Wednesday, December 10, 2014

What Jesus believed that we find hard to accept. . .

This was sent to me a while back and I suppose it may have already made the rounds.  If we take the Gospels at face value, they point to conviction Jesus received and expressed which we modern folks often find hard to accept.  Surely the list is not complete and could be expanded.  And there will be some who presume that Jesus was not truly espousing these things but merely condescending to the accepted wisdom of the day.  I have a problem with that.  Yes, Jesus can express things in the common wisdom of the day but there is something entirely duplicitous about the Son of God who would speak half-truths or lies to us only because we found them easy to accept.  In the same way, there is something entirely duplicitous about Christians who presume they are wiser than the Son of God and have grown past Him to an intellectual achievement which transcends His words...  But you read it and see what you think...

Sixteen things Jesus believes that many American churchgoers reject:
1. That the Old Testament, down to the last punctuation mark, is God’s word and cannot be falsified (Matt 5:17-19, John10:35).

2. That God really made the first real man from the dust and the first real woman from the man and joined the first man and the first woman together in the first marriage that is the measure and definition of all marriages (Matt 19:4-6).

3. That God created the heavens and the earth (Mark 10:6).

4. That God sent a flood to cover the whole earth (Luke 17:27).

5. That Noah was a real person who built a real boat (Matt 24:37-39, Luke 17:27).

6. That Jonah was a real person who was really swallowed by a real fish and survived to preach in Nineveh (Matthew 12:40-41).

7. That human beings have all become evil by nature and deserve the wrath of God (Matt 7:11, John 3:36).

8. That no one can be saved from eternal punishment by his own efforts or strivings (Mark 10:26-28).

9. That all other proposed religious/philosophical ways and truths and lives end in destruction (John 14:6, Matthew 28:18-22).

10. That faith in him is the only way anyone will ever be forgiven and granted as a free gift, eternal life (John 3:16-36, John 14:6).

11. That the word of God is supreme over all religious traditions and especially over “the way we’ve always done it.” (Mark 7).

12. That his appointed Apostles would be his agents to communicate his word to his church through his Holy Spirit (John 14:25-26, John 16:12-14).

13. That the visible local church is the focus of his earthly activity until his return (Matthew 18:18-21, Matthew 28:18-22).

14. That the local church is called to send out disciples to make disciples of all nations even though they have their own religious traditions (Matthew 28:18-22).

15. That disciples will suffer (John 15:18-27, John 16:33).

16. That life with him is worth the loss of all things (Matt 16:25).

6 comments:

ErnestO said...

I would add this to the list as number 17

Jesus believed that raising Lazarus from the dead was a most sad event, because he knew that he was taking Lazarus out of heaven and from the presence of God the Father.

Anonymous said...

Ernest:

I have often wondered if Jesus wept because Lazarus died or because he was pulling him back from heaven to this life.

Mark†

Carl Vehse said...

A third possibility comes from the context of the three previous verses, John 11:32-34, and reinforced in v. 37.

Kirk Skeptic said...

You forgot, under creation, that it happened in the space of six literal days.

Padre Dave Poedel said...

Nothing controversial to this simple minded urban Pastor of a declining but very alive congregation and high school. Amen? Amen.

Anonymous said...

Part of our problem with the Lazarus story is that as Lutherans we often take one verse from a story and interpret it without looking at the context of the entire story. In this case, beginning with John 11:1, it is clear that our Lord was waiting for Lazarus to die, because the whole purpose of the story is to have our Lord’s words recorded for posterity, meaning us, John 11:25, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?", and then to prove His words to be true by raising Lazarus.
That verb, ενεβριμησατο, which occurs in verses 33 and 38 carries no meaning that would imply mourning; anger might be the more appropriate emotion. It is used three other times in the NT, never implying mourning or sadness.
Therefore it is clear that our Lord wept because He loved Lazarus and our Lord knew that He was not doing His friend any favors. Would our Lord want His disciples to weep and mourn for Him when He died? Here is what He said on that subject, John 14:28, “If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father.” The Gospel turns everything upside down, because it is God’s way, not our way. When the world wants to mourn, God tells us to rejoice, and when the world rejoices, God tells us to mourn.
Peace and Joy!
George A. Marquart