Does God Choose Those Who Are Saved?

In Bible class we are studying the epistle to the Ephesians, a short book full of rich scriptures that could keep one studying for a long time. Right from the outset we are amazed by Gods glory and the riches of what he has given us in Christ when we read:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:3-14)

Are we Predestined?

This is a difficult passage for us to interpret because as humans we don’t see things from an eternal perspective. We know that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and yet we somehow want to believe that our choice to submit to God by receiving Christ and being buried with him in baptism is of value in our salvation. We want to believe that when we choose to be saved that somehow that is our part of the being saved equation, as if we had something of value from ourselves to bring to the negotiating table to work out a salvation agreement with God.

In my view, that couldn’t be further from the truth. My thought is that even our ability and desire to choose to submit to God’s will is a free gift from God. That fact that I chose him does not mean that my action has played a part in being saved. My choice is consistent with who God designed me to be. The passage says: “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will” In other words it is his will that has saved us not ours. This is to the praise of his glory not to the praise of our glory. It is God who has saved us not we who have saved ourselves.

We are by nature a people who act of our own will. Even after having received Christ, we still by nature choose to follow our own will. By our own choosing we rebel from God’s way (Romans 3, Psalms 14:1-3, Psalms 53:1-3). If we were left to our own devices, we would never choose God. This is what many do not understand. We think that we are somehow good by nature, that deep inside we want to do the right thing. The opposite is true. If we do the right thing, it is because we are resisting our natural desires not following our natural desires. So, God must take action to save us else we would not be saved.

Is It Fair the God Predestined Some and Not Others to Be Saved?

So, if it is God who does the choosing, is it fair that he doesn’t choose everyone? This is not the proper way to look at the situation. As I have already said, all have sinned and fallen short of Gods calling on our lives. All of us are by nature sinners. All of us are by nature rebellious. All of us deserve eternal condemnation. If it weren’t for Jesus, it would be eminently fair for God to condemn everyone. The fact that God would in love and mercy choose to save anyone is what is hard to believe. In fact it is harder for me to believe that God chose to save me than it is to believe that God chose not to save everyone.

Is the Gospel Call Genuine?

Christ died to guarantee the truth of the gospel invitation and the promise of salvation attached to it. In other words, wherever the good news of Christ and him crucified proclaimed “let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” (Revelation 22:17) When people hear the gospel announcement (that Jesus died to take away our sins) they are free to choose to receive the gift of cleansing Jesus offers, but the are also free to deny it. The gospel call itself is a genuine call to all to be saved.

Does God Force The Chosen to Choose Him?

I am not denying that a human choice is made to respond or not respond. If God were to force people to follow him against their will, he would be no better than a man who sees a beautiful woman and forces her to marry him. The fact that some choose to answer the gospel call is amazing, but the fact that they do so is God’s free gift to them. People respond to the gospel because God has been molding and making them more perfectly into who he designed them to be. There is significant tension between the idea of a free human choice and the sovereign will of God. I don’t pretend to completely understand how these two seemingly contradictory thoughts can be involved in someone turning to Christ, but in the end I humbly submit to God’s perfect will understanding that He alone is sovereign and that “nothing is impossible with God” Luke 1:37 (NIV).

If you find Ephesians 1 difficult to believe, Wrestle with Romans 9 for a while. It certainly supports the same idea that God is sovereign and chooses some vessels for noble purposes and other for ignoble purposes. In Romans 9 it says “What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. We must never forget that being saved is not something we do, It is something God does for us.

The Tale of Two Gardens

The Garden of Eden

God created a beautiful Garden for Adam and Eve to enjoy. He made them responsible for the Garden and commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Some time after God created Eve, a serpent was found in the garden. Did Adam know that the serpent was there? Why didn’t Adam drive the serpent from the Garden, especially since the serpent was “more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.”

The serpent came to Eve and questioned her asking, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’? Eve replied that they could eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” Eve added additional restrictions on the prohibition God gave them. Had Adam failed to clearly communicate God’s expectation? Where was Adam when Eve was being tempted? We don’t know the extent of Adam’s involvement in Eve’s decision to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree, but we do know that Adam joined in Eve’s sin by eating of the forbidden tree himself.

Thankfully, after man sinned, God drove Adam and Eve from the garden lest they reach out and “take also of the tree of life, and live forever”. If God had allowed Adam and Eve to partake of the tree of the life in their sinful condition, they would have been eternally condemned. God had something better in mind. We get our first glimpse into God’s wonderful plan in Genesis chapter three when God punished Satan saying “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” God’s words reveal that Satan would “bruise the heal” of Jesus and Jesus would “bruise the head” of Satan. This figurative language is the earliest prophecy describing the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus when he was crucified.

The Garden of Gethsemane

In the hours before Jesus was arrested, “tried” and ultimately crucified, he went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. It is here that Jesus began to feel the weight of bearing man’s sins. In his quiet time of prayer leading up to his ultimate submission to God’s plan for redeeming man, Jesus said “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” He prayed two more times asking the same thing each time. Even though Jesus did not want to go to the cross, in each of his prayers he stated “may your will be done.”

Jesus was in agony as he was approaching his crucifixion, yet despite the agony he was beginning to face and the numerous physical tortures he was about to endure, Jesus willingly went to the cross. Jesus endured the pain of a Roman scourging (being beaten with a whip with multiple tails, the tips of which often contained bits of stone or glass), carried his cross until he fell under its weight, was nailed to a cross before it was ultimately dropped into place at Golgotha. He hung on his cross for three hours, during which he had to raise himself up by his hands and feet in order to take each breath. Knowing that this was the kind of death he would endure, Jesus knowingly followed God’s will so the we could be saved.

Now salvation is a free gift of God, offered to each of us in the sacrifice of Jesus. Will you receive the free gift of salvation in Christ Jesus?

Give Thanks!

Our nation has had a long and rich history of leaders who have recognized that our blessings are from God, the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17). Below is just one example of our heritage of giving thanks to God for His generosity toward us. This week as you remember all the great blessings we have as a nation and as a people I pray that you may remember the source of those blessings, enjoy fellowship with family and friends and humbly look for opportunities to brighten someone’s day.

The 1885 Thanksgiving Day Proclamation of Grover Cleveland

The American people have always abundant cause to be thankful to Almighty God, whose watchful care and guiding hand have been manifested in every stage of their national life, guarding and protecting them in time of peril and safety leading them in the hour of darkness and of danger.
It is fitting and proper that a nation thus favored should on one day in every year, for that purpose especially appointed, publicly acknowledge the goodness of God and return thanks to Him for all His gracious gifts.

Therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate and set apart Thursday, the 26th day of November instant, as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, and do invoke the observance of the same by all the people of the land.

On that day let all secular business be suspended, and let the people assemble in their usual places of worship and with prayer and songs of praise devoutly testify their gratitude to the Giver of Every Good and Perfect Gift for all that He has done for us in the year that has passed; for our preservation as a united nation and for our deliverance from the shock and danger of political convulsion; for the blessings of peace and for our safety and quiet while wars and rumors of war have agitated and afflicted other nations of the earth; for our security against the scourge of pestilence, which in other lands has claimed its dead by thousands and filled the streets with mourners; for plenteous crops which reward the labor of the husbandman and increase our nation’s wealth, and for the contentment throughout our borders which follows in the train of prosperity and abundance.

And let there also be on the day thus set apart a reunion of families, sanctified and chastened by tender memories and associations; and let the social intercourse of friends, with pleasant reminiscence, renew the ties of affection and strengthen the bonds of kindly feeling.

And let us by no means forget while we give thanks and enjoy the comforts which have crowned our lives that truly grateful hearts are inclined to deeds of charity, and that a kind and thoughtful remembrance of the poor will double the pleasures of our condition and render our praise and thanksgiving more acceptable in the sight of the Lord.

A New Direction

With some consideration, desiring to increase readership, recognizing that readers of the blog may enjoy other topics, I have determined to change the type of posts shared here. I’m inclined to post writings covering a variety of topics from a decidedly Christian point view. It is my hope that these posts may convict of sin, draw toward God, share good news, and proclaim the victory we have in Christ Jesus.

Jeff

Worship in Spirit and in Truth

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24

When Jesus spoke with the Samaritan woman he told her that God is spirit and that worshipers must worship him in spirit and in truth. What did he mean by spirit and truth? The Samaritans worshiped on Mount Gerizim, but the Jews worshiped in Jerusalem. Gerizim was a special place. Abraham and Jacob had built alters in the vicinity of Mount Gerizim. The Samaritans believed that Moses built his alter on Mount Gerizim. The Samaritans built a temple on Mount Gerizim and they believed that is where worship should occur. But the Jews believed that worship was to occur at the Temple in Jerusalem.

God is spirit, so the place of worship is irrelevant. Wherever people gather to worship, God is there. One of the great things about our common Christian faith is knowing that brothers and sisters are gathering all over the world on the first day of the week to worship the one true God. We share a common faith, we raise our voices together in praise, we encourage and admonish one another, we give, we hear the word of God, and we commune. All this we do in unity, even though we are thousands of miles apart. God is spirit, so we worship him wherever we are. We worship him with all our being. We worship him in spirit. The place is irrelevant.

God is truth. Jesus, who is God, is associated with truth throughout the Gospel of John. Part of worshiping in truth is worshiping the one true God, the triune God. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is the appropriate object of worship. If we are to worship in truth, then we must worship the one true God. Some say that part of worshiping God in truth is to worship in the way the Bible teaches and indeed what we do in worship is important. We should worship God in the way he has prescribed (including in our worship those things that the early disciples did and allowing some grace for the practices of others where the Bible is silent). But even more important than the form of worship is the sincerity of worship. Perhaps what Jesus meant by worshiping in truth is that worship must be sincere. Worship must involve all of your being. Worship must be genuine.

God is seeking worshipers who will worship him in spirit and in truth. Will you worship him in spirit and in truth?

The Woman at the Well

The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”

John 4:1-26

The Unexpected Conversation

In Jesus day Israel was divided. The division resulted from groups of people being removed from Israel by the Babylonians and the Persians who displaced the Israelites with their own people when they conquered Israel. They did this to attempt to destroy the culture and nation of the people that they conquered. Those who remained often intermarried with the conquerors. That was who the Samaritans were – Half Jewish, half Gentile. When the Israelites returned from captivity, they settled in the North in Galilee and in the South in Judea.

The Samaritans were despised by the Jews. They so despised the Samaritans that when they travelled between Judea and Galilee they would travel around Samaria thereby adding four days to their journey. When Jesus left Judea to return to Galilee he travelled through Samaria. When he arrived at Jacob’s well, he stopped to rest and sent his disciples to town to buy food. It was the sixth hour (noon) and a Samaritan woman came to the well where Jesus was resting. Women came to the well in the mornings to gather water for the day. The well was a place of social gathering where the events of the day would be discussed. This woman came to the well in the heat of the day to be alone because she was a social outcast in her town.

Jesus asks the woman for a drink. This was entirely unexpected. Jews didn’t use Samaritan dishes; Jews didn’t speak to Samaritans; men didn’t speak to women in public. Even the Samaritan woman was startled by what Jesus did. Jesus offered her living water (a metaphor for the Holy Spirit) then asked her to bring her husband. The woman had no husband because she was living with a man who was not her husband. Jesus knew this so she perceived that he was a prophet.

She asked Jesus whether the Samaritan approach of worshiping at Mt. Gerizim or the Israelite approach of worshipping in Jerusalem. Perhaps she was changing the subject away from her sin or maybe she was truly seeking how to obtain forgiveness for her sins. I think the later is more likely. When we think of worship as giving ourselves completely to something or someone, then she is seen as having worshipped the man that she was with. Maybe she wanted to know how to be forgiven of that sin and how to worship God the way he wants to be worshipped. Jesus tells her that God is seeking worshipers who will worship him in spirit and in truth.

Perhaps the Samaritans were a spiritual people who didn’t understand who God is and how he is to be worshipped. Maybe they were like Americans, the vast majority of whom claim to believe in God but seek after every religious fad under the sun. In our country people are chasing after false religions like Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Baha’i, Wicca, Scientology, New Ageism and Atheism. All of these are false religions that cannot save. Jesus said “I am the way the truth and the light. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) No one can be saved apart from Jesus and what he did in his death, burial and resurrection.

Jesus then revealed something about himself that he revealed to no one else in the Gospel of John until the start of his trial in Jerusalem. Jesus revealed that he was the Messiah, the promised Christ who would die as a substitutionary sacrifice for us. The outcast Samaritan woman had been speaking with the Savior, the one and only Son of God!

Are you worshipping Jesus, the one way to God or are you seeking after false religions? But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15

John Continues to Testify about Jesus

After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. (This was before John was put in prison.) An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.

“The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

John 3:22-36

John the Baptizer Testifies About Jesus

John continues to testify the Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah). Jesus was baptizing and John was baptizing and there was disagreement over whether Jesus should baptize. Some thought the baptism was John’s ministry, not Jesus’. John was consistent in his testimony. He starts be reminding his disciples that he previously said ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’ He continues to lift Jesus to the place of prominence by referring to him as

• The Bridegroom – bride and bridegroom imagery describes the relationship between the Church (the bride) and Christ as head of the Church (the Bridegroom)
• The one who comes from above is above all
• The one who comes from heaven
• The one whom God has sent

John concludes by saying that the Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” Clearly John is testifying that Jesus is the one and only Son of God. Eternal Life can never be earned. It is a gift of God received by Grace through faith in Jesus.

Do you believe in Jesus? I hope so. All of us should should have the attitude of John the baptizer and live our lives with the theme that Jesus “must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30)

Born Again?

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again. The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

Nicodemus

Nicodemus was a Pharisee. The Pharisees were the strictest of all Israelites. They where the most righteous, the most educated, the most devout of all Israelites. A good Pharisee would memorize the entire Old Testament (the New Testament was not yet written). There were likely never more than 6,000 Pharisees in Israel at any point in time. Not only was Nicodemus a Pharisee, he was a member of the Sanhedrin, which was like our Supreme Court. We also learn from Jesus that Nicodemus was a teacher. Nicodemus was likely a wealthy man as well. We read in John 19 that Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea laid Jesus in a tomb and Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes (about 75 pounds). These were expensive spices used in accordance with Jewish burial customs. The new tomb may have belonged to Nicodemus as well.

Jesus Teaches the Teacher

Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night. He is often criticized because people believe he wanted to avoid others knowing that he was seeking the teaching of Jesus. This could be true, but there is another possibility. Perhaps he was desiring some “quality time” with Jesus. It would have been very difficult to carry on a conversation with Jesus when the crowds were around, so Nicodemus interrupts Jesus’ at night when the crowds were not around.

Nicodemus wisely lets Jesus lead the direction of there conversation. He didn’t come to Jesus with a bunch of questions, he simply acknowledged that Jesus was a teacher who came from God. Jesus then begins to teach Nicodemus that people must be born again to receive eternal life.

Salvation involves the death of the old you and the birth of the new new you. Salvation is more about being who you are in Christ (a new creation) not about doing the right works. To be saved, you and I must be born again. We must be born of the water and the Spirit. I think it is sad that so many believe they should pray “the sinners’ prayer” to be saved rather than submitting to the waters of baptism. Once we come to that point of faith in Jesus as our lord and savior, I believe we should quickly submit to be baptized. Baptism is a beautiful way to demonstrate dying to the old self and being raised to walk in newness of life. It is what the early Christians did. I believe it is what we should do. There are many accounts of people being baptized in the new testament, but I cannot think of a single example from the Bible of someone praying for Jesus to come into their heart.

Don’t take my point the wrong way. It is by grace we have been saved, through faith—and this not from ourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. Our salvation is about what God does in us when we reach that point of faith. We cannot earn our salvation by what we do. Our good works are only a manifestation of our changed life. They do not save us. God saves us by grace through faith in what Jesus did at the cross.

When we are saved, we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit. John uses a word play to describe the work of the Holy Spirit. The Greek word for Spirit also means wind (and breath). John’s point in comparing the Holy Spirit with wind is that the Holy Spirit is sovereign. The wind blows where it pleases. Likewise, the Holy Spirit works his sovereign will in us. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter; the Seal and Deposit of our salvation. The Holy Sprit works in us to sanctify us. Do you want to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit? Then “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

The Snake in the Desert

Jesus then compares his crucifixion with the Snake that was lifted up in the wilderness The Israelites were bitten by venomous snakes in the wilderness because they spoke against God and Moses for delivering them from Egyptian slavery. God instructed Moses to put a bronze snake on a pole. Those who wanted to live were to look on the Snake that was lifted up. Similarly, Jesus was “lifted up” on the cross of crucifixion. If we want to be saved we must look upon him. It is Jesus who saves us by offering himself as a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins. We should follow his example and be living sacrifices.

Do you want eternal life? Then be born again!

Jesus Clears the Temple

After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money.So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”

His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.“

Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.     John 2:12-25

First, Some Christians believe Mary was a virgin her whole life. Verse 12 should clear that question up.

There are many problems with what was going on in the Temple Courts when Jesus arrived. The Israelites were to sacrifice a Lamb from there own herd. They were to choose a lamb without defect and care for it several days before they offered it as a sacrifice. The lamb would often become like a pet to the family. Then they were to travel with the Lamb to Jerusalem to offer it as a sacrifice. The passover was supposed to involve an actual personal sacrifice.  Instead the Israelites were going to the temple and conveniently purchasing a lamb at the temple courts.

Secondly, those running the “market” in the Temple Courts were cheating the Israelites. It would be like us going to disney world and paying the very inflated prices for a soft drink and a hamburger. That is what was going on.  And worse, the poor were being squeezed out by the high prices.

But perhaps the worst thing of all is that this “market” was in the one place that Gentiles who were seeking God could gather to worship. The Temple was arranged with the Most Holy Place (where the Presence of God was) Only the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place and he could only enter one time each year on the Day of Atonement. The Next room was the Holy place where priests could offer sacrifices. Next was the room where the Jewish men could gather to worship. Then there was the room where the Jewish women could worship. Last of all was the one place where Gentiles could gather to worship. Gentiles who were seeking God. Imagine their first impression when they arrived at the place of worship and found a marketplace were businessmen were cheating their customers.

Are we cheating God when we meet for worship? Do we properly prepare ourselves for worship? Are our sacrifices truly sacrificial? Do we devote time to Bible Study and Prayer. Let’s avoid being like those conducting dishonest business in the Temple Courts.

The Jewish Leaders wanted a sign showing Jesus’ authority to cleanse the temple (A nice way to say he overturned tables and drove those in the “marketplace” out with a whip). Jesus said if you destroyed the Temple that he would raise it in three days. He was speaking of his own body. After his resurrection his followers finally understood what he was talking about. Today God does not dwell in a temple made by hands, he dwells with the hearts of his people. Let’s keep our selves pure. Lets offer ourselves as Living Sacrifices since we are the body of Christ.

Water to Wine

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine. Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. (John 2:1-11)

Little is known about the performance of first century weddings, but it is clear that the wedding feast was very important and could go on for a week. It was considered a serious offense to fail in providing proper hospitality to wedding guests. It was more than a social embarrassment to run out of wine at a wedding feast. Jesus and his mother, Mary, were guests at the feast. Mary noticed that the married couple had run out of wine and went to tell Jesus. Jesus knew what she was asking him to do and he tried to tell her it was not time for him to start his ministry. But Mary trusted what Jesus would do and asked some servants to do whatever he said to do. Clearly Mary knew that Jesus would do the right thing. She was in the unique position of knowing that Jesus’ birth was truly miraculous. She had heard angels tell her that she was highly favored. She knew she had been miraculously visited by the Holy Spirit. She knew that Jesus was born of a virgin. Mary had watched Jesus grew up and she obviously trusted him.

There were six large stone water jars that were normally used for ceremonial washings. Jesus told the servants to fill the jars with water and take some of it to the banquet master. They did so, and when the master of the banquet tasted it he wondered why the bride and groom had saved the best wine for last (most people brought out the worst wine last after banquet guests were drunk). This was Jesus’ first miracle. He turned ordinary water into fermented wine with no aging process and no grapes, only water. Jesus had compassion on the couple, not wanting them to be ashamed. In doing so, he revealed his glory to those around. Based on the miracle performed people began to follow Jesus.

All of us should follow Jesus. We all should know that there is a God. We all should be seeking to follow him. We should avoid being like the Jews that gathered around him and said “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. (John 10:24-26) We should avoid being like those for whom “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. (Romans 1:18-19)

Review: The Word, The Witness & Pointing the Way

We’ve spent the last many weeks on the Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. For those of you who are skeptics, I hope you now have some things to think about. But now it’s time to get back to our study of the Gospel of John.

Let’s review what we’ve considered so far.

The Word: When we open to the Gospel of John we see in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God. We observed that Jesus is the beginning and the end and that he is before the beginning and will forever more be. John’s opening words remind us of creation (Genesis also begins with “In the beginning”). What Jesus taught and what he did is inseparable from who he is. When Jesus took on human flesh, he did not give up any part of his deity. John tells us Jesus is fully God and was fully man. John tells us that Jesus was with God before the beginning of time. Jesus must be understood as fully God and fully man. Jesus deity is shown through the wonders of the universe that God created through him and in his mastery over it. His humanity is seen in his suffering as a man most notably shown in his crucifixion on the cross.

We observed that all of us have sinned. As sinners we cannot be in the presence of a Holy God. Our only hope is Jesus. Jesus is perfectly equipped to be the sacrifice that takes away our sin. As the Son of God he is able to satisfy God’s anger over our sin and his demand for perfection. As the Son of man he is able to understand our weakness. As God’s agent in creation he is able to redeem that which he created. Jesus is the only way to God. As we learn later in John 14:6 Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through” Him.

The Witness: In verse John 1:6 we are introduced to John. John was the prophet who was to point the way to Jesus. He is a faithful witness. He calls Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”. What a curious thing to call the Son of God. The imagery of the Lamb reminds me of the Lamb that was sacrificed on the Day of Atonement under the old Covenant. Jesus has become for us that sacrificial lamb, but his sacrifice is once for all and does not need to be repeated. Jesus became that unblemished lamb that was sacrificed because of our sins. We should follow John’s example and declare that Jesus must become greater and we must become less.

Pointing the Way: John the Baptist came to baptize people with a baptism of repentance and prepare people for the ministry of Jesus. He announced that Jesus is the one who comes after him, the thongs of whose sandals he is not worthy to untie. His ministry was to point the way to Christ. If our job was to give tours through a great art museum, our job would be to point out great art and some of the finer points of certain paintings. If we tell people all about the art while we are standing in front of it, then no one can see the great work of art. We need to get out of the way. It’s not about us; it’s about the art. In the same way, we need to point people to Jesus, the Christ; the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. We need to get out of the way and point people to Jesus and his teachings.

Jesus’ First Disciples: As John was teaching and baptizing one day, he saw Jesus. As we would expect he pointed out Jesus to those who were listening. Two of those who were listening to him left and followed Jesus. One was Andrew and the other was probably John. The two disciples were willing to drop their own agenda’s to become disciples of Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was go to tell his brother that they had found the Messiah. We should quickly drop our agendas and follow Jesus like Andrew did and then look for others to introduce to the Messiah. He is the only way for people to be saved. If we keep that eternal perspective then we will seek to say and do things that make a difference in peoples’ lives both for time and eternity.

Keep the Faith,

Jeff

Resurrection! Unbelievers to Eternal Torment

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” Matthew 25:41-46.

All people will be in eternity at the end of the age. Those who belong to Christ will share eternal life in Heaven. Those who do not know Christ will share eternal torment in Hell. There are many jokes about Hell in our culture. Few treat the possibility of eternal torment in Hell with any seriousness. More people would be seeking ways to avoid hell if they knew the reality of the torment that awaits those who do not belong to Christ.

The Greek Bible word we translate as Hell is gehenna. The word derives from the Greek word for the Valley of Bin Hinnom in which idolatrous Israelites offered child sacrifices to the idols Molech and Baal (2 Chronicles 28:3; 2 Chronicles 33:6, Jeremiah 7:31-32; Jeremiah 19:2-6). The Greek word gehenna conjures images of burning bodies, bones, fires and birds tearing flesh from rotting bodies. A place where the “worm does not die and the fire is not quenched”. As graphic as this imagery is, it is just a symbol of the fullness of God’s wrath against the unbeliever. “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31)

Some people think of hell as separation from God. This is comforting to the non-Christian who wants to be separated from God. R.C Sproul says that the problem is that in hell people will not be separated from God, but that in fact God will be present and will carry out the fullness of his wrath against those who reject him. He goes on to conclude that the most horrifying thing about hell is its eternality. We can endure much if we know there is a limit to the suffering. People have endured dreadful things in life knowing that their suffering would eventually end. There is no such hope in hell. Jesus says of hell “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out–those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned”. (John 5:28-29)

Christ spoke more about the horrors of hell than the delight of heaven. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned his followers more than six times about hell including the use of such hyperbole such as in Mark 9:47-48 where Jesus said “And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell”. In the Olivet Discourse Christ repeatedly warned his followers of the judgment that is to come “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Matthew 25:31-34). Jesus goes on to say “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matthew 25:41, 46).

The concept of choice leads us to believe that there must be a hell. If there were no choice, then some would be dragged off to heaven against their will. Having no choice in the matter would make us like puppets of God doing whatever he willed for us to do. Furthermore, without choice there could be no love. A loving god does not force himself on humanity but rather voluntarily suffers rejection by those he created. Common sense also helps us realize that there must be a difference in eternal consequences. It would not be right for Hitler and Mother Theresa to receive the same eternal outcome.

What about you?

This is my last post on the reality and evidence of the Resurrection of Jesus. If you are still unconvinced of the reality of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, I invite you to comment. If you want a continuing or private dialogue then see my skeptics’ page. If requested, I would be happy to continue one on one dialogues offline. One thing each of us must do is choose whether we believe in Jesus as Savior or not. Our eternal destiny depends on our choice. Will you deny Christ or choose him as your Lord and Savior? “If serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

Resurection! Christians to Eternal Life

“But someone may ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?’ How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body” (1st Corinthians 15:35-44)

Some people believe that death is the cessation of life. Others believe that death is an escape from the body (even some fellow believers I know have believed this). Some who believe in reincarnation think that after we die we come back to this life as someone else (or worse as something else). Still others believe that our bodies are an illusion and the only thing that survives in death is an impersonal cosmic consciousness. Only Christians believe that our physical bodies will be resurrected.

I have often wondered what resurrection will be like. Eternal life for the Christian is described with marvelous imagery. The scenes of heaven are too grand for us to comprehend so God describes them in ways that we can imagine as being spectacular (a city with a foundation of precious gemstones, pearl gates, a street of gold, a crystal sea, a river of life, a tree of life bearing twelve crops of fruit and similar imagery).

The Bible gives us a glimpse of what resurrection will be like in passages like 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18: “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.”

The Seed

To inform our thinking about resurrection, Paul uses the imagery of a seed. Most of us can probably remember the days in grade school when we put a bean on a wet paper towel and watered it every day. The bean changed before our eyes. The bean was transformed into something new. The bean was still on that paper towel (it was not a not a “reincarnated” bean or a different bean). The bean had been transformed. The bean “died” and was “resurrected” with a new “body”.

The imagery of the bean’s transformation is helpful to our understanding of how we will be resurrected (see 1st Corinthians 15:35-44 above). “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed– in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1st Corinthians 15:42-57).

Spiritual Body

Paul says we will be “raised a spiritual body” (1st Corinthians 15:44). Some have mistaken this as the lack of a physical body. Jesus was resurrected as the “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1st Corinthians 15:20). When Jesus was resurrected, he still bore the scars of his crucifixion. “Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’ Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (John 20:27-28). Jesus’ physical body was resurrected and ours will be as well. “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you” (Romans 8:11).

It should also be noted that some the translation of “spiritual body” in 1st Corinthians 15:44 could read “supernatural body” (the footnotes in your Bible may refer to this as an alternate translation). The translation would then read “it is sown a natural body, it is raised a supernatural body” (1st Corinthians 15:44). In its context, the passage is talking about your physical body being transformed not eliminated. The “natural” man is not referring to a physical man, but a man who is controlled by human nature. Similarly, “spiritual” man is not referring to an immaterial man but to a man controlled by the spiritual nature.

Finally, in our resurrected bodies we will no longer be slaves to sin. We will truly be who we are in Christ. Currently we are positionally free from sin because of Christ’s substitutionary death, but we still struggle with sinful desires that we occasionally give in to. After our resurrection we will realize the fullness of our freedom from sin in Christ . (Revelation 21:3-5)  In the meantime, we wait eagerly for the day when Jesus returns to take us home. Come Lord Jesus!

Resurrection! – Jesus was Physically Resurrected

While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence. (Luke 24:36-43)

The physical resurrection of Jesus is constantly under attack by the culture and the media because it is central to the Christian faith. The Apostle Paul understood this when he said, “If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” (1st Cor. 15:32). Even worse, there are aberrant Christians as well as cultists who claim that Jesus was not physically resurrected. For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses say that Jesus was raised to life in a spirit body.

Evidence from Scripture

When Jewish leaders asked for a miraculous sign, Jesus answered, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” (John 2:19). Scripture confirms that the temple Jesus was referring to raising was his body (John 2:19-21). Peter declared on the day of Pentecost that Jesus “was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.” (Acts 2:29-32) John was equally emphatic in 1st John 1:1 “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched–this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.” The bodily resurrection of Jesus is so central to the Christian faith that the Bible is replete with similar references to the Physical resurrection of Jesus.

Confessions of the Church

The numerous confessions of early Christians also support the physical resurrection of Jesus. Justin Martyr rebuked those who claimed that Jesus was only spiritually resurrected. He also said, “The resurrection is a resurrection of the flesh which dies.” Cyril of Jerusalem said, “Let no heretic ever persuade thee to speak evil of Resurrection. For to this day the Manichees say, that the resurrection of the Saviour was phantom-wise, and not real.” In the fourth century, Augustine wrote, “Already both the learned and the unlearned have believed in the resurrection of the Flesh and its ascension to the heavenly places.” Likewise, Thomas Aquinas condemns those who “have not believed in the resurrection of the body, and have strained to twist the Holy Scripture to mean a spiritual resurrection.” Christians have also codified their confessions. For example, the Belgic Confession states, “our Lord Jesus Christ will come from heaven, corporally and visibly, as he ascended with great glory and majesty.” Similarly, in the Westminster Confession we read that Christ “was crucified, and died; was buried and remained under the power of death, yet saw no corruption. On the third day he rose from the dead, with the same body in which he suffered; with which he ascended into heaven, and there sitteth at the right hand of his Father.”

Characteristics of Christ’s Body

Finally, the characteristics of Christ’s give testimony to the physicality of Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus invited his disciples to examine his resurrected body so that they would know that it was the same body in which Jesus suffered. Jesus invited Thomas to “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side.” (John 20:27) If Jesus had been resurrected in an immaterial body, the disciples could not have touched it and felt the crucifixion wounds that Jesus bore. Jesus also ate in their presence – evidence that he possessed a physical body. Before Jesus ascended, he ate with his disciples (Acts 1:4-9). Jesus testified convincingly to his owned bodily resurrection when he said, “Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” (Luke 24:39).

Was Christ physically resurrected? Absolutely!

Resurrection! – Transformation

We are in week four of a study on the Resurrection of Jesus – the central event of Christianity. Without the Resurrection of Jesus, Christianity could not stand. In fact, the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Cor 15:14-19 “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep [metaphor for death] in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” (John 21:15-23)

Some do not believe that Jesus was resurrected; others believe his resurrection was not physical. We will seek the truth as we explore various aspects of resurrection and return to our study of the Gospel of John when we finish this study. After writting this post, I feel there are a few additional resurrection topics we must address, so in next week’s post we will look at the physicality of Jesus’ resurrection.

The primary source of my research is the Bible. The evidence for what the Bible says being true is extreme. The historicity of the Bible is well supported by events and people written about in other historical books, and by a staggering amount of archeological evidence, original transcript evidence and Messianic prophecy evidence. I also researched this topic using a book called “resurrection” by Hank Hanegraaff and other sources referenced in the book “resurrection”. If you wish to learn more about “resurrection”, the book is available for purchase at http://www.christianbook.com. Hank Hanegraaff heads the Christian Research Council. Thanks to Hank, our topic of study can be neatly arranged and memorized based on the acronym FEAT:

Fatal Torment
Empty Tomb
Appearances of Christ
Transformation

 

Transformation

John 21:15-23

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”

Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” John 21:15-23

 

Acts 2:22-36

“Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. David said about him:

‘I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will live in hope,
because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’ [Psalm 16:8-11]

“Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.’ [Psalm 110:1]

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:22-36)

 

Transformation

The resurrection of Jesus resulted in a few seemingly insignificant believers turning the world upside down in a few hundred years. This type of change in the hearts and minds of men and women is unprecedented in human history. Christians in the first century (and Christians today in certain parts of the world) are so utterly convinced of their eternal salvation based on Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice that they are willing to die horrible deaths rather than deny that Jesus is the Christ. It is inconceivable to think that the disciples of Jesus would be willing to die for what they knew to be a lie. This point is made very eloquently by Dr. Simon Greenleaf, the famous Royall Professor of Law at Harvard who wrote “A Treatise on the Law of Evidence” an excerpt of which follows:

The great truths which the apostles declared, were that Christ had risen from the dead, and that only through repentance from sin, and faith in him, could men hope for salvation. This doctrine they asserted with one voice, everywhere, not only under the greatest discouragements, but in the face of the most appalling terrors that can be presented to the mind of man.

Their master had recently perished as a malefactor, by the sentence of a public tribunal. His religion sought to overthrow the religions of the whole world. The laws of every country were against the teaching of his disciples. The interests and passions of all the rulers and great men in the world were against them. The fashion of the world was against them.

Propagating this new faith, even in the most inoffensive and peaceful manner, they could expect nothing but contempt, opposition, revilings, bitter persecutions, stripes imprisonments, torments and cruel deaths. Yet this faith they zealously did propogate; and all these miseries they endured undismayed, nay, rejoicing.

As one after another was put to a miserable death, the survivors only prosecuted their work with increased vigor and resolution. The annals of military warfare afford scarcely an example of the like heroic constancy, patience and unblenching courage. They had every possible motive to review carefully the grounds of their faith, and the evidences of the great facts and truths which they asserted; and these motives were pressed upon their attention with the most melancholy and terrific frequency. It was therefore impossible that they could have persisted in affirming the truths they have narrated, had not Jesus actually rose from the dead, and had they not known this fact as certainly as they knew any other fact.

If it were morally possible for them to have been deceived in this matter, every human motive operated to lead them to discover and avow their error. To have persisted in so gross a falsehood, after it was known to them, was not only to encounter, for life, all the evils which man could inflict, from without, but to endure also the pangs of inward and conscious guilt; with no hope of future peace, no testimony of a good conscience, no expectation of honor or esteem among men, no hope of happiness in this life, or in the world to come.

Such conduct in the apostles would moreover have been utterly irreconcilable with the fact, that they possessed the ordinary constitution of our common nature. Yet their lives do show them to have been men like all others of our race; swayed by the same motives, animated by the same hopes, affected by the same joys, subdued by the same sorrows, agitated by the same fears, and subject to the same passions, temptations and infirmities, as ourselves. And their writings show them to have been men of vigorous understandings. If then their testimony was not true, there was no possible motive for this fabrication.

 

The Twelve

As Greenleaf so wonderfully communicates, the Apostles were thoroughly transformed the Resurrection of Jesus. Peter, who denied Christ three times on the night Jesus was betrayed and was once afraid of being exposed as a follower of Jesus, was transformed into a man of great faith who died a martyrs death. According to tradition, Peter was crucified upside down because he did not feel worthy to be crucified in the same way Christ was crucified.

James, the half brother of Jesus who once hated everything his brother stood for, called himself “a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1). James became a leader in the Jerusalem church, but in AD 62 was martyred for his faith. Eusebius of Caesarea describes James as being thrown from the pinnacle of the Temple and subsequently stoned.

The Apostle Paul was also transformed as is illustrated by his letter to the Philippians:

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:7-11).

Peter, James and Paul were not alone in their transformation. As Christian philosopher J. P. Moreland points out, within weeks of Jesus’ resurrection, an entire community of at least 10,000 Jews were willing to give up the very sociological and theological traditions that had given them their national identity.

 

Traditions

Many traditions were transformed by Jesus resurrection. Among them were the Sabbath, sacrifices and sacraments. In Genesis, the Sabbath was set apart as a day of remembering and celebrating God’s work in creation (Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 20:11). After God’s people escaped from Egypt, the Sabbath was expanded as a remembrance of God’s deliverance (Deuteronomy 5:15). After Jesus was resurrected, the Sabbath became a celebration of the “rest” we have in Christ who delivers us from sin and death (Colossians 2:16-17, Hebrews 4:1-11). In remembrance of the resurrection of Christ, Christians began to meet on the first day of the week (the day of the week that Jesus was resurrected).

For Jewish believer, the sacrificial system they had followed whereby they repeatedly sacrificed animals as a symbol of there atonement for sin, but after the resurrection of Jesus, followers of Christ stopped sacrificing animals. They recognized that Jesus died once for all and only his perfect sacrifice could save them from eternal torment. They had finally realized that the sacrifice of animals could never remove sin and only served as a frequent reminder of their sin (Hebrews 8-10). After his resurrection, Jesus became for them the “Lamb who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

In addition, the Jewish sacraments of Passover and baptism were transformed. The Passover had previously been a remembrance of God’s deliverance of the Jews from death when the death angel “passed over” their houses in the tenth and final plague that resulted in their deliverance from Egyptian bondage. The Egyptian even was remembered with a Passover meal to remind them of the night that God had delivered them. After the resurrection of Jesus, the Passover meal became the Lord’s Supper in which the sacrifice of Jesus body and the shedding of his blood is remembered with a communion of unleavened bread and fruit of the vine. Only the resurrection of Jesus can account for the remembrance of his brutal death on the cross. Without the resurrection of Jesus it would be at the least cruel and morbid to remember his brutal suffering on a Roman cross (See Resurrection! – Fatal Torment) with a memorial meal. We would not remember the death of John F. Kennedy that way.

Resurrection! – The Appearances of Christ

Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?” “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.

Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.

They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.

He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:13-49)

The Eyewitnesses

In U.S. courts, those charged with crimes are either found guilty or not guilty based on the presentation of evidence and the testimony of eyewitnesses. To prove the resurrection of Jesus, Christians could point to the empty tomb and the lack of a body as evidence and to the testimony of a great number of eyewitnesses who had seen the resurrected Jesus.

The apostles spoke with great confidence about the Resurrection of Jesus because they actually saw him. The apostles said that Jesus had appeared hundreds of people who were still alive and could be cross examined about what they had seen. Paul said “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.
(1 Cor. 15:3-6)

Why does Paul mention that most of the eyewitnesses to Jesus’ resurrection were still living? Paul was inviting those who did not believe that Jesus had been resurrected to cross examine the eyewitnesses for themselves. There is no ambiguity in what Paul is saying. His testimony is very clear and his testimony can be backed up by more than five hundred other eyewitnesses who could be questioned by those who heard Paul’s testimony.

The Transformation

Further, what could account for Paul’s transformation? Paul was a highly esteemed Rabbi. He had been trained by Gamaliel, a highly regarded Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin (the highest Jewish council in the first century). Paul was a Pharisee, the largest and most influential religious-political party during New Testament times. Further, Paul persecuted the early Christians severely (Acts 7:51-8:1, Acts 8:3, Acts 9:1-2, Acts 22:3-5). How does a man like Paul (also known as Saul – Acts 13:9) suddenly change from a persecutor of Christians to a proclaimer of Christ? Only one thing could account for such a rapid change – he had seen the risen Jesus (Acts 9:4-5, Acts 22:7-8 and Acts 26:14-18).

The Decision

If you were a jury member in a trial to determine the truth about whether Jesus was resurrected, and you had seen the empty tomb and heard the testimony of over five hundred eyewitnesses who testified that Jesus had been resurrected, what would your verdict be?

Keep the faith, Jeff

Resurrection! – The Empty Tomb

We are in week two of a deeper study on the Resurrection of Jesus – the central event of Christianity. Without the Resurrection of Jesus, Christianity could not stand. In fact, the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Cor 15:14-19 “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep [metaphore for death] in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.”

Some do not believe that Jesus was resurrected; others believe his resurrection was not physical. We will seek the truth as we explore various aspects of resurrection and return to our study of the Gospel of John when we finish this study, unless interested readers lead us in a different direction.

The primary source of my research is the Bible. The evidence for what the Bible says being true is extreme. The historicity of the Bible is well supported by events and people written about in other historical books, and by a staggering amount of archeological evidence, original transcript evidence and Messianic prophecy evidence. I also researched this topic using a book called “resurrection” by Hank Hanegraaff and other sources referenced in the book “resurrection”. If you wish to learn more about “resurrection”, the book is available for purchase at http://www.christianbook.com. Hank Hanegraaff heads the Christian Research Council. Thanks to Hank, our topic of study can be neatly arranged and memorized based on the acronym FEAT:

Fatal Torment
Empty Tomb
Appearances of Christ
Transformation

Jesus’ Tomb was Empty

It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 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 Joses saw where he was laid. When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. (Mark 15:42-16:8)

The author of “The Case for Christ”, Lee Strobel – who was an atheist until he research Christianity for himself, said “when you understand the role of women in the first century in first century Jewish society, what’s really extraordinary is that the empty tomb story should feature females as the discoverers of the empty tomb.” In fact, “any later legendary account would have certainly portrayed male disciples as discoverers of the empty tomb, Peter or John for example. The fact that women are the first witnesses to the empty tomb is most plausibly explained by the reality that – like it or not – they were the discoverers of the empty tomb! This shows that the gospel writers faithfully recorded what happened, even if it was embarrassing.”

The Female Factor

The testimony of women was regarded as so worthless that they could not even testify in a court of law. If a man committed a crime and only women witnessed the crime, he could not be convicted on their testimony. Women were on a low rung of the Jewish social ladder. Prior to the coming of Christ, women were so disparaged that one the early Jewish prayers from the era of Jesus stated “I thank you that I am not a woman”.

If Jesus had been the traditional Rabbi, he would not have allowed women to be his disciples. The biblical record is clear. Jesus not only allowed women to follow him; he encouraged it. There are other examples in the Bible where Jesus broke cultural norms as he encountered women. Consider for example that Jesus invited women to follow him on his journeys and spoke to the Samaritan woman (being a Samaritan [Jews considered Samaritans unworthy because they were not fully Jewish] and a woman, the typical Jew would not have spoken to her at all). Jesus didn’t think that it was odd for Mary to sit at his feet to learn and he encourage Martha to do the same. Jews segregated men and women in both the Temple and in Synagogue, but the early church did not segregate their congregations. The apostle Paul wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). If someone had been trying to fictionally create the Bible, women would have never had a prominent place in the Ministry of Jesus. It is because the account of an empty tomb is true that the story features the women who discovered the empty tomb.

First Response

The first Jewish response to the empty tomb pre-supposes the empty tomb. Instead of denying the empty tomb, Christian antagonists accused the disciples of stealing the body of Jesus. Stories saying that Jesus body was stolen from the tomb continued for centuries. While these stories have no historical merit, they underscore one of the oldest evidences - the empty tomb. In fact, Christianity could not have survived an identifiable tomb with the body of Jesus still in it. If those who denied Jesus could have pointed to a tomb with the body of Jesus in it they could have quickly discredited the disciples and their teachings. Even antagonists of the Christian faith must acknowledge the historicity of the empty tomb!

Next week we will look at the Appearances of Christ, a special type of Empty Tomb proof.

Resurrection! – Fatal Torment

During the coming weeks we will be taking a break from studying the Gospel of John to take an in depth look at the central event of Christianity – Jesus’ Resurrection. Some do not believe that Jesus was resurrected; others believe his resurrection was not physical. We will take a look at the topic to seek the truth.

The primary source of this information is the Bible. The evidence for what the Bible says being true is extreme, but here are a few thoughts about the historicity of the Bible for your consideration. First the Bible mentions numerous historical characters that can be validated outside the Bible. The descriptions of some of these are very specific. Consider these examples:

• “In the year that King Uzziah died…”
• “This oracle came in the year King Ahaz died…”;
• “In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Evil-Merodach became king of Babylon…”;
• “They served in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and of Ezra the priest and scribe”.;
• (“This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria”.);
• “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar–when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene–…”.

I could continue, but you get the idea. In addition, the archeological evidence, the original transcript evidence and the Messianic prophecy evidence is staggering. The Bible has exponentially more historical evidence than any other book, including Homer’s Iliad. Much more could be said about the evidence favoring the historicity of the Bible, but that is a topic for another day.

During the coming weeks our topic of study will cover four areas listed in the bullets below. My extra-Bible research is primarily from a book called “resurrection” by Hank Hanegraaff. If you wish to learn more about resurrection, the book is available for purchase at http://www.christianbook.com. Hank Hanegraaff heads the Christian Research Council (CCR – see www.equip.org). Thanks to Hank, our topic of study can be neatly arranged and memorized based on the acronym FEAT:

• Fatal Torment
• Empty Tomb
• Appearances of Christ
• Transformation

Jesus’ Crucifixion was Fatal

When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him. From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”–which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.” And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. (Matthew 27:35-50)

As we begin to consider resurrection, the first thing to recognize is that Jesus actually died on the cross. The best medical minds have concluded that Jesus actually died on the cross (See “The Crucifixion of Jesus: The Passion of Christ from a Medical Point of View,” Arizona Medicine, March 1965, pages 183-187 & “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ,” The Journal of the American Medical Association, March 21, 1986, pages 1455-1463.The torment of Jesus actually began before he was nailed to the cross. It first began on the Mount of Olives, one of Jesus’ favorite places to be alone in prayer. After an emotional last supper where Jesus identified his betrayer, Jesus likely experienced a medical condition known as hematidrosis. Tiny capillaries in Jesus’ sweat glands ruptured and he literally sweated blood.

On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Luke 22:40-44 NIV)

The same night Jesus was betrayed by Judas, disowned by Peter, arrested by the temple guard, brought before the High Priest, mocked, beaten and spat upon. The Next morning Jesus was stripped and subjected to a Roman flogging. The Romans had perfected torture. Jesus was flogged with a whip made of several strips of leather woven with pieces of bone and metal near the ends of the leather strips (called a “flagrum”). Victims of a Roman flogging were beaten almost to the point of death and often did not survive. After he was flogged, the Romans put a scarlet robe on Jesus (a sign of royalty) and fashioned a crown of thorns for his head (likely made from olive branches – very long thorns). They pressed the thorns into his head and gave him a scepter. They mocked him mercilessly. After they mocked him, they took the scepter out of his hand and repeatedly beat him on the head, commanding him to prophesy about who hit him.

Jesus was undoubtedly in critical condition at this point. A heavy wooden beam (or cross) was placed on Jesus back for him to carry to Golgotha, “the place of the skull”, where he was to be crucified. We had to invent this word crucify and the word excruciating (literally “out of the cross”) to adequately categorize the suffering that occurs in death by crucifixion.

At “the place of the skull”, The Roman soldiers drove thick spikes (about seven inches long) through Jesus’ hands and feet. Jesus, now nailed to a cross, was in excruciating pain as the spikes cut through nerves in his hands and feet. The Roman soldiers then raised Jesus’ cross and dropped it into hole for Jesus to hang there and die. Breathing at this point is becoming extremely painful as Jesus had to raise himself up on his hands and feet to take a breath. For three hours Jesus suffered in this way until finally he uttered the words “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”–which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”He then said “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” and he breathed his last breath.

Shortly after Jesus breathed his last, a Roman soldier thrust his spear into Jesus’ side to make sure he was dead. From the wound rushed forth blood and water verifying that Jesus was dead. Blood and water flowing from Jesus’ side was likely caused by medical conditions known as pleural effusion and pericardial effusion. These conditions in Jesus would have been caused by his flogging as well as his crucifixion. What Jesus experienced resulted in a significant loss of body fluids. His heart would have begun to pump rapidly (trying to pump blood that was not there). In addition, his body would have begun to conserve fluids and would have tried to gain more fluids by making him thirsty. Those who suffer from these conditions often pass out and experience extreme thirst; which is probably why Jesus could not carry his cross all the way to Golgotha (a Roman soldier told a man from Cyrene named Simon to carry Jesus’ cross) and why Jesus said “I am thirsty” when he was on the cross.

I think from all this evidence we are very safe in concluding that Jesus actually died a physical death. Next time we will consider the Empty Tomb.

Father, I come to you in Jesus’ name asking you to forgive my sins. I am so sorry that Jesus had to suffer such a painful death to redeem me. I am extremely thankful that he suffered on my behalf so that I didn’t have to. Thank you for your grace, by which I am saved! Help me to glorify you in all I say and do and think. Thank you for adopting me into your eternal family. May your name be praised forevermore!

Keep the Faith, Jeff

Jesus’ First Disciples

The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter). (John 1:35-42)

Who were the two disciples? One is Andrew and the other is unnamed. It is probable that the second disciple was John. They had been disciples of John the Baptists and had been probably baptized by when, but when John the Baptist said “Look, the Lamb of God”. The two disciples left and followed Jesus. Knowing that Jesus was the Messiah (the Christ), Andrew immediately thought of his brother Simon. It was important to Andrew that he share the good news about Jesus with those he loved. We would do well to follow Andrew’s example and share Jesus, and the good news that he came into the world to save us, with those around us. Are you willing to follow Jesus?

Pointing The Way

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.” The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:29-36 NIV)

There goes John again, pointing the way to Christ. While John is baptizing he sees Jesus and proclaims “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” “Lamb of God” is a curious phrase for John to use to describe Jesus. It is only used here and in verse 36. Did john have in mind the Passover Lamb, or perhaps the Lamb that God would provide to spare Abraham’s son? Maybe he had in mind the Lamb of Isaiah 53 who was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities or maybe the worthy Lamb of Revelation five sitting in the middle of the throne that looked as if he was slain. Clearly Jesus was the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world!

John knew it was Jesus because God told him that the one on whom he saw the Spirit come down from heaven and remain was Jesus. John saw this happen at the Baptism of Jesus after which God said from heaven “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” John was physically older than Jesus, but John said “a man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me”. As we remember back to John 1:1 we think of Jesus as the eternal Word. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Jesus may have been physically younger, but he certainly was before John and surpassed John in every way (as John was always quick to point out).

John opens this passage pointing to Jesus the Lamb of God and closes it with Jesus the Son of God. Let’s remember Jesus, the Son of God and the Lamb who takes away our sins.