Jesus Death: Ugly And Beautiful At Once
Some portions of Scripture are very pleasant to read and very popular.
Who doesn’t like Psalm 23. Even nonreligious people enjoy reading this passage and many can repeat it from memory.
We love to talk about God’s grace and the song “Amazing Grace” is still one of the most popular songs in the world.
We love to talk about the nativity. Pictures have been painted, scenes have been constructed and theatrical productions have been organized all of which depict the beautiful story of Jesus’ birth.
But there are other portions of Scripture we don’t enjoy so much. The last few chapters of each Gospel tell us about the death of Jesus and the reports don’t make very pleasant reading.
When Jesus died it was visually very ugly. His accusers were unfair, unreasonable and manipulative. His executioners were aggressive, violent, abusive and cruel and the Gospel writers recorded all of it in great detail.
The amount of time covered from His arrest to His death was at least fifteen hours, possibly longer, and the humiliation Jesus endured during that time was unspeakable. He was lied about, spit on, whipped, mocked with a crown of thorns and beaten so badly He couldn’t be recognized (Isaiah 52:14). Even His disciples forsook Him.
And because He knew what was coming, just before His arrest He agonized in prayer.
Most people, preferring romance or mystery to gore, shy away from this type of reading. But when it comes to the death of Jesus we should take another look. Read more
Jonathan Edwards Talked Hell, Promised No Heaven
I’m not sure what you would call it but the congregation’s response to Jonathan Edward’s famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, was not a revival.
He wasn’t speaking to heretics, hecklers or blasphemers. In fact, his hearers weren’t even skeptical. They were regular congregants and they were anything but slack. They endured long, dry, complicated, and often irrelevant or condemning discussions on Bible topics every week.
Deadening, yes, but showing up every week was a sign of determined commitment. They weren’t indifferent.
The services were probably lifeless – the effect had to be numbing – but we can’t blame the attenders for that and there is no reason to accuse them of being spiritually casual.
Mr. Edwards was clearly a very intelligent man with a remarkable ability to articulate his thoughts. But in spite of these abilities those who heard him found his theology difficult to assimilate. Read more
Heaven Closed To Sow’s Ears!
Jesus to Nicodemus
“You Must Be Born Again”
When Jesus made that statement, Nicodemus didn’t understand what He meant. I offer the following as an illustration of what it means and why it is so.
Sow’s Ears and Silk Purses
My mother said it, your mother said it and anyone with common sense knows the following statement is true…
You cannot turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse.
This maxim is recognized universally and is usually interpreted to mean:
- Inferior materials can’t be used to make superior products.
But it also implies that…
- The nature of two vastly different materials can never be the same.
One thing cannot become another: water can’t become oil, salt can’t become sugar, tree trunks don’t become steel, fat doesn’t convert to protein and so on.
And in the case of a sow’s ear there are no conditions under which that principle doesn’t apply: Read more
Sincerity Is Not Salvation
Cornelius was a very interesting person. The Bible actually says he was so convincingly devout that his family followed in his steps. He also gave generously (much) to charitable needs, he feared God and he prayed constantly. He was trusted and had influence with many people.
The least you could say about Cornelius is he was sincere. It was in response to his sincerity that God spoke to him in a vision and on the basis of that fact alone we conclude that sincerity is important.
- The quality of every relationship is measured by the sincerity of those involved.
- Sincere people are honest and trustworthy. The opposite is duplicity, i.e., operating with ulterior motives and hidden agendas.
- Sincere people never say one thing while intentionally meaning another. When they disagree with others they are honest about it without being disagreeable.
- Sincere people are forthright. They say exactly what they mean and mean exactly what they say.
- Sincere people look for truth, they don’t try to reshape it.
- A sincere person can never knowingly be compromised.
- Insincere people are complacent about error and glib toward truth. They aren’t so easily led by God.
- God responds to sincerity.
But being sincere does not automatically make you Christian and Cornelius’ experience proves it. You can read his story in Acts 10. Read more
Rich Young Ruler Misses Heaven??
Three Gospels report an incident in which a young man approaches Jesus and asks specifically how he could inherit eternal life. Jesus’ response is a bit confusing and makes it difficult – not impossible – to achieve a clear interpretation. Because of the confusion this passage is often ignored or misrepresented.
This post is an attempt to bring sense to an otherwise perplexing situation.
The young man, who happened to be of the ruling class and therefore wealthy, approaches Jesus (Mark says he ran to Jesus and knelt) asking how he might inherit eternal life.
It’s a good question. We have to give him high marks just for asking.
The interesting thing is, Jesus did not convulsively respond with the standard “confess your sinfulness and trust in me” answer.
Instead, in this situation, He attempted to explore the heart of this young man and in the conversation that followed, Jesus said three things that cause us to raise our eyebrows:
- One, He asked “why do you call me good,” making the point that only God was good, seemingly insinuating that He was neither good nor God.
- Two, He told the man eternal life could be entered by keeping the commandments.
- Three, He directed the man to sell everything he owned and give the proceeds to the poor.
Obviously, these remarks don’t gel with our understanding of truth. They really make us wonder: Read more
Tim Pepper - Beautiful Frustration