The well-known parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32 is really about two sons. It is a parable about the love of God who welcomes sinners home but also a parable about repentance and those who think they need no repentance.
Peter Phillips
‘Lost and Found – or lost forever?’ (Luke 15:1-10, Rev Peter Phillips)
In Luke 15:1-10 we read how the Pharisees thought people were accepted by God and how they therefore found fault with the company Jesus kept. Jesus tells of the true way to be accepted by God and receives sinners. God values the lost, shows his love in the effort to find them and rejoices when they are found.
‘Welcomed into God’s Kingdom’ (Luke 14:15-24)
God spreads a banquet for all peoples yet the self-righteous are unwilling to enter the kingdom. They give weak excuses to justify their unbelief and despised the sinners who came readily. Sinners who know they need a saviour enter the kingdom instead of those who rejected the invitation. Jesus tells a parable in Luke 14:15-24 that shows our need – are we willing to accept the invitation and welcome others into God’s kingdom?
‘Humility: The Way Up’ (Luke 14:7-11)
‘The parable of the barren fig tree’ (Luke 13:6-9, Peter Phillips)
The parable of the barren fig tree in Luke 13:6-9 belongs to Jesus’ words at the end of Luke 12 and his response to the people who told him of the death of certain Galileans killed by Pilate’s soldiers, and continues theme of our urgent need to make our peace with God. The people of his time could interpret the signs of changing weather, but not ‘the present time’ in which showed He was their Messiah and King. Despite this, and using the news of the day, Jesus persisted in calling people everywhere and immediately to repentance.
‘Abram: Background steps’ (Genesis 11:27-32)
One of the most important characters in the Bible also played a major part in the unfolding of God’s plan of salvation. His name was Abraham, first introduced to us in Genesis 11:27-32 as Abram. His family background plays an important part in his story as does the fact that his wife Sarai, was barren…and who was it that Abram worshipped before God called him? All these matters underline the amazing grace of God that saves those who by rights, do not belong.
‘Saved to serve the King’ (Luke 19, Rev Peter Phillips)
Jesus tells a parable in Luke 19 and perhaps we didn’t notice the context. He tells the story to highlight his mission to “seek and save the lost”. It connects with Zacchaeus’ conversion, Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and how the people didn’t understand his mission or have him as king. We read of a present saviour and a coming judge. Will we serve him as king?
‘The Parable of the Rich Fool’ (Luke 12, Rev Peter Phillips)
In Luke 12, Jesus is teaching about life and death only to have someone interrupt with a self-centred request! Life is more than possessions, food or clothing. Do we trust God to meet our needs? God gives abundantly but are we rich toward him? “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
‘Resurrection’ (John 20, Rev Peter Phillips)
The resurrection is central to Christianity. Without it our faith in futile (1 Corinthians 15:17-18) and we have no hope (1 Peter 1:3). Reason says that dead people don’t rise but that was known in the first century AD as well as now. Scripture records the careful eyewitness of such a surprising event and even 50 days afterward (Pentecost, Acts 2) there was already a debate about the resurrection! It was testified so that you may “believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead” (Romans 10:9). “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).