Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”

— Isaiah 6:5

18 Having risen up, I [the prodigal son] will go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;

20 So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.

21 The son declared, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.

23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us feast and celebrate.

24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.

— Luke 15:18, 20-24

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

People judged by human standards as basically good actually fall gravely short of God’s requirement of perfect holiness. When the layers are peeled back, even those who seem kind and good have desperately wicked and self-centered hearts. The Bible thoroughly teaches about the sobering destructiveness of sin and the awesome holiness of God. God’s purity and righteousness unmasked the wretchedness of our sin. The costliness of humanity’s redemption—the righteous blood of God’s own Son—helps us understand the supreme seriousness of sin.

God’s justice involves His careful, deliberate wrath. Human anger flares up in a moment, often motivated by self-righteous vindication. God’s wrath, however, is His measured response to sin and evil and the resulting devastation that falls upon people. Like the prodigal son’s father, God never responds in a heated reaction or capricious outburst. God’s anger is rooted in His love. He hates all wickedness that wounds His people and responds by coming to their aid. When God judges sin and evil, His righteous ruling and deliberate actions exercise His justice. Amen!