DCLM Daily Manna 2024: DCLM Daily Manna 29 August 2024: Dining With SInners
Text: Luke 15:11-24 (KJV)
11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:
12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again*; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
KEY VERSE: Luke 15:24
“For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.”
In the Jewish culture, dining with someone signified a pact, friendship or covenant relationship. An instance was when Jacob and Laban ate together on a heap of stones to represent a covenant between them (Genesis 31:46). Joshua and the elders of Israel also ate the food of the Gibeonites to signify a pact with them.
Today’s text, on the parable of the prodigal son, is best understood if we recall its background and context. The publicans and sinners flocked to Jesus to hear Him, but the Pharisees and scribes grumbled that He received sinners and ate with them (Luke 11:1,2). In response, Jesus used three illustrations – the lost sheep (Luke 15:4-7), the lost coin (Luke 15:8-10), and the lost son (Luke 15:11-24) – to explain that His mission was to recover the lost sinner. Jesus came to seek and save those lost in the sin of indulgence and excesses, such as the publicans and sinners whom the younger son illustrated.
As we approach the end of the year, we should take stock of our lives and ensure that we guard against the mindset of the prodigal son whose relationship to his father was purely transactional, that is, based on material gain. He did not value his father’s fellowship and loving care; neither was he interested in supporting the family business. All he wanted was his inheritance even while the father was still alive.
Like Christ, we should be interested in the Father’s business of saving the lost at all costs. We must also avoid coming into spiritual poverty by dining with sinners in a life of indulgence. People who do that risk losing their spiritual inheritance if they prefer the company of sinners to fellowship with God.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Jesus receives sinful men when they repent.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Philemon
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Daily Manna 29 August 2024
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