Great Reversal

Every time Jesus tells a parable about grace, we get a shocking ending. To name just a few, last weekend in church we saw how the tax collector, not the pharisee, went home from the temple justified. The parable of the good Samaritan has the classic bad guy being the hero. The prodigal son receives a party instead of punishment. The shock at the end of the story is the great reversal. The opposite of what seems fair or expected- happens.

The reversal isn’t just shocking- it is the basis of our hope. Have you seen God’s shocking grace poured out? On the cross, we gave God our worst while he was giving his best. Because of the cross, my sinfulness is exchanged for his holiness. Hopelessness becomes hope and my life goes from hell-bent to heaven bound.

Only when I stop and really see that can I rejoice over God’s work of great reversal in everyone else around me. I can long for this to happen to my worst enemy. I can pray and work toward God saving someone who has maligned the God I love. I can learn to be patient and hopeful for people I would much rather give up on and gossip about.

The pharisees and scribes struggled to get there. Even though they were more knowledgeable of the Bible than everyone around them, they hated the way Jesus loved people. Since God never gave up on me, I had better do the same for them. Maybe the next great reversal in my life is letting God turn my hatred of someone into my hope for their salvation.