The True Meaning of Easter

It is by God’s spirit that anybody will come to believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, as Lord and Savior. As it is written,

Zechariah 4:6 So he answered and said to me:
“ This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel:
‘ Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
Says the LORD of hosts.

However, it is our duty as Christians to proclaim the gospel. Therefore, I am reposting this presentation which I made last year to proclaim the gospel on this Easter Sunday of 2008. Happy Resurrection Sunday!

Thanksgiving and resting :)

I hope everybody had a good Thanksgiving (for those who celebrate it). Thanks be to God for all that He’s done for us, for the little things and the big things. 🙂

Thanksgiving gave me some time to get good rest. I have also been resting from writing on the website for some time now. I’ll be resting for awhile longer before continuing the website. Actually, there were some new features on the blogging system that I wanted to try out so it takes some time for me to become familiar with the new system.

Here’s a good website I found to study the Bible.

http://www.ebible.com/

Until next time, may God be with you!

Meal #210 – The Prodigal Son

Luke 15:11-32 (New King James Version)

The Parable of the Lost Son

11 Then 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 falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. 14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. 15 Then 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 gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.

Video: Pig Food

17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’
20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still 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 to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring[a] out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here 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.
25 “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’
28 “But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. 29 So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. 30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’
31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’”

Video: The Prodigal Son

Commentary:

This parable told by Jesus is similar to His parable of the lost sheep. Here, the father character represents God, and the prodigal son represents all of us. Because of our sins, we have drifted away from God the Father and we become spiritually dead and lost. However, should we desire to return to Him, we can do so by believing in His son, Jesus Christ. God will forgive us if we do so, and He receives us with great rejoicing and all of heaven throws a big celebration. We will no longer be spiritually dead and lost, but instead we will be spiritually alive and found.

Notice, however, that one character in the parable was not very happy. The brother of the prodigal son, who had stayed at home and continued to serve his father, did not receive any special celebration or even a small celebration. However, the father told him that he should not be upset, because whatever the father already had belonged to the son that stayed home. Jesus included this part of the parable because there were a group of people called Pharisees in those days who were religious people and tried to obey and enforce upon others the laws of God. They were angry that Jesus spent time with sinners, and like the brother in the parable, they were not happy that Jesus would sit down and show compassion to these evildoers and teach them how anybody could enter into eternal life. Even today, there are some people who think that there are sins that can never be forgiven, and that such sinners should never be able to go to heaven just by believing in Jesus.

Yet, Jesus reveals to us that we are all sinners, and we are all like that prodigal son at one point in our lives. Though we all deserve death, Jesus has paid the price for all of our sins. Therefore, just as Jesus and all of heaven rejoices when we return to Him by believing in Him, regardless of what we have done in the past, we should do likewise for other sinners who choose to believe in Jesus also. We should be greatly rejoicing with gladness for others because though they were once dead, they are now alive in Christ Jesus the Lord.