There can be a more beautiful you

***

A 16 year old girl gets scouted by a modeling agency while hanging out at a mall. She’s 5’10”, brunette, and naturally quite thin. She’s always thought she was pretty. Still, it was surprising. She liked what she saw in the mirror. Though she knew people who were prettier. She really wished she had her best friend’s eyes. But what can you do. And hey, it’s a modeling gig!

So for a few years, she models for various companies, walks the runway dozens and dozens of times, and even makes a few TV ads. Photographers and agents wax eloquent about her beauty, and the money rolls in. Sometimes they edit her photos. She didn’t mind the occasional virtual improvement. No one likes a bad picture. But most of the time they don’t bother. She’s just naturally photogenic. And she works out (the cameras aren’t forgiving, you know, and there’s no Photoshop on the runway), but she doesn’t starve herself. She just eats healthy and goes to a personal trainer a few times a week. She’s so busy that’s about all she can manage. It works well enough.

One day, she decides to drop her own name into Google. That can be a scary thing. Finding out what thousands of people think of you. Thousands who can hide behind the wall of anonymity. Sort of like the audience in a coliseum…

Of course, she sees a number of her modeling pictures come up. But near the top of the links, she sees that a recent photoshoot she did caught some less than stellar attention, as summarized succinctly in an editorial.

Apparently, says the columnist, this 19 year old girl is not a ‘real’ woman. She ‘looks like a little boy’. Too thin, too skinny. Not curvy enough. Apparently men don’t really like that. 33-24-34 is a little boyish. They want a real woman, not a ‘pre-pubescent’ girl like this.

… “But I’m 19!”

And her heart breaks a little. Whatever. Just brush it off.

She clicks back in the browser, and notices the next link.

Turns out that it’s a Christian site. And it has one of her pictures in the article. You know the sort. Where the author just needs to add some glitter to the page. Something visual to grab the reader.

Turns out she’s a visual foil in a piece written on ‘fake beauty’ versus ‘real beauty’.

She feels a little ugly for some reason.

***

A 16 year old girl walks into school. The eleventh grade can be brutal. Especially when you’re getting close to clinically obese.

The asthma doesn’t help. And the doctors said something about a problem with her metabolism. What was it, hypothyroidism? She never took bio.

And in truth, she didn’t really care about the details. Excuses didn’t make her any more attractive to the boys. Who knew that 'I have a thyroid condition’ never got anyone a date? There was nothing she could do at this point to get their attention. Well, the good kind of attention, anyway. They saw her alright. She could see them laughing at her now and then.

Sure, the fat jokes had all but disappeared by now. They were worse in elementary. But every minute of every day was a reminder that, well, she was fat. She knew that’s what others were thinking. And that’s what she thought too.

Anyway, with her dismal social life she has plenty of time to spend on the internet. The internet is always there to help you find something you’d like to read. Or that you think you’d like to read. One day she stumbles across an article saying some stuff about true beauty being on the inside. There’s a picture of a gorgeous brunette girl at the top of the article. “If that’s fake, I’ll take it!” she sighs.

But that’s not what really gets to her. Lots of people say models like that one in the picture are unhealthy. Too thin. Guys don’t like that either. And it’s a little comforting, really. Being able to see the flaws in another.

Still, there’s a bigger problem.

She doesn’t think she’s beautiful on the inside, either. She feels like a wretch. Inside and out. Years of bullying and abuse have left her hopelessly unstable, depressed, angry, and bitter. She has about as much of a chance of making herself beautiful inward as she does outward. She knows she’s awful. Who would want her?

She wouldn’t want herself either!

She feels a little ugly for some reason.

***

Give this song/video [by Jonny Diaz] a listen:

Now listen to the artist’s commentary:

SO

I have a few thoughts on this. And up front, let me say I don’t have issue with Diaz’s problem with a purely materialistic view of beauty. Generally, in my view, the approach many Christians seem to take towards beauty is docetic. And it avoids the real hardships of the sufferings of being ugly. I don’t want to do that here. I don’t want to try to puff someone up for a week with some sentimental platitudes. Ugliness is real.

Anyway, my real problem with this song is this: I find it somewhat hopeless. As in, it doesn’t inspire, it doesn’t encourage – I find it saddening. And that’s because I pondered the statement, “There could never be a more beautiful you.”

O, my hope is that this isn’t true.

I’ll try to explain why.

I don’t blame a single person for wanting to be more beautiful.

Matter of fact, I long for that day.

(And don’t confuse any of this with the soul sapping self-esteem approach to dealing with ugliness.)

See, what this song neglects is the pervasive and destructive effects of sin, and the just punishment upon it. Yes, I realize it’s under 4 minutes long. I’m not asking for the Institutes here. And actually, it almost implicitly denies the doctrine of sin. Many people are not beautiful, and those that are, won’t be for long. And none of us are naturally beautiful on the inside.

Our mouths are open graves. Think about that for a minute.

The pretty model will die. And the fat girl will die. From dust we came, and to dust we go.

And this is because our sin has consigned us to death and decay. We are under the judgment of God. And ugliness is part of the punishment for sin.

However, there is good news.

What if someone could take the punishment for sin upon himself. What if someone else could bear it, so that you could be freed from it. What if someone else could be made ugly, that is, could bear your deserved ugliness, so that you could be made beautiful. What if someone could take your punishment so that you could be beautiful. And what if someone willingly did this for you.

The good news is that this has happened.

For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.

This suffering servant’s “appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.”

This servant is Jesus the Christ.

And the reason why He was marred and killed was to save sinners from their sins. He bore the punishment from God in His own flesh so that all who believe in Him would be freed from that punishment.

In light of this, let me state this as plainly as I can:

There most certainly can be a more beautiful you.

Your body can be more beautiful.

Your soul can be more beautiful.

Which is to say, YOU can be more beautiful.

You can be more beautiful than you are now - As much more beautiful as the sun is brighter and more glorious than the moon.

1 Corinthians 15:41-42
There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. 42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead.

So I would like to offer a different encouragement to all the girls. Your lack of perfection is a punishment for sin. Not just yours personally. But also because you were born of a sinner. You’re guilty.

But Jesus, sent from God, died and took up life again so that His followers would be raised with a physical body more beautiful than anyone can possibly imagine, where there will be no asthma, no too ‘thin’ or ‘fat’ - no imperfections whatsoever. Just perfection in the full diversity of beauty. And this renewal of body and soul is possible because the punishment for sin was put upon Him. Sin got us into ugliness, and the righteousness of another can get us out of it. People can be reborn, not of a sinner, but of a righteous man.

So if you rely on Christ your very body – that one you hate in the mirror - and your soul, will be transformed out of the wretched mess it is and into a dazzling form which would make the most beautiful human today look bland in comparison. Just turn from your sin and to Him in faith. And it’s the hope of this promise of renewal which will enable you to endure ugliness in this life. And if you already believe, hold fast.

The Christian HOPE is a BODILY resurrection.

We’re not Gnostics. And we’re not materialists. You are your body and soul together. That’s you. And thanks be to God that Jesus died to redeem us, both body and soul, from our sins, so that we could be renewed in glorious perfection. This isn’t just for girls. What of the physically deformed? What of the dying? The elderly?

I suppose my overall thought is that this song might actually undermine the Gospel itself. Sentimental and uplifting platitudes are no substitute for the message of the Substitute who took the very punishment which brings ugliness upon Himself, so that those who are united with Him in faith will know eternal beauty.

All that is to say, Jesus died and was raised so that, among many other things, there could be a more beautiful you.

Multipath signal correlation and the preservation of the Scriptures

In a recent blog, Inspiration, Inerrancy, Preservation, on the tenacity of the transmission of the New Testament, James White wrote a comment which caught my attention:

We dare not apply modern standards derived from computer transfer protocols and digital recording algorithms to the ancient context for one simple reason: by doing so we are precluding God’s revelation and activity until the past few generations! What arrogance on our part! We must allow God to reveal Himself as He sees fit, when He sees fit, and we must derive our understanding of His means of safeguarding His revelation from the reality of the historical situation, not our modern hubris.

What I find interesting is that in a conversation with a group of engineers, I once used multipath signal correlation as it is used for information reconstruction in wireless communications as an analogy for explaining the means of the preservation and transmission of the Scriptures.

The means by which God has preserved His revelation is in some substantial ways not unlike the means we engineers employ to ensure the integrity of a wireless phone call. The analogy has its obvious limits, but it’s helpful in general terms.

And incidentally, to further the analogy, neither the average reader of the Scriptures, nor the average person who answers a call on his cellphone, appreciates the magnitude of intelligence and design which has resulted in abstract and easy-to-use access to the information.

What’s also an interesting aside is that the level of integrity in the transmission of the Scriptures (>99% over ~1900 years) is greater than that in a standard writable CD or DVD, which manufacturers seem to peg at around 10 to 200 years before significant irrecoverable corruption occurs.

Anyway, White’s reason for God’s use of a manuscript tradition to preserve His word, namely, preventing wholesale corruption by diversifying transmission, actually has a direct analog in modern transmission technologies. We could press this even further by observing that the basic idea of cyclic redundancy checks (CRC’s) was employed by the Masorete scribes, who, if my knowledge here is historically accurate, counted the number of words or characters on a page to help mitigate errors, thus employing a simple hash function.

And the practice of textual criticism (at least in its original intent) is not unlike the receiver’s act of correlating multiple signals.

Ever wondered why your router or laptop (they’re in the edges of your screen) has two antennae?

Ever wondered why God used a manuscript tradition?

I daresay that God has engineered the preservation of His word.

(And lest any should fret, I’m honestly not planning to use this as a sermon illustration.)

:-)

Think you’re not religious?

Doug Wilson (HT: Turk) writes:

They do not see Tetzel in carbon offsets. They do not see shunning in the treatment the neighborhood gives the guy who doesn't sort his garbage according to the dictates of the regulatory bishops. They don't see a fierce imposition of morality in their crusades for the sake of saving us all from climate change. They do not see blasphemy laws in thought crimes legislation. They do not see their religion in everything they do, and this is because idolaters are blind.

Haykin on Canadian Cultural Contradiction

“What a contradictory culture we live in. Militant about protecting young children from possible sexual abuse and physical harm (there is such a case going on right now in southern Ontario)—and rightly so—but also adamant about the right to slay unborn children—and yes, they are children too—in the womb. It is blatant hypocrisy.

Does not such government-condoned slaughter of utterly helpless babes here in Canada undermine any right we have to feel moral superiority to the Nazi regime in their treatment of the Jews or the slaveholders of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries? For all our purported concern for the helpless and disenfranchised, is it not sheer hypocrisy when we will not extend that concern to the enwombed?”

Living in a Canadian cultural contradiction

Through Christ they are saved, not for their sake, for their fullness of joy

In John 17:1-5, Jesus prayed that the Father would glorify Him so that the Father would be glorified, just like the Son has been given authority to grant eternal life to all the Father has given Him. The interpretive principle is twofold: First, it must be understood that the glorification of the Son entails the whole complex of His death and burial and resurrection and ascension. His glory is paradoxically in the simultaneous shame and magnificent triumph of Calvary. Second, it must be understood that eternal life and the glory of the Father are parallel: God is glorified in being known, and eternal life is to know God. To experience eternal life is to glorify God because it is to experience all the benefits of rightly perceiving and enjoying and regarding and exalting and magnifying the divine perfections. The salvation of sinners is the glory of Jesus Christ and the glory of God because it reveals and communicates the divine perfections and excellencies. Eternal life consists in all the magnificence of beholding in full experience and relationship the perfections of God, and the glory of God describes God’s possession and the emanation of His perfections. These are but two sides of the same coin. In other words, Jesus is praying in John 17:2-3 that He be crucified and killed and raised so that His people would have eternal life, which is fundamentally the same as to say that He be glorified so that the Father be glorified.

Those who behold a beautiful sunrise are liable to become lost in it, and in so doing, they find joy. This joy is in being lost to self, in the enjoyment of the beauty and light and warmth, in becoming fully enamoured with the emanations and brightness and splendour of the sun, and perceiving its rays, which, being refracted and reflected through the earth’s atmosphere, come together in a magnificent display. The sunrise is duly regarded, and the beholder is duly satisfied, and this regard is the very act of beholding the sunrise in satisfaction.

Driscoll criticizes Joel Osteen’s ‘health and wealth’ teaching

Driscoll gives a good, succinct critique of health and wealth teaching. Health and wealth teaching is very dangerous, with its belief that Christians are entitled to and should expect material health and prosperity in this life – indeed, that blessedness entails this - and that such health and prosperity is indicative of your standing and faith before God. It is especially dangerous because false expectations and a false reading of the meaning of God’s providence are key ingredients in apostasy.

Driscoll points out that Osteen’s teaching, namely, that walking closely with God in maturity of faith means that you are wealthy, with good relationships, living in victory, without pain and anxiety, excludes Jesus.

Jesus was poor, hated by His people, rejected, persecuted, suffered hunger and anxiety, and experienced immeasurable pain and scorn.

And as Jesus said, when He promised the same to believers (John 15:18-21; 2 Timothy 3:12; note Hebrews 10:34 on possessions):

A servant is not greater than his Master.

Health and wealth teaching not only implicitly proclaims that God intends for the servants of Christ to experience better than their Master in this life, since Jesus directly connects the truth that a servant is not greater than his master with His own experience on earth (John 15:18-21; and see Luke 9:58  for whether Jesus had a nice house), but it also tends to encourage the very pursuit that Paul says will pierce one with many pains:

1 Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

It encourages the pursuit of the very kind of security that Jesus’ so strongly warns against:

Luke 12:16-21 
16 And he told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17  and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' 18  And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19  And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' 20  But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' 21  So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."

And it attempts to tell a man that he should long for and pray for and seek after the very condition in which it is extremely difficult to be saved and then measure his standing before God by that condition.

Luke 18:22-25
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." 23  But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24  Jesus, looking at him with sadness, said, "How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 25  For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."

Your standing before God is not a function of your wealth and status, nor is your wealth and health and material status indicative of God’s favour in your life (2 Cor. 8:2; Luke 12:16-21; 1 Timothy 6:8; Hebrews 10:34; Psalm 73:3-4; Jeremiah 12:1; etc). In the Scriptures, the wicked often prosper, while the righteous and godly are poor and suffering throughout their lives. That truth is observed by the Scriptures.

To believe that you can measure your walk before God by your material status is very, very dangerous.

To aim principally, or even in a primary way (to the exclusion of the work of the Kingdom, and the proclamation of the true Gospel) at health and wealth and success in this world, is foolhardy.

Proverbs 30:7-9 
7 Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die: 8  Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, 9  lest I be full and deny you and say, "Who is the LORD?" or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

Easter means that you are called to believe in Christ

Your Response

Now, it is your turn. This is the meaning of Easter: That, in perfect obedience to the Father, Jesus Christ was willingly crucified and died and was buried and was raised from the dead and exalted to redeem His people from their sins and restore them to communion with God. God now commands a response:

Act 17:30-31
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."

See, the resurrection assures a judgment. Be saved – God is commanding you to repent and believe!

Romans 10:9
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

If you repent and believe, you will be saved.

All of this means that there is a way, through Christ Jesus, to be reconciled to God and to be able to live in His presence and enjoy Him. It means that those who believe are justified and have peace with God through Jesus Christ. It means that there is a perfect atonement, a restoration of that which is broken: We were alienated from God through sin, separated from Him – and now through Christ Jesus all who believe are restored to full relationship with the Almighty.

These are the paths before you – the joy of knowing God, or the horror of knowing His wrath. Believe in Jesus Christ and be saved!

Easter - What does it mean? – Part 5

The Burial and Verification of Death

Mark 15:42-46
42 And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. 45 And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead [one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water], he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46 And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.

Matthew 27:62-66
62 Next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, "Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, 'After three days I will rise.' 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last fraud will be worse than the first." 65 Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can." 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

Here, Matthew reports that there was a Roman contingent at the tomb. The enemies of Christ saw to it that Jesus’ body could not be stolen. This is mentioned to show the events establishing the historicity and factuality of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

See, Galilean fisherman, trembling because their master was killed – fisherman who had fled from even the Jewish guards – don’t overpower trained Roman soldiers. Not only so, but the disciples hardly understood what Jesus was saying about His resurrection before this happened. They were a mess at this point.

Matthew 28:2-4
2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.

This was no grave robbery. The resurrection was an act of God. While the Roman soldiers could easily repel the disciples, they were no match for the angel of the Lord.

Matthew 28:1, 5-8
1 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 5 But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you." 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

This is the greatest event in human history: Jesus was crucified (vs. 5). But He isn’t in the tomb.

By the power of God, Jesus is risen!

John 20:26-29
26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe." 28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

See, this wasn’t the end. Jesus rose from the grave, not metaphorically or spiritually, but physically.

Let’s look at the Scriptural significance of the resurrection.

The Work of Christ Was Accepted by the Father[1]

The reason that this is significant is that if Jesus wasn’t raised, then we have no guarantee that He was successful in His mission to save His people. We have no guarantee that the offering was accepted.

John 10:17-18
17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

This passage tells us that the Father loves the Son because He lays down His life to take it up again. So if the Son did not take up His life again, He would not only be a failure, having prophesied wrongly, this reason for the Father’s love would be missing. Perhaps more clearly is this passage in Philippians:

Philippians 2:5-11
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Did you catch that? In verse 9 it says, “Therefore!” Put another way, “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name” because “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,” even a horrible, agonizing death on the cross. So this exaltation was a result or was contingent upon the perfect obedience of Jesus. If His offering had been defective, if He had failed to ransom His people, if He had sinned at all, then the perfection of the offering would be lacking, it would never atone for His people’s sins, and Jesus would have failed to obey: He would not have been raised and exalted. Thus, the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead, and is now exalted, is the stamp from the Father or proof that Jesus was obedient and has thoroughly pleased the Father and satisfied His requirements. Jesus offered Himself, and this offering has proven to be successful because Jesus was raised because of His perfect obedience: If Jesus made an offering to the Father, and He was perfectly obedient, then this offering would be accepted. Thus the stamp of the Father’s approval of the Son and the proof that the offering was accepted by the Father is Christ’s resurrection and exaltation. He has “drank the cup to its dregs,” not missing a drop. He is risen!

The Death of Death in the Death of Christ[1]

While it would be impossible to even evaluate the tip of this iceberg in the Pauline corpus in the time of this study, I want to illustrate this point with a single passage:

Romans 6:5-10
5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.

There are two ideas that I want you to see from this. First, Paul teaches that death has no dominion over Jesus because He was raised from the dead. He has conquered death. “Where is your sting, O death?” (1 Corinthians 15:55-56). He has freed those who are united with Him from sin. And that brings us to the second point: Those who are united with Jesus (by faith, Romans 5:1-2) are united with Him in such a way that they will be raised. Jesus has conquered death for them. Thus, we see the death of death in the death and resurrection of Christ, and we share in that victory through our unity by faith with Christ. Everyone who believes in Jesus will be raised physically, like He was.

Jesus Stood in the Gap

The final analogy that I want to highlight is, once again, found in the Old Testament.[2]

Psalm 106:16-23
16 When men in the camp were jealous of Moses and Aaron, the holy one of the LORD,
17 the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.
18 Fire also broke out in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.
19 They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image.
20 They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,
22 wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore he said he would destroy them-- had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

And in Ezekiel we read:

Ezekiel 22:29-31
29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the sojourner without justice. 30 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. 31 Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord GOD."

See, the people had committed great evil for a prolonged period of time. And God “sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none,” and so He destroyed them. The image is that of a hole in the wall – in ancient times this placed a city at a serious tactical disadvantage. Now when the Israelites had sinned during the Exodus, “Moses, [God’s] chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.” The people had Moses to “stand in the gap,” unlike those in Ezekiel’s time.

All of this points to the work of Jesus, the Son of God, God’s chosen one (literally, the Christ), who stood in the breach before Him, to turn away His wrath from destroying His people. We sinned. And for those who believe, Jesus Christ stood in the gap, taking the wrath of God upon Him – He drank the cup to its dregs. And all those who believe are thus saved by the substitutionary wrath-bearing righteousness providing life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So Jesus is raised from the dead. And since He is raised, He is alive as King and Lord. What are you to do? How can you be right with the risen King?

---

[1] John Owen. The Works of John Owen – Volume 10.

[2] Longman, T., Dillard, R. An Introduction to the Old Testament. Page 370.

---

[1] Al Mohler writes briefly here: http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=1118. “As the New Testament reveals, the resurrection represents the Father's complete satisfaction in the obedience of the Son -- even unto death. Sin and death do not have the final word. Indeed, they are defeated through the saving work of Christ.”

Easter – What does it mean? – Part 4

The Death of Jesus

John 19:28-30
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), "I thirst." 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Jesus has died. But in the moment before He let go of life, He cried out, “It is finished!” The work that He came to do has been accomplished, as Jesus emphatically declares that it is completely finished. In verse 28, we were told that Jesus knew that “all was now finished.” We must ask, what then did Jesus come to accomplish? We were given the answer by the angel at the birth of Jesus:

Matthew 1:21
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

Jesus came to save His people from their sins. He did not come to save a people who are not His, but only those that belong to Him. That Christ died for sinners is a primary theme throughout the New Testament (and some of the OT). For example:

1 Timothy 1:15
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

Here Paul, in reflecting on the mercy that was granted Him through Jesus Christ, asserts strongly this truth: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.

Mark 8:31-33
And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly.

The disciples, with Peter speaking, have confessed that Jesus is the Christ for the first time. This revelation did not come from an external source, but rather the Father revealed this to their hearts (Matt. 16:17; John 6:45). Following this confession, Jesus revealed to them why He came, and what was to happen: That He would suffer, be crucified, and then rise from the dead.

When Jesus was betrayed, and a band of men came to arrest Him, Peter jumped to His defence:

John 18:10-11
10 Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) 11 So Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?"

Jesus says, “Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” See, Jesus willingly took upon Himself the wrath of God on that cross, and He did not let anyone deter Him. He came to die, and He did what He came to do. He came to give His life as a ransom for many, and when He says, ‘It is finished,’ He is claiming that He has successfully ransomed them from the wrath of God by substituting Himself in their place.

So we see that Jesus Christ came to save sinners, that He came to die and be raised from the dead, and that He finished all that He came to do. He accomplished the salvation of His people on that cross. God’s people are saved!

He Gave up His Spirit

This statement struck me as most profound. It seems to be such a small, passing statement that merely tells us that Jesus died at this point. It certainly does tell us this, but it tells us much more than that.

First, in saying “He gave up His spirit,” we are told that He did not die prematurely. While this can certainly be deduced from His cry, “It is finished,” it is implicit here as well. Jesus did not give up His Spirit until it was finished.

In saying “He gave up His spirit,” we are told that He died when the purpose for which He came was completed. He did not remain on the cross after the salvation of His people had been accomplished. He did not get off the cross before the salvation of His people had been accomplished. He did precisely what He came to do. He drank the cup to the dregs.

Second, He gave up His spirit. Remember that Jesus said, “Shall I not drink the cup?” (John 18:10-11). Jesus willingly went to the cross, and more astonishing, He willingly remained on the cross, in utter agony. No one held Him there. He held onto His life until the purpose for which He came was accomplished, and then He let it go. He died because He chose to die, and He gave up His spirit when the Father’s wrath had been satisfied. He willingly remained on that cross and suffered amidst unimaginable physical pain, the emotional anguish of the desertion of His closest friends, and the mockery of all around Him. Ultimately, He did not die from blood loss from the flogging, or suffocation from the crucifixion. These were instrumental, but not determinative – He ultimately died because He did what He came to do, and He gave up His life as soon as it was accomplished. He did not suffer any more or less than was needed to satisfy the wrath of God. Such would have been insufficient in the latter case, and unjust in the former. Jesus Christ, the God-man, deliberately remained on that cross, suffering in anguish, willingly paying the price, not because He was forced or coerced, but because He loved the Father and was perfectly obedient to Him.

I want to recall just a few other Scriptural truths. I want to show these so that you see the meaning of the death of Jesus: that it was no mere accident or weakness on the part of Jesus.

Jesus Gave Himself as a Ransom

The first is Jesus’ self-awareness of what He was doing.

Mark 10:45
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Jesus understood that He was to give His life as a ransom for many. The word “ransom” is the payment made to deliver or free someone or something. Ransoming or redemption is the idea of releasing by payment of a price, and the payment is called a “ransom.” So Jesus was giving His life as a payment to free or deliver many people. He would die, He would give His life, and these people would go free. This is the first concept: That Jesus gave Himself as a payment to free many. The core principle underlying ransoming is that of substitution. The payment is accepted instead of that which was captive.[1] Paul said that Jesus was “was delivered up for our trespasses” (Romans 4:25) and that “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3). Jesus is teaching us that He understood His death as a substitutionary atonement. We see that Jesus has drank of the cup of the wrath of God, and we can see that, though He did not deserve the horrors of this cup, He drank it willingly, taking upon Himself the wrath of God in place of many. He bore the wrath in place of sinners. As Isaiah wrote centuries before Jesus walked the earth:

Isaiah 53:4-5
4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes[2] we are healed.

See, Jesus was crushed by the Father: “It was the will of Yahweh to crush him; he has put him to grief.” It was not the Jews or Romans who killed Christ, ultimately, but it was the Father Himself. He gave Jesus this cup, and Jesus obediently gave Himself as a ransom, taking in the place of His people the crushing wrath of God.

Jesus Offered Himself as a Sacrifice

The sacrificial system of the Old Testament was a major pillar of Jewish religion. The sacrificial system was essential for the communion between a holy and perfect God and an unholy and sinful people. For example, Leviticus 4 describes the regulations for a sin offering, [3] while Leviticus 5 describes the regulations for a guilt offering.[4] These, along with other types of sacrifices, dealt with different issues such as atonement for sin and purification of the sinner. An animal would be personally identified with the sinner, and it would die in place of the sinner.

This was the system that God set up thousands of years ago: A sin offering was intended to provide atonement between God and the sinner, placing the sinner in right relationship with God. It made a person pure. The guilt offering restored and repaired, making the sinner whole, leaving no need for guilt. I want to note a few things about these offerings.

First, the offering was costly. The person had to provide the offering, usually a goat, bull, or lamb, from his own herd. Second, the offering had to be pure. The animal had to be without blemish, without imperfection. Only a perfect offering would suffice. This leads us to the third point: Third, the innocent had to die for the guilty. Innocent blood was shed to provide atonement and restoration, in place of the guilty.

This system of justice was given long before the cross occurred. It was the way for an unholy people to live with a holy God. Now, once a year, the Israelites were required to cleanse themselves through offerings on what was called “The Day of Atonement.” The regulations for this Day of Atonement are described in Leviticus 16. The Day of Atonement was established by God in the Law “that atonement may be made for the people of Israel once in the year because of all their sins” (Lev. 16:34). The day was designed to cleanse the people and purify them for all their sins, and they had to do this every year, repeatedly. The Day of Atonement actually pointed forward to the work of Jesus Christ on the cross (Hebrews 13:10-11).[5] The problem with the old sacrificial system is that while “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins,” (Hebrews 9:22) “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

Hebrews 10:1-3
1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sin? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

The offerings of the Law did not purify people in themselves. They were only purifying when done as an act of faith in God, a faith that ultimately hoped in Christ. Animals could not take away sin, but blood is required by that same law for forgiveness of sin.

Hebrews 10:5-18
10 And by that will [the will of God for Christ] we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds," 17 then he adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more." 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

While the Day of Atonement was repeated over and over, it was merely a pointer or a shadow of the true Day of Atonement – that day when Jesus Christ was crucified once, outside the city, as a sin offering for His people. So we see that Christ was Himself an offering, like a lamb without blemish (1 Peter 1:19), who atoned for our sins. The lamb of Passover was killed instead of the Jews in Egypt, and so too Jesus was killed instead of His people. The shedding of His blood, in one single offering, perfected, at once, for all time, those who hold fast in belief to the end; that is, those who are being sanctified, who are called according to God’s purpose (Romans 8:28; Acts 2:39). Christ Himself fulfilled this requirement of the Law: And this offering was so perfect and so sufficient that it was done once, perfectly, and atoned once for all time the entirety of God’s people, upon whom He graciously set His love before time.

Hebrews 7:26-28
26 … it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Jesus offered Himself! He was both the Offering and Offerer. See, His dual role is only possible because He is Himself holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners – He had to be pure to, in the first place, be able to be a priest who doesn’t have to provide a sacrifice for Himself, and secondly, so that He had a pure offering to give. The whole priesthood of Christ rests on His sinlessness: If He was sinful, He would have no offering to purify Himself, since He would not be an acceptable offering, and if He had no offering, then He would have been useless as the Savior since He could not be a Priest. The perfect sinlessness of Christ is absolutely essential to His whole work, and dual role as both Offerer and Offering.

So Jesus has died for the sins of His people so as to satisfy the wrath of God. Did the Father accept His work? Or was Jesus left to rot, like all other men…?

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[1] Leon Morris gives a thorough treatment of the concept in antiquity in his work The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross.

[2] Refers to a whipping or beating (cf. Deut. 25:1-3). The ESV footnote on “scourged” in Matthew 27:26 reads, “A Roman judicial penalty, consisting of a severe beating with a multi-lashed whip containing imbedded pieces of bone and metal.” Note the prophetic statement: Jesus was flogged by Pilate.

[3] “Atonement is the dominant concern of the sin offering (all offerings make atonement to some extent). Sin and uncleanness make a person unfit to be in God’s presence and also pollute the sanctuary, making it impossible for God to be there. The sin offering is designed to cope with this aspect of sin by purifying both the sinner and the sanctuary. The distinctive feature of the sin offering is the use to which the sacrificial blood is put. In other sacrifices it is splashed over the side of the altar, but in the case of the sin offering it could be applied to the horned corners of the altar, or sprinkled inside the tabernacle tent, etc.” ESV Reformation Study Bible. Note on Leviticus 4.

[4] “While the focus of the sin offering was upon the purification of the sinner, the guilt offering was concerned with restitution or reparation. Three types of sins required guilt offerings: Misuse of the hole things of the Lord, supposed sin involving things that “ought not be done” (ignorance does NOT excuse), and trespass against a neighbors rights and property.” ESV Reformation Study Bible. Note on Leviticus 5.

[5] “10 We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. 11For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. 12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood.”

Easter – What does it mean? – Part 3

The Arrest

Matthew 26:47-56; John 18:2-12
47 While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I will kiss is the man; seize him." 49 And he came up to Jesus at once and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" And he kissed him. 50 Jesus said to him, "Friend, do what you came to do." Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. 51 And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. [11 Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?] 53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?" 55 At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. 56 But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." Then all the disciples left him and fled. So the band of soldiers and their captain and the officers of the Jews arrested Jesus and bound him.

Notice His willingness and intent! Jesus is walking deliberately to the cross: “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” Here He stands, alone, abandoned, betrayed, bound, heading to death – and He is telling His disciples that these things are happening that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. Jesus is beginning to drink in this horrible wrath of God, this cup of “scorn and derision.”

Jesus Before the Sanhedrin

Matthew 26:57, 59-68; 27:1
57 Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. …59 Now the chief priests and the whole Council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, 60 but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward 61 and said, "This man said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.'" 62 And the high priest stood up and said, "Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?"
63 But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." 64 Jesus said to him, "You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven." 65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, "He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. 66 What is your judgment?" They answered, "He deserves death." 67 Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, 68 saying, "Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?" 27:1 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.

The Jewish authorities found Jesus guilty of blasphemy. The Son of God, who was born of a virgin, the eternal Word of God, who shares eternal glory with the Father, was found guilty of blasphemy. The only one who did not commit blasphemy is condemned for it. As Jesus raises the cup, letting the wrath poor in, and ruin and desolation mount, He is sustained by the “joy that was set before Him,” (Hebrews 12:2) as He endures the increasing rejection and suffering. He looks forward, and rather than making a defense or answering them,[1] He says, “I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” This is not going to be the end. Even in the midst of condemnation and impending death, Jesus proclaims that He will be victorious!

Jesus Before Pontius Pilate

John 18:28-32; Matthew 27:2
2 And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor: 28 they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor's headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor's headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate went outside to them and said, "What accusation do you bring against this man?" 30 They answered him, "If this man were not doing evil, we would not have delivered him over to you." 31 Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law." The Jews said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death." 32 This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

John mentions that there was a kind of death that Jesus had previously mentioned. I hope that you can see the sovereign work of God in orchestrating history so that it would be illegal for the Jews to execute Jesus, for the very reason that the Romans would crucify Him. Where did Jesus talk about the kind of death He would die?

John 3:14-16
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 For God loved the world in this way, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

In verse 14, Jesus is talking about an incident that occurred in the Hebrew camp some fourteen hundred years ago as they were traveling to the promised land. They had sinned against God, and He had sent a plague of poisonous snakes upon them – and they ravaged the people, killing whoever they bit. Moses interceded for the people, and God told Him, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live." (Numbers 21:8) Jesus is explaining that He is going to be like that snake: He will be lifted up, like the snake, which is a play on words to mean both physically and referring to His glorification. Jesus would be lifted up on a cross, publicly, before all people, so, “that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life.” (John 6:40) See, most people misunderstand John 3:16. That word “for” isn’t saying, “because God loved the world so much.” That word “for” is connected to the previous section. The idea is this: “Because God loved the world by giving His only Son, to be lifted up on a cross, like the serpent in the wilderness who saved people from death, everyone who believes in Him and looks upon Him shall have eternal life and shall never perish and will be raised on the last day.”[2]

So this is the kind of death Jesus would die: Being lifted up on a tree, cursed, that everyone who looks on Him and believes will have eternal life.

John 18:33-19:16
33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" 34 Jesus answered, "Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?" 35 Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?" 36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world." 37 Then Pilate said to him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world--to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice." 38 Pilate said to him, "What is truth?" After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, "I find no guilt in him. 39 But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?" 40 They cried out again, "Not this man, but Barabbas!" Now Barabbas was a robber. 19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and struck him with their hands. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, "See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him." 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Behold the man!" 6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, "Crucify him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him." 7 The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God."
8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, "You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?" 11 Jesus answered him, "You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin." 12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, "If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar."13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, "Behold your King!" 15 They cried out, "Away with him, away with him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar." 16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.

The Crucifixion

Mark 15:24-32
24 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25 And it was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews." 27 And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. 29 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!" 31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe." Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.

Jesus is nailed to a tree, cursed, insulted, rejected, scorned, despised. He is now drinking the wrath of God, that horrible cup.

Hours pass by…

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[1] When the Scriptures, like Isaiah 53, say that Jesus was “silent,” this means that He did not attempt to make a defence. It is not that He did not speak at all, but that He did not struggle or try to prevent His execution – He walked willingly to it.

[2] John 3:16 communicates how God loved the world, not the magnitude of the love. It speaks of how God’s love is expressed. See the HCSB rendering or the ESV footnote (which serves as a clarification, since the old term “so” has been misunderstood in recent years).