Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day? Answer: In order to fulfil both the Law and the Prophets – Part Four.
Having already said something about the vast number of Old Testament prophecies that were so reliably fulfilled by Jesus in his lifetime, it is important to say that Jesus also came to guarantee that those prophecies that haven’t yet been fulfilled will one day surely come about. Or, to put it another way, all the many promises of God will find their ‘Yes and Amen’ in Jesus. For that is how the Bible puts it in 2 Corinthians 1:20.
That God keeps his promises is the rock solid foundation for our sure and certain hope that all the ongoing difficulties in the world will one day come to an end.
Furthermore, that his word is guaranteed is something that can, and does, change how we feel in the here and now, as suffering continues to be reported daily on the news and remains an ever present reality in both our own lives and the lives of those we love. Let me explain with an illustration.
Suppose, back when I worked as a GP, a patient comes to see me with a really nasty chest infection. They feel horribly unwell and are seriously worried that they will never recover.
And then I give them a prescription for some antibiotics, and promise them that, if they take them, they will soon be restored to health.
Immediately they feel better – even though they aren’t. How could they be, they’ve not even picked up the prescription yet.
But they nonetheless begin to feel better because they have believed my promise that better is what they will one day be.
Well God has made promises too, one’s that can be depended upon far more reliably than any promise made by any doctor ever. And each one, by assuring us of a brighter tomorrow, brightens our today.
Here are just a few:
Though the grief remains, there is a day coming when the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise. [1 Thessalonians 4:16]
There is a day coming when what is sown perishable, will be raised imperishable, what is sown in dishonour, will be raised in glory, and what is sown in weakness will be raised in power [1 Corinthians 15:42-43].
And there is a day coming when God will wipe away every tear from our eyes and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore for the former things will have passed away [Revelation 21:4].
Add to these promises those that assure us that all wars will eventually come to an end [Isaiah 2:4], all injustice will cease [Isaiah 11:2-5] and the poor and the hungry will no longer want for anything [Psalm 72:6, 12-13] and you can see why it’s such good news that Jesus came to earth that first Christmas Day to fulfil both the Law and the Prophets.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 19 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here.
Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day? Answer: In order to fulfil both the Law and the Prophets – Part Three.
Things don’t always go as planned – not in my life at least. And these days, the principle reason for this is a certain black Labrador. Because whether it’s the result of him stealing my footwear, destroying our garden, or urgently requiring veterinary attention having gleefully gobbled up an undisclosed amount of rat poison, Hector will not infrequently cause things to happen that had not anticipated.
But what is true for me, isn’t true for the one who sovereignly controls all that daily takes place.
Which brings me to consider further how Jesus fulfilled both the Law and the Prophets. Because having seen how he kept the Law, and realised what had previously been hinted at in so many Old Testament stories, it’s now only appropriate that we see how Jesus fulfilled the many specific prophecies that were made about him in the Hebrew Scriptures, all of which we know were carefully written down hundreds of years before his birth.
But with some suggesting that there are as many as 570 such prophecies, it is not going to be possible to mention them all. Even so, we’ll begin with one of the most important, the one by which God promised that a Messiah would eventually come and reverse the effects of the fall. It’s the first prophecy that was made, and can be found way back in the third chapter of the very first book in the Bible.
There in Genesis 3:15, we read of one who, born of a woman, would one day crush Satan’s head, even as he himself has his heal bruised. Which is what Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, did as he suffered and died on the cross.
Elsewhere in the Old Testament it is further predicted that the Messiah would be born of a virgin [Isaiah 7:14] in the town of Bethlehem [Micah 5:2], and that he’d be rejected by the people [Isaiah 53:3] and betrayed by a friend [Psalm 41:9] for thirty pieces of silver [Zechariah 11:12].
All of these things took place, as did the many prophecies detailing how he would die. The Old Testament predicts that Jesus would be silent when accused [Isaiah 53:7], that he would be struck and spat upon [Isaiah 50:6], have his hands and feet pierced [Zechariah 22:16] and ultimately be crucified with sinners. [Isaiah 53:12]
Furthermore, not only was it foretold that he would pray for those who accused him [Isaiah 53:12] and that lots would be cast for his clothes [Psalm 22:8], having died without a bone being broken [Psalm 34:20], it was predicted that he would be buried in a rich man’s tomb [Isaiah 53:9] and then be raised back to life [Psalm 16:10].
It’s quite a list – one that strongly suggests that Jesus’ life, not to mention his death and subsequent resurrection, far from being the result of mere earthly happenstance, occurred in accordance with God’s sovereign will and the plan of redemption that he had put in place before the creation of the world. [Acts 2:23, Ephesians 1:4]
All of which means that it really was to fulfil the Law and the Prophets that Jesus came to earth on that first Christmas Day.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 18 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here.
Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order to fulfil both the Law and the Prophets – Part Two.
I said yesterday that Jesus fulfilling the law and the prophets meant, at least in part, that he came to keep God’s law. But it means more than just that because ‘The Law and the Prophets’ is a phrase that the Bible uses to refer to the whole of the Old Testament.
As such Jesus came to fulfil all that had been written about him before he was born. Which is why it must have been quite an eye opening Bible study for the disciples on the road to Emmaus when, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, Jesus interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. [Luke 24:27].
Things like Abraham being asked to sacrifice his son Isaac, only for Isaac to be subsequently reprieved three days later when a lamb was provided as a substitute. Which is surely a picture of God sacrificing his own son Jesus – the Lamb of God who died in our place, as our substitute, before being raised to life three days later.[Genesis 22]
Things like the Ark, which provided a place for Noah and his family to be carried safely through the flood of God’s judgment. Which is surely a picture of how those ‘in Christ’ are similarly carried safely through death, thereby being spared the consequences of God’s righteous anger at their sin. [Genesis 6-9]
And things like David who, representing Israel, defeated the giant Goliath who in turn represented the Philistines, the enemies of God’s people. This he did with a stone that crushed Goliath’s head. Which is surely a picture of how Jesus, representing God’s people, fulfils the prophecy of Genesis 3:15 and defeats Satan, the one who represents all that is evil. [1 Samuel 17]
More than that Jesus is revealed through the pages of the New Testament as the second Adam [1 Corinthians 15:45], a better Moses [Hebrews 3:3-4], and the true Israel of God. [Hosea 11:1, Matthew 2:13-15]
And he is also the fulfilment of the Old Treatment temple. For the place where people met with God has now become a person – Jesus – something that is abundantly apparent when he, in a clear reference to his own death and subsequent resurrection said, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ [John 2:19]
I could go on, and say how many other individuals and incidents in the Old Testament point us to Jesus and what he has done – but what I’ve said above does I think give at least a glimpse of how he came to earth on that first Christmas Day to fulfil both the law and the prophets.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 17 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here
Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day? Answer: In order to fulfil both the Law and the Prophets – Part One
God’s law is good – and when I say good, I mean perfect, in the same way that everything that God does is perfect. And so, when Jesus came to earth, there was no way he was going to abolish it. On the contrary, as he himself said during his sermon on the mount, Jesus came to fulfill the law. [Matthew 5:17]
Which in part at least means that Jesus came to keep God’s law.
And it’s a good job he did. Because I don’t.
I make mistakes – as anyone who has ever had me perform a minor op on them will tell you. Quite what they thought when I not infrequently, and somewhat disconcertingly, would utter the word ‘Oops’ as I went about my business, I’ll never know!
But whilst the mistakes I make due to my ignorance or weakness are a concern to me, far more serious are the things that, on occasions, I deliberately do wrong and which thereby reveal the state of my oh so desperately sick heart.
So before considering why it was so important for Jesus to keep God’s law, let’s think about what it would have actually taken for him to do so. Because it would not only mean avoiding all those things that we might think of as obviously sinful, but also all those things that, to us at least, might not seem so bad.
And so for example, for Jesus to keep God’s law, it would mean that he never harboured a jealous thought, never uttered an unkind word and never allowed himself to wallow, even for a moment, in sullen ungratefulness.
I on the other hand am somebody who can’t go two minutes without doing something wrong. Whilst, perhaps, less obviously than some, I nonetheless remain someone who commits all of the above sins, and many more besides. Because the truth is that I still sin – in thought, word and deed, through ignorance, through weakness, and most depressingly of all, through my own deliberate fault.
That’s why I need a saviour who can be a perfect sacrifice for me – one who, having never sinned himself, can die for mine instead.
And that’s why it’s so important to me that Jesus fulfilled God’s law. For had he failed to do so, had he sinned even just the once, he could no more have died in my place than he could have died in yours.
But having lived a sinless life, that’s exactly what he was able to do.
And so it was that Jesus came to earth on that first Christmas Day to keep the law in order that he might then be the perfect sacrifice necessary to atone for our sin.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 16 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here
Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day? Answer: In order to reveal what God is like.
Some people say that they would believe in God if he would only make himself known to them. This is a comment that sometimes draws a rather sniffy response from religious types who consider such words as indicative of a lack of faith in the person who utters them.
But to be fair to those who want some kind of sign to prove the existence of God, it should be noted that God cannot be known unless he reveals himself. The mistake of the one who doesn’t yet believe, is not their making unreasonable demands for evidence, but rather a failure to recognise the evidence that God has already provided.
Which includes the universe itself – by which God has been clearly revealing his eternal power and divine nature ever since it was created. [Romans 1:20] Furthermore, as the writer of the letter to the Hebrews tells us, God has long since revealed himself through the Old Testament prophets. But more recently, and more fully, God has ‘in these last days’ revealed himself through his son Jesus who, we’re told, ‘is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature’ [Hebrews 1:3]
No wonder then that Jesus himself said ‘I and the Father are one’ [John 10:30] and ‘Whoever has seen me has seen the Father’ [John 14:9]
Jesus then, is claiming to be God – something that John affirms when he describes how, in the beginning, the word who was both with God and was God, became flesh and dwelt amongst us. [John 1:1-2,14]
All of which means that if we want to know what God is like, we need only to look at Jesus ‘in whom the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.’ [Colossians 2:9]
And if we do, we will see him to be one who, as well as giving sight to the blind, heals the sick and brings the dead back to life; we will know him to be one who weeps with those who weep, and laments for those who hate him and therefore want nothing of what he would still gladly give them; and we will marvel at the one who, even as he humbles himself and allows himself to be crucified, prays for those who nail him to the cross,
And if all that wasn’t enough for us to appreciate what God is like, we will also be drawn to worship the one who loves us enough to free us from the sting of death by living a sinless life, suffering that substitutionary death in our behalf, and subsequently being raised gloriously back to life.
For that is how God is revealed to be when he came to earth in human form on that first Christmas Day.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 15 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here
Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day? Answer: In order to be a light.
Because in John 12:46 Jesus tells us that he came as a light in order that all who believe in him may not remain in darkness.
You’ve probably heard it before – the thought experiment that seeks to suggest that all religions are but complimentary ways to understand the same God. It goes something like this
Imagine four blind men, who having never before heard of about elephants, find themselves alongside one in a pitch black room.
Each man stretches out his arms to feel this thing they’re encountering, hoping to understand it better.
One takes hold of the trunk, and concludes it is a snake. Another wraps his arms around a foot, and imagines it to be a tree. The third man feels the elephants tail, and declares that it’s a rope. And the last man slaps his hands against the elephants body, and announces that it is a wall.
Some people say that, just as all four men are describing the same thing in different ways, so too different religions offer different perspectives of the same God
Which all sounds very wise until we notice the very obvious limitations of the analogy that encourages us to think in ways that are wrong and which subsequently lead us to draw conclusions that are false.
Because what we need to recognise is that all four of the men in the thought experiment are wrong. It wasn’t a snake, a tree, a rope or a wall that they were feeling – it was an elephant!
Furthermore, the thought experiment doesn’t recognise any form of special revelation. That is to say the elephant doesn’t speak.
But we have a God who does speak – through creation, through the pages of scripture and through a person – the historical man who was, and is, Jesus Christ.
And so to extend the thought experiment a little, imagine that as the blind men flounder around in the dark, the elephant starts to talk and declares himself to be an elephant!
Such a declaration would have absolute authority. Why? Because the elephant knows what it is. And, because it knows exactly what it is talking about, its testimony would be one that is totally trustworthy.
But when it comes to our understanding of who God is, it gets even better than that. Because as well as declaring himself to be God, Jesus not only restores our sight but, by being the light of the world [John 8:12] switches on the light in order that we need not remain in darkness as to who he really is.
The nature of God does not depend on what people think about him. He is not the subjective product of our own imaginations, but an objective reality – the one who is who he is, and the one who, in Christ, he reveals himself to be.
There is then such a thing as absolute truth – and that absolute truth is God. And, because of Jesus, who, as well as being the light, said he was also the way and the truth [John 14:6], that God is one that, through Jesus, can be known.
We therefore need not ever be in darkness, because of the light that Jesus came to be, when he came to earth on that first Christmas Day.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 14 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here
Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day? Answer: In order that the blind might see.
Jesus gives this as the reason he came to earth more than once with one such instance being John 9:39. But more than merely restoring sight to those who are physically blind, Jesus is all about opening the eyes of those who are spiritually blind. And on one particularly interesting occasion, he restores the sight of a blind man in a way that acts as a parable to explain the far more serious nature of spiritual blindness.
The incident, recorded for us in Mark Chapter 8, takes place at Bethesda where Jesus appears at first glance to make a bit of a hash of the miracle in that he has to have two attempts at it before the individual in question is able to see properly.
Firstly, in verse 23, Jesus spits on the man’s eyes in a way that is likely to upset even the most relaxed public health consultant, and then, having laid hands on him, he asks if the man can see.
Which he can – but only partially! Because though the man says that he is able to see, all he can discern are men that look more like trees! Make no mistake, what Jesus has done is undoubtedly impressive, but it’s not what we might have expected from the one who is God, the sovereign Lord of the universe.
So Jesus has another go, and lays hands on the man a second time. And this time, normal service is resumed, and the man is not only able to see, but is able to do so perfectly.
So why the two stage healing?
Well the reason is made apparent when this event is considered alongside the one that takes place immediately after it. For it is then that Peter makes his first declaration that Jesus is indeed the Christ.
But when Jesus then begins to explain to the disciples that he must suffer and die, Peter isn’t having any of it, going even as far as rebuking Jesus for speaking in such a way.
Peter then, like the blind man after part one of his healing, is only partially seeing who Jesus is. He’s recognised him to be God’s chosen King, but not as the suffering servant that the King was always meant to be. As such, Peter will need to be able to see more of who Jesus is before he can be considered to fully know him.
So then, true spiritual sight involves seeing not only that Jesus is God, but also that he is the one who, by allowing himself to be nailed to a cross, would bring about our salvation.
That the Messiah should have to suffer is a stumbling block to some and foolishness to others, [1 Corinthians 1:23] but to those who have had their eyes opened, to those who are able to see clearly, it is both the power of God and the wisdom of God. [1 Corinthians 1:23-24]
And so I wonder, can you see who Jesus is?
Because it was to give sight to the spiritually blind that he came to earth on that first Christmas Day.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 13 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here
Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day? Answer: In order to preach – Part 3
For, as we’re told in Luke 4:19, Jesus came to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.
It was on August 1st 1991, twelve days after our wedding and with the honeymoon over, that I began work as a junior doctor. My first job was as the House Surgeon to a Urologist in Bristol’s Southmead Hospital. It was the beginning of what was, at times, a stressful year, but one that was made considerably easier as the result of the leniency shown me by the consultant I was working for.
This was not, however, because of anything in me. Rather it was because a world renowned surgeon who was a distant relative of mine, had written the textbook of surgery that my consultant had himself studied from. And though, having died some years before I was even born, I never met Professor Ian Aird, my boss liked the idea that he might be nurturing another Aird – one who, under his tutelage might eventually become similarly famous. And it was this wishful thought that made him more accepting of my all too obvious surgical incompetence than he might otherwise have been.
So then, despite my no doubt being a huge disappointment to him, I still enjoyed, if not a year, several months of that consultant’s favour.
But his kindness towards me pales into insignificance when compared to the kindness that, similarly undeserved, we are all offered during the year of the Lord’s favour – a period of time which, contrary to how it sounds, extends longer than a mere twelve months.
The year of the Lord’s favour refers to a period of time promised in the Old Testament when God would look favourably on those that had been exiled and held in Babylonian captivity – those for whom he would cancel their debt and act to bring them safely back home.
Astonishingly though, Jesus claimed that this prophecy, found in Isaiah 61 and previously fulfilled in the pages of the Old Testament, fully referred to his life in first century Palestine.
For at the start of his earthly ministry we find Jesus standing up in the synagogue and saying:
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’
And then, having read these words from Isaiah prophecy, he then sits down and, with everyone looking at him, adds, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ [Luke 4:18-21]
Jesus then was claiming to be the one who will free us from the slavery of sin, pay the debt we owe because of all our wrongdoing, and welcome us into the family of God as his adopted sons and daughters.
And the good news is that today we are still in the Year of the Lord’s favour – because, as the apostle Paul writes, ‘now is the favourable time and…now is the day of salvation.’ [2 Corinthians 6:2]
And that is the gospel that Jesus came to preach when he came to earth on that first Christmas Day.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 12 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here.
Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day? Answer: In order to preach – Part 2
For as we’re told in Ephesians 2: 16-17, Christ came to preach peace to those who were far off in order that they might be reconciled to God
I know this won’t be hard for some of you to believe but, were you to catch my much better half in an uncharacteristically ungracious moment, she might just reveal to you that, on occasions at least, I can be a tad irritating to live with – by which I mean ‘utterly insufferable’. Indeed, there are times that I am guilty of crimes so heinous that they make even the flagrantly improper folding of a tea towel seem like some minor misdemeanour!
Seriously though, when I have done something that genuinely spoils the relationship I enjoy with my nearest and dearest, my desire to be forgiven is not just so I no longer have to experience any unpleasant feelings of guilt – rather what I desire most is that our relationship be restored to how it had been before my foolish act.
That is to say, I long for us to be reconciled.
And reconciliation is what Jesus came to bring about too. Because through his substitutionary death on the cross, more than merely securing our forgiveness, Jesus reconciled us to God. That’s what Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans: ‘while we were still sinners Christ died for us’ [Romans 5:8], and ‘while we were his enemies, we were reconciled to God’ [Romans 5:10]
With our sins pardoned, we are at peace with God and our warfare with him is therefore over. [Isaiah 40:2].
No longer then his enemies, God is now for us. And if God is for us, who can be against us? Furthermore, ‘he who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?’ [Romans 8:31-32]
All of which is very good news – which is exactly what Jesus came to preach when he came to earth on that first Christmas Day.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 11 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here
Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day? Answer: In order to preach – Part 1
Really? Yes, really! For that’s what we’re told in Luke 4:43.
But I do understand your incredulity. Because, whereas his turning water into wine marks him out as somebody worth inviting to a party, and his miraculous healings suggest he’s somebody who it would be worth travelling some distance to meet, that Jesus should come in order to preach is something that sounds…well… really rather boring actually.
I mean we’ve all been there – sat listening to the guy in the pulpit who, having droned on for 35 minutes, offers us some hope by uttering the words ‘And finally’, only to commence a seven point conclusion which means that, when at last you at last reach the sanctuary of your own home, your roast potatoes have long since passed the point of recognition.
More troubling still, some of us have been the monotoned menace who has caused us to want to stick pins in our eyes, if only to relieve the tedium.
But we should not let such negative experiences get in the way of the truth that God’s word has power – and that when God speaks, things happen.
It’s sometimes said that God creates what he commands – that what he says comes into existence as a result of him he decreeing it. Which sounds a bit weird until we realise that, in a limited sense at least, that can be true for us as well. But whereas my yelling ‘Wake up!’ at sufficient volume may once have proved effective in rousing my teenage daughter from sleep, that, sadly, is pretty much the limit of what my words can bring about.
Even so, whereas my utterances can’t even guarantee that my now semiconscious offspring would actually get out of bed, Jesus’ words are powerful enough to get a response even from those who are dead – as was the case when he commanded Lazarus to come out from the tomb wherein he’d lain for the previous four days.
Similarly, it was by a word of command that God created the world. ‘Let there be light’, says God in Genesis 1:3. ‘And there was light’. And, we’re told in Romans 10:17, ‘faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.’
All of which suggests that, if we’re going to have faith, we’re going to have to hear authoritative words from the one who, by virtue of his authority over all that there is to have authority over, is one in whom we can rationally place our faith.
Which, when you think about it, is not really boring at all. On the contrary, when God speaks, exciting things happen. Perhaps then, rather than shutting him out of the conversation, we should listen instead to what Jesus came into the world that first Christmas Day to preach.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 10 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here
Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day? Answer: To become sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God.
Those of a similar age to me might remember wasting countless Saturday mornings watching Swap Shop. Back then, whilst the cool kids were laughing themselves silly at the antics of Bob Carolgees and Spit the Dog on ITV’s Tiswaz, I was unaccountably drawn to the nonexistent drama that was being played out as Mike from Minchinhampton offered a first edition etch-a-sketch in return for a 1976 Blue Peter Annual.
But not all swaps are as insignificant as those that, in the early 1980’s, the BBC passed off as cutting edge children’s entertainment.
For the swap that Jesus offers us is far more intriguing, offering us his righteousness for our sin. That’s what it means when we read in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that ‘he who knew no sin became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God.’
By accepting this great exchange, not only does it mean that, when he was crucified, Jesus was bearing the punishment for our sin, but also that, dressed in Christ’s righteousness, we can stand confidently before God. This is not because we have been good, but because Christ has been good on our behalf. And so, as well as being counted as if we’d never sinned, we’re treated as if we had always done what was right.
As a result then, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. [Romans 8:1].
My sin for Christ’s righteousness is a swap that I’m very happy to make – one that makes me very glad that, to make it possible, Jesus came to earth on that first Christmas Day.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 9 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here
Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order to take away sin.
For that is what we’re told in 1 John 3:5 where it says that Jesus ‘appeared in order to take away sins.’
Wouldn’t it be lovely though to have our sins taken away? Especially THAT one, the one we’ve spent years trying to justify but haven’t been able to, knowing full well that what we did was not only wrong, but entirely our fault.
Some years ago I went on a speed awareness course and was asked, along with my fellow miscreants, to come up with a list of reasons why we might sometimes drive faster than we should. Between us we produced an impressive list. But having then been asked to listen to a recording of a Dad describing how his daughter had been killed by a speeding motorist, all our seemingly justifiable reasons looked instead like so many lame excuses.
Because the truth is we’re not the people we ought to be, each and every one of us is capable, at least on occasions, of doing bad things – some of us, perhaps, more so than others. But if we like to think of ourselves as better than most, we might do well to recognise that those who fail an important exam aren’t rewarded for merely not coming last.
What’s more, our sin has consequences – consequences that, like the driver of the car that killed that young girl, we all have to live with. Because the guilt is a guilt that, seemingly, we have always to carry with us.
If only there was forgiveness.
And that’s why I say, wouldn’t it be lovely to have our sins taken away.
But the good news is that there is forgiveness because through his death and subsequent resurrection, that is exactly what Jesus came to do. And not only does he take our sins away, he takes them as far away as it’s possible for them to be taken.
For ‘as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.’ [Psalm 103:12]
And there isn’t any place further away than that.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 8 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here.
Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day?
Answer: In order to give his life as a ransom for many.
For that’s what we’re told in the second half of the verse we considered yesterday, namely that of Mark 10:45.
When we think about a ransom, we tend to think about a sum of money that is paid to secure the release of one who has been kidnapped by somebody who, in the event of the payment not being made, threatens to do all kinds of harm to the person who’s been taken captive.
Which is pretty much what we mean here too, save that, instead of money, it was the death of the son of God that secured the release of we who, bound up by our sin, had only eternal punishment to look forward to.
Now I am fully aware that any talk of hell is unlikely to be popular these days, But then I don’t suppose it was in Jesus’ either, when he spoke about it at length.
Because whilst to speak of God in terms of his infinite love is likely to offend only the most fundamental of materialists who cannot conceive of affection other than in terms of a conditioned response to a previously randomly experienced stimulus, to speak of God in terms of his righteous anger at our all too obvious wrong doing, will generally illicit an altogether more visceral reaction.
But before we get too upset at God for being the holy and righteous deity that, deep down, we know and need him to be, let’s remember that, unlike those of pagan religions, the God of the Bible is not some capricious despot with a problem with anger management, one who demands sacrifices be offered to him in order that, with his anger appeased, he might just be minded to act benevolently towards those who have offered them.
On the contrary – the God of the Bible is one who, though his holiness demands justice, lovingly provides a way of escape for those who, because of their actions, have deservedly earned his displeasure. And whilst the salvation he offers does indeed involve sacrifice, it is not a sacrifice that we have to make ourselves – rather it is one that he himself makes, at great personal cost, in the form of his own dear Son, who then willingly dies in our place to pay the price for all that we have done wrong.
He is not, therefore, a God we should despise for his righteous anger – rather he is one we should bow down before, in humble adoration of his amazing grace.
Because Jesus came that first Christmas Day in order to give his life as a ransom for many.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 7 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here
Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day? Answer: In order, not to be served, but to serve.
For that is what we’re told in Mark 10:45, just after Jesus tells his disciples that, whoever wanted to be great amongst them would have to be a servant, and whoever wanted to be first amongst them would have to be the slave of all.
The Bible then, gives us a way of behaving that is the complete opposite of how our society encourages us to act. Far from it being determined by how much we have accumulated for ourselves, success is ultimately measured by how much we have been able to give away; it’s not how hard others have to work for us that counts, but how hard we’re prepared to work for the good of those who need our help; and it’s not pride in ourselves that we should be looking to achieve – instead we should be striving to act with genuine humility, considering others more significant than ourselves. [Philippians 2:3]
These are of course fine words, ones that, over the years, many have given lip service to. But has there ever been anyone who acted in this way?
Because I for sure haven’t.
Even so, there was one person – someone who really did show how great he was by behaving exactly like this for the whole of his earthly life.
And I’m thinking, of course, about
‘…Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross’ [Philippians 2:5-8].
Jesus then was the one who, not only talked the talk, but walked the walk – the one who came to earth that first Christmas Day in order, not to be served, but to serve.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 6 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here
Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day? Answer: Because that was when the set time had fully come?
For that is what we’re told in Galatians 4:4.
There is a true story that I love to tell from when I worked as a GP. It concerns the time I made a passing comment to a health care assistant who for reasons I won’t go in to, was grimacing at me like some latter day pirate.
‘Who do you think you are?’ I asked her, loudly enough for the whole waiting room to hear, ‘Long John Silver?’ – just as the patient I’d called moments before arrived at my side…complete with his wooden leg!
And so the question arises, was I just unlucky with the timing of my words, or was the whole incident somehow determined by God’s sovereign will?
Well, as one who believes that nothing happens outside of God’s absolute control, I have to conclude that it was the latter. Quite why he should have ordained things the way he did, I do not, of course, know – though I like to think it might be because God has a sense of humour and thought it’d make me, my healthcare assistant and the patient laugh. Which I’m glad to say it did.
But be that as it may, I believe that all things happen when they do for a reason – including the birth of Jesus which, as the verse above suggests, happened exactly when God ordained that it should.
But there is another incident in Jesus’s life that we’re told happened at just the right time too. And that was his death.
Jesus died during the feast of Passover, when the Jewish people sacrificed lambs in remembrance of the time they had to do just that to avoid God’s judgement falling on them in Old Testament times.
And, because what took place in Exodus Chapter 12 was only ever meant to point us to Jesus, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, it was fitting that he too should die during Passover.
Which is exactly what happened – despite the fact that the feast of Passover was the one time that those plotting Jesus’ death didn’t want him to die. [Mark 14:2].
All of which goes to prove that, whilst he was crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men, Jesus was ultimately delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. [Acts 2:23]
And that, in part at least, is why Paul could write in Romans 5:6 that ‘at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.’
And it’s also why we can be sure that Jesus came to earth on that first Christmas Day, because that was when the set time had fully come.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 5 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here
Question: why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day? Answer: In order to call sinners to repentance
For that’s what we are told in Luke 5:32, just after Jesus, having been criticised by the religious types of his day for hanging out with ne’er-do-wells and scallywags, explains that, just as it is the sick who need a doctor, so it is sinners who need a saviour.
Two groups of people – who both need to get better.
Some people confuse how much God loves us with how wonderful God thinks we are. They imagine that, because Jesus was sent to die for us, it indicates just how terrific he considers us to be.
But it was whilst we were still sinners that Christ died for us. [Romans 5:8] He loves us, therefore, not because of our awesomeness but despite our wickedness – not because we are lovely, but because he is loving.
And so, whilst it is true that God, in sending his son to suffer and die for us, does indeed reveal his deep deep love for us, we need to also realise that the sacrifice made is an indicator of how horrible our sins actually are
And to imagine that it was because he considered us worthy of the sacrifice that was made for our salvation, would be a bit like Al Capone bragging that the $1 million reward being offered for his capture was evidence, not of the seriousness of his crimes, but of how highly he was esteemed by the Chicago law enforcement agencies.
And so we must recognise that, whilst it is true that, as we considered yesterday, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, he didn’t come to leave us that way. Rather, he came to call us to repentance, to a better way of life, a life lived according to his good and perfect law.
And for that, there will need to be a change of heart on our part, a turning both away from the life that we have long felt appropriate for us to live, and toward the life that we now see as the one we really always ought to have aspired to.
And that is the meaning of the word ‘repentance’ – a word that conveys, not only a sense of sorrow for how we have been living in the past, but also an acceptance that we need to change our ways such that we try to live better lives in the future.
That’s not to say that we will be fully successful in our endeavours – but the desire to do better should nonetheless be there. Because it is impossible to appreciate how much we have been forgiven by Jesus, and not to love him more as a result. And it is impossible to love Jesus more, and not desire to keep his commands. [John 14:15]
As such, if we find we are content to go on living our lives with no regard for his law, then we must conclude that we have no real love for God. And if we do not have any love for God, then we must conclude that we have yet to know his forgiveness and remain, therefore, unrepentant sinners who are still dead in our sin.
But there is yet hope. For Jesus came to earth that first Christmas Day to call sinners to repentance.
I wonder, can you hear him calling you?
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 4 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here
Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day? Answer: In order to save sinners.
As we’re told both succinctly and reliably in 1 Timothy 1:15 where we read that ‘this saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance – that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’.
Has there ever been a plainer statement of what Christianity is all about? Has it ever been made clearer hatt being a Christian ISN’T first and foremost about keeping a set of rules?
I doubt it. And yet far too many people still erroneously believe that you get to heaven by being good.
So let me try to tell you the truth in words of one…sound!
You do not get to…hmmm, let me think…the nice place where God is that we all like to think we will go to when we die…by works – that is to say, we do not earn our way in by the good things we might do in our lives. No – not at all! If we get to… that place I just said… it will be due to grace and by grace…that does not need one thing more..
So what do I mean by that last bit? Well let me tell you, but as I do, I trust that you’ll forgive me for now resuming the use of polysyllabic words in order not to sound any weirder than, as a Christian, I no doubt, already do!
When Christians say that they are saved by ‘grace alone’, what they mean is that their salvation is undeserved – dependent wholly on the unmerited kindness of God. They themselves contribute nothing to their salvation – nothing that is, except the sin that made it necessary.
As such Christians do not consider themselves to be good. On the contrary. Though, as a result of the love that God has shown them, they now seek to be obedient to his commands, Christians know that they remain sinners who will forever be dependent on God’s amazing grace – a grace that is sufficient to guarantee their forgiveness, no matter how great their wrongdoing may be.
And that is the message that the apostle Paul preached. Because he knew that God’s grace was sufficient even for ‘the chief of sinners’, a title he gave himself in recognition, at least in part no doubt, of his involvement in the persecution of the early church which saw him standing by and watching as Steven, the first Christian martyr, was stoned to death.
No wonder then that Paul was not ashamed of the gospel. For he knew that the good news of what was achieved through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus was the power of God for salvation, and not only his own but that of all those who put their trust in Christ.
And that’s why, no matter what you’ve done wrong, you, like me, can take comfort from the fact that our hope of heaven depends, not on sufficiently cleaning up our act such that God is impressed with us, but rather on the rock solid assurance that on that first Christmas Day, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 3 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here
Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day? Answer: In order to seek and save the lost.
For that’s what we’re told in Luke 19:10 after Jesus invites himself to the home of the diminutive Zacchaeus. And it’s there that the newly found tax collector, in a move unlikely to be copied by the Inland Revenue, not only returns all the money that he’d previously fraudulently obtained, but also compensates those affected to the tune of four times the amount that he’d taken from them in the first place.
It’s worth noting here that, whilst Zacchaeus appears to have been curious about who Jesus was, it wasn’t Zacchaeus who found Jesus. Rather, what Zacchaeus discovered was that he’d been found by Jesus.
Which brings me to the time when, after an extensive search, I once found my passport in the cupboard under the kitchen sink. Whether I should be concerned by such an occurrence, I will-leave it for you to judge, along with whether I should still be permitted to drive, but suffice to say, I was mightily relieved that, not only could I still recall the name of the Prime Minister, but also, having somehow secreted itself in amongst the dog food and fairy liquid, my most important of personal documents was as spotlessly clean as it was, for the time at least, uneaten.
All of which is to make the point that when something, or someone, is found, it’s not just the rescued that rejoice. There is huge satisfaction for the seeker too.
In Luke 15, Jesus tells three parables in which the finding of something that was lost prompts seemingly excessive rejoicing in the one who was doing the searching. In one of the parables it is a coin that goes missing – and one can’t help wondering if the cost of the ensuing celebration was more than the value of the coin that had been originally mislaid.
If so, the joy expressed could be considered as somewhat over the top. But that’s the point I think Jesus is making in the parables he is telling, all of which are meant to teach us something about him.
Namely that to seek and save the lost is something that Jesus himself absolutely delights to do. What’s more, Luke 15:10 tells us that there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who, like Zacchaeus, repents. And so we can say that it makes God happy too when sinners are saved. And when I say happy, I mean really happy – exuberantly, extravagantly, abundantly happy.
For such is the love that he has for the lost.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 2 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here.
Question: Why did Jesus come to earth on that first Christmas Day? Answer: Because God loved the world enough to send him.
For that’s what we’re told in the first half of what is, perhaps, the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3.16. ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only son…’
‘Where-ere-ere-ere-ere is Love?’
So sang the titular character in ‘Oliver!’, the archetypal Christmas Day film of my youth. But leaving aside, for the time being at least, the unseasonal yet overwhelming desire that arises within me, to poke that poor whimpering orphan in the eye, the moment he starts to sing that particular song, one has to admit that it is a good question?
Though a better one would be, ‘Who is love?’ – to which the answer is, of course, God [1 John 4:8] – the one from whom all love ultimately flows.
That the love of God is at the heart of Christmas is important for us to realise. Because, unlike all the best detective dramas, where the villain eventually cracks under interrogation by a good cop, bad cop combination, all three members of the godhead are all equally good – and all equally loving too.
As such we must not imagine that an ultra nice Jesus had to twist the arm of his ultra vengeful Father in order to persuade him to save those he wouldn’t otherwise have been inclined to.
Because that would be a huge error on our part.
All three members or the godhead, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, who, each fully God, together make up the one true God, in a way that our finite minds cannot even begin to understand – are all equally loving.
And with that bit of heavy trinitarian theology rattling around your brain, you may find yourself wanting to lie down in a darkened room. But even as you do so remember this – God the Son came to earth on that first Christmas Day, because God the Father loved the world enough to send him.
To reveal the secrets concealed behind door 1 of last year’s Christmas Countdown, click here.
Today in the UK, MP’s vote on Kim Leadbeater’s Assisted Dying Bill.
But whilst I do not doubt that those who intend to vote in favour of the bill will do so for reasons that are well meaning, I nonetheless believe that such a move would be a mistake.
I have previously written of my concern that legalising physician assisted suicide will produce a slippery slope, one which risks seeing the weak and vulnerable feeling under pressure to end their lives. And I’ve written too of how we will all be diminished by allowing the killing of those whose existence might be said to be either burdensome, or somehow lacking in value.
But there is a yet more fundamental reason why I am opposed to the legalisation of voluntary euthanasia – one that reflects my Christian faith.
But contrary to what you may be thinking, I am not here principally referring to the nonetheless hugely significant sixth commandment that prohibits us to murder. [Exodus 20:13]. Rather I am thinking about scripture’s counterintuitive claim that suffering is not without meaning or purpose. Because irrespective of how intense or prolonged our affliction may be, it remains, we’re told, ‘light and momentary’ in comparison to the ‘eternal weight of glory’ that it is preparing for us. [2 Corinthians 4:17]
Inevitably, there will be those who say that I have no right to impose my Christian beliefs on those who do not share my faith. And they would of course be right. Unless, that is, Christianity is true.
And so, as is the case with so many things in life, it all comes down to this simple question:
‘Was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ just one more meaningless death, or was it, alongside his subsequent resurrection, the most important event in history?’
And it’s because I believe the latter, that I hope the bill will not be passed today.
Related posts:
To read ‘Assisted Dying – we all need to be happier to help’, click here
To read ‘What becomes of the broken hearted? Sorrowful yet always rejoicing on Palm Sunday’, click here
To read ‘Why do bad things happen to good people? Sorrowful yet always rejoicing on Good Friday’, click here
To read ‘Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things? Rejoicing, though temporarily sorrowful, on Easter Day’, click here.
Halloween is a time when many people enjoy pretending to be afraid. But the truth is, to be genuinely afraid is no fun at all.
Currently, there is much in our world that is frightening. With the conflict in the Middle East spiralling out of control, and the war in Ukraine showing no sign of coming to an end, the world is a dangerous place to be. And for others, the threats are closer to home – with the fear arising from either a bad diagnosis, financial insecurity or one of any number of other problems that make the future unbearably uncertain.
What then are we to do?
One solution would be to find ourselves in the presence of someone more capable than ourselves. Someone who can cope with what we can’t. Someone who can keep us safe.
Because nobody is afraid of what they are able to deal with – it’s bug eyed monsters that we’re afraid of, not cute Labrador puppies. As a youngster, I remember watching Dr Who and, in episodes involving the Daleks, concealing myself behind the sofa like all small children did back then. But my upholstered hiding place was only necessary until the Doctor appeared on the screen. For with him alongside them, I knew his hapless assistants were sure to be safe.
So then, to be in the company of someone who knows what to do, and is able to do it is always wonderfully reassuring. Well I say ‘always’ – there is one situation when that isn’t actually the case.
In order to explain what I mean, imagine that you are walking through a very dark wood. I don’t know, perhaps you’re on the way to deliver a hamper of food to your ailing grandmother. Suddenly you discern movement up ahead and the glint of a malevolent eye that appears to be watching you. And then, before you know it, you’re up close and personal with a big bad wolf, with an uncomfortably good view of his very big, and very sharp, teeth.
Naturally you’re terrified.
But then, for reasons unknown to you, the wolf suddenly turns tail and runs howlingly away, never to be seen again. You turn around looking for something that might have caught your potential assassins eye, and are made aware of something that you hadn’t been aware of before – that you’d been accompanied through the woods by your Dad who, on this occasion, rather than wielding his customary axe, was holding an altogether more effective sawn off shotgun.
And you realise that, though your fear of the wolf had been wholly understandable, it had, at the same time, been totally unnecessary. Because your Father, by his protective presence, had been guarding each and every step of your journey through the darkness and, as a result, you had, in fact, been nothing other than entirely safe the whole time.
In the Bible there is an account of an occasion that is not all that dissimilar to the one imagined above.
Elisha, one of God’s greatest prophets, is in the city of Dotham. The King of Syria, the big bad wolf of the story, is out to get him and so sends an army to take up a position around Dotham. The following morning, Elisha’s servant goes out and, seeing the size of the enemy army is understandably anxious. And so he returns to Elisha – to tell him the news and asks him what they should do.
Elisha replies with these words: ‘Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them’. [2 Kings 6:16]
Elisha then prays that his servant would have his eyes opened to see the truth. After which, the servant goes out to look again – and this time sees that the mountains were full of horses and chariots of fire – that is to say, he sees the army of God is in attendance too – an army that is far greater than that of the relatively puny King of Syria.
All of which serves to point out that, with the God who is for us by our side, we are safe, no matter how frightening our circumstances might seem.
But, by faith, we need to be aware that he’s there.
Faith then is seeing what’s really there, even when what’s really there, can’t be seen. But unlike ‘blind faith’, that chooses to believe whatever one wants to believe without any evidence upon which to base that belief, Christian faith is one based on convincing evidence for the historicity of the empty tomb, compelling eyewitness testimony of those who saw Jesus after he rose from the dead, and the authoritative word of the one who spoke the universes into existence – the one who, through the words of the Bible, promises to never leave us or forsake us but to remain with us, even to the end of the age.
But that doesn’t mean that nothing ever frightens the Christian. Even Jesus was anxious in the Garden of Gethsemane – so anxious in fact that he sweated blood at the prospect of going to the cross. Even so, it was ‘for the joy set before him’ that Jesus endured the cross. [Hebrews 12:2]. That is to say, for the joy of the salvation that would result from his death and resurrection, Jesus bore the anguish of crucifixion, confident that his death would ultimately be for the good of God’s people.
Which indeed it was – because with death thus defeated, the Christian can laugh even in the face of death and, like the apostle Paul, justifiably ask, ‘O death where is your victory? O death where is your sting?’ [1 Corinthians 15:55]
Because with death defeated, the Christian has nothing to fear.
At the risk of retelling a story that I have told many times before, some years ago, whilst out on a walk with my family, one of my children announced that they were lost. This was on account of them not having any idea where they were. But there were wrong. They weren’t lost. Because the one who held their hand – me – knew exactly where we were – and I knew the way home. The mistake my child had made was that they had forgotten who was with them or, at the very least, forgotten what I was capable of.
It was not a mistake that King David made. In Psalm 139 he writes of how he can not escape God’s presence. ‘If I ascend to heaven’, he writes, ‘you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.’ [Psalm 139: 8-10]
And then in Psalm 23, perhaps the most comforting of all the Psalms, he adds, ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.’ [Psalm 23:4]
That is the reality that God promises us in his word, the reality that by faith, we can know to be true. God is with us – even when we walk the dark paths through life that he sometimes chooses to lead us. And he can be trusted to keep us safe – however frightening our present situation might be.
And that’s why, this Halloween, none of us need be afraid.
Related posts:
To read ‘At Halloween – O death where is thy sting’, click here
If you can run in woods all day, and not come once when called, If you can eat the kinds of things that leave owners appalled, If you can leave your fur in places that you’ve never been, And be to blame for countless crimes which you commit unseen, If you can chomp your masters things into a thousand bits, And still ensure he feeds you first when for his lunch he sits If you can pester picnickers that you’ve not met before And be a pain whilst fast asleep as noisily you snore, And if, e’en so, you’re loved by those that you drive round the bend, It’s plain to see, for folks like me, you’ll be a Lab my friend!
Recently, despite its sometimes bad language, I’ve been enjoying the Apple TV+ series ‘Slow Horses’. Based on the books by Mick Herron it stars the excellent Gary Oldman, and tells the story of a bunch of failed MI5 agents who, as a result of their inadequacies, are sent to Slough House, a fictional dead end department of the British secret service where they are expected to spend the rest of their working life engaged in dull administrative tasks.
But despite their unpromising circumstances, and their ongoing incompetence, they still manage to find themselves involved in a series of vital missions which they proceed to carry out with varying degrees of success under the watchful eye of the appalling yet brilliant Jackson Lamb, the acerbic head of the organisation who, despite his apparent callous disregard for those under his charge, does actually seem to care for them and frequently intervenes so as to ensure that things ultimately work out in at least a reasonably satisfactory manner.
With some very important caveats, the show reminds me of the true church, a similarly quirky body of people, one into which all manner of failed men and women are warmly welcomed. These flawed folk, despite their frequent ongoing incompetence, also become involved in all manner of vital activities that they too carry out with varying degrees of success under the watchful eye of their far from appalling and perfectly holy Heavenly Father.
And his love for them is one that is never in doubt as he too intervenes, albeit sometimes mysteriously, to ensure that all things work together for the good of his people and in complete accordance with the counsel of his will.
The program is, for me at least, a small reminder that our worth as Christians is not determined by our actions, but by the love in which we are held by Almighty God. And that, irrespective of what terrible things we may have done wrong in the past, not only can we be forgiven through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus’ death on the cross, but our lives can continue to have great purpose, as we are sent out into the world in the power of the Holy Spirit to both live and work to the praise of God’s glorious grace.
Or, as it is described through the always beautiful language of the Bible, though we all like lost sheep have gone astray, the Lord is our Shepherd who, having lovingly lain down his life for us, will bring home all who recognise and listen to his voice.
However slow we might sometimes have been!
‘Slow Horses’ Theme Tune
Related blogs:
To read ‘Foolishness – Law and Gospel’, click here
To read ‘What becomes of the broken hearted? Sorrowful yet always rejoicing on Palm Sunday’, click here
To read ‘Why do bad things happen to good people? Sorrowful yet always rejoicing on Good Friday’, click here
To read ‘Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things? Rejoicing, though temporarily sorrowful, on Easter Day’, click here.
To read ‘Something to feast your eyes on’, click here.
‘There is a time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance’ [Ecclesiastes 3:4]
A while back I wrote about a wedding I’d recently attended. But given my own advancing years, these days, in any given week, I’m far more likely to find myself at a funeral. As was the case yesterday.
The man who had died was not somebody I can claim to have known well but, because of the few occasions when our paths had crossed and he had shown me great kindness, I consider myself blessed to have known him. And I was blessed by attending his funeral too.
But this was not because the service was in anyway a happy occasion – the very real tears of those who loved him most were testimony enough to that. And as the congregation that filled the parish church were reminded, death is not something we celebrate – it is a horrible intruder into God’s good creation, one whose unwelcome appearance rightly leads us to weep and mourn.
Even so, I was encouraged to hear again what I have long known to be true as the minister, taking 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18 as his text, spoke of how the Bible often refers to those who have died as those who have fallen asleep. And I learnt that the word ‘cemetery’ comes from a Greek word meaning ‘sleeping place’ which, as was pointed out, is all highly significant – because sleep is something you wake up from.
That, to me, is a lovely thought.
But unlike so many other lovely thoughts, this is one that is so much more than wishful thinking. Because this ‘lovely thought’ is also a guaranteed reality, one that we can believe, not just because we want to, but because waking up from death has historical precedence.
By which I mean, it’s happened before.
Two thousand years ago Jesus rose from the dead and, because of this well attested fact, we can have absolute confidence that those who die ‘in Christ’ will also rise from the dead when he returns to earth, a day that, alongside those of his birth, death and resurrection, will surely complete the four most significant days in history.
As the service drew to an end, it was good to be able to recite the beautiful answer to the opening question of the Heidelberg Catechism – a question that asks us what is our comfort in life and death?
‘That I am not my own, but belong – body and soul, both in life and in death – to my faithful Saviour, Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.
He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing form now on to live for him’
On leaving the church we walked through the graveyard – or should I say, dormitory – passing the grave where the one we had come to remember had been buried earlier in the day. A fellow mourner whispered ‘God bless you’, but I doubt his words would have been heard beneath the six feet of freshly dug earth where my erstwhile friend now lay. Even so, as I was walked on by, I thought of the day to come when he will here his name spoken and, as surely as a sleeping child wakes when called by a loving Father, he will rise again to life.
And this is my hope too – my sure and certain hope – that though the wages of sin is death, with my sin paid for on the cross, death has lost its sting. It has been swallowed up in victory and so the free gift of God is now eternal life in Christ Jesus my Lord.
And so, like D.L. Moody before me, let me say this – if one day you hear it announced that I have died – don’t believe a word of it – for I shall be more alive then, than I have ever been before.
The news of my death will have been greatly exaggerated.
Related blogs:
To read ‘A Time to Dance – Reflections on a Marriage’, click here
To read ‘On death – my first and last’, click here
‘You have made your people see hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.’ [Psalm 60:3]
‘You have fed [your people] with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in full measure.’ [Psalm 80:5]
‘Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?’ [Psalm 85:6]
Sometimes, when we imagine that all is well with the world, it is easy to praise God and rejoice in all that he is and all that he has done. But sometimes, when the world is seen to be what scripture declares to be a ‘vale of tears’, it’s hard. Very hard. Sometimes, therefore, it’s right that we weep with those who weep.
What can we say on days when the anguish is intense? What words might bring a degree of comfort when there seems to be nothing but sorrow? And how do we answer the question that inevitably arises. Why? Why does God allow some to suffer as he does? Why does he allow bad things to happen?
This is mysterious ground and we should step carefully. The answer may never be ours to know and the wisest counsel may be to keep silent when asked to give a reason for such circumstances – there is certainly no easy, concise, one size fits all answer. God’s answer, from out of the whirlwind, to the questions Job asked of his suffering was
“I will question you” [Job 38:3]
G.K. Chesterton writes:
‘…God comforts Job with indecipherable mystery, and for the first time Job is comforted…Job flings at God one riddle, God flings back at Job a hundred riddles, and Job is at peace. He is comforted with conundrums. The riddles of God, Chesterton writes, are more satisfying than the solutions of men’
In the prologue to the book of Job, we see that Job was tormented, not because he was the worst of men, but because he was the best. There is a sense, therefore, in which Job points us towards Jesus. Job is not told that his misfortunes were due to his sins, or part of any plan for his self improvement – but we are, none the less, told that he was allowed to suffer under God’s sovereign care. That a good man should suffer at the hands of a loving God is a paradox. Chesterton calls it ‘the very darkest and strangest of … paradoxes‘ which is, nonetheless, ‘by all human testimony the most reassuring‘. Because the infinite mystery of God is enough to inspire our trust in his sovereign goodness, even when the specific reasons to why we suffer remain a mystery.
As the words of the psalms that I quoted earlier confirm, the Bible is honest about the reality of suffering. If we are to find any comfort, if we are to be revived that we might again rejoice in God, our words and our thoughts, will not be enough. We need a word that transcends our sadness, a word from outside of ourselves, a word from God that can speak truth into our sadness and in so doing bring us hope.
So what do we need to know when bad things happen? What might we find ourselves doubting when events grieve us so deeply? Of what do we need to be reassured?
Firstly we need to know that God is still in control. Nothing happens outside of his sovereign will. We may not understand why God would chose to allow things that we would not, but he is God and he is sovereign over all things – he has supreme power and ultimate authority.
Isaiah Chapter 6:1 assures us of this.
‘In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.’
Nearly 3000 years ago King Uzziah died, and the future seemed uncertain for the people of Isaiah’s day. Isaiah, however, saw behind the immediate apparent disaster, behind the current uncertainty, and saw a vision of one who was in total control, utterly in command of everything that was taking place. He saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, high and lifted up. The immense train of his robe, a symbol of his absolute authority, filled the temple. God was in control 3000 years ago. And he is still in control today.
John 9 is also helpful here. There we read about a man born blind. At the time of his birth, his parents were, no doubt, devastated at the discovery that their son could not see. But when we meet him he has grown up to be a man . Who knows how many years have gone by – twenty, thirty, maybe more – and for all that time the man has suffered, reduced to a lifetime of begging in order to stay alive.
The disciples, like, no doubt, so many others, find themselves wondering why the man had suffered in the way he had? And so they ask Jesus,
‘Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’.
But Jesus answers them by saying,
‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him’.
And so we see that the man was born blind for a God ordained reason, one that, for decades would have been unknown to neither the man himself and his parents, nor indeed anyone else.
In seeking an explanation for the man’s blindness, they asked their question ‘Why?’, expecting an answer regarding what caused it. But Jesus answers their question of ‘Why’ in terms of what was God’s purpose. And the reason he gave for that was so that the works of God might be displayed.
It should, therefore. be of no suprise to us that God’s purpose in bringing about certain events in this world are, for the time being at least, similarly beyond our understanding. Maybe we will not see the reasons for them in our lifetime, indeed the reasons may never be ours to know. But though the sadness remains, we can, by faith, have confidence that God was and is in control of them. He does have a purpose.
But is God loving? He may be in control, but can he really love us if he allows us to suffer so? This is something that is also addressed John’s Gospel
‘Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.’ [John 11;1-6]
Lazarus was ill. And his sisters call for Jesus to come in the hope that he will heal Lazarus. But Jesus doesn’t respond in the way that they want and Lazarus subsequently dies. But notice versus 5 and 6 where we read
‘Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.’ [John 11;1-6]
Jesus loved these people. And yet the passage tells us that Jesus delays his departure. Indeed, verse 6 begins with the word ‘So’. It is precisely because Jesus loves Mary, Martha and Lazarus that he delays his visit and allows Lazarus to die. There is the. a higher, better, more loving purpose underlying Jesus’ actions – Lazarus’ suffering is for the glory of God too, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.
Sometimes when bad things happen, we will have been calling on God to prevent that thing from taking place. Perhaps we will have been praying for someone’s healing, for war to come to an end or someone’s life circumstances to dramatically change. But for reasons that we currently can’t comprehend, rather than answering our petitions in the way we would like, God choses to act differently to how we would have chosen. Even so, though our sorrow remains, we can, by faith, know that his actions are still loving. Jesus loved – and continues to love – those that suffer..
And we can find comfort in the rest of John chapter 11 too. In verse 35 we find Jesus himself weeping at the tomb of Lazarus. He is deeply distressed by the death of his friend – and that anguish is no less real for knowing that he will soon raise Lazarus from the dead.
Similarly. I believe Jesus is with those who are sad today. He too weeps with those who weep.
Even so. We can be sure that he won’t leave them to grieve forever.
Because Jesus, who declared himself to be the resurrection and the life, later raised Lazarus from the dead. And so, though we will sometimes have cause to mourn, we do not need to mourn as those who have no hope. For we believe in a God who saves, a God who redeems, a God who raises the dead.
Our salvation does not depend on how happy we are in this life. Our salvation depends on the grace of the God in whom we have faith, regardless of how weak that faith might sometimes be. We are not saved by virtue of how meritorious our life has been, but on account of the life of Jesus whose death on the cross paid for all our sins – those we have committed and those we are yet to commit,. We are saved by Jesus’ sinless life, his perfect righteousness being credited to us and making us acceptable to God.
We are saved by grace alone – a grace that, unlike our sometimes wavering faith, will never falter.
‘The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning. Great is [his] faithfulness’ [Lamentations 3:22]
That is the gospel, the good news, the hope to which we cling.
God has made promises – promises he cannot fail to keep. We often find that what we experience now and what we hope for in the future stand in contradiction to each other. Our hope though is directed at what is not yet visible, and it is our faith in God’s promises that assures us that what he promises we will surely one day experience. God’s promises do not always throw light on the reality that exists today, mystery often remains, but they do illuminate the reality that will one day be.
So let’s remind ourselves again of some of those promises. Though the grief remains, there is a day coming when the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise. [1 Thessalonians 4:16]
There is a day coming when what is sown perishable, will be raised imperishable; what is sown in dishonour, will be raised in glory and what is sown in weakness will be raised in power [1 Corinthians 15:42-43].
And there is a day coming when God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things will have passed away [Revelation 21:4].
What then shall we say when disaster strikes?
Is God in control? – Yes, the sadness remains, but God is in control. Is God loving? – Yes, the sorrow remains, but God is loving. Is there still hope? – Yes, the grief still remains, but there is still hope.
God remains worthy of our worship. Retuning to John 9 we read how, having said that the beggar was born blind so that the works of God might be displayed, Jesus restores his sight. And in so doing he declares himself to be God.
As he does so. Jesus makes use of some mud – mud that he himself had made which provoked controversy with the Pharisees who considered such an action unlawful on the Sabbath.
They didn’t understand that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath. They didn’t understand that, because man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man, in order that man might rest and be restored, it was wholly appropriate for God to heal on that day.
Having anointed the mans eyes with the mud, Jesus instructed him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam which, we are told, means ‘Sent’. And there his sight was restored.
Interestingly, Jesus had just told the man that he, Jesus, has been ‘sent’ by God. Jesus, therefore, is giving us a picture – because going to the pool that is called ‘Sent’ is analogous to going to Jesus – the one who was ‘sent’ by God.
Jesus is, therefore, the place where spiritual sight is restored. And it is the restoration of spiritual sight that we then see, through a series of conversations that the beggar has, first with the Pharisees and then, finally with Jesus.
In verse 11, the beggar describes Jesus as a man, in verse 17, he describes him as a prophet, in verse 33 he acknowledges that Jesus is from God and finally, in verse 38, as well as calling him Lord, the man is seen worshiping Jesus.
First the beggar had his physical sight restored and then, a greater miracle takes place – he has his spiritual sight restored enabling him to see Jesus for who he really was.
It is no different for us. If we are to see who Jesus is, then we need to be the recipients of God’s grace. We need to have had our eyes miraculously opened as a result of the gracious act of a sovereign Lord.
An act that, as it did for the beggar, may involve years of suffering along the way – suffering which, if we do experience it, we can be sure it will have been both worth it and purposely ordained for our good by our loving Heavenly Father.
In order to be able to see, we need the Light of the World to shine in our lives. Praise God that when it does, we can see Him on even the darkest day.
And like the beggar in John 9, offer him our worship too.
Some musings 