Joshua 5:9-12, Psalm 32:1-11, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Luke 15:1-3, Luke 15:11-32.
A). THE BLESSING OF PARTICIPATION.
Joshua 5:9-12.
The LORD spoke metaphorically of having “rolled away the reproach of Egypt” (Joshua 5:9). Egypt stands for the place of captivity. In like manner Jesus, by taking our reproaches upon Himself (cf. Psalm 69:9), sets us free from the captivity of sin and death (cf. Romans 8:2).
As the church reaches a crossroads in its life it is important that the signs of our covenant with God are celebrated. The dedication of a child has the potential to set them up for life, whereas in baptism a new convert makes public a personal commitment to the Lord. When the communion is celebrated, we are equipping ourselves for spiritual warfare.
In the Providence of God, it just so happened that the anniversary of the Passover coincided with the time of Israel’s healing in Gilgal (Joshua 5:10). As with our Communion, it was a time to look back, to see what God has done hitherto, and a time to move forward into the promises before us.
The children of Israel could reflect on the (now historic) Exodus, the Crossing of the Red Sea, the sustenance in the wilderness; upon early victories, and now the crossing of the Jordan. They could look forward to taking possession of the land: “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Joshua 5:6).
We can look back to Jesus’ ‘exodus’ (cf. Greek of Luke 9:31) which He accomplished in Jerusalem, to His death for our sins and his resurrection for our justification (cf. Romans 4:25); and to His ascension into heaven, and His continued intercession on our behalf. All this in anticipation, as we break the bread and drink the cup ‘until He comes’ (1 Corinthians 11:26).
The blessing of participation was in evidence the very day after they had eaten the Passover. They began to eat the food of the promised land (Joshua 5:11). What ministries of provision, both spiritual and physical, might we be missing when we neglect to participate in the Communion?
Then the manna ceased (Joshua 5:12). The need for the extraordinary provision of the wilderness had passed, and now the LORD would provide through more ordinary means. There was no use in their looking in the old place: it would not be there. We do not always need to be looking for the miraculous in answer to our prayers: often it is for the more mundane that we fail to return thanks to God.
B). A HIDING PLACE FOR THE REPENTANT.
Psalm 32:1-11.
The beatitudes of Psalm 32:1-2 remind us of Psalm 1:1-2, which describes the righteous man and proclaims him blessed. Yet, since the fall of Adam, no mere man has been born with original righteousness. The second Psalm leads us to the place where we can find this righteousness: in Jesus Christ (Psalm 2:12).
Psalm 119:1 speaks of the blessedness of the undefiled. Who are undefiled but those whom God has declared righteous in Jesus Christ? We cannot begin to walk this way without Him: but when we are clothed with Christ, God looks upon us and sees not our sins, but the very righteousness of Christ.
Before we can enter into the blessings which follow forgiveness (Psalm 32:1-2), we must first admit our sin (“not keep silence” Psalm 32:3), and acknowledge our responsibility before God (Psalm 32:5).
The testimony of King David (the author of this Psalm) is that unrepentant silence was detrimental both to his physical and mental health, and to his spiritual well-being (Psalm 32:3-4). So David confessed his transgression (overstepping the mark), owned up to his iniquity (distorting of the truth), and acknowledged his sin (violation of God’s will).
The result was immediate: “you forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:5; cf. 2 Samuel 12:13). When the Prodigal Son determined to return to his Father, with pleas for forgiveness and offers of penance: he found that the Father, in His love, was already running out to receive him (Luke 15:18-20). All at once David’s transgression was forgiven, his sin was covered, and his iniquity was no longer counted against him (Psalm 32:1-2).
The Apostle Paul tells us that this ledger was balanced with the crediting of righteousness on account of faith (Romans 4:5-8). Furthermore, David’s spirit was purged of guile: the kind of cunning deceit which seeks to cover one’s own sins and hide them from God (Psalm 32:2). Now David’s hiding place was in God Himself (Psalm 32:7; cf. Psalm 130:4).
Repentance does not just belong to the beginning of our Christian walk, but is an ongoing activity in our lives. Both Scripture and experience remind us that we need to be vigilant (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:12). Faith and repentance are twin graces, and they both need exercise.
So even though we now may reckon ourselves as ‘godly’ or ‘undefiled’ in God’s sight, yet we still need to ‘seek the LORD while He may be found’ (Isaiah 55:6). We might spare ourselves some of the pain spoken of by David if we do (Psalm 32:6).
When we take refuge in Christ, we find we are not alone: He surrounds us with others, whose cheerful songs of deliverance we share (Psalm 32:7).
The songs of praise now give way to instruction. The “you” in Psalm 32:8 is in the singular, and may in the first instance be the LORD speaking to David.
However, David soon passes the message on to others: the “you” in Psalm 32:9 is plural. This is in keeping with his own promise when he first asked for forgiveness after the Bathsheba affair (Psalm 51:13).
If we are numbered among the forgiven then we also have, not only a testimony to share, but also a message to proclaim. Those who are forgiven much love much (Luke 7:47). The exhortation to others is that they too would put their trust in the LORD (Psalm 32:10).
The Psalm ends with praise from those whom the LORD has declared righteous, and shouts of joy from those whom He has made upright through the work of Jesus on the Cross (Psalm 32:11).
C). THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION.
2 Corinthians 5:16-21.
This passage directly confronts us with the subject of reconciliation. It requires spiritual thinking: no longer regarding people from a worldly point of view - “according to the flesh” - and certainly not regarding Christ from a worldly point of view - “according to the flesh” (2 Corinthians 5:16).
1. The need for reconciliation arises because of our estrangement from God on account of our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). Sin manifests itself in two ways: in a failure to do what God commands, and in a propensity to do what God forbids. Ever since our first parents ate the forbidden fruit, sin has held mankind in its thrall, with death as its consequence (Romans 5:12). We would be totally unable to escape its clutches, except that the Lord stepped in!
2. The offended party is God. He reconciled us “to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:18), and in Christ He was reconciling the world “to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). We could not come up with any answer to the problem of our alienation from God: but the Lord already had the matter in hand. From all eternity He had planned a way whereby He might remain true to Himself as Just, judging Sin in the Person of His Son whilst mercifully justifying the sinner who has faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 3:26).
3. The mediator of reconciliation is God (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). He is always the initiator: “All things are of God” (2 Corinthians 5:18). Even when we were ‘dead in trespasses and sins’ - even then, He made us alive ‘with Christ’ (Ephesians 2:5). This demonstrates the extent of the love wherewith God has loved us (John 3:16).
4. The instrument of reconciliation is Christ. Reconciliation was brought into effect “through Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:18); and was something that God was accomplishing “in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:19). The Cross was no accident, or last resort: it was for this that Jesus came into the world, and steadfastly set His face toward His awful destiny (Luke 9:51). IF there had been any other way, the cup of His suffering would have passed from Him (Matthew 26:39).
5. The cost of reconciliation is the death of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14-15; 2 Corinthians 5:21). The Cross stands as a monument to the seriousness, and dire consequences, of sin. God, who is ‘of purer eyes than to be behold evil’ (Habakkuk 1:13) cannot look upon sin, and literally turned His face away from His own only begotten Son (Psalm 22:1).
6. The method of reconciliation is the sacrifice of Christ as our representative and substitute. He died as our representative (2 Corinthians 5:14-15), doing battle with the devil through His death and resurrection, and coming out triumphant on our behalf. He died as our substitute, taking upon Himself that which made us offensive to God, becoming the very embodiment of Sin for us: that sin might no longer be imputed to us (2 Corinthians 5:19); and that we might receive in its place the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21), through faith in Him (Romans 3:22).
7. The result of reconciliation is a new relationship with God. The old has passed away, and we are initiated into a new life in our Lord Jesus Christ. The “new creation” evidently has a cosmic dimension, but it is our privilege personally and individually to enter into its newness in the here and now (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our severed relationship with God has been repaired, and we find ourselves no longer slaves to sin, but have a new desire within our hearts to live for the One who has brought us back to life (2 Corinthians 5:15).
8. Reconciliation requires a response from those who have offended. As an eastern ambassador, Paul comes with bended knee, pleading, imploring “on Christ’s behalf… be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20). The Lord has already made the way clear to reconcile us to Himself through the vicarious death of His Son, so there is nothing else for us to do but put our trust in Him (Romans 10:9).
9. Those who are reconciled are called to the ministry of reconciliation. He has “given us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18); “committed to us the word of reconciliation” (19): “we are ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). Paul uses the first person plural when speaking of his ministry, and is obviously including his apostolic colleagues in the expression. But more than this, ALL who have benefited from the death of Christ are also called to share the gospel with others (1 Peter 3:15).
D). THE PRODIGAL SON.
Luke 15:1-3, Luke 15:11-32.
‘Horror of horrors!’ proclaimed the scribes and Pharisees. The tax-collectors and ‘sinners’ were drawing near to hear the words of Jesus!
The three parables which follow in Luke 15 show the calm response of the Master. The parables have a common theme: that of being lost and being found. Each also emphasises the rejoicing that follows restoration.
In the parable of the prodigal son, the father here has two sons, but one is over-anxious to receive his inheritance.
Here the illustration steps closest to our reality. The Father is God. The son, like Adam, has short-circuited his relationship with his father by wanting too much too soon. And while the prodigal wanders abroad, the father waits patiently at home.
A series of providences brought the younger son to his senses. Recognising his lost-ness, he returned to his father in humility. He was willing to accept the place of a servant rather than a son. And thus returning he found the father rushing out to meet him.
The joy of the father is evident in that he would not let his wayward son get beyond his words of confession. It was enough that the boy was repentant, without his debasing himself.
The best robe was brought out and given to the returning prodigal. A ring was placed on his finger, and shoes on his feet. There was a party, and merrymaking.
The scribes and Pharisees, like the elder brother, imagine themselves oh-so-righteous, and presume that they might tell the Lord what company to keep. Like some today, they cannot abide the idea of sinners being received into the fellowship of the church, and would rather remain aloof from the rejoicing that follows a man’s salvation. Their loss!
CONCLUSION: Having sent His Word (Jesus) and His Spirit, the Father awaits our return. The prodigal is not restored until he humbles himself, and throws himself upon the mercy of the father.
