christ while navigating marriage and parenting. They began to engage with Christian mom groups and the local church. They went on mission trips and saw people hungry for the Word. They wanted that, too.
Slowly but surely, depression was replaced with joy, and indifference transformed into passion. Netflix was replaced with CS Lewis and psychological thrillers were replaced with Tim Keller and Kyle Idleman.
There was an insatiable desire to learn everything they could about God. The more they learned, the more their heart changed. At some point, they started to feel led to share, both the information they had been acquiring and the life changing relationship they had been experiencing with God. After all…what good is knowledge and experience if either remains merely in one’s memory, especially if such an intimate relationship with God could actually change someone’s life?!
This person stopped drinking. They went back to college and finished with a 4.0. After having two more children they went on to get their masters, again with a 4.0, and later began to get their doctorate, but pressed pause on that only because the Lord redirected their path…get this…toward seminary!
They still had their share of messy life to navigate, even after turning toward God, but they did so with a blessed assurance that God was in control and would provide. And God did provide…each and every time. I know.
It was a long and windy road for this person, but it ultimately led to them being able to sit in this coffee house today and type these words to you.
It was me.
I once was lost, but I have also been found, and I am His.
I’m still very much a work in progress as I grow as a person and in my relationship with our God, but I can’t wait to see what he has in store! I let Him change me and hope you’ll let Him, too. His way is better. I promise!
Now that you’ve heard a bit more about how God has worked in my life, and my journey of finding my way back to Him, let’s meet back here, same time same place tomorrow, and we will learn about someone else who was lost and found.
All my love,
Helen
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Celebrate a good, good Father who is always calling and welcoming his children home!
Here’s a different type of blog entry, but I think you’ll enjoy it! Our pastor gave me a brief assignment this Easter: study the lyrics in the song Lion by Elevation Worship and, on Easter Sunday, share a 4-minute teaching explaining the biblical references found in the song. The idea was to give everyone a better understanding of what they were about to sing.
I adored the assignment, and the song did not disappoint when it came to providing references to teach about. In today’s blog, I’m going to share an expanded version of what I taught on Easter Sunday.
If you haven’t heard the song yet, you can find the lyrics here and watch/listen to it on YouTube below.
Clearly, the song is steeped in rich scriptural references and imagery. I’m going unpack some of those references to offer some additional context. Hopefully, in doing so we will not only understand the lyrics more, but really begin to internalize how they point up and back to God.
Regardless of which image I attempt to explain, just know that they all have one thing in common: they relate to a larger story of God’s redeeming faithfulness throughout history, which really is the very thing which allows us to gather and celebrate on Easter.
At least two names for God are used in the song: the God of Jacob and the Great I AM.
God of Jacob
When we sing about the God of Jacob, we are referring to a term from Genesis 31. We often hear the term, “God of Jacob” as part of a trio: God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Whenever we hear associations to generations or lineages in the Bible, that usually points us to God’s faithfulness throughout those generations.
What God says in earlier generations either comes to pass in later ones or stands as proof of His faithfulness to those who follow. For example, when God made the Abrahamic covenant with Abraham, His plan included descendants as numerous as the stars, which included Jacob, David, Jesus, and us as believers.
Also, something else to keep in mind about Jacob, like us, Jacob didn’t have a pristine history or character. This is important, because in many ways, he is us. Yet, God was still able to accomplish His purposes through Him as being the fulfillment and perpetuator of a promise.
God doesn’t seem to mind being known as the God of Jacob (or God of…insert sinners name here…) for all of eternity. God came for all of us.
The Great I AM
Another name we will come across is The Great I AM, which is a term from the story of Moses and the burning bush in Exodus 3. When God appeared before Moses in the flames, he said, “I am the God of your father: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob” (like we just read about) and then went on to say, “Moses, I-AM-WHO-I-AM,” also known as The Great I Am.
Now, just a few verses before this, God explained His plan for His people when He said, “I’ve taken a good long look at the affliction of my people in Egypt. I’ve heard their cries of deliverance from your their masters. I know all about their pain. Now, I’ve come down to help them.”
As God came down in the bush that day, He also came down to dwell among us in Jesus. In the same way I AM set out to free His people in Exodus 3, Jesus also came to free His people from what holds them captive & usher them into a new life.
When we sing “I AM,” we should recognize that God just is. He is present. He was present then in the past and still is today.
Also, God’s conversation with Moses nods back to God as the God of Jacob, further reinforcing His faithfulness throughout the ages.
So far, we have looked at two names for God the Father, but let’s take a look at some of the references to Christ the son.
Lion of Judah
Another really specific reference we will sing about is the Lion of Judah. Judah is the 4th son of Jacob, the person we just heard about in Genesis. In Genesis 49:9 we learn that Jacob gives the lion symbol to Judah and his tribe. The Lion of Judah also pops up right at the very end, in Revelation. There we learn that the Lion of Judah is Jesus…and when we sing let the lion roar in the song, remember there’s an authority in a roar. A Lion’s presence is known. Our Lord’s presence should be known and should leave an impression.
Also, let’s not miss that the same term for Jesus in mentioned in Genesis and Revelation, the first and last books of the Bible. He truly always was and is there, harking back to the idea of God as the Great I Am.
When we sing “Hail, Hail, Lion of Judah” keep in mind that no earthly king or conqueror can offer what our one true God can: eternal life. When we “Hail” we show respect, obedience, and allegiance.
Pride of Zion
We hear about the Pride of Zion in 1 & 2 Samuel, but the term Zion is referred to over 150 times in Scripture. It carries different and broadening meanings as Scripture progresses, starting with a specific reference to the City of David (i.e., Jerusalem) and morphing into God’s spiritual kingdom as a whole. In the New Testament, Peter quotes the Old Testament prophet Isaiah and calls Jesus the cornerstone of Zion…meaning the whole of God’s kingdom rests on Him.
Of course, there’s also significance when we think about Zion being Jerusalem, the City of David, considering that Jesus is a descendant of David, who by the way, is a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Isn’t that amazing?! All of these terms reinforce one another in multiple ways. Are you beginning to grasp how God’s divine plan and faithfulness has played out perfectly throughout human history?
He who Opens the Scroll
Keep all this in mind with the lyrics, “You alone are worthy to open up the scroll.” This is a prophecy mentioned in Revelation when John was told, “Do not weep for the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered so that he may open the scroll and its seven seals.” This sounds a little abstract but that’s ok…because it is. It’s an apocalyptic prophecy, which is generally more abstract in nature, and it begins to make more sense when we understand the references it makes throughout Scriptures.
You can read more about this vision in Revelation, but basically Jesus alone was found worthy to open a scroll because, as the lamb of God, He had shed His blood for all mankind. He became worthy of universal praise.
Lamb of God
The term Lamb of God is one which may sound more familiar to us, but this concept of Jesus as lamb is too important to just breeze over. Here’s what we are referencing when we talk about the lamb of God: in the times of the Old Testament, lambs were sin offerings. These sacrifices were time-limited, and they needed to be made again and again…that is…until Jesus came.
He was perfect, an extension of God: the God of Jacob, the Great I Am, the Lion of Judah, the Pride of Zion, and the cornerstone of the City of David. He was the perfect sacrifice. Our sins could be wiped clean once and for all. We need not have to sacrifice sin offerings anymore. The work on Calvary finished that sacrificial cycle. Jesus as the lamb was not just led to the slaughter- he was slaughtered. We will sing “Like the lamb, You suffered,” and like the Passover lamb, Jesus also died because of sins he did not commit…OUR sins.
Make no mistake, however: with the dying of the lamb, we also have the rising of a lion!
He is our lamb and our lion, our Lord AND our Savior. He is worthy of praise.
And that’s what we are called to do. Praise him for His faithfulness throughout human history to restore us back to himself…for being a human sacrifice in our place…for giving us a way to be with and worship God forever. He is the source of our eternal life and destination, our center and circumference. Let’s worship Him as such!
Our worship team at Wallenpaupack Church did such an incredible job with this song on Easter. Please check it out by clicking here! Enjoy the all that the talent and lyrics have to offer!
Also, for anyone who wants to watch the original, abbreviated version of this teaching, check out this clip, beginning at 5:10.
There was a moment a few days ago when I felt totally overwhelmed. I had just slept off the effects of a migraine. News of Russia’s attack on Ukraine by air, sea, and land infiltrated my newsfeed in the few hours I had unplugged. Although my headache had dissipated, the incessant throbbing was replaced by another feeling all together.
I anxiously thought, “What is happening?” “What’s next?” “Will our country get involved?” “Will my friends’ children be sent off to fight?”
With cost of everyday items on the rise at alarming rates, employers struggling to maintain adequate staffing levels, and the makings of a world war all contributing toward a landscape set against a still-looming pandemic backdrop, it is far too easy to think all is out of control. The fears and insecurities we are facing right now are real and justified.
Can you relate to these thought patterns?
If so, I have a reassuring word to share with you today, friend: we can find comfort in knowing that when all seems amiss, our God still has a plan. Events are surprises to us, but they are not surprises to Him.
Don’t forget…although we learn of passing circumstances in real time; we have a God who exists and operates beyond humanity’s conventional temporal restrictions and understandings.
In fact, the Old Testament is chockfull of prophesied New Testament events. What God indicated would happen during one point in history actually came to pass in another point of history. This is especially true we look at the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah foretold.
I don’t know about you, but I find consolation in that truth. Singular occurrences transpired in such a precisely orchestrated way over hundreds and thousands of years so that when the appointed time came, they all collectively effectuated Jesus’s life, death and resurrection as previously indicated.
That literally boggles my mind! It also speaks to God’s protective and sovereign hand covering all of history.
Around Christmastime, it’s common to hear references to Isaiah’s prophesies as related to Jesus’ birth. Here’s one you may be familiar with:
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
There’s many more examples of the Messiah’s birth prophesied throughout Scripture, but it wasn’t until I was much older that I realized that circumstances around his death and resurrection were also prophesied.
Below is a simple table I generated which shows a handful of such Old Testament crucifixion/resurrection Prophesies with the New Testament fulfillment of that prophesy.
Prophecy
OTProphetic Reference
NT Fulfillment Reference
The Messiah will have His hands and His feet “pierced” through.
Isn’t that incredible!? Isaiah preceded Jesus by about 700 years, and David did so by thousands of years! That’s almost too many generations filled with marriages, affairs, wars and murders-most-fowl to count! In fact, much of the Old Testament is dedicated to the rise and fall of kings and nations. Yet, through all the meandering mayhem, the Lord’s sovereign plan didn’t skip a beat. All played out in such a particular way so that His son entered and exited this side of eternity exactly as God revealed He would.
The result of that faithfulness throughout history culminates in the ascension, whereby Jesus not only exists as our personal and corporate savior, but as our Lord as well. We are the sons and daughters of a King…a King far more powerful than any earthly ruler or dictator!
Friends, the battle is won. The murder at Calvary need not happen twice. Until Jesus comes again, we can still be rest assured that all occurs according to His divine plan and for such a divine purpose as it did leading up to the death, crucifixion and ascension of Jesus over 2,000 years ago.
We can’t begin to fathom the way our God pieces history together, but we can find a blessed assurance in that He does. It’s my prayer that these assurances assist in subsiding any anxious thoughts within us…but in times that they do not, we must go to Him and talk to Him about our worries. He is there to listen each and every time we approach Him.
I used to think that the idea of “keeping the Sabbath” was totally old fashioned and didn’t relate to me in any way whatsoever. I was so wrong! While Sabbath keeping is deeply rooted in Jewish law and tradition, it couldn’t be more relevant to modern Christian living and being still. It is still very much for real!
Before I delve into various aspects of the Sabbath, today and over the next few weeks, let’s take a moment to establish the concept of a Sabbath rest as part of God’s design for creation. The Creation account in Genesis declares:
On the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.
In this way, one way to look at the Sabbath is as a physical time of rest. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean napping, binge watching Yellowstone (although I’m totally guilty of that!), and taking relaxing baths. It is not a rest as in merely abstaining from activity. Rather it is an intentional action which results in a much deeper, soulful, fulfilling time of replenishment. This type of rest is known as menuha in Hebrew. Rabbi Heschel explains:
Menuha, which we usually render with ‘rest’ means much more than labor and exertion, more than freedom from toil, strain or activity of any kind. Menuha here [in Genesis 2:2] is not a negative concept but something real and intrinsically positive. This must have been the views of the ancient rabbis if they believed that it took a special act of creation to bring it into being, that the universe would be incomplete without it. What was created on the seventh day? Tranquility, serenity, peace and repose.
Rabbi Heschel, The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man
Since the creation story is indeed seven days long, and not six, that necessarily stipulates that rest is also part of what was intended to be created. Rabbi Heschel goes on:
We would surely expect the Bible to tell us that on the sixth day God finished His work. Obviously, the ancient rabbis concluded, there was an act of creation on the seventh day. Just as heaven and earth were created in six days, menuha was created on the Sabbath. After six days of creation, what did the universe still lack? Menuha. Came the Sabbath, came menuha, and the universe was complete.
Rabbi Heschel, The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man
We’ve established that rest was intentional. However, it was also so important that God Himself partook in it, regardless of His own strength or actual necessity for such a pause. I doubt God actually needed to rest, as we often think of the word, but He did it anyway. He did it within the confines of what was intended for the created order. How can such a realization change the way we think of rest? Would anyone dare judge the Lord’s need for rest as weakness? Perhaps, there is wisdom in the stillness. Perhaps there is something more to this Sabbath rest as implied by the Rabbi.
The act of resting is also intended for us. With that truth in mind, we can also know that God wouldn’t intend rest for us if it wasn’t possible.
So why don’t we rest when we know we ought to? While there are likely many reasons, some of which we’ve explored together in the Be Still Series, I think much of our apprehension to rest comes from a lack of trust in Him.
While we can say we trust the Lord, its an entirely different ballgame to actually align our lives in such a way which demonstrates our proclaimed trust. It is this very concept which we will explore next week, followed by additional thoughts on how we can incorporate a Sabbath mindset into our everyday lives.
Pray:
Father God, thank you for giving us an example of not only how we should live our lives through your Son and written Word, but also how we should rest. I admit that sometimes I worry about not being able to accomplish everything I want to accomplish, so I forego resting as I ought. I need to trust you more, knowing that if you desire me to rest, I will be able to accomplish everything you desire me to accomplish while still being able to press pause and press into you. Help me trust you more.
Living Simply With God 