Category Archives: Jesus Christ

Submission, not subordination

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We should speak of ‘submission’, rather than ‘subordination’ when talking about the relationship of God the Son to God the Father.

So argues Robert Letham, in ‘One God in Three Persons‘ (eds. Ware & Starke).

Reason: ‘subordination’ is unilateral.  One person ‘subordinates’ another, who has no choice in the matter.

‘Submission’, on the other hand, is compatible both with equality within the Godhead and order between the diffeent members.  The one who ‘submits’ is a free agent.…

How the cross speaks to suffering

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Tim Chester summarises the teaching of John Stott in The Cross of Christ:

1. The cross of Christ is a stimulus to patient endurance. There are times when we must endure suffering as Jesus did at the cross (Heb. 12:1–3; 1 Pet. 2:18–23).

2. The cross of Christ is the path to mature holiness. Suffering can be formative (James 1:2–4), as it was for Jesus (Heb. 2:10; 5:8–9).

3. The cross of Christ is the symbol of suffering service.…

Jesus’ relationship with his family

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Helen Bond notes:

‘The Synoptics record a story in which Jesus’ mother and siblings hear that he is ‘beside himself’ and come to take him home, only to be rebuffed by Jesus (Mk 3:21, 31–4 and pars.).

‘Later on, Jesus’ preaching in the synagogue at Nazareth strikes his hearers as arrogant and presumptuous, prompting him to remark that ‘a prophet never lacks honour except in his home town, among his own relations and his own family’ (Mk 6:1–6 and Mt 13:53–58; in Luke’s dramatic scene the townspeople even try to kill him, Lk 4:16–30).

…

Mk 15:42-47 – Would Jesus’ body have been ‘placed in a tomb’?

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Mark 15:42 Now when evening had already come, since it was the day of preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath), 15:43 Joseph of Arimathea, a highly regarded member of the council, who was himself looking forward to the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 15:44 Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. He called the centurion and asked him if he had been dead for some time.…

Good Friday

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I confess that I struggle a bit with attending church on Good Friday.  In my experience, we come into church with long faces because we remember that this was the day on which our Lord suffered and died, and then return, two days later, full of smiles because – surprise, suprise! – he’s not dead, but alive!

It’s not a great idea to separate Good Friday from Easter Sunday in this way, as though Friday is ‘bad’ and Sunday is ‘good’? …

Crafting a story the Jesus way

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Writing in the Evangelical Times, Peter J. Williams uses the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) to demonstrate just how skilful a story-teller Jesus was.

1. Use of words

We can readily visualise each person’s situation and daily movements:

‘At his gate’ – conjures up the image of the rich man’s large and enclosed house.  He would have to pass Lazarus every time he approached or left his home.  Yet he would ignore him.…

Did Jesus have a GSOH?

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Did Jesus have a good sense of humour?  Did he tell jokes?  Did he make people laugh?

Sociologist Peter Berger argued that humour was one of seven signs of transcendence in human life.  If that’s true, since Jesus was fully and truly human, we would expect him to be funny.

We instinctively agree that laughter has healing properties – it is ‘the best medicine’, as they say.  We would, accordingly, expect to find the Great Healer to make people laugh a lot.…

Discussion Starters – John 10:1-18; 15

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More ‘I am’ sayings

(a) What kinds of people would have counted as ‘false shepherds’ in Old Testament times and in Jesus day? And in our own day?

(b) In Jn 10:10b Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” What has been your experience of that life? How do you think you could have a deeper experience of it?

(c) In Jn 15, Jesus stresses that, in order to be fruitful, the branch must be attached to the vine.…

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

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Matthew Westerholm has noted that many churches no longer sing about Christ’s second coming as they used to.

But Paul (1 Thess 4:18) says that Christians should ‘encourage one another’ with the message of our Saviour’s return.

One simple means of encouragement is found right at the end of the Bible:

Rev 22:20 – ‘Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus.’

1. Our Final Hope

“Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”  Our ultimate hope is not in a political party, a pragmatic paradigm, or a popular programme. …

John 15:25 – ‘The Spirit…who goes out from the Father’

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John 15:26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.”

A long doctrinal debate about the ‘procession of the Holy Spirit’ has centred on this expression.  The idea of the Holy .Spirit’s ‘procession’ from the Father was understood in ontological terms.  To the basic formula the Western church added the ‘filioque’ (‘and the Son’) clause, and this was a point of division between the Eastern and Western branches of the church. …