Damaged Goods | Acts 8:26 40; Isaiah 56:3 8 | Jack Kraus

So we have a guest speaker here that will be bringing the word, Jack Kraus.

Uh many of you probably already know who he is, but in case you don't, here's some info about Jack.

Jack is married to his wife, Shirley.

They have two grown children.

Yeah.

Uh ten grandchildren, and they have been members at NBC since the fall of 1985.

Jack has taught math and Bible in schools in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as Sunday school at NBC.

He earned an MDiv and a THM degree at Westminster Theological Seminary, has worked as a hospice chaplain for over 17 years, and pastored the Liberty Corner Bible Church for 13 years.

And most importantly, Jack loves the Lord and loves the word.

So thank you, Jack, for preaching this morning.

Good morning.

One one more little thing about the bio is that uh I'm a woodworker and I'm very skilled at making kindling wood and sawdust.

So if any of you are in need of any of that stuff, uh come see me afterwards.

I'm very skilled in that.

Uh my word to the PowerPoint crew up there.

Same as first service, te absolvo.

Those of you who are not Catholic and remain uneducated, or you didn't take Latin in school, that means I absolve them of any errors because they're probably mine.

Te absolvo mea culpa.

Uh if you don't understand that, ask Pastor Dave, he's studying Latin.

He'll help you out.

Have you ever known someone who was so bad off from their life situation that emotionally and spiritually there doesn't seem to be any way out for them.

They have just seemed to hit rock bottom.

Maybe somebody feels like they don't fit in with those around them.

Maybe because someone told them that they don't fit in.

It was a number of years ago I was at a Dunkin' Donuts in a city not too far from here, and as I walk in, I notice that I appear to be a minority, and as I'm making my order, which back in the day was a standard number three.

Those of you who are Dunkin' Donuts historians know that that was a bagel, cream cheese, medium coffee.

Amen.

Thank you.

Hallelujah.

And as I'm standing there getting ready to make my order, I hear this voice behind me that says, You don't belong here, you better leave.

And I turn around and I look, and everybody's looking at me.

I went ahead and placed my order.

I got my Dunkin' Donuts.

Then I left.

I am not leaving without my coffee.

I came in here for coffee.

I had to find a parking place.

I'm not leaving without it.

Well, you know, there's all kinds of reasons why a person may not fit in.

Might be economic or social standing, might be skin color, might be ethnic background, might be an unplanned pregnancy.

It could be getting fired from a job, laid off.

That's humiliating.

Might be you got kicked out of school.

Anyone here go to Grove City or know Grove City?

Any hands going up?

All right.

I understand that the pool hall isn't there in town anymore.

That's good for anybody who's a student there.

It shouldn't have been there when I was there because it doesn't help you improve your skill in analytic geometry and calculus.

It's great for regular geometry, but not for that.

You can figure out how I found that out.

They kicked me out twice.

It's a great school.

You might even say, first time, shame on me, second time, shame on them, because they made the mistake of taking me back.

But story for another day.

Maybe it's past criminal activity, maybe it's a failed marriage.

I mean, there's any number of things.

It could be medical condition or disease, might even be a sight condition, anything that someone else would now look down on you, or maybe say you don't belong.

Perhaps the affliction is really more that somebody else thinks exists and doesn't really exist, but you still wind up being on the outside, rightly or wrongly.

And maybe nothing I mentioned fits, but maybe you know something that fits, and you're having a hard time and you're hurting.

Number of things that occur in life, sometimes we cause them ourselves.

I'm not going to blame the school for my flunking out.

That was me.

But there are other things that someone else has caused them, and you're bearing the brunt of it.

Maybe the reason why you lost your job was not your fault, it was somebody else's bad planning or whatever, and you got downsized because somebody else makes a mistake.

Maybe there's nowhere to lay the blame.

And perhaps we even think that God agrees with our accusers, that you really don't belong, that you really are on the outside.

If any of you have read the literature from CCEF, Christian Counseling and Education Foundation, I recommend their stuff.

You'll run across a pair of questions.

Question number one is what's the biggest thing you're dealing with in life today?

Question number two is what does the gospel have to do with it?

See, our biggest struggles as Christians can be dealt with through an understanding and an application of the gospel.

Two wrong ways to respond to the gospel.

First is to say, I'm good enough the way I am.

I'm okay with God.

I don't need the gospel to be saved.

I don't need the gospel to be renewed.

I'm fine just the way I am.

And of course, the implied message with that is if I'm okay, you're not, and I'm going to look down on you.

You're on the outside.

You're the one that has the problem.

Which then leads to the second wrong way to respond to the gospel.

And that is, I'm too sinful.

I'm too lost.

I'm beyond help.

I can't be saved.

And the implied message is Jesus is a wonderful Savior.

His love is terrific.

But I've outrun it going downhill.

I'm too far gone.

I can't be helped.

I can't be saved.

And the believer might say, I can't be restored, I'm too far gone.

Well, this morning I'd like for us to take a look at one individual described in Scripture who wanted to have a redemptive, saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

Well, with God.

Start with there.

And yet he couldn't.

He's damaged goods.

He can't worship God with the community.

He's on the outside.

He was, you might say, too lost beyond help.

Because that's what his fellow Jews would have said.

The main issue for this morning's sermon is going to be looking at Acts chapter 8.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

That's our priority.

Verses 26 to 40.

Then we're going to look at the solution to the problem that's found in the Gospel, and in particular in the Gospel of Isaiah.

You're thinking, huh?

Gospel of Isaiah?

Yeah, Gospel of Isaiah.

And then looking at three applications.

So if you have your Bibles, turn with me to Acts chapter 8.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

My translation that you have that is supposed to be up on the screen.

And if it's not, it's my fault, not theirs.

It's probably different.

Follow either one.

Luke writes, Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, Rise, go at midday on the road.

This is desolate, going from Jerusalem to Gaza.

And rising, he went.

And look, a man, an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a ruling official of Candace, queen of Ethiopia, who was over all her treasure, who had come to worship in Jerusalem, and was returning and sitting in his chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah.

And the Spirit said to Philip, Go and be joined to this chariot.

While running, Philip heard him reading the Isaiah the prophet and said, You don't know what you're reading, do you?

Anybody ever tell you that?

And so he said, How could I possibly be able unless someone will guide me?

And so he urged Philip, coming up to sit with him.

Now the passage of scripture he was reading was this.

As a shepherd, or as a sheep was led to slaughter, and as a lamb is silent before his shearer, in this way he did not open his mouth.

His justice was taken away in his humiliation.

Who will relate his posterity?

Because his life was taken up from the earth.

Now the eunuch, replying to Philip, said, I ask you, concerning whom does the prophet say this?

Concerning himself or someone else?

Then Philip, opening his mouth, and beginning from this scripture, told him the good news about Jesus.

And as they went along the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch says, Look, water, what prevents me from being baptized?

And he commanded the chariot to be stopped.

And they descended into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.

Now when they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no longer, for he was going on his way, rejoicing.

Now Philip was found in Azotis, going through all the towns, and he was preaching the good news until he came to Caesarea.

So as we open up this text, there are four characters that are involved.

First, the angel.

He's the one who directs Philip to leave his ministry in Samaria, go down to Jerusalem.

From Jerusalem, then get on this road that goes over to Gaza.

Second individual involved in this passage is the Holy Spirit himself, who tells Philip to join this particular chariot on that desolate road, and then, no play on words here, spirits him away to continue his ministry going up the Mediterranean Sea coast.

And then, of course, there's Philip himself, who's one of the deacons from Acts chapter 6, who's involved in preaching and evangelizing.

Acts 6 · chapter mention

And then lastly, there's Fred.

Now, here's Fred.

You know, if you remember from the sermon series in 2 Timothy, there was Janice and Jambres.

Those were the magicians in Genesis that challenged Moses.

Now, you don't get those names back in Exodus, but they come along because they needed to have a name.

Well, Fred needs a name.

I mean, you can't just keep calling him the eunuch, the eunuch.

Hey eunuch! No, you can't do that.

Come on, that's that's not nice.

Hey Fred, how's it going?

And Fred would probably tell you.

Those of you who are Doonesbury fans will know where I got the name.

Fred is a ruling official for the Queen of the Ethiopians.

He's the head of the treasury for Ethiopia.

He's wealthy enough on his own to own an Isaiah scroll.

Keep in mind there's no printing presses back in these days.

Nobody has this stuff on their tablet.

You have to pay somebody to make a perfect copy of the scriptures, and you probably pay extra if this is on vellum and not on parchment.

He spent a lot of money for this.

He's wealthy enough to command a chariot.

He probably has servants, certainly a driver.

He probably even has security support, because he is he's a mock, he's a mocker to use the original Yiddish.

He's wealthy enough to be able to make this journey from Ethiopia to Jerusalem back again, and yet, as far as Luke is concerned, his important role here is being a eunuch.

Just a little thought on that journey that he's been making.

From Jerusalem to Gaza, it's about 60 miles minimum.

It's a desolate journey.

If any of you get the chance to go to Israel and especially in the lower portion of Israel, when they talk about the Judean wilderness, it's exactly that.

There are some sections that look like it's a moonscape.

This is a barren, desolate road that they're traveling on.

And then from Gaza to the land of Ethiopia, it's it's another approximately 700 miles minimum.

So he's reading the scroll, and it's on a bumpy road.

Keep in mind, he's not in the backseat of a limo.

He's in a chariot.

And lots of potholes on this road.

We're not talking about a superhighway here.

This is desolate.

Not well paved at all.

So that's not an easy read for him.

And it's a good thing he's not driving, because he would definitely get lost.

So he's traveled close to 800 miles to get from home to Jerusalem.

No Lakinta inns, no waffles for breakfast, and that for me is a criteria, in addition to the dunk of donuts along the way.

There's no wawa, no quick check, no 7-Eleven.

This is a tough journey.

What's he take the trip for?

He wants to worship in Jerusalem.

The problem is when he gets there, he can't.

He's not allowed.

The issue is not his nationality, it's not his skin color, it's his being a eunuch.

Spiritually speaking, as far as the community is concerned, he's damaged goods.

You can take a look at Deuteronomy chapter 23, verse 1, and see what I'm talking about.

Deuteronomy 23:1

So, what's the issue?

Well, for a Jew, a son of Abraham, he couldn't enter the temple to formally worship to offer his sacrifices.

He wants to, he can't.

How he becomes a eunuch is unknown.

Was it his parents' choice?

Did they make that decision for him when he was very young so that he could get this plum government position?

Did the government force it on him as he came into government service?

Or did he make the decision himself?

Oh, however, he got there, it really doesn't matter.

It's not part of our text.

He is who he is.

He's damaged goods.

What's been done to him can't be undone.

It's a permanent change.

Think he might have been discouraged?

I suspect he was pretty well bummed out.

Yet, even though he's outside the covenant and its blessings, he's bought this Isaiah scroll and he's reading it.

But there's one more thing.

And that is God set his sights on him.

How do we know?

Well, because the angel sends Philip from Samaria to Jerusalem to this desolate road to minister just to him.

He is the target of Philip's ministry.

The Spirit directs Philip to that chariot.

And Fred's heart is already prepared to hear because he's been reading through this Isaiah scroll.

And by the time Philip catches up to that chariot, he is reading the fourth servant song in Isaiah.

Little cultural nuance here.

It was normal for people in the ancient world to read out loud.

That's standard, that's normal.

We probably tell somebody who's reading out loud to be quiet, I'm concentrating on something else.

But in the ancient world, reading out loud did this for you.

What you see with your eyes, you speak with your lips, you hear with your ears, you get it better than just reading with your eyes.

It's less likely you'll be distracted while you're doing that.

And so he's reading out loud.

He gets to that fourth servant song and he doesn't understand what's going on.

How do we know that?

He says so.

And so he has questions.

Well, who's he gonna ask?

Well, he's probably not gonna ask his servants what they think.

They're servants.

He's not gonna ask his security detail.

They're watching out for the bad guys on the road.

He doesn't have cell service.

He can't go to Google.

Oh, there wasn't Google.

So who's he gonna ask?

Well, let's use our holy imagination for a moment.

That's kind of like reading between the lines of the text.

Fred has been to Jerusalem not long after the death and resurrection of Christ.

It's also after Pentecost.

Do you suppose he heard about Jesus while he was there?

I think so.

Do you suppose he heard about that great number of people who were baptized on that day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2?

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Do you suppose he's learned anything while he's there, in addition to, no, you can't come into the temple proper and worship?

So Philip, here's Fred reading Isaiah 53, figures he doesn't understand it.

Philip admits he doesn't understand it.

And so Philip's big question is, or Fred's big question, is who's the prophet writing about?

Now, from our perspective, we know the answer.

But you wouldn't have known that if you didn't know the New Testament.

You wouldn't have that information.

And so as Fred is reading through, and he gets to Isaiah 51, uh, excuse me, 41, 41, the servant is Israel.

Okay.

Then we get to the four servant songs.

Is it Israel?

Is it Isaiah?

But I mean, get to the fourth song, Isaiah 52, verse 13, through all of chapter 53.

Isaiah 52:13

You can't say it's Isaiah, so who is it?

Who is this individual?

And so when he asks that question, it's reasonable.

It's at this point that Philip answers that question.

And beginning with this passage and going forward, Philip proceeds to tell Fred about Jesus.

He gives him the gospel.

He talks about Jesus as the Savior of sinners, as the reconciler of enemies, as the perfect covenant keeper for covenant breakers, even for damaged people, especially for damaged people.

Because you know something?

Ain't none of us here aren't damaged.

Everybody since Genesis chapter 3, with the exception of Jesus, has sinned, fallen short of the glory of God.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

Every single human being is in that damaged category one way or another.

Nobody escapes that description.

You may not be a eunuch, but you are damaged goods.

And you are on the outs.

So let's go back to that holy imagination.

If Philip is showing Fred the good news about Jesus, starting in Isaiah 52-53, do you suppose he continues in the Gospel of Isaiah?

I think so.

Now, if we go three more chapters, where would we be?

I'm gonna ask you to risk and do math in public.

Starting 53, three more chapters.

Where do we wind up?

Thank you.

Somebody's brave.

First service, nobody was brave enough.

Nobody wanted to risk.

We wind up in chapter 56.

Take a look with me with Isaiah 56.

I'll read it.

It's up on the board on the screen, I hope.

Um verses 3 through 8.

Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, The Lord will surely separate me from his people.

And let not the eunuchs say, Behold, I'm a dry tree.

For thus says the Lord, to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters.

And I will give them an everlasting name that shall Shall not be cut off.

Interesting play on words that he uses for the eunuchs.

And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant, these I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer.

Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar.

For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

The Lord who gathers the outcasts of Israel declares, I will get, I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.

Again, think about that holy imagination.

Fred's a foreigner, at least in the sense that he's working for the Ethiopian government.

He's the treasurer.

But he's also a eunuch.

And he's also a Jew.

He's on the fringe of the community.

You say, I don't see where he's called a Jew here.

For a cup of coffee.

I'll tell you how I can say that.

But it's going to cost you because you want to go to lunch in a little while, and I won't take the time now.

But he's a eunuch.

Luke doesn't want us to forget that little detail.

He says it five times.

And so here in this chapter 56, God is speaking directly to people like Fred, who in this case are both foreigners and eunuchs, normally excluded from the community and yet not under the gospel.

Outcasts like him on the fringe of community have a chance.

Now, reading Isaiah 56, just reading it through once, it almost sounds like salvation by works.

If you guys who are on the outside, keep my Sabbaths, you show up every Sabbath day, and you keep the covenant that I establish, you're going to make it.

Problem is, nobody can do that.

You know, the purpose of the law is not to bring us to salvation, except to show us that we need it.

The law is descriptive of our sin.

It is not prescriptive for the solution to our sin.

The law just shows you how guilty you are, because we don't keep it, because we can't keep it.

And I can imagine at this point Fred is telling Philip why he can't be covenant included, in spite of his belief in God, in spite of his desire to have this relationship.

And that's why Philip is preaching the good news of Jesus.

Because what Fred can't get under the old covenant, he can, by grace, in the new covenant, because of Jesus.

No exclusions, no limitations.

Well, how open is the gospel?

Paul writes in Galatians chapter 3, verse 28, my error on the number two up there.

Galatians 3:28

You'd think I would know the difference between a two and a three by now.

Here is neither Jew nor Greek.

There is neither slave nor free.

There is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Paul goes a little bit further in Colossians chapter 3.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian city, enslaved and free, but Christ is all and in all.

In other words, it doesn't matter what your relationship is on a horizontal level with other people.

Doesn't matter.

Because in Christ, all of those distinctions are taken away.

None of them exist in Christ.

Do you remember that second wrong response to the gospel?

I'm too sinful.

I'm too lost.

I'm beyond help.

I can't be saved.

Know anybody that thinks that?

Maybe it's you this morning.

Paul in Galatians and Colossians tells you that's not true.

And maybe you think you've gone too far, that your sin is too great.

Remember that first hymn we sang this morning?

His mercy is more.

Paul says in 1 Timothy chapter 1, the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

1 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

In another place, he'll tell you why he's the foremost.

He's persecuted the church.

He's arrested people for believing in Jesus and for worshiping God.

Jesus.

But I received mercy for this reason that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example of those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

What Paul is saying is that when you stack goodness in the world, I'm down here.

I'm the foremost of sinners.

I'm at the bottom of this pile.

I'm the most damaged of goods.

And if God can save me, and if God will save me, there's no limitations for you.

What I think is special about this passage is that Fred has already read something in Isaiah 53.

Surely he has borne our griefs, carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities.

Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray.

We have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

No wonder Fred wants to know who this is that Isaiah is writing about.

Casual observation.

Who is the our and the we that's being referred to in these three verses?

I'll give you a hint, it's not Babylonians, it's not Assyrians, it's not Romans, it's not Greeks, it's Jews.

We, God's people, still fall short.

1 John chapter 1.

1 John 1 · chapter mention

John says, if anyone says he has no sin, he's a liar.

The truth isn't in him.

And of course, there's what Paul says about himself in Romans 7.

The good I want to do, I don't do.

The evil I don't want to do, I do.

What a wretched man I am.

Now, the tense of the verb is important there.

He's not saying this is what I was before the Damascus Road.

He's saying this is what I am now.

What, Paul?

Pillar of the church?

The great apostle?

You have this problem?

Paul says, yeah.

What a wretched man I am.

Who will deliver me from this body of death?

I'm stuck in this.

I can't escape sinning.

I thank God through Jesus Christ, my Lord.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.

There's gospel applied to believers as well as to unbelievers.

Hold that thought for just a second.

For our three applications, application number one is you may have just recognized your lostness.

You came here this morning because somebody invited you.

You came here because, well, the coffee downstairs isn't bad.

I know because I already had some.

It's not Dunkin' Donuts, but it's not bad.

And the price is right.

I'm all in favor of that.

You've recognized your alienation from God.

Jesus came to redeem sinners just like you.

Just like you.

Nobody too lost who can't be found by the great shepherd.

Just like Fred on the Gaza Road, met by Philip, and this may be the exact reason why you're here this morning.

Application number two, and this goes back to that reading in Isaiah 53, verses 4, 5, and 6.

Isaiah 53:4

You may be a believer who's fallen so far from your ideals, from your understanding of how a Christian is supposed to be, from what you think others' ideals are, that you're not living up to those standards, and you think that there's no return, there's no way back.

That's not true at all.

And to illustrate that, think about that extended parable that Jesus gives in Luke chapter 15.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

Don't need to turn there.

I think you already know the gist of the parable.

It's got three parts.

First off, there's a shepherd.

He has a hundred sheep.

They're not somebody else's sheep, they're his sheep.

One of them wanders off.

What's a shepherd do?

I got a hundred sheep.

I'm down to 99.

A 1% loss, I can deal with a 1% loss.

We'll be more careful tomorrow.

No, he doesn't take the 1% loss.

He leaves 99 in the open field.

He goes and finds the one.

When he finds the one, brings it back.

When he gets home that night, he calls his friends and said, Rejoice with me.

My sheep that was lost is now found.

And then Jesus adds that little part there's more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than 99 that don't need repentance.

Second part of that.

It's probably her dowry, her life insurance policy.

And in those coins, which she would probably have kept in a ring around her neck just for safekeeping.

You leave it in the house, somebody's gonna steal it.

Well, she's lost one.

Ten percent loss.

What's she gonna do?

That's 10% of what I have to live on for the rest of my life.

She scours that house.

When she finds it, she calls her friends and she rejoices.

Then there's the third part.

A man has two sons.

The younger son asks for his inheritance before the father dies.

Dad, I can't wait for you to die.

I want to party now.

No delayed gratification with this guy, except for a couple of days.

He takes the inheritance that his father graciously gives him, and he goes and he squanders it in Atlantic City.

Or Reno, Nevada, or I don't know, Bahamas maybe.

Takes cruises around the world.

Pretty soon, all of that inheritance is gone.

And he winds up feeding pigs and wishes that he could eat the stuff that he's feeding the pigs.

Now that's pretty low for a good Jewish boy.

And he knows he's done wrong.

And so he plans his sermon that he's going to give.

It's not much of a sermon.

Father, I've sinned against heaven and before you.

Take me back as one of your servants.

And he goes home and he gives that sermon, and before he actually gets it done, his father calls for the robe, for the ring, for the sandals for his feet, and then says, Go kill the fatted calf.

We're going to have a party.

My son that was lost is now found.

When we think about that, we realize that there's something going on in this parable.

Is the shepherd looking for somebody else's sheep to add to his flock?

No.

He gets his own sheep back.

The woman, is she out on the street scouring the roadway for lost coins?

No.

She's looking for her own coin.

Is Papa standing at the gate looking out down the road, waiting for somebody else's kid to come to see him?

No.

In each of those cases, it's the shepherd's lost sheep.

It's the woman's lost coin.

It's the father's lost son.

But as we think about that, we realize there's another son involved.

Now, for those of you who who are mathematicians here and you think math, 100 to 1, okay, he's lost one.

That's one out of a hundred.

The next one, it's one out of ten.

What would you expect in the next relationship?

Not one out of two, would you?

That's because there are two lost sons.

It's two for two.

Now, if you remember third-grade arithmetic, what are you supposed to do when you have two over two?

Reduce the fraction.

It's a one for one.

Thank you very much.

You get the star for the day.

Very good.

The second son is lost in a different way, though.

He's off the reservation in a different way.

He's off the reservation.

By having the right actions on the outside and a bad heart on the inside.

He will not come to the celebration for his older brother.

He actually, when his father approaches him, says, Come on in, enjoy this.

He says, Wait a minute.

I've done everything you wanted me to do.

I've played by the rules, I've obeyed all the rules.

You didn't even let me have a goat for a celebration with my friends.

But this son of yours, won't admit it's his brother, this son of yours, he comes back after he's squandered his wealth on prostitutes.

How does he know that?

Has he heard something?

Or is he transferring his own thoughts and desires?

Just asking the question.

And he says, I'm not going to come in.

He's worse than I am.

See, this is the other wrong response of the gospel.

Not I'm too lost.

He says, He's too good to be lost.

I'm good enough.

I don't need the gospel.

I'm better than my brother.

Not my brother, your son.

I'm better than him.

And you know, when Jesus gives this parable, to whom is he giving it?

To his disciples?

No.

To the general crowd?

No.

He's telling this to the scribes and Pharisees who are protesting to Jesus that these sinners, these tax collectors, other dregs of society are coming to Jesus to hear the gospel.

Who are these scribes and Pharisees to hinder these other people to come for salvation?

Who are coming to repent?

Indeed, who is that older brother to protest his younger brother's return and restoration?

Who indeed?

Because it just demonstrates that those individuals are equally lost, just as damaged, but damaged in heart, not just in lifestyle.

So one last question.

Which one of these three people needs the gospel, needs grace, needs forgiveness?

The lost sinner?

The believer who's fallen and wants to come back, like the younger brother, or the older brother who thinks he's too good for all of this.

Which one needs grace?

Which one needs the gospel?

Which one needs forgiveness?

All of them.

Thank you very much.

A second gold star.

All three.

And so I come back to that CCEF question.

What big thing is in your life right now?

And what does the gospel have to do with it?

What struggles are you going through that the gospel will help you with?

Realizing how great a Savior Jesus is.

The Father is waiting for sons and daughters to come home.

The shepherd is out looking for sheep.

The father is waiting for other sons and daughters to welcome the repentant and the restored.

The door's open.