God – The Greatest Story Writer Ever – John 19:17-27

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Randy Buchman

Most people think I’ve been more of a reader in my lifetime than facts would support, especially of fiction. I’ve read many of the classics, but I don’t tend to read much in that genre anymore, unless it is historical fiction. I always feel like there are so many historically true events that I still don’t know enough about that I don’t have time to deal with “just a story.”

But in any event, I know the best writers are those who build a complicated storyline with all sorts of threads and details; and then, as you work toward the end, all of those seemingly unconnected pieces are revealed to come together in the most wonderful way.

The Bible is like this – even though written by dozens of authors … though of course they were all united by the common inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Today’s passage tells John’s accounting of the crucifixion, and it brings together dozens of threads from the Scriptures – more details than we could begin to identify in this brief devotional. I’ll just mention a few …

Jesus is carrying his own cross to the place of the skull – a rock formation just outside Jerusalem that appears much like a skull. The image of the sacrifice carrying the wooden implement of his execution harks back to the Old Testament account of Isaac carrying the sticks for the sacrifice with his father Abraham. Where were they going? Where was this place of offering that God led them? Almost certainly it was to this very place where the true lamb – the true sacrifice – would give his life for the sin of the world.

This place is “outside the city.” The sin offering on the Day of Atonement – the blood being used for the covering on the mercy seat in the most holy place – had the carcass of the sacrifice taken out the camp. The writer to the Hebrews (13:11-13) picks up on this theme – “The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.”

Christ Jesus was crucified in the midst of two criminals. It would not have had to be that way, but it was, and like everything else it fulfills a passage written hundreds of years earlier in Isaiah 53:12 – “Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

The nakedness on the cross, and the division of his garments – all of this was foretold in Psalm 22 – “All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”

But all of this is not a crafted story, that is, in the sense of a fictional piece of art and literature. Rather it is the story of stories – God’s Big Story, as we’ve often talked about it at Tri-State Fellowship. Jesus was the King of the Jews – and though rejected by his own, his sacrifice on the cross is the payment for the sin of all throughout all of time.

How can we not trust in one who has created this true story of life – of life eternal … that we who are lost may be found and reconnected to the True Shepherd. What a magnificent story the Scriptures present – one that is timeless and bottomless and boundless.

John 19:17-27

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. ¹⁷Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). ¹⁸There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

¹⁹Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.²⁰Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. ²¹The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”

²²Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

²³When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

²⁴“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,

“They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”

So this is what the soldiers did.

²⁵Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman,here is your son,” ²⁷and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

Crucified by Political Pressure and Expediency – John 19:1-16

Posted on December 5, 2013 by Randy Buchman

The ebb and flow of my life into and out of political circles has allowed me at times to see and hear some of the behind-the-scenes stuff that goes on within what is truly an often ugly world.

“Whipping” the vote is not an action limited to one party, but being on the inside of a minority party, I would hear from my own guys about what was really going on “on the other side.” There were times when it would seem that some of them would vote with us on a particular moral matter – as personally they agreed with our position and were convinced by the truth of the argument. But when their leadership realized they were critical swing votes hanging in the balance, they were called in, sat down, and read the riot act as to what would happen to them if they did not “go along with the team” and vote against their personal convictions. They were told they had NO future to ever hold any positions of influence or leadership, and that they would not be supported at all in future primaries or elections, etc. Ultimately, the pressure was too much to bear, and they would cave in to it and vote opposite their personal beliefs.

This is essentially what happens to Pontius Pilate. He never comes to a point of truly believing that Jesus is guilty of a capital offense. But the Jews knew how to up the pressure. When their desire to see blood was not satiated by the horrors of a Roman flogging (that often did kill people), they pressed for crucifixion – a death generally reserved for the worst criminals, especially revolutionaries.

The Jewish argument was essentially that if Pilate allowed Jesus to go free, he was not a friend of Caesar … and that was scary. The current Caesar – Tiberius – was a sickly, violent, whacky guy not known for patience with uprisings. With Pilate facing the choice of following conviction to save some Jew he had no prior connection with, or having news of a riotous and ugly event in Jerusalem getting to the ears of Tiberius … well, Jesus was now headed for the cross. And of course, all of this was in the larger picture well within the sovereign hands of God.

John records some ironic statements (which he liked doing – like mentioning how Caiaphas said it was better for one person to die for the nation). Here in this passage we see the chief priests claiming they had no king but Caesar (a ridiculous statement given their values and beliefs), and we see Pilate calling Jesus the King of the Jews (which of course Christ is, though neither Pilate nor the religious establishment believed such a thing).

It was American essayist Charles Dudley Warner who wrote “politics makes strange bedfellows.” Never was that more true than in the crucifixion of Christ … and our sins contributed to the crowed bed.

Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified

19 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. ²The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe ³and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.

⁴Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” ⁵When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

⁶As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”

⁷The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

⁸When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, ⁹and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

¹¹Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

¹²From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

¹³When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). ¹⁴It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

¹⁵But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

¹⁶Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

Places to Go, Things to Do, People to See … So Leave Me Alone! – John 18:28-40

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Randy Buchman

I again think it would be helpful to repeat this chart about the six trials of Jesus:

#	Trial Type	Presiding Official	Passage
1	Religious	Annas	John 18:12-14
2	Religious	Caiaphas	Matthew 26:57-58
3	Religious	the Sanhedrin	Matthew 27:1-2
4	Civil	Pilate	John 18:28-38
5	Civil	Herod	Luke 23:6-12
6	Civil	Pilate	John 18:39–19:16

So we can see that today’s passage covers the fourth and (beginning of the) sixth trials, as John does not record the intervening appearance before Herod.

Many of you know of my long-term interest and research in Civil War history. I have had a particular topic of inquiry, doing a lot of extensive research on one Union General in particular – Abner Doubleday, the alleged inventor of the game of baseball. Over the years, I have found a lot of Doubleday writings in obscure libraries. One of these includes the following paragraph he wrote about his experiences in the latter half of the Civil War, which he spent mostly in Washington presiding over court martial matters and other U.S. Army affairs. He wrote:

The presumption is that an officer is a gentleman—even when he cannot spell. I had however some doubts upon the point during a court martial I once sat upon. Among my fellow members was a field officer notoriously illiterate. He paid scarcely any attention to the proceedings until it came time for the sentence. Almost invariably he said then: “Oh, Let’s hang the cuss.”

That is the attitude we essentially encounter in our reading today about Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor from A.D. 26-36. He was not genuinely interested in justice; he simply wanted to be done with this Jewish irritation about this Jesus character as quickly and cleanly as possible. OK, just crucify him if you must!

Pilate actually resided in Caesarea. He came to Jerusalem during feasts in case there was a need to deal with some kind of uprising or insurrection from these perennially unhappy Jews. This had the greatest potentiality to occur during Passover – a feast that celebrated the Jewish nation’s liberation from bondage. Thinking about their past suffering in Egypt tended to annoy and magnify current feelings about bondage under the Romans.

So being in Jerusalem was surely an irritation for Pilate that took him away from his regular routine. He didn’t like the Jews, and they didn’t like him because of his heavy-handed way of dealing with them.

The Jewish rulers had limited powers of authority to enforce their own rules, but that did not include the ability to carry out an execution. So the leaders come to Roman rule for this, wanting the Romans to be ultimately blamed by any of Jesus’ followers for actually performing the execution.

Pilate was certainly not fooled by the scene before him as the religious leadership brings Christ to him. He knew it had to do with their internal squabbling, jealousies and limitless traditions. And in interviewing Jesus, he finds that though this man has a fantastical view of his mission in life, there is nothing worthy of death.

But Pilate really does not want to be bothered with this irritation and any pursuit of justice, and so he seeks for a way to move it off his plate as quickly as possible. Hearing that Jesus is from Galilee, he uses this information to pawn off Christ to King Herod. So Jesus goes before Herod (not recorded in John), only to be sent back to Pilate.

His second ploy was to take the matter to the crowds, offering them Barabbas – a true criminal – or Jesus, whom Pilate presumed to be preferred by the masses. But the crowd surprises him by wanting Jesus crucified instead and Barabbas released.

And thirdly – in the next chapter – he would have Jesus flogged, hoping that a bit of blood would satisfy the people.

But all of this was to fulfill God’s plan that Jesus would die as the sacrificial lamb at Passover – the innocent in place of the guilty. The whole matter was more than Pilate wanted to deal with; after all, he had places to go, things to do, and people to see. Jesus was not worthy of his time or focus.

And that is how it remains with the majority of people to this day. They have no time or interest to focus upon who Jesus really is and what difference that makes for their lives. They’re busy and don’t want to be bothered with these seemingly endless religious details. Their attitude is, “I have places to go, things to do, and people to see. So leave me alone!”

How and where is your focus?

Jesus Before Pilate

²⁸Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. ²⁹So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”

³⁰“If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”

³¹Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”

“But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. ³²This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.

³³Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

³⁴“Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

³⁵“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

³⁶Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

³⁷“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

³⁸“What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. ³⁹But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘The king of the Jews’?”

⁴⁰They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.

Peter Denying Christ: What a Total Loser! (John 18)

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Randy Buchman

The old saying goes, “With friends like this, who needs enemies?” If anyone could have uttered those words, it is Jesus Christ.

Today’s passage in John 18 takes us quickly through the trial of Jesus before Annas, along with the three denials of Peter.

So Jesus is arrested and taken first to Annas – the former high priest. He was followed in office by five of his sons and ultimately his son-in-law Caiaphas – who was at this very moment the officially serving High Priest.

¹²Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him ¹³and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. ¹⁴Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people.

These trials of Jesus can be a bit confusing. Putting together the six total trials of Jesus and the corresponding passages, it looks like this:

#	Trial Type	Presiding Official	Passage
1	Religious	Annas	John 18:12-14
2	Religious	Caiaphas	Matthew 26:57-58
3	Religious	the Sanhedrin	Matthew 27:1-2
4	Civil	Pilate	John 18:28-38
5	Civil	Herod	Luke 23:6-12
6	Civil	Pilate	John 18:39–19:16

So this first trial is before Annas – who is at this point a sort of “high priest emeritus.” We will see that out of the 12 disciples, two are present here, one has betrayed Christ, and the other nine are nowhere to be seen!

Peter’s First Denial

¹⁵Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, ¹⁶but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in.

¹⁷“You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter.

He replied, “I am not.”

¹⁸It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.

The unnamed “other disciple” in our author, John … who was somehow sufficiently known in the circles of Jewish leadership to get inside and to have Peter also allowed through the gates and into the courtyard. A servant girl allows this, and ponders with a question if Peter is one of Christ’s disciples – the question asked apparently with the tone of “You’re not one of the whackos who follow this nut-job Galilean preacher dude, are you?” Luke’s gospel adds that she had seen him with Jesus.

He replied, “I am not.” And we get the picture that on this chilly evening in Jerusalem in the middle of the night there is a group of standers-by who are warming themselves around a fire. And Peter is there, attempting desperately to blend in.

Annas Questions Jesus

¹⁹Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.

²⁰“I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus replied. “I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. ²¹Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.”

²²When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” he demanded.

²³“If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied, “testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” ²⁴Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

An interesting element we tend to overlook is that Annas is here presented as asking first about Jesus’ disciples – probably not referencing the 12 specifically, but rather the mass of people who accepted his teaching. Nonetheless, this must have been a creepy moment for both John and Peter standing within earshot of this exchange.

And of course Annas is interested in hearing about the teaching itself – seeking to evaluate the nature of this man’s message and what substance there may be to any feared insurrection.

Jesus affirms he has spoken the truth publically, and refers the question to the masses of the people and what they understood. The trials of Jesus were filled with a great number of illegalities. Here is a wrongful attempt at getting an accused person to self-incriminate.

Peter’s Second and Third Denials

²⁵Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing there warming himself. So they asked him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?”

He denied it, saying, “I am not.”

²⁶One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” ²⁷Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.

A second time an individual begins to recognize that Peter was previously with Jesus. Peter’s cover was cracking. Surely his Galilean accent was giving him away as well.

The third accusation is from a relative of Malchus – the fellow whose ear had been sliced off his head. Surely the perpetrator of such a deed would be recognized and remembered. From the other gospels we know that Peter on this occasion very vehemently denied knowing Christ. The rooster crows as Jesus had predicted, and a synoptic account reveals that Jesus looked through the crowd and made eye contact at this very moment. Wow!

Peter – what a loser! Or is he? Surely not any one of us would have done the same thing in the same situation! Or would we? Would we even be there close enough to make a denial?

This was a failure on Peter’s part – without doubt. He had earlier proclaimed he would die for Christ (and ultimately he would). But recall this – though ill-conceived and foolish, it was Peter who was willing to swing a sword when a cohort of about 60 soldiers and others came to arrest Jesus.

And while the bulk of the disciples were slinking about in the darkness on the other side of the Kidron Valley while Jesus is being put on trial, Peter is risking being nearby. Does close only count in horseshoes and hand grenades?

How close are you identified with Jesus? At work? On Facebook? At the Thanksgiving table? At the soccer club? In biology class? At your Rotarian luncheon? In the Board Room?

Do you hear the crowing of a rooster?

Walking Toward the Barking Dog – John 18:1-14

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Randy Buchman

There is a saying that is used sometimes in leadership circles – that the good and healthy leader is one who “walks toward the barking dog.” By this, it is most often referring to the inevitability of conflict in any leadership endeavor, and that the wise leader is one who does not ignore problems or hope they will solve themselves. Rather, the good leader moves wisely and deftly toward the issue to deal with it in a resolute way.

It is difficult to walk toward barking dogs – literally or figuratively. It is fearful. It might not go well, and the chained anger and barking is most likely more tolerable than the risk of being bitten and mauled – literally or figuratively.

But what does it take to walk forward toward some situation when you know for a fact that it is going to end painfully and poorly? I have previously in devotionals written about my admiration for Civil War soldiers who walked straight into the face of a cannon – seeing the enemy double-charge it with canister shot – knowing life will end in the next 30 to 60 seconds … yet walking toward that gun.

This is the situation we see in the passage today in John 18. Jesus has turned the corner and is walking irretrievably toward the cross … not by lack of knowledge, but rather with a full understanding of what awaits him there. This time, there will be no “escape through the crowd.” Jesus will be arrested and sacrificed for the sins of mankind. The path is set and the road established; Jesus is walking into it – face forward.

18:1 When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.

²Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.³So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

The garden spoken of here is the Mount of Olives, located across a valley from the city of Jerusalem and opposite the temple mount. It was a gathering place for the disciples when in Jerusalem for feasts, and of course Judas was privy to this information.

Here Judas arrives with a detachment of soldiers (probably about 60, according to the word used in the Greek language) and some muckety-mucks of Jewish religious leadership. These leaders, who had become tired of this Jesus character and were now committed to his disposal, had gotten the Romans to go along with the arrest of an insurrectionist fellow who threatened the peace.

It is interesting that it was in a garden that Satan came to the first Adam and tempted him to fall into sin and death, and in another garden the “second Adam” begins the journey that will lead him to a death that will bring life.

Another interesting element in this story is that this very location was where King David was betrayed by his friend Ahithophel (2 Samuel 15), even now as Jesus was being betrayed by his friend Judas.

⁴Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

⁵“Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.

“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) ⁶When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

In verse four, we see the clear statement of John that Jesus knew everything that was going to happen, and yet he willingly submitted himself to it in obedience to the father.

The answer to their question of seeking Jesus of Nazareth – “I am he,” – causes the whole gang to apparently get knocked backward onto their tuchuses! I confess to forgetting about this entire part of the story, but it is pretty amazing. Yet it does not seem to faze them a bit, and they must have just picked themselves up and continued as it nothing happened (oops, we all fell over an olive root at the same time!).

⁷Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.

⁸Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” ⁹This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”

¹⁰Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)

¹¹Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

Here is another part of the story that always amazes me – in that it did not amaze them! Actually, we need the additional information supplied by Luke’s Gospel for me to make this point about the ear of Malchus – where Jesus picks up the bloody thing and puts it back on the guy’s head! I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen a detached body part put back on someone’s frame – and if I did, I think I’d be a bit impressed.

And again we see in the story that Jesus is walking toward the barking dog. He has “a cup to drink” that has been given him, and as the perfect Lamb of God, he is going to drink it fully and willingly.

So Jesus is arrested and taken first to Annas. These trials of Jesus can be a bit confusing. Annas was appointed as the High Priest in A.D. 6 and served through A.D. 15. According to Jewish law, this was supposed to be a position for life. But the Romans would never allow a single person to have such a position; and so he was followed in office by five of his sons and ultimately his son-in-law Caiaphas – who was at this very moment the officially serving High Priest.

John gives another of his “explanations” as to what was happening, reminding the reader that Caiaphas had made the statement that it would be better for one person to die than to have the Romans come in and bust up the place because of an insurrectionist and his mob. He had no idea how prophetic and prescient were his words.

There are times in life and service to the Lord when we are called to walk toward barking dogs – to do something that is difficult, maybe even painful. We may be called to break off a bad relationship, or perhaps to confront a sinful situation. The Lord may lead us to speak the message of the Gospel to people who will not likely receive it well. We may have to stand for righteousness and truth in a work setting where doing so is going cause us to have to pay a personal price. But Jesus walked toward the dog – toward a hill while carrying a cross … and we are admonished as his followers to take up our cross and follow him.

From Consumers to Christians (John 17:1-26)

Posted on November 29, 2013 by Christopher J Wiles

Black Friday has become something of an American tradition. As much as decry the holiday distraction, it’s hard to resist the siren song of the deal of the century. Today’s religion is one of consumerism. There’s nothing wrong with pursuing a bargain. The problem comes when we let our identity be ruled by things. “[Where] do we derive identity today?” asks Barry Taylor, artist and professor:

“I contend that it is largely derived from our imagination. We shop for ‘ourselves’ in the marketplace of ever-expanding ideas brought to us when we enter cyberspace or media culture, or when we engage with the seemingly endless possibilities presented to us by a global consumer culture.” (Barry Taylor,Entertainment Theology, p. 46)

In John 17, Jesus concludes His time with His disciples. His “commencement speech” now over, He kneels in prayer. It’s often been called the “high priestly prayer.” Jesus is performing the role of a priest—praying before the sacrifice is offered. But now, the sacrifice being made is Jesus Himself.

JESUS PRAYS FOR HIMSELF

John 17:1-26 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, ² since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. ⁴ I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. ⁵ And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

Jesus had previously said: “when I am lifted up, I will draw all men to myself” (John 12:32). The hour was now upon Him. Jesus’ death on the cross would be a payment for man’s sin, but also a clear display of God’s incredible power. This was God’s plan all along. Even Christ’s suffering was an integral part of God’s plan to reveal Himself to the world.

JESUS PRAYS FOR HIS PRESENT DISCIPLES

⁶ “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. ⁸ For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. ⁹ I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰ All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. ¹¹ And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. ¹² While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³ But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. ¹⁴ I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵ I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

What does it mean to be “sanctified?” To be “consecrated?” It connects to the idea of being “holy.” Usually we think of the word “holy” as meaning “really, really good.” But in the Bible, the word “holy” carries the idea of being “set apart.” Being different. So when Jesus prays for His disciples, He prays that they be clearly represent His truth to the world around them. And they do that not by being physically separate from the world, but by being “not of the world.” Christians are called to pour into the culture around them without being tainted by it. That’s what it means to live on mission. And it’s the same call that is issued to Jesus’ future disciples.

JESUS PRAYS FOR HIS FUTURE DISCIPLES

²⁰ “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, ²¹ that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, ²³ I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. ²⁴ Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵ O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. ²⁶ I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Anyone who believes in Christ becomes His disciple. And any disciple of Christ is called to reveal God’s significance by making other disciples. Do you notice the radical nature of Christian community? Jesus says that Christian unity is meant to mirror the unity found between God the Father and God the Son. This is a oneness we could not comprehend apart from the Trinity itself. The Trinity says that God exists as an eternal community—Father, Son, and Spirit. All three are unique, yet all three are God. I realize that’s hard to grasp. But just because our understanding can’t be perfect doesn’t mean our understanding can’t be accurate. Jesus is praying that Christian unity would be a reflection of the Godhead.

That’s hard. Too often we get lost in the endless sea of preferences. If we define ourselves as consumers, then we define ourselves by style. Worship styles, preaching styles, clothing styles, you name it. What complicates this further is that so often style becomes associated with a generation, such that style gaps become generational divides. We can’t bridge this chasm through style alone. We build unity by shifting our focus away from consumerism and back toward Christ.

Don’t you see how immensely practical the gospel is? The best way of being multi-generational or even multi-cultural is to be trans-generational and trans-cultural. That is, focus on the things that transcend—go above and beyond—the preferences of one culture, one generation and one setting. That’s what Jesus does. On the cross, He is glorified. He draws all men to Himself in a way that no Black Friday sale possibly could. For Christians, our identity will not be found in Black Friday, it can only be found in Good Friday. Cooperation replaces competition. And everlasting joy replaces buyer’s remorse.

“In a little while” (John 16:16-33)

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Christopher J Wiles

Today, you’ll be sitting down at a table with your closest family and friends. And yes; this really is as good as it gets. For some, dealing with relatives is only a matter of putting up with a few quirks and eccentricities, like Uncle Edgar’s bizarre fascination with UFO conspiracies, or the way Grandma Myrtle feeds the Pomeranian from the table. For others, family always feels like crisis. You don’t get along. You’re nursing past wounds. And if faith is not something you share, even this becomes a divide that makes the table seem all the wider.

Jesus’ time with His disciples is coming to a rapid close. He is trying to prepare them for a tough journey ahead. But the gospel tells us that suffering is never the end of the story.

John 16:16-33 “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” ¹⁷ So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” ¹⁹ Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? ²⁰ Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. ²¹ When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. ²² So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. ²³ In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. ²⁴ Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

In “a little while,” He says. Sorrow is temporary. Did you notice the illustration He uses? Childbirth. Childbirth is one of the most physically demanding things a person can go through. The weight gain, the late-night cravings—and that’s just the husband. In all seriousness, couples go to great lengths to have a child, despite the physical (and emotional…and financial) demands that come with it. But it’s hard to find a couple who look back and said it was anything but worth it. In fact, if you’ve ever been around an expecting couple, they’ve probably pulled out their wallets (or smartphones) to show you a black-and-white blurry photo. Try and be polite. “Oh, you’re having a…potato.” But it’s not a potato. It’s a sonogram—a picture of the child developing in the womb. The sonogram tells us that the baby isn’t here yet, but the baby is coming soon. That’s what the gospel teaches us, and that’s what Jesus is telling His disciples. The resurrection of Jesus is like the sonogram. God’s victory isn’t here yet—but it’s coming very soon.

²⁵ “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶ In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; ²⁷ for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. ²⁸ I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

²⁹ His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! ³⁰ Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” ³¹ Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ³² Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. ³³ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

The gospel never offers a single promise of happiness. But the Bible offers radical promises of lasting joy. Isn’t it ironic that as we stand at the cusp of Black Friday sales and mobs of mall shoppers, that all of this is takes place in the season we traditionally celebrate Jesus’ birth? The happiness these sales promise will fade long before the next year. Only Jesus offers lasting joy in a world full of sorrow. What if you really believed this was true? What if, through the cross and resurrection, Jesus really did overcome the world? But that’s what the gospel promises. He overcame your family strife. He overcame Black Friday greed. He overcame sin, overcame death, overcame the mockery of the crowds, overcame the shameful burden you and I placed on His shoulders.

In a little while, He promises. In a little while we’ll be free of the cares of today and live in the joy of tomorrow. So as you gather at your table today, remember that sorrow lasts through the night. Joy comes with the morning.

The Role of the Spirit (John 16:1-15)

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Christopher J Wiles

In yesterday’s post, we looked at the nature and mission of the church. Now, we take a look at the actual experience of the church. Jesus is preparing His disciples for life after He departs—a life that will be marked by the same kind of suffering that He experienced.

SEPARATION FROM “ORGANIZED RELIGION”

John 16:1-15 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. ² They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. ³ And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.

Christianity represented a major break from the traditions of the past. The early Jews couldn’t tolerate this, so Christians found themselves increasingly unwelcome in Jewish places of worship. In fact, there’s even some evidence to say that within John’s lifetime, some local synagogues actually banned all Christians from attending.

These days that almost seems preferable—or at least fashionable. We don’t like to be associated with “organized religion.” But the early Christians struggled because of this. The seeds of faith had been planted, but they remained a long way from blossoming. Peter and Paul had tended the soil, but both men died in John’s lifetime. Christians were becoming untethered from the past without a secure future to hold onto. Only through the promised Spirit could the church hope to continue forward.

THE ROLE OF THE SPIRIT

⁴ But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵ But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷ Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰ concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ¹¹ concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

The Spirit would serve as a “Helper.” The “advantage” of Jesus’ death is that we receive the promised Spirit. But notice that the Spirit has a role to play in relation to the world: one of strong conviction. One of the surest distinctions between the church and the outside world is the recognition of sin and righteousness. In today’s world, these terms have blurred. No one can say with absolute certainty what is “good” or “true.” In fact, the only true “sin” in today’s world is to infringe on the “rights” of another.

In the Christian community, we rightly recognize the standards set for us by God’s character—revealed in Jesus and magnified through the witness of His Spirit. Do we take sin seriously? Do we take God seriously? We have to take sin seriously to take God seriously. And it is through the cross that our sin is dealt with and God is further revealed to us.

A LIFE LIVED FOR GOD

¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

The Spirit has another role: to point us to God. He “glorifies” Jesus. Do you remember what “glory” meant? The word “glory” has its origins in a Hebrew word meaning “weight” or “mass.” It’s not that different from when we talk about a “heavy subject.” So for God to be “glorified” means that God is revealed to be “significant.”

Is God the most significant thing in your life? If my life is guided by self, then I become the center of my own universe. Left to my own devices, my life implodes. My soul shrivels. Nothing is more damaging than self-interest. But if my life is guided by God—by His Spirit—then God takes His rightful place at the center of my universe. And nothing is more healing than self-denial—so long as we replace “self” with God.

As we continue on, we’ll see that these values run counter to those of our surroundings. But we also see that the gospel offers the greatest and lasting solution to the hostility thrown at us by an unbelieving world.

The True Vine (John 15:1-27)

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Christopher J Wiles

What do you think of when you hear the word “church?” If you’re like most people, your mind immediately goes to an image of a building. Childhood memories of mornings languishing in high-backed pews. There’s also a good chance the word “church” brings back painful memories—pushed away from Jesus by the very people who claim to represent Him. Bono, the lead singer of the rock band U2, refers to this as a form of “spiritual abuse:”

“Spiritual abuse is rather like any kind of physical or sexual abuse. It brings you to a place where you can’t face the subject ever again. It’s rare for the sexually abused to ever enjoy sex. So, too, people who are spiritually abused can rarely approach the subject of religion with fresh faith. They wince and they twitch. My religious life has been trying to get through the minefield without coming out of it at the other end in a wheelchair.” (quoted in Kathleen Falsani, The God Factor, p. 11)

So why church? In John’s gospel, Jesus rarely refers to the church through institutional language. It’s not a building. It’s something organic—something vibrant and alive. In John 10, the relationship between Christ and His Church was that of a shepherd and a flock. Now, in the second part of Jesus’ “commencement address,” Jesus refers to the church through the familiar language of a vine and branches.

A POINT OF TRANSITION

Let’s pause a moment and return to John 14:31. Jesus tells His followers: “Rise, let us go from here.” John 15-16 consists of the second part of Jesus’ “commencement address.” It may have taken place in the upper room—they may have stood to leave. But it may also have taken place as they journeyed from the upper room to the Mount of Olives to pray. Because Jesus is making reference to a vine and branches, it’s easy to imagine that He was drawing analogies from the lush outdoor surroundings—though we have to admit that this is speculation.

THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH

Perhaps the most famous metaphor for Christ and the Church is found in these verses:

John 15:1-27 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ⁹ As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹ These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

Jesus is the True Vine. Our connection to Him is one of intimacy and necessity. A branch cannot find life except through connection to the vine. Now, some branches try. They put down a secondary root system, but this kills the plant. Vinedressers have to lift these branches to keep them from doing this, and increase their dependence on the vine. Jesus says that the same thing happens between Himself and His followers. Branches that don’t bear fruit are “taken away”—or better translated “lifted up”—so that they can be more fruitful. Those that are unfruitful are in danger of being discarded and burned. We don’t need to assume Jesus is saying we can lose our salvation, but the verse should still make us sweat a bit to think that we can lose intimacy and reward.

So why church? In the context of this image, the question might better be: what’s the alternative? The life-giving connection between Christ and His followers can hardly be said to limited to a Sunday morning experience. Instead, it is a constant connection. We don’t attend church. We are the church. There’s no alternative.

These days it’s increasingly common to put down other “roots.” We can be connected to other things: sports, hobbies, career, etc. In a post-everything world, Sunday mornings are no longer off-limits for sports practices or other activities. In this setting, it’s tempting to see church as another option in a sea of endless activity. But a connection to church is not optional. It is essential. Regardless of my frustrations and past hurts, regardless of the endless sea of alternatives that beckon my attention, I am part of a network of branches that find their strength and life from Jesus Himself.

THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH

Jesus now turns to the mission of the church, one characterized by love:

¹² “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. ¹⁷ These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

Some of these words are familiar, the kind of thing you might see on a coffee mug. We’re used to hearing the command to “love one another.” But pay close attention to verse 16. What is the mission of the church? To “go and bear fruit,” Jesus says. Go? The church has a mission to perform. Love must extend beyond the walls, grafting outsiders into relationship with the True Vine.

Do you see what’s happening here? Jesus is saying that Christian love has a vertical component—between man and God—as well as a horizontal component—between man and man. Place the vertical and horizontal pieces together and what do you see? The shape of the cross. Christian love is found in the cross of Jesus, and if we seek to follow Jesus we find ourselves drawn ever closer to the criminal wood of crucifixion.

THE POSITION OF THE CHURCH

This tells us that our position in life will be marked not by a crown of glory, but a crown of thorns.

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ Whoever hates me hates my Father also. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. ²⁵ But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’ ²⁶ “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. ²⁷ And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

We bear an unpopular message. We will face rejection. We will face suffering. Pain. To represent Christ in our world is to experience the same rejection that He did. But the cross also reminds us that suffering is only temporary, and that this crown of thorns will one day be exchanged for a crown of glory. This is why Jesus now turns His followers attention to life lived through the Spirit as they away God’s glorious future.

The Promised Spirit (John 14:15-31)

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Christopher J Wiles

In John 14, we find ourselves in the first of what will be a two-part “commencement speech” given by Jesus on the night of His arrest. He knows the fate that awaits. His desire is to offer His disciples some measure of comfort.

In the first section, Jesus had emphasized the nature of the Church as the true temple of God—the Body of Christ expressed in and through the diverse people that follow Him. This is important for what comes next. The original temple was where God was experienced through what was called the shekina glory—an overpowering cloud of smoke that overwhelmed the worshippers. What was the message? Every religion believed their god inhabited a building. But for Israel, their God’s presence would make the rafters shake and the people tremble.

If Jesus equates the Church with the temple, then we need God’s Spirit to once again take up residence among God’s people. And if the Church is to be Christ’s body, then we need that spark of life to once again animate us and help us grow. Thus, Christ’s death comes with a most sincere and most significant benefit: the promised gift of God’s Spirit.

THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT (15-21)

John 14:15-31 ¹⁵ “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Jesus calls His followers to a life of radical obedience. But how? Obedience seems impossible. Our hearts are eternally bent inward. In the fourth century, St. Augustine famously asked God to “Command what You will, but will what You command.” We need help. That’s part of what God does for us.

¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, ¹⁷ even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

The Holy Spirit comes through both Father and Son (cf. John 20:22). It is through this Spirit that God’s presence would be experienced. Now, Jesus turns His attention from the immediate future (the coming Spirit) to the ultimate future (His second coming):

¹⁸ “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

Jesus knows that there will be a day when all will be made clear; all will be made right. So vital was this knowledge that Paul would later see the Spirit as a “guarantee of our inheritance:”

Ephesians 1:13-14 ¹³ In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Paul is saying that the Spirit is like an engagement ring. It is a promise of life that will be experienced in the future. It is a life that has not yet arrived, but it is not a life rooted in fantasy.

INTIMACY > EFFICIENCY

²² Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” ²³ Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. ²⁴ Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

It’s tempting to wonder why God does not simply make His presence more clear. More obvious. That’s what lies at the heart of this disciple’s question. But notice that Jesus doesn’t even answer the question. Why? Because in the first half of John’s gospel, Jesus consistently made Himself known through various signs and teachings. Instead of widespread success, Jesus found Himself the target of a murder plot. This tells us something important. When Jesus addresses the issue, He reveals that the gospel is not found in efficiency or immediacy, but in intimacy.

Corrie Ten Boom said it best: “Trying to do the Lord’s work in your own strength is the most confusing, exhausting, and tedious of all work. But when you are filled with the Holy Spirit, then the ministry of Jesus just flows out of you.” Sometimes the greatest spiritual breakthroughs happen when we stop looking to God for a product and learn to take comfort in His presence.

POWER SOURCE

²⁵ “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. ²⁶ But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. ²⁸ You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. ²⁹ And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. ³⁰ I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, ³¹ but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.

Here, the first part of Jesus’ farewell speech winds down. Part of this speech helps us understand exactly how the disciples could have known some of what they did. God’s Spirit uniquely revealed this information to them. Jesus will soon be gone, but God’s Spirit will be alive and active.

God’s Spirit is the central power source of the body of Christ. A number of years ago I read an essay by Isaac Asimov. Asimov had substantial training in my former field—biochemistry—and so I was endlessly fascinated by his sharp mind and clear writing style. This particular essay was trying to explain the difference between a living body and a dead body. This was the first time I’d ever seen a scientist flounder in an attempt to explain something as mystifying as death. I believe strongly in science’s power to explain our world. But here was something that couldn’t be explained merely in the language of molecules and atoms. Asimov’s answer left me deeply unsatisfied. He compared the body to a house. The living body has its “bricks”—that is, atoms, molecules, cells, tissues, etc.—carefully and deliberately arranged. But after death the “bricks” crumble; the house falls apart. I remember thinking: “That’s it?” Surely we can’t restore life simply by putting our atoms back into their correct positions.

If the life of the human body can’t be understood without referring to the soul, how much less can the body of Christ be understood without referring to the Spirit? If this body is the temple, then without God’s Spirit we truly are gathering in a house of crumbling bricks. Without God’s Spirit, we can no more energize Christ’s body than we can a corpse. If we try, we create a monster. Instead of the body of Christ, we create a religious version of Frankenstein’s monster—lurching around composed of dead body parts.

All the more reason we need to lift our eyes above the horizon of self to gaze upon the beauty of Christ Himself. The Church is His body, unveiled not in the spectacular brilliance of earthly success, but in the lowly display of the cross. If we are to follow after Jesus, if we are to be His Church, then our eyes must be turned away from ourselves. This is a theme to which we will return as we continue to explore Jesus’ speech to His disciples.

Seriously

The Goal-Oriented Christian Life