Tag Archives: Jew

The Foolishness Of The Cross

Gospel, , , , ,

THE FOOLISHNESS OF THE CROSS

We’ve travelled a while through a series I called “Things Jesus did not say.” As westerners – at least some of us who read this are – our worldview is different from the ancient Hebrew worldview which the Bible represents. When we understand what Jesus said from His perspective, many of the things He said which made no sense to us before, have come to mean something to us now. Then I asked myself, “Where now?”

A short while ago I was browsing on YouTube and came across a beautiful song with simple but powerful words called “The power of the cross”. I got to thinking about the title. What is it about the cross of Jesus that is so powerful? After all, He was just a man who was crucified – or was He? Paul wrote this in his letter to the Corinthian church over two thousand years ago:

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Cor. 1: 18)

In the Gentile and Jewish world of his day, Paul was up against huge opposition to his message.

Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Cor. 1: 22-24)

Throughout His private life with His disciples, Jesus referred to His approaching death on more than one occasion. He informed them that He was to die at the hands of the Jewish leaders.

From this time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. (Matt. 16: 21)

Apart from His time with His disciples in the upper room when they celebrated the last Passover together, Jesus told them nothing about the reason for His death. He indicated that He was to be the fulfilment of Passover when a lamb was killed for a family, and its blood painted on the doorposts of their houses to protect the family from the angel of death. That He would be killed, yes, but why? No.

He promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would come to take His place, and that He would be within them. It would be left to Him to lead them into all truth and to teach them everything they needed to know about Him, including the ramifications of His death. God chose the great Jewish rabbi, Paul, a man who had a powerful legal mind and a thorough grasp of the Scriptures, to understand and explain the meaning of the cross for all who came after him.

Paul had studied under Gamaliel, one of the significant rabbis of his day, but one whose yoke led Paul into deep bondage to legalism and produced a fanatical persecutor of those who believed in Jesus. It was only through a personal encounter with the risen Christ that Paul recognised Him as his Messiah and his understanding of the cross was transformed from foolishness to power. He knew the way the Jews thought. He was one of them. He had also dismissed the crucified Jesus as nonsense until his eyes were opened on the Damascus road.

It was the power of the very cross he despised that had changed him from a vicious religious fanatic to a passionate lover of Jesus and preacher of the cross. From that moment on, his stance was:

I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom but on God’s power. (1 Cor. 2: 3-5)

There it is again; what to humans was foolishness was really God’s power.

The Jews rejected Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God because they demanded signs, yet they dismissed as foolishness the greatest of all signs – God’s love demonstrated by His presence among them and His sacrifice for them. They were too blind to see in Jesus the fulfilment of all the prophetic signs in the very Scriptures they claimed to know and hold to.

How ironical that they had Him killed because they refused to believe that He was their Messiah, and yet His death, the very death they had engineered, was the greatest of all the signs that He was who He said He was, and that He had to die and rise again according to their Scriptures.

The Greeks dismissed the cross of Jesus as foolishness because it did not fit with their human “wisdom”. They had no understanding of sin because sin was not an issue in their religious beliefs. In fact, the very way they worshipped their idol gods was through the celebration of every fleshly lust. That God was holy and demanded payment for sin did not suit their lifestyle of indulgence. They wanted something to tickle their minds, not change their lives.

In our world nothing has changed. People still follow false religions and reject Jesus because he is too “nice” and His gift of forgiveness and salvation too easy. People either want to indulge their fleshly appetites without conscience or restriction or they slavishly follow the demands of their legalistic gods because it satisfies their need to “save” themselves.

The real foolishness lies, not in believing in Jesus, but in rejecting Him. If He said He would be crucified and raised again on the third day, and it happened, why would we not believe everything else He said? Why would we throw away the opportunity to get rid of our guilt, our fear and all our hangups and insecurities and live lives of peace and purpose because we don’t want to trust the most trustworthy person who ever walked this earth?

To me, that is sheer foolishness!

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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A Hopeless Situation

Bible Study, , ,

A HOPELESS SITUATION

“What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God. What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness?

Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.”

But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what more shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing His wrath on us? (I am using a human argument). Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world?” Romans 3:1-6.

Lest his readers thought that being a Jew was of no value at all, Paul quickly showed them that the problem lay, not with the law or with the righteousness of God but with the unfaithfulness of the people who received God’s word. The Jews were highly favoured and privileged to have God’s word. They had the advantage of being in covenant with God and they had the sign of the covenant to prove it.

The problem lay, not with God but with the people. As he has already made clear, having God’s word and being in covenant with Him was of no benefit to them if they did not show it in their daily lives. After all, was it not God’s purpose that, by living out His instructions to His people, they were to show their Gentile neighbours what He is really like?

But then Paul responded to another hypothetical question. Is God not being unjust by judging people who break His law, when their very sinfulness shows up His righteousness?

What kind of logic is that? Do people really think like this? It would be the same as arguing that criminals should not be punished because what they did shows us just how right the government is to make laws that judge wrongdoers!

“Some might argue, ‘If my falsehood enhances His truthfulness and so increases His glory, hy am I still condemned as a sinner?’ Why not say – as some slanderously claim that we say – ‘Let us do evil that good may result.’? Their condemnation is just.” Romans 3:7, 8.

God’s glory is not revealed so much in contrast to human wickedness as in the justice of His judgment. As Paul rightly argues, how can God judge sin if we sin in order to show up His righteousness? This is a very twisted argument, to say the least. Since much of God’s judgment comes to us through the consequences of our wrongdoing, He does not deliberately create bad consequences because He takes delight in punishing us. Consequences are the natural result of overstepping His boundaries.

No parent would tell his small child, “Don’t play in the street. You will be run over by a car,” because he arranged for a car to hit him. He warns his son because of the real danger of it happening. Similarly, God gives us boundaries within which He knows we are safe, and outside of which there is danger because of the very laws which hold the universe together.

The greatest tragedy of all is that people who rebel against God’s laws do not realise that they are not hurting God. They are hurting themselves and wasting their lives when God has so much for them if they would only heed what He says and live within the safety zone.

So, whether a person is a Gentile who has no knowledge of God’s word but has a conscience which he ignores, or a Jew who has God’s covenant and God’s word but does not obey it, the outcome is the same.

“What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.” Romans 3:9.

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

First The Diagnosis

Christian life, , ,

FIRST THE DIAGNOSIS

“Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; if you know His will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth – you, then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, do you dishonour God by breaking the law? As it is written: “God’s nature is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” Romans 2:17-24.

Ouch! This is quite an indictment; and a perennial problem!  James had to address the same issue in his letter.

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James 1:22.

But as it was then, so it is still true now.

Both Jew and Gentile were guilty before God for ignoring God’s holy standards.

Paul has already concluded that the Gentiles were guilty before God. Because of their indulgence in debauched behaviour, they chose to disregard God and make their own gods who would indulge their behaviour because they were just like their creators. The problem with the Gentiles was their lust after the flesh.

On the other hand, the problem relating to the Jews was a problem of self-deception spawned by pride. “You have to understand the difference between having the law and obeying the law,” Paul told them. “Being the proud recipients of God’s standards is not enough if you don’t obey them.” The law he was talking about, for the Jew was both the moral and the ceremonial law. The moral law was the expression of God’s character. The ceremonial law was intended to flesh out the moral law in their everyday lives and to develop a culture of understanding to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah.

The Jews despised the Gentiles because they were not part of God’s covenant people. They had not been rescued from Egypt by God’s mighty power and they did not receive God’s law. As far as the Jews were concerned, Gentiles were the scum of the earth and, like lepers, tax collectors and prostitutes, they were classified as untouchable “sinners”.

To the Jew, what Paul had to say was shocking. They, the Jews, were just as guilty before God as the Gentiles because, though they boasted about having God’s law, they did not obey it. In fact, some of the Gentiles were better than they because, without even having God’s law, they obeyed it because it was written into their consciences. No person on earth can be excused because he does not know right from wrong. Even if people don’t know the finer details of the law, everyone knows that it is wrong to lie, kill, steal, and commit adultery. They have a conscience which is aroused when they do these things.

Paul is not advocating that either Jew or Gentile can keep God’s law so perfectly that they will be found not guilty when God judges. Even if people are able to keep the letter of the law, what about what goes on in the heart? Jesus made it clear that actions begin with thoughts; behaviour is the end result of what had already gone on in the heart.

Where is this leading? It was not Paul’s intention to make people feel bad and then leave them there. He was painting a dark picture of humanity to prepare them for something really big that God has done to solve the problem. Every category of people in his day had to understand how hopeless their case was outside of God. He dealt with each group separately to show them the nature of their guilt.

Gentiles – idol worshippers; guilty because they refused to acknowledge God and went about setting up their own religion and following their own rules which led them eventually to reverse all God’s moral standards. Jews – equally guilty because they did not obey the laws that God had given them for righteous living. On top of that, they were proud and arrogant about their covenant relationship with God which did not actually benefit them because it was only on paper and not in their lives.

And the end result? Helpless and hopeless without God’s intervention!

The people of today are no different. We may not do what the Gentiles or the Jews did then, but our hearts are the same. The world is full of religions invented by people who refuse to acknowledge God and have created gods of their own who are to their liking so that they can continue their lifestyle without being accountable to the Creator. The tragedy is that they become just like the thing they worship.

But before we can apply the remedy, we must know the problem…

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Stop The Rot

Bible Study, , , ,

STOP THE ROT

“When Apollos decided to go on to the Achaia province, his Ephesian friends gave their blessing and wrote a letter of recommendation for him, urging the disciples there to welcome him with open arms. The welcome paid off: Apollos turned out to be a great help to those who had become believers through God’s immense generosity. He was particularly effective in public debate with the Jews as he brought out proof after convincing proof from the Scriptures that Jesus was in fact God’s Messiah.” Acts 18:27-28 (The Message).

What did Paul think of Apollos? It seems that they crossed paths between Ephesus and Corinth. Apollos was not a pioneer like Paul. He was a back-up to Paul’s ministry, using his profound knowledge of the Scriptures and his gift of oratory and debate to put the case to the Jews skilfully that Jesus was the fulfilment of the prophetic fingerprint of Messiah. He was also a gift to the churches, strengthening the believers in their knowledge of the Scriptures.

There are little hints that Apollos’ understanding of the gospel was not as in depth and complete as Paul’s was. It was Priscilla and Aquila who had to enlighten him regarding the meaning of John’s baptism and believer’s baptism. Apollos was an Alexandrian Jew, not in the thick of the events that had happened in Jerusalem and Judea. He would have been out of range of the teaching and influence of the apostles and the church in Jerusalem.

As a diligent student of the Scriptures, he must have greatly enhanced his understanding of Jesus as Messiah by probing the prophecies for himself but the more intimate details of Jesus’ life and teaching had not yet been recorded by the gospel writers for the benefit of the leaders of the church. Unlike Paul, he had not spent three years in the desert “Bible School” of the Holy Spirit, receiving revelation that would be taught, circulated and preserved for succeeding generations.

Some Bible scholars believe that Apollos was the anonymous author of the book of Hebrews. It bears the stamp of one who thoroughly understood the Jewish religious system, the current Jewish beliefs and the life and ministry of Jesus as the perfect fulfilment of all the types and shadows of the Old Testament. The writer also realised and warned of the danger of going back into Judaism as a way of escaping persecution from the Roman government.

If Apollos was the author of Hebrews, it shows us just how important a figure he was, although he appeared only briefly on the pages of Acts, and gives us insight into the depth of his understanding of the Jewish religion and his skill in arguing for the fulfilment of Messianic prophecy in Jesus.

Perhaps Apollos’ ministry in Ephesus helped Paul to realise that he was not alone in his care of the churches. He had appointed overseers in each local body to shepherd the believers, but he still had overall responsibility to ensure that no error crept into their teaching and no remnants of behaviour that came from their old lives marred their witness and infected their fellowship.

To have a man like Apollos resident and working in the church in Ephesus was an extension of Paul’s own work, especially since the church leaders so warmly recommended him when he decided to move on to Corinth, and must have been of great encouragement to Paul. A lesser person might have seen Apollos as a threat or a rival but not Paul. He trusted his ministry and urged his young protégée, Titus, to support him in every way he could (Titus 3:13).

How great it is when spiritual leaders recognise others as partners, not rivals! It takes one secure in one’s own calling not to be threatened by the ministry of others. It is a sad day when Christian ministers want to reign supreme, as though the church and the ministry were theirs, and not Christ’s. Nothing destroys the unity of the Body of Christ more effectively than competition, and the rot starts at the top.

Powerful Nonsense

Bible Study, ,

POWERFUL NONSENSE!

“When the service was over, Paul and Barnabas were invited back to preach again the next Sabbath. As the meeting broke up, a good many Jews and converts to Judaism went along with Paul and Barnabas, who urged them in long conversations to stick with what they’d started, this living in and by God’s grace.” Acts 13:42-43 (The Message).

For a revolutionary new message, the gospel made quite an impact on the Jews and God-fearers of Pisidian Antioch, so much so that Paul and Barnabas were invited back to preach again the following Sabbath. The after-meeting was longer than the service, a kind of new believers’ class to anchor the converts in their new faith.

What a task and what a leap of faith for these missionaries! They had no Bibles or gospel booklets to leave behind. They could not spend months teaching the new believers. They had no guarantees that these vulnerable new “babies” in the faith would not be corrupted or persuaded to turn back to their old ways. The Holy Spirit was the one they trusted to teach and keep these people true to their new-found faith.

“When the next Sabbath came around, practically the whole city showed up to hear the Word of God. Some of the Jews, seeing the crowds, went wild with jealousy and tore into Paul, contradicting everything he was saying, making an ugly scene.” Acts 13:44-45 (The Message).

On the island of Cyprus, Paul and Barnabas had experienced one isolated incident of opposition from the Jewish magician, which Paul quickly squashed. Now they were up against a deluge of Jewish religious fanatics. Paul could not exactly strike them all with blindness! The odds were stacked against them. What could two men do against an angry mob?

This was the beginning of a tide of opposition and persecution from his own people in Asia Minor and Europe that Paul had already aroused in Damascus and in Jerusalem. What was it in this message that inflamed the Jews instead of attracting them to their Messiah?

According to Paul himself, it was the cross that they could not accept. For both Jew and Gentile the thought a of God dying on an execution stake made no sense to them. “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:22-24 (NIV).

Jesus did not come to teach a new philosophy or start a new religion. He came to rescue people from their self-inflicted separation from God through the independence our first father set in motion. He came to show us just what this God is like, the God who is calling us back to Himself, so gracious and loving that He took the punishment for our rebellion on Himself.

Why should the cross be such a stumbling block to both Jew and Gentile? Is it because it is unthinkable that a person should do that for another person, let alone God doing it for people who are at enmity with Him? But He did and, through it He offers free pardon to anyone who will receive Him.

“You see, just at the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for an unrighteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6-8 (NIV).