Wearing His finest robe

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.”

Luke 15:22-24 (NIV)

The Father of the prodigal made a feast and ordered his servants to bring the finest robe and put it on his son. This was the son who took his inheritance money and estranged himself from his family, until he finally returned home after living in a pen full of swine. Though he urgently needed a bath, his father wanted to first shower him with love, rejoicing in his return. The bath could wait until later. 

The prodigal son story reveals many truths about how extravagantly God loves us, first, by receiving us as we are. The bathing and deep cleaning can wait until later. He sees us as sons or daughters, and it doesn’t matter where we’ve been, He is looking for all of His children to finally come home.

Paul said that if we were baptized into Christ, we put on Christ, as one puts on a garment. (Galatians 3:27)

Putting on Christ is like putting on the Lord’s robe of righteousness and His garment of salvation, as described by Isaiah. (Isaiah 61:10)

The father of the prodigal put his  finest robe on his son, honored him with a ring on his finger and new sandals on his feet. He made it clear that this was his beloved son. The father did all this, not because his son was deserving or righteous, but because he was his son.

We are all undeserving, but we wear that robe by the grace of our Father in heaven, who loves us. Every lesson from the prodigal story, centers on relationship. God is our Father, and we are the sons and daughters He loves, and He merits us to wear His finest robe, which is Christ. He wants all His children to keep coming home and regularly receive the grace and forgiveness that He so generously offers.

The finest robe was a gift given, not as a reward for any good deeds that were done, but simply for being his son. We have all been reconciled to God, and are predestined to be conformed to the image of His son, Jesus. He invites us to also wear the gift from of our heavenly Father, which is Christ, His finest robe. 

(Romans 8:29)

Jesus, who knew no sin, wore our sins on the cross, and then gave us His robe of righteousness to wear forever. That kind of exchange reveals the extravagance of God’s love for us. It’s incomprehensible, but it’s the truth and essence of the gospel message. 

If we feel unworthy, it’s because we are. We are recipients of grace, His undeserved favor, because our heavenly Father loves His sons and daughters, like the father of the prodigal in this story. God has called all who are baptized in Christ to wear Him as our finest robe. 

We wear Christ in gratitude, publicly, not in secret, and not hiding Him from the rest of the world. People often say that their faith is private, but the father of the prodigal celebrated his son’s return with a public celebration. His father never intended it to be a private matter, and neither does our Father. 

Redemption is too great a gift to be kept private, since it was meant to be shared with others. Jesus is waiting for more prodigals to return home, so that He can place His garment of salvation and robe of righteousness upon them. Heaven still has a huge celebration every time a son or daughter comes home. (Luke 15:10)

Lord, thank you for wearing our sins on the cross, and clothing us in your finest robe of righteousness, and most of all, thank you for your love, and the free gift of grace, that brought us salvation. Amen

Our Gethsemane

“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to feel sorrow and distress. Then he said to them, “My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch with me.”

Matthew 26:36-38 (NAB)

We shouldn’t need to wait for Holy Week to realize the relevance of the garden of Gethsemane, in each of our lives. Jesus asked His closest friends, “Stay with me, my soul is sorrowful even to death.” The garden is where we see the humanity of Jesus in totally raw form, and He wanted His friends nearby, in that emotionally stressful time, as His arrest and impending death was a reality.

The word Gethsemane, in Hebrew means, olive press. An olive press crushes olives, squeezing all the oil out of them. Jesus was emotionally and spiritually crushed in the garden of Gethsemane, and had everything squeezed out of Him. 

We might experience a garden of Gethsemane in our own lives, through some type of sorrow, affliction or a tragedy that we have no control over. It causes us to feel emotionally pressed or squeezed, but Jesus knows what it’s like to be crushed in that olive press. We cannot control the events that happen in our lives, but we can trust Jesus to empathize with us and be here with us. The pressing in our garden is what produces oil, and that oil becomes a healing balm to share with others. 

The garden was a preparation for Jesus, before going to the cross. We are also prepared and strengthened for every trial we face. The healing balm that comes from the oil of our olive press, is what we comfort others with, who share a similar tragedy, sorrow or affliction. 

Every believer has a Gethsemane experience. It might have happened in their past, or could be happening in the present. I went through a type of Gethsemane when my adult son, Jon, suffered a traumatic brain injury from a motorcycle accident in 2023. His life came to a crushing halt, by being physically and mentally disabled, and he’s been living in a Nursing Facility ever since. 

He’s made progress in his recovery, but that entire event was not only his, but my Gethsemane. Within that olive press, an oil of healing was produced in both of us. If Jon is ever able to talk about it, he will have a good story to tell. While we are being crushed in the olive press, we don’t always realize that a healing balm comes from the oil, which later becomes a blessing shared with others, who are going through something similar.

The first effect of the oil of healing for me was the peace in knowing that God loves our children and our loved ones, more than we do. I met the parents of a young man about my son’s age, who also resides at the same Nursing Facility. God brought me and Andy’s parents together, since we both had adult sons who nearly died, yet survived a serious brain injury. Both of our sons are slowly recovering, but we now share a special bond as parents, united in the healing balm from the oil of being mutually pressed.

There is also a peace in knowing that God is deeply interested and fully invested in our lives. He goes so far as to connect us with others who share a similar experience. Jesus empathizes with every kind of pain, whether it is emotional or physical, because He experienced both, and He uses people to comfort each other.

The oil of healing that comes from our garden of Gethsemane is a personal realization that God is love, and because He loves us, He not only sacrificed His Son for us, but shares His suffering and resurrection with us. He not only promises us a spiritual resurrection and renewal in this life, but also a literal resurrection in the life to come. 

God created us to thrive as a community, and when we experience the oil press in our garden, we are able to give the gift of empathy and comfort to others who suffer in a similar way. We may never know in this life, how all these things could possibly work together for our eternal good, but one day we will know and see everything clearly.

Jesus told us to let the children come to Him, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. There’s a depth of wisdom hidden in those words. It’s always best to entrust our children to Jesus, whether they are infants, young children, or adults. In His infinite wisdom, Jesus will draw all children closer to Himself, and He does it in different ways from person to person. 

Whether we are parents or not, our strength comes through times of adversity, which occasionally may become our Gethsemane. Any way we look at this difficult topic, God’s oil of healing gives us the strength for every future challenge, by learning to trust in His love. The strength Jesus found in the garden, came from knowing that His Father loved Him, and love enabled Him to move forward and face the cross.

God will take our tragedies and work all things together for the eternal good of every soul involved. Every loss is a lesson, grief reaps an inner growth, and when we are pressed like olives, we gain renewed strength to press on and bring the oil of healing to others. 

Jesus didn’t ask much of Peter, James and John. He only asked them to “remain here and keep watch with Me.” We have a great gift to give, by remaining to keep watch with someone who is going through their own Gethsemane. 

When someone would tell me that they were praying for my son, it felt like another drop of healing balm to my soul. We were meant to be a blessing to each other by simply being there with them. Showing empathy is the fruitful result of the healing balm that flows out of the pressing process of Gethsemane.

Peace can be found in that garden as we realize Jesus is holding on to us. He, who went through it all before us, is still with us, walking along side us in empathy, as He leads us from the garden into greener pastures.

Lord, bring your healing balm to all who are pressed or grieving today. Strengthen us by your love, so that we may empathize and comfort others who are also suffering. Amen

Symbols in God’s word

“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” 

Isaiah 55:10-11 (NIV)

Scripture has a divine purpose, and that purpose works in whoever hears or reads it. Even the symbols that are used in scripture, become reminders of God’s many truths. 

I remember a mustard seed necklace I once had when I was young. It was a glass ball with a tiny mustard seed inside of it. Jesus said that faith as small as a mustard seed can move a mountain. That tiny seed in the necklace is a symbol and a reminder that God’s word tells us to keep praying and believing, because the tiniest seed of faith can move mountains.

The fact is that a tiny mustard seed does grow into a large tree, some reaching 20 feet high and spreading branches  20 feet wide. Faith, like that tiny mustard seed, is planted in us, with the intention to keep growing.

Reading God’s word produces faith and gives us hope. It also corrects and admonishes us to follow His ways, and not falter through life on our own. Today’s scripture in Isaiah assures us that God’s word never returns void. Whether it is read or heard spoken aloud, it will accomplish a divine purpose in us. 

While we read and meditate on His word, His Spirit transforms and renews our minds, as He is working in us, like a mustard seed growing into a huge tree, bearing spiritual fruit.

Jews have a prayer tradition of filling small containers with scriptures printed on parchment paper.  A parchment of scripture is placed in a container called a Mezuzah, and placed on the doorpost of every Jewish home, as a blessing, going in or out. 

Another parchment is placed in little black leather boxes called Tefillin, which are strapped to their arm and forehead, as they recite prayers. These are the symbols from their scriptures, the Torah, which are reminders to keep their hearts and minds on God and His word.

It may seem like a strange practice, but it’s a literal observance of the following scripture: “Take to heart these words which I command you today…..Bind them on your arm as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)

(A boy praying, while wearing Tefillin)

God wants all of us to know, recite, memorize and bind His word to our hearts. Instead of wearing symbols like leather boxes filled with scripture or on our doorpost, or in a mustard seed pendant, we can plant His word in our minds and hearts, by reading scripture each day.

It will become like a seed planted in us, which grows into a large fruit bearing tree.

In reading scripture, we can know what God has to say to us and about us. We are chosen by grace, and He wants us to cooperate with that grace throughout our lives. Nothing can separate us from the love of God, and reading scripture keeps us even closer as we open our hearts to what He has to say. God’s love for us is like a powerful magnet, and it keeps drawing us closer to Him.  (Romans 8:39)

The Letter to the Hebrews, describes God’s word as a living and active therapeutic sword, like a therapist, which probes below the surface of our being, cutting through the lies that once deceived us and revealing His truth to our heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

Everything begins like that tiny mustard seed that Jesus spoke of. As the Gardener of the universe, God lovingly planted each of us in a womb, beginning as a tiny mustard seed. He has a beautiful purpose for each life He creates, and there are a lot of mountains that need moving. As we regularly allow His word to be planted in our hearts and minds, we will reap the purpose He intended for us.

Lord, help us to cherish your word as your truth is planted in us, as a tiny mustard seed, always growing into a tree of faith and discernment as you reveal more of your love for us. Amen 

Touch me and see

“Jesus said to him, “‘Everything is possible to one who has faith.” 

Then the boy’s father cried out, 

“I do believe, help my unbelief!”

Mark 9:23-24 (NAB)

Faith is knowing that everything is in God’s hands, and even when things seem to be getting worse, and our faith is weakening, it’s okay to come honestly to Jesus and say, 

“Lord, help me in my unbelief.” 

Those were the words of the father of a demon possessed boy. He barely had faith to believe that his son could be delivered, but He came to the right person. Every miracle begins by coming to Jesus, even when our faith is weak. 

When the father of that boy heard Jesus say, “anything is possible to the one who believes”, he figured that excluded him. He had very little hope, but he had a whole lot of honesty, when he said to Jesus, “Help me in my unbelief.” 

It’s easy to get the impression that Jesus only responds to people of great faith. He praised the Centurion who said “Only say the word, Lord.” He was impressed by the woman who said “If I can just touch the fringe of His garment.” 

He highlighted the example of the gentile woman who humbly persisted in faith, saying, “Even a dog can receive the crumbs that fall from the table”. 

There’s no doubt that the Lord responds to great faith, but He also responds to great honesty. Jesus was touched by that desperate father’s honest plea, “Help me in my unbelief, Lord.” Jesus is looking for  an intimate relationship with us, and intimacy requires honesty. Scripture shows us that God loves a heart open to Him in truthfulness.

Jesus wanted to help those who were struggling to believe that He had truly risen on that third day. He made an effort to convince His disciples that He was risen in body, and wasn’t merely a ghost or a spirit. He removed their doubts, by asking for something to eat and eating food in front of them. He showed them His scars and His wounded side. 

He went as far as to offer all of the disciples, not just Thomas, to touch Him and feel His scars, saying, 

“It is I, myself. Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” 

(Luke 24:39)  

God is patient with everyone who is struggling to believe for something. He was patient with the father in this story, He was patient with His disciples, and He is also patient with us today. He doesn’t expect us to fake it and pretend we believe, or to walk away in unbelief. We learn from the father in this story that there is a third option, to ask Jesus to help us in our unbelief. 

I don’t always feel a confident assurance when I pray for my son, Jon. Almost every day I ask Jesus to help me in my unbelief, and He keeps extending His nail scarred hands towards me. He never scoffs at our honesty when we admit our doubts. He keeps drawing us closer, inviting us to touch His scars and go a little deeper.

As we remember His unconditional, relentless love for humanity, and all the various levels of faith among His believers, we can almost still hear Him saying to us today, 

“Touch Me and see how much I love you.”

Lord, whatever level our faith is at, help us to remain intimate and honest with you, as you help us in our times of unbelief. As we touch you by faith, draw us closer and deeper in our devotion to you. Amen