Immersed in Christ: February 25, 2021
Thursday of the First Week of Lent
Esther C 12:14-25; Psalm 138; Matthew 7:1-12
The Father Gives Jesus
Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. Matthew 10:22
When Peter recognized who Jesus was, Jesus told him the Father had revealed the truth to him. Peter’s faith in Jesus was a gift of the Father.
Most of us owe our faith to our fathers and mothers; at least, its beginnings. We should be grateful for the life-giving gift faith is, and for what it may have cost our parents to persevere in the faith themselves long enough to give it to us. We should also appreciate the Father for giving us the gift of being able to recognize his Son. The more we appreciate the gift Jesus is, the more we can appreciate the Father for giving him to us.
What did it cost the Father to give us Jesus?
First, he had to let his Son be made flesh. He knew Jesus would suffer rejection from the people to whom he preached—Jerusalem, Capernaum, even the people of his hometown (Matthew 11:23, 23:37; Luke 4:16)—and that finally he would die abandoned by all but a handful of his followers (Matthew 26:56; John 19:25). When we don’t understand why God lets some things happen—lets our children die, for example—we should remember he is the Father who for our sake let his own Son die on the cross.
Jesus is not a cheap gift.
ACTION: Whenever you express your faith, thank the Father for giving it to you.
PRAYER: “Father, thank you for your Son.”