The blaspheme that caused the tear

In the gospel according to Matthew (26:57-68), we are told that when Jesus was brought before the religious leaders being falsely accused, he did not address any of the charges. Finally, the high priest “adjures Jesus by the living God” whether he was the Messiah, the son of God. At this, Jesus finally responds but in a way that seems somewhat cryptic, in that when he has finished speaking the high priest tears his robe calling Jesus’ comments blaspheme. What is so blasphemous about his claim?

Jesus said,

“You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

This answer is a quote from the seventh chapter of Daniel, where the prophet sees a vision where,

“behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

Let us make a few observations before we tie this strange claim to the charge of blaspheme. Notice first that the “coming on the clouds” is not to earth but “to the Ancient of Days.” This is an ascension trip. Notice too that the son of man receives “dominion, glory, and a kingdom” that is “everlasting, shall not pass away, nor be destroyed.” This is ultimate kingly status. For the Hebrews, there is only One Creator and only One ultimate King, and this One does not share His glory with another. And yet, this son of man is receiving “glory” and a “kingdom.” In addition, this giving of a kingdom is so “that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.” This later phrase, “serve him” is sometimes translated “worship.” Either way, the son of man here is receiving what only belongs to YHWH, to the One God alone.

Going back to Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah (you have said so), and to his claim that he is the son of man that Daniel is referencing seems to indicate that he was YHWH, about to receive glory and service that belong to the One God alone. The high priest made the connection that we so often overlook. Hence the tearing of the robe and the charge of blaspheme.

What must I do to be accepted?

According to Acts 10:34 the answer is to fear God and do righteousness.

Consider this portion of the puritan Matthew Henry’s words on this matter:

Acceptance cannot be obtained on any other ground than that of the covenant of mercy, through the atonement of Christ; but wherever true religion is found, God will accept it without regarding names or sects. The fear of God and works of righteousness are the substance of true religion, the effects of special grace. Though these are not the cause of a man’s acceptance, yet they show it; and whatever may be wanting in knowledge or faith, will in due time be given by Him who has begun it…

Where does this leave the inclusive / exclusive debate concerning those outside the Christian faith? Are the saved by grace as a result of Jesus’ righteousness apart from their lack of knowledge of his name or work? Thinking it through.

On the nature of fruit…spiritual and otherwise

Recently, as I was struggling with the notion of the evidence of God’s work in a person’s life when the reality of life rhythms struck me. You can tell a tree by its fruit. But fruit only comes around for a little while each year. The little that I know concerning botany is that a fruit/vegetable bearing tree/plant does not bear fruit all of the time. There are seasons where the fruit-source is dormant, hidden in the potentially sap-filled branches. Flowers appear and eventually give way to the juicy meat of vegetation flesh. For some reason, I had never taken the analogy over to the spiritual realm and considered that the fulness of spiritual fruit may not always be hanging heavy and low on a stocked full branch. There may be seasons where the fruit is being prepared. If the analogy could be taken a step further, it would be a bad thing if the tree did not produce fruit, year after year, but if there was a dry period, it may be wise to wait and see if the tree produces fruit after a bit of cultivation and pruning. All in all, the notion of not having non-stop fruit is of encouragement to this particular tree.

The Faithfulness of the Jesus

While it is by grace through faith, lived out with full trusting confidence in God and his promises, i.e., faithfulness, that we are saved, few folks recognize that the formula of being “saved by faith” has boiled the issue down to leave out Christ Jesus. It is by His faithfulness that we are saved, this not of ourselves, lest any man should boast.

Considering the faith of Jesus for a moment, it seems that the incarnation must have taken quite a bit of faith prior to its occurrence, whereby the Son of God made Himself a little lower than the angels for a time, taking on human flesh and hoping and trusting the Spirit and the Father that He would live a righteous life, even unto the cursed death on a cross, and then be raised from the grave three days later.

Without placing them in order of “most significant” or “most difficult”, the incarnation seems to be up there with the willing atoning sacrifice.

Imagining in Worship: Icons and Teddy Bears

C.S. Lewis commented on objects of worship in a fascinating way when he compared icons with teddy bears. Consider:

A particular toy or a particular icon may be itself a work of art, but that is logically accidental; its artistic merits will not make it a better toy or a better icon. They may make it a worse one. For its purpose is, not to fix attention upon itself, but to stimulate and liberate certain activities in the child or the worshipper. The teddy bear exists in order that the child may endow it with imaginary life and personality and enter into a quasi-social relationship with it. That is what ‘playing with it’ means. The better this activity succeeds the less the actual appearance of the object will matter. Too close or prolonged attention to its changeless and expressionless face impedes the play. A crucifix exists in order to direct the worshipper’s thought and affections to the Passion. It had better not have any excellencies, subtleties, or originalities which will fix attention upon itself. Hence devout people may, for this purpose, prefer the crudest and empties icon. The emptier, the more permeable; and they want, as it were, to pass through the material image and go beyond.

I might add, for a minor modification that while the image ought “not have any excellencies, subtleties, or originalities which will fix attention upon itself,” it is certainly not wrong, but very possibly beneficial that the image have “excellencies, subtleties, or originalities” which will highlight nuances and perspectives of the event or person it is depicting.

Cleaning up or making more mess?

There once was a naïve and spoiled young man who was given the laborious task of cleaning the family pool. Yes, this family had their very own oasis right in their back yard. The pool had become green and was slowly fading to black. Each week, the young man’s father modeled methodically how to swipe the sides and bottom of this pool but in these last days had transferred the task to his son, who happed to be board a lot. A few times the young man had gone out and attempted to do his duty. He set up the cleaning hose and extended the pole. He began to run the vacuum down one side of the far wall and noticed that all he was accomplishing was stirring up the water so that he could no longer see the bottom of his pole. And so he stopped. The young man figured that he was doing more harm than good and so put away the cleaning gear, and left the pool to its doomed stagnant place in this world.

p.s. – not about my boys

Systematizing Mankind … throwing my hat into the mud

Could it be then that the classic Protestant debates will one day dissolve and fade to black? In an attempt to systematize mankind, allow me to throw my hat into the mire of debates.

In the great debates concerning the nature of humanity, election, and salvation, people are placed into various categorical camps. Unless one goes the direction where in the end all humanity will be restored unto God, man may be broken into two categories, the redeemed and the lost, the saved and the damned, the righteous and the wicked, you get the point.

But within these categories, is it possible for there to be subcategories that may lend to some of the confusion in Christian circles concerning whether a person “can lose their salvation”? Besides the fact that the formation of that question has reified an act, the question can be put more pungently,

Can those who have been regenerated and unified with and in Christ Jesus, being sealed with the Holy Spirit, been justified as they stand in Christ, ultimately not be saved at the day of judgment for having been cut from the Vine for lack of abiding, continuing in faith, or producing no fruit?

What if there are those who have been regenerated who persevere and those who do not? Those who persevere are shown to ultimately be the elect for God preserved them. And at the same time there are those who never were regenerate in the first place, paid for and yet unredeemed, and never intended by God to be redeemed? In addition to these categories, there are those outside of the Church whom are saved by grace according to the purpose of God’s call? The last possibility would certainly fall within the realm of unordinary, as the Westminster Confession would say, nonetheless left as a possibility in the sovereignty and grace of God Almighty.

Such a construct would make sense of Jesus’ words that He will loose none of His sheep, for whom He laid down His life, while those branches of His that do not produce fruit will be cut off and thrown into the fire. Likewise, this fits with Paul’s language in Romans 5 about those who have been justified, reconciled, and still not yet saved from the wrath of God with regards to time. And again, making sense of Peter’s language about those who were destine for destruction all the while affirming John’s claim that Jesus is the propitiation, the one who has turned back the wrath of God, for the whole world.

Could it be then that the classic Protestant debates will one day dissolve and fade to black? In light of the above breakdown, we could say that at the same time we are considered righteous in Christ, and this not of ourselves, but by being forensically declared righteous, we stand as such by union with Christ, thus affirming a judicial declaration of God about Christians while not falling into the error of reifying righteousness and so having to beam it / impute it into a cosmic bank account. And so Rome, Luther, and Westminster get placed in their historical context and the debate arises out of the mired disputes.

In addition, these affirmations above claim that God is sovereign and has chosen before time individuals who are ultimately His, and who will share the fullness of joy in His presence eternally, recognizing that man must be born again not by human will but by God. At the same time, there are those who have been sanctified and have shared in the power of the age to come, by having been brought to life and filled by the Holy Spirit, given the gift of faith, have spurn that gift, thrown it out, quenched the Spirit’s power and have a form of godliness that never produced fruit, stumbled so far as to have fallen from grace, as they were destined to do. The T.U.L.I.P. still stands while the reprobate and apostate falls.

Transformed Sexes – the godly manliness of women. or ?

For us men and for our salvation he came down… In the incarnation of God, throughout his sojourning on this earth, in, by, and because of his suffering, death, burial, and resurrection, all the way to the point of his victorious ascension, the world we live in was transformed, flipped upside down.

In the beginning, it was evening and morning, the first day. After the resurrection, the world begins anew each morning, and so it can be said, “It was morning and evening, the first new day.”

Along these lines, with regards to the nature of the sexes, St. Chrysostom makes the following declaration as he expounds upon the women at the cross of Christ: “But the women stood by the Cross, and the weaker sex then appeared the manlier so entirely henceforth were all things transformed.”

Then again, the notion that the women were being more manly than the men, sounds to me more along the lines of the Fall…”and she gave also some to her husband who was with her.”

Pulsating with the Life of the Spirit

Once and a while, even Berkhof has some great things to say ; )

“They who are united to Christ by faith become partakers of His Spirit, and thus become one body with Him, pulsating with the life of the Spirit. They share in the life of Christ, and because He live they live also. It is impossible that they should again be removed from the body, thus frustrating the divine ideal. The union is permanent, since it originates in a permanent and unchangeable cause, the free and eternal love of God.”

He goes on to quote Dabney on the work of the Spirit, of which I like particularly the following phraseology,

“It is a low and unworthy estimate of the wisdom of the Holy Spirit and of His work in the heart to suppose that He will begin the work now, and presently desert it; that the vital spark of heavenly birth is an ignis fatuus, burning for a short season, and then expiring in utter darkness; that the spiritual life communicated in the new birth, is a sort of spasmodic or galvanic vitality, giving the outward appearance of life in the dead soul, and then dying.”

The Resurrection of Christendom: brothers, what then shall we do?

The wise sage once remarked that there is a time to tear down, and a time to build. In our self-proclaimed day and age of deconstructionism, it is ever so vogue to tear down, find faults, and leave whatever got in your intellectual way in a pile of ruin. Christians are not allowed this guilty pleasure. At least, we are not allowed to leave the mess where it all crumbled. Whether it be intellectual argumentation or flesh and blood institutions, or even nice garden areas in the back yard, we are required to build.