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Have you ever wondered who is God's favorite?
Is it Abraham?
Abraham heard God's call and responded without hesitation. When God said to Abraham, "Leave your country, your people and your household and go to the land I will show you," Abraham left his country, his people, and his household, and went to the land that God showed him. (Genesis 12:1)
Abraham was chosen by God to be the father of God's chosen people. God promised Abraham, "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (Genesis 12:2-3)
In the New Testament, James writes that "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God's friend." (James 2:23) No other specific person is singled out in the Bible as God's friend.
I wonder if Abraham is God's favorite?
Or maybe it's Jacob. Jacob was Abraham's grandson.
When Jacob was a young man, God showed Jacob, in a dream, a stairway to heaven and angels ascending and descending on this stairway. God promised Jacob, "All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go… I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." (Genesis 28:14-15)
When Jacob was an old man, God wrestled with Jacob in the night and gave him a new name: Israel. God's chosen people, the people Israel, are named after Jacob.
Perhaps Jacob is God's favorite.
Or maybe Joseph is the one. Joseph was Jacob's son. He was definitely Jacob's favorite; maybe he is God's favorite too.
Joseph is the one who had the amazing Technicolor dream coat. Joseph is the one who was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. Joseph is the one who was protected by God until his rose to be the king of Egypt's right-hand man. Through Joseph, God saved his chosen people from famine.
It's possible, I suppose, that Joseph is God's favorite.
Of course, Abraham and Jacob and Joseph weren't the only people singled out by God for a special task.
What about Moses?
Four hundred years after Joseph, Moses was God's personal spokesman to the king of Egypt. Moses threw his staff on the ground, and God's power turned it into a snake. Moses raised his staff over the Red Sea, and God's power parted the waters so that the Israelites could cross over to safety. Moses struck the rock in the desert, and God's power brought forth water for the people to drink. Until Jesus walked the earth, God never gave such direct access to his power to anybody like he did to Moses.
Moses met with God on Mount Sinai and received the Ten Commandments. Moses spent so much time on the mountain receiving instruction from God that his face became radiant…so radiant that the people were afraid to come near him…the glory of God shone from Moses' face! Until Jesus was transfigured and shone with the glory of God on Mount Sinai, God never gave anybody such intimacy with his glory like he did Moses.
Moses once asked God to show him his glory. And God actually said yes! God said to Moses, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, Yahweh, in your presence. … But you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live. There is a place where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back." (Genesis 33:19-23) After Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden, until Jesus walked among us as God incarnate, God never showed himself so directly to anybody like he did to Moses.
We could make a strong case that Moses is God's favorite.
But there are other possibilities as well.
Consider David.
When all the soldiers of Israel trembled before the champion of the Philistines, David, still a young boy, announced, "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." With a sling and a stone, David killed Goliath, and Israel was saved from the armies of the Philistines. (1 Samuel 17:37)
David was the greatest king the people of Israel ever had. The Bible says of David that he was "a man after God's own heart." (1 Samuel 13:14)
David might be God's favorite.
Or it could be the prophet Elijah.
At the end of his life, Elijah was taken up into heaven in a whirlwind. Only two people in the Bible were taken up into heaven without dying. Elijah was one of them.
When Jesus was transfigured on Mount Sinai, Moses was one of the people who met him there. Elijah was the other.
Elijah was certainly special in God's eyes.
Maybe God's favorite is to be found in the New Testament.
Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, were close friends of Jesus. When Jesus received the news from Mary that Lazarus was dead, Jesus wept. Scripture says Jesus was deeply moved and troubled. Even though Jesus knew that he would raise Lazarus from the dead, Jesus loved Lazarus enough to grieve his death openly and deeply.
Lazarus might be the Lord's favorite.
The disciple named John is also a candidate. The gospel of John refers to its author as the disciple "whom Jesus loved." Jesus loved all his disciples, but presumably John was particularly close to his heart.
John might be the Lord's favorite.
On the other hand, it was the disciple named Simon whom Jesus renamed Peter, "the rock." Peter was the first to proclaim of Jesus, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!" It was Peter whom the post-resurrection Jesus singled out for conversation after a breakfast of grilled fish on the beach. "Simon," Jesus said, "do you truly love me more than these?" Three times Jesus asked. Three times Simon answered, "Lord, you know that I love you." Three times Jesus commanded and encouraged Peter, "Tend and feed my sheep." (John 21:15ff)
Peter just might be the Lord's favorite.
Lest you begin to think that only men are candidates for God's favorite, consider Esther.
A whole book of the Bible is named for her, and one of the most famous lines of the Old Testament refers to her. "And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" (Esther 5:14)
Through Esther's obedience and courage, God saved his chosen people-not just from famine, not just from losing a battle, not just from slavery, but from total annihilation. That's special!
Maybe Esther is God's favorite.
What about Mary Magdalene?
When Mary Magdalene first encountered Jesus, he drove seven demons out of her.
Mary Magdalene was as devoted to Jesus as any of the twelve disciples. She traveled with Jesus and his followers. Along with other women, Mary Magdalene provided financial support for Jesus' ministry. She was present at the crucifixion, and she was in the group of women who discovered the empty tomb. Mary Magdalene was the very first person to see the resurrected Jesus-it was to Mary Magdalene that he showed himself first.
Mary Magdalene might be the Lord's favorite.
And then, of course, there is Mary, the young woman God chose to be the mother of Jesus.
None other than the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary with a message from God. "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." (Luke 1:28) That's as close as it comes in the Bible to God actually calling someone his favorite.
We could make a strong case that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is God's favorite.
Have you ever wondered who is God's favorite?
I have one more candidate to suggest. What about the unnamed sinful woman described in Luke 7?
She learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume and she came to where Jesus was. He was reclining at table with his feet extending out behind him. She stood behind him at his feet weeping. She began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and poured perfume on them.
When the Pharisee saw this, he was appalled. He didn't say anything, but he thought to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is-that she is a sinner." He didn't say anything, but it was clear that he did not approve. He didn't say anything, but he was waiting for Jesus to rebuke this woman and throw her out.
Jesus did not rebuke the woman. Jesus did not throw her out. Instead, Jesus turned to the Pharisee and told him a story.
Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him $50,000, and the other owed him $5,000. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both.
Then Jesus asked the Pharisee a question, "Which of them will love him more?" The Pharisee replied with the obvious answer, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." Jesus replied, "You have judged correctly."
Finally, Jesus turned to the woman, but he still spoke to the Pharisee. "Do you see this woman?"
Well, the Pharisee thought he saw her. That's why he had been so upset. He had seen her as someone who did not belong. He had seen her as someone who should be rejected. He had seen her as someone who deserved rebuke not respect.
Jesus said to the Pharisee, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet."
To the woman, Jesus said simply, "Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."
Psalm 51 includes these words: "O Lord, open my lips and I will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." (Psalm 51:15-17)
I suggest that this unnamed woman in Luke 7 is the Lord's favorite.
Not because she was powerful or courageous or obedient or righteous, but because she came to Jesus with a broken and contrite heart and received his forgiveness and love with humility and thanksgiving.
I suggest that it is no accident that this woman remains unnamed in scripture.
I suggest that the unnamed woman who weeps at Jesus' feet is not only a particular woman who lived in the first century but also a placeholder for you and for me and for every person-male or female-in this world who comes to Jesus with nothing to commend ourselves except our sin and our brokenness.
I suggest that this unnamed woman who weeps at Jesus' feet is a placeholder for you and for me and for every person in this world who comes to Jesus with nothing to commend ourselves except our need for his forgiveness and his healing.
I suggest that God is much too big and much too loving to have only one favorite.
I suggest that you, in your brokenness, are God's favorite.
I suggest that I, in my brokenness, am God's favorite.
I suggest that you and I receive his forgiveness and go in peace.
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