1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers conspire together against the Lord and his Anointed One: 3 “Let’s tear off their chains and throw their ropes off of us.”
4 The one enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord ridicules them. 5 Then he speaks to them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath: 6 “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”
7 I will declare the Lord’s decree. He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You will break them with an iron scepter; you will shatter them like pottery.”
10 So now, kings, be wise; receive instruction, you judges of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with reverential awe and rejoice with trembling. 12 Pay homage to the Son or he will be angry and you will perish in your rebellion, for his anger may ignite at any moment. All who take refuge in him are happy.
~Psalm 2
Series: Praying through the Psalms Text: Psalm 2.1-12 Church: South Caraway Baptist Church, Jonesboro, AR Date: April 5, 2023
It is commonplace in American Christianity to hear people talk about going to heaven when they die. For most people, this is the promise of the Gospel, that if you believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of sin and live a morally good and ethical life for the most part, then you will get to go to heaven when you die. This is usually conceptualized as a kind of purely spiritual (nonmaterial, nonphysical) existence of some kind (think halos, harps, and clouds). However, this is a far cry from the biblical picture of eternal life. First, eternal life is not simply a limitless quantity of life that we experience when we die, though it certainly includes this; rather is a certain quality of life, i.e. the life of the messianic age, that we begin to experience even now in part on this side of glory. But, more importantly, the Christian vision for life after death is for a resurrected embodied life. This is a crucial aspect of the biblical understanding of salvation, but it is so often neglected, ignored, or outright denied. And so, since this is the week in which we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, I would like to use the space that follows to explore the biblical foundation of the biblical hope for resurrection.
First, we must affirm that human beings were created as composite wholes, that is with a body and a soul. Some theologians would argue for a tripartite division, i.e. body, soul, and spirit, but the point remains the same, namely that the body is essential for what it means to be human. In Genesis, chapter 2, verse 7, we read, “Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.” In other words, when the “spirit of life” (the Hebrew word for “breath” can also be translated as “spirit”) entered into the body made of dust, the first man became a living being. Both components were necessary to complete the first man; therefore, to exist as spirit only would be an incomplete, non-human existence. This is why the incarnation was necessary; as the author of Hebrews argues in chapter 10, verse 5 (quoting Psalm 40.6 LXX), “Therefore, as he was coming into the world, he said: You did not desire sacrifice and offering, but you prepared a body for me.” In order to redeem humanity, it was necessary that the Son of God should become fully human, body and soul, and if He was anything less than fully human, then the redemption He secured would be incomplete. Or to put it another way, that which He did not assume, He cannot redeem. And the only way that the body can be redeemed from death is through resurrection.
Of course, this leads right into the second biblical foundation of our resurrection, namely that Jesus Christ was resurrected bodily from the dead. A cursory reading of the Gospel accounts of our Lord’s passion leads to the inescapable conclusion that Jesus died bodily, He was raised bodily, He ascended bodily, and He will return bodily. He was no mere apparition or ghost; He was not some kind of spirit only being that appeared at random. In the Gospel of Luke, we read that Jesus ate with the disciples after His resurrection, both on the road to Emmaus and in the upper room, and in the Gospel of John, we read that He invited Thomas to touch the holes in His hands and in His side. So, while His resurrected body was different in many ways, there was still a corporeal continuity to His bodily existence both before and after His resurrection. Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, the Apostle Paul argues that the physical bodily resurrection of Jesus is the lynchpin of the Gospel. “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15.17) In other words, the bodily resurrection of Jesus was necessary for our salvation to be complete. It was not only necessary for Him to die physically for our sin, but it was also necessary for Him to be raised physically to new life. The bodily resurrection makes His work of redemption complete, and because He has been raised, He is able to offer resurrection life to those who trust in Him.
Consequently, this is the third biblical foundation for the Christian hope of resurrection, namely that the bodily resurrection of Jesus is the ground and promise for the bodily resurrection of those who have trusted in Him. Because He has been raised bodily, we who have trusted in Him will also be raised bodily. This is the inescapable logic of our union with Christ. As the Apostle Paul argues in the Letter to the Romans, chapter 6, verse 5, “For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection.” Or again, in 1 Corinthians, chapter 15, verse 20, “But as it is, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” The fact that He is the “first fruit” necessarily implies that there will be more fruit to come, and it is clear that the fruit Paul is envisioning in this context is the bodily resurrection of those who have been united with Jesus by faith. So, the promise of the Gospel, the Christian hope, is not merely going to heaven when we die; it is nothing less than resurrection from the dead. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.” (1 Thessalonians 4.14)
So, while the idea of going to heaven when we die sounds nice and comforting, the truth of the matter is that those who ignore or deny the future resurrection of the body really have no hope at all. All they really have is a vague notion of something resembling hope, which is really no better than an empty wish. It has no substance, no grounding in biblical realities at all. Disembodied existence as spirit only is not true life, at least not life the way that God intended it for humanity. God alone is spirit, and we are His creatures. The desire to shed the flesh and exist as pure spirit is a desire that comes from pagan philosophy and not from the Bible. The true biblical Christian hope is far better. It is nothing less than the fullness of embodied life that God always intended for humanity. It is eternal life, resurrected life, in the presence of God forever. In other words, the promise of the Gospel is not so much that we will get to go up to heaven when we die, but that heaven will come down to us when Jesus comes again to establish His kingdom on earth once and for all. This is the blessed hope, the Christian hope.
See also: Chase, Mitchell L. Resurrection Hope and the Death of Death. Short Studies in Biblical Theology. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2022. Wright, N.T. Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. New York, NY: HarperOne, 2008.
The events of Holy Week stand as the climax of the public ministry of Jesus in the Gospel accounts. All four of the Gospel writers devote almost half of their material to these events. Clearly, they intended for this story to stand at the center of our reflection on the person and work of Jesus. However, for most modern Christians, the events of Holy Week receive only a passing nod. Of course, we look forward to Easter and the cultural dressings that accompany it, and most churches emphasize the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday, whether through song, sermon, or drama. But other than that, the final week of our Lord’s life mostly goes unacknowledged in the reflection and devotion of many people who call themselves His followers. As the Apostle James would say, “My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.” (James 3.10) The person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ should be the central focus of our reflection, not only during Holy Week, but every week of the year, because He is the never ending source of the sustaining grace that we need to live as His followers. So, in the space that follows, I would like to briefly sketch out the daily events of Holy week, so that we may grow in our understanding of what He accomplished on our behalf.
Palm Sunday On Palm Sunday, Jesus made His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. This was His official presentation before the Jerusalem religious establishment as the long-awaited Messianic King. Matthew informs us that this event is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah 9.9 (Matthew 21.4-5), and we have this confirmed by the shouts of the Galilean pilgrims who sang “Hosanna” (Mark 11.9-10). However, as elated and joyous as the crowds were that day, we know that there is darkness on the horizon. Even as He was approaching the Holy City, He paused to weep over their lack of faith (Luke 19.41-44). It is likely that many of those who joined in the procession that day expected that this would be the day when Jesus would overthrow the Romans and establish Israel as an independent kingdom, and yet His disciples knew that He had already predicted three times that He would be crucified in Jerusalem. So, even as the disciples celebrated the arrival of Messiah, they waited with bated breath as His public ministry began to approach its primary purpose.
Monday The last thing Jesus did on Sunday before retiring to Bethany for the night was to inspect the Temple (Mark 11.11), and in the subsequent scenes, the Gospel writers make it clear what He found there. On Monday, as they were heading back into the city, Jesus happened upon a fig tree that appeared to be fruitful, but finding it empty, He cursed it. It subsequently withered. In between these scenes, we have the familiar story of the temple cleansing. The implication is clear; the temple (and the Jerusalem religious establishment that it represents) was fruitless and empty. Though it had all the right external dressings, it was empty of any and all spiritual substance. And so, in what can only be described as a public act of prophetic judgment, Jesus clears the temple and begins to teach the people. This act was the final straw for the Jewish religious leaders, and from that point on, they began to look intently for a way to kill Him.
Tuesday, the “Day of Controversy” On Tuesday of His passion, Jesus returned to the “scene of the crime”, so to speak, and as He was walking through the Temple, various factions representing the leadership of the Jewish religious establishment began to question him. The first question that they ask is the most telling and sets the tone for the rest of the day. “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do these things?” they asked, in what was clearly an accusatory manor. It is obvious that their questions were not in earnest, and each successive interaction reveals their scheme with more clarity. But as the “Day of Controversy” unfolds, Jesus ably avoids their traps, and in the process, He exposes the true nature of their problem. Time and again, He brings the discussion back to the Scriptures, exposing the stubborn refusal of His opponents to submit to their authority. In other words, their problem is not with Him per se; rather, it is with the authority of God which He represents as Messiah. His is an authority that they all but refuse to submit to, and it is this refusal that ultimately provokes Jesus to condemn of the Temple and all that it represents in the Olivet Discourse. In this discourse, Jesus turns the attention of His disciples away from the religious, political, and nationalistic hopes of the Jewish religious establishment to a hope that culminates in His return in glory to establish the Kingdom of God once and for all.
“Silent” Wednesday Wednesday of Holy Week is known as “Silent Wednesday”, because the Gospels are practically silent as to the activity of Jesus and the Disciples on that day. It is most likely that they spent the day in Bethany with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus enjoying the limited time that they had left to be together. It is also likely that it was on this Wednesday, as they were sharing a meal together in the home of Simon the Leper, that the woman with the alabaster jar came to anoint Jesus (Mark 14.3-10). Immediately, Judas raised the alarm that this valuable commodity had been wasted when it could have been sold and the profits given to the poor. But, when his concerns were seemingly dismissed by Jesus, it was the final straw. Apparently, this event was the breaking point for Judas, and immediately, he went out to plot with the Jewish religious leaders to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. This is why this day is also known as “Spy” Wednesday.
Maundy Thursday (See also “On Maundy Thursday”) On Thursday morning, Jesus instructed His disciples on where they could prepare to celebrate the Passover, and later that evening, Jesus arrived at the location where He would celebrate His Last Supper with them. The evening began with Jesus donning the apparel of a servant and washing the disciples feet. Using this action as an object lesson, Jesus went on to teach them in the Upper Room Discourse (John 13-17) about a New Commandment, “that you should love one another.” This is why we call it “Maundy” Thursday; the name comes from the Latin mandatum which means command, “a new commandment.” During the course of the evening, Jesus predicted that the disciples would betray Him (even Peter would do so three times before the rooster crowed), and Judas left to prepare for his act of betrayal. The evening concluded with the sharing of the bread and cup as symbols of His body that was about to be broken and His blood that was about to be shed for the forgiveness of sins as the inauguration of the New Covenant. After their meal, they adjourned to the Garden of Gethsemane, and while the disciples slept, Jesus prayed three times that “this cup” (by which He meant His passion) would pass from Him. Shortly thereafter, the mob arrived, Judas completed his betrayal with a kiss, and Jesus was arrested.
Good Friday After His arrest, Jesus was carried away to the house of the High Priest where He was subjected to a sham trial in the darkness of night. The fix was in, as they say, as one by one witnesses were brought in to make false accusations against Him, and yet, throughout it all, He remained quiet. At first light, they brought Him before the Roman authorities, because the Jewish religious leaders lacked the authority to put anyone to death, and after being examined and found innocent by both Pontius Pilate and Herod Antipas, the religious leaders stirred up the crowd to call for His death. So, Pilate offered them a choice; he would release Barabbas the murderer or Jesus, the so-called King of the Jews. Again, the religious leaders stirred up the crowd, and they called for the release of Barabbas and for the crucifixion of Jesus. Pilate gave them what they asked for; he turned Jesus over to the Romans soldiers to be mocked and beaten, and then they led him away to be crucified. At the top of Golgotha, they nailed him to a cross and crucified him between two criminals. The soldiers cast lots for His clothes, and the Jewish religious leaders mocked him. At about three in the afternoon, He cried out with a loud voice “It is finished” and yielded up His Spirit to His Father. The Roman soldiers pierced His side with a spear to confirm that He was dead. Joseph of Arimathea requested His body and buried it in his own personal tomb before the start of the Sabbath at sundown.
Holy Saturday The Gospels are mostly silent as to the details of Holy Saturday. Of course, it was the Jewish sabbath, a day dedicated to rest and to the worship of God, but for the followers of Jesus, this day was probably not very restful, to say the least. After all, they had just watched in horror as their beloved Master was wrongfully accused, unjustly convicted, and tragically executed. Jesus was dead, and it appeared that all their hopes had died with Him. He was supposed to be the Messiah, the prophesied and anointed King who would establish the Kingdom of God on earth, and He had been murdered, seemingly defeated by the worldly powers that be. Sure, he had predicted His own death and resurrection, but it is clear that they had no understanding of what that might mean until after all these things had taken place. On this Saturday, they were most likely overcome with grief and despair, and on top of that, there was the fear that what happened to Him might yet happen to them as well. And so, it is most likely that they spent the day locked behind closed doors cowering in terror. It was a dark day indeed, and yet, we know looking back that His death would not be the final word, that light and hope were still on the horizon. But this is the nature of Christian discipleship; sometimes we must endure the depths of the darkness before we ever begin to see the light of hope.
Resurrection Sunday On the first day of the week, Sunday morning, at daybreak, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to the tomb to anoint His body for burial; there hadn’t been time to do so on Friday due to the haste of getting Him buried before the start of the Sabbath. As they made their way to the tomb, they began to wonder how they might roll the stone away. However, when they arrived, they found the stone had already been rolled away, and when they looked inside the tomb, they were met by an angelic being who informed them of what had taken place. “Don’t be alarmed,” he told them. “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here.” (Mark 16.6) Immediately, and with the angel’s express instruction, they returned to the city to inform the disciples of what they had seen. Of course, Peter, along with John ran off to see it for themselves, and finding it as the women had said, they were amazed at what this could mean. But Mary Magdalene stayed behind at the tomb, crying and confused. A man approached her, and at first, she did not recognize Him, assuming Him to be the gardener. “Sir, if you’ve carried him away, tell me where you’ve put him, and I will take him away.” (John 20.15) But when He called her by name, she immediately understood that this man was none other than her Lord and Savior. Later that day, He appeared to all of them in the upper room, even though the door was still locked, comforted them with the peace of His presence, and commissioned them to proclaim all that they had seen and heard.
If you are like me, and you have been raised in church, this may seem like the same ole’ story that has been told and retold too many times to count, but we must remember that this is the greatest story that has ever been told. These events are the pendulum upon which the course and destiny of human history hangs. The story of Jesus, especially His death and resurrection, are the foundation of God’s redemptive work in the world, and it is the very soul of our salvation. As followers of Jesus, we must never tire of hearing it, telling it, reading it, and singing it; we must never cease to be amazed at the wondrous work of Jesus on our behalf. And so this Holy week, let us echo the words of that great hymn writer, who wrote,
Tell me the story of Jesus Write on my heart every word Tell me the story most precious Sweetest that ever was heard
43 But it is not so among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
~Mark 10.43-45
Topic: Submission and Service Series: Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life Church: South Caraway Baptist Church, Jonesboro, AR Date: March 08, 2023
It is truly a manifestation of the grace of God that there are four accounts of the life of Jesus in the New Testament. They are rightly called theological history, because each one of them details the life of Jesus in a way that emphasizes and highlights particular aspects of who He is and what He has done for His people. While any one of them may have been sufficient on their own to convey the pertinent historical facts of His life, the four of them together paint a beautiful multilayered tapestry that has sparked the reflection and devotion of His followers now for two millennia. In the space that follows, I will sketch out the contours of that tapestry by discussing the particular emphases of each Gospel.
According to the documentary hypothesis, Mark wrote his gospel first based on the memoirs of the Apostle Peter. The vast majority of Mark’s gospel is reproduced in both Matthew and Luke, but this does not mean that Mark’s Gospel is incomplete, redundant, or lacking in historical and theological value. This value is seen clearly in the very first verse of his work, “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Functioning somewhat like a title or purpose statement, this verse is packed with theological significance. It tells us that Mark’s work is a “gospel”, a word that means good news; it also states clearly that this good news has to do with Jesus, the messianic Son of God. That this is the primary way that Mark wants his audience to see Jesus is confirmed following His death, when a Roman Centurion says, “Truly, this man was the Son of God.”
However, what makes Mark’s gospel so compelling is that this truth is hidden throughout most of the Gospel. The so-called messianic secret, in which Jesus repeatedly instructs people not to make His identity known, stands in stark contrast to the bold affirmations at the beginning and end of Mark’s Gospel. This is probably because Mark wants his readers to understand that the messianic identity of Jesus is defined by His death on the cross for sin. Almost half of Mark’s gospel is dedicated to the events of Passion week. Whereas the first ten chapters are quickly paced and action oriented, the final six slow down to something like a snail’s pace in detailing the events of the final seven days of Jesus’ life. This is why many have considered Mark’s gospel to be an apology or a defense of the cross that was likely written for Christians in Rome shortly before the persecutions of Nero.
Of course, though chronologically prior, the Gospel of Mark is not ordered first in the New Testament canon; that pride of place belongs to the Gospel of Matthew, and it is easy to understand why. Not only does Matthew’s Gospel begin with a genealogy that traces the lineage of Jesus through David to Abraham, it also includes an infancy narrative that captivates those who read it. However, this is part of Matthew’s unique purpose to show that Jesus is the Son of David, Son of Abraham. Not only does this connect the New Testament back to the Old Testament, it also would have been particularly important if Matthew was writing to Jewish Christians, as many suppose. For Matthew, Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s covenant promises, both to Abraham and to David; he is the long awaited Davidic messiah, heir to the throne of God’s Kingdom, and the one who mediates the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant.
More than that though, for Matthew, Jesus is a new and better Moses. This is evident in the many ways that the events of the first four chapters recapitulate the life of Moses. On top of this, Matthew has structured His gospel around five primary discourses, a fact that likely refers back to the five books of Moses. In the same way that Moses was the mediator of the Law under the Old Covenant, likewise, Jesus is the mediator of the “law” under the New Covenant. This is confirmed in the Great Commission, where Jesus commands His disciples to “teach all that I have commanded you.” The phrase “all that I have commanded you” most naturally refers back to the content of the five primary discourses in Matthew’s Gospel. Because of this, many consider Matthew’s Gospel to be a handbook on discipleship, a manual that instructs us in what it means to follow Jesus.
The Gospel of Luke rounds out the “Synoptic Gospels”, and like Matthew, it begins with a beautiful retelling of the Christmas story. However, what stands out in Luke’s infancy narrative is the role of the Holy Spirit. Of course, many consider Luke to be the theologian of the Spirit par excellence in the New Testament, not least of which is due to the continued role that the Spirit plays in Luke’s second volume, the Book of Acts, otherwise known as the Acts of the Holy Spirit. Luke’s emphasis on the role of the Spirit is largely due to his desire to present Jesus as the Spirit anointed messiah. This is confirmed in chapter 4 of Luke’s Gospel, when Jesus reads a passage from the Book of Isaiah, which says in part “The Spirit is upon me.” After He sits down, He says, “Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” In other words, Luke wants us to see that Jesus is the spirit anointed Messiah who has finally come to pour out the blessings of the Messianic jubilee. According to the passage from Isaiah, chapter 61, these blessings are primarily manifested in the compassionate healing of those who are blind, deaf, mute, etc, and throughout Jesus’ ministry, Luke repeatedly details the compassion that Jesus demonstrated during his healing ministry. For Luke in particular, Jesus is a man of sorrows, well acquainted with grief, bearing the burdens and ailments of many.
In addition to this, a large portion of Luke’s unique material is dedicated to Jesus’ final journey toward Jerusalem. In Luke, chapter 9, we read that “He set his face like flint to go to Jerusalem;” this simply means that the final journey of Jesus to Jerusalem to be crucified was purposeful and intentional on the part of Jesus, so that “the scriptures might be fulfilled.” The fulfillment of God’s plan for salvation history is a primary emphasis in both Luke’s Gospel and in the Book of Acts. In other words, Jesus was not a victim of circumstance or the maniacal plots of evil men; He was delivered up according to the predetermined plan of God from before the foundations of the world. Luke wants his audience to understand that everything that happened during the life of Jesus from his birth to his death, resurrection, ascension, and session is the fulfillment of God’s eternal plan to redeem humanity from their sins. In fact, in the final chapter of Luke’s gospel, we read on more than one occasion that “all that was written in the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Last, but certainly not least, is the Gospel of John, and the relationship between John and the synoptics is a question that has bewildered many throughout the centuries. This is mostly because John begins His gospel with a striking description of the eternal Word, God the Son, who came incarnate and “dwelt among us”. Clearly, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” wants his readers to understand that this Jesus was no ordinary man; He is the incarnate God man, the Word made flesh, and as he indicates at the end of His gospel, “These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, and by believing, have life in His name.” The deity of Jesus practically jumps off of the page in John’s gospel, not the least of which is because of the several “I am” statements that are found throughout the book, the most profound of which is “Before Abraham was, I am.” Of course, these “I am” statements refer back to the divine name which was revealed to Moses at the burning bush, and so indicate a startling awareness in the mind of Jesus of His own divinity.
Of course, in the service of this purpose, John structures His gospel around seven specific miracles, or, as he calls them, “signs.” If John did, in fact, write two to three decades after the synoptics, then it seems clear that he did not believe it necessary to record all that Jesus began to do and teach; he even confesses that to do so would require more books than could be humanly conceived. But these seven signs were singled out by John because they advance His thesis that Jesus is the Christ. From the turning of water into wine to the raising of Lazarus from the dead, every one of these signs demonstrate a particular aspect of Jesus messianic identity and so prove that He is the Christ, the one who gives and sustains life in all those who are filled with His Spirit.
In the final analysis, it seems clear that if one of these four gospels were lost or removed from the canon, the followers of Jesus would be at a severe disadvantage. Each and every one of them is necessary for us to appreciate the multi-faceted beauty of the person and work of Him who is called Christ. From the earliest centuries of the Christian movement, these four evangelists have stood together in chorus, singing not in unison but in harmony, and because of this, the followers of Jesus have a sure and certain foundation upon which they can stand as they attempt to follow Christ and be more like Him.
If there was one word that might be used to describe the culture that we live in, it would most likely be “discontent”; we are a people who have forgotten what it means to be content with what we have. We are constantly inundated with media and ad campaigns that promise satisfaction and fulfillment through some new product or service. On top of that, the proliferation of social media has caused the disease of comparison to rise to pandemic levels, such that we are unconsciously driven by a nagging need to have more and better than our “friends”. Whether because of materialistic consumerism or the sickness of comparison, we have become a culture that has completely forgotten how to be content. However, for those who are in Christ, the Scriptures remind us that “godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1 Timothy 6.6) In other words, our submission to the kingship of Christ, our citizenship in His Kingdom, is exhibited in our contentment with all that He has and has not blessed us with.
This is exactly the point that Jesus makes in the “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew, chapters 5-7. The Sermon on the Mount is essentially the manifesto of Jesus’ Kingdom; it is Jesus’ vision for what life in His Kingdom should look like. In it, He describes the attitudes, the habits of character, and the behaviors that should identify His people. And this is exactly the point, namely that the Kingdom of God is not something that is just a future hope to be realized. It is that, but during His earthly ministry, by His death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom of God, and now, He is seated at the right hand of the Father, ruling over His people through the indwelling presence of His Spirit. This is often described by the phrase “already but not yet”, which is a short hand way of saying that the Kingdom of God is already inaugurated but not yet consummated. And because we are currently living under the benevolent and gracious rule of King Jesus, we are able to cultivate the spiritual discipline of contentment. As Jesus himself says,
Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. … But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.
Matthew 6.25, 33
In these verses, Jesus encourages His disciples to replace their worry and anxiety with contentment because His good Father knows their needs before they even ask Him. Even as He cares for the birds of the sky and lilies of the field, how much more will He certainly care for those who have been united with His Son by faith. “Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6.34) But, of course, this is easier said than done. Worry and anxiety are subtle; they are feelings that often well up inside of us unexpectedly and unnoticed. How, then, can we prevent ourselves from being overcome by these stumbling blocks? Is there a spiritual inoculation that will help us fight against their infection? I would submit that there is, and I believe Jesus identifies it for us in the section that immediately precedes His discussion of contentment.
In the first half of Matthew, chapter 6, Jesus discusses the spiritual disciplines of giving, prayer, and fasting. Of course, He lays out the primary principle for the practice of these disciplines in verse 1 of the chapter, “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven.” However, there is a reason why He follows up His discussion of these by commands us not to worry. These spiritual disciplines are the primary means by which we cultivate the inner quietude of peace and contentment. When we give sacrificially of our material possessions for the blessing of others and devote ourselves the pursuit of God rather than material comforts through prayer and fasting, we will find ourselves being more and more content with what we do or do not have. In other words, spiritual contentment is borne out of soul that is fully satisfied in its own communion with the one true and living God.
In the piety of American Evangelicalism, the discipline of contentment among the disciples of Jesus is a glaring whole in our cultivation of Christlikeness. Sadly, we often look more like citizens of this world than citizens of the already but not yet Kingdom of God. We are driven by the felt needs of the moment instead of walking in satisfied contentment with our God, and it shows. We would do well to reconsider what it means to live under the reign of Christ and submit our material resources and our physical needs to the one who taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matthew 6.11) This is the secret to the cultivation of contentment. As the Apostle Paul said,
I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.
According to the Christian calendar, today is Ash Wednesday which marks the beginning of the liturgical season of Lent. I have previously written on the season of Lent here and here, so I refer you to these posts for my thoughts on the season of Lent and its spiritual value. Of course, the primary spiritual practice that is traditionally associated with the observance of Lent is the spiritual discipline of fasting, but, even outside of the season of Lent, the spiritual discipline of fasting is a valuable practice for those who wish to be more like Jesus. However, in our consumeristic culture, the discipline of fasting is a spiritual practice that is rarely, if ever, engaged in the Christian life, and this is much to our loss. The witness of Holy Scripture and of church history is replete with examples of men and women whose engagement in the spiritual discipline of fasting had meaningful and abiding value in their walk with Christ. If this is true, why then are we so resistant to this biblically grounded and historically proven discipline of the Christian life?
Part of our resistance may stem from the fact that we simply do not understand what the spiritual discipline of fasting is all about. Because our pulpits are almost completely silent on the topic, the only kind of fasting with which we are familiar has to do with nutrition, weight loss, or some other physical or medical concern. For this reason, our consideration of the question of fasting is primarily focused on the physical aspects of the practice. What to eat, when to eat, how much to eat, we are practically consumed with our need for physical nourishment. Of course, this is very purpose of the spiritual discipline of fasting, to expose our complete and total dependence on food for the production of energy and the cultivation of physical health. In the same way that our bodies are dependent on physical nourishment, so also our souls are dependent on spiritual nourishment for the cultivation of spiritual health and vitality. The purpose of the spiritual discipline of fasting is to teach our souls to hunger and thirst for spiritual food in the same way that our bodies hunger for spiritual food. As Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5.6)
Another reason for our reluctance to practice this discipline, and perhaps a more fundamental one, is simply our aversion to anything that might cause us discomfort. As creatures, we love our comfort, our ease, our physical pleasure, and we resist, sometimes vehemently, any kind of activity or behavior that might take away our comfort, even temporarily. Simply put, we don’t like pain, and going without food, even if it is just for one meal, can cause some quite unpleasant physical side effects. But we must be willing to entertain the possibility that this pain is good pain, that some temporary physical discomfort could be beneficial if it results in lasting spiritual benefit. Based on the clear scriptural and historical evidence, we must conclude that this is the case. In the same way that physical exercise is often associated with aches and pains in the short term, we all know that regular exercise habits lead to a higher likelihood of physical health in the long run. So, rather than avoiding the temporary discomforts of the spiritual discipline of fasting, we must learn to embrace these as a pathway to long term spiritual health. As the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Timothy, chapter 4, verse 8, “For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
However, the primary reason for why we should relearn the value of the spiritual discipline of fasting is simply this, namely that our Lord expected us to engage in it. Of course, in the Sermon on the Mount, he did say “when you fast” and not “if you fast” (Matthew 6.16), but his expectation for His disciples is even more clear in Mark, chapter 2. In verse 18 of that chapter, the disciples of the Pharisees and the disciples of John the Baptist come to Jesus to ask Him why His disciples do not fast. Apparently, their lack of practice in this area did not go unnoticed, and so, Jesus explains that they cannot fast while “the bridegroom” is with them, by which He clearly refers to Himself. “But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.” (Mark 2.20) The footnote in the NET Bible indicates that this is a veiled reference to His death, a prediction that He would make more clearly following Peter’s confession at Caesarea Philippi (cf. Mark 8.31, 9.31, 10.33). So, here Jesus is looking forward to the time when His disciples will live without His physical embodied presence, and “they will fast on that day.” In other words, one way that we commune with the risen and ascended Christ is through our submission to His Spirit in the discipline of fasting.
Of course, we must hasten to add that while Jesus may have expected that His disciples would fast, He did not expressly command them to do so. So, our lack of engagement in this spiritual discipline can in no way be construed as sin. However, if we have no driving desire to be more like Jesus, no deep longing to commune with Him by the Spirit, no genuine affection for Christ and His glory, then we may need to consider whether we know Him at all. The Scriptures are clear that to know Christ, to sit in His presence, is far better sustenance than any physical nourishment that food may offer. This is why Jesus told Martha that Mary had chosen the “better meal” (Luke 10.42, author’s translation). This is the irony, namely that fasting is feasting. In other words, the spiritual discipline of fasting is one way by which we feast on the sustenance that comes from Christ.
So Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day, because my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the manna your ancestors ate—and they died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.”
There is the view which misinterprets silence as a ceremonial gesture, as a mystical desire to get beyond the Word. This is to miss the essential relationship of silence to the Word. Silence is the simple stillness of the individual under the Word of God. Silence is nothing else but waiting for God’s Word and coming from God’s word with a blessing. … Silence before the Word leads to right hearing and thus also right speaking of the Word of God at the right time. … Let none expect from silence anything but a direct encounter with the Word of God, for the sake of which he has entered into silence.
~Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
Topic: Silence and Solitude Series: Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life Church: South Caraway Baptist Church, Jonesboro, AR Date: February 08, 2023
81 I long for your salvation; I put my hope in your word. 82 My eyes grow weary looking for what you have promised; I ask, “When will you comfort me?” 83 Though I have become like a wineskin dried by smoke, I do not forget your statutes. 84 How many days must your servant wait? When will you execute judgment on my persecutors? 85 The arrogant have dug pits for me; they violate your instruction. 86 All your commands are true; people persecute me with lies—help me! 87 They almost ended my life on earth, but I did not abandon your precepts. 88 Give me life in accordance with your faithful love, and I will obey the decree you have spoken.
We now come to the eleventh stanza of Psalm 119 (Kaf/Kaph – כ, final form – ך), and with this stanza, we are halfway through the longest chapter in the Bible. This is somewhat appropriate since the theme of this stanza concerns waiting. “How many days must your servant wait?” (verse 84a) In the same way that this psalm requires endurance and perseverance to read and work through, so also the life of faith requires endurance and perseverance. Or, to borrow the title of Eugene Peterson’s book on the Psalms of Ascent (120-134), the Christian life is A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. As the subtitle of the book states, Peterson uses these psalms to reflect on “discipleship in an instant society”. As a culture, we are addicted to instant gratification, and the proliferation of social media with its “likes” and “follows” has only made this incessant need more consuming. We desperately need to relearn what it means to wait, to persevere in faith, to appreciate delayed fulfillment. But, of course, waiting is not easy; it is not fun. Most of the time, it is hard, and this is the struggle that our psalmist is wrestling with in these verses.
It would seem that he is facing intense persecution for his devotion to God and His ways. As he writes in verse 86, “people persecute me with lies; they almost ended my life on earth.” This is because “they violate your instruction, but I did not abandon your precepts.” (verse 85) Clearly, the psalmist is facing opposition, ridicule, even the threat of physical harm because of his commitment to the Word and ways of God. Sadly, this is the reality of living in the already but not yet. As believers in Christ, we are already citizens of His kingdom; we live by a set of standards and convictions, principles and values, that stand in complete contradiction to the kingdom of this world. This inevitably leads to conflict with those who are on the outside of the faith, which results in ridicule, ostracism, and eventually outright persecution. The more that we obey the Word of God, the more that we will face criticism for it. As the Apostle Paul puts it in Second Timothy, chapter 3, verse 12, “In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” This is a lived reality for our psalmist.
And so, understandably, our psalmist cries out to God, “How many days must your servant wait? When will you execute judgment on my persecutors? When will you comfort me?” (verse 84) This prayer has been the prayer of the people of God for the entirety of history. Every moment, we wonder, “How long, O Lord? How long until you will come to do away with sin, vindicate your people, fulfill your promises, and establish your perfect rule on earth? How long?!” This is our heart’s deepest and truest longing, as our psalmist says, “I long for your salvation.” Of course, salvation here, as our psalmist envisions it, is a much more robust concept than we usually understand. As a post-reformation, post-enlightenment, westernized people, we have been conditioned to understand salvation in individualistic terms. We generally think of salvation as the forgiveness of sin, the removal of guilt, and inheritance of eternal life (when we die). But for our psalmist, salvation is vindication; it the victory of God over those who would oppose Him and His people. However, these two understandings of salvation are not in contradiction. The Bible presents the work of Christ in redeeming His people as a both/and, as an already/not yet. We have already received the forgiveness of sin resulting in eternal life, but we are also waiting for the day when Christ will come again to defeat sin and Satan once and for all and establish His Kingdom on earth.
This is our blessed hope, and as our psalmist writes, “I put my hope in your word.” Our psalmist understands that hope is the source of the strength that is necessary for waiting, and the promises of God found in His Word are the foundation of hope. It is hope that empowers our psalmist’s unflinching obedience in spite of the persecution that he is facing. This is why he prays in verse 88, “Give me life in accordance with your faithful love, and I will obey the decree you have spoken.” The word that is translated as “faithful love” here is the Hebrew word חֶסֶד (hesed), and according to Darrell Bock, it encompasses “all the positive attributes of God: love, covenant faithfulness, mercy, grace, kindness, loyalty–in short, acts of devotion and loving-kindness that go beyond the requirements of duty.” It is variously translated as “faithful love, lovingkindness, loyalty, etc.”, and it refers to His promise keeping devotion to His covenant people. Our psalmist is confident that God will keep the promises of His Word, because that is who He is. He is a promise keeping God, and this is the ground of hope for our psalmist. It is what empowers him to step out in obedience expecting that it will result in the abundant life.
In many ways, the Christian life is a life lived in between, a life of the already but not yet, a life of waiting. We understandably wonder how long we will have to wait for the promises of God to be fulfilled, but there is a question that is more important than this. And that question is simply this: how shall we wait? Will we wait in faithfulness and obedience strengthened by our confident hope in the promises of God’s Word? Or will we give in to the pressures of the world as it seeks to conform us to itself? There will certainly be times when our waiting will be difficult, when continuing in faithfulness will feel pointless, when our hope will appear to be in vain. But these are the times that we must renew our faith in God and the promises are found in His Word and live in light of them. Then and only then will hear those most blessed words on that final day when our Lord Jesus says, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.” (Matthew 24.23)
When it comes to a church’s life together, there are two pillars around which the rest of the annual calendar swings, i.e. Christmas and Easter. These are the high points in the church’s worship every year. Many churches still commemorate these holidays with special programs, musical and dramatic presentations of the Biblical story, and a focus on inviting the community in for high attendance, after all these are the only days that the CEOs come to church anyway (Christmas and Easter Onlys). It is clear that these holidays hold a special place in the devotion of most Christians. They focus our reflection on the primary movements of the story of redemption, how God the Son came to earth incarnate as a baby in a manger and how he died on the cross for sin and rose again some thirty years later. Even though they are mostly overcome by the cultural consumerism that so obviously characterizes our society these days, they are still a meaningful season in the worship of the church.
However, the question remains, “why do we celebrate these annual holidays anyway?” After all, there is no explicit command in the Scriptures to commemorate the nativity and/or the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ annually by a special holiday. In the New Testament, the church’s worship moved away from the annual calendar marked by special holidays and feasts that characterized the worship of the Jews in the Old Testament, and they moved to a weekly calendar marked by the gathering of the saints on the Lord’s Day for the preaching of the Word and the breaking of bread. Further, the Regulative Principle for Worship (RPW) states that only those elements that are clearly prescribed in the Scriptures should be included in the church’s worship. A strict application of this principle would mean that since Christmas and Easter are not explicitly prescribed by the New Testament, then we are in error when we make them a primary emphasis or central component in our devotion and worship, whether corporately or individually.
We do know that the church began to celebrate these holidays fairly early on in her existence. Within a century or so of the life and death of Jesus and His first followers, the church began to include these annual feasts as a regular part of the worship calendar. Of course, critics often suggest that these festivals were borrowed and adapted from the pagan world; however, these criticisms tend to fall apart quickly under close historical scrutiny. After examining the evidence, one author recently concluded that “no modern Christmas [or Easter] tradition can draw a straight line to any clear and decisive pagan origin.” While there has certainly been growth over the centuries in the lore and cultural traditions that surround these holidays, none of this is original and/or essential to the Christian celebration of them. Rather, it is evident that Christians recognized very early on in their history how important it was to commemorate the two decisive moments in redemptive history, namely the birth and death/resurrection of the one who is called Christ.
Of course, tradition alone is not a sufficient enough reason to justify the continued celebration of Christmas and Easter, but neither is it a sufficient reason for discontinuing the observance of them either. All traditions are not bad; in fact, some are quite helpful in the formation of our faith and practice. I have previously written on the question of tradition here, but suffice it to say that there is great wisdom in learning from the faith and practice of our Christian forebears, both from what they did well and from what they did not do well. So, perhaps the proper question should not be whether the celebration of Christmas and Easter is right or wrong, but whether it is wise and good. Does the annual observance of these holidays have spiritual value for the growth of the followers of Jesus in conformity to His image? And if this is the question, then we must answer in the affirmative. The fact of the matter is that we are a people who are quick to forget, quick to move on, quick to believe that we have outgrown our need for the Gospel. But there is nothing more foundational, nothing more crucial, for our formation in Christlikeness than to be reminded regularly of exactly what Christ has done on our behalf.
His incarnation and resurrection are the primary aspects of His redemptive work; they tell the story of how God the Son came to earth as a child, lived a sinless life, died on the cross for sin, and then rose again. In fact, the Apostle Paul instructs us in Second Timothy, chapter 2, verse 8, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead and descended from David, according to my gospel.” Or again, in the Letter to the Romans, that Jesus Christ “was a descendant of David according to the flesh and was appointed to be the powerful Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead.” Throughout the New Testament, these movements – the incarnation and the resurrection – are the hinge pins upon which the Gospel swings. And as followers of Jesus, we take great joy in celebrating these glorious acts of redemption each and every year, because it reminds us of the beautiful salvation that we have in Christ. It reminds us who we are, and it reminds us of why we are here. The church is a body of believers whose existence and purpose are defined by the redemptive work of God in Christ. Therefore, it is right and good that we celebrate these movements of God’s grace, not only every week, but as a matter of purposeful reflection every year on Christmas and Easter.
This, however, would seem to be the challenge in our modern culture, focusing our worship on Christ during these holidays and not becoming distracted by the cultural baggage that is so obviously associated with them. Just last month, I was chided vociferously on social media for suggesting that Santa Claus is neither necessary nor useful in the Christian enjoyment of the Christmas holiday. It would seem that in this particular cultural milieu Christians will need to be purposeful and strategic in how they celebrate going forward. We must make it clear that Christmas and Easter are about Christ and Christ alone, and if that means dispensing with some of the traditional festivities that have become associated with these holidays, then so be it. The celebration of Christmas and Easter should be a time when those who follow Jesus can celebrate anew the wonder and glory of what Christ has done for us in the Gospel. May we never grow tired of celebrating this timeless story each and every year.
Faith seeking Understanding 