Category Archives: Jesus Christ

Why did Jesus do nature miracles?

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N.T. Wright (Jesus and the Victory of God) points out that in addition to the healing miracles of Jesus, we find him exercising power over the natural order, as with the miraculous catch of fish, the stilling of storms, feeding of multitudes in the desert, and (negatively) the cursing of a fig tree.

In these actions, Jesus is demonstrating his power to bring the natural order into ‘a new harmony with itself’ in ways that had only occasionally been glimpsed previously, as with the crossing of the Red Sea.…

Repentance and forgiveness, the Wright way

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Until recently (writes N.T. Wright in Jesus and the Victory of God), it was generally assumed that ‘repentance’ was a major theme in the teaching of Jesus, and that this meant more or less the negative side of personal conversion.  His message was one of divine grace, in contrast to the prevailing legalism of Judaism.  It is now ‘widely recognised’, says Wright, that this involved a ‘complete caricature’, both of Judaism and of the teaching of Jesus.  …

Five truths about the incarnation

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Based on this post by Joseph Scheumann:-

1.  The incarnation was not the divine Son’s beginning.

Our Lord did not begin to exist with the virginal conception or with his birth in Bethlehem.  No: the incarnation means that he who had no beginning began to be what he eternally was not – a human being.

2.  The incarnation shows Jesus’ humility.

No ordinary king, Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve (Mk 10:45).  …

Forgiveness in the teaching of Jesus

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According to N.T. Wright (Jesus and the Victory of God)  “Forgiveness of sins is another way of saying ‘return from exile’”.

‘However,’ (writes Robert Stein) ‘this is at best an overstatement. There is much in the Gospels concerning the great joy in heaven over one sinner who repents and receives forgiveness (Luke 15:7, 10). It is difficult to see in Jesus’ forgiving the paralytic’s sins (Mark 2:1–12), in his forgiving of the sinful woman (Luke 7:36–50), in the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1–10), and in all the accounts of the forgiving of sinners the theme of the return of the nation from exile as being more central than the forgiveness of these individuals.’…

Col 2:6-23 – More? – sermon notes

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Do you long for more in your Christian life?  Paul did, Phil 3:10-14 –‘Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.’  So, evidently, did the Colossians.

1. You don’t need Christ ‘plus’

False teaching in Colosse.  Its general description, v8 – ‘hollow and deceptive philosophy’, ‘human traditions’.  In particular:-

(a) Christ plus ritual, v16, ‘religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day’. …

Some “I wills” of Christ

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Prayer, Jn 14:13f, “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

Salvation, Jn 6:37, “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”

Confession, Mt 10:32, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.”

Evangelism, Mt 4:19, “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”…

The grammar of Christology

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Theology teacher Ben Myers has a list of twelve ‘rules’ on how we speak of Christ:-

1. Not to speak of Christ in any way that sidelines his human experience. Jesus Christ is truly human.

2. Not to speak of Jesus in any way that sidelines the divine depth beneath his human experience. Jesus Christ is truly God.

3. Not to divide Christ’s divinity and humanity, or to give the impression that he sometimes functions as God and sometimes as a human.

…

Dying and rising gods

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Was the notion of a dying and rising Saviour, as recorded in the canonical Gospels, derived from pagan myths concerning the Canaanite god Baal, the Phoenician god Adonis, the Egyptian god Osiris, and others?  This view was first popularised by J. G. Frazer in The Golden Bough: a Study in Magic and Religion (first published in 1890).  Frazer thought that he had discovered a universal core in religion – a myth about a dying and rising fertility god, along with associated rituals – and this idea was taken up by some others, including Joseph Campbell.…

The women at the cross and the tomb

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There is a group of women who, according to the Synoptic Gospels, saw Jesus’ crucifixion (Matt 27:55; Mark 15:40; Luke 23:49), saw him being laid in his tomb (Matt 27:61; Mark 15:47; Luke 23:55), and saw that the tomb was subsequently empty (Matt 28:1,6; Mark 16:4-6).  ‘It could hardly be clearer,’ writes Richard Bauckham, ‘that the Gospels are appealing to their role as eyewitnesses.’

All the Gospels name some of these women, while implying that others were also present (Matt 27:55; 28:1, 5; Mark 15:41, 47; 16:6; Luke 24:10; John 20:2).  …

Discussion Starters, Lk 24:50-52; Acts 1:6-11

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1. Why didn’t Jesus go straight to heaven when he rose from the dead?

2. In how many ways could the following sentence be completed:- ‘Because Jesus has ascended to heaven, we know that…’

3. If Christ’s followers are not supposed to be standing looking into the sky (Acts 1:11), what are we supposed to be doing, according to this passage?  And why do we need power (verse 8) to do this?…