The Death of Words (2)

        Don’t look for Part (1) in this blog—C.S.Lewis wrote that back in 1944. This post corroborates Lewis’ opinion. In fact, Rose Macaulay was right, too, about words ‘now used only in a bad sense’. One of Lewis’ examples was ‘gentleman’. At one time a man either was a gentleman or he wasn’t. The word began to die when it started to need modifiers: a ‘true’ gentleman, a ‘real’ gentleman. 

        A personal example is appropriate. I recently posted on a blog, a favourite quotation of mine from the prophet Isaiah: ‘Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.’ (Isa.55:1) In less than twenty-four hours, I felt compelled to take it down because ‘Ho’ no longer means (in spite of Merriam-Webster) ‘an interjection used especially to attract attention to something specified’, for example ‘land ho’. 

      There is a difficulty inherent in some families of words, especially those attempting to describe wonderful or amazing persons or experiences. By the very nature of their use, they become old fast. If you had a great snow boarding run, it was ‘wicked’. If an acquaintance won the lottery, it might be ‘sick’, meaning you were envious. 

        There is a word now in current everyday language, that really offends my high school Latin lessons. Courtrooms look for credible witnesses. How has ‘incredible’ ever come to mean amazing or spectacular or wonderful? In fact, I have sat through several recent sermons in which God was described time after time as ‘incredible’! If God is incredible, the English language has lost its meaning. I want a credible God. 

        The most important word that Lewis felt was in danger was ‘Christian’. He feared that it was losing its power whenever it became simply a modifier, as in ‘Christian moral standards’, or ‘Christian name’. He thought it was on its way to meaning just ‘good’. In a way he was right. Current usage leans toward the modified ‘Christ-follower’, reminiscent of the ‘true’ gentleman. In the wider secular world, he was wrong—the word ‘Christian’ is being expunged—the world wants nothing to do with it. 

        So, how do matters stand today? Yes, words are dying (even ordinary, non-comparative ones). We can think of at least four contributing factors: an exuberant search for superlatives, a contrarian use of opposites, a sly use of euphemisms, and an uninformed, uncaring misuse of otherwise precise words. 

        Even the Bible complains of this problem. Isaiah (again) shows the partial decay of the word ‘liberal’ when he says, ‘The vile person shall no more be called liberal.’ (32:5). Human nature wants something bigger, better, greater, cuter, worse, more horrific, or just plain new. Then it deploys these changes into the language and drives the old words into their graves. It always has.

Delight in Jesus

“While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts…the large crowd listened to him with delight.” Mark 12:35, 37. 

        Here is a scene on the temple grounds possibly as late as Wednesday afternoon of Passion Week. The temperatures in Jerusalem in April are not hot—perhaps a high of 21C (70F) after a low of 12C (54F). Hundreds of people are gathered around Jesus as he speaks, and they are smiling and enjoying every word he says. That crowd includes the disciples, but especially it includes Peter. 

        Just what was Jesus teaching? Only a few verses earlier (v.28), Mark reports that a teacher of the law had just asked “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” Remember at this point, that the rabbis had added rule upon rule for centuries, until now there were 613 of them. 

        This man showed remarkable insight; he realized that the law might be summarized in one command. Then Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” He then gave a second command, that might give more direct guidance as to how to apply the first, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 

        This teacher was amazed at Jesus’ answer—"This is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 

        I can see how this would be a delight to the people—it would really simplify life if they could get rid of the petty rules about “tithing mint and cumin”, and all the rest. Here we have some insight into the content of Jesus’ teaching, but what about his manner of teaching? How did he present himself? How did he treat the people? Not like the leaders of a previous generation did. Rabbis Hillel and Shammai had leaned heavily on tradition. Not like the prophets—their favourite authorization was, “Thus saith the Lord.” No! Jesus taught with his own authority, “I say unto you.” (e.g., Matthew 5:22, 28, 32, etc.) 

        But let’s leave this delightful scene and move on. What a change comes on Friday morning! Possibly some of the very people in that delighted crowd now turn on Jesus— “Away with him! Let him be crucified!” They betray him! Let’s particularize it to one person—look at Peter in the high priest’s courtyard. A girl seems to recognize him—was she in the delighted crowd at the temple? Did she see Peter there? Then his Galilean accent completely gives him away—he was one of “them”. Peter denies it (even with oaths and curses). How far did he go? Could he have even gone so far as to say, “I don’t care. Let him be crucified!”? 

        Then the rooster crows and shocks Peter back to reality. Had he lost his mind? Then comes the sad look from Jesus. Peter collapsed. Will he ever forget it? 

        This is where we’ve all been, to one degree or another. We’ve let Jesus down. Listen, however, to Peter’s declaration thirty years later: “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” (1 Peter 1:8) 

        Now we come to Communion. Here is our chance to show our hearts to Jesus. To redeem ourselves in a small way. This is what the bread and the wine are all about. As Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me!”

Advertising Jesus

        I cycled along the Lakeshore bikeway near Burloak, the other day and, as I paused on a bench to eat my snack, an older gentleman walked by. His unremarkable grey T-shirt had imprinted on it 

        I couldn’t help calling out to him, “Have you ever been up in one of those?” He paused, came over to me, and said, “Yes, I have.” I was suitably impressed because he was nowhere near old enough to have fought in one. Then he explained—his son had bought him an hour-and-a-half ride in the Lancaster from Mount Hope Airport, for about $350. We chatted a bit more, about the terrible lot of the rear gunners in those bombers, and the cost and time to restore the plane. (We joked that his $350 might have bought a screw for one of the struts!) Then he went on his way. 

     This got me thinking about the effect of his low-key advertising. Why don’t we do more of this with the gospel? I’ve resisted putting a “fish” sticker on my car bumper because I don’t want to appear hypocritical if I speed or if I park in the wrong place. But what about more personal advertising, like a cross in a lapel, or on a necklace or neck chain? Again, I’m afraid of hypocrisy. The truth is, these little things may still spark valuable conversations, even if it is a worldling’s rebuke of our hypocrisy. Turn it to good—we’re all sinners, none of us is perfect. The Good News is still there—Jesus, Himself, lived the perfect life, then died for us. And Jesus saves sinners. 

        N.T.Wright tells a story of being stationary in heavy traffic in London. Because of his appearance (in his case, “collar on backwards”) the cab-driver identified him as a Christian. This led to Wright’s “great gospel moment”, as the driver turned around to face him and said, “What I always say is this: if God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, everything else is basically rock ‘n’ roll, i’n’it?” [Surprised by Scripture, p.207]                

Whose Son is the Messiah?

        Only about two days before the crucifixion, Mark tells us, “Jesus was teaching in the temple courts.” After Herod’s reconstruction of the temple, these were huge flat areas outside but surrounding the temple building itself. Most were open to the sky, but there were also four covered sections on the perimeter, the eastern of which was Solomon’s Colonnade (John 10:22), above the Kidron Valley. 

        As He was teaching, again in Mark’s words, “the large crowd listened to him with delight.” (12:37) This is intriguing. Just what was He teaching them? For the people to be ‘filled with delight’, it must have been something they enjoyed—nothing accusatory, nothing harsh, nothing to condemn them. Possibly what they learned that day was a true understanding of the law and how its burden could be lifted. They may have learned to understand the prophets better. They may even have learned whose son the Messiah would be. In fact, this is the question Jesus raised, but apparently left unanswered. 

        In three simple verses (Mark 12:35-37), Jesus touches on prophecy of the Messiah, His incarnation, and His ultimate victory. It’s delightful to see the puzzle Jesus raised. As an aside, Gary Weeks did a similar thing in his book, Could You Ever Love Me Again? Gary asked, “How can a person born once, die twice; and a person born twice, die once?” 

     But, to get back to Jesus’ puzzle… Surprisingly, the teachers of the law were right. The problem was that they weren’t following through. To be true to Scripture, they should have looked more closely at Psalm 110. 

        It is a psalm of David. In the first verse, the LORD, God, Jehovah speaks, and He speaks to David’s Lord. And David’s Lord is sitting at God’s right hand, until a battle has been fought and a victory gained. The apparent impossibility in this text is for David to call any of his descendants, ‘Lord’. It should always be his descendants calling him, ‘Lord’. 

        But where does it say that Messiah is David’s son? For that we have to go to several Old Testament scriptures that start with a wider focus—a descendant of Judah (Gen.49:10), of the house of David (Isa.9:7), in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), of a virgin (Isa.7:13, 14). The teachers of the law knew all this—they could have gone through all these prophecies, checked them off, one by one, and known that Jesus was the fulfillment. Why didn’t they? It seems they just weren’t ready to humble themselves, unlike Nicodemus. Pride and power-hunger held them back. Getting back to the crowd and their experience—how delighted we are too, as we work our way through the stories of Jesus. He walked on water, He calmed the waves, He raised the widow’s son in Nain, He healed the madman of Gerasa. This is the Man who is our Lord, too. We belong to Him. ‘Delighted’ is hardly enough (Are we getting too mystical‽) —we have a better word— ‘thrilled’, ‘captivated’, even ‘enraptured’, might be our choice.

Hercule Poirot and every Christian

        The other night we watched the Hercule Poirot mystery Mrs. McGinty’s Dead. The young man convicted of her murder is in prison, awaiting execution. As Poirot waits for the train at the little Kilchester station, someone tries to push him onto the tracks. Instead of being shaken, he is ecstatic! It tells him that someone wants him out of the way, that his client is innocent, and that the real murderer is still on the loose. Agatha Christie’s insight in this plot line is amazing. 

       In a similar way, the life that rolls easily along, with no upsets or disturbances, no suffering and no pain, is questionably Christian. But if trials come, they can confirm that God is really dealing with the believer. Even prayer is no guarantee of health and wealth and happiness. Read the Apostle Peter’s blessing on Christians: “Though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials…in all this you greatly rejoice…and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” 1 Peter 1:6,8.

“If it dies, it produces many seeds”

        The Lord told us, in John 12:24, “unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.” Was that just typical Jewish hyperbole? Obviously, the grain couldn’t really die, or there would be nothing to grow. There had to be something still there, some hidden spark. I’ve even wished that some botanical scientist would plant a seed, then aim some electronic instruments at it to catch any change at the moment it started to grow. (Maybe one has, but I don’t know about it!) 

        Then I realized that it is the same with people—there is an exact parallel. When someone dies their body, like the seed, disperses in the earth. But there is a part of them that never dies—the soul or spirit. 

        The seed, when it germinates, never goes out of existence, and the person, when he or she dies, never goes out of existence either. In the parable Jesus told, something new returns one day. He, Himself, is the proof, the firstfruits, the forerunner. His “natural” body died on that cross; His resurrected body is still physical, but to an infinitely heightened degree of new abilities and joys, the so-called “physics of resurrection”. As the Apostle Paul said, “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.” (1 Cor.15:42-44) 

        That’s where we’re going too, someday! And, just to round out the story, the seed really does die, but no more or less than a person ever does.

How To Never Stumble

        When my wife and I visited Holland a few years ago, we learned that there are some 70,000 “stumbling stones” installed in the sidewalks of Europe. In fact, there are 350 in
the city of Maastricht alone. These stones are 4” concrete memorial cobbles each with a brass memorial plaque on top, set into the sidewalks at houses where someone was taken out and gassed or otherwise executed during the Nazi Holocaust. 

        Our daughter took us to the local library in Maastricht and showed us forty feet of wall, displaying photos and biographies— Jewish business men, a resistance worker, a 3-year old girl and her seven siblings, all gassed. These people were not soldiers but somehow they stumbled into the enemy’s clutches. 

        I walked away in quite an upset state. But take this to another level. The Apostle Peter wrote about stumbling in the spiritual life. And who knew more about stumbling than he—several slight missteps during his time with the Lord, then a huge blunder as he denied Him. 

        Peter, as no one else, knew what to do so that we would “never stumble”, and he lays it all out in 2 Peter 2:5-11:— 

Starting with FAITH,
add goodness
+ knowledge
+ self-control
+ perseverance
+ godliness
+ mutual affection
+ love.

        “If you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the Eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Word accuracy can be critical

        Words have been my hobby most of my life. The right word or the wrong word, the right punctuation or otherwise, can change a statement from serious to silly, from accurate to absolutely wild. For instance, many years ago, when snow mobiles were first becoming popular, the Port Arthur newspaper posted an article for sale, identified as a “sno-traveller”. Unfortunately, the hyphen was put after the “t”. Say that out loud! Then, a few years ago, the Toronto Star published a resumé guidance article in which “misspelled” was misspelled. Just this summer, a man passed away, and the Burlington Post obituary advised us that no memorial service was held and his remains were “creamated”. We wonder if he was “liquidated”. Is this something that happens in hot water? A hyphen, an “s” and an “a” make all the difference.

        Even printings of the Bible have not been without their problems. In 1631, the so-called “Wicked Bible”, a copy of the King James Version, had one of the commandments reading “Thou shalt commit adultery”! And a silly problem came up in 1950, when some unknowledgeable and unauthorized typesetter changed “skink” to “skunk” in an Episcopal version of Leviticus 11:30.

        But enough of the humour. Let’s get on to Scripture, where an unexpected re-direction of grammar, or just a change of one letter can make a powerful theological point. The earliest example is Genesis 1:1, where, in the beginning, “God created”. As many have pointed out, the word for God is plural, “Elohim”, but it has been given a singular verb. This is a strong intimation that the Godhead is multiple persons (in fact, Three) acting in utter unity, as One, the Trinity.

        Later on, Moses asks about God, “What is his name?” God’s reply is basically, “I AM”, a singular statement, whose grammar implies eternal existence and one who is eternally present. (Exod.3:13-15.) On the same occasion, God identifies Himself as “The LORD” or Yahweh, or Jehovah, which will be His name forever. This reference is key when Jesus identifies Himself to the Jews (who think He is under 50 years old) by the words, “Before Abraham was I AM.” (John 8:58.)

        Another occasion when Jesus made a strong point based on the tense of a verb is Mark 12:26-27. Speaking to the Sadducees (“who say there is no resurrection”) He quotes, “ ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken.” Not “I was.” The present tense is critical.

        Finally, some critical spelling. Paul confirms a prophecy about the Messiah, (Gal.3:16) based on one letter (at least in English). “The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ.”

        We have just barely touched on great depths of theology in these few paragraphs. Let’s be encouraged to read our Bibles very carefully and delight in the accuracy God has built into His written Word.

“My Eyes Have Seen the King!”

        The young priest, Isaiah, had just helped with the sacrifice of an animal on the altar. Now, as the embers burned down, he came inside the Holy Place, ready to offer incense. What a shock he was in for! There at the far end, perhaps fifty feet away, appeared a glorious throne and seated on it the magnificent personage of the LORD, Jehovah Himself! And, flowing all the way down both sides of the Holy Place, the great folds and radiance of the hems of His robe.

        The ceiling was over forty feet above him and, in that space, flew great six-winged angels, calling “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty.” Their voices shook the doorposts and thresholds behind him, and the room was filled with smoke.

        Isaiah was overwhelmed—he expected to die! Wasn’t this what happened to sinful men like him? Hadn’t Nadab and Abihu perished, even as they tried to offer incense? But wait. One of the angels takes a live coal off the altar, a remnant of the sacrifice that had just died. As that representation of the sacrifice touches his lips, the angel reassures him, “Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

        This whole passage in Isaiah chapter six is a powerful bit of reporting. Some writers treat it as a vision and how can a vision hurt you? On the other hand, remember that Jacob wrestled with the Lord and came away crippled for the rest of his life. (Gen.32:30, 31.) Zechariah saw an angel, again in the Holy Place of the temple (Luke 1:8-22), as he offered incense in worship. For him, it was the loss of the power of speech.

        I think this was the real, physical thing. This was the Lord breaking through from heaven to Isaiah’s immediate world. And that ember burned his lips. He had the scars for the rest of his life. The wonderful thing is that, through the searing pain, he got mercy and assurance—“Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

        Now the question arises—just who was that great King? Who was the “LORD Almighty”, who was Jehovah, who was Yahweh? This is where it gets even more interesting. Look at John 12: 41— “Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.”  That LORD Almighty was Jesus!

        Now we’re into the New Testament and the picture changes a bit. Think of the Last Supper, and the Lord saying, “This is my body given for you…This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:19, 20.)  Now we have, not a burning ember from repetitive sacrifices, but bread and wine that represent the once, forever sacrifice of God’s own Son, Jesus. May we realize, as we take these emblems, as they touch our own lips, that, like Isaiah, through Jesus “Our guilt is taken away and our sin atoned for.”

A ‘view’ on Election/ Predestination

     Many years ago, C.S.Lewis made the point that no one should ever attach themselves so firmly to the teachings of one man that they couldn’t see anything else. For instance, John Calvin was a great theologian and expositor of God’s Word, and the Reformation relied heavily on his “Institutes of the Christian Religion”. One of his doctrines was regarding “predestination”, to the effect that God chose people to be saved and they should be eternally thankful. On the other hand, what about those who weren’t chosen? There was no hope for them! This is why some denominations (so-called “hyper-Calvinist”) have no evangelical outreach—they think there is no point. Unfortunately, J.I.Packer takes this position, and so does Wayne Grudem, whose other 19 out of 20 doctrinal videos were exhilarating and beautiful. 

     Dare I say that this would be utterly unfair, unjust and illogical of God? It implies merit in some people and none in others. In truth, God’s grace is freely given, without merit, only on faith. 

     I’ve puzzled over this for many years, while always believing that the Good News about Jesus must be made available to everybody. Then I saw a video by David Jeremiah that crystallized my thoughts. 

     His explanation went something like this: — God “wants all men to be saved.” (1 Tim.2:4) “Whoever believes in Him shall not perish.” (John 3:16) “He chose us in Him before the creation of the world.” (Eph.1:4) “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) David Jeremiah concluded that everyone was chosen to be saved. It seems their names were even written in the Book of Life. This means that everything was ready for them to enter God’s kingdom. There was a great welcome awaiting them. But now “free agency” comes into play. A person can decide for or against the Lord. Ultimately, as Revelation 3:5 says, if they irrevocably reject Christ, God will blot their name out of His Book. (Ex.32:32 and Psa.69:28) 

     Sadly—and disastrously—some turn away! They decide their fate for themselves by disobedience. (1 Pet.2:8) God never, ever, “chose them for wrath!” (1 Thess.5:9)

The Sun did…what?

     The Sun—what do we know about it? In ancient times it was considered to be a fiery disk, just “up there” in the sky, possibly even attached to a track on a vault or dome over the earth. In Greek mythology, Icarus flew too close to the sun, melted his waxen wings and crashed into the sea. If someone could fly on wings and get to the sun, they obviously thought it was very close. 

     In many cases, Scripture adopts “accommodation” as an approach to ancient science, geography, astronomy, medicine, and the like. The Bible uses some of the attitudes of the ancients (in lieu of twenty-first century science)—to them, the sky was a dome mounted on pillars at the outer edges; the sun, moon and stars were attached to tracks on the inside of this dome. This is why the people of Babel thought they could build a tower high enough to reach that “dome”, then they could break through it directly into heaven. (Gen.11:4). 

     The sun features many times in Scripture (at least 173 times according to my concordance). Often it is an astronomical body in the sky but very frequently it has literary or symbolic connotations. 

     Genesis 1:16 tells us that God made “the greater light to govern the day”. Deuteronomy 33:14 credits the sun with “bringing forth the best”. And an event unique in the history of the world occurs when Joshua gives orders to the sun and it stands still. (Josh.10:12-14) The sun is personified again in Psalm 104:19—it “knows when to go down.” This continues in Eccl.1:5—“The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.” Isaiah (24:23) talks about wicked things done on the earth, even making “the sun ashamed”! 

     In Hezekiah’s day, the Lord gives another astronomical sign through the sun: “I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.” (Isa.38:8) Amos tells us that in a time of trouble and famine, the Lord “will make the sun go down at noon.” (Amos 8:9) This essentially happened at the cross, when “the sun stopped shining.” (Luke 23:45) What a relief to look forward to that future day when, “Your sun will never set again.” (Isa.60:20) 

     Figurative examples are not infrequent. In Genesis 37:9, the sun bows down to Joseph in a dream. David, in Psalm 19, pictures the sun coming out of its “tent” in the heavens, running his course like a champion, from one end of heaven to the other. Psalm 84 tells us that “the LORD God is a sun and shield”, providing both physical and spiritual light and warmth, then moderating it with some shade and shelter. On this same note, Malachi tells us that one day “the sun of righteousness” will rise. (Mal.4:2) Finally, John tells us that, after a great deal of sun-scorching and pain, those who reach the celestial city “will not need the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.” (Rev.22:5) In fact, “the city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it.” The sun has at last served its purpose. From now on “there will be no night there.” (Rev.21:23-25)    

"Glory"

      In his video on Sunday, May 31, 2020, Lew Worrad touched on the subject of glorification, quoting 2 Corinthians 3: 7-11, where Paul says, “the ministry that brought death…came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory.” 

      Then Worrad explained the picture of Moses on Mount Sinai (Ex.34:29, 30). Being in God’s presence, he caught some of God’s glory. Back down among the Israelites, that glory faded. 

      Another time when Moses caught that glory was on the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus and Elijah. Luke tells us (9:31) that they were talking about His “departure”, i.e., His death, which He would accomplish at Jerusalem. The glory was evident to Peter, James, and John (Mark 9:2-4) in the blindingly white garments, “whiter than anyone on earth could bleach them.” There is even a hint in Mark 9:15 that some of that radiance remained, as with Moses in the wilderness—when Jesus and the three disciples came down to join the others, Mark says, the crowds “were overwhelmed with wonder, and ran to greet Him.” There was still something special that drew them to Him. 

      There may even be another place where Moses shows up. Here we go into “sanctified imagination”, but the possibility is there. Remember all the persons who showed up at the tomb after the resurrection? Matthew (28:2) tells us there was an angel, whose “appearance was like lightning.” Mark says (16:5), “they saw a young man dressed in a white robe.” John (20:12-14) mentions two angels and Jesus at the tomb. But what does Luke say (24:4-8)? “Two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.” And these men mention in some detail Jesus’ death and resurrection. Among all those gathering around the tomb that morning, dare we suspect that these were Moses and Elijah, come to see the results of their talk on the Mount? Jesus had indeed “accomplished” His death, and “accomplished” His resurrection. The only thing left now was His ascension to glory.

How Heaven’s time interacts with ours

        I’ve enjoyed C.S.Lewis’ stories of Narnia, partly because Earth-time and Narnia-time run differently. Children slip into Narnia, spend hours, or even years there, then return to the same moment they left Earth. For example, Prince Caspian was only twenty when the children last saw him in Narnia; the next time the same boy sees him, Caspian is an old man. A few weeks here can mean decades have passed in Narnia, and a generation here covers thousands of years there. 

       Fantasy, of course, but what a fun concept! Did C.S.Lewis dream this idea up for himself? Probably not. He was deeply immersed in the Bible—and what did he find there? For starters, think of the angel Gabriel, whom we first meet as he explains prophecy to Daniel (Dan.8:16, 9:21), in Babylon. 

     Surprisingly, the next time Gabriel shows up is in the temple in Jerusalem, there to announce the birth of a son, John, to Zechariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1:19). Six months later he appears to Mary in Nazareth (Luke 1:26). This represents a gap in appearances by Gabriel, of over 500 years—with no change in Gabriel but great changes in Israel. 

        There are also “theophanies” or “Christophanies” that are similar. A few examples:—a “man” appears to Abraham just before the destruction of Sodom (Gen.18:17); the same man, we believe, appears to Joshua, just before Jericho falls (Josh.5:13); and later still, Isaiah sees the same Man, even Jesus Himself (Isa.6:1, John 12:41). 

      We bless C.S.Lewis for illustrating salvation in his child-friendly pictures. It’s gratifying to see how this aspect of his stories comes straight out of Scripture. In the extreme case, three generations back on Earth paralleled the entire existence of Narnia, from its creation (The Magician’s Nephew) to its ultimate end (The Last Battle). In a similar way, our time is really running at break-neck speed, compared to Heaven’s time. If a thousand years are as one day to the Lord (2 Peter 3:8), then it’s only two days of Heaven’s time since He was here. We are only in the third day now.

"The shriveled hand"

        One Sabbath day, a man with a withered hand ducked in at the back of the synagogue in Capernaum, as the rest of the congregation chatted and caught up on the latest news with their neighbours. He kept the ugly hand hidden in the folds of his jacket, and shied away from any conversation. But Jesus saw him.

        Then, as folks quieted down ready for the service to start, the young rabbi from Nazareth spoke up and centered him out:
“Stand up in front of everyone.”

        Under some compulsion, he stood and moved forward. The eyes of the crowd turned to him momentarily, then settled back on Jesus. They watched Him closely to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath.

        Jesus faced the crowd.

        “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?”

        No response.

       “Come on people. Someone, speak up. Anyone‽”

        But they remained silent. Neither man nor woman supported him.

        Jesus looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man,

        “Stretch out your hand.”

        He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

        After the service, the grateful man was shocked to overhear some Pharisees and Herodians plotting how they might kill his Healer. 

                                                    [See Mark 3:1-6]

The disciple whom Jesus loved

        We all think we know who this disciple was so let’s take a look at the context. This exact wording only occurs five times, and all in the Gospel of John. In fact, every time the name “John” comes up in this Gospel, it refers to the Baptist or to Peter’s father, never to the Disciple John, himself.

     Chapter 13:23 is the last supper. “This disciple” is reclining at the table (as was the custom in those days) next to Jesus, with his back toward Him. He leans “back against Jesus” and inquires who is going to betray Him.

        The next scene (19:26) is at the cross where, as Jesus is dying, he has the disciple and Mary adopt each other as mother and son. “This disciple” then took her to his own home.

Occurrence number three (20:2) comes on Sunday morning. Mary Magdalene reports to Peter and “the other disciple, the one Jesus loved” that the Lord’s body is missing. The two disciples run to the tomb to check.

        The fourth time we read of “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (21:7) is as the disciples are fishing on Galilee. Only seven are there: Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James and John, and two others. “This disciple” identifies Jesus to Peter.

        The last time this term is used (21:20) is after breakfast on the shore of Galilee. “This disciple” tells of following Peter and the Lord, then confirms his own identity (21:24) as the author of this Gospel. “The disciple whom Jesus loved” is John.

        We don’t want to stop there, though. John uses this special term mostly to downplay his own part in the action. We, in turn, can use his pattern. Whenever we write or talk or even think about Jesus, God gives us the right to call ourselves “the disciple whom Jesus loved”, simply because we know that “Jesus loves me.” 

Baptism in a lake

Women who stepped out of their usual role.

 

       With a title like this we automatically think of high-profile women like Deborah, the judge of Israel; or of Abigail, whose quick-thinking averted a family massacre; or of Queen Esther, who put her life on the line to rescue her entire nation.

        But there were women in Scripture who stood up for what was right, who did their duty, who served the Lord faithfully, even though we may not know their names.

        Does anybody remember Zelophehad’s daughters? He had five of them. And what did they do? When Moses was dividing up the land to the tribes, and the families, and the sons of sons, their father was left out because he had no sons. In front of all the leaders of Israel, they asked Moses for a proper share (Num. 26:33; 27:1-11), as it would have gone to a son, and they, out of all the women of Israel, got it. The LORD Himself said, “What Zelophehad’s daughters are saying is right.”

        Next, look at the people returning from exile in Babylon. The walls of Jerusalem are still in shambles. Nehemiah gets the men to work and the walls go up quickly. After 52 days, the walls and gates are finished and Nehemiah records credits for good service. There, in the list of priests, goldsmiths, men of Tekoa, perfume-makers, Levites, temple servants, and merchants, is this little note: “Shallum…repaired the next section with the help of his daughters.” (3:12) —Huge amounts of work, not just supervisory but perhaps physical too, and no names given. We think these ladies should rate a listing in Hebrews 11, along with the woman in Proverbs 31!

        Now let’s jump into the 21^st century—a young woman teaches for a week in Girls’ Camp in 2013; a camper girl trusts the Lord and wants to be baptized. The girl is from a non-Christian home and has no Church. Who will baptize her? That young teacher steps in and performs a very public baptism in the lake:----

        Our final example is from the Missions Magazine for September/October, 2015. Julie Frank, a young missionary nurse in Zambia has been watching her neighboring country of Namibia. There doesn’t seem to be much gospel presentation happening there. She travels across the country with a friend, Rebekah Flynn, and at this time it comes into her heart to have a gospel outreach in Windhoek, the capital. Over the next six months, she organizes printing of decorative Bible texts in the local dialects; obtains a government permit to have the outreach in Windhoek, March 9-18, 2015; lines up twin Zambian brothers to help; and gathers all the local missionaries, friends and relatives possible (13 in all), for the trip.

        Teams were set up near the bus station, near grocery stores and near malls. In those ten days, they gave away 15,000 Scripture texts, 1,000 children’s papers, and 1,000 Gospels of John. Halfway through they had to get 10,000 more texts printed and gave them all away as well. Julie’s conclusion at the end of the trip: — “People are thirsty for the Word of God…People’s responses were overwhelming.”    

        And our conclusion from all these stories: —God doesn’t need the big names to do His work—faithful devotion is all He asks. Ì 

Proof of Salvation

        Some time ago, we looked at the story of the paraplegic, brought by his four friends (Luke 5:18-26). They couldn’t get into the house or even near Jesus because of the packed crowds around. Did they give up or walk away? Not they!

        They made their way to the roof (with the stretcher), broke up the tiles and wood frame, and through all the dust and falling dirt, lowered their friend right in front of Jesus. Jesus’ reaction is amazing, and His first words are, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” The Pharisees and the teachers of the law thought this was blasphemy. As Christians, we know that He had the right and the power to forgive. But what was the proof that the man was forgiven? Jesus shows it in a physical, emotional and moral change—the man picks up his mat and walks home, praising God.

        Another example of this life change would be the maniac of Gerasa (Luke 8:26-39)—strong physically, but out of his mind. Next, we see him clothed, in his right mind, and sitting at Jesus’ feet. The last we see of him, he is telling all over town how much Jesus has done for him.

        One final example from Scripture—there is another whom we find at Jesus’ feet: the woman who “was a sinner” (Luke 7:36-50). This time the order of events in the story is adjusted a bit, but the life change is just as sure. A woman makes her way into the home of Simon the Pharisee. As Jesus reclines at the table to eat, she stands behind. Her tears begin to wet His feet, then she “wipes them with her hair, kisses them, and pours perfume on them.” Jesus tells Simon that this is a show of “her great love.” What a change in her life!

        Can we relate? When we trusted Jesus, did some change come about in our behaviour too?Were we set free in some way? Did we come to peace with others? Was there a new direction to our love? The Lord makes it very clear that something changes. And with the cripple, the maniac, and the street woman, everybody else could see the change too.

              

“Giving Up”

        You may have heard the (possibly legendary) story of Winston Churchill, invited to speak at a boys’ school. When his turn came, he walked up to the podium, said, “Never give up! Never, never, never give up!” And with those few words, he sat down. 

        We wish it were that simple, but there are other factors. For instance, several quotations have been posted to the internet recently, such as, “Walk away from people who put you down; walk away from fights that will never be resolved.” Another one is “Sometimes you have to give up on people, not because you don’t care, but because they don’t.” Pretty harsh statements!

        Does any of this tie in with Scripture? Do we really have to face that difficult choice—try harder or walk away? On one hand we have Isaiah 62:7— “You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest…” We also have the story of Jacob, wrestling with a “Man”. Genesis 32:26— “I will not let You go unless You bless me.”

        On the other hand, we have Acts 21:14, where Luke, and Paul’s other friends ‘gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”’ Paul was going up to Jerusalem, even to his death. Paul himself had to give up, in 2 Corinthians 12:8, when he pleaded with the Lord three times to take away his “thorn in the flesh”. Paradoxically, Paul triumphed by submitting.

        Perhaps one of the greatest conflicts from a human point of view was in the Garden of Gethsemane. Peter was prepared to fight, and hacked a man’s ear off to prove it. Jesus said, “Enough!”, and let the posse arrest Him. 

        It really is difficult—try harder? Walk away? Again, it’s a question of seeking “the Lord’s will.” Jesus knew the right thing to do in the garden. In the final analysis, pray, read your Bible and consult the Lord and faithful fellow Christians. Giving up is not failure; it led to our Lord’s great triumph.       

Modern Persecution

        When I was a child back in Thunder Bay, I was sitting with my family in our small church one winter evening when the front door burst open. The preacher, John Norris, at his pulpit only 30 or 40 feet away, was facing the door and shouted, “Look out!” As he ducked behind the pulpit, a crash came from the floor right in front of him as a snowball exploded. By the time men got to the door and looked out, the culprits were long gone. I was very afraid that this was the beginning of persecution for the tiny church but, no, things settled down peacefully after that. 

        Not so in Cambodia in the 1970s. Philip Yancey tells of another door flung open. But this time a band of heavily-armed soldiers burst into the little church. They violently lined the congregants up, threw a painting of Jesus to the floor and said, “Now, if you spit on this picture you live, if not you die!” One by one, some of them worked up a tiny bit of saliva, enough to satisfy the leader. Then a teenage girl was confronted. She looked down at the Lord; she crouched and picked up the picture; in love she wiped it with her sleeve— and died with a bullet through her head! 

        How small our persecution has been in North America, compared to the Apostle Paul’s. We can admire his faith and his commitment: — “For Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor.12:10)

Christ Arose!

          Low in the grave He lay,

              Jesus, my Saviour,

          Waiting the coming day,

              Jesus, my Lord.

          Up from the grave He arose

          With a mighty triumph o’er His foes;

          He arose a victor from the dark domain,

          And He lives for ever with His saints to reign;

          He rose! He arose!

          Hallelujah! Christ arose!

          2.  Vainly they watch His bed,

              Jesus, my Saviour,

          Vainly they seal the dead,

              Jesus, my Lord.

          3.  Death cannot keep his prey,

              Jesus, my Saviour,

          He tore the bars away,

              Jesus, my Lord.                       BHB #344

        I’ve visited assemblies and churches with wide spectrums of doctrine but on Easter Sunday, this is the hymn they all converge on—Robert Lowry’s great hymn of resurrection. This is Saturday—“Low in the grave He lay”—the devil could honestly say, “Jesus is dead!” But then comes Sunday! Did the devil see this coming‽ We think not! “Up from the grave He arose!”
        Lowry is represented in the Believers Hymn Book by only this one hymn but he authored other well-known songs, including Shall we gather at the river, What can wash away my sin, and Weeping will not save thee.

        As well as his own songs, he was also the composer of

music for Fanny Crosby (All the way my Savior leads me), Annie Hawks (I need Thee every hour), and S. Dryden Phelps (Savior, Thy dying love).

        Robert Lowry was born March 12, 1826 in Philadelphia. At the age of seventeen, he joined the First Baptist Church there and became active in Sunday School work. After graduation from the University of Lewisburg (now Bucknell University), he served for many years as pastor in West Chester, Pa, New York City, Brooklyn, Lewisburg, and then in Plainfield, N.J. Later in his career, he took on the responsibility of publishing a succession of Sunday school song books, including Bright Jewels, Pure Gold, Royal Diadem, Welcome Tidings, and half-a-dozen others.

        One more song deserves mention—How Can I Keep from Singing? This appeared as a poem in 1868, then Lowry composed his own tune and published it in Bright Jewels for the Sunday School (1869). The song rejoices in the nearness of Christ, our Rock, because He is “Lord of heaven and earth.”

          No storm can shake my inmost calm

             While to that Rock I’m clinging.

          Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,

             How can I keep from singing?

        Folk singers, including Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, ‘Peter, Paul & Mary’, Enya, and ‘Celtic Woman’ have latched onto this song but they’ve taken Christ out of it. For them only “love” is lord, and they have inserted bits about tyrants and death knells—how sad. Only Audrey Assad has kept the full Christian association and the original words. 

        Lowry said of his songs, “The tunes of nearly all the hymns I have written have been completed on paper before I tried them on the organ. Frequently the words of the hymn and the music have been written at the same time.” Robert Lowry died at his residence in Plainfield on November 25, 1899, but his songs and music live on to bless us.

The Character and Work of Jesus, in John's Gospel

Across—

1. Jesus never enslaves; rather, he is always _____ people.  8:36

4. The Jews were trying to shame Jesus but He is _____.  8:49

6. Jesus’ attitude to Martha and Mary and Lazarus was wholeheartedly _____ them.  11:5

8. We accept Jesus’ testimony because he is _____.  3:33

13. The Father doesn’t do this but has entrusted it all to the Son.  5:22

14. Jesus was not of this world. He is _____ _____.  8:23

16.  Jesus is not guilty!  8:46

17.  Jesus is the bread of life. As such, his people never go hungry.  6:35

18.  He had such learning that the Jews found him _____.  7:15

 Down—

2. Out of His fulness we have received more and more.  1:16

3. Jesus is always this to the Father.  5:30

5. He chased the money changers and marketers out of the temple.  2:17

7.  Jesus was greatly _____ by a voice from heaven, at the temple.  12:28

9.  Jesus has testified that the works of the world are evil, so he is _____.  7:7

10.  The thief comes stealing, killing and destroying. Jesus has another reason.  10:10

11.  In fact, he is way over the top. He is _____!   8:54

12.  Jesus’ main purpose in coming into the world was _____ us.   12:47

15.  Nothing gets by Jesus, even a traitor.   6:64