Recently, this Easter message was published in the Eastern Daily Press.
It is based on the account of Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene on that very first Easter morning (John 20:1-18).
Here are the main points.
It was dark (v1) – ‘Easter itself begins in darkness. Not only the dim light before dawn, but the deeper darkness of grief, confusion, and fear. Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while it is still dark because that is how the world felt to her.…
21:15 Then when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these do?” He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus told him, “Feed my lambs.” 21:16 Jesus said a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus told him, “Shepherd my sheep.” 21:17 Jesus said a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?…
10:17 Now as Jesus was starting out on his way, someone ran up to him, fell on his knees, and said, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 10:18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”
See also Luke 18:19
At first sight, this appears to be a denial of ‘goodness’ on Jesus’ part, to undermine the doctrine of his sinlessness, and therefore to call into question his divinity.…
23:6 Do not eat the food of a stingy person,
do not crave his delicacies;
23:7 for he is like someone calculating the cost in his mind.
“Eat and drink,” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you;
23:8 you will vomit up the little bit you have eaten,
and will have wasted your pleasant words.
We might well agree that the meaning of this proverb is accurately summarised by the Faithlife Study Bible:
…‘This proverb warns against eating with a stingy person.
In what different ways have Christians viewed Islam?
What follows is a precis of ‘Christian views of Islam’, by Hugh Goddard, in St Andrews Encyclopedia of Christianity. Online.
1. Initial Christian reactions to the coming of Islam
(a) Islam as a fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham concerning the Ishmaelites
See Gen 21:12f, 17f.
…‘The Armenian bishop Sebeos, writing in the period before 661, thus describes Muhammad’s mission in terms of teaching the Arabs to know the God of Abraham, and telling them that God was going to realize in them the promise made to Abraham and his successors.’
Gen 2:18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion for him who corresponds to him.”
Some advocates of same-sex sexual partnerships appeal to this text.
For example, Matthew Vines (author of God and the Gay Christian) says:
…‘In Genesis 2:18, God says, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” And yes, the suitable helper or partner that God makes for Adam is Eve, a woman.
Whose Promised Land? (5th edition), by Colin Chapman.
Synopsis of chapter 7a – Realities and Possibilities Today
‘The Things That Make for Peace’
7.1 Zionism
Is there something fundamentally flawed about Zionism, in at least some of its various forms?
‘Zionists have generally found it difficult to come to terms with the Palestinians’.
From the outset, there was an element of deception, along with an unwillingness to understand the Palestinian position, in the Zionist project.
David Ben-Gurion: for 20 years denied the existence of conflict. …
Whose Promised Land? (5th edition), by Colin Chapman.
Synopsis of chapter 6b – Other Biblical Themes: Is There Any Word From The Lord?
6.6 Suffering injustice
Both Jews and Arabs know the meaning of the word ‘injustice’:
…‘The Jews look back to the Dispersion, the ghettos, the pogroms, and the Holocaust. The Arabs look back to their oppression under the Turks, the broken promises of the Western powers, the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the traumatic defeat of 1967, and the continuing occupation.’
Whose Promised Land? (5th edition), by Colin Chapman.
Synopsis of chapter 6a – Other Biblical Themes: Is There Any Word From The Lord?
6.1 A passion for truth
Jews and Palestinians each have a narrative of what is going on. How can we form an accurate picture of the conflict, and map a path towards resolution?
Robert I. Rotberg: We should try to determine the beliefs and commitments which inform the two opposing narratives.
Edward Said: This requires intellectual honesty.…
How many times have you heard a fellow Christian say that evangelism is telling people that ‘God loves them’, or that it is ‘sharing the love of Jesus’ with them?
And what’s wrong with such an approach? Does not the Bible itself declare that ‘God is love?’ Isn’t John’s Gospel rightly described as ‘The Gospel of Love’? And are not the words and works of Jesus himself overflowing with love?
But here’s an obstinate fact: the Book of Acts, which documents the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem and Judea to Samaria and onwards the boundaries of the then-known world, doesn’t mention ‘love’ from beginning to end. …
