Just for You
Maybe you’ve heard it said, "If you had been the only one, Jesus still would have come just for you." I know I have, and to be truthful, when I would heard this, I’d nod my head, but in my mind I’d think, “How do you know?” I mean, really, how could someone know that the Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth and all that is, would have sent Jesus to our blue-green sin-sick, war-torn planet to rescue and redeem one of the 8,049,604,057 people on the planet (as of 4:41 pm EST on Friday, May 24, 2024)? Really, how could anyone really know?
Well, today that churchy statement, "If you had been the only one, Jesus still would have come just for you,” floated through my head again and the Holy Spirit lovingly confronted my cynicism. Into my conscience came the three parables of Jesus in Luke 15. He addressed them to two groups of people gathered with him that day. The first group were the people nobody wanted or saw of the First Century whom Luke describes as “tax collectors and sinners.” These were sketchy people. Jesus’ second audience was the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law who questioned Jesus’ holiness for hanging out with tax collectors and sinners. These were the respected religious leaders of Israel. To these two groups (one could argue, to the “holy” and “unholy”), Jesus gave two stories about a single item (a sheep and a coin) getting lost and how with reckless abandon, the owner scours to find the lost item. The third story is even more tender. A dad in Jesus’ story, loses a son to his own immature thinking and riotous living. The dad waited in hopeful anticipation for his lost son to return home. In all three stories, the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son are found, and a huge celebration breaks out. The shepherd with his sheep, the old woman with her coin and the father with his son shouted to friends, “Rejoice with me! What was lost has been found!” There are lots of common denominators in these three tales of Jesus, but what stood out to me this afternoon was there was only one lost thing that had to be found to justify throwing a party. Jesus’ parable was about the one.
So today, I am convinced. I repent of my cynicism and boldly declare, “If you had been the only one, Jesus still would have come just for you." This is what makes grace so amazing. If today, you are wondering, “Does God really love me?” Please hear this. With more than 8 billion people on this planet, God sees you, knows you and loves you. You matter to God and he sent Jesus just for you!
