Tag Archives: Lent

From Gilgal to Bokim: a squandered opportunity to walk by faith

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Judges 2 opens with a statement that the angel of the Lord went from Gilgal to Bokim. Throughout the book of Joshua, Gilgal served as Israel’s headquarters, the location of the tent of meeting. Think of it! God had to follow his people to a place of woe because they no longer followed him.

The story of Judges represents a recurring theme of the apparent victory of sin and rebellion that made it necessary for Jesus to come and die.

… Read the rest

Was Barabbas also named Jesus? The significance of a minor character

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If there’s one person in history who has the most personal reason to declare, “Christ died for me,” it’s Barabbas. All four gospels relate how Pilate wanted to release Jesus and how the priests’ mob demanded that he release Barabbas instead.

It’s easy to read past Barabbas and not think much about him. The possibility that he, too, bore the name Jesus gives us an opportunity to take a closer look. He’s much more important than he might seem at first.

A textual variant encourages us to take a closer look. Matthew’s gospel, at least in some manuscripts, identifies him as “Jesus Barabbas.”… Read the rest

The Lord Jesus: an unusual lord who refused to act like one

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Jesus is Lord. That’s the claim at the heart of Christianity. But “lord” is a term that long predates Jesus’ earthly ministry. The Greek kurios has several meanings.

Jesus’ conduct hardly ever looked like the most important ones.

Kurios can mean nothing more than “sir,” a term of respect addressed to social equals or superiors.

It can also mean owner. Owners have certain rights over what they own. The owner of a farm, for example, has exclusive rights to what grows in it. He has the expectation of profiting from it. He can choose to sell it. No one else has those rights over that same property.… Read the rest

Jehovah Nissi, a banner pointing to the cross

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Jehovah Nissi, an Old Testament name for God, points to God’s miracle working power. And above all, to the cross. The Old Testament foreshadows the cross in many ways and demonstrates that nothing else can accomplish the same purpose.

In the first battle Israel fought after leaving Egypt, Moses tried and failed to serve as banner, or battle standard.

In Exodus 17:8-16, the Amalekites attacked Israel. As Moses later described the incident in Deuteronomy 25:17-19, they attacked from the rear and killed stragglers. The Amalekites descended from Esau. They had always been bitter enemies of Israel. On this occasion, they attacked like cowards.… Read the rest

Two criminals and the Redeemer

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What’s the worst day of your life? I’ll bet it doesn’t compare with hanging on a Roman cross. Countless criminals and political opponents ended their lives that way.

One innocent man died there and rose again. But he didn’t die alone. The Romans crucified two more convicts on that day.

Centuries of tradition identify them as two thieves. The Bible doesn’t record their crime. It does record their interactions with Jesus, the man in the middle.

They each responded to him in one of the only two possible ways. One was offended by him and turned away. The other turned to him in prayer.… Read the rest

God’s extravagant grace, and what it costs

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gift wrapping. God's extravagant graceLent gives us a chance to slow down and prepare for Easter by reminding us of some uncomfortable truths.

We’re all going to die. We’re all sinners. Apart from God’s grace, we all deserve hell.

But Lent also gives us a chance to consider God’s extravagant grace It’s free, but it costs us everything. In this post, I’d like to pay special attention to God’s extravagance. And what it can cost.

Extravagance can seem like wastefulness. Consider, for example, the life of William Borden, heir to the Borden dairy fortune. Instead of inheriting the family business and living a life of ease, he decided to become a missionary.… Read the rest

The kingdom of God: some assembly required?

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Unassembled furnitureHave you ever made something from a kit? A cabinet, perhaps, or an exercise bike. The kingdom of God is something like that.

You bring your kit home from the store and open the box. Inside you find lots of parts, both large and small.

You also find some instructions. They can be hard to understand. Your task is to assemble all the parts to make something that looks like the picture on the box. And it has to work, too.

I have gotten my projects assembled in three different ways. Sometimes I just do it myself. Sometimes I work with someone else.… Read the rest

Holiness, glory, and sin

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What do you do for Lent?

It’s just not a time to exercise will power and give something up for a month and a half.

Lent is a time of reflection. It’s a time to prepare ourselves spiritually to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection at Easter.

It’s a time to consider holiness.

Why did Jesus have to die and rise again from the dead? Because God is holy, and we are not. God created Adam in his image and breathed his own life into him. Adam chose to obey Satan instead and forfeited that life.

God’s inherent holiness cannot make any deal with sin.… Read the rest

Sin: Whatever Is Not of Faith

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Lent is a time of preparation for Easter, during which Christians are encouraged to ponder their sin and their own mortality. Sin can be difficult to face. Quite apart from the fact that no one really wants to think of their own evil, it can be difficult to identify what sin is.

Despite the claims of an odd team of Christian legalists and enemies of Christianity, biblical Christianity has no list of rules or prohibitions.

“All things are lawful,” says I Corinthians 6:12 and 10:23. That’s not a blanket pass to do anything at all. Paul continues the former saying he will not be mastered by anything and the latter saying not all things are profitable.… Read the rest

Idolatry and redemption today

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IdolatryChristians readily agree with the statement that God is all-powerful, all-loving, and all-sufficient. But when trouble turns up, how many of us really know how to respond as if we believe it?

We turn to idols instead.

Our idols aren’t quite the same as those of the ancients, but they work the same way. We trust our own resources more than we trust God. Certainly God expects us to use our own resources much of the time, but we must not trust them. We must trust God. Otherwise, whatever we trust instead becomes, functionally, an idol, the god we truly worship.… Read the rest