Jesus underwent indescribable suffering for us. He went through an illegal trial by night. He endured the crown of thorns, a horrible beating, the weight of the heavy crossbeam, and the nails in his hands and feet. This is what our Savior went through for us. He died the death we deserved to die so we don’t have to. He suffered for us – and sometimes following Him means we suffer too.

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey the week before He was crucified. That might seem like no big deal but it actually was – it fulfilled an Old Testament prophecy that basically declared Jesus was King. And the crowd went wild! They got it. They understood exactly what was going on! By the way, this was a totally different crowd than the one calling for his crucifixion less than a week later. No, no. This crowd had it right – or almost right. They thought Jesus was going to overthrow their Roman occupiers. But Jesus came to do so much more. He came to overthrow sin. He’s a better king than we ever imagined. He’s not just the king of Israel – He’s the King of the universe!

Last week we looked at the first two parables in a three-part series. In the first parable, a shepherd leaves 99 sheep in search of one. In the second, a woman sets aside 9 coins in search of one. This one rounds out the series. It’s more intimate. A man has two sons – and one runs away. The father never fails to love his son. He waits and hopes and prays that his son will come home. When his son finally returns, his father doesn’t condemn or admonish his wayward son. He throws him a party. He celebrates his return. That’s what Jesus does when we turn back to Him.