parklinscomb

So, for the past several days we’ve been following Jesus around in His last week on earth as an earthly human. Most days were chock full of teaching, healings, and confrontation of enemies. Thursday, yesterday, was likewise full, but in a different way — both profoundly tragic and eternally significant. 

But on Friday, a Passover Sabbath, Jesus’ body lay in a borrowed tomb. Jesus’ spirit on the other hand was in Paradise. As I was trying to speak of the major events of Jesus’ crucifixion yesterday, I skipped over the incident of Jesus’ conversation with the two thieves crucified on either side of Him. Other Gospels reference the other thieves, but only Luke tells us how one of the thieves repented of the mocking things they had said to Him earlier and asked Jesus to remember him in Christ’s kingdom. In response to this repentance, Jesus famously told him, “This day will you be with Me in Paradise.” 

Some may be wondering, “What and where is Paradise?”

When a person dies (any person) their soul (the spiritual substance of who they really are) are taken to a place called Sheol (Hebrew name) or Hades (Greek name), the realm of all the dead. A thorough study of Luke 16:19ff could be done for more detailed information (or I’ve written a book on the topic entitled “What Comes Next?”). The “where” is probably not findable by GPS, but was often (probably metaphorically) located deep in the earth. In Hades (Sheol) there are two sections divided by a deep chasm. In one section the souls of the sinful and unrepentant are tormented (called Tartarus); in the other section, the souls of the righteous and saved are comforted (called Paradise by Jesus as He spoke with the thief on the cross). 

We do not know for certain what Jesus did in Paradise. There is one New Testament statement that alludes to some activity, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water” (1 Peter 3:18-20). However, knowing more is apparently not to our advantage, so we know no more (Deuteronomy 29:29 ““The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law”).

Jesus’ disciples, on the other hand, found themselves deeply grieved, confused, and disappointed on this Passover. The only statement made in Scripture that speaks to their hearts’ thoughts is found in Luke 24:18-22 as part of the story of two of Jesus’ disciples walking on the way to Emmaus pondering the reports of Christ’s resurrection. A “stranger” joins them and starts asking questions, “One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, ‘Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?’ And He said to them, ‘What things?’ And they said to Him, ‘The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. ‘But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning,’” His disciples relate their high hopes about Jesus as the Messiah, the wonderful signs and miracles He performed, and how they had hoped that He would be the one to redeem Israel — but how He had been tragically condemned and crucified. And all Passover (the first time that Israel had been redeemed), they had probably tried to make some sense out everything they had seen and heard — all in the midst of their shock and grief.

What can we learn?

When bad, shocking, grief inducing, inexplicable tragedy occurs in our lives — as they often do — instead of letting it weaken our faith; maybe what we need to is take a step back. Although we can occasionally make some sense of events in our lives, we also need to realize that God may be doing something wonderful that we may not be able to make sense of in our wildest imagination. Instead, we need to trust the Lord to work things out in His own time, while we just do what we ought to be doing.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

This day, which started at 6PM, was the most intensely critical 24 hours in all of history. They are the last hours of the Lord Jesus’ physical life on earth. These hours are given more attention and painted in much greater detail than any other period of time in Jesus’ life — and obviously for good reason.

It begins with what is known as the Last Supper. To detail and expand all that occurred at this last time of fellowship and teaching would take an entire book; but since this is only a blog posting, I will do my best to summarize. This was a Passover meal; not only did Jesus and the apostles refer to it as such, but Luke gives us a glimpse of detail that others don’t as he mentions Jesus passing around a first cup of wine to begin things, as was traditional at a Passover meal. Unfortunately, the meal began with a disagreement about who would be the designated foot-washer for the meal (John 13). This was considered a very lowly job for the person who was lowest on the “totem pole” of status; but it is a job which Jesus voluntarily took up to quell the argument and teach a crucially important lesson that the apostles had struggled over for almost the whole time of Jesus’ ministry, the greatest would be the servant of all. In the midst of this Passover meal, Jesus took some of the usual elements of the meal and gave them new significance. He took the unleavened bread on the table and told them that it would now be used as a token of remembrance of the body he would be giving in death for them and us all; He blessed it, broke it, and passed it around to them all to eat of. Similarly, He took a cup of wine and gave it a new meaning; it would be a token of remembrance of His blood, the agent of purification from sin and also of the new covenant. John tells us that Jesus spent a good deal of time after establishing the Lord’s Supper in comforting the apostles with teachings about the Holy Spirit and praying for their strength and unity.

After the meal was done, the Gospels tell us that they all sang a hymn and left for Gethsemane, a garden on the western slope of the Mount of Olives. On the way, Jesus warned the apostles of the arrest and that they would be scattered. Peter vehemently proclaimed his loyalty to suffer prison or even death for the Lord, but Jesus told him that before the rooster would crow that morning, he would deny Jesus three times. In Gethesemane Jesus settled 8 of the apostles in one group to pray, but then led Peter, James, and John a little farther and likewise charged them to be praying so that they would not enter into temptation. Then Jesus walked a little farther still and fell down in fervent prayer. In this prayer He famously asked the Father to let the cup of suffering He was about to endure pass from Him — yet, not as He willed but as the Father willed. Clearly Jesus had free will to choose whatever He wanted, but He trusted in the plan and will of the Father. This prayer, the Scripture tells was very intense and fervent, so much so that Jesus began to sweat drops of blood. So deep was His grief, that the Father sent an angel to strengthen Him in His time of agony. After this time of prayer, Jesus returned to Peter, James, and John and found them asleep. He roused them and charged them with prayer again, then He returned to His own prayer. After a while He returned again and found them asleep once more. Jesus let them continue their slumber and returned to pray a third time until the betrayer and the Roman cohort were almost upon them.

Passover is always during a full moon, and April is often a dry time of year. It is likely, then, that Jesus had been able to watch Judas and the soldiers leave the city, walk across the Kidron Valley, and up the slope to Gethsemane. But He didn’t run or seek to escape; underscoring the deliberate attitude of Jesus to do the Father’s will. Judas led the crowd of soldiers right to Jesus and with a kiss on the cheek of greeting, he showed the soldiers who they should arrest. The kiss, however, wasn’t necessary; Jesus readily admitted to being Jesus of Nazareth, so that the soldiers might allow the apostles to walk away free. But Peter drew one of the swords brought along for defense and turned it into a weapon of offense to protect Jesus. He took a swing at the high priest’s servant, Malchus, and cut off his ear. Jesus, however, healed the wound on the spot and told Peter to put the sword away. From here everyone seemed to have scattered, including a young man who had followed Jesus and the apostles to Gethsemane in nothing but a sheet; most scholars believe it could well have been Mark, the writer of the Gospel of Mark.

Although Peter ran away like the rest, he and John did continue to follow Jesus and the soldiers at a distance. Because John’s family was acquainted with the high priest’s family, Peter and John were able to enter the court of the house. A fire in the middle of the court for a little warmth had been kindled, and Peter joined a circle around the fire to take the night chill off. While there, one of the servant girls identified Peter as a follower. Peter denied it. Another person around the fire, a relative of Malchus, also recognized Peter, but again Peter denied knowing Jesus. Finally, antlers person told Peter than He must be a follower of Jesus, because he had a Galilean accent; to this Peter swore that he absolutely didn’t know Jesus. At that moment the cock crowed, Jesus looked directly at Peter, and Peter remembered Jesus’ words and went outside the courtyard and wept bitterly. In the high priest’s house, Jesus faced both Annas and Caiaphas who questioned Him about His teachings, hoping to find something to accuse Him of before the Sanhedrin and the Roman governor, Pilate. At dawn Caiaphas sent to convene the Sanhedrin to condemn Jesus. Here they asked Jesus if He was the Son of God and Jesus answered yes. This, the Sanhedrin believed, was blasphemy and worthy of death. The problem, however, was that the Romans had received for themselves alone the authority to execute capital punishment; so they needed to send Jesus to Pilate. 

The accusation that the high priest and Sanhedrin made against Jesus had nothing to do with blasphemy, but rather sedition, calling Himself a king. when Pilate asked with Jesus, however, it became apparent that Jesus was not claiming to be physical king, but a spiritual one. Pilate sought let Jesus go by appealing to the people and by trying to trade Jesus for a well-known murderer, Barabbas. Finally, Pilate agreed to condemn Jesus to death, but sought to soothe his conscience by ceremonially washing his hands in protest against the religious officials and bloodthirsty crowd that they had whipped up to chant, “Crucify, crucify!”

In preparation for crucifixion, it was necessary to weaken the condemned with a terrible flogging that made ribbons of Jesus’ back. The pain and shock was enough to kill some men before they were ever crucified. After the flogging, Jesus was forced to carry His own cross beam for the cross. This proved to be more than His weakened physical body could manage, and He stumbled. A passerby, Simon of Cyrene, was forced to carry the cross beam the remainder of the way to Golgotha (translated: Place of a Skull). Here Jesus was laid down on a cross as soldiers drove nails through the fleshy part just above both wrists. Then His feet were drawn up slightly and also nailed, probably through the arch of the foot. The cross then was raised and dropped into a pre-dug hole causing the body of the Savior to pull against the nails. The priests who had been responsible for His condemnation stood before Him and mocked Him. Soldier gambled for Jesus’ clothes, the condemned were usually stripped naked and clothes were valuable. From 9AM to about 3PM Jesus suffered enormous physical pain, but it may have been the spiritual pain that was the most unendurable, as Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” The Son, for the first time in all eternity, was separated from the Father, because the sin of the world was being laid on Him — Isaiah 53:6 “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.” At the end, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “It is finished!” and He died. 

Joseph of Arimathea, a secret disciple, but a man with status in the city, approached Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. When Pilate allowed it, Joseph took Jesus’ body and put it in His own new tomb, which was not far away from the scene of crucifixion. A hasty embalming process was undertaken and a large stone was rolled over the mouth of the tomb. Additionally, a Roman seal was put on the tomb to discourage any tampering with the body, and a guard of Roman soldiers was stationed there to stand guard — just in case Jesus’ disciples might try to steal the body and falsely claim a resurrection. And then the Passover Sabbath fell over Jerusalem.

What do these things mean?

The bread and the wine — This ritual, which became known as either Communion or the Lord’s Supper or Breaking Bread, became a weekly observation in worship every first day of the week very early in the life of the church (see Acts 20:7). There’s a two dimensional aspect to the Lord’s Supper that should be noted here. In the bread we remember Christ, whose body was given to be punished in our place should be remembered (a vertical dimension), but as a matter of communion, too, we remember the one body that we are as the church (1 Cor. 10:17), a horizontal dimension. In the cup we remember the blood of Jesus given to forgive us our sins and establish a new covenant with God (vertical), but since we are in covenant with the Father, we are all related to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ (horizontal).

The prayer for unity — This prayer uttered by Jesus in the upper room with His apostles was in the midst of a number of other important teachings about the Holy Spirit. Pay close attention to John 17:22 ““The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one.” This is different from the union of the denominational world, where everybody is “OK” and we’ll just ignore the differences. The unity of the Father and Son is much, much more — real oneness.

Two more observations — although there are thousands in this section of Scriptures: In the story of Peter and what we know happened later, we can find hope for those who fall in a moment of weakness and confusion — it needn’t be fatal. The Lord is gracious.The Lord seems to specialize in fixing broken things and making them something glorious. Peter the denier became Peter the proclaimer. Maybe you’ve dropped the metaphorical ball in your life with sin or even a sinful set of years in your life, but in Christ there is always a “But God…” What do I mean? Consider this:“Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us…made us alive” (Ephesians 2:3-5)

Just a couple words of closing comment here: Read Isaiah 53.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

The Gospel writers don’t have much to report about Jesus’ activities on Wednesday during the day, but there are some assumptions that we can make based on Luke 21:37, “Now during the day He was teaching in the temple, but at evening He would go out and spend the night on the mount that is called Olivet.” So, it is safe to say that Wednesday evening (our Tuesday evening) Jesus had gone to the Mount of Olives (probably Gethsemane, where He was later arrested) and that Wednesday morning He went to the Temple to teach. This verse also makes it unlikely that the dinner in Simon the leper’s home happened on Tuesday or Wednesday evening (our Monday or Tuesday evening), since Bethany is another 1.5 or 2 miles (perhaps an hour’s walk, because of the hilliness of the road) away from Gethsemane.

It is not known exactly when Judas went to make arrangements with the chief priests to betray Jesus. It could have been Monday evening (our Sunday evening) right after Jesus rebuked him for criticizing Mary for anointing Jesus with the expensive perfume in Bethany. Or it could have been after Jesus began spending the night in Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives, perhaps Wednesday evening (our Tuesday evening). Knowing where Jesus was planning to be overnight would be advantageous to know where to lead the authorities for a quiet, non-public arrest. My personal conclusion is that it was Wednesday evening.

The Mount of Olives would have been a most convenient and beautiful place to “camp out” for Jesus and His disciples. The Mount of Olives faces westward toward Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley. It is directly across from the former site of the Temple, which faced eastward, making a walk from the Mount of Olives to the Temple only a short half to three-quarter mile walk. As the sun arose in the morning, it would brilliantly light up the white facade of the Temple, which was reportedly one of the most beautiful buildings in the world at the time.

Wednesday would have been the 13^th day of the month Nisan, a day spoken of as the Day of Preparation. It is about this point when the question is raised about why Jesus would be be preparing to eat the Passover (as many of the Gospel writers clearly state He was), when the priests and the rest of the nation would be preparing for Passover on Nisan 14^th and celebrating it on Nisan 15^th. The simple answer is that God originally set Passover as being Nisan 14^th (Day of Preparation would be Nisan 13^th), but rabbinic tradition had changed the dates, so that during Jesus’ lifetime the Day of Preparation had become Nisan 14^th and Passover Nisan 15^{th —} as it is even today. Jesus and His disciples were simply observing Passover as God had originally instructed. Thus, Jesus’ disciples asked Him where He wanted them to prepare the Passover meal. Jesus gave them instructions about how to identify where the meal was to take place, and left the remainder of the preparation details to them to arrange. The rest of that day, at least for Jesus, appears to have been spent teaching and perhaps healing in the Temple — despite the weight of grievous anticipation of the next 36 hours or so that surely must have been bearing down on Him. 

So what can we learn?

One observation that I’d like to make is Jesus’ choice of day to celebrate the Passover. Rather than following the traditions (man-made changes to God’s will), Jesus chose to follow the original command. This is not just Jesus’ lone example (although that would be enough for any disciple, right?), but it is the constant call of the prophets throughout the Hebrew Scriptures.

And even in the stories of the Old Testament, there are evil kings (e.g., Jeroboam and Ahab) who departed from God’s original patterns and great hero kings (like Hezekiah and Josiah) were those who sought to restore God’s original commands and patterns.

This call to restore the original continues through the New Testament, too. Jesus Himself criticized the traditions of the rabbis that contradicted the original commands of God; and Paul urgently charged men like Timothy and Titus to hold to the standard of sound words (e.g,. 2 Timothy 1:13) rather than be lured by the corrupted traditions (cum doctrines) of men.

Bottom line here: God doesn’t appreciate human innovation when it comes to His commands and will.

Secondly, we should observe the trust and focus of Jesus even on the brink of His arrest, kangaroo court of a trial, intense suffering, and cruel death. Still healing, still teaching, and letting tomorrow worry about itself. How could He do that? His implicit trust in His Heavenly Father. Yes, a brutal 36 hours lay ahead of Him — but Sunday was coming!! There was exquisite pain and shame yet to endure, but His Father was completely and absolutely in control.

Given our current circumstances of quarantine across the country, we might find a perfect example to follow and find the peace and comfort we all long for. But even beyond this, it gives to us the right example in enduring persecution and difficult times that we may yet be facing — keep focusing on the good works before us, leaving worrying for the those without God’s hope, and relax knowing that we win in the end — Sunday’s coming!!

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

You might be wondering how anyone might be able to determine what day was which in this walk through the last week of Jesus on earth as a man. The Gospel of Mark actually provides us a day by day account of the last 5 days with “on the next day” phrases. If we assume the first of these day (Mark 10:46ff) being Sunday, then knowing Monday (Mark 11:12), Tuesday (Mark 11:19,20), Wednesday (Mark 14:1), and Thursday (Mark 14:17). Using Mark as an timeline and outline, we are now on Tuesday.

Tuesday of Jesus’ last week was a thoroughly busy day. It began with Jesus and His apostles and some disciples walking from Bethany to Jerusalem. On the way those following Jesus noticed that the fig tree that He had cursed the day before was completely withered, which gave Jesus the opportunity to do some on the road teaching about the power of prayer (as we referred to yesterday).

Arriving at Temple, Jesus appears to have been confronted quickly by the chief priests about the authority with which He was “doing these things”. We don’t have a clear antecedent to what “these things” might be; they could be His miraculous healings, His raising Lazarus from the dead, His teachings, or perhaps even His cleansing of the Temple of the money changers and livestock merchants. Of these four possibilities, it would seem that the teachings and the cleansing of the Temple are the most likely antecedents; the authority for the miracles would seem to be obviously God. This, however, highlights once again the the blindness of Jesus’ critics, who couldn’t seem to make the connection between the miracles and their logical conclusions about who Jesus was and the authority that His teachings carried.

Jesus’ response to them was a counter-challenge. Generously paraphrased it amounts to “I’ll answer your question only if you answer Mine: Who gave John the Baptist his authority to preach and baptize?” The chief priests instantly found themselves in a no-win situation; any answer they gave would make them look bad. If they said that John got his authority from God, then Jesus would ask them why they didn’t believe John’s testimony about Himself. If, on the other hand, they said that John didn’t have any authority from God, they would become very unpopular, since the people believed that John was a legitimate prophet from God. So, the chief priests gave the only safe (but embarrassing) answer, “We don’t know.” So, Jesus refused to answer their question, too, and supplied us with a deft strategy for dealing with malicious critics.

But Jesus didn’t drop their challenge entirely. He went on in His teaching to tell a scalding parable about the wicked vine-growers (alternatively known as the parable of the landowner). In this parable Jesus depicts a landowner who lets us property out to vine-growers expecting a portion of the harvest as payment. When the vine-growers fail to pay the land owner sends servant after servant to collect payment, only to have those servants abused and killed. The landowner finally decides to send his son to collect, thinking that they would respect his son, but the wicked vine-growers, seeing an opportunity to kill the heir and take the land for themselves, kill the landowners son, too. Then Jesus asks the obvious question, “What will the owner of the vineyard do?” The obvious answer: He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard to others. Then Jesus quotes the Psalm (118:23) that prophesies, “The stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief corner stone.” This prophecy against these wicked chief priests could not have been clearer, and it made them even more determined to find a way to stop Jesus.

Mark (11:13) tells us that it was these same chief priests and who sent other religious leaders to come challenge Jesus in the Temple courts, so the next few hours of Jesus at the Temple is filled with clearly hostile questions intended to stump Him or make Him look bad in the people’s eyes.

It started with some Herodians. They began by trying to flatter Jesus, hailing Him as one who was truthful and deferred to no one, but then gave Him a problem they thought would make Him guilty of treason in the eyes of the Romans or a collaborator in the eyes of the people — “Is it lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?” Jesus’ response was beautifully simple, (paraphrased, of course) look at the denarius in your own purse and tell me whose likeness and inscription is on it. Then, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.

Sadducees joined the effort to bring Jesus down in the eyes of the people with what they considered an unanswerable question about the resurrection. What if, they proposed, a man married a woman and then died before they had children — and then her brother marries her (under the Levirate law) but also dies before they have children — and then she marries the next brother, etc. down to the last of 7 brothers and then the woman dies. If there really is a resurrection, whose wife will she be? Jesus, agains, skillfully diagnoses their errors and answers them brilliantly. Their error: they didn’t understand either the Scriptures or the power of God. The answer: there will be no marriage in the resurrection and, yes, there will be a resurrection, testified to by a verse right out of Exodus (3:6), “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” — the stress being placed on the present tense verb “am” (as opposed to the past tense, “was”). Jesus concluded, “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”

Another came asking what the greatest command might be. This was a question of great concern to many a religious Jew, since there were so many laws that must be observed, let alone all the traditions. Would it be keeping Sabbath, would it be keeping kosher laws, would it be keeping the holy days? Could it even be whittled down to the 10 commandments? What was the one command that, if you kept it perfectly, you could rest assured that you would be saved? Jesus’ answer might have surprised many, essentially it was the well-known “Shema” of Deut. 6:4,5 — there is one God and you shall love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And then Jesus adds, for good measure, the second commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” This answer was so profoundly correct, that even the scribe who seems to have asked the question as a trap, was impressed and said so. And this seems to have shut down the oppositional questions — for the moment.

But Jesus had a question for them to ponder from Psalm 110:1 which prophesied that the Messiah would be both a son of king David and One that king David called “Lord”. Fathers, especially a king, never called their sons “Lord” — unless their son was indeed of higher status, like God.

Jesus’ day also consisted of pointing out the hypocrisy of some of the religious leaders who prayed long prayers for show and then privately oppressed the poor. He also sat across from where Temple contributions were deposited and watched while rich men dropped in bags of silver or gold with an accompanying loud thump; and also as a poor widow dropped in a few small coins that probably couldn’t even be heard as they hit the bottom of the box. Jesus’ commentary on the value that God placed on such gifts has lived on in precious memory now for centuries. It illustrated what a great difference there is in giving disposable income and giving one’s rent and food money.

Toward the end of the day, Jesus and the apostles left the Temple on their way to the Mount of Olives, where they planned to spend the night. As they left, the apostles commented on the beauty of the Temple, but were shocked to hear Jesus predict that not one stone would be left on another. When they arrived at the Mt. of Olives, probably Gethsemane, the apostles asked Him to explain what He meant and when this end of the world (as they understood it) scenario would make place. Jesus then uses what is known as a double prophecy to predict what would happen in the near term (AD 70) and what would happen in the longer term (the end of time).

Now what can we learn? Actually, too much for one blog, so I’ll condense a few observations.

Jesus’ answer to the Herodians encourages us to be good citizens of the physical authorities (as much as that is possible, while being good citizens of God’s eternal Kingdom — always.

The criticism and warnings that Jesus provided to the Jewish leaders in the Temple needs to be heeded by modern religious leaders, too, this writer included. God holds leaders to a higher standard and they need to read Scripture carefully, objectively, thoroughly, and practically.

The scribe who came asking what the greatest commandment might be gives us insight and hope that not every skeptic’s heart is cast in concrete. It is way too easy to write people off completely if they ever express skepticism about Christianity or an inclination toward something worldly. Jesus’ and the apostles’ early converts included a lot Jewish priests (see the book of Acts), Pharisees (e.g., Nicodemas), and tax collectors and sinners.

Beyond the conversion of the scribe, the answer Jesus gave about loving God first and second loving others is, of course, worth pondering. Jesus’ priority guidance is to love God first and then to love our neighbor.

The hubris of the Sadducees, believing that they could trap Jesus with their proof-texted resurrection question should make all us take greater care in our Bible study. Correct Bible study needs to include to important things 1 pay attention to details, and 2) use the “sum” of Scripture and not just “some”. These are still the shortcomings of many a would-be theologian.

Lastly, the prophecy about the destruction of the Temple put side by side with the true end times is something that should be studied, not for trying to figure out exactly when the Lord will be returning (that will NEVER happen), but for the sake of fortifying ourselves in perseverance and hope against the great forces of worldliness that will persecute every disciple of Christ.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

I recently ran across this quote from C.S. Lewis that I believe could be useful to us all during the current COVID-19 crisis. He wrote it in the early days of living in a world that now had the atomic bomb, the early days of the cold war. But supply “coronavirus” for the “atomic bomb” or “atomic age” phrases and see what you think…

In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”

In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.

— “On Living in an Atomic Age” (1948) in Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays

God has things in control today just like he did at the dawn of the atomic age and every other existential threat God’s people have ever faced. Jesus’ words must be borne in mind continually these days, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).

Keep praying, stay in God’s word, live faithfully. With the Lord’s help, we’ll get through this together.

Luke 21 (also Mark 12:41) tells the story of Jesus sitting in the Temple near the Temple’s treasury contribution box. The Lord had observed a number of rich people come through and drop in their bag of silver coins. Jingle! Thunk! Jingle! The bigger the “Jingle and Thunk” the prouder the giver seemed to strut away. But then along came a poor widow. You’d be excused for thinking that she wouldn’t be giving anything; she was clearly poor, she was clearly a widow, she had no coin bag to see, and what she was about to give was easily held in the palm of her hand. And when she did put in her contribution, the sound was probably so soft that it wouldn’t have been noticed at all in a noisy place like the Temple — two leptons, the smallest coin, the least valuable coin, in the Roman world. Noisy or not, however, Jesus noticed and was impressed enough to make a comment that we should sit up and take notice of: “Truly, I way to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live.” 

What made it so note worthy? There are two things to consider.

There is a difference between giving some and giving all. Although the rich had put in greater actual amounts, she had put in more proportionally. The rich had give out of their disposable income, but she had given away her grocery and rent money. Most certainly God appreciates all of our gifts, when they are given with the right heart, but the widow’s gift crossed the world’s line of “good sense” by giving not 100% of her surplus had but 100% of all she had.

There is also a difference between giving when you have prospects of obtaining more in the near future and giving without prospects of getting any more. None of the wealthier givers, as far as we know, gave 100% of their money; but if they had, it still would not have been as great a sacrifice as the widow’s gift. The wealthy had prospects of earning more later in the next business deal, the next work day, the next crop, or however they made their living. Some widows of Jesus’ day could rely on family to support them, but there were other widows who had no financial prospects being too old and a woman (Paul calls them “widows indeed” in 1 Timothy 5). The widow of this story appears to be in this latter category, so when she gave her two copper coins it was not just emptying out her purse for now, it was giving with no prospects in sight. This was a sacrificial gift founded on a deep love for God and a trust in the Him to meet her needs; this was a true giving of herself.

It was these two characteristics of the widow’s gift that made it the most and the best gift received at the Temple treasury that day. By seeing the widow’s gift through Jesus’ eyes, the apostles doubtlessly felt both deeply impressed and humbled. It could not have failed to leave a life-long lesson on their discipleship.

Perhaps we, too, feel inspired and challenged by a faith and love that would prompt such financial sacrifice; maybe next week we’ll give more to the Lord in the collection plate. But you know, there are more ways to give to the Lord than in dollars and cents. There’s time. There’s effort. There’s commitment. There are skills, talents, homes and cars and every other possession given into our stewardship. There’s lots of ways to give to the Lord like the widow; but the key principle is whatever we give — little or much, 10% or 100% — should be given trustingly, lovingly, and completely.

In Exodus 50:19 Joseph uttered these profoundly thoughtful words. His brothers were terrified that Joesph might be plotting revenge on them and their families for all the wrong they had done to Joseph as a boy by selling him as a slave to traders who sold him to the Egyptians. Their beloved father had died and Joseph was second in command in all of Egypt, there was almost nothing that he couldn’t get away with. So, as his brothers begged for their and their families’ lives, Joseph reminds them that revenge is God’s prerogative, not his. 

If only we could remind ourselves of this deep truth, not only when it comes to revenge and grudges, but even more broadly about God’s exclusive prerogatives. 

For instance, setting true moral boundaries is God’s prerogative, not ours. The world has always wanted to set the bar for morality and these days has set the bar especially low. Sexual morality, in modern times, has few “forbiddens”; honesty and truth has become a very fluid thing, changing with the individual; immodesty among women and men, it would seem, is applied largely to bare nakedness of the rawest kind; the neighbor we should love is defined by political labels; greed and materialism have become positive motivators to success and progress; the ends seem to constantly justify any means; and hatred is tolerable, if it is against one’s political opponents. The list could go on, but the truth is that we are not the legitimate setters of the bar for right and wrong; God is. We may want to set the moral boundaries, when we desire to do something sinful; but it doesn’t work that way. We must not set ourselves in God’s place.

True spiritual teachings are God’s prerogative, not ours. Somehow, the world seems to have decided that spiritual truths can be changed as easily as changing the ending of a fairy tale we don’t like. But spiritual truths are no more changeable than physical truths. That gravity pulls toward the earth, that rocks are hard, that light travels at 186,000 miles a second, etc. are physically non-negotiable laws of the natural world. And similarly, disobedience to God is sin, the wages of sin is death, Heaven and Hell are eternal places, etc. are spiritually non-negotiable laws of the spiritual world. The same God who created the physical reality also created the spiritual reality. We sin by God’s definition, we can be saved by God’s way, and we will spend eternity in places that God Himself prepared. We are not the writers of these laws or the creators of these realities, God is. We may want to be the authority for spiritual truth, when Biblical truth becomes inconvenient or is not to our taste; but it doesn’t work that way. We must not set ourselves in God’s place about spiritual truth.

Judgement, too, is God’s prerogative, not ours. I am not the judge. You are not the judge. No man-made panel, no man-made appointee is the judge. This is God’s prerogative alone. In His word He has told us what will condemn us and what will redeem us. Similarly, in His word He has told us what is doctrinally true and what is not. And God’s word even gives us examples of His judgment — that it is sure, that it is just, and that for the sinful it is severe. This allows each reader of the Scripture to accurately know for himself ahead of time, ahead of the day of judgment, how God will judge each man’s words, deeds, and thoughts — against His moral standard. And how God will judge each man’s teachings and practices — against spiritual reality. It also allows those who have read God’s word to warn others of how God plans to judge mankind. It is not my right, not any other Christian’s privilege, nor any worldling’s place to either condemn or justify anyone, on the basis of human preference. As Jesus Himself put it, (John 5:30) “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” We may think that we’d like to call the shots on judgement or whether there’ll be a judgement at all, but that’s not the way it works. We must not imagine that we can set ourselves in God’s place about judgement.

Satan, the Scripture implies, fell from Heaven through pride and trying to usurp God’s place. Joseph was indeed wise, much wiser than many, when he passed on revenge against his brothers and said, “Am I in the place of God?” Let’s recognize our real place in this world, we are human, we are the creation; we are not God, not the Creator.