“The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.” (Luke 20:19 NIV)
Jesus tells the story of the landowner and the tenants and the Pharisees knew precisely who He was talking about. They felt convicted. They faced the same decision we each do when we know that God is nudging at the sin in our hearts.
We have two potential responses when the Word or the Spirit of God ‘tells a story against us.’ We can confess or we can cover up. Let’s explore our options.
Confession wipes the slate clean because Christ meets our confession with His grace. His sacrifice on the cross is an altar that stands throughout time; the blood shed on that blackest Friday flows backward and forward throughout history.
Our instinct, however, is covering up. We all fight the Adam and Eve heritage, we want to go into hiding when God comes calling. We feel the pinprick of God’s word against our spiritual skin and it hurts because it’s true, so our sin nature pulls back to save itself. Self will also seek to self-protect if we allow it. Sin sends us skittering into dark places so we can hold on to what feels good. Unfortunately though, willfully unconfessed sin always escalates. Greed grows into theft. Disdain in to slander. Lust into adultery. Hatred into murder and lies to cover it up. And so on.
What might it have looked like if the Pharisees had felt conviction and responded with confession? If the scales had fallen from their eyes and they’d knelt at Jesus’ feet and called Him Lord? What might that look in our own lives?
I know one thing for certain, authentic confession to a living Savior changes the trajectory of our lives. One small decision toward Christ magnified through a lifetime equals a dynamic change in our eternal address, to say nothing of individual Kingdom contribution.
It seems to me that the Pharisees had something in common with old Pharoah in the days of the great Exodus. Hardened hearts ruled their courts. They could not see God’s man in their midst. And each they missed the deep and lasting blessing of bending their knee to the Almighty.
“I gave an account of my ways and you answered me; teach me your decrees.” (Psalm 119:26 NIV)
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.” (Ezekiel 36:26-28 NIV)
Confession good for the soul because God meets our brokenness with His mercy. He makes a way out from under our sin and into Him. He beings with our heart and breathes on us again, remaking us into His people once more.
Lord, thank You for the powerful pull of conviction. You are good to tug on our hearts when we have wandered off course. Help us recognize Your pull and respond rightly. That tug we feel is not as much away from sin as it is toward You. May we remember that when we are held in sin’s grip. May we confess and fall into Your courts of mercy and grace. Thank You for the cross and the deep and wide shadow it casts. May we be quick to crawl into it whenever we require forgiveness. Amen.