The Wind and the Lion
"Is there not one thing in your life that is worth losing everything for?" That is the final line in one of my favorite movies of all time, and I have been watching movies for over 50 years. "The Wind and the Lion", starring Sean Connery, is about a tribal desert chieftain that takes an American woman and her children hostage to try to force the Europeans out of his country.
He knows no fear and risks everything, but by the end of the movie he has lost everything and he asks this question of his friend. Really though he is making a statement that there is something worth losing everything for.
Did you ever wonder why Jesus told these three parables all about the same thing? Maybe it was because his audience - the "sinners", the tax collectors, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law - didn’t understand what he was trying to say after the first two.
The third parable is more personal. It is something everyone in Jesus’ audience can relate to; the "sinners" to the younger brother and the Pharisees to the older brother. In this story the Father extends his grace to both sons. In the same way, Jesus is extending his grace to all who are listening.
"Is there not one thing in your life that is worth losing everything for?" Jesus answered this question with a resounding yes! He gave up everything to fulfill his mission. He came to seek and to save the lost and that includes both "sinners" and religious people. That’s Good News for you and for me.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2015&version=NIV;MSG
http://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Luke.15
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