You may have noticed that I have been following a theme, over the past few times that I have delivered a Teaching from the Beamah. I have been focusing on the topic of "Sin."
If you recall, over a month ago we began with identifying the Hebraic or Biblical concept of Sin... attempting to put The Traditions and Theology to the side, pursuing the original intent of the term.
We then looked at how Sin is not the Action, but rather the root deep down within us, that causes the Act. Therefore, to change behaviour is not the solution to sin, but rather we are to look for the deeper, Spiritual cause.
Today we are going to look at Restoration: How to begin the journey of T'Shuva (Return) or "Repentance."
In order to accomplish this, we are going to look at the very concept of "Restoration," and what it means in Hebrew thought.
I know it sounds like something that a Karate expert would yell, before smashing some boards, or one of the few words Ruth has chosen to utter, mimicking Cookie Monster's "Hi ya," as in "Hi, how you doin'," but Chayah is derived from the root word "Chai," which means?
Life - Where we get the Cheer "L'Chaim" - To Life!
Even as we begin this study, we have already realized that "Restoration," has everything to do with Life. It's all about Life... The Real Life... What is the Real Life? We'll come back to that later, but for now, let's focus on our English word, "Restoration."
I do not believe that this word does justice to the original Hebrew intent.
Now, when you think of the word Restoration in English, does it illude to a "Presto Magic," or "Pooff - It's fixed," kind of idea?
When I think of the word Restoration, I think of a process, a very delicate and meticulous process that takes time, years in some cases, to achieve the objective.
When I think of the word Restoration, I think of something that is old and broken, given up on, like an old violin or piano, or even a car, that has just seen too many days, and has losts its value.
If something of value is broken, we simply "Fix it," and it works, therefore we keep using it. The concept of "Fixing" something, and "Restoring" something can be very different ideas.
The idea of Restoration depicts the thought that the object in question has served its purpose, outlived its value, and is ready to be discarded, but someone sees the potential. Someone takes the object, and with craftmenship is able to restore it, placing the value - The Life - back into it. Fixing something can be as simple as changing the batteries... That's not really "Restoration," is it?
Now, in Hebrew thought, Chayah, refers to "The Resurection from the Dead." This is why we refer to The Ressurection as "T'Chayah." The Tav is added to the word to illustrate "The Final Ressurection," "The End of Days." Hense rather than "A Ressurection," such as Lazarus, it refers to The Last Ressurection of all, to Judgement.
In fact, this is how the Hebrew sees it. The word "Chayah," is derived from the root word "Chai," which is Life. Chayah means "To Live." - When we speak the word "Chayah," we are stating that whatever is Chayah, was dead until Life was (not "given,") but "restored" to it.
Which means that it had to have been alive, in the first place, and then died. Death cannot happen without first Life. For the word Chayah to exist, the object had to have been alive to begin with, in order to die, so that it could become Chayah, and Chai again.
Make sense?
One more time:
First Chai (Life) - then Mot (Death) - and finally Chayah (Restoration) or T'Chayah (Resurretion). This is just another Hebraism that depicts that concept, "The first shall be last, and the last shall be first." Life - Death - and Life Again!
Let's look further into the concept of Restoration and what else we find within Hebrew thought regarding this matter:
Why is it that some objects, that have lived their life are discarded, and given back to the natural recycling system, and yet others are found and restored, extending their value?
The cliche is that, "Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder." It is the Master Craftsman that sees what can, and what cannot be restored. He sees the value in things that others do not and cannot, mostly because they are not the Master, they are just the users, or consummers of objects and things. The Master can assess its potential, and work with it, because He is also the Designer in the first place. This is His Skill. This is His Mastery.
Keeping this in mind, ask yourself this question:
Have you ever been in a situation where judgement has fallen on some, but for "some strange reason," although others had reaped the punishment of judgement, yet you were spared and received Grace?
Have you asked yourself or The LORD why?
Why were some punished, but you were not? Why did you recieve Grace, when others did not? Is it because you deserved it? Was it because of what you did, or did not do?
Strangely enough, these are not factors within this equation, and this perplexes us. We live in a world that wants to believe, and understand that simply A + B = C. If I do good, I am rewarded. If I do bad, I am punished, and it's just that simple, but for some reason this is not the simple case.
In fact, we witness daily the Unjust rewarded, and the Righteous persecuted... Doesn't this make you frustrated? It should, but for other reasons. We should THANK the LORD when we see this... This is His Grace in Action. If the LORD were to simply Punish us for every bad deed we did, would any of us be here to seek forgiveness, and make T'Shuva, and be Restored unto Him?
No... We'd all be in Hell without oppertunity for Chayah.
Instead we have His Grace, but with that should come a Spirit of Mercy, but rather we tend to express a Spirit of Judgement. This is because we tend to hate the very thing that plagues us, and so we despise this thing in others, but this Judgement is basically self-loathing. What does Yeshua teach us about this?
Yeshua teaches us in Matthew 5:
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[i] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:43-48
Show Grace, as you have recieved Grace. Help Restore others as you have been Restored. We must ask the LORD to reach deep down within us, and have Him pull this root of Self-Righteosness out of us. It runs so deep, that it makes us sick to the core.
Restoration must begin within us. The reason that the World is Broken is because we are broken.
"What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?" Romans 7:24
Paul further writes in Romans 11, when addressing the issue of this Mystery of Grace and Punishment:
22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!
25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this MYSTERY, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and in this way[e] all Israel will be saved. As it is written:
“The deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
27 And this is my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”
28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29 for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. 32 For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. Romans 11:22-32
This begs the question of paradox, "How can 'Justice,' be Just if we recieve mercy when we do not "deserve" it?
Is it a paradox?
What if the paradox is only a matter of error in observation? What if it is our understanding of what "Justice" is that makes this appear to be a paradox?
Meaning that, we have all sinned, and therefore are destined for destruction, nevertheless, Messiah has come to provide The Way. Therefore, it is the simple rejection of that "Provision," (Y'rah) which is the ultimate Sin, from which there is no forgiveness... because the recepient refuses to recieve it.
Therefore Justice is not build upon the Premise of Deeds, Good or Evil, but rather Justice is dependent upon our Trust in the one and only who can Redeem and Restore us from this Death.
If YHVH says, THIS is the WAY in which I will provide Salvation, who are we to disagree? He designed it. He is the Master Craftsman. Only He knows how to restore it. This is The Way that He has Chosen. When we lean upon our own understanding, our own sense of Reason, we are lost looking at a World, a Universe, a System that just doesn't make sence to our Logical Process, and THIS TOO He has designed for a reason.
Paul continues in Romans 11 concluding the point, and I think this is the first time that I've made referrence to Romans 11 outside the context of Replacement Theology, but here is what he writes concerning God's Plan:
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counsellor?”
35 “Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?”
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
There is no thought outside of His Creation. All that is, is because YHVH - "HE" - Who was, Who is, and Who is to Come.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." John 1:1-5
Our sence of Justice is not God's Understanding of Justice. Only He knows the How and Why.
He knows us. He knows our hearts intimately, and understands who and what we are. His ways are above our ways, and His Understanding of Righteousness is above our sence of Righteousness.
Restoration begins with Understanding. You see, because we equate "Justice" to the idea of "Deserve," we confuse the concept. Justice needs to be understood in a monitary fashion. In fact the word for Justice in Hebrew is "Tzedek," the same root word for Righteousness or Charity.
Justice is not about an emotion of closure or revenge. Justice always comes down to a monitary value. This is how HaShem has designed it, regardless of our Emotions and Cultural Perceptions.
This is how it was meant to be understood.
It is because we have placed an emotional and "moral" value to it, that we have emboldened this sense of self-righteousness.
Let's take out the Philosophy for a moment, and simply look at the original intent of the term, "Justice" or "Tzedek."
If you owed someone money, but could not pay them, but someone came and paid it for you, the Lender does not become concerned with "Justice," he only wanted the payment. He doesn't care how it came into his hand, as long as he got it. This is not about "The Principle," or "The Moral," this is simply about the debt being paid.
Therefore Restoration is about that, "The Debt being Paid." It's not about what we would deem "Just" emotionally - "Tzedek" is a monitary concept.
This is why Sin is referred to as Debt. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Messiah Yeshua, our LORD." Romans 6:23
9 For in Messiah all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Messiah you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Messiah, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Messiah. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the Covenant. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the Covenant of the Cross. Colossians 2:9-15
This is not about "Justice," at least not within our understanding of what Justice is. This is about God's "Tzedek."
Think of it this way:
If someone stole your car one day, and you didn't even know about it... but a neighbour had found it abandomed on the side of the road, and drove it home for you, but said nothing... Would you seek Justice, based upon the Principle?
What if someone stole your car and wrecked it, but before you even knew that it happened, the Theif's Wealthy Uncle brought you two new cars to replace the broken one, to show good favour. Would you seek Justice? All you would know is that you had an old car, and now you have two new cars. This is how it is with our Father in Heaven. "What is this (Justice) to you? You now have two new cars?" You now have Salvation from Death, what is Justice to you?
This is why Yeshua says, "If someone steals your cloak, give them your shirt as well." Luke 6:29
We need to get off our Self-Righteos High Horse and realize that we have all recieved Mercy - We have all recieved His Grace! Therefore stop being so self-righteous and give it back, that which has been given to you by the same hand that allowed all men anything. Being posessive mocks God's Provisions. I know, "Easier said than done." I'm just the Messenger... This Message is for me as well, and more so.
Yeshua taught us a Parable about this, and I'm sure we all know it well, but for the sake of context, let's read it again - Turn with me to Matthew 18:
21 Then Peter came to Yeshua and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Yeshua answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” Matthew 18:21-34
Haverim, Restoration is not about stopping the behavior of Sin. Restoration is getting at the root of our problems. We tend to spend so much time focused on "The Big Sins," that we forget the little underlying things, thinking that they are so small. I need to deal with "The Big Ones" first, then I'll deal with the little issues.
"It is the little foxes that spoil the vine." a referrence from The Song of Solomon. They spoil the vine, because they dig at the roots of the plant, and starve it. They are small, full of cunning, and for the most part are undetected, which makes them the most dangerous of all.
It is because of their work that the behaviour of Sin abounds. If we work on the cause of Sin, rather than the Acts of Sin, we will be further along in our goal to Over-Come. Therefore, I say again, we must dig deeper to find their hidding places, and cast them out. As much as Unrighteous Acts brings upon the Scorn of Man, God sees the thoughts of our Hearts, and judges according to this. Therefore, even our Righteous Acts may be seen of men, but what's truly in our Heart is what God sees.
This is what Messiah was trying to teach us. Always look below the surface of the Mitzvah. Acts of Righteousness are an excersise of Faith, but not that which makes us Righteous. There is a lesson within the lesson. Do not stop at the surface understanding. Takes Messiah's warning, and look deeper.
Today, I want to share a personal testimony with you about an act of Faith, and Restoration within my Life. I want to tell you this story to give you some contrast on the difference between "Feeling worthy of God's Grace," and "Understanding God's Grace:"
A few years back, just after Elena and I married, I began to seriously look at my Career.
Years earlier, I had worked in the Airline Business at the beginning of my Career, but when things did not look too good in the industry, I began to look at other options.
Ironically, a small Airline just started up that same year (1996). I thought about leaving Canadian Airlines back then, and checking out this little 3 Plane company called WestJet, but since the instustry itself was not looking too good, I took advantage of another oppertunity. I got out of the Airline Business.
I moved into Telecommunication, because that was where the money was. With the Internet just beginning, the World was about to change, and I was going to be a part of it, and I was. The money was good, but living in Vancouver wasn't easy. The cost of living was outragous, and so I struggled, in spite of it all.
I became so over-come by the pursuits of this World, that the LORD finally said, "Enough!" He ordered me out of Vancouver with a strong conviction. I obeyed with great fear. Within days, my whole world calapsted on me, and within three days of His Command, I had packed everything into my car, and was driving back to Manitoba. I felt like the prodigal son, returning home. All that I had done, all that I had worked for had come to nothing.
When I got back to Manitoba, I stayed with my parents, trying to put my life back together. It took some time, but I never gave up. In fact, within the year I lived in Swan River, where my parents were living, I worked 4 different jobs, and helped take over a small Web Development and Media Company. My partner and I turned this losing venture into a proffitable Computer Company within 3 months.
Although I thought that I could handle the small town life after Vancouver, I was wrong. I had forgotten why I had left the small town life in the first place. I sold my interests in the company to my partner, and moved back to Winnipeg, where soon after I met my Wife.
I was working a nowhere job, when I met Elena, and once we got married, I knew that it was time to stop beating around the bush and get established, and so I worked at a Funeral Home for a few months thinking that THAT was where the money was.... There was money, but it wasn't coming to me.
"Let the dead bury their own dead." The LORD said, He had something else for me.
From there, I helped start another company with some partners that I met at the Funeral Home, that were just as dissolusioned as I was. It was a huge success - as a Project Management Firm. We launched a brand new Filipino News Paper called the Philipine Press, which is still around under a new name, but the firm didn't last, due to some financial mismanagement. I was forced to walk away from that as well, just after Rivka was born. Here I was, a Father, trying to provide for my family, and no matter what I tried... it was Failure of some sort.
I accepted an intern position at a Travel Agency, as this was my way of falling back on my Education. My boss was hesitant at first to take me in, due to the time that I had been away from this profession, but she was more than impressed on how fast I pick up on everything. In fact, as I worked there, she would ask me for advice on how to run the company and motivate other employees. I loved working there, but I knew that my time would be short lived, as the person I was covering for would soon return to work.
It was during that time that I recieved an oppertunity to move into the profession of Teaching. Everything begn to line up, as perfect as could be. Even the fact that the preson hiring was my old High School Guidence Counsellor, whose son I was good friends with, back in the day. I was a shoe in. It was pretty much a done deal. I was going to start as a T.A. and Work my way through school, and after 7 years, I would have my teaching degree, and there was my long awaited Career on its way. The only catch... I would have to go to School on Shabbat.
Everyone involved thought that I was insane. This was a chance of a Life-Time, but this fact was a deal breaker for me. My parents were upset, my old High School Counsellor could not believe that someone would turn down an oppertunity like this. She kept calling and sending me emails, trying to get me to reconsider, but I just could not compremise on this. Elena supported me, but was very upset too, because let's face it, this was IT -- Finally! This was the ultimate oppertunity.
In the meantime, I had applied to Westjet. In fact, when my boss heard that I had, she confessed that she was told in a dream, the night before, that she was supposed to tell me to do this. The day after I turned down the Teaching Opperunity and everything turned against me, Westjet called to offer me the job. After all these years... Life had gone full circle.
Now, there is a point to why I am sharing this story...
When I went for my Training in Calgary, they told us that we should be proud of ourselves, because we were the few selected out of 50,000 applications that they had recieved that year. Today that number has increased to over 80,000 per year. After returning to my base here in Winnipeg, during orientation I was asked if we had any questions. I asked, "Why did you hire me?"
The point is that I did not feel worthy. I wanted to know what they saw in me, that made me stand out, out of 50,000 applications. They didn't have a specific answer for me. It just was. They seemed surprised that I would even ask the question. Most would just be happy to be there. I was, but as many of you know me... I need to know WHY?
Today, after 6 years with the company and the ups and downs that we have gone through together, I now know why I am there. It's not because of me, at all. It's because that is where He wanted me to be. It is there that I would be happy, for the most part. It is there that He wanted to use me, and He has.
You know, after all, it wasn't about the money. It was about doing what I loved and working with People of the same mind. I can honestly say that God has placed me there for the Lives that He wanted to touch and use me for. I have a very unique oppertunity to share my Faith at Work, because of the research work that we do in Torah Club and The Midrash. Each week, I return to talk about our discoveries, and share my faith within the context. This is where He wanted me, worthy or not.
Perhaps this is the same reason that I'm up here too. It's not about being worthy. It's about Serving, and willing to be used.
Do you wanna know the kicker to this story?
If I had just gone for this job back in 1996, I would be a millionaire today. All the original employees of Westjet, got stock options in the company, and the stocks went through the roof during that boom time. This little airline, not only survived the industry break down, but changed it.
And... There is a reason why I didn't go for it then, and I also accept this truth... "If I were a rich man..." The LORD had a plan for me all along. If we chase the LORD long enough, eventually He catches us.
We were talking about this the other night at Torah Club. For those of you who have watched Fiddler on the Roof, you will know the scene where Tevye is singing, "If I were a Rich man..." There is a moment in the song, that he stares off into space thinking about having the time to study the Scriptures... "and THAT would be the sweetest thing of all...”
I now know that I am a Rich Man. I now have the time... He has made me Rich... This was what it was about all along... not the money. It was always about Him, and His Word.
This message is hidden within this Week's Parasha;
Yeshua said;
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:25-34
Now, you may ask, "Where does it say that in this Week's Parasha?"
19 When thou reapest thy harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go back to fetch it; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thy hands.
20 When thou beatest thine olive-tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.
21 When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it after thee; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. D'varim 24:19-21
He is saying, don't be greedy or worry about how much you can get. He will bless you with your harvest. The fact that you have what you have has been given from Him. Leave some for those who do not have, so that they can have too. This provision is exactly what the LORD is providing for them. It is the LORD Himself, that leaves it for them, this is why He has commanded us, that do have, not to take it. This is what Yeshua is referring to in Matthew 6. He provides - We just have to trust Him, and accept His Provision.
Now, before we get too far off topic of Restoration, let's recap where we are:
Restoration is not something that we do for ourselves. We are not a part of the decision of being restored or not. This decision is up to The LORD, and Him alone. He chooses whom He is going to have mercy. How is this fair? We do not know. All we know is that since He is the Creator, He knows the innermost working of our heart, and knows if we are true or not. This is His place to understand, and it is our place to simply trust Him no matter what.
Is He Restoring you?
Why are you here?
Are you here to be educated?
Are you here because you like Jewish Songs?
Are you here for the Food at Oneg?
Or are you here, because you want to be restored to the Truth of His Word, the original context of its meaning and purpose?
Then if you are here, and here for the reasons that He has brought you here, then I would say that you are being restored. Therefore, allow these words to penetrate your heart, your psyche, and ask Him to dig deep within you so that He may expose that which causes you to behave in Sin. Then therefore be restored, and go and Sin no more.
Many years ago, I was asked about the Messianic Movement, and what exactly was I involved in? Why was I going to "A Jewish Church?" The motive behind the question was in referrence to "The Wall of Partitian." I knew deep in my heart that it was more than just the awaited awakening of Israel to come to Faith in Messiah. I declared then, "As Martin Luther's declaration to return to Scripture was called "The Reformation," the Messianic Movement would be called, "The Restoration Movement." Israel is being Restored, and All believers in Messiah Yeshua are being blessed as this is finally coming to pass within our Lifetime.
Amen?
I just want to conclude today with a brief recap of what we have learned in this journey to understand Sin, and how it affects us.
We have come to understand that the Hebrew concept of Chayah, "Restoration," has to do with the Quickening, or the Restoration of Life from the Dead, and that this idea is connected to T'Chayah, "The Ressurection."
14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
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