Day 80: December 11, 2025 – Luke 13-18

We have some of Jesus’ most popular sayings in this section. The prodigal son is a crowd favorite, but when heard within the context of the other kingdom parables, the lost sheep, the lost coin, it is clear that Jesus is describing God’s love for all people, and not a preference for certain people as some might think. There is no recoil in God when he is considering those who have disobeyed or those who have chosen to squander all that they have in that which God would not want. Disobedience takes us away from God’s plan, but does not disqualify anyone from the kingdom.

So much of what we read in the Gospel is not merit based, but rather grace based. We see consistently the faithfulness of God matched with our unfaithfulness, and guess which one wins out time after time? When we are faithful, like the widow who persistently knocks, we see God’s response. When we are unfaithful, we also see God’s response and it can catch us off guard. This is not an encouragement to be unfaithful, it is an encouragement to be faithful and to notice God’s response when it happens. Because it will happen.