Category Archives: Jesus Christ

Do we meet Christ in everyone?

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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, recently put it like this in a Tweet:-

‘Each of us is made in the image of God. That’s why we have the chance to encounter Christ in every person we meet – especially those on the margins.’

It’s an attractive thought, and one that seems to be becoming increasingly popular.  But it involves some rather loose thinking, because we can agree wholeheartedly with the premise (‘each of us is made in the image of God’), while observing that the conclusion simply does not follow (‘that’s why we have the chance to encounter Christ in every person we meet’).…

‘If the church were Christian’ – 2

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Philip Gulley puts it like this:- If the church were more Christian, ‘affirming our potential would be more important than condemning our brokenness.’  (If the Church Were Christian. HarperOne)

The church’s teaching about the sinfulness of human nature, it appears, has done great harm.  It has brought the church into disrepute, and caused individuals to feel damaged and guilt-ridden.  Gulley supports this with anecdotes of horror stories from which every reasonable person would recoil with horror.…

‘If the church were Christian’ – 1

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In his 2010 book, If the Church Were Christian: Rediscovering the Values of Jesus, Quaker pastor Philip Gulley offers a recipe for, well, making the Church Christian.  Richard Rohr thinks that the recipe is ‘superb’.  (Actually, if these two men are on the same page about what a desirable form of Christianity would look like, then I prefer Gulley’s more straightforward approach.  Rohr’s slipperiness is reflected in this wording…

‘Jesus is a model for living more than an object of worship’ (my emphasis)

…whereas Gulley says that if the church were ‘more Christian’:-

‘Jesus would be a model for living rather than an object of worship’ (my emphasis).…

The cross is our theology

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“The criterion of what is Christian and what is not is the cross of Jesus Christ, the crucial enigma which distinguishes the peculiarly Christian way of looking at human existence and experience from all other viewpoints” (p. 18).

For the Christian, “the cross alone is our theology.”—Luther (p. 26)

“The Christian tradition, following in the paths indicated by Paul, has identified the cross, interpreted in the light of the resurrection, as the final, decisive and normative locus of the revelation of God” (p.…

Meditating on Christ’s sufferings

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Given the reticence and reserve with which the NT dwells on the physical aspects of Christ’s sufferings, it is certainly possible for Christians themselves to dwell too much on them.

F.F. Bruce comments on this subject in his fascinating book, Answers To Questions (p249f).

He contrasts this, by Charles Wesley…

1. O Love divine, what has thou done!
The immortal God hath died for me!
The Father’s coeternal Son
bore all my sins upon the tree.…

Jn 7:25-52 – Will the real Jesus…? (sermon notes)

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Text: John 7:25-52

Kid McCoy was a US boxer, world champion in 1896. He became involved in a barroom brawl, when a drunk insisted that the boxer was not who he said he was. McCoy flattened his opponent, who struggled back onto his feet and said, “It’s him alright. It’s the real McCoy.”)

1. People, then, as now, have confused and conflicting ideas about who Jesus is.

‘The people were divided because of Jesus.’

Today, some consider Jesus to be

(a) a myth
(b) a Martian (i.e.…

John 8:12-30 – “I am the light of the world” – sermon notes

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Whereas the main question in chapter 7 is, ‘Who is Jesus?’, in chapter 8 this question develops into ‘How do we know that his testimony is valid?’

1. Declaration: “I am the light of the world”

“I” – Jesus points to himself, begging the question: mere man? madman? myth? menace? mistaken? Messiah?

“I am” – The 2nd such statement in this Gospel.  N.b. Yahweh’s self-revelation in Exodus and Isaiah.

“I am Light” – representing learning, love laughter, and life (in contrast to darkness, which represents dullness, depravity despair and death).…

Mt 25:31-46 ‘Welcome me, welcome my people’ – sermon notes

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Text: Matthew 25:31-46

Died recently: Leslie Grantham: jailed for murder, sacked over a sex scandal, made homeless after divorce.  Concerning the murder, he said: ‘That’s between me and my Maker.’  Newspaper article concludes: ‘Now, finally, they can have their showdown.’  Just three things wrong with that: (a) it won’t be ‘now’, but at some future undisclosed date; (b) it won’t be a showdown; (c) it won’t just be Grantham, but all of us.

Outline

A glorious coming, v31 – The Son of Man – human, yet exalted; soon, he will hang on his cross pain and humiliation; but a day is coming when he will sit on this throne and judge the world in righteousness.…

Psalms: Prayer Book of the Bible

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Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible (Augsburg Fortress, 1970, Kindle Edition).

by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Do the Psalms, as Holy Scripture, primarily represent the thoughts, feelings, experiences and longings of those by whom, and for whom, they were originally composed?  Or do we draw a straight line from each psalm to our own experience, and appropriate each prayer as if ti were our own?

Neither, says Bonhoeffer.

In this short book, Bonhoeffer argues that the Psalms should be understood, first and foremost, as the Prayer Book of Jesus Christ. …

Praying the Psalms in Christ

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In his recent (2017) book Teaching Psalms – Volume One – from text to message – Christopher Ash develops a forthrightly Christocentric approach to reading, praying, and preaching from this part of Holy Scripture.

What follows is a summary, mainly in my own words.  I have made no attempt to offer any critical comment.

Why we must pray the Psalms

  1. We need to be taught to pray.  Prayer does not come naturally or easily, even to the believer. 
…