Devotional by Marcel Rebiai
“‘. . . Bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.” Luke 15:23-24
We read in God’s Word that,
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children (can wait for them), how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things (wait for His children) to those who ask Him!” Matthew 7:11
At the end of the story of the prodigal son, the father says: “Let us eat and be merry!” After the father embraces his son, the son is repentant. However, the father is already moving on to the next thing – the party.
A homecoming always involves reviving old relationships, and this leads to joy, which is often expressed by throwing a party. At this party, not only is the son the centre of attention, but also the father. He is so overcome with happiness that his infinite love for his son is victorious, ultimately saving his son’s life. He even shouts out, “My son was dead and now he is alive!”
Such love that endures forever will bring people back from the dead; it will create life, as was the case for Jesus. Jesus Himself loved His disciples to the very end. He loved Peter (who had denied even knowing Him) so much that Peter later became an apostle. This is ultimately a resurrection from death, the creation of new life, and all this is the result of love that endures! What a fantastic message, that we have a Father like that!
This devotional is taken from the book To See God by Marcel Rebiai. If you would like to order your own copy, please email us here, connect@reviveisrael.org.
Marcel Rebiai is a board member of Revive Israel, and is inspiration for our community. Marcel was born in Algiers in 1953. He came to Switzerland as a war orphan and received faith in Jesus in his youth, which changed his life and made him a messenger of God’s love in Jesus. Since then, he has been faithfully working for the building of the community of Messiah. Marcel is the founder of the “Community of Reconciliation”, an organization that works for reconciliation between Jews and Arabs based on God’s forgiveness and love in Christ. Marcel teaches in various settings around the world about the love that God revealed to us in Jesus, a love that enables reconciliation. Marcel has been living in Jerusalem for the last 30 years, is married to Regula, and has four children and eleven grandchildren.