According to what John wrote, before Jesus’ death and resurrection, His own brothers didn’t believe in Him. This teaches us that believing in Jesus means believing more than the fact that He was just a person in history. And it means believing more than the fact that Jesus did miracles. Jesus’ brothers certainly believed He was a real person, and they also knew He did miracles. But they didn’t believe that He was the divine Son of God, as indicated by how they spoke to Him, scoffing at Him. In order to be saved, we must believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

Being members of the same family, Jesus’ brothers were perhaps embarrassed by His claims that seemed so outrageous and His growing unpopularity. We are told in Mark’s Gospel that on at least one occasion, Jesus’ family tried to drag Him back home with them, saying to other people that He was out of His mind (see Mark 3:21). On this occasion that John recorded, Jesus’ brothers chided Him for what they perceived as His inconsistency. If He wanted to succeed in His mission, why would He hesitate to go to a well-attended Jewish feast in Jerusalem?

Jesus replied that it wasn’t time for Him to go, indicating His obedience to His Father. He knew that, because many people in Jerusalem didn’t like His convicting message, there was a growing opposition there that would eventually result in His crucifixion. It was important that He not be crucified prematurely, before the Passover Feast. So, in order not to cause too much of a stir, Jesus went to Jerusalem secretly, separately from His brothers.

Even though at first very few people knew He was there, Jesus was the main topic of conversation at the feast, and the Jewish leaders were on the lookout for Him. People debated about Him. Some thought He was a wonderful man while others considered Him to be a deceiver or even demon-possessed. Some believed He was the Messiah because of all His miracles. Others thought He couldn’t be the promised One because they didn’t know enough of the Scriptures and assumed the Messiah would simply appear, having no known origin. They knew, however, that Jesus was the son of Mary and (they thought) Joseph, and was from the town of Nazareth. So how could He be the Messiah?

Jesus, as always, answered His critics truthfully. He told them that He wasn’t trying to pretend that He had just appeared or that He had no earthly origin. (Such credentials were not required of the Messiah.) And He clearly claimed to have come from God, having been sent as God’s representative to bring God’s teaching, that He was seeking to honor God, and that He would soon be going back to God. He was claiming to be much more than just a wonderful person or a prophet. He was claiming to be the Messiah, the Son of God!

Q. We read today that the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem tried to arrest Jesus, but no one laid a hand on Him because, “His time had not yet come” (John 7:30). What do you think that means?

A. We find that phrase, “His time had not yet come” and variations of it a number of times in the Gospel of John. As we read in later chapters, it becomes clear that Jesus was referring to the time of His crucifixion, the event for which He had been born. Jesus was predestined to die at the Passover Feast in Jerusalem, thus, when men made plans to arrest Him before then, God somehow prevented it from happening. Jesus would die when it was God’s preordained time.

Q. Jesus told the Pharisees that they would not be able to come where He would be going. What did He mean?

A. He meant that they would not be able to enter heaven, joining Him there, because they did not believe in Him.

Application: People today have the same opinions about Jesus as they did back when Jesus walked the earth. The reason John recorded so much of their debate is because the most important thing anyone can do is to decide who Jesus is. Those who believe that He is who He claimed to be are given eternal life, just as John wrote near the end of his Gospel, “[I have written] so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life” (John 20:31).

This story was aimed at the Pharisees, who were generally proud of themselves for their supposed obedience to God and consequently despised everyone else. They were no different than many modern religious people who are proud of their outward conformity to God’s law and who look down on others who don’t come up to their standards.

The good points that the Pharisee listed about himself were commendable, as all of them indicated some obedience to God. He claimed that he never cheated, sinned or committed adultery. He fasted regularly and tithed. However, he had at least one major flaw: he was very proud. He thought that his good works earned his salvation. He didn’t feel like he needed a Savior because he had saved himself!

We know, however, that the Pharisee needed a Savior, if for no other sin than the sin of pride. And most likely, he was guilty of a number of other sins as well. One, to be sure, was his lack of compassion for other people like the tax collector.

Unlike the Pharisee, the tax collector knew he was a sinner who needed forgiveness if he was to be saved. So he humbly admitted his sinfulness and asked for mercy from God. And Jesus said that his prayer was answered. He left his place of prayer saved, whereas the Pharisee left unsaved. To be saved, a person must humble himself, admitting that he is a sinner who needs a Savior. If we think, like the Pharisee, that we don’t need a Savior, then we cannot be saved.

Q. Jesus said that the tax collector, unlike the Pharisee, left the Temple justified before God. Do you know what it means to be “justified”?

A. The easiest-to-remember definition of the word justified is this: “just as if I’d never sinned.” When a person goes to court and the judge says at the end of his trial, “You are justified,” he means, “I find you not guilty for the crime of which you’ve been accused.” A person who is justified is not a forgiven sinner, he is a person who has not sinned! The Bible teaches us that Jesus bore our sins and gives believers His right standing before God the Father. Because Jesus never sinned, He has perfect standing before God, and that is what we get when we believe in Him!

Q. Would it be possible to have a perfect standing before God apart from Jesus?

A. Only if a person never sinned could he have a perfect standing before God without Jesus. However, since every person has sinned (even so-called good religious people who might be more obedient than the average person), everyone needs Jesus to be saved.

Application: Kids raised in Christian homes are often well taught to do what is right, and consequently they do what is right most of the time. The danger that exists for them is that they might tend to think that their good behavior is what saves them, and they might not see their great need for Jesus to save them. The cure for such a proud attitude is to ask the Lord to show us our sins, especially the ones that are hidden from others, like wrong thoughts, motives and attitudes. Why don’t you ask the Lord to reveal to you how much you need Him as your Savior today in prayer?

There are many places in the Old Testament that tell about the time when God’s kingdom will rule over all the earth. That promised future kingdom is something the Jewish people anticipated for a long, long time. As Christians, we also are waiting for that day, knowing that Jesus is the One who will then rule the world. It will be heaven on earth.

One day some of the Pharisees asked Jesus when God’s kingdom would come. Knowing that they would not be citizens of that kingdom unless they believed in Him, Jesus answered their question by telling them that the kingdom of God was among them. That is, the God of that kingdom, the One who would one day rule the world, was standing right in front of them, offering blessings that would be enjoyed by every one of that kingdom’s citizens. In that sense, God’s kingdom isn’t coming, it’s here right now! Although Jesus is not yet ruling everyone in the world, He is ruling over everyone who has submitted his life to Him.

Later with His disciples, Jesus spoke more about the time when He would return to rule the world. He didn’t tell us everything we might want to know, but He told us everything He wanted His disciples and us to know.

First, Jesus made clear to His disciples certain things that modern Christians know quite well: He would suffer and die and then be gone from earth for a considerable amount of time. His followers would want Him to come back much sooner than He would. Knowing how much we would long to see Him, Jesus warned us against being deceived by reports of His supposed return. When He comes back, Jesus said we’ll know it, because He won’t be sneaking back and hiding somewhere! His return will be as evident as lightning flashing across the sky.

Second, Jesus reiterated to His disciples what He previously said to the Pharisees: His return would not be ushered in with visible signs immediately preceding it. People would be caught unprepared and would be living their lives just as they always had.

Third, when Jesus returns to the earth, He will come with judgment. Many people will die, suffering God’s wrath, just as they did during the flood of Noah and the destruction of Sodom. Because entire cities and towns will be destroyed, Christ’s followers will have to be cautious not to put themselves into danger by joining the ungodly when God’s wrath falls upon them. Jesus reminded us of Lot’s wife, who died looking back to a city that God was destroying. However, although there is the possibility of one of us making a mistake, there is no danger of God making a mistake. We don’t have to worry about Him accidentally killing us, because Jesus told us that two people could be working side by side or even sleeping in the same bed, and one would be taken and the other saved. God knows those who are His, and He won’t treat them like the ungodly.

Q. If you heard a report on the television news that Jesus had recently returned and was living in France, would you believe it?

A. I hope not! Jesus told us not to believe any reports of His return because we’ll all know it when it happens.

Q. Let’s suppose you are alive when Jesus returns. You happen to be driving home from a vacation and have just about arrived at the outskirts of your city when fire falls from the sky over and on your entire city. Should you drive as fast as you can to get to your house to rescue your prized possessions?

A. No, you should stay away from any area that looks as if God’s wrath is falling on it.

Application: All true Christians hope that Jesus will return in their lifetime. But even if He doesn’t, at death we get to immediately be with Jesus in heaven. Then, when He does return, we will return with Him. That might be even better than being on the earth and seeing Him return!

In many places around the world over the last two thousand years, Jesus’ followers have been persecuted. Some persecution is not too difficult to take, such as when someone lies about you to hurt your reputation as a Christian. But sometimes persecution can be very harsh, for example, if you lost your job for following Christ, or were kicked out of your home, or perhaps were even tortured and martyred for your faith. Any Christian in that kind of a situation begins to question why his heavenly Father is allowing the people who are persecuting him to get away with it. It’s not fair, and since God is fair, why doesn’t He punish the evildoers and stop their persecution?

Because the world will grow even worse as the time of Jesus’ return draws closer, persecution against Christians will increase, and thus more and more of God’s people will be crying out to Him for justice “day and night” (Luke 18:7). We know, of course, that eventually God will act in justice against those who persecute His people, but it won’t happen as soon as those who are being persecuted would like. They will be tempted to doubt God’s justice, give up hope and quit praying. Some may even be tempted to quit following Jesus.

But Jesus wants all of His persecuted people to be encouraged, and that’s why He told this story of the persistent widow. Because she didn’t give up, but rather, kept persisting in her quest for justice, she got what she wanted from a godless and uncaring judge. Jesus’ point is this: If that widow got justice from a godless judge through her persistence, how much more will God’s persistent people obtain justice from their perfectly just and caring heavenly Father? He will, as Jesus said, bring about justice for them quickly. Maybe not as quickly as they’d like, but quickly as far as God is concerned.

Q. Why do you suppose God allows His people to be persecuted for even a minute? Why doesn’t He judge persecutors immediately?

A. There may be several reasons. First, He is merciful toward the persecutors and wants to give them time to repent and be saved. Once they die and go to hell, they will never have another chance. When the persecutors experience the love of the Christians they persecute, who return good for evil, they may very well come to their senses and receive Jesus.

Second, God can use persecution to test His people. Those whose faith in Jesus is fake are exposed when they are persecuted. They quit following Jesus. Perhaps that’s why Jesus asked at the end of today’s story, “But when I, the Son of Man, return, how many will I find who have faith?” (Luke 18:8).

Third, God can use persecution to help His children grow spiritually and become more like Jesus. Persecution gives us a chance to obey His command to love our enemies and develop the fruit of the Spirit. At the same time, we can prove our love for Him as we endure.

Finally, because God lives in a timeless realm, and because He knows all about the glorious eternity that we will experience, His perspective of persecution is different from ours. He will reward us in His kingdom for the persecution we experience now. When that time comes, we might wish that we had experienced more persecution on earth!

Q. Do Jesus’ comments about persistence in prayer apply to every prayer we might pray?

A. No, they don’t. We know they apply when we’re praying for justice but not seeing immediate answers. However, when someone is praying for salvation, for example, he only needs to pray one time in faith and immediately receive what God has promised. This would be true for other things God has promised as well, such as the Holy Spirit (see Luke 11:13).

Application: If persecutors of Christians don’t repent, you can be sure they will be punished fairly in hell when they die. Jesus even promised some persecuted Christians in the ancient city of Philadelphia that He would force their persecutors to bow down at their feet (see Revelation 3:9).

Leprosy is a terrible disease that causes a person’s body parts to slowly rot away. Lepers often lose their fingers and toes, and eventually the disease kills them. It is very contagious and is spread by touch. For that reason, lepers in Jesus’ day were outcasts of society, and no one wanted to be near them. So they hung around each other, and in today’s story we find a group of ten who called on Jesus to heal them. From examining the details of the story, it’s obvious that they had faith in His healing power.

First, their faith was evident by their calling out to Jesus to be healed.

Second, when Jesus told them to go and show themselves to the priests, they obeyed. Under the Law of Moses, before a cleansed leper could begin normal interaction with non-leprous people, he had to be examined by a priest and declared cleansed of his leprosy. That is what Jesus was requiring the ten lepers to do, and so they started off on a 25- or 30-mile journey to Jerusalem. They must have believed that they would be better by the time they got to the priests, and as they acted on their faith, they were!

And third, Jesus told the one leper who returned to give thanks that it was his faith that had healed him. For this reason, we can conclude that all ten were healed through their faith in Jesus. Where did these ten lepers get their faith? They must have heard that Jesus was healing all who asked to be healed.

What would have happened if they wouldn’t have asked Jesus for healing? What would have happened if they wouldn’t have obeyed Him, acting on their faith by heading toward Jerusalem to show themselves to the priests? The answer to both questions is this: They would not have been healed, even though we know from reading the story that it was obviously God’s will for them to be healed. This once again proves that God’s will doesn’t always automatically happen regardless of what we do. And it once again proves that unless we believe, God’s will may not come to pass in our lives.

Q. Jesus healed all ten of the lepers. What does this say to us?

A. It leads us to believe, once again, that God wants everyone to be healed. Many Christians today will say that it is God’s will to heal some but not all. But Jesus healed all the lepers. And, if they had believed that it was only God’s will for a few of them to be healed, none of them would have been healed, because none of them could have had faith for individual healing.

Q. The one leper who returned to give Jesus thanks was a Samaritan. His faith was actually more impressive than the faith of the other nine. Why?

A. Because Jews and Samaritans had no dealings with one another in Jesus’ time. Because of that, he, more than the others, would have been tempted to doubt the wisdom of obeying Jesus’ instructions to show himself to the priests. He knew the priests would probably have nothing to do with him. But he obeyed Jesus anyway and was healed.

Application: If we believe in Jesus as our healer, let us begin to talk and act like it!

Jesus told this story of the rich man and Lazarus directly after He told the story we read yesterday of the shrewd money manager. Both stories teach us something about how God expects us to view and use money.

The final conclusion of yesterday’s story was, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Luke 16:13). The rich man in today’s story was a perfect illustration of this truth. Money was obviously his god, not because he was wealthy but because of what he did with his money. He repeatedly ignored the pathetic plight of a diseased and starving beggar lying at his doorstep, who became too weak to even chase away the dogs that licked his open sores. The rich man could have easily provided food and shelter for Lazarus, yet he showed him no pity until Lazarus eventually died right on his doorstep. The rich man’s actions proved that the love of money controlled his life, and not the love of God. The point of this story is not, “Rich people go to hell and poor people go to heaven.” There are many wealthy people mentioned in the Bible as being godly and righteous.

The point of this story is that people whose god is money are unsaved people. The rich man’s lack of compassion for Lazarus was a telling sin, but you can be sure it wasn’t his only sin. In fact, in hell he knew that the greatest need of his living brothers was that they “turn from their sins” (Luke 16:30). If he would have had faith in God during his life, he, too, would have turned from his sins. True faith is always manifested by obedience. But during his life, the rich man served money, not God.

Jesus obviously believed there was such a place as hell, and made it clear that it’s a place of conscious torment. Although the rich man had left his body on earth, his spirit was very much alive, and he was able to see, hear, touch, taste and remember. He longed for some relief from the heat of hell’s flames. But, because he had previously ignored the plight of Lazarus, now he was being justly repaid for that sin and all his sins. Praise God that those who believe in Jesus and repent on earth are forgiven of their sins because Jesus suffered the punishment they deserved! Aren’t you glad you’re one of them?

Q. Do you have to be wealthy to be guilty of the sin of loving money?

A. No, middle-class and even poor people can be guilty of that sin. However, wealthy people are probably more often guilty of it than others. Studies show that wealthy people generally give a smaller percentage of their money to charities than people with smaller incomes.

Q. Does what we’ve read today apply to kids?

A. It does if they are followers of Christ and have any money of their own, either earned or received as a gift. A portion of it should be used to help those who are less fortunate. One way to do that is to give to needy people that you know, or perhaps to sponsor a needy child in another country. Many churches give a portion of their income to the poor, and thus, by giving to their churches, people are also giving to the poor.

Application: We sometimes mistakenly think, like the rich man in hell, that if people witnessed a miracle they would turn from their sins. However, God is doing miracles every day for everyone, trying to get their attention. He uses snowflakes and stars, flowers and fruit, babies being born and water turning to ice, but people ignore His call. Beyond that, God is speaking to them through their consciences and His words in the Bible. Still they don’t listen. The real problem isn’t the lack of miracles, it’s the hardness of people’s hearts.

The most important thing that people can and should do is to obey God. More than anything else, God wants our obedience. He does not want the kind of obedience that the Pharisees demonstrated, an outward obedience to man-made laws; He wants an obedience that springs from a heart that loves Him. Because obedience to God is so important, anything relating to obedience in our lives is also very important. Jesus talked about the importance of several of those related things in our reading today.

First, disobedience usually begins with a temptation, so God is very opposed to anyone who tempts others to sin. Those kinds of people will incur worse punishment in hell than anyone else because they will not only be held responsible for their own sins, but will also be held partly responsible for the sins of others. Many people make their living at tempting others and causing them to sin, such as publishers of pornography and sellers of illegal drugs.

Second, the opposite of one who helps others to sin is the one who hinders other people from sinning. One way God wants us to help others not to sin is by rebuking fellow believers if they sin against us. Of course, a rebuke such as that should be given gently in love. If the fellow believer repents, we are supposed to forgive him or her. If we don’t, we are sinning.

Third is the relationship between faith and obedience. Like the apostles, we would like to have more faith, thinking that the primary result of greater faith would be the working of miracles in our lives. Jesus said, however, that even a very small amount of faith can produce a major miracle. So miracles aren’t the evidence of great faith. In fact, there are instances in the Gospels of people who performed miracles in Jesus’ name who weren’t even followers of Jesus. They may have had a little faith in Jesus in regard to His ability and power, but they didn’t have faith in Him as being the Savior, Lord and Judge before whom all people must one day stand. Thus, the working of miracles is not what proves a person has faith in all that Jesus is. Rather, it is obedience that indicates a person has that kind of faith, which is why Jesus then immediately proceeded to talk about obedience.

Finally, a fourth issue related to obedience to God is the danger of becoming proud when we are obedient. Because pride is a sin, there exists the danger that not sinning can lead to a sin! So, as Jesus instructed, we should always view ourselves as servants who deserve no praise. When we obey God, we are only doing our duty, not going above and beyond our duty.

Q. If a fellow believer sins against you seven times in one day and you forgive him seven times, what should you do if he sins against you an eighth time that same day?

A. You should forgive him. Jesus wasn’t placing a limit of seven acts of forgiveness per day per believer. He was saying that there should be no limit to our forgiveness. It is very unlikely that you will ever have an opportunity to forgive one person seven times in one day, and Jesus knew that!

Q. What sin can most easily originate from obedience?

A. The sin of pride. People who don’t sin can easily become proud of it, which means they’re sinning again!

Application: What is the most important thing in life? Obedience to God! This should be on our minds all the time.

Jesus’ story of the shrewd money manager is one that many people have difficulty understanding. However, if we first consider the lessons of the story that Jesus shared at its conclusion, it’s easier to understand how the story leads to those lessons.

Jesus mentioned at least three lessons His story teaches, and all of them revolve around the use of and our attitude about money. The last of the three is, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Luke 16:13). Jesus does not want money to be our highest priority as it is for many people. Every aspect of some people’s lives revolves around money. For example, when faced with a decision about choosing a career, the most important question they ask themselves is, “What can I do that will make me the most money?” A servant of God, considering the same question, would ask, “What does God want me to do?” Those whose god is money are literally controlled by money, as it directs their every decision. And that was the case with the shrewd money manager. He deceived and cheated his master, sinning against God, because money was his highest priority. It was his god. By their actions, the Pharisees also proved they loved money more than God.

The second lesson was about trustworthiness. Jesus said, “Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities” (Luke 16:10). Trustworthiness is something that must be earned, and it is first earned by proving yourself trustworthy in small things. The shrewd money manager in Jesus’ story was found unfaithful, and that was why he lost his job. God is testing everyone’s faithfulness by watching what we do with what He’s given us, including our money. Christians who don’t give anything when they’re making only a little money are proving they wouldn’t give anything if they made a lot of money, in spite of what they may claim. So why would God bless them with more money? Christians who waste money that God gives them are also proving themselves untrustworthy and provide no reason for God to entrust them with more.

This is more important than many Christians realize. How we spend our money is a primary indicator of our spiritual lives. In fact, it can reveal whether we are truly saved or not. Jesus said, “If you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?” The shrewd money manager in Jesus’ story proved, by his mishandling of his master’s money, that he was not truly devoted and obedient to his master. So his master rejected him, just as God will reject those who, by their use of their money, prove that they aren’t truly submitted to Him.

The third lesson is perhaps the most difficult one to understand, especially if you are reading from a translation other than the New Living Translation. Jesus said, “I tell you, use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. In this way, your generosity stores up a reward for you in heaven” (Luke 16:9). The shrewd money manager made friends out of his master’s debtors by lowering their debts. Because he’d helped them save money by cheating his master, they’d feel obligated to help him once he lost his job. Jesus, of course, doesn’t want us to make friends by cheating anyone, but He does expect that we will assist our brothers and sisters in Christ who are in financial need. And we, like the shrewd manager, will ultimately benefit from helping them when we are rewarded in heaven.

Q. Do you think what we’ve read today has any application to kids?

A. If they receive any money, either by earning it or receiving it as a gift, it certainly does. They should demonstrate their obedient faith in Jesus by what they do with their money, and it doesn’t make any difference how little money they have. In fact, by proving to God at a young age that He can trust them with a little money, kids can ensure themselves a better financial future.

Q. Many people think it’s O.K. to tell “little” lies, as long as their lies don’t hurt anyone. And they claim they would never tell a “big” lie. How do you think God feels about that?

A. God knows they’re lying about not lying! When they’re faced with a small temptation to tell a small lie and yield, God knows they’ll tell a big lie when faced with a big temptation. God never tells any lies, big or small, and neither should we.

Application: When you are faced with a decision, are the financial consequences more important to you than the spiritual consequences? Say, for example, that you have just enough money to buy a certain thing you’ve wanted for a long time. However, you haven’t given away any portion of that money yet, to someone less fortunate, to your church or to a missionary. What is the proper thing to do?

Today we read of another fault the Pharisees and religious teachers found in Jesus: He spent time with sinful people. This once more strengthens our belief that Jesus was sinless, because the only faults anyone could find in Him weren’t faults at all, they were virtues. Jesus explained why He spent time with sinners: they were valued by God, just as a lost sheep is to a shepherd and a lost coin is to a woman who owns ten coins.

The Pharisees who criticized Jesus were self-righteous, and were actually just as lost as the people they condemned as being sinners. Jesus considered everyone to be a sinner who needs to be saved, but those who didn’t think they were sinners could never be saved, because they thought they already were!

The story of the lost son was really a story about the bad attitude of the older brother, who represented the Pharisees. The younger son was definitely guilty, but he repented before his father, who received him back with rejoicing and a feast. His son had been lost, but was back home where he belonged. The older brother became angry when he saw how gracious his father was toward his brother. He had always obeyed his father and never had received a similar party. To him it didn’t seem fair.

Every time I read this story, I always feel myself siding with the older brother. If my father did what his father had done, I would probably react the same way. But when I put myself in the shoes of the father, I’m sure I would do just what he did for his repentant son. There were two different perspectives in the matter, and we must realize that our God has the father’s perspective. He loves all of His own, so we should adopt His attitude and rejoice when He blesses someone who has recently repented after committing big sins, even if we feel like God is showing favoritism. Of course, God shows no favoritism, but like the father in the story, He can’t help but express His love when a repentant son returns home.

Q. If the younger brother was so graciously received and restored when he returned home, was there any advantage for the older brother to have stayed home, remaining obedient to his father all those years?

A. Absolutely. Everything the father owned was divided between his two sons. The younger of the two had wasted his entire inheritance, but the older brother still possessed all of his. That is why his father reminded him, “Everything I have is yours” (Luke 15:31b). The wayward son, although blessed to be restored, would regret all his life what he did with his inheritance. He would never have another opportunity to receive it again. And the older brother could use his inheritance to have as many feasts with his friends as he wanted.

Q. How do you think Jesus feels about Christians who look down on sinful people who are not Christians?

A. He knows they are guilty of spiritual pride. All of us were sinners at one time who needed a Savior. We were no different than the sinful people we now look down upon, except that we heard and believed the gospel and God forgave and changed us. We need to be merciful toward sinners as God is.

Application: Did you notice the father’s love for his repentant son in today’s final story? When the returning son was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming. He had been hoping and longing for his son’s return, always looking into the distance. He didn’t wait for his son to make it to him. Rather, he ran to his son, filled with love and compassion. When they met, he didn’t wait for his son’s confession, but immediately embraced and kissed him. When his son confessed his sin, he didn’t scold him to make him feel worse, but immediately called for the finest robe, a ring for his finger, sandals for his feet and a great feast in celebration. Does that help you understand God’s loves?

 Through the Old Testament prophet Micah, God had foretold that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem: “But you, O Bethlehem…are only a small village in Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past” (Micah 5:2). So it was no accident that Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem when Jesus was born. Before the world was created, God knew that around the year 6 B.C. the leader of the Roman Empire would decree that a census be taken of all the people in his domain. For that reason, Joseph and Mary had to journey about 65 miles to register in the town of Joseph’s ancestor, David.

When we think about Jesus being born, we often imagine a picture similar to what we’ve seen on the front of Christmas cards: a soft golden glow surrounding a beautiful mother with a baby in her arms, as her husband and the animals of the manger scene adoringly watch. But Jesus’ birth was not such a pretty picture. First, giving birth to a baby is not an easy thing to do—just ask your mom about when you were born! Then ask her how she would have enjoyed delivering you in a stinky barn, right on the floor, after several days of traveling! That is probably how Jesus was born. Mary laid him in a manger, which is a nice word for an animal feeding trough. How would you like to sleep in a box where animals had eaten and slobbered? Jesus went through a lot of trouble to become a human being, and that shows us how much He loves us.

I wonder if Mary and Joseph complained to each other about all their troubles. Just to register their names in Bethlehem, they had to make a long journey when Mary was very pregnant, and Mary had to give birth in very unpleasant surroundings. They probably didn’t realize that they were right in the center of God’s will, fulfilling an ancient prophecy. We often grumble about circumstances in our lives when we don’t see God’s plan. But if we could see our circumstances through God’s eyes, we would rejoice. And so we should!

God’s perspective of Mary and Joseph’s plight was revealed to the shepherds of today’s reading. The multitude of angels that God allowed them to see were praising God because the Son of God, the long-awaited Messiah, the Savior, had been born! At that time, it was the greatest event of history! Those angels had been sent from heaven to tell them the wonderful news because God was so excited about the birth of His Son. Just like when you were born, your dad wanted everyone to know about it!

Q. Why are we certain that the prophet Micah, in his prophecy about a ruler coming from Bethlehem, was talking about Jesus, and not some other ruler of Israel?

A. We are certain because Micah identified that ruler as being someone “whose origins are from the distant past” (see Micah 5:2). The Jewish leaders in Jesus’ time knew that Micah could have only been speaking of the Messiah, even if they didn’t understand that the Messiah would be God Himself, who existed from eternity (see Matt. 2:3-6).

Q. Looking back at your life, do you think that anything has happened to you that you complained about at the time, but that God was excited about because He could see the whole picture? Could that be true of anything you are complaining about right now in your life?

Application: The Bible says,”God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them” (Romans 8:28). God doesn’t cause all things, and not all things are good, but God does cause all things to work together for good. Since that’s true, we should maintain a good attitude, even when things don’t go the way we want them to.

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