Commentary: The famous incident of the golden calf, recounted in this reading, comes after Moses had been on Mount Sinai for a very long time. So long, in fact, that the people thought he had deserted them or died. As a result, they rebelled and built an image of a calf, which was an Egyptian symbol of youthfulness and strength. While their true God and deliverer from Egyptian slavery was giving the law to Moses, the people proclaimed the calf made by their human hands to be the god who had brought them out of Egypt. God observed the people’s idolatry and sent Moses down the mountain to intervene. God, who is given human emotions in this story, was furious. Although Moses and God had just been discussing the covenant, God was now willing to abandon the Israelites and establish his covenant with Moses and his descendants alone. But Moses intervened, reminding God of His promises. So God had mercy on the people, which is a theme evident in all of today’s readings.
Commentary: First Timothy is a personal letter written by the Apostle Paul to the young man he appointed as overseer (bishop) of the church in Ephesus. The purpose of the letter was to spell out morality and church order to this fledgling leader. As we know from the Acts of the Apostles and from Paul’s own letters elsewhere, Paul had once zealously persecuted the early followers of Christ as a threat to the orthodox Jewish establishment. But Paul had an encounter with the Lord while on his way to Damascus, Syria to capture more Christians. After his conversion, Paul heard the voice of the risen Lord calling him to be an apostle to the Gentiles (non-Jews) by proclaiming the good news in far away places. Paul accepted the mission and applied the same zeal to serving the gospel as he had used to persecute Christians. Paul acknowledges in today’s reading that only by receiving mercy and being strengthened by God’s grace can we really serve Christ and each other well. There is hope for all of us—even those who appear to be most corrupt—because Jesus came to save sinners.
Commentary: The Parable of the Prodigal Son is likely familiar to us all. But it is more than just a nice story. It is, in fact, the story of our lives. It is the story of how God reconciles us to Himself. Through baptism, we become children of God and heirs to His kingdom. But when we gravely sin, we turn our backs on our own father, wishing he were dead and squandering his wealth. Often we walk away from God to do what we want to do, thinking it will satisfy us. But we are always left empty-handed, like the Prodigal Son. Sometimes our sin leads us to rock-bottom when we become so desperate for help that we’ll do anything (illustrated by the son’s willingness to “tend the swine,” which were abominable to Jews because they were un-kosher). But hopefully, like the Prodigal Son, we will come to our senses in those moments and realize what we are missing out on in our Father’s house. God offers us life and life to the full. We have everything we ever would need when we remain close to Him. And just like the Prodigal Son, even when we’ve strayed very far and spiritually traveled to “a distant country,” God will always welcome us back with arms outstretched. There is no sin too big for Him to forgive and wash clean. And when sinners turn to God in repentance, He offers them unending mercy and restores them to the family. Every time you come back to God from being a prodigal, you can know that there is a party going on in heaven to celebrate, because God rejoices in the reconciliation of every person. So, what are you waiting for? If you’ve been running from God, turn back to Him to experience God’s loving, forgiving embrace.