Red Letter Christians – Part Three – Repentance and Forgiveness
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%204%3A12-17&version=NIV
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Head/Mind – Important Information – Repentance
John the Baptist and Jesus were very different people, with very different roles to play. John was the forerunner, who came to lay the groundwork for the Messiah. He was the prophet that came in the spirit of Elijah to call the people back to God. He was wild-eyed man of the wilderness who lived an ascetic life and who spoke of a fire and brimstone. Jesus was a man of the people, who was warm and gregarious, who had a way of showing up where ever people were gathering. You might say that one was the good cop and the other the bad cop. One was the heavy and the other the light.
Yet, for all their differences, their message was the same. Repent and believe the good news of the Kingdom. Another thing they had in common was that both were rejected by many of the people, proving that people do not have to have a reason for rejecting God.
In Luke 7:32-34, Jesus says, “To what shall I compare this generation? They are like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends,
‘We played wedding songs,
and you didn’t dance,
so we played funeral songs,
and you didn’t weep.’
For John the Baptist didn’t spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’”
Jesus and and John, each in their own way, called people to repentance. Repentance is the message that we are going in the wrong direction, away from God and away from what God created us to be. Repentance is the call to turn around and begin moving in toward God.
But is that message found in all four Gospels? Well, this week’s passage is a lot like the reading from Mark last week, so we will look at the other two gospels.
Luke 15 tells the story of three lost items. One story tells of shepherd who has lost 1 of his 100 sheep. So distressed is he that he leaves the 99 in search for the 1 lamb that is not accounted for. The other story is of a lady who has ten coins and loses one. She spends the day moving everything in her house, until the lost coin in located, indicating that God will move heaven and earth to find us.
Finally, we have the story of two sons and a father. The younger son has the audacity to ask for his inheritance before his father dies. His father acquiesce and the younger son takes his money and runs. He burns through the money rapidly, as he moves further and further from his father. Picking up at Luke 15:13, we read:
“A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’
In verse 17 it says, “He came to his senses.” The Greek word is metanoia and it means to suddenly see, to become aware, or to realize something that changes the way one sees their situation. You cannot see your need for changing direction until you first realize that you are going the wrong way. Having realized just how far in the wrong direction he had gone, he turns around and heads towards home. That is what repentance is.
In John chapter 3 Jesus talks to a religious leader about the need to be born again and filled with the Spirit of God. Nicodemus, who has come to Jesus by night, is confused as to how to comply with what Jesus has said. We are then given this explanation in verses 19-21:
And the judgment [of God] is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.
Though the word repentance is not used, the idea is. Those who want to be born again walk away from the darkness and come into the light.
In Chapter 10 Jesus confronts those who keep asking him if he is the Messiah, yet, who have no interest in following Jesus. In verses 10:26-28, Jesus says, “But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life.”
Again, the idea is here. If we listen to Jesus’ voice, we will stop going our own way and start following where he leads.
Finally, John 12:24-26 –
“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.”
Again, the word repentance is not used, but the idea is clear. In this world, there are many paths to take and plenty of leaders to follow, including following our own heart. But the best of the options is to go chasing after Jesus. But, since he goes in a direction where few others ever considered, we have to drop what we are doing, turn around, and go chasing after him. That is repentance.
Heart – The Personal Connection
I am often asked to speculate and what direction our society will take in the future. Will it be healthier or more dysfunctional? Will it be more religious or more secular?
Will our problems sink us? Will AI take over the world? Will the economy get so bad that people have no options for work? Who will lead this country in the future?
All of these are interesting and important questions, but not nearly as as important as this question? What direction is Jesus going in? And, will you follow him where ever he goes.
The book of Hebrews was written to a group of Jesus followers who had already begun to chase Jesus. But following Jesus had gotten hard, because he was leading to some places they had never intended to go. Following him meant leaving home, leaving Jerusalem and everything they knew and which brought them comfort. And this group of people were thinking about in-repenting, turning away from Jesus and just going back where they came from from. At the end of this book, we read:
Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.
Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.
Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,
“I will never fail you.
I will never abandon you.”
So we can say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper,
so I will have no fear.
What can mere people do to me?”
Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.
We have an altar from which the priests in the Tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp. So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood. So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore. For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.
After years of service as a missionary in Africa, Henry C. Morrison and his wife returned to the United States on a ship, which also carried President Theodore Roosevelt, who was coming back from a big-game hunting trip in Africa. When the ship docked, crowds cheered, bands played, and photographers swarmed to greet the president. Meanwhile, the Morrisons disembarked unnoticed, with no one there to welcome them.
Feeling forgotten and disheartened, Henry Morrison expressed his disappointment to God, questioning why there was no recognition for their long service in His name. In that moment, Morrison felt God respond with the words, “You are not home yet.
Hands – The Practical Application
The need for repentance looks different for each us. Some of us have been chasing after destructive habits, such as habitual gambling, over-eating, over-shopping until our credit cards are maxed out, or drug use.
Some of us are just spending our time on things that will never pay back the way we think they will. We over-work, thinking that one more expensive toy will fill that empty spot. We fritter our time away instead of investing time in our loved ones matters of spiritual depth and importance.
We follow after the voices of this world, not all of which are bad, but none of which can offer us eternal life and deep meaning for our lives. We do the same dumb things expecting better results. We follow the same mind numbing paths expecting to discover enlightenment. We wander around aimlessly, hoping to find something called home.
But Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew 11:27-29,
“My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”