In an earlier post, I wrote about how I was focused on the fragility of a newborn baby and how this demonstrates the humility of God.
I've been thinking about this idea, though, and I wonder how fragile Jesus really was. A cursory web search brought up the statistics that during Roman times that 5-10 percent of all births ended in the death of the mother, and infant mortality rate was about 20%. I don't know if things were significantly different for practicing Jews, but I doubt that it was much different. Obviously, both Jesus and Mary survived his birth, despite this statistic and despite what may have been extremely unsanitary and otherwise unfavorable conditions.
Later, God derailed Herod's plan to kill Jesus by warning Joseph in a dream, so that the family could escape. During his ministry, Jesus avoided stoning and other physical harm several times, seeming to be able to slip through angry mobs at will (see John 10:39, Luke 4:29-30). In addition, there is a scripture (Psalms 91:11-12) that says that angels will protect the Messiah against him striking his foot on a stone; this Scripture is quoted to Jesus by Satan during the temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4:5-6).
All this to ask: could Jesus be hurt before his trial? Does it make sense that God would allow the possibility of harm coming to him? And even if he could technically be hurt (say, by soldiers killing all of the children in a town) and yet avoided that fate through supernatural means, wasn't it the same, practically, as if he couldn't be hurt? Instead of fragile and weak Jesus, was he, instead, invincible?
Was Jesus the Titanium Baby? I think that it is an interesting philosophical question. However, even if Jesus was incapable of being harmed, I still think that his birth as a human baby continues to show the humility of God.
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
January 3, 2009
December 25, 2008
The meaning of Christmas
In a recent teaching, Christian talked about the meaning of Christmas. I remember thinking that it didn't match what I have felt about Christmas this year.
What I have been focusing on this year is the fragility of a newborn baby. A baby is tender and small and helpless. Back in first century Palestine, it wasn't very certain that any child, or its mother, would survive childbirth. A child can easily succumb to disease, exposure, or the malicious intent of others.
And yet, this is the package that God chose to put Himself in. He decided not just to disguise Himself as human, but to become fully human, and so to risk all the dangers that other babies do.
Why did he do this? Because He is shameless in his pursuit of humanity. Because, like an obsessed lover, He was willing to do whatever ridiculous thing is needed to win His love. Because he saw the gap between us and Him that was created by our sin, and He was willing to condense Himself down and undergo the indignity of babyhood to bridge that gap.
The baby. Eight and a half pounds of the most valuable flesh the earth has ever seen. All of our hopes and aspirations for redemption, life and fulfillment, in one tiny child.
To me, this year, Christmas is about the humility of God. It is about what God was willing to do and to endure in order to make a way for us. We are that important to Him.
Note: Why is this post showing up the day after Christmas? Because I have learned that the best way for me to endure Christmas is to ignore it as long as possible. This means that it also lingers a bit after the actual holiday for me - my tolerance for Christmas peaks right around the actual holiday. So sue me.
What I have been focusing on this year is the fragility of a newborn baby. A baby is tender and small and helpless. Back in first century Palestine, it wasn't very certain that any child, or its mother, would survive childbirth. A child can easily succumb to disease, exposure, or the malicious intent of others.
And yet, this is the package that God chose to put Himself in. He decided not just to disguise Himself as human, but to become fully human, and so to risk all the dangers that other babies do.
Why did he do this? Because He is shameless in his pursuit of humanity. Because, like an obsessed lover, He was willing to do whatever ridiculous thing is needed to win His love. Because he saw the gap between us and Him that was created by our sin, and He was willing to condense Himself down and undergo the indignity of babyhood to bridge that gap.
The baby. Eight and a half pounds of the most valuable flesh the earth has ever seen. All of our hopes and aspirations for redemption, life and fulfillment, in one tiny child.
To me, this year, Christmas is about the humility of God. It is about what God was willing to do and to endure in order to make a way for us. We are that important to Him.
Note: Why is this post showing up the day after Christmas? Because I have learned that the best way for me to endure Christmas is to ignore it as long as possible. This means that it also lingers a bit after the actual holiday for me - my tolerance for Christmas peaks right around the actual holiday. So sue me.
December 17, 2008
No room
Familiar story. Here's your common everyday comprehension question: Why was Jesus (presumably) born in a stable? Answer: Because there wasn't any room in the inn. Simple, right?Luke 2:1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
OK, so how about this one: Why were Mary and Joseph looking for a room in an inn, anyway? Think about it: they are traveling back to Joseph's ancestral home town. Surely there were still some relatives hanging around the place, willing to take in a couple imminently expecting their first child, right? And if not, all of the relatives that he did know were also traveling to the same place about the same time, to take part in the same census. Surely some of them could have made a little room for them, right? So why were they even going to an inn at all?
Well, as you know, there was this large matter of a suspicious pregnancy. It's likely that their relatives didn't want to have anything to do with this man and his young wife with her strange story of visions and angels. Or maybe, Joseph himself didn't want to make his presence known to them. Maybe he had gotten grief about Mary from relatives in Nazareth, and so he had decided to just not contact his relatives in Bethlehem. Whichever it was, it resulted in him scrambling for some place for his wife as she gave birth to her first born.
Now, here is an interesting twist. When Jesus was born, an angel appeared announcing that the Savior had been born, and then a whole company of angels appeared at the announcement, praising God. Pretty impressive, huh? That would make a believer of you, huh?
Wouldn't it have been so just if the angels had appeared to Joseph's family? "Hey, go down and see the son of the man whom you rejected! He really is the Annointed One! Go offer them a room, or at least make a meal for them!" But of course, that didn't happen. The angels appeared to poor shepherds, men who didn't have much in the way of influence in the community but who had great metaphorical relationship to the Messiah.
But, as low on the economic scale as they were, many people believed and were amazed at their testimony. It is likely that Joseph's relatives eventually came around to see the child of which this remarkable story was told. Maybe, evenually, they thawed out a bit. Maybe, even, the house that Matthew 2:11 says they were staying in was that of a relative.
I mention all this because it is so easy to lose sight of all the messiness of Jesus's birth (not like that) in the sanitized version of the story that we are familiar with. The matter of Mary's pregnancy likely caused great passionate responses in Joseph's family. It might have caused such an uproar that they were planning to stay in Bethlehem and away from Nazareth permanently (remember that they may have been there for as long as two years) until they were warned off to Egypt. I'm amazed at God's humility, as he allowed all of this drama to accompany the birth of His Son in order that Jesus could be made perfect through His suffering (Hebrews 2:10).
June 29, 2008
Faith teaching, part 3
Here are the earlier parts of this teaching:
Faith teaching part 2
Faith teaching part 1
OK, so back to this verse:
Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (NIV)
We are talking about the type of faith that pleases God. Moreover, the type of faith that is necessary if we are to please God. We talked about the first aspect of this faith, which I termed the He can aspect of faith.
The second aspect of the faith that pleases God is to believe that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. This is an interesting contrast to the first characteristic of faith. The first aspect of faith talked about is belief in who God is. This second aspect talks about what God does. And of all the various activities that God engages in - creating, loving, judging, etc. - faith is the belief that he rewards.
Interesting word, reward. A reward is not an unmerited gift; it is a prize for having done something. In English the word is often used when the thing given is out of proportion to the actual work done, as in "a reward of $1000 will be given for any information leading to the capture of this dangerous criminal." However, in Greek, the word connotes being paid wages for doing work. There is a sense of duty in the giving, of obligation; that the reward given is in proportion to the work done. An amazing thing, this: to be paid wages for earnestly seeking God.
It reminds me of another verse, originally found in Genesis 15:6, but quoted three times in the New Testament. I'll quote it from Romans, because I'm allowed:
Romans 4:3: ...Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. (NIV)
Similar to Hebrews 11:6, a reward (credit) is given for belief. This word translated credited connotes in both the Hebrew and the Greek the ideas of calculating and counting. Again, there is the idea that there is a fair exchange here - on one side, the belief, and on the other, what is rewarded or credited. This is astounding, that one can receive a reward from God just for believing, and it is treated as his or her due to receive it! For this is what Paul goes on to say in Romans chapter 4:
4 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
Some people would say that God is obligated by the rules of the spiritual realm to credit our faith as righteousness. I don't like to think of it this way, because this makes God subordinate to what He has created. Instead, I believe that He has obligated Himself to repay our belief.
OK, so back to Hebrews. What is the reward given for belief? I think that there are many rewards, but the big one, the ultimate one, the one that really matters is given at the end of Hebrews 10:
39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. (my emphasis)
This actually comes right before the "faith chapter" of Hebrews 11. We believe and are saved. The reward of our belief is to be saved. Lest there be any confusion over what it means to be saved, the New American Standard renders "saved" as "preserving of the soul." The reward of God, given to those who earnestly seek him, is that their soul may be saved to eternal life, that they may survive the great judgment that is coming and escape death.
Now here is another cool part. In the New Testament, God reveals a new name for Himself. It is the name of his son, who is God in the flesh. That name is Jesus. Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name "Yehoshua" (English "Joshua"), which means "Yahweh is salvation." More loosely, it might be said to mean "He saves," as from Matthew 1:21:
"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."
Above, we saw that salvation is our reward, so to say "He rewards" is similar to saying "He saves." So, in this verse of Hebrews 11:6, we have both of the personal names of God: Yahweh ("He is") and Jesus ("He saves"). Isn't that cool? Faith, then, is believing in the two major revelations of God's personal nature - that He is, and that He saves.
Finally, I want to talk more about this idea that rewarding is something God does. Because rewarding is something that God does, it is connected to the will or desire of God. He is not compelled to do anything; He is God! So God wants to save; God wants to reward. This concept was very important to my growth in faith, that I am pleasing to God when I believe that he wants to reward me. This shatters the idea that it is godly or holy to shrink away from God's provision, to say "oh no, God, you are so very busy, don't bother with poor lil ole me." I can ask God for what I need not only because He can give me what I need, but because He wants to give me what I need - and it pleases Him when I adopt this attitude! Part of the faith that pleases God is the belief that he wants to reward those who earnestly seek Him.
Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
So, finally, let me say that I think of these two portions of faith in this way: Faith is belief that God can, and that God wants to.
Application
I have found that when I lack faith for something, I can usually trace it to having a deficiency in one of these two aspects of faith. Either I am believing that God can't act (He isn't powerful enough, or He is prevented from acting, etc.), or that He doesn't want to. Knowing this allows me to focus in on the specific beliefs that I need to correct. I can then challenge those thoughts and feelings with what I know about God from the Bible.
For example, suppose that I have trouble believing that God will save someone that I am praying for. When I examine my thoughts, I find that I am failing to believe that God can. I am, instead, believing that God cannot violate that person's free will to ignore God. However, I know that God turned the heart of Saul of Tarsus, who was very much against Jesus. My friend is not that hardened against God, so certainly God can turn their heart to Him.
Or suppose that I am praying for my healing, and I find myself lacking in faith. In looking more closely at my attitudes, I discover that I feel that God doesn't want to heal me. Maybe I feel that He can't be bothered with my sickness because it is small compared to others, or that he considers my physical health a less important thing than my spiritual health.
But this isn't what the Bible says. The Bible says that Jesus healed a lot. In fact, the Bible says in several places (for example, Matthew 4:24, 12:15, and 14:36) that Jesus healed all that came to him - regardless of how big or small their illness. Also, in James Chapter 5 the author commands that the sick should be prayed over, and they will get well. James, who comes across as a pretty tough character in his letter, didn't offer up any nonsense about how the sick should be content to stay sick. Clearly, God wants us to be healed.
So, my charge to you is to examine your faith, to see if it is lacking in either of these areas. If it is, convince your heart from the Bible, or through the ministry of the Body of Christ, that God can and that God wants to.
Faith teaching part 2
Faith teaching part 1
OK, so back to this verse:
Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (NIV)
We are talking about the type of faith that pleases God. Moreover, the type of faith that is necessary if we are to please God. We talked about the first aspect of this faith, which I termed the He can aspect of faith.
The second aspect of the faith that pleases God is to believe that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. This is an interesting contrast to the first characteristic of faith. The first aspect of faith talked about is belief in who God is. This second aspect talks about what God does. And of all the various activities that God engages in - creating, loving, judging, etc. - faith is the belief that he rewards.
Interesting word, reward. A reward is not an unmerited gift; it is a prize for having done something. In English the word is often used when the thing given is out of proportion to the actual work done, as in "a reward of $1000 will be given for any information leading to the capture of this dangerous criminal." However, in Greek, the word connotes being paid wages for doing work. There is a sense of duty in the giving, of obligation; that the reward given is in proportion to the work done. An amazing thing, this: to be paid wages for earnestly seeking God.
It reminds me of another verse, originally found in Genesis 15:6, but quoted three times in the New Testament. I'll quote it from Romans, because I'm allowed:
Romans 4:3: ...Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. (NIV)
Similar to Hebrews 11:6, a reward (credit) is given for belief. This word translated credited connotes in both the Hebrew and the Greek the ideas of calculating and counting. Again, there is the idea that there is a fair exchange here - on one side, the belief, and on the other, what is rewarded or credited. This is astounding, that one can receive a reward from God just for believing, and it is treated as his or her due to receive it! For this is what Paul goes on to say in Romans chapter 4:
4 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
Some people would say that God is obligated by the rules of the spiritual realm to credit our faith as righteousness. I don't like to think of it this way, because this makes God subordinate to what He has created. Instead, I believe that He has obligated Himself to repay our belief.
OK, so back to Hebrews. What is the reward given for belief? I think that there are many rewards, but the big one, the ultimate one, the one that really matters is given at the end of Hebrews 10:
39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. (my emphasis)
This actually comes right before the "faith chapter" of Hebrews 11. We believe and are saved. The reward of our belief is to be saved. Lest there be any confusion over what it means to be saved, the New American Standard renders "saved" as "preserving of the soul." The reward of God, given to those who earnestly seek him, is that their soul may be saved to eternal life, that they may survive the great judgment that is coming and escape death.
Now here is another cool part. In the New Testament, God reveals a new name for Himself. It is the name of his son, who is God in the flesh. That name is Jesus. Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name "Yehoshua" (English "Joshua"), which means "Yahweh is salvation." More loosely, it might be said to mean "He saves," as from Matthew 1:21:
"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."
Above, we saw that salvation is our reward, so to say "He rewards" is similar to saying "He saves." So, in this verse of Hebrews 11:6, we have both of the personal names of God: Yahweh ("He is") and Jesus ("He saves"). Isn't that cool? Faith, then, is believing in the two major revelations of God's personal nature - that He is, and that He saves.
Finally, I want to talk more about this idea that rewarding is something God does. Because rewarding is something that God does, it is connected to the will or desire of God. He is not compelled to do anything; He is God! So God wants to save; God wants to reward. This concept was very important to my growth in faith, that I am pleasing to God when I believe that he wants to reward me. This shatters the idea that it is godly or holy to shrink away from God's provision, to say "oh no, God, you are so very busy, don't bother with poor lil ole me." I can ask God for what I need not only because He can give me what I need, but because He wants to give me what I need - and it pleases Him when I adopt this attitude! Part of the faith that pleases God is the belief that he wants to reward those who earnestly seek Him.
Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
So, finally, let me say that I think of these two portions of faith in this way: Faith is belief that God can, and that God wants to.
Application
I have found that when I lack faith for something, I can usually trace it to having a deficiency in one of these two aspects of faith. Either I am believing that God can't act (He isn't powerful enough, or He is prevented from acting, etc.), or that He doesn't want to. Knowing this allows me to focus in on the specific beliefs that I need to correct. I can then challenge those thoughts and feelings with what I know about God from the Bible.
For example, suppose that I have trouble believing that God will save someone that I am praying for. When I examine my thoughts, I find that I am failing to believe that God can. I am, instead, believing that God cannot violate that person's free will to ignore God. However, I know that God turned the heart of Saul of Tarsus, who was very much against Jesus. My friend is not that hardened against God, so certainly God can turn their heart to Him.
Or suppose that I am praying for my healing, and I find myself lacking in faith. In looking more closely at my attitudes, I discover that I feel that God doesn't want to heal me. Maybe I feel that He can't be bothered with my sickness because it is small compared to others, or that he considers my physical health a less important thing than my spiritual health.
But this isn't what the Bible says. The Bible says that Jesus healed a lot. In fact, the Bible says in several places (for example, Matthew 4:24, 12:15, and 14:36) that Jesus healed all that came to him - regardless of how big or small their illness. Also, in James Chapter 5 the author commands that the sick should be prayed over, and they will get well. James, who comes across as a pretty tough character in his letter, didn't offer up any nonsense about how the sick should be content to stay sick. Clearly, God wants us to be healed.
So, my charge to you is to examine your faith, to see if it is lacking in either of these areas. If it is, convince your heart from the Bible, or through the ministry of the Body of Christ, that God can and that God wants to.
June 10, 2008
Faith teaching
I've had a teaching running through my mind for several months now. I know that it is a "teaching" and not a meditation because I think about it when I hear other people teach. It's like someone else using their teaching gift activates this teaching in my spirit, and I think about and ponder it and imagine how I would preach it. It makes it difficult to focus on what other people teach. On the other hand, it makes listening to teachings very enjoyable, because this teaching really revs up my spirit.
It's about faith. See, for a long time I didn't really understand faith. The word faith is thrown around within the church, until it seems to mean many things, so for a long time it wasn't really something I felt I understood.
The classic definition for faith - or at least, the one I heard all the time as a young believer - comes from Hebrews 11:1. Here it is in the Revised Standard Version, which is how I learned it:
So, this verse didn't really make much sense to me for a long time.
The verse that I like as a definition of faith is just five verses later: Hebrews 11:6. This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible:
Note also the God-centric nature of faith. Faith is not defined as that which allows us to get what we want, or to gain heavenly riches, or to overcome obstacles. No, faith is that which allows us to please God. Faith also allows a person to come to God. Faith in Christian circles is sometimes talked about almost as if it were an entity in and of itself. "You gotta have faith to push on through." "Exercise your faith to make it strong." Nice ideas, but the Biblical view of faith is properly focused on God. Faith is a means to get to God; faith is the way to please God. God is the center point and object of faith.
I'm going to end here for now and pick up the rest of this later.
It's about faith. See, for a long time I didn't really understand faith. The word faith is thrown around within the church, until it seems to mean many things, so for a long time it wasn't really something I felt I understood.
The classic definition for faith - or at least, the one I heard all the time as a young believer - comes from Hebrews 11:1. Here it is in the Revised Standard Version, which is how I learned it:
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.Let's see, I said to myself. Assurance means to be reassured that something is true, right? Hmm, what are "things hoped for"? "Conviction of things not seen" - what does that mean? How does all this relate to having faith for healing and that God will make everything work out?
So, this verse didn't really make much sense to me for a long time.
The verse that I like as a definition of faith is just five verses later: Hebrews 11:6. This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible:
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (NIV)This verse defines what faith is. Moreover, it defines a specific kind of faith: the kind that pleases God. I don't know about you, but if I'm going to bother with faith, this is the kind that I want to bother with - the kind that pleases God. Note, also, the converse: if you don't have this faith, you are not pleasing to God. In fact, this verse says that if you don't have faith it is impossible to please God. Gotta get me some faith, then!
Note also the God-centric nature of faith. Faith is not defined as that which allows us to get what we want, or to gain heavenly riches, or to overcome obstacles. No, faith is that which allows us to please God. Faith also allows a person to come to God. Faith in Christian circles is sometimes talked about almost as if it were an entity in and of itself. "You gotta have faith to push on through." "Exercise your faith to make it strong." Nice ideas, but the Biblical view of faith is properly focused on God. Faith is a means to get to God; faith is the way to please God. God is the center point and object of faith.
I'm going to end here for now and pick up the rest of this later.
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