Category Archives: Jesus Christ

Resurrection: evangelical and liberal debate

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I’ve been listening to the latest podcast from Premier Radio’s ‘Unbelievable’ show.

Last Saturday (7th August) saw Adrian Warnock and Rev Jonathan Clatworthy debate the resurrection of Jesus.

Adrian represented an evangelical perspective, Jonathan a liberal approach.  At one level, Jonathan tried to present the differences as, ‘Well, we both believe in the resurrection; it’s just that you believe in a physical resurrection, whereas I don’t.’  But the more they spoke, the more you could sense the yawning gulf between them. …

Six reasons why many Jews reject Jesus as Messiah

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Rabbi Dan Cohn-Sherbok, a distinguished Jewish scholar, has set out six reasons why Jewish people continue to reject Jesus as Saviour and Messiah.

1.  Jesus did not fulfil the expectations of the Old Testament prophets, and of the rabbis.  He did not restore the kingdom of David, nor gather the scattered people of Israel, nor restore all the laws of the Torah, nor rebuild the temple, nor did he renew the entire creation.

2.  Jesus’ claim to enjoy a special relationship with God (Mt 11:27; Jn 14:6f) contradicts the Jewish conviction that all people are equal before God.…

Christ and the Bible

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The Living and the Written Word

Christ and the Bible – the Living Word and the written word – are sometimes placed in opposition to one another.  The Living Word is (rightly) magnified, but (wrongly) at the expense of the proper honour that is due to the written word.  In fact, the very high view that we should have of the inspiration and authority of the Holy Scriptures is inculcated by Christ himself.

John Stott reminds us that we should not think of Christ, the living Word, and Scripture, the written word, apart, for they witness to one another:-

‘Our Christian conviction is that the Bible has both authority and relevance—to a degree quite extraordinary in so ancient a book—and that the secret of both is in Jesus Christ.

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Paul’s view of the Cross

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By God’s marvelous grace Paul had come to view [the] cross as:

a. The Mirror, and this not only of his own unworthiness but also of God’s resplendent attributes, that is, of such “excellencies” as God’s righteousness which must receive its due (Rom 8:3-4); God’s power and wisdom (1 Cor 1:24); and his love, mercy, and grace (2 Cor 5:19-21; Gal 2:20); all of these in sublime harmony with each other (Psa 85:10).

b. The Means of Redemption in its most comprehensive sense (Justification, Sanctification, Glorification).…

‘The word of their testimony’

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According to Revelation 12:10,11, a loud voice from heaven announces that the ‘accuser of our brothers’ has been ‘hurled down’, and that ‘they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.’

The idea of ‘testimony’ is often taken to mean ‘speaking about what God has done for me in my life.’  A quick Internet search will throw up web sites devoted to, for example, ‘publishing testimonies of persons who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, and who have experienced miracles in their lives.’ …

The resurrection an historical fact

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It is not difficult to find sceptics who will dismiss the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus with a casual wave of the hand.  Richard Dawkins, for example, says:-

I don’t know where the story of Jesus rising from the dead comes from. The actual documentary evidence is very bad as historical evidence goes, and so, given its enormous inherent implausibility, I’d be much more inclined to suspect it. You needn’t go as far as to say ‘hoax’ – it’s just that when very, very charismatic people die, legends grow up about them in a very mysterious way.

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Paul and the empty tomb

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There are those (including some Muslim scholars) who like to drive a wedge between the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ resurrection and those of Paul.  ‘Paul,’ they say, ‘never mentions the empty tomb; therefore, he must have believed in a very different kind of resurrection – a ‘spiritual, rather than a physical kind’.  This impression seems to be strengthened by Paul’s insistence that resurrection bodies (of both Christ and others) are ‘spiritual’ rather than ‘fleshly’.

Bultmann famously asserted:

‘The accounts of an empty  tomb are legends, of which Paul as yet knew nothing.

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The Cross inspires justice, as well as love

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John Stott spells out one important aspect of ‘living under the cross’:-

The cross is a revelation of God’s justice as well as of his love.  That is why the community of the cross should concern itself with social justice as well as with loving philanthropy.  It is never enough to have pity on the victims of injustice, if we do nothing to change the unjust situation itself.  Good Samaritans will always be needed to succour those who are assaulted and robbed; yet it would be even better to rid the Jerusalem-Jericho road of brigands.

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Celebrating the Cross

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Reflection on the death of Christ and its achievement, so far from being a sombre experience, actually leads to a type and degree of celebration that can be found nowhere else.

For the cross brings us into a new relationship with God.  This relationship is marked by boldness, love and joy.  And these do not belong merely in the interior experience of the individual believers, but are to distinguish our public worship.

As W.M. Clow points out:-

‘There is no forgiveness in this world, or in that which is to come, except through the cross of Christ. …

Quotes on the Cross

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There is not a word in the Bible which is extra crucem, which can be understood without reference to the cross.  (Martin Luther)

This one event of the cross of Christ is a final revelation both of the character and consequence of human sin and of the wonder and sacrifice of divine love.  (Alan Stibbs)

Calvary shows how far men will go in sin, and how far God will go for man’s salvation.  (H.C. Trumbull)

In the cross, sin is cursed and cancelled. …