A True Son of Abraham

1 He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. 4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” – Luke 19:1-10 ESV

At the close of chapter 18, Luke seemed to indicate that Jesus was “drawing near” or, better yet, passing by Jericho. But with the opening of chapter 19, he describes Jesus as entering the city of Jericho. Is this a case of biblical contradiction or of Luke confusing the details of his story? The simple answer is that there were actually two sites known as Jericho in Jesus’ day. There was the original site of the city that Joshua and the forces of Israel destroyed when they first entered the land of Canaan (Joshua 6). Then there was the “new” Jericho, built by Herod the Great. In the 1st-Century, the Old Testament Jericho was nothing more than a small village that lie among the ruins of the former city that the Israelites had destroyed. Joshua had placed a curse on anyone who attempted to rebuild the city.

Joshua laid an oath on them at that time, saying, “Cursed before the Lord be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho.

“At the cost of his firstborn shall he
    lay its foundation,
and at the cost of his youngest son
    shall he set up its gates.” – Joshua 6:28 ESV

Years later, one man would ignore that curse and rebuild the city, but at a great cost.

It was during his reign that Hiel, a man from Bethel, rebuilt Jericho. When he laid its foundations, it cost him the life of his oldest son, Abiram. And when he completed it and set up its gates, it cost him the life of his youngest son, Segub. This all happened according to the message from the Lord concerning Jericho spoken by Joshua son of Nun. – 1 Kings 16:34 NLT

So, it would appear that Jesus was entering the newer and more recent Jericho as he traveled west toward Jerusalem. As he passed through the city, He encountered a man named Zacchaeus, who happened to be a notorious and despised tax collector. As Luke has already established, men like Zacchaeus were despised by the Jews and considered the chief of all sinners by the Pharisees and scribes. They were viewed as sellouts by their own people, because they were little more than pawns of the Roman government, collecting their exorbitant taxes and fleecing their fellow Jews in the process. Like the disciple, Matthew, Zacchaeus would have grown relatively wealthy by charging his customers a collection fee on top of the already staggering tax the Romans demanded. And because Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector in the region, he had probably received a portion of all the extra revenue any of his employees managed to fleece from their customers. Luke indicates that he was “very rich” (Luke 19:2 NLT). And this fact would have made him especially despised by the people of Jericho. 

But as Jesus made His way through the city, Zacchaeus became just another curious onlooker eager to see this miracle worker from Nazareth for himself. Jesus’ presence in Jericho had stirred up quite a commotion. It’s likely that news of His healing of the blind man had made its way through the city. And Jesus’ reputation as a healer and controversial teacher had spread throughout the land. So, when Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was nearby, he shut down business long enough to get an up-close and personal look at this 1st-Century celebrity.

It may be that Zacchaeus’ curiosity about Jesus stemmed from the fact that a former tax collector was among His 12 disciples. Or perhaps Zacchaeus had heard about the rumors of Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners. When Matthew had been called by Jesus to be one of His disciples, he had invited his new master to dine with him in his home.

Levi [Matthew] held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi’s fellow tax collectors and other guests also ate with them. But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with such scum?” – Luke 5:29-30 NLT

To Zacchaeus, Jesus was an anomaly. There were no other religious leaders in Israel who would have given him the time of day, yet here was a man who had a reputation for associating with the despised and rejected of Israel. Zacchaeus had heard the rumors concerning Jesus.

“He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!” – Luke 7:34 NLT

And this made Jesus all the more intriguing to a man like Zacchaeus. He could not pass up the chance to see this one-of-a-kind Rabbi from Nazareth. But as Luke indicates, because of his diminutive size, Zacchaeus had a difficult time getting a clear view of Jesus. So, he climbed a nearby tree. And much to the shock and surprise of everyone in the crowd, when Jesus came to Zacchaeus’ location, He stopped and directed His attention to the tax collector perched in the top of the sycamore tree.

“Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” – Luke 19:5 ESV

It was true. This man really did eat with tax collectors and sinners. And Luke indicates that Zacchaeus wasted no time, but “quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy” (Luke 19:6 NLT). This would have been an unexpected boon for this much-maligned and despised tax collector. Everyone in the crowd must have looked on in amazement at this exchange between the two men. But the most offended segment of the audience would have been the ever-present Jewish religious leaders. They were the very ones who had reacted so vociferously when Jesus had dined in the home of Matthew.

“Why do you eat and drink with such scum?” – Luke 5:30 NLT

But even on that occasion, Jesus had responded with slightly veiled sarcastism to their self-righteous indignation.

“Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.” – Luke 5:31-32 NLT

And, even in the case of Zacchaeus, the people disclosed their disappointment with Jesus’ actions, stating, “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner” (Luke 19:7 NLT). They were appalled by Jesus’ seeming lack of discernment. How could a great Rabbi and teacher lower Himself by associating with the likes of Zacchaeus? This most certainly not what they expected from someone who had claimed to be the long-awaited Messiah of Israel. By dining with Zacchaeus, Jesus would not only soil His reputation, He would render Himself ceremonially impure and equally as sinful as the men with whom He dined.

But upon receiving the unexpected invitation from Jesus and hearing the unsurprising response of the crowd, Zacchaeus spoke up.

“I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” – Luke 19:8 NLT

At that point, Zacchaeus knew he had a choice to make. He could no longer continue living his life according to his old, self-established standards. He somehow knew that changes needed to be made. His encounter with Jesus had made him painfully aware of his sinfulness and his need for repentance. Zacchaeus suffered from no illusions of self-righteousness. He knew he was a sinner and the crowd had only confirmed it. But he was willing to change.

Zacchaues’ humble response brings to mind an encounter that John the Baptist had with a group of religious leaders who appeared in the Judean wilderness expressing their desire to be baptized by him.

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. “You brood of snakes!” he exclaimed. “Who warned you to flee the coming wrath? Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.” – Matthew 3:7-8 NLT

Zacchaeus was ready to prove by the way he lived that he had repented of his sins and had turned back to God. It’s interesting to note that Zacchaeus’ name is an abbreviated form of Zechariah, which means “the righteous one.” This notorious sinner was willing to make the sacrifices necessary to restore his broken relationship with God. But his justification before God would not be a result of his financial remunerations. It would be as a result of His faith in the Son of God, a point that Jesus makes perfectly clear.

“Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” – Luke 19:9-10 NLT

This statement from Jesus reflects the words John the Baptist spoke to those very same Pharisees and Sadducees.

“Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.” – Matthew 3:9-10 NLT

A man like Zacchaeus would have been the last person the Pharisees expected to be part of the Kingdom of God. Yet, Jesus had declared that salvation had come to the home of Zacchaeus. According to Jesus, this tax collector was a true son of Abraham. It was not about birthright or ethnic heritage. It was all about faith in the Son of God. Zacchaeus had proven that the call of Jesus was more important to him than anything else. He was willing to give up everything in order to follow Jesus.

Don’t forget Jesus’ earlier encounter with the rich, young ruler. This man had come to Jesus asking, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18 ESV). And Jesus had shocked him by stating, “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (Luke 18:22 ESV). But rather than do as Jesus said, the man walked away “for he was extremely rich” (Luke 18:23 ESV). Unlike Zacchaeus, this man had been unwilling to produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And he walked away rich but still living in spiritual poverty.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

A Sinner Condemned, Unclean

53 But They went each to his own house, 1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” –John 7:53-8:11 ESV

This section of John’s gospel is a bit controversial because it is not found in the oldest of the extant Greek manuscripts. While there are more than 900 ancient manuscripts that include the story of the woman caught in adultery, it is significant that none of the early church fathers referred to this encounter in their commentaries on the Gospel of John. It is the belief of most modern commentators that this story was a later addition to the Gospel, which raises the question of whether it should be considered as inspired by the Holy Spirit.

While the evidence seems to indicate that the story was edited into John’s Gospel by some unknown source, it does not necessarily invalidate its authenticity. And there is no reason to assume that its inclusion by someone other than the apostle John means that it was uninspired and, therefore, unworthy to be considered a part of the Canon of Scripture. Perhaps it was part of the oral tradition of the early church and later placed within the text of John’s Gospel to further support the theme of Jesus’ power and authority as the Son of God.

There are those who consider this an apocryphal story, spurious in its authenticity and therefore, unworthy to be considered as the inspired Word of God. But the story does provide insight into the growing hostility between Jesus and the religious leaders, a theme that John is gradually unfolding.

Chapter seven ended with a tense exchange between Nicodemus and his fellow members of the Sanhedrin. They were frustrated that their guards had failed to arrest Jesus while He was on the temple grounds. Instead, they had let Him go because they had been mesmerized by His teaching. When Nicodemus had suggested that Jesus be given a fair hearing, his colleagues mocked him for being as uneducated and lawless as the Galileans who mindlessly followed after this huckster from Nazareth.

John has made it clear that Jesus’ hour had not yet come. The Sanhedrin, while determined to have Jesus arrested, were powerless to thwart God’s divine timeline for His Son’s mission. So, Jesus left the temple grounds and headed east to Mount of Olives, just opposite Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley. Evidently, He and His disciples spent the night there, rising early the next morning to return to the temple grounds, where He resumed His teaching.

One can only imagine the frustration of the Sanhedrin as they woke that next morning only to find Jesus sitting in the middle of the temple courtyard, surrounded by a large and attentive audience. His persistent presence and uncanny ability to attract a crowd wherever He went caused these religious leaders great angst. So, as was quickly becoming their habit, they devised a plan by which they might trap Jesus into saying or doing something that might give them grounds for having Him arrested. Because of His growing popularity, it was necessary that they devise a plan that would expose Jesus as a fraud and cause the people to turn against Him.

On this occasion, they chose the controversial topic of adultery to “test” Jesus. This was a hot-button issue among the Jews. The people knew what the Mosaic law had to say about the matter, but there was a lot of debate concerning how to interpret and enforce this particular law. Leviticus 20:10 reads: “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.”

But in this case, the religious leaders drag a woman into the temple courtyard and throw her down in front of Jesus. There is no mention of her male companion in crime. This might be because this woman was guilty of violating another aspect of the law concerning adultery. In the book of Deuteronomy, there is another scenario described in which a man marries a woman only to discover on their wedding night that she was not a virgin. In that case, the law prescribed the following punishment:

The woman must be taken to the door of her father’s home, and there the men of the town must stone her to death, for she has committed a disgraceful crime in Israel by being promiscuous while living in her parents’ home. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you. – Deuteronomy 22:21 NLT

It is impossible to know the true nature of this woman’s crime. But she is publicly shamed, dragged by the religious leaders into the temple courtyard, and thrown at Jesus’ feet. To them, she was nothing more than a prop, a nameless tool in their effort to discredit and destroy Jesus. They were not interested in seeing that justice was done. They simply wanted to create a no-win situation in which Jesus would be doomed no matter how He responded. So, using the woman as bait, they set their trap and waited for Jesus to condemn Himself.

“Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” – John 8:4-5 NLT

These men were experts in the law. They were not interested in Jesus’ views on legal matters but were hoping that He would say something that violated the law or infuriated the people. And John makes their intentions quite clear.

They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him… – John 8:6 NLT

They already viewed Jesus as a law-breaker, because He had already violated the prohibition against working on the Sabbath by healing a man and then instructing him to carry his bedroll. So, they must have been convinced that Jesus would choose to violate the law once again, and hoped that He would recommend releasing the woman. If He did, they could accuse Him of being in violation of the Mosaic Law and have Him arrested on the spot. But if Jesus surprised them and announced that the woman should be stoned for her crime, the crowd would probably turn on Him. Adultery had become commonplace among the Jews and the laws concerning its punishment were rarely enforced. And if Jesus had condoned the stoning of this woman, He would have been suggesting that they violate the Roman law which prohibited the Jews from enacting any form of capital punishment.

The religious leaders believed they had Jesus in a conundrum. In their minds, they had Him caught between a rock and a hard place. No matter what He said, He would end up condemning Himself. But rather than speak, Jesus knelt down and began to write in the dirt with His finger. As he did so, the religious leaders demanded that He give them an answer to their question. So, He stood up and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” (John 8:7 NLT). Then, He knelt back down and continued to write something in the dirt.

There has been a great deal of speculation concerning what Jesus wrote in the dirt that day. But the text provides absolutely no insight into the content of Jesus’ message. We are simply told that when Jesus said, “let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone,” the crowd began to disperse, including the men who had instigated the whole affair. Perhaps Jesus had written the Ten Commandments in the dust. We will never know. But whatever Jesus scrawled in the dirt that day had caused the woman’s self-righteous accusers to slink away one by one, starting with the oldest among them.

Some have speculated that Jesus had shamed these men by writing down a list of specific sins each of them had committed. Embarrassed at having their personal sins exposed, they quickly vacated the premises. While this is an interesting proposal, there is nothing in the text that supports it. All that is clear is that no one was able to pick up a stone because no one was without sin. 

This seems to be the main point behind the entire story. Jesus had come to earth in order to provide forgiveness for sin. And, according to Scripture, all men are guilty of sin. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes, “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7:20 ESV). And the apostle Paul reiterated that truth when he wrote, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV).

The religious leaders considered themselves to be pure and holy, fully righteous before God because they painstakingly and pridefully kept the law of Moses. But Jesus exposed the truth about their spiritual condition, revealing their sinfulness and their need for a Savior. These men had arrogantly set themselves up as judges over the people, looking down their noses at the irreligious rabble who were incapable of living up to God’s holy standards like they did. They saw Jesus as no better than the woman they had dragged before Him. He was a lawbreaker and worthy of condemnation and death just as she was. But they failed to recognize their own guilt and their need for cleansing. The sad reality is that they chose to leave rather than face the truth about their own sinfulness. Only the woman remained. She stood before Jesus and the crowd, accused and condemned, her sin openly acknowledged for everyone to know.

But rather than judging her, Jesus asked her where her accusers had gone. He points out that no one stood before her, stone in hand, ready to condemn her for her crime. They had all disappeared, meaning there were no witnesses left to verify her guilt. So, Jesus, acknowledging that her accusers were nowhere to be found, announced to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more” (John 8:11 ESV). There were no witnesses left to condemn her, so there was no evidence to convict her. And on that basis, Jesus encouraged her to go and to sin no more. She had been given a reprieve. While evidently guilty of the crime and worthy of death, she had been graciously given a second chance to change the way she lived. Her sin, while real, was forgivable. Her guilt, though undeniable, was survivable. All thanks to Jesus.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Such Were Some of You.

2 Samuel 7-8, 1 Corinthians 6

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. – 1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV

It would be easy to read the story of David and assume that he was somehow a better person than Saul. God must have looked down from heaven, taken stock of the two men and concluded that David was spiritually superior to Saul. After all, God did refer to David as a man after His own heart. But to conclude that David somehow deserved God's selection of him would be in direct contrast to God's law and His nature. David was a sinner just like Saul. Yes, he had a heart for the things of God, but that is not why God chose him. From the opening chapters of the book of Genesis to the final words of the book of Revelation, the Bible is the story of the grace of God – His unmerited favor poured out on the lives of undeserving men, and David was no different. David was far from perfect, as the rest of his life's story will clearly reveal. He was a sinner just like Saul. And yet God had chosen him to be His servant and to lead His people. He would give him victory in battle and anoint his kingship. God would even promise to extend his kingdom long after the day of his death, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom” (2 Samuel 7:12 ESV). David didn't deserve these blessings. He had not earned God's favor. And David seemed to recognize that fact. “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God!” (2 Samuel 7:18-19 ESV).

What does this passage reveal about God?

“And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went” (2 Samuel 8:6 ESV). God's hand was on David. He chose to prosper David. He had a plan for David's life that went well beyond David and his ability to live faithfully and obediently to the will of God. God's promise to extend David's kingdom and to “establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7:13 ESV), project far beyond the life of Solomon to the coming of the Messiah, the true King of Israel. David was part of God's plan to redeem mankind through His own Son, Jesus Christ, who would be a descendant of David. God would use a flawed man like David to accomplish His divine will for mankind. God made it clear to David that this was all His doing. “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth” (2 Samuel 7:8-9 ESV). The story of David is really the story of God, working through the life of David. It gives us a glimpse of how God works behind the scenes, orchestrating the affairs of me to accomplish His divine will and, ultimately, bring about His plan of redemption for mankind.

What does this passage reveal about man?

Being chosen by God could lead anyone to conclude that he was somehow special or deserving of God's love and mercy. But the apostle Paul reminds us that “the unrighteouswill not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9 ESV). Elsewhere he wrote, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV). All men are sinners. All have rebelled against God and deserve His righteous judgment and punishment. Paul makes it clear that “neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10 ESV). And before any of his readers can proudly assume that this list does not include them, Paul adds, “And such were some of you” (1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV). They were just as guilty, just as sinful, and just as deserving of God's penalty of death. But Paul reminds the, “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11 ESV). This was God's doing, not their own. God had mercifully, graciously chosen them for redemption, not because they deserved it, but because He lovingly chose to do so. “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14 ESV).

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

God chose David. He placed His Spirit within him. He gave him victory in battle. He promised to extend his kingdom and prolong his reign, long after he was gone from the earth. God even chose to bring the Savior of the world through the lineage of David, in spite of the fact that David was far from sinless and anything but perfect. Even in these two short chapters in 2 Samuel, we see God blessing David and giving him victory in battle. But we also see David violating the law of God. “And David took from him 1,700 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for 100 chariots” (2 Samuel 8:4 ESV). God had specifically commanded the kings of Israel not to do this. “Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again’” (Deuteronomy 17:16 ESV). Why? Because where it could all lead. “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord!” (Isaiah 31:1 ESV). The kings of Israel were not to mimic the ways of the world or turn to the nations of the world for help. He had a different standard for His kings and His people. “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7 ESV). David's greatness was a result of David's God. His triumphs were the result of God's presence in his life. So rather than trust in chariots, David was to trust in God. The same thing is true of me today. I must continually learn to trust in God. He chose me. He redeemed me. He graciously provides me with His presence and power. Not because I deserve it, but simply because He chose to call me His own, so that He might accomplish His will through me.

Father, like David, I was undeserving of Your selection of me. I had done nothing to deserve Your choice of me as the beneficiary of Your love, grace and mercy. I was a sinner just like everyone else. Never let me forget that fact. I stand before You, not because I earned that right, but because You graciously, lovingly redeemed me and gave me life when I was dead, hopeless and helpless. Amen