Yesterday I talked about a 2-year-old to illustrate something about prayer.

“But I’m not a 2-year-old,” we say. “And besides, comparing people to God isn’t appropriate anyway.”

Really? Are you sure?

Because that’s exactly what Jesus does to help us understand how God listens to us.

He’s talking to the crowd on the hillside. He’s been talking to everyone, but now he speaks directly to the guys.

“How many of you, when your kid asks you to pass the bread, would hand him a stone?”

Immediately, some of us imagine teasing our kids that way. We can see ourselves tossing a tennis ball instead of a roll while at a picnic. But then we think about when our child is actually hungry, actually in need of food. We move away from teasing then. We get serious. We pass the bread.

“Or if he asks for a fish, would you really hand him a snake?”

Not a plastic snake, not a tease. A real snake, something deadly rather than life-giving. When we hear about parents who do this, we are horrified. We can’t imagine.

“If you, being evil, do good things for your kids, how much more will your heavenly Father…”

And there are faces lighting up all across the hillside. There are moments of realization.

“You mean, this fierce love I have for my children, this sense of protection, this desire for their good, this willingness to scold to save them this willingness to absorb pain so they only feel some, this celebration of what they can do well, this encouragement in difficulty, all of this that I feel for my children, that’s how God loves me?”

Yes.

Jesus knew the fierce love His Father and his stepfather had for him. He knew one could illustrate the other.

Even today.