Frustrated by the magnitude of the miracles attending Jesus’ ministry, the chief priests and elders of the Jews challenged him in the temple. They demanded to know by what authority he was doing the things he was doing and who it was who gave him the authority.

What kind of father tells his son to marry a prostitute?

Have you not noticed that many people in the bible sought to escape from God? When Peter recognised that Jesus is the Lord, he pleaded that he should depart from him. (Luke 5:8). David too wanted to run away from God but did not know exactly how. Since he could not get directions from any man, he sought one from God himself. He asked God how he could escape from God. (Psalm 139:7-12). In his case, Jonah ran away to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. (Jonah 1:3).

I was sitting beside a girl on a plane to New York and we were chatting. Then a man came along and she started talking to him in a language I could not understand. When he left, the girl turned to me and said: “Wow, I’m so glad I talked to him. I wanted to speak Hebrew so bad.”

In Jesus’ parable, the Prodigal Son told his father: “I want my share of your estate now, instead of waiting until you die.” (Luke 15:12). Once he received his share, he had no more need of his father.

The Lord wants us dead. He wants us to surrender and, like Jesus, lay down our life.