I love listening to the White House Press Secretary. These speakers fascinate me. They take a hundred different questions on the same topic so that the American people can hear what their commander and chief is up to. They get so many questions because they are masters at being vague. They say so much without saying anything at all. I love to hear what they say and what they don’t say. I do not envy this job, but I think it is a very important one. And, if nothing else, it is really entertaining! (Please note: I am not saying anything positively or negatively about the Press Secretary, just that this job fascinates me.)

The Press Secretary speaks to the media on behalf of the President. He reveals to them what the President wants them to know. Similarly, (with less coverage on CNN) prophets in the Old Testament spoke on behalf of God. They would reveal to the people what God wanted the people to know, whether it was a word of condemnation for sin or a word of promise for salvation. They spoke for God.

In the book of Hebrews, the author tells us that part of Jesus' purpose in coming was to speak as the final prophet. "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe." (Hebrews 1:1-2) Just like a Press Secretary comes to speak on behalf of the President, God the Son came to speak on behalf of God the Father. He came to condemn our sin by preaching God's law and He came to forgive those sins.

Jesus just kept forgiving! Its like He couldn't stop! A man can't walk, his friends carry him to Jesus, and Jesus says, "Son, your sins are forgiven." (Mark 2:1-12) Another time at dinner a woman came to Jesus, and in an act of worship, washed his feet with perfume. After rebuking the others for not worshipping him in this way (in other words, for not having faith) he turns to the woman and says, "Your sins are forgiven." (Luke 7:36-50). And from the cross, while He is hanging bloody and shamed, mocked and abandoned, "stricken, smitten, and afflicted" (Isaiah 53:4), He cries out "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Jesus, our prophet, comes not only to tell us of God's forgiveness, but to forgive us Himself.

Jesus just keeps forgiving! Its like He can't stop! When we embrace our friends with the gospel, this is what they need to know. We are sent by this Jesus, our prophet, to tell them the very words this prophet spoke about them. We have friends who are broken and tired, fighting guilt and carrying burdens. They fear that God does not... no... cannot love sinners such as them. You must, MUST, give them this message from God. In these last days, God has spoken to us through His Son Jesus Christ and has said, "Son, daughter, your sins are forgiven."