“The most beautiful of altars, he said is the soul of an unhappy man who is comforted and thanks God.”  – Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

Prodigo is struggling with many things in his life, all of which are external. The real problem with Prodigo though is what is inside him, in his nephesh and not in the world around him. The transgression has caused him to see and experience life differently than how God intended. Prodigo is ruled by the effects of the transgression and the circumstances of his life. He struggles to live as a fallen, distorted human being. The real problem is that he has no relationship with God. If He did, he would then understand how his nephesh has been affected and he would know why many of his actions bring about such a change to his life for the worse.

Prodigo, like most humans, does not know that he was originally created to be in the image of God and live the makarios life bringing joy to God and God bringing joy to him. Instead he lives with the results of the transgression which naturally affects who he is, how he thinks, how he feels about things, what he wants from life, how he relates to his wife, children, friends, neighbors and co-workers, and the way he processes information to determine what’s right and what’s wrong. As a result, many times Prodigo decides a course of action or a response to something that may be completely out of harmony with how he would have responded if he were in the image of God. Even worse is that he has no idea why he struggles the way he does and why things so often turn out bad in his life. Blaise Pascal, the seventeenth century mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher and Christian said:

“Truly it is evil to be full of faults, but it is a still greater evil to be full of them, and be unwilling to recognize them.”

Mourning is the response of believing when Prodigo recognizes his transgression and sin. An honest evaluation of this is why Prodigo has freewill. God allows him the privilege of choosing his response. The enemy of mourning is indifference and ignorance. If Prodigo doesn’t care to think about God or having a personal relationship with Him, indifference and ignorance will then determine the quality of his life. This would be such a waste of the gift of freewill God gave Prodigo and all human beings.

There is one more consequence of his transgression and sin looming in the distance that one day Prodigo will have to face. According to God’s plan, there is a day in the future when Prodigo will stand before Jesus and have to answer for his iniquity, which is the sum total of his transgression and sins. If Prodigo has never become poor in spirit prior to that moment he will certainly become poor in spirit standing in front of Jesus the King and Judge, but then it will be too late.

So how does Jesus deal with Prodigo’s mourning problem? He begs him to come be forgiven, be comforted and receive the makarios life. If Prodigo wants this life he must have the attitudes Jesus talked about when He preached the gospel of the kingdom. To do that Prodigo must surrender to the Sovereign King who is the only one who has the authority, power and ability to give him this comfort and life. Prodigo’s transgression is far too formidable an enemy to just wishfully dismiss. It is the heart and soul of who Prodigo is. He needs a complete change of his nephesh. A rebirth. Yet he is absolutely powerless to do this. But a helpless attitude like this is exactly what Jesus the Comforter is looking for in order to give him the kingdom life and the comfort that can dismiss even his greatest shame.

How is it possible for Prodigo to be both happy and mourning at the same time? Because it is not possible for him to fall at the feet of Christ broken-hearted over his sin, and not rise in awestruck wonder at the comfort he received there. Anything short of thankful worship of Jesus after mourning the actions of his transgression means Prodigo did not come to the true comforter. Instead he stopped short at the doorway of self-pity. When Prodigo mourns over his poor in spirit condition, Jesus the comforter implores Prodigo to come to Him so He can wash away the guilt Prodigo is feeling deep inside his nephesh with the blood He shed for that very sin induced feeling of guilt and shame.

Once again God’s way is not man’s way of dealing with transgression and sin. Prodigo has learned by rote that the best way to react to his wrong is to ignore it, while God said for Prodigo to recognize it and then mourn. When he does mourn in the presence of the comforter, Prodigo will find happiness. If he ignores it, he will never find the joy Jesus is offering. This is why the mourning which Jesus speaks of here is not for the hurt over the loss of a loved one. This mourning touches the reason for pain, misery and death which is transgression and sin. Therefore, his heart needs to break before the only One who can bring healing to his sorrow – the Great Comforter and Propitiator Jesus Christ. This should be the reason behind all mourning. This vileness from our breach of the image of God is behind everything that is wrong in the world.

In order to mourn so that Christ is free to give Prodigo the makarios life he must come to the only means God uses to lavish us sinners with grace and kindness and that is through the death of the comforter and king, Jesus. Any other way Prodigo tries to relieve his misery will not bring him God’s lavishing of grace and kindness, nor will it give him the makarios life. There is only one way to be healed from this type of misery.

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD will not take into account.” (Romans 4:7, 8)    

The word translated blessed here is the Greek word makarios. Of course it would be for there is no makarios life without the propitiation that allows God to forgive Prodigo’s sins to such a degree He will never mention them again.

 In order for Prodigo to have joy while he mourns he must understand what it cost God to be free to lavish comfort on someone who helped crucify His son. Propitiation is what it cost God, and propitiation is Jesus being crucified on the cross.

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1, 2)

Not only is the death of Jesus for Prodigo’s transgression and sins necessary, but equally so is the resurrection of Jesus vital to his being declared righteous. The resurrection shouts throughout history that God the Father, who sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross, is completely satisfied with the sacrifice of Jesus. Look how this is expressed in Romans 4:25:

“He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.”

The reason God can declare Prodigo justified is because Jesus completely satisfied the judicial requirements due from the result of Prodigo’s transgression. And when Prodigo is justified, or declared as he was meant to be, peace with God is what follows next as seen in Romans 5:1:

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

There is only one way God says that Prodigo can be justified and that is by faith. Remember, faith is the noun that names the way Prodigo is justified. Believing is the verb, which describes the response Prodigo must have toward what Jesus has done so he can be justified. And once again there is only one response Jesus is looking for from Prodigo and that is a heart bowing to the wishes of Jesus the king and savior.  

The concept of propitiation needs to become Prodigo’s best friend and companion. Let me restate the definition of propitiation – the means God uses to lavish us sinners with grace and kindness without violating His own judicial righteousness. Prodigo may have learned that the best way to react to his sin is to ignore it but God cannot ignore sin or He would not be righteous. Therefore He could not offer comfort to Prodigo.

Iniquity, Prodigo’s guilt from being a transgressor and sinner, has consequences attached to it and they must be dealt with. The consequence for the transgression is condemnation and the condemnation does not allow Prodigo to experience the peace that comes from being in the presence of God. Through the one breach of trust that caused the transgression to be passed on to every human being, the sacrifice of Jesus allows God to declare Prodigo righteous, or the way he is supposed to be.

“So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.” (Romans 5:18)

This one act of righteousness is Jesus being punished for the iniquity of Prodigo’s transgression and sin, the result of which is justification of life. Justification is a fine religious word that Prodigo unfortunately knows nothing about. The Greek word translated justification comes from the same Greek word translated righteousness. Their meanings are somewhat similar yet at the same time very different. Righteousness is BEING RIGHT the way we were originally created to be in God’s image. Justification is being DECLARED AS RIGHT as we were meant to be in the image of God. One has to do with who we are in our daily life and the other has to do with whom God declares us to be regardless of who we actually are.

For example, take King David, the one who slew the giant warrior Goliath. David loved and surrendered to God with all his heart, soul and mind. Look then at how God thought of David.

“I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.” (Acts 13:22)

David was certainly no saint. He committed adultery, had a man killed to hide his affair with this mans wife, and responded several times to the circumstances of his life in horribly ugly ways. David was truly a transgressor/sinner, but God declared David perfectly right because of David’s faith as seen in David’s willingness to do whatever God wanted him to do. When David sinned, God’s declaration of righteousness still remained. Yes, he may have just sinned, but God’s declaration of righteousness is far greater than any sin David could ever commit.

Often, the reality of God’s justification and the way we actually live, are miles apart. This will make it difficult for Prodigo to experience the makarios life unless he understands the fullness of propitiation. Nothing shows how completely satisfied God the Father is with the sacrifice of His Son Jesus than what it says in Romans 8:1.

           “Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

If Prodigo mourns for his transgression and sin he will be comforted and he will have peace with God. This peace is truly one of the ways God lavishes Prodigo with grace and kindness. Once Prodigo is justified, or declared to be as righteous as he was created to be, there will never again be any condemnation from God. Never!

This is another promise of God therefore the only thing Prodigo can offer is his freewill response to God’s amazing gift through faith with an attitude of surrender. The proper response from Prodigo for God’s wonderful gift of justification with no condemnation is to take God at His word and live his life without fear, constantly giving thanks for what he has received. This will be seen in the relationship Prodigo learns to have with God. Without fear of condemnation Prodigo is free to enjoy peace with God the way he was created to. Prodigo can only experience the makarios life if he is free from condemnation. So mourn, Prodigo, and never forget what it cost Jesus to make you happy. Then, with your new justified life, there will be an attitude that should naturally flow from your comforted nephesh. It is an attitude of overwhelming thankfulness for all Jesus has done to comfort you!

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