Last week we saw Jesus resisting sin in the wilderness. As Jesus' ministry begins, he doesn’t merely resist sin, he forgives sin. Jesus did not come to make our life better but to make it new and he does so primarily through the forgiveness of sins.
It’s been said that last words are lasting words. Here in Luke 24, after Jesus has been resurrected from the dead, he gives his disciples a parting word. And it’s this parting word, empowered by the Holy Spirit, that will ignite the greatest movement the world has ever seen.
Jesus became sin so that we could be forgiven of our sin. The prophet Isaiah spoke of Jesus’ horrific death hundreds of years before Christ’s crucifixion. In Isaiah 53:5, “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.”
The gospel changes us and maybe nowhere is that more evident in the life of a follower of Jesus than in his/her wallet. Gospel generosity is produced when we understand Jesus’ lavish generosity towards us. This week we see the story of Zaccheaus and how his encounter with Jesus radically changed his life… and in particular his spending habits.
