Archive for the 'Christology' Category

Flee the Hidden God and Run to Christ

Published on August 21, 2011 in Christology and suffering. 1 Comment

Rather than working yourself into a mental tizzy over elusive questions, run to Christ.

Philip Yancey:

Martin Luther encouraged his students to flee the hidden God and run to Christ, and I now know why. If I use a magnifying glass to examine a fine painting, the object in the center of the glass stays crisp and clear, while around the eges the view grows increasingly distorted. For me, Jesus has become the focal point. When I speculate about such imponderables as the problem of pain or providence versus free will, everything becomes fuzzy. But if I look at Jesus himself, at how he treated actual people in pain, at his calls to free and diligent action, clarity is restored. I can worry myself into a spiritual ennui over questions like ‘What good does it do to pray if God already knows everything?’ Jesus silences such questions: he prayed, so should we (Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew, 265).’

The Birther Question Deserves Our Attention This Weekend

Published on April 22, 2011 in Christology, Easter and Holy Week. 1 Comment

Donald Trump has recently made a point of asking to see documentation for the President’s place of birth. While I don’t have people on the ground in Hawaii, I’m not personally persuaded this questions needs any attention.  I’m not planning on reading up on the Obama-Birther discussion Saturday morning.

But, there is another “birther question” that is one that ought to concern us all: Is Jesus the Son of God?

Scripture, in many different ways tell us that Jesus is the Son of God: “The Word became flesh (John 1:14)”, “that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20). . .”

My friend Dr. Lamonte King, Jr. reminded me earlier today that Paul begins Romans by reminding his audience that “Jesus was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4).”

If there was any question about Jesus’s Messianic qualification, if there were any Donald Trump types floating about Jerusalem in the days leading up to the Cross, the question of Jesus’ identity was solved once and for all when God made declaration of the identity of His Son in the resurrection.

Nails in our pockets this Good Friday, and every day

Published on April 22, 2011 in Christology and Soteriology. 1 Comment

In, The Cross Centered Life, C.J. Mahaney quotes Luther in explaining that we all carry the nails of the Cross in our pockets:

You and I follow along as the Romans lead Jesus away to the hill called Golgotha – - “Place of a Skull.” They nail His quivering flesh onto a cross, then raise it and slam it on the ground.

From all around us in the throng of onlookers, the verbal abuse continues. Those passing by wag their heads and say, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” The chief priests and the scribes and the elders echo the mockery: “He saved others; he cannot save himself.

Make no mistake: Jesus can descend from the cross and save Himself at any moment.  It isn’t the nails that keep Him there.  What keeps Him there is what placed Him there – - His passion to do the will of His Father, and His love for sinners like you and me.

Without their knowing it, the mocking words these onlookers utter do in fact reveal the uniqueness of the Savior’s death and why it mattered.  In their spiritual blindness they in effect express sublime spiritual truths. For Jesus cannot save both Himself and save you and me. It’s precisely because He refused to save Himself that He’s able to save others.

It would be necessary for Him to die even if it were for your sin alone or my sin alone. That’s why you and I are fully responsible for this tragic death. As John Stott wisely observed, “Until you see the cross as that which is done by you, you will never appreciate that it is done for you.”

Luther said that we all carry in our pockets His very nails. Are you aware of those nails in your possession?

Why X is used when it replaces “Christ” in Christmas?

Published on December 11, 2010 in Christology. 0 Comments

R.C. Sproul explains:

The simple answer to your question is that the X in Christmas is used like the R in R.C. My given name at birth was Robert Charles, although before I was even taken home from the hospital my parents called me by my initials, R.C., and nobody seems to be too scandalized by that.

The rest here.

HT: Challies

It’s a good day to go hang gliding in a hurricane

Published on April 4, 2010 in Christology. 1 Comment

“So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples (Matthew 28:8).”

They experienced fear.

And, great joy.

What a combination.

No one can have invented the reaction of the two Mary’s to the resurrection.  Matthew’s description was that they were simultaneously fully of joy and terrified.  Which only makes sense.  That Jesus rose from the dead is wonderful news, but it isn’t safe or tame.

This morning, if you truly contemplate the resurrection, then you may simultaneously experience both fear and joy – - like hang gliding in a hurricane.

S.M. Lockridge: Sunday’s Comin

Published on April 2, 2010 in Christology, Easter and suffering. 0 Comments

HT: JT

What is Maundy Thursday?

Published on April 1, 2010 in Christology, Church and Sacraments. 0 Comments

Kevin DeYoung gives a helpful introduction:

Like millions of Christians around the world, we will have a Maundy Thursday tonight. If you’ve never heard the term, it’s not Monday-Thursday (which always confused me as a kid), but Maundy Thursday, as in Mandatum Thursday. Mandatum is the Latin word for “command” or “mandate”, and the day is called Maundy Thursday because on the night before his death Jesus gave his disciples a new command. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34).

At first it seems strange that Christ would call this a new command.

The rest here.

What happened each day during Holy week?

Published on March 30, 2010 in Christology. 0 Comments

Justin Taylor is doing a series that summarizes what happened each day of the week the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified.  For example, today’s post for Tuesday reads:

Jesus’ disciples see the withered fig tree on their return to Jerusalem from Bethany

Matthew 21:20-22

When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying,

“How did the fig tree wither at once?”

And Jesus answered them,

“Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

Mark 11:20-21

As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him,

“Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”

Jesus engages in conflict with the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem

Matthew 21:23-23:39

You can follow the series here.