Easter service with Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill:
http://www.marshillchurch.org/easter
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live . . .” — Jesus Christ (John 11:25)
"The resurrection was God's way of stamping PAID IN FULL right across history so that nobody could miss it." - Tim Keller
"The fact of the resurrection of Jesus is what makes the gospel story not merely a great experience to read, but a life-changing power." - Tim Keller
"The happy ending of the Resurrection is so enormous that it swallows up even the sorrow of the Cross." - Tim Keller
From Dan Darling...
I’m writing this as I’m meditating on the most beautiful moment in the history of the world. It is the moment when the risen Jesus says, “Mary.” Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows the names of his sheep. And Mary was a most earnest seeker of Jesus. She had a past to be ashamed of, baggage that would embarrass most of us, things we wouldn’t talk about in polite company.
When Jesus call out to Mary, He was revealing Himself as the risen Savior. Everyone who knew Jesus, who was a witness to His unjust trial, knew that Jesus had died. John was there at the cross and saw the soldier pierce Jesus’ side. The centurions and soldiers knew Jesus was dead—so dead they didn’t have to break his legs to hasten death. The disciples knew Jesus was dead and ran away in fear.
So that’s why Jesus appearance to Mary and the speaking of words to her were and are so profound. It means that Jesus is alive. And if Jesus is alive, it means that the salvation he purchased on the cross for you and me is secure. It means the Father was satisfied by the sacrifice of the Son.
For you and me, it means we have a substitute, Jesus, who pleased God on our behalf. IT means we can now walk with God in peace. It means the wrath of God toward me for my sin was satisfied in Christ.
It also means that I can please God. It means that all of the commandments of God, those things I must to do obey God, I can now do. This is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, “without the resurrection, we are of all men most miserable.” Why are we miserable? Because if Jesus stayed dead, then there is no sacrifice for sins, I have no substitute, and I have no way of pleasing God. I’m still under his wrath.
But, because Jesus rose. Because Jesus called Mary’s name (and calls my name and your name), Easter is a moment of grand celebration, the greatest holiday on the calendar. And really Easter should be celebrated every day.
This is why the most important question in your life and mine is this: “What will I do with Jesus.” There is really no other question in the world. This is a question for those who don’t know Jesus and seek him. But it’s also a question for those who do know Jesus and yet seek to follow him faithfully. The gospel message is a call to unbelievers and a call to believers.
So as you work your way through life, filter every life’s question through this important grid: What am I doing with Jesus?
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Good Friday
“Christianity is a resurrection religion. The concept of resurrection lies at its heart. Remove it and Christianity is destroyed.” - John R. Stott
“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.” - 1 Peter 3:18
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:8
I was watching a Tim Keller interview earlier today and he stated that although Christmas is a much bigger holiday in this country than Easter, it is Easter that gives Christmas its credibility. After all, at Christmas we celebrate that God's Son, Jesus, was born into our world - fully God and fully man. Yet, how do we know it was really God's son? The resurrection is our proof.
Thomas Arnold (1795-1842), professor of Modern History at Oxford said, “No one fact in the history of mankind . . . is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort than the fact that Christ died and rose from the dead.”
There has been many an opponent and skeptic of Christianity who having set out to disprove the truth of the resurrection has become a devout follower of Christ through their honest research. Such as:
Dr. F. Morrison, a rationalistic lawyer
Lord Lyndhurst, Attorney General of Great Britain
C.S. Lewis, a literary genius
Dr S. Greenleaf, Royal Professor of Law at Harvard University
What evidence you may ask? What proof do we have?
1.) The Christian Church exists and persists across races, geographies and cultures. There have been numerous individuals claiming to be the Messiah before Jesus came and certainly since He departed. Yet, none of them maintained a following after their death. Jesus prevails primarily because the resurrection is the defining and differentiating fact.
2.) Something incredibly significant must have happened on that Sunday to shift the day of worship from what had been the norm for over a thousand years.
3.) The Empty Tomb. No one in history has come up with any factual evidence to contradict the historical record and testimony of the scriptures. The Roman authorities and Jewish religious leaders had every reason to discredit and erase this story but they could not. There are 10 possible explanations for the empty tomb that have been espoused through the years. Only one takes into account all the facts available and the resultant conclusion is that Jesus Christ supernaturally rose from the dead.
4.) Roman Guard Goes AWOL. The Roman guards fled. They left their place of responsibility. How can their attrition he explained, when Roman military discipline was so exceptional? Justin, in Digest #49, mentions all the offenses that required the death penalty. The fear of their superiors' wrath and the possibility of death meant that they paid close attention to the minutest details of their jobs. One way a guard was put to death was by being stripped of his clothes and then burned alive in a fire started with his garments. If it was not apparent which soldier had failed in his duty, then lots were drawn to see which one would be punished with death for the guard unit's failure. Certainly the entire unit would not have fallen asleep with that kind of threat over their heads. Dr. George Currie, a student of Roman military discipline, wrote that fear of punishment "produced flawless attention to duty, especially in the night watches."
5.) The recorded appearances of Christ. These occurred from the morning of His resurrection until His ascension 40 days later. There are ten distinct appearances recorded to either individuals, to the disciples as a group, or to over 500 people in different places, at different times. This was no hallucination or mere slight of fantasy. The Apostle Paul rested his whole case for his faith on the bodily resurrection of Christ.
These people didn't expect to see Him again! Yet,
He walked with his disciples .
He talked with his disciples ,
He ate with his disciples following the resurrection.
This resulted in them being....
6.) The Changed Disciples. Strike the Shepherd and the sheep will scatter. Upon Jesus' arrest, the disciples fled, denied knowing Him and then locked themselves in a room for fear of the same persecution by religious and Roman authorities. Their Rabbi...their teacher...their friend was dead. Yet, they ended up becoming incredibly bold and confident witnesses for Christ in Jerusalem and numerous other places. They were all martyred, killed for the very commitment to Christ that they had so badly wanted to hide. Paul who had been killing Christians and persecuting the church became just as zealous for God when confronted with the truth about Christ.
7.) The contemporary and personal evidence. If Christ rose from the dead, then He is alive today. He is powerfully able to invade and change people’s hearts and lives as they respond to Him. Millions of people today testify to the life changing power of Jesus Christ in their lives. They come from every nation on the face of the earth, every background, from sympathetic families and nations to hostile ones. Millions testify today to the fact that Christ has revolutionized their lives.
As Canon Westcott said, "There is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Jesus Christ" from the dead.
Can the penalty of sin resting upon all mankind be remitted? Plainly not, if God is to remain God. That penalty of sin was ordained in the law of God, and the law of God was no mere arbitrary and changeable arrangement but an expression of the nature of God Himself. If the penalty of sin were remitted, God would become unrighteous, and that God will not become unrighteous is the most certain thing that can possibly be conceived.
How then can sinful men be saved? In one way only. Only if a substitute is provided who shall pay for them the just penalty of God’s law.
The Bible teaches that such a substitute has a matter of fact been provided. The substitute is Jesus Christ. The law’s demands of penalty must be satisfied. There is no escaping that. But Jesus Christ satisfied those demands for us when He died instead of us on the cross. (The Doctrine of the Atonement: Three Lectures, Machen)
"I am the resurrection and the Life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die." - John 11:25
http://audio.sovgracemn.org/2010/04/02/the-fathers-cup-a-crucifixion-narrative/
http://www.danieldarling.com/2011/04/good-friday-meditation-psalm-22/
“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.” - 1 Peter 3:18
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:8
I was watching a Tim Keller interview earlier today and he stated that although Christmas is a much bigger holiday in this country than Easter, it is Easter that gives Christmas its credibility. After all, at Christmas we celebrate that God's Son, Jesus, was born into our world - fully God and fully man. Yet, how do we know it was really God's son? The resurrection is our proof.
Thomas Arnold (1795-1842), professor of Modern History at Oxford said, “No one fact in the history of mankind . . . is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort than the fact that Christ died and rose from the dead.”
There has been many an opponent and skeptic of Christianity who having set out to disprove the truth of the resurrection has become a devout follower of Christ through their honest research. Such as:
Dr. F. Morrison, a rationalistic lawyer
Lord Lyndhurst, Attorney General of Great Britain
C.S. Lewis, a literary genius
Dr S. Greenleaf, Royal Professor of Law at Harvard University
What evidence you may ask? What proof do we have?
1.) The Christian Church exists and persists across races, geographies and cultures. There have been numerous individuals claiming to be the Messiah before Jesus came and certainly since He departed. Yet, none of them maintained a following after their death. Jesus prevails primarily because the resurrection is the defining and differentiating fact.
2.) Something incredibly significant must have happened on that Sunday to shift the day of worship from what had been the norm for over a thousand years.
3.) The Empty Tomb. No one in history has come up with any factual evidence to contradict the historical record and testimony of the scriptures. The Roman authorities and Jewish religious leaders had every reason to discredit and erase this story but they could not. There are 10 possible explanations for the empty tomb that have been espoused through the years. Only one takes into account all the facts available and the resultant conclusion is that Jesus Christ supernaturally rose from the dead.
4.) Roman Guard Goes AWOL. The Roman guards fled. They left their place of responsibility. How can their attrition he explained, when Roman military discipline was so exceptional? Justin, in Digest #49, mentions all the offenses that required the death penalty. The fear of their superiors' wrath and the possibility of death meant that they paid close attention to the minutest details of their jobs. One way a guard was put to death was by being stripped of his clothes and then burned alive in a fire started with his garments. If it was not apparent which soldier had failed in his duty, then lots were drawn to see which one would be punished with death for the guard unit's failure. Certainly the entire unit would not have fallen asleep with that kind of threat over their heads. Dr. George Currie, a student of Roman military discipline, wrote that fear of punishment "produced flawless attention to duty, especially in the night watches."
5.) The recorded appearances of Christ. These occurred from the morning of His resurrection until His ascension 40 days later. There are ten distinct appearances recorded to either individuals, to the disciples as a group, or to over 500 people in different places, at different times. This was no hallucination or mere slight of fantasy. The Apostle Paul rested his whole case for his faith on the bodily resurrection of Christ.
These people didn't expect to see Him again! Yet,
He walked with his disciples .
He talked with his disciples ,
He ate with his disciples following the resurrection.
This resulted in them being....
6.) The Changed Disciples. Strike the Shepherd and the sheep will scatter. Upon Jesus' arrest, the disciples fled, denied knowing Him and then locked themselves in a room for fear of the same persecution by religious and Roman authorities. Their Rabbi...their teacher...their friend was dead. Yet, they ended up becoming incredibly bold and confident witnesses for Christ in Jerusalem and numerous other places. They were all martyred, killed for the very commitment to Christ that they had so badly wanted to hide. Paul who had been killing Christians and persecuting the church became just as zealous for God when confronted with the truth about Christ.
7.) The contemporary and personal evidence. If Christ rose from the dead, then He is alive today. He is powerfully able to invade and change people’s hearts and lives as they respond to Him. Millions of people today testify to the life changing power of Jesus Christ in their lives. They come from every nation on the face of the earth, every background, from sympathetic families and nations to hostile ones. Millions testify today to the fact that Christ has revolutionized their lives.
As Canon Westcott said, "There is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Jesus Christ" from the dead.
Can the penalty of sin resting upon all mankind be remitted? Plainly not, if God is to remain God. That penalty of sin was ordained in the law of God, and the law of God was no mere arbitrary and changeable arrangement but an expression of the nature of God Himself. If the penalty of sin were remitted, God would become unrighteous, and that God will not become unrighteous is the most certain thing that can possibly be conceived.
How then can sinful men be saved? In one way only. Only if a substitute is provided who shall pay for them the just penalty of God’s law.
The Bible teaches that such a substitute has a matter of fact been provided. The substitute is Jesus Christ. The law’s demands of penalty must be satisfied. There is no escaping that. But Jesus Christ satisfied those demands for us when He died instead of us on the cross. (The Doctrine of the Atonement: Three Lectures, Machen)
"I am the resurrection and the Life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die." - John 11:25
http://audio.sovgracemn.org/2010/04/02/the-fathers-cup-a-crucifixion-narrative/
http://www.danieldarling.com/2011/04/good-friday-meditation-psalm-22/
Thursday, April 21, 2011
A Gospel Story
From Pastor Tullian...
My friend Steve Brown tells a story about a time his daughter Robin found herself in a very difficult English Literature course that she desperately wanted to get out of.
She sat there on her first day and thought, “If I don’t transfer out of this class, I’m going to fail. The other people in this class are much smarter than me. I can’t do this.” She came home and with tears in her eyes begged her dad to help her get out of the class so she could take a regular English course. Steve said, “Of course.”
So the next day he took her down to the school and went to the head of the English department, who was a Jewish woman and a great teacher. Steve remembers the event in these words:
She (the head of the English department) looked up and saw me standing there by my daughter and could tell that Robin was about to cry. There were some students standing around and, because the teacher didn’t want Robin to be embarrassed, she dismissed the students saying, “I want to talk to these people alone.” As soon as the students left and the door was closed, Robin began to cry. I said, “I’m here to get my daughter out of that English class. It’s too difficult for her. The problem with my daughter is that she’s too conscientious. So, can you put her into a regular English class?” The teacher said, “Mr. Brown, I understand.” Then she looked at Robin and said, “Can I talk to Robin for a minute?” I said, “Sure.” She said, “Robin, I know how you feel. What if I promised you and A no matter what you did in the class? If I gave you an A before you even started, would you be willing to take the class?” My daughter is not dumb! She started sniffling and said, “Well, I think I could do that.” The teacher said, “I’m going to give you and A in the class. You already have an A, so you can go to class.”
Later the teacher explained to Steve what she had done. She explained how she took away the threat of a bad grade so that Robin could learn English. Robin ended up making straight A‘s on her own in that class.
That’s how God deals with us. Because we are, right now, under the completely sufficient imputed righteousness of Christ, Christians already have an A. The threat of failure, judgment, and condemnation has been removed. We’re in–forever! Nothing we do will make our grade better and nothing we do will make our grade worse. We’ve been set free.
Knowing that God’s love for you and approval of you will never be determined by your performance for Jesus but Jesus’ performance for you will actually make you perform more and better, not less and worse.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Take some time and really think about the following...
God’s love for you and approval of you will never be determined by your performance for Jesus but Jesus’ performance for you.
What kinds of feelings does that cause to stir within you? If you are like me, and are being honest, you might have reactions that are both positive and negative.
My friend Steve Brown tells a story about a time his daughter Robin found herself in a very difficult English Literature course that she desperately wanted to get out of.
She sat there on her first day and thought, “If I don’t transfer out of this class, I’m going to fail. The other people in this class are much smarter than me. I can’t do this.” She came home and with tears in her eyes begged her dad to help her get out of the class so she could take a regular English course. Steve said, “Of course.”
So the next day he took her down to the school and went to the head of the English department, who was a Jewish woman and a great teacher. Steve remembers the event in these words:
She (the head of the English department) looked up and saw me standing there by my daughter and could tell that Robin was about to cry. There were some students standing around and, because the teacher didn’t want Robin to be embarrassed, she dismissed the students saying, “I want to talk to these people alone.” As soon as the students left and the door was closed, Robin began to cry. I said, “I’m here to get my daughter out of that English class. It’s too difficult for her. The problem with my daughter is that she’s too conscientious. So, can you put her into a regular English class?” The teacher said, “Mr. Brown, I understand.” Then she looked at Robin and said, “Can I talk to Robin for a minute?” I said, “Sure.” She said, “Robin, I know how you feel. What if I promised you and A no matter what you did in the class? If I gave you an A before you even started, would you be willing to take the class?” My daughter is not dumb! She started sniffling and said, “Well, I think I could do that.” The teacher said, “I’m going to give you and A in the class. You already have an A, so you can go to class.”
Later the teacher explained to Steve what she had done. She explained how she took away the threat of a bad grade so that Robin could learn English. Robin ended up making straight A‘s on her own in that class.
That’s how God deals with us. Because we are, right now, under the completely sufficient imputed righteousness of Christ, Christians already have an A. The threat of failure, judgment, and condemnation has been removed. We’re in–forever! Nothing we do will make our grade better and nothing we do will make our grade worse. We’ve been set free.
Knowing that God’s love for you and approval of you will never be determined by your performance for Jesus but Jesus’ performance for you will actually make you perform more and better, not less and worse.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Take some time and really think about the following...
God’s love for you and approval of you will never be determined by your performance for Jesus but Jesus’ performance for you.
What kinds of feelings does that cause to stir within you? If you are like me, and are being honest, you might have reactions that are both positive and negative.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Christianity vs. Islam Part 2
"Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus" Please watch...
http://www.rzim.org/rzim-news/live-stream-seeking-allah-finding-jesus-at-georgia-tech/
http://sukofamily.org/how-to-share-the-gospel-with-muslims/
From John Piper...
The burning of the Qur’an and the murder of human beings are not morally equivalent. That’s true. And it is, frankly, outrageous the way some commentators speak with more moral indignation about the burning of holy books than the butchery of human bodies. In the western media this seems to me to be sheer fear.
But, of course, my conviction stems from a certain view of the world that is not shared by Muslims.
Andrew Walls, founder of the Centre for the Study of Christianity in the Non-Western World, and retired professor at Edinburgh University, gives us an insight that may carry more explanatory power than even Muslim rage realizes.
Mark Noll says, “No one has written with greater wisdom about what it means for the Western Christian religion to become the global Christian religion than Andrew Walls.”
Walls draws our attention to the fact that one of the differences between Islam and Christianity is how translatable Christianity is by its incarnational nature, and how resistant Islam is to translation:
Christian faith must go on being translated, must continuously enter into vernacular culture and interact with it, or it withers and fades.
Islamic absolutes are fixed in a particular language, and in the conditions of a particular period of human history. The divine Word is the Qur’an, fixed in heaven forever in Arabic, the language of original revelation.
For Christians, however, the divine Word is translatable, infinitely translatable. The very words of Christ himself were transmitted in translated form in the earliest documents we have, a fact surely inseparable from the conviction that in Christ, God’s own self was translated into human form.
Much misunderstanding between Christians and Muslims has arisen from the assumption that the Qur’an is for Muslims what the Bible is for Christians.
It would be truer to say that the Qur’an is for Muslims what Christ is for Christians.
(The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History, 29)
Did you catch that last line?
The parallel between Christianity and Islam is not that Christ parallels Mohammed and the Qur’an parallels the Bible. The parallel is that the Qur’an parallels Christ. The giving of the Qur’an is in Islam what the incarnation of Christ is to Christianity.
If this is so, then Qur’an-burning is parallel to Christ-crucifying.
But ponder the implications of this. On the one hand you might say this goes a long way to explaining Muslim rage. Yes. But more importantly it goes even farther to show the deep differences between the two religions.
In the process of being crucified, Jesus rebuked the use of the sword (Matthew 26:52) healed his enemy’s amputated ear (Luke 22:51), prayed for the forgiveness of his murderers (Luke 23:34), and sent his followers out to love their enemies and do good to those who hate them (Luke 6:27).
So the Qur’an has been burned and the Christ has been crucified—and continues to be crucified.
The test is in the response.
http://www.bloggingtheologically.com/2011/06/29/do-muslims-and-christians-worship-the-same-god/
http://www.bloggingtheologically.com/2012/08/06/can-christians-practice-ramadan/
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-mocking-of-muhammad-and-condemning-of-christ
http://ifcamedia.org/fireinmybones/?p=503
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http://www.france24.com/en/20130309-protesters-burn-christian-homes-pakistan
vs.
32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. - Hebrews 10 (NIV)
Islam does not hve a philosophically consistent explanation of how a perfectly holy God can forgive sins. Only the cross provides that answer.
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patdollard.com/2013/05/welcome-to-islam-afghan-students-protest-for-right-to-beat-wives
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/loving-muslims-while-rejecting-islam
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/sentenced_to_death_for_sip_of_water_7zwT2vBrUGqhDzasfQxkKK/3
http://www.apologetics315.com/2013/09/book-review-what-every-christian-needs.html
http://www.apologetics315.com/2013/09/apologist-interview-abdu-murray.html
http://kellerquotes.com/unique-claims/
http://blog.nabeelqureshi.com/2013/10/the-one-minute-apologist-asks-me-what.html
http://www.answering-islam.org/Authors/Qureshi/testimony.htm
http://www.christianitytoday.com/parse/2014/february/friday-five-interview-nabeel-qureshi.html
Women and Islam: http://blog.nabeelqureshi.com/2012/02/status-of-women-in-arabia-before-islam.html
http://sukofamily.org/how-to-share-the-gospel-with-muslims/
https://www.worldmag.com/mobile/article.php?id=31007
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2014/09/12/a-prayer-for-muslim-lands-2/
http://www.christianity.com/god/trinity/turning-from-tawhid-to-the-trinity.html
http://blog.markdurie.com/2014/09/muslims-need-truth-and-love.html
http://blogs.lcms.org/2014/muslim-eschatology
http://www.reasonablefaith.org/why-does-god-leave-muslims-deluded
http://www.reasonablefaith.org/why-christianity-rather-than-judaism-or-islam
http://www.lhm.org/dailydevotionsprt.asp?date=20150709
http://www.josh.org/allah-jesus-god-one-interview-nabeel-qureshi/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nabeel-qureshi/isis-is-killing-us-because-we-are-not-muslim_b_11793770.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfxUpR83Wzo
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPLwihWCO5V
"[Muslim theology is] a theology of the majority ... [it] offers no systematic formulation of the status of being a minority" — Zaki Badawi
One must divert from Jesus to justify violence in Christianity. One must divert from Muhammad to argue that Islam is peaceful.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
You are God's Beloved
Written by Mike Donehey:
The disciples must have thought Jesus was crazy. Seriously. I can only imagine their faces. So confused, so perplexed, uncomfortably glancing back and forth between each other, wondering if they had misheard, wondering if someone could help them understand. Meanwhile, you got Jesus, unnerved, unfazed, just sitting there cooly, looking them dead in the eyes, asking them to marry Him. Yes, you heard me right…marry Him. With nothing more than a cup of wine, no less, the Lamb of God was proposing. So you can imagine their confusion right? “Wait. What? Come again? Jesus, you feeling alright brutha? I mean, I don’t think that I’m exactly what you’re looking for! You want to think about what you’re saying for a minute?”
Of course, we don’t see it that way, because we’re not Jewish. But they were, and they did. See it that way, I mean. “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” We hear these words and we think Communion, Eucharist, Last Supper. The disciples heard this and they’re thinking wedding bells.
Apparently, “In those days,” when a Hebrew man decided to take for Himself a Hebrew woman, he’d go to his father and say, “Her, Dad. I want to make little rabbis with her.” So then the dad would go to her dad and they’d talk camels, or sheep, or whatever the payment was going to be, and after they’d settled on a figure, the groom would call in all his friends and family, set a table in the middle of a room, set the aforementioned girl down in front of said table, break out a cup, fill it with wine, and set it in front of her saying, “This is my covenant with you, take and drink it.” And if she did, that was her answer. With a simple gulp and swig, she was saying, “I do,” and that was it. No rings, no fancy songs or dinners, just a cup and an invitation. And oh yeah, all their relatives sitting in the room watching. I mean, talk about pressure. But yeah, that was it. Her lips to the glass was the same as saying, “I accept your life, and I give you mine in return.”
Now, If the girl said yes, “in those days,” she would then go immediately back to her home, where she would be known as, “one who was bought with a price.” It’s true. That was her name. Kind of long and tedious, and extremely hard to shout out in a game of soccer, but that was it. And with her new identity, she would go back to her town, and start preparing for the wedding. And really, she’d just start waiting for future husband to finish what he had to do and come and get her. What was he doing? Well, during the engagement, the groom’s primary responsibility was to build a mansion for him and his bride to be.
Now girls, before you get too excited, let me explain. “Mansion” in Hebrew means, “apartment.” And what’s even better is that this apartment was actually more like an addition, because the groom would build it onto his parents pre-existing house. Yes. You heard me correctly. Their first home would be with the in-laws. And right now, I can just imagine how many girls are thinking, “oh please don’t let me marry a Jewish boy.” It’s true though. He would build his “mansion” onto the family “insula,” which is what they would call the family dwelling. You see, the entire family would just keep building on and building on until you had what was basically a city block, all comprised of one big bustling Jewish family. (And you thought My Big Fat Greek Wedding was bad) Crazy, but also true.
Well, as you can imagine, this process could take quite a while. I mean, it’s a house for crying out loud. Some scholars say it was six months, or even a year before the poor guy was finished. And get this, the only one who could decide if it was finished was the father. So he’d be working and working and working, and every day looking to his dad, saying, “Are we done yet?” And I can just imagine the father messing with him. Taking his time, looking it over, and then just saying, “Almost.” Could you imagine? Oh, the agony! And to top it all off, the groom and the bride weren’t even allowed to talk to each other. Nothing. Nada. Zip. They couldn’t see or speak to one another during the entire engagement, except for one outlet. The best man. He’d be the instant messenger if you will. Taking notes back and forth between the doting couple. And those moments were probably pretty funny. “Here’s your note, ‘one who was bought with a price.’ Check yes, no, or maybe.” Unbelievable.
But you know, how much more beautiful would that day be when the father finally approved? That day when the groom was finally finished, and he could gather up his homeboys, or ‘groomsmen’ as we westerners would say, and imperiously march into his fiance’s town? Oh it was sweet. And that’s just what he’d do. He’d get his bridal party together and they’d come to her house, and without any prior announcement or advanced warning, they would blow a shofar, which was a ram’s horn that served as a trumpet, and upon hearing it, the pining bride would come bustling out her front door and practically straight down the aisle, and into her beloved’s arms. The period of waiting and wanting would be over, and the two would be united at last to consummate their long-awaited union. Joy. Happiness. Little Rabbis… You know, all the good stuff.
So then, back to the dinner table with the 12. Can you sense where this is going? Jesus breaks into this marriage proposal, cup out, wine-filled, offering his covenant with them. They accept. “I do” to Jesus. Gulp, gulp. “I accept your life, and I give you mine in return.” So then, what does Jesus do? He explains how they have to spend some time apart. Naturally. Only this is going to be longer than a year. However, the best man was coming. His name? The Holy Spirit. So when Jesus leaves, off to get busy preparing a “mansion” for them, (“in my Father’s house there are many rooms”) He doesn’t leave them alone, but instead sends His own mediator, the Holy Spirit, to keep the messages going between Himself and his Beloved. Meanwhile, the bride is left behind in her town, keeping watch, day and night, not knowing the day, time or hour that the bridegroom will appear. Until finally, after a long-awaited return, and we’re talking seriously, long awaited; centuries and milleniums waited people, after this much awaited consummation, the Father alone will announce that the time has come, and Jesus will be coming back for all His faithful, all who are His bride. With a posse of angels and loud trumpet call of their own, He will take us home, to the marriage supper of the Lamb! And we will share in ever-increasing joy and intimacy with Him forever and ever. As C.S. Lewis so brilliantly articulated, “Further up and further in!”
And people still want to insist that Christianity is no more than a religion.
I don’t know about you but in light of this information, it puts Jesus in an entirely different light. He’s no longer an ideal, or a belief system. He’s a person. And to put it more precisely, He is a groom in love with his bride. And not just any bride, but a wayward, adulterous bride. A bride who is half-hearted at best, chasing other lovers and other interests more than Him. And still, He keeps on loving. He keeps on being faithful, He keeps his promises.
In the Old Testament, He tells his prophet Hosea to marry an unfaithful woman, to show everyone the way He loves his people. (see Hosea 3) In the New, He tells us that divorce will never be an option for Him. (Phil 1:6) Over and over and over again, From Isaiah, to Ezekiel, to Ephesians, He tells us that we are not just his children, but we are his bride. Faithless though we might be, we are His, and He is ours.
And like I said before, this changes everything. It changes the way I view prayer. It changes the way I view marriage. It even changes the reasons that I obey. As Donald Miller once said, “it’s a far different thing to break a rule, than it is to cheat on a lover.” I only pray that it changes things for you.
The disciples must have thought Jesus was crazy. Seriously. I can only imagine their faces. So confused, so perplexed, uncomfortably glancing back and forth between each other, wondering if they had misheard, wondering if someone could help them understand. Meanwhile, you got Jesus, unnerved, unfazed, just sitting there cooly, looking them dead in the eyes, asking them to marry Him. Yes, you heard me right…marry Him. With nothing more than a cup of wine, no less, the Lamb of God was proposing. So you can imagine their confusion right? “Wait. What? Come again? Jesus, you feeling alright brutha? I mean, I don’t think that I’m exactly what you’re looking for! You want to think about what you’re saying for a minute?”
Of course, we don’t see it that way, because we’re not Jewish. But they were, and they did. See it that way, I mean. “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” We hear these words and we think Communion, Eucharist, Last Supper. The disciples heard this and they’re thinking wedding bells.
Apparently, “In those days,” when a Hebrew man decided to take for Himself a Hebrew woman, he’d go to his father and say, “Her, Dad. I want to make little rabbis with her.” So then the dad would go to her dad and they’d talk camels, or sheep, or whatever the payment was going to be, and after they’d settled on a figure, the groom would call in all his friends and family, set a table in the middle of a room, set the aforementioned girl down in front of said table, break out a cup, fill it with wine, and set it in front of her saying, “This is my covenant with you, take and drink it.” And if she did, that was her answer. With a simple gulp and swig, she was saying, “I do,” and that was it. No rings, no fancy songs or dinners, just a cup and an invitation. And oh yeah, all their relatives sitting in the room watching. I mean, talk about pressure. But yeah, that was it. Her lips to the glass was the same as saying, “I accept your life, and I give you mine in return.”
Now, If the girl said yes, “in those days,” she would then go immediately back to her home, where she would be known as, “one who was bought with a price.” It’s true. That was her name. Kind of long and tedious, and extremely hard to shout out in a game of soccer, but that was it. And with her new identity, she would go back to her town, and start preparing for the wedding. And really, she’d just start waiting for future husband to finish what he had to do and come and get her. What was he doing? Well, during the engagement, the groom’s primary responsibility was to build a mansion for him and his bride to be.
Now girls, before you get too excited, let me explain. “Mansion” in Hebrew means, “apartment.” And what’s even better is that this apartment was actually more like an addition, because the groom would build it onto his parents pre-existing house. Yes. You heard me correctly. Their first home would be with the in-laws. And right now, I can just imagine how many girls are thinking, “oh please don’t let me marry a Jewish boy.” It’s true though. He would build his “mansion” onto the family “insula,” which is what they would call the family dwelling. You see, the entire family would just keep building on and building on until you had what was basically a city block, all comprised of one big bustling Jewish family. (And you thought My Big Fat Greek Wedding was bad) Crazy, but also true.
Well, as you can imagine, this process could take quite a while. I mean, it’s a house for crying out loud. Some scholars say it was six months, or even a year before the poor guy was finished. And get this, the only one who could decide if it was finished was the father. So he’d be working and working and working, and every day looking to his dad, saying, “Are we done yet?” And I can just imagine the father messing with him. Taking his time, looking it over, and then just saying, “Almost.” Could you imagine? Oh, the agony! And to top it all off, the groom and the bride weren’t even allowed to talk to each other. Nothing. Nada. Zip. They couldn’t see or speak to one another during the entire engagement, except for one outlet. The best man. He’d be the instant messenger if you will. Taking notes back and forth between the doting couple. And those moments were probably pretty funny. “Here’s your note, ‘one who was bought with a price.’ Check yes, no, or maybe.” Unbelievable.
But you know, how much more beautiful would that day be when the father finally approved? That day when the groom was finally finished, and he could gather up his homeboys, or ‘groomsmen’ as we westerners would say, and imperiously march into his fiance’s town? Oh it was sweet. And that’s just what he’d do. He’d get his bridal party together and they’d come to her house, and without any prior announcement or advanced warning, they would blow a shofar, which was a ram’s horn that served as a trumpet, and upon hearing it, the pining bride would come bustling out her front door and practically straight down the aisle, and into her beloved’s arms. The period of waiting and wanting would be over, and the two would be united at last to consummate their long-awaited union. Joy. Happiness. Little Rabbis… You know, all the good stuff.
So then, back to the dinner table with the 12. Can you sense where this is going? Jesus breaks into this marriage proposal, cup out, wine-filled, offering his covenant with them. They accept. “I do” to Jesus. Gulp, gulp. “I accept your life, and I give you mine in return.” So then, what does Jesus do? He explains how they have to spend some time apart. Naturally. Only this is going to be longer than a year. However, the best man was coming. His name? The Holy Spirit. So when Jesus leaves, off to get busy preparing a “mansion” for them, (“in my Father’s house there are many rooms”) He doesn’t leave them alone, but instead sends His own mediator, the Holy Spirit, to keep the messages going between Himself and his Beloved. Meanwhile, the bride is left behind in her town, keeping watch, day and night, not knowing the day, time or hour that the bridegroom will appear. Until finally, after a long-awaited return, and we’re talking seriously, long awaited; centuries and milleniums waited people, after this much awaited consummation, the Father alone will announce that the time has come, and Jesus will be coming back for all His faithful, all who are His bride. With a posse of angels and loud trumpet call of their own, He will take us home, to the marriage supper of the Lamb! And we will share in ever-increasing joy and intimacy with Him forever and ever. As C.S. Lewis so brilliantly articulated, “Further up and further in!”
And people still want to insist that Christianity is no more than a religion.
I don’t know about you but in light of this information, it puts Jesus in an entirely different light. He’s no longer an ideal, or a belief system. He’s a person. And to put it more precisely, He is a groom in love with his bride. And not just any bride, but a wayward, adulterous bride. A bride who is half-hearted at best, chasing other lovers and other interests more than Him. And still, He keeps on loving. He keeps on being faithful, He keeps his promises.
In the Old Testament, He tells his prophet Hosea to marry an unfaithful woman, to show everyone the way He loves his people. (see Hosea 3) In the New, He tells us that divorce will never be an option for Him. (Phil 1:6) Over and over and over again, From Isaiah, to Ezekiel, to Ephesians, He tells us that we are not just his children, but we are his bride. Faithless though we might be, we are His, and He is ours.
And like I said before, this changes everything. It changes the way I view prayer. It changes the way I view marriage. It even changes the reasons that I obey. As Donald Miller once said, “it’s a far different thing to break a rule, than it is to cheat on a lover.” I only pray that it changes things for you.
Monday, April 11, 2011
A Case for the Resurrection
Author and pastor Tim Keller on why Christ's Resurrection is more than just a story.
In the decades before and after Jesus’ life and death, there were dozens of messianic movements in Israel. In almost every case the messianic leader was killed, in many cases by execution, and after the leader’s death each of these movements invariably collapsed. Everybody went home, and that was it. Of all those dozens of movements, only one did not collapse after the death of the leader. Not only did it not collapse, it exploded: In the course of about 300 years it had spread through the entire Roman empire.
Out of all those messianic movements, what made the Christian faith different? Christians would say it is because of what happened after the leader of this movement was killed. So what did happen to cause explosive growth in Christianity after its founder’s death?
Jesus died in mid-afternoon and the Sabbath began at sunset. The Jewish law permitted no work on the Sabbath, which meant they could not bury the body of Jesus that night or the next day. So Joseph goes to Pilate, hoping to be able to bury the body in time. Joseph, though a Pharisee, shows enormous courage and independence of thought by asking for Jesus’ body. Mark reports:
Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid. (Mark 15:44–47)
The way Mark reports the burial is significant: He is “certifying” that Jesus was really dead. Joseph of Arimathea is named here as an identified witness who actually had Jesus’ body wrapped up and sealed it in a tomb. A Roman centurion (who would be an expert) bore witness of Jesus’ death to Pilate (who would be the legal authority on the matter). Finally, two women are cited as eyewitnesses to the burial. So multiple experts and witnesses prove He was really dead.
The resurrection was as inconceivable for the first disciples, as impossible for them to believe, as it is for many of us today. Granted, their reasons would have been different from ours. The Greeks did not believe in resurrection; in the Greek worldview, the afterlife was liberation of the soul from the body. For them, resurrection would never be part of life after death. As for the Jews, some of them believed in a future general resurrection when the entire world would be renewed, but they had no concept of an individual rising from the dead. The people of Jesus’ day were not predisposed to believe in resurrection any more than we are.
Celsus, a Greek philosopher who lived in the second century A.D., was highly antagonistic to Christianity and wrote a number of works listing arguments against it. One of the arguments he believed most telling went like this: Christianity can’t be true, because the written accounts of the resurrection are based on the testimony of women—and we all know women are hysterical. And many of Celsus’ readers agreed: For them, that was a major problem. In ancient societies, as you know, women were marginalized, and the testimony of women was never given much credence.
Do you see what that means? If Mark and the Christians were making up these stories to get their movement off the ground, they would never have written women into the story as the first eyewitnesses to Jesus’ empty tomb. The only possible reason for the presence of women in these accounts is that they really were present and reported what they saw. The stone has been rolled away, the tomb is empty and an angel declares that Jesus is risen.
What was the resurrected Jesus like? Well, Jesus’ resurrection body had “flesh and bones.” He was not a ghost. The disciples were able to recognize Him and to touch Him. He spoke with them. But could they all have been having a group hallucination?
No, because the disciples were not the only ones who saw and touched Jesus. Paul makes a long list of people who claimed to have seen the risen Christ personally, and notes that “most of them are still living” (1 Corinthians 15:6).
Moreover, there has to be some explanation for how the cowardly group of disciples was transformed into a group of leaders. Many of them went on to live sacrificial lives, and many of them were killed for teaching that Jesus had been resurrected.
Jesus had risen, just as He told them He would. After a criminal does his time in jail and fully satisfies the sentence, the law has no more claim on him and he walks out free. Jesus Christ came to pay the penalty for our sins. That was an infinite sentence, but He must have satisfied it fully, because on Easter Sunday He walked out free. The resurrection was God’s way of stamping PAID IN FULL right across history so that nobody could miss it.
On the Day of the Lord—the day that God makes everything right, the day that everything sad comes untrue—on that day the same thing will happen to your own hurts and sadness. You will find that the worst things that have ever happened to you will in the end only enhance your eternal delight. On that day, all of it will be turned inside out and you will know joy beyond the walls of the world. The joy of your glory will be that much greater for every scar you bear. So live in the light of the resurrection and renewal of this world, and of yourself, in a glorious, never-ending, joyful dance of grace.
Excerpt from King's Cross by Timothy Keller © 2011. Excerpted with permission from Dutton, Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
http://www.saintsandsceptics.org/q-why-should-i-believe-jesus-rose-from-the-dead-part-1/
http://www.gospelproject.com/2013/11/2036/
http://www.thegoodbookblog.com/2016/mar/26/the-resurrection-answers-three-big-questions
http://adam4d.com/jesus-rose-from-dead/#
http://www.reasons.org/blogs/reflections/12-evidences-for-the-resurrection-of-jesus--part-1
https://winteryknight.com/2017/04/02/william-lane-craig-explains-the-resurrection-of-jesus-in-ireland/
http://darryleyb.net/believe-jesus-resurrection/
http://www.travisdickinson.com/?p=182
http://www.faithgateway.com/5-surprising-things-jesus-followers-easter
http://www.christ4all.com/p/blog-page_5.html
http://www.equip.org/defending-the-resurrection/
https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/article/dont-just-prove-resurrection-talk-matters/
https://www.reasons.org/explore/blogs/reflections/read/reflections/2018/03/27/a-dozen-evidences-for-the-resurrection-of-jesus
In the decades before and after Jesus’ life and death, there were dozens of messianic movements in Israel. In almost every case the messianic leader was killed, in many cases by execution, and after the leader’s death each of these movements invariably collapsed. Everybody went home, and that was it. Of all those dozens of movements, only one did not collapse after the death of the leader. Not only did it not collapse, it exploded: In the course of about 300 years it had spread through the entire Roman empire.
Out of all those messianic movements, what made the Christian faith different? Christians would say it is because of what happened after the leader of this movement was killed. So what did happen to cause explosive growth in Christianity after its founder’s death?
Jesus died in mid-afternoon and the Sabbath began at sunset. The Jewish law permitted no work on the Sabbath, which meant they could not bury the body of Jesus that night or the next day. So Joseph goes to Pilate, hoping to be able to bury the body in time. Joseph, though a Pharisee, shows enormous courage and independence of thought by asking for Jesus’ body. Mark reports:
Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid. (Mark 15:44–47)
The way Mark reports the burial is significant: He is “certifying” that Jesus was really dead. Joseph of Arimathea is named here as an identified witness who actually had Jesus’ body wrapped up and sealed it in a tomb. A Roman centurion (who would be an expert) bore witness of Jesus’ death to Pilate (who would be the legal authority on the matter). Finally, two women are cited as eyewitnesses to the burial. So multiple experts and witnesses prove He was really dead.
The resurrection was as inconceivable for the first disciples, as impossible for them to believe, as it is for many of us today. Granted, their reasons would have been different from ours. The Greeks did not believe in resurrection; in the Greek worldview, the afterlife was liberation of the soul from the body. For them, resurrection would never be part of life after death. As for the Jews, some of them believed in a future general resurrection when the entire world would be renewed, but they had no concept of an individual rising from the dead. The people of Jesus’ day were not predisposed to believe in resurrection any more than we are.
Celsus, a Greek philosopher who lived in the second century A.D., was highly antagonistic to Christianity and wrote a number of works listing arguments against it. One of the arguments he believed most telling went like this: Christianity can’t be true, because the written accounts of the resurrection are based on the testimony of women—and we all know women are hysterical. And many of Celsus’ readers agreed: For them, that was a major problem. In ancient societies, as you know, women were marginalized, and the testimony of women was never given much credence.
Do you see what that means? If Mark and the Christians were making up these stories to get their movement off the ground, they would never have written women into the story as the first eyewitnesses to Jesus’ empty tomb. The only possible reason for the presence of women in these accounts is that they really were present and reported what they saw. The stone has been rolled away, the tomb is empty and an angel declares that Jesus is risen.
What was the resurrected Jesus like? Well, Jesus’ resurrection body had “flesh and bones.” He was not a ghost. The disciples were able to recognize Him and to touch Him. He spoke with them. But could they all have been having a group hallucination?
No, because the disciples were not the only ones who saw and touched Jesus. Paul makes a long list of people who claimed to have seen the risen Christ personally, and notes that “most of them are still living” (1 Corinthians 15:6).
Moreover, there has to be some explanation for how the cowardly group of disciples was transformed into a group of leaders. Many of them went on to live sacrificial lives, and many of them were killed for teaching that Jesus had been resurrected.
Jesus had risen, just as He told them He would. After a criminal does his time in jail and fully satisfies the sentence, the law has no more claim on him and he walks out free. Jesus Christ came to pay the penalty for our sins. That was an infinite sentence, but He must have satisfied it fully, because on Easter Sunday He walked out free. The resurrection was God’s way of stamping PAID IN FULL right across history so that nobody could miss it.
On the Day of the Lord—the day that God makes everything right, the day that everything sad comes untrue—on that day the same thing will happen to your own hurts and sadness. You will find that the worst things that have ever happened to you will in the end only enhance your eternal delight. On that day, all of it will be turned inside out and you will know joy beyond the walls of the world. The joy of your glory will be that much greater for every scar you bear. So live in the light of the resurrection and renewal of this world, and of yourself, in a glorious, never-ending, joyful dance of grace.
Excerpt from King's Cross by Timothy Keller © 2011. Excerpted with permission from Dutton, Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
http://www.saintsandsceptics.org/q-why-should-i-believe-jesus-rose-from-the-dead-part-1/
http://www.gospelproject.com/2013/11/2036/
http://www.thegoodbookblog.com/2016/mar/26/the-resurrection-answers-three-big-questions
http://adam4d.com/jesus-rose-from-dead/#
http://www.reasons.org/blogs/reflections/12-evidences-for-the-resurrection-of-jesus--part-1
https://winteryknight.com/2017/04/02/william-lane-craig-explains-the-resurrection-of-jesus-in-ireland/
http://darryleyb.net/believe-jesus-resurrection/
http://www.travisdickinson.com/?p=182
http://www.faithgateway.com/5-surprising-things-jesus-followers-easter
http://www.christ4all.com/p/blog-page_5.html
http://www.equip.org/defending-the-resurrection/
https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/article/dont-just-prove-resurrection-talk-matters/
https://www.reasons.org/explore/blogs/reflections/read/reflections/2018/03/27/a-dozen-evidences-for-the-resurrection-of-jesus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8fKZ9QyHH4
https://reasonsforjesus.com/risen-historical-evidence-jesus-rose-dead/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u52eRZ6S5Yw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5mcrOpGJcs
https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/question-answer/is-the-resurrection-hypothesis-improbable
Sunday, April 10, 2011
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