The land: fulfilled in Christ

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As with the Temple and Israel itself, ‘the land’ points to something beyond itself and to a greater reality than a mere piece of real estate.  Just as God’s presence could not be confined to a single building, so his blessing could not be restricted to one parcel of land.

Fulfilled in Jesus

We should not be surprised, then, to discover that God’s promises relating to the land find their fulfilment in Jesus (and not in a literal future return of the nation of Israel to the land).  …

The people of God: fulfilled in Christ

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One of the central themes of the Bible is God’s promise that he would make a great people for his praise, and the fulfilment of that promise.  Key Scriptures are Gen 12:1-3 (God’s promise to Abram), and 1 Pet 2:9f (the declaration that the followers of Jesus constitute ‘a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession…the people of God’.

Back in Gen 1-2, God’s purpose for his people was ‘be fruitful and multiply’ (Gen 1:28), to ‘rule’ and ‘subdue’ the earth (Gen 1:28) to ‘cultivate’ and ‘keep’ the garden (Gen 2:15), and to live in community with one another (Gen 2:18-25).  …

The temple: fulfilled in Christ

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All God’s promises (including those relating to the temple, the people of God, and the land) are fulfilled in Jesus, 2 Cor 1:20.  It is in him that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden, Col 2:1-3.  It is this which gives a reliable hermeneutic for understanding the entire Bible.  We are not at the mercy of idiosyncratic interpretations of individual verses.

How are we to understanding Christ as the fulfilment of the Bible’s teaching about the Temple?…

More urban legends of the New Testament

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I have previously listed and summarised the forty ‘urban legends’ discussed by David A Croteau.

Here are some more New Testament passages that are frequently misunderstood or misapplied:-

1. ‘Going the second (or ‘extra’) mile’ (Matthew 5:41).  When people are willing to make an effort above and beyond the call of duty, they often refer to this as going the second (or extra) mile.  This is not a complete misapplication of the text, but common usage does tend to mask its radical nature.  …

What did Jesus look like?

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Jesus appearanceRecently, British scientists have teamed up with Israeli archaeologists to construct what is believed to be the most accurate representation of what Jesus looked like.  The final picture was put together by Richard Neave, forensic anthropologist from Manchester University.

The reconstruction was based on the assumption that Jesus would have looked like an ordinary Jew of his day, in terms of skull shape, eye colour and hair colour and length.  They concluded that he would have been bearded, again like most other Jews at the time.…

To the edge of faith, and beyond

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Kent Dobson, who succeeded Rob Bell as pastor of influential Mars Hill Bible Church, has recently announced his decision to step down.

He had begun, he says, with a desire to follow Paul by offering the traditional gospel in culturally-relevant dress.  But he had come to question not only the packaging as traditionally offered by the church, but also the message.

“I have always been and I’m still drawn to the very edges of religion and faith and God.

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How (not) to preach a Christmas sermon

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At Christmas, fact and fiction, truth and legend, are mixed so thoroughly that even preachers include what they should have left out, and leave out what they should have included.

The late Dick France wrote:-

‘Most people’s awareness of the Christmas story is derived mainly from school nativity plays, in which Luke’s tea-toweled shepherds rub shoulders with Matthew’s magi (promoted to royal status), and a surly innkeeper and his wife are surrounded by infant angels with tinsel halos.

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Urban legends of the New Testament

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Urban Legends of the New Testament: 40 Common Misconceptions.  By David A Croteau.  Published by B&H Publishing Group (1 Aug. 2015).

This book discussed 40 misinterpretations of New Testament passages.  Strictly speaking, only some of them could be regarded as ‘urban legends’ (i.e. they are misreadings that have passed uncritically into public consciousness).  Others are passages which are liable to interpretations that simply add something to the text that isn’t really there, or subtract something that really is there.…

Yes, the Lord’s Prayer IS offensive

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In the run-up to Christmas, the Church of England hoped to place a 60-second advert – a presentation of the Lord’s Prayer – in cinemas around the UK.

But Digital Cinema Media – the advertising agency responsible for advertising in 80% of the cinemas across the country – has decided that it won’t be showing the advert after all.  It has a policy, it says, of ‘not accepting political or religious advertising’.  It added that ‘some adverts could cause offence to those of different faiths or of no faith.’…