Live 4 The LORD

If one of the self-righteous Pharisees had possessed the power and authority of Christ, he would have destroyed all the “sinners.” But Christ deploys all his power and authority to bring them back into communion with God. Once again we see that the Pharisees’ idea of God is off base. They see God as harsh and judgmental, when the truth is that God is a dedicated shepherd. The return of a sinner actually makes God rejoice – as the shepherd rejoices upon retrieving his sheep, and as the woman rejoices upon recovering her coin. The parables show us that God feels anxiousness in regards to sinners, not anger; he wants them back, he doesn’t want to condemn them. The Pharisees can’t understand this, because they have painted their image of God in their own likeness. They enjoy condemning others for being less perfect than themselves, because it feeds their vanity, making them feel superior. But the Lord has no vanity, only love. If we are to be his followers, we need to see him as he really is, and work to become more like him.