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This is the one time in the Christian calendar that we set aside to dwell upon the sufferings of Christ. It is always a time of reassurance, for in this season we see clear tokens of just how much we are beloved of God. At the same time it often leaves us a little uncomfortable, as if we have peeked into a corner of God’s redemptive plan that is so intimate and personal between the Father and the Son that we feel we have somehow trespassed and profaned the moment by trampling over holy ground with our spiritual shoes on.
For more than 20 years, it has been my privilege to examine at this time the sufferings of Jesus from many different vantage points. We have looked at the crucifixion accounts and traced the evidence of eye witness reports. Written into the gospel narratives is such detailed information that, from a medical standpoint, there can be no doubt that they describe actual events. And there can be no question that Jesus actually succumbed to his injuries before he was removed from the cross.
We have also talked about the Roman legionnaires and there remarkable penchant for cruelty. From this angle we saw how cruel and painful the scourging and the crucifixion were. We have shuddered and recoiled from the awful nature of the flagellum’s stripes, that flayed the back of our savior. And we have gasped ourselves as we have contemplated the exhausting and laborious effort needed to expel just one breath as Jesus hung suspended on the cross.
We have also taken more theological approaches. The pregnant symbolism of the crown of thorns is chilling in its irony. How amazing that the ignorant and arrogant soldiers should choose the very symbol of the curse to plait a crown for Jesus. As they mocked the notion that he was any kind of king, he bore on his brow the symbol of the curse that was pronounced in the Garden. It was announced at the same time the doom of the serpent was foretold. But there on that dark day in Jerusalem, as the serpent spent his wrath and rage through the soldiers, neither the spirit that inflamed them or the soldiers that carried out his bidding knew that
they were actually assisting this truly cosmic king to bring to fulfillment the prophecy that though the serpent would bruise his heel, he would crush his head.
We have also talked about the passive sufferings of Christ. The sufferings that began in his infancy, the sufferings that are part and parcel of his humiliation. We cannot even conceive of the duress and stress of the almighty and eternal creator of all things confined to the psychology and anatomy of an infant. And we have talked about the first blood he shed on our behalf, when at 8 days old, he was circumcised in our place. The foreshadowing of all his obedience that would someday become our own. An obedience that cost him far more dearly than we could ever know. Yes over the years we have looked at Christ’s suffering from many different angles.
I have been reflecting on the book of Hebrews lately. I have come to look at it with a great deal of wonder. It is a beautiful disclosure of the centrality and supremacy of Christ. There is one strand of the book that is very evocative. It portrays an aspect of the suffering of Christ that we don’t talk much about. We don’t look too closely at it I think, because it does lie in that holy area of the work of Christ at which we are often reluctant to stare. The area of his temptations. So let’s take off our shoes spiritually, and for a moment do what the angels yearn to do, to stoop down and peek into the mystery of the atonement, and try to understand one very important aspect.
We know that God wants us to understand that Jesus was tested. He records it for us in all of the synoptic gospels. To begin we need to understand one of the peculiarities of both the Hebrew and Greek languages. The word for test and tempt is the very same word. You might wonder how we tell the different uses apart. That is a good question. To give a simple answer, when the purpose of the event is for the good, it is a test. If it is designed to tear one down, it is a temptation. The same event at times can be a test and a temptation. This is true of Jesus in the events that followed his baptism. His Father certainly meant them for good, but his adversary wanted to trip him up. So at the same time Jesus was tested by his Father through the agency of Satan’s temptation. He was tempted and tested. Matthew’s words make the situation very clear. “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1)
In the desert Jesus did what Adam could not, he resisted the temptations that the enemy presented to him. I believe that the three incidents described in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are merely representative of 40 intense days of testing. The 3 areas reflect the nature of the Eden probation, which I believe John summarizes as the desires of the flesh, and of the eyes, and what he calls the pride of life. I think it is important to make two observations. We don’t know how long it took for Adam and Eve to fall away from God and follow the serpents temptation. Some rabbis suggest it happened on the very day that they were made. We know that Jesus endured the specific season of testing for 40 days. But we should also note that Luke 4:13 says: “When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.” Jesus was tested and yes tempted far longer than just these 40 days. I believe that from the moment he was born he was constantly presented with opportunity to diverge from the path of absolute obedience.
Think of the time when he was discoursing with the lawyers in the temple, as a young child. When he asked his parents why they were worried, didn’t they know he had to be in his Father’s house, he didn’t sin. How easy it would have been to be disrespectful or petulant. But not Jesus.
Or when he expressed his frustration with the protracted unbelief he endured, instead of just saying “how long shall I be with you and put up with you?” Jesus could have blasted them with a verbal denouncement that would have sent the man home with his sick child wishing he had never seen this teacher. But he never harangued anyone. Imagine the put downs and insults with which he could have skewered the Pharisees. He could have made them look stupid and left them speechless, not even sure if they had been insulted and won a loyal following with his rapier like wit. But not Jesus. Even when he calls them the spawn of Satan, doing their true Father’s bidding it was without malice and rancor.
Or finally in the garden after the last Passover, Jesus never whines or wheedles as he prays to the father. Instead like a mature son about to carry out his father’s bidding at a sever personal cost, he says, “Abba, Father, not my will, but yours be done.”
So what are we supposed to understand about the temptations of Jesus? Certainly we are supposed to see that he was very different than you or I. We are quick to excuse our minor lapses, due to fatigue or frustration, or some extenuating circumstance. You and I have never suffered being tempted. We have never persisted in obedience so long that we have known the anguish and stress of unrelenting temptation in the face of unwavering obedience.
Consider what the writer of Hebrews says: “Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” (Hebrews 2:17-18) It is very clear that the temptations of Christ were definitely an aspect of suffering for him. And it is an essential part of his suffering. It is part of his qualification as our high priest. Without this aspect of suffering his priesthood would be inadequate.
The writer of Hebrews continues to build on this idea in chapter four. There, after describing the powerful conviction that the word of God brings into our lives, discovering and exposing our sinful acts and affections, the author makes it clear that we can turn with our sin and failures to Jesus because of the nature of his priesthood. He suffered temptation. He knows what we have experienced. So we read:
¶Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)
As we contemplate the cross today, as we weigh and measure the sufferings of the savior, we must not loose sight of their intention. He was anointed to be our High Priest. He sacrificed Himself as the lamb of God. But if we do not come to Him, we can never comprehend the rationale of his suffering. It was not just to sketch and outline the extent of his love. It was designed and intended to draw us to his throne of grace. The sufferings of Christ display the credentials of our High Priest, who is able to understand our need. He feels our weakness, he sympathizes with us even as we stand before his throne naked and guilty barely able to appeal for clemency. He understands and he offers mercy and grace when we need it most. When we feel the sting of our disobedience, when the spirit whispers in our hearts, “you are that man.” When the sword of the spirit has penetrated our defenses and has exposed our guilt, we see Jesus, tested and tempted just like us. And because he suffered as a result of that testing, Hebrews says hold on, turn to him.
Hold fast your confession and come honestly and courageously to his gracious throne. There obtain mercy, there find grace. He is on our side. AMEN
It is so reassuring that Jesus says, “I will build my church.” I have never been very good at building. Probably the best job I ever had was one summer I spent rebuilding a “sash house.” It was a green house made out of panes of glass fixed in sashes and they were affixed to the rafters of the greenhouse. I was even pretty adept at driving bent recycled nails. Most of the time though my building endeavors look pretty, amateurish. So I am glad, I am just a helper to the great builder of the church.
I was reading Psalm 146:5-10
Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the LORD his God,
6 Who made heaven and earth, The sea, and all that is in them;
Who keeps truth forever,
7 Who executes justice for the oppressed,
Who gives food to the hungry.
The LORD gives freedom to the prisoners.
8 The LORD opens the eyes of the blind;
The LORD raises those who are bowed down;
The LORD loves the righteous.
9 The LORD watches over the strangers;
He relieves the fatherless and widow;
But the way of the wicked He turns upside down.
10 The LORD shall reign forever –
Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the LORD!
This is one of those places that make you realize the awesome divine sovereignty of Jesus. Look at the attributes assigned to Jehovah, freeing prisoners, opening blind eyes. All things that Jesus did. In fact these are the things that Jesus told those who had come from John asking if He was the messiah to tell their teacher.
Yes, I am so glad that Jesus is still building his church. Opening eyes, freeing the oppressed. Taking care of the helpless.
I have to scoot, so peace for now.
We are such a visual generation. We want to see things. I know when I talk to teens they almost unanimously express a preference for a movie over a book. That is so sad. The imagination of generation is atrophying. But adults are no different. We typically spend hours watching TV each week. I marvel at the high definition phenomenon. I have been to homes, where adults sit marveling at the texture of the grass on a baseball diamond in Hi Def. Hmmm? I submit that we are all pretty visual. So it is not surprising that I sometimes wonder what the Angel of Jehovah looked like.
In the time of the patriarchs and in the early days of the theocracy, did he always look the same? I don’t think so. Consider when Hagar encounters the angel of Jehovah she asks; “have I also seen him who sees me?” the interesting part is the Hebrew phrase: (‘achry ro’i) this is similar to what Jehovah told Moses in Exodus 33:20-23. No man can see His face and survive, so Moses was aloud to see his “back.” (‘achry ) So should we translate Genesis 16:13, have I seen the “back of the one who sees me?” If we asked Hagar what the Angel of Jehovah looked like, I don’t think we would get a very clear description.
In Judges 6 when Gideon meets the Angel of Jehovah, he does not at first seem to recognize the supernatural character of the Angel. Similarly in Judges 13 Manoah and his wife new that the figure that announced Samson’s birth was unique, but they treated him like a man. It wasn’t until he refused their offer of a meal and told them to offer a burnt offering to Jehovah, that they began to “see” to whom they were talking. But when he touched the offering they had prepared and ascended in the flame, they knew they were dealing with God.
Was each apparition of the Angel diferent in appearance? There is a big difference between Manoah’s visitation and the burning bush that Moses saw. I suspect, each time the Angel appeared, his form was determined by his mission. I think that makes this advent season extra special. Advent is all about incarnation.
The incarnation changed the unchangeable. I believe that every appearance of the Angel of Jehovah in the Old Covenant was actually an act of revelation carried out by the Son, the second person of the triune God. Hebrews chapter one describes him this way: “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” The incarnation changed everything forever. When he sat down, he sat down as Jesus, the Son of Man. He was now inextricably linked to our own humanity. The Angel of the Lord now had a name, (one above every other name, to be sure) and a face and scarred hands and feet, that he will bear for eternity. As a result of the message proclaimed to Mary, as a result of her humble obedience, as a result of the nativity in Bethlehem, the Angel of the Lord was forever changed, and would always be the same in some way from that time forward. It is what Daniel saw in chapter 7:13-14 “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away,”
Advent is an amazing season, because we have an amazing God. We have a savior who laid aside his glory, to become a man; more thatn that to become a servant, tasting death for us all that we might win eternity through his obedience. Oh, Merrry, Merry Christmas indeed.
Shalom for now! skipB
ps sorry for the crude transliterations of Hebrew. I was told that WordPress handled Unicode, but I loose the Hebrew every time I tried to put it here.
I was thinking some more about the “ghost of Christmas discontent,” I originally posted some thoughts about that on my other blog (http://journal.rcn.net/phronema) So after some thinking about what I might say I want for Christmas, it occured to me that one of those spiffy, flip-over, Belgium Waffle makers would be really cool. Then I thought, “but where would I put it?” Storage has always been a problem. Not long after that, while I was waiting for a friend who I had taken to a doctor’s appointment, I was intently browsing home improvement magazines. Looking for ways to renovate my kitchen. It occurred to me, that I wish I could tear my house down and start over to build it bigger and better. Poor me, I have more stuff than I have room to keep it. Then in my imagination I heard a chilling voice. “You fool…’
Suddenly Jesus’ parable came out of nowhere.
Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 “And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 “So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ‘ 20 “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16-21
This Christmas has become a time for serious self-inspection. Have I been guilty of this man’s fatal flaw? Verse 21 is such a powerful verse. It contrasts two participles. Thesaurizon and Plouton (both with long o’s) The first, thesaurizon, (which is the word we get thesaurus from) is all about hoarding and saving. Whoever hoards “stuff,” for himself is in a very precarious place. The word treasure or riches in many translations actually comes from the verb. The NIV comes pretty close with “stores up things.” It can be any “stuff,” that we persistently hang on to.
That tenacious accumulation of stuff is contrasted with the phrase the NKJ above translates “rich toward God.” I have always wondered about that idiom, it is such a strange phrase. Then I found a similar image in Romans 10:12; ” for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.” It is the same verb and preposition. The idea is that God is generous to all. As the NRS renders it: “the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him.”
So the basic contrast is between hoarding stuff for our own advancement, or being generous for God’s purposes. How easy, as we acquire more, to lose sight of the reason why God lavishly blesses us. What greater gift can there be, than to be partners with the greatest giver of all and to be instruments of blessing to the world.
Oh if only we really remembered the reputation of Saint Nicholas at Christmas time. The man who gave his entire inheritance away to the poor. That is a better Saint Nick than the jolly red suited character at the local mall. In the divine economy, it is really better to give than to receive. Because all the stuff we get, clamors to be stored and managed, cared for and conserved. Their insistent demands upon our space and time are a constant temptation to forget to be generous toward God, and to become hoarders for self. May God give us the true spirit of giving at this Christmas season. Shalom on earth, goodwill to all.
Well it is hard to believe that it has been more than 2 months that I have not posted anything here. But today is so rare, I can’t not post. I guess leap days are even less frequent than blue moons. So, here I am, thinking about the Bible. In the words of the psalmist, “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” And not just leap days but every day.
I have to say that am becoming increasingly distressed by the disregard and aversion of so many writers and speakers for God’s word. I am not talking about those who are intentionally secular, or anti-Christ. I mean preachers and authors who are espousing a way of following Christ that is not rooted in the Bible. A kind of faith that is doomed to subjectivity and error, because it sees only problems and difficulties in the Bible.
Unlike the writer of Psalm 119, they seem to have no personal tributes to the efficacy of the word in their lives. They almost seem to be indistinguishable from the unbeliever who openly complains about the severity of God’s commandments. How quick they are to misuse Paul’s words that the letter kills but the spirit gives life. They talk with disdain about meta-narrative, then blunder through this confusing world, because they don’t recognize the breath-taking beauty of the mind of God “who works all things according to the counsel of His will.”
As I think about my calling and work, I have moderate expectations. If I can do no more than help send out a new generation of preachers who truly love the word of God, I will be very happy. Psalm 138:2 says “I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your loving kindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.” Now this is not an easy verse to translate, but it means if nothing else, God’s truth and mercy are the ground all our praise, because He has made his word greater than even his own reputation.
Peace for Now
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I sometimes think that there are things we just don’t get, until we get older. When we are young, life is shiny and new. Every day is filled with new discoveries, new adventures. We are exploring our possibilities and potentials, and forever seems too short to do justice to our ambitions and plans. But as we get older, the luster fades, “stuff” starts looking tacky and tawdry. Our strength and vitality wane, and our interest flags and falters. Life becomes “complicated,” and complications bring disappointments and frustration.
Don’t get me wrong, there are still wonders to be appreciated. Moments that make your jaw drop and your mind reel as you see through the glitz to the real glory that made it all. I love the color of new leaves. As the trees begin to display their foliage it is nothing less than gorgeous. I think the new green of young leaves is impossible to capture in pigment or pixels, it is alive with almost a supernatural glow. When I marvel at the intensity and vitality of spring, I can almost for a moment forget the aching knees and other insistent reminders of my mortality. But the mundane always intrudes, and the moment slips away.
Then I want to rest, oh not sitting down here, now. If I sit down here, I only have to get up, and getting up then the knees really hurt. No, when I say rest, I mean I want to see Jesus, I am not big on dying though, I want to see him coming in the clouds, I want to see him and to be like him. I want this mortal, worn out world to be swallowed up by immortality.
When we get to this point, when stuff and glitz looses its appeal then all that is left that matters is Christ. Everything here is measured by him and his kingdom. Why don’t we learn these things when we are young? Why does it take so long for the fading glory of a fallen world to loose its appeal? I think it is because, even though it is under the curse, it is still God’s handiwork, it still radiates with the afterglow of his glory. But by itself, it is useless. I think that is what Ecclesiastes is all about. It is all temporary and frustrating, it leaves you trying to catch your breath. So remember your maker when your young, when there is time to make your life count for him. And even if we do die, well then we are finally getting ahead.
Living, it’s all about Christ, and we only see the profit when we cash it all in. To live is Christ and to die, is gain. Shalom, pax, peace for now.
I did not mean in my intro above to “savage” the old posts. So here is the first salvaged old post:
As I watch the last few leaves of the fall clinging tenaciously to the nearly bare limbs of the tree in my neighbor’s backyard, I have a hard time believing that I have not written anything here since early May. I could offer a thousand reasons; life is complicated, I’m so busy, I spend so much time caring for my mother. They are and would all be true statements, but somehow they all ring hollow. I have to confess to a great lethargy that has devoured my determination. I have fallen captive to a spiteful ennui that has subjugated all my good intentions and turned them to listless regrets. I struggle against a growing lassitude that leaves me ineffective and frustrated.
Writing has become difficult. Even now I stare at the words I am forming and they seem brutish and ill tempered and I am never more than one keystroke away from banishing them to an empty, electronic oblivion.
But I refrain from that movement, perhaps by posting this I will weaken the grip this featureless inertia has on my heart and mind. I want to think about things that are “true, things noble, things that are just, pure, and lovely; things of good reputation, of virtue and praiseworthy.” (see Phil. 4:8) More than that I want to respond, I want to feel that articulate pressure, the effulgence of words and ideas that push hastily from the inward man and burst out in conversation and correspondence.
But the duties of the mundane and the lethargy are always surging back. The dishwasher and the laundry insist they need my time and my attention, hurry, hurry, wrinkles are waiting. “To be, or not to be?” What fate these words, what reaction will they provoke? Enter or Delete? If you are reading this, please be forgiving, and consider the enormous weight against which these words struggle. Pax, for now!
I have had a lot of work to do to recover from an website infection. Some one said they hoped I would be able to savage my old posts. So first order of business. Some blasts from the past. Hope you don’t mind.
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