Sunday Morning Greek Blog

June 16, 2025

Trinity Power (Psalm 8; John 16:12–15)

Filed under: Christology,Creation,Ecclesiology,Eschatology,John Gospel of,Pneumatology,Psalms,Soteriology,Ten Commandments (Decalogue),Trinity — Scott Stocking @ 5:59 pm
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Historical context and notes: I preached this message on Father’s Day, June 15, 2025, at Mount View Presbyterian Church. It was also “Trinity Sunday” on the Lectionary calendar, the Sunday after Pentecost. Culturally, this weekend also saw the parade/celebration for the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, “No Kings” protests nationwide (thus a few extra references to God as our King), the onset of a conflict between Israel and Iran with the goal of degrading Iran’s nuclear weapons capabilities, and the politically motivated assassination of a Minnesota State representative.

Happy Fathers’ Day, and a blessed Trinity Sunday to all of you. I’ve had a busy three weeks traveling hither and yon. Two weeks ago, my brother and I took our third annual fishing trip to South Dakota and caught our limit of walleye both days. Last weekend, my wife and I went to Branson with our small group and saw the production of David at the Sight and Sound theater. If you ever go to Branson, the Sight and Sound theater is well worth the price of a ticket. The entire operation is a ministry that focuses on telling biblical and patriotic stories. They tie the biblical story to the message of the cross toward the end, and after the show some of the cast make themselves available to pray with people.

Now even though I had a very relaxing few weeks off and feel somewhat refreshed from a busy schedule, I’m not ashamed to admit that it’s been kind of tough to focus on writing a message this week with all the other chaos going on in the world. Nevertheless, I think perhaps the example of Jehoshaphat in the Old Testament can help us deal with the potential chaos some may be experiencing. When Jehoshaphat was faced with a nearly impossible battle in 2 Chronicles 20 against the Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites, he had the people pray in the temple courtyard. The next morning, he put the men’s choir out in front of the army as they marched toward the Desert of Tekoa. As they sang, God set ambushes, and the three opposing armies wound up destroying each other. Israel never had to lift a finger to fight. God is the true King, and when we put him first, good things can happen.

In our Old Testament reading this morning, the first couple verses of Psalm 8 say this:

1 Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory

in the heavens.

2 Through the praise of children and infants

you have established a stronghold against your enemies,

to silence the foe and the avenger. [1]

If those two examples aren’t enough to show the power of praise, consider the story of the walls of Jericho which, by the Jews marching around the city, blowing their trumpets, and lifting up a mighty shout of praise, crumbled as a result of that sonic boom. God is the true King, and when we put him first, good things can happen. Psalm 22:3 in the English Standard Version says, “Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.”[2] If you’re used to the King James Version, that verse is translated, “Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.”[3]

This demonstrates the point that our praise is mighty and effective against evil because the God who dwells in that praise as it goes forth from our lips and our lives is mighty. This is God Almighty, God the Father, God the King, the creator of all that is made, even life itself; the giver of breath; the author of wisdom and truth.

We see the might, power, and even the orderliness of God in the creation narrative, for example. On Day One, he begins with the “formless and void” rock we call Earth and creates “light.” We don’t know what that light is, because the things that make or reflect light aren’t created until Day 4. What is this Day One light then? Is it the light that emanates from God because of his spiritual nature? Is it the afterglow of a “big bang” that produced the formless and void Earth and everything else in the universe? Is it meant to have a more metaphorical meaning like moral clarity? Or is it a reference to someone who would later claim that he is the light of the world, and of whom John would make the claim that nothing in this world was made without him? Hmmm. More on that later.

On Day Two, God separated the waters below from the waters above, most likely a vapor canopy that created a greenhouse effect for the new life that was coming. The separation between the waters was called “sky.” On Day Five, he created the creatures that dwell in the air and the creatures that dwell in the sea.

On Day Three, he brought forth dry land and created the diversity of flora that grows on the earth today. I find it interesting that the plants that need the sun to photosynthesize and grow are created the day before the sun is created. Anyone ever notice that? That’s one reason why I think each of the days of creation represent a 24-hour time period. If the vegetation had been created thousands of years before the sun came to exist, it would not have survived. On Day Six, he creates all the creatures that would dwell on land, including his ultimate creation, Mankind.

With each day of creation, not only is God creating people and animals and plants and objects in the solar system, he’s also creating all of the physical, biological, geological, and psychological (and all the other “-logicals”) rules and principles by which all the natural, or created, world operates under. On Day Seven, God rested. He had taken the “formless and void” third rock from the sun and transformed it into a well-formed, orderly creation.

Not only was God mighty and powerful as our king, though. He was also the epitome of righteousness. In him there is no fault, no stain, no sin. Perhaps that is why his “light” is the brightest of all, so bright that no mortal, sinful man can stand in the presence of it. From the Fall to the Flood, God demonstrated great patience with the wickedness of man, but God had a built-in judgment plan. The vapor canopy had worked quite well to ensure the young earth would flourish and grow, but man’s wickedness had become too much for God to bear. He told righteous Noah to build an ark and brought Noah a pair of every kind of animal to rescue them through the Flood.

The Bible says the rain came down and the flood gates of the earth were opened. Sounds to me like a giant meteor pierced the vapor canopy and all that water condensed and fell to the earth. It also may have broken up Pangea, the not-so-hypothetical single continent that once existed on Earth and started what we know today as plate tectonics, the movement of the continents, and all the fun stuff that comes with that, like earthquakes and volcanoes. This shows the enduring power of God’s creation, but it also shows that he is a God who expects the praise we give him for his righteous judgments.

The signature expression of God’s righteousness is the Ten Commandments. The first three commandments are specific to our direct relationship with God: Don’t put anything above God. Don’t make an image of God to worship. Don’t misuse the name of God. I think we all get that. The next two are positive commands that have to do with what God expects from us: Keep the Sabbath day holy. Honor your parents, who represent God’s authority over you on earth.

The final five commands have to do with our relationships with one another. They are prohibitions against committing violent acts. According to Merriam-Webster, “violence” not only means committing a physical act of aggression like murder, assault, or rape, but it can also mean “injury by or as if by distortion, infringement, or profanation” and gives the synonym “outrage.” Even coveting is not just a thought crime about desiring someone else’s property. When Jesus summarizes the Ten Commandments in Mark 10:19, he uses the Greek word translated “defraud,” “cheat,” or “rob” in the New Testament (ἀποστερέω apostereō). Coveting is violence, because its goal is to obtain something by illicit means.

Because the Ten Commandments are God’s foundational laws, and because they addressed fundamental issues of our relationships with God and with others, a violation of any of them could have resulted in the death penalty, were it not for the provisions in the law for blood sacrifice and the forgiveness of sin. But God knew from the time of the Fall he would need another way to address mankind’s sin. That’s where the second person of the trinity is introduced to the world.

Of course, this is Jesus, the son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary. He would come to walk among us as a human being and learn, through his fully divine nature and insight”, what it was like to live as a mortal among mortals. Hebrews 4:15 says: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”[4] This Law is good because it shows us what sin is, but the Law itself is not able to provide forgiveness, righteousness, or salvation. Only perfect obedience can do that, but no one is perfect, at least, no one who is fully mortal.

Romans 10:4 says: “Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”[5] That word “culmination” (τέλος telos) doesn’t mean the Law is no longer relevant. It means that what the Law was intended to accomplish, imperfect as we are, is now accomplished through the faithfulness of Christ in his death on the cross and our faith in acknowledging Jesus Christ as our risen Savior. This is what John means when he calls Jesus “the word.” What we call “the Ten Commandments” in Hebrew is just simply “Ten Words” (עֲשֶׂ֖רֶת הַדְּבָרִֽים ʿǎśě·rěṯ de·ḇār îm). Jesus’s death on the cross paid the penalty for all time for violating God’s Law. All we need to do is trust in his grace and mercy and live faithfully for him. He is, after all, declared to be Lord of Lords and King of kings in Revelation 19:16.[6]

This is where we meet the third person in the Trinity. I’m not sure what passage your speaker addressed on Pentecost last Sunday, but if it was John 14, you would know that Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would come and teach us what we would need to know to live faithfully for Christ. We do have the Bible, but without the Holy Spirit to help us spiritually understand, discern, and apply the words of the Bible, they are ultimately just words on a page. The Holy Spirit is the divine presence in our lives. The Spirit is the fulfillment of the promise Jesus made at his ascension that he would be with us always even to the end of the age.

The words of our gospel reading this morning bear repeating here:

12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”[7]

In a world hounded by chaos and strife in these days, I find it comforting that we have a God who loves us and has provided the way of salvation for us through Jesus’s death and resurrection and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. It is through the Spirit that we can also lift up songs of praise and worship, which brings us full circle this morning. God inhabits the praise of his people by virtue of the Holy Spirit dwelling in our lives. This is our powerful weapon to confront the evil around us. The Spirit also brings comfort, healing, and restoration to our lives.

The words from last week’s gospel passage are appropriate to repeat here, and I’ll close with this.

27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”[8]

May the peace of God go with you today. Amen.

[1] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[3] The Holy Bible: King James Version. 2009. Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[4] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[5] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[6]See also 1 Timothy 6:15b and Revelation 17:14.

[7] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[8] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

January 26, 2025

Jesus and the “Good News” of Isaiah 61 (Luke 4:14–21)

Filed under: Acts,Baptism of Jesus,Biblical Studies,Christology,Christology,Ecclesiology,Ephesians,Eschatology,Evangelism,Isaiah,Luke Gospel of,Prayer,Soteriology,Thanksgiving,Theology, Biblical,Theophany — Scott Stocking @ 10:22 pm
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Message preached at Mount View Presbyterian Church in Omaha, Nebraska, January 26, 2025.

What do you remember about your first day on the job you wound up loving the most? Was it the people you met or the other new hires you were onboarded with? The excitement of doing something new and different? The thought of accomplishing the tasks that lay ahead of you, either on your own or with a team of people? I’m sure many of you have some fond memories of your first day on the job you loved and beyond.

How would you like to have Jesus’s first day on the job of being Messiah. “Um, son, before you get to the preaching and teaching, which I know you love to do, you’re going to have to spend a few days in the wilderness. Forty days to be exact. Oh, and you can’t eat while you’re out there, so you’ll be hungry. But some guy called the devil will ask you to use your powers to make bread and feed yourself, but you can’t eat it. You’ll know why, and you’ll tell the devil why you know why. He’ll offer to make you king of the world, but you’ll turn that down too, and don’t forget about being hungry. He’ll tempt you to use your superhuman powers, but you’ll turn those down too, aaaand you’ll still be hungry. But don’t worry; I’ve got your back.”

Of course, we know Jesus survived his temptation in the wilderness. But amazingly, after going through all of the temptations and not eating for 40 days and being completely famished on the last day, the one thing Jesus did NOT lose was the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in his life. The temptation passage begins in Luke 4:1 with “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.”

It shouldn’t surprise us then that when Jesus’s time in the desert had ended, our Gospel text this morning says: “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.” This was Jesus’s first recorded sermon (he had already presented many other times according to his “custom” v.16), so he wasn’t new to this. But this was, apparently, his first message in his hometown of Nazareth, so this was a big deal. After spending 40 days fasting in the wilderness, I think most of us would need the power of God’s Spirit to get us anywhere, even just a few steps! Like Mark’s gospel, this suggests an urgency to Jesus’s message and preaching as well as his eagerness to do so. After all, this is what he had come to say and do.

The passage Jesus quotes is from Isaiah 61, part of the “final countdown” in Isaiah 60–66 as Isaiah begins to preach about the glory of Zion and work his way to a discussion of the new heavens and new earth, most likely part of the source material for the Revelation to John. So in one sense, by reading this passage, which was probably just the next one up in the reading schedule, Jesus was signaling it was the beginning of the end of the old way of God dealing with his creation.

Jesus, then, is not just speaking about his own ministry that he’s embarked on, but about the final consummation of history at his second coming as well. So even though the hope of his first coming has now been realized, he almost immediately sets the table to establish that there will be a second coming as well. The Jews had been thinking the Messiah would overthrow Roman rule, but in reality, Jesus is bringing a message of salvation for all to hear because he wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.

Let’s break down this statement. First of all, he says “The Spirit of the Lord is on me.” Jesus can say this because in the previous chapter, 3:21–22, Luke tells us of Jesus’s baptism and heavenly acknowledgment that he was in fact God’s son. That’s pretty direct and easy to understand.

Related to that then is the “anointing” that is mentioned, which is nothing more than the infilling of the Spirit, or in Jesus’s case, the visual representation of that infilling that happened at his baptism. But there is a deeper level of meaning here in that this could also be a reference to the anointing that a priest or a king would receive upon taking one of those offices. Those anointings typically involved olive oil to represent the Spirit, but in this case, since they would have seen “the Holy Spirit descend[ing] on him in bodily form like a dove,”[1] there would be no need for the symbolism of the oil. It’s possible the author of Hebrews is referring to this chapter when he writes the following about Jesus in 4:15: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”[2]

“Proclaiming the good news” is an action (i.e., a verb) that we see throughout the Scriptures, but often, we’re left with just that phrase, and we don’t get an idea of the “content” of the good news. It’s like saying, “Read the New York Post,” but then never seeing any articles to read. I did a little digging through Scripture and found several places where we get an idea about what the biblical authors thought about the content of “the good news.”

In Luke’s gospel and his sequel, Acts, he mentions “the good news of the kingdom of God” (Luke 4:43, 8:1, 16:16; Acts 8:12). Scattered through the rest of the New Testament, we see other qualifiers for the good news. Acts 5:42 speaks of “proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah,” the redeemer promised in the Old Testament. In Galatians 1:23, Paul is described as the one “now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” In Ephesians 2:17, he “preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.” Acts 10:36 mentions the “good news of peace” as well. In Luke 2:10, the “good news” the heavenly host refers to is the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem.

When the noun is used, it’s almost always translated as “gospel” in the New Testament, regardless of author. The noun also carries some of the ideas of the verb: “gospel of the kingdom,” “gospel of peace,” and so on. Occasionally, though, it’s categorized more personally. Paul refers to “my gospel” sometimes, not that he had a different one from Jesus but that he had a distinctive message and ministry. Several times it’s called “the gospel of Christ,” indicating the ultimate source of the gospel. In the Thessalonian epistles, Paul also adds references to “the Gospel of God” and “the Gospel of our Lord Jesus.” In other places we read about “the truth of the gospel.” Ephesians 1:13 takes that a bit farther by calling it “the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation.”

In a nutshell, then, the gospel or the good news is that we can have a new kind of relationship with God. It’s not like the sacrificial system where everyone had to bring a sacrifice for themselves; the good news is that Christ was sacrificed once for all and invited us into his kingdom of peace that he now reigns over. We are citizens in a heavenly kingdom, the heavenly realm, even while we are struggling through life on earth. That is the glory, joy, and promise of the gospel!

For Jesus, at least in this passage, his target audience seems to be the “poor.” The “poor” appear several times as the target audience for his preaching. In today’s passage, the poor seem to be broken out into three groups: the imprisoned, the blind, and the oppressed. Generally speaking, the poor may not necessarily be those who have few possessions. In the Beatitudes, we have the familiar opening statement, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (note the kingdom talk there). That may be supported by the OT version of the passage (Isaiah 61:1), where Isaiah puts these words in the servant’s mouth: “He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted.” The gospel writers also remind us that the poor will always be with us, but that’s not an excuse never to help them. Both passages have the line about proclaiming “freedom for the captives,” but Isaiah says, “release from darkness for the prisoners” while Luke understands that as “recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.” The first part of that last phrase is a pretty strong parallel to Isaiah’s “release form darkness,” but it would seem Jesus is using “oppressed” to embrace all three groups, or at least that he considers the oppressed to live in a similar type of darkness.

If we continue to take our cues from comparing this passage with Isaiah’s, we see that “The year of the Lord’s favor” most likely refers to “the day of the vengeance of our God.” In other words, Jesus is hinting at the end of the story in his first public appearance.

If you were to go on through some of the following verses in Isaiah 61, you might be surprised to find additional parallels to the Beatitudes. At the end of 61:2, we see the purpose statement: “to comfort all who mourn.” Sounds like one of those beatitudes, right? And what about “Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will filled” compared to 61:3: “They will be called oaks of righteousness.” Even the final verse of the Beatitudes has its parallel. Compare “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven”[3] to Isaiah 61:7:

Instead of your shame

you will receive a double portion,

and instead of disgrace

you will rejoice in your inheritance.

And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,

and everlasting joy will be yours. [4]

If all this wasn’t enough for people to be perhaps a little shocked at the claim he was making about himself, Jesus puts the exclamation point on it as he’s closing the scroll: “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” If they would have had the “head exploding” emoji back then, he probably would have gotten a ton of those on his live stream when he said that.

Jesus’s opening sermon as recorded in Luke was not a bunch of braggadocio or promises made but never kept. Jesus lived out all that in his ministry by healing the blind and the lame; stopping the bleeding of a woman who’d had that condition for over 12 years; and exorcising the satanic demons of those so oppressed. Jesus was indeed the son of God, worthy of our praise, honor, and attention. He would show and has shown us a path of “least resistance” to draw closer to God. As we draw closer to him, we build up that strength of character that enables us to persevere even in the most difficult times. May the gospel of Christ bring you peace and assurance this week. Amen.

Pastor Scott Stocking, M.Div.

[1] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[2] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[3] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[4] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

November 20, 2024

How Near the End (Mark 13)

Filed under: 1 Thessalonians,Courage,Eschatology,Faith, Faithfulness,False Prophets,Mark Gospel of,Passion,Prayer,Spiritual Warfare — Scott Stocking @ 8:58 pm
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I preached this message on November 17, 2024, at Mount View Presbyterian Church in Omaha, NE.

“THE END IS NEAR!!!”

We heard that quite a bit in the last six months, didn’t we? Anybody miss that? What’s amazing is that once election day was over, we switched from doom-and-gloom political ads to “happy-happy-joy-joy” nonstop Christmas ads and Hallmark Christmas movies in a heartbeat. How is it that we as a culture can make such a radical switch from one extreme to another and not seemingly bat an eye?

I don’t have an answer to that question, and I’m sure no one else does either. If they think they do, run away! Jesus’s ministry in the gospels seems to be going the opposite direction of the way things have been going for us of late. Jesus’s ministry begins with joy. In John’s gospel, his first miracle is to turn the water into wine at the wedding in Cana. Matthew’s Gospel begins with the joy of the birth of the savior and the stories of how wise men and shepherds alike rejoiced at his birth. We see healings and miracles aplenty early in the gospel stories

But as Jesus got closer to his crucifixion, his teaching and actions began to get a little darker. Just after his triumphal entry in Mark 11, we see him overturning the tables of the moneychangers and throwing them out of his Father’s house. We see sharper confrontations with the Pharisees and Sadducees. The disciples begin to wonder why he’s talking about his death and about going away and sending another in his place. It culminates with talk of betrayal at the Last Supper and his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. The disciples are coming to the realization that what they thought would be an overthrow of Roman rule and reestablishment of the Jewish monarchy or theocracy wasn’t going to happen.

In our gospel text this morning, we’re about half-way through the last week of Jesus’s ministry on earth. Jesus begins to speak about the time of the end. We only get the introduction to his monologue about the end times: his warnings extend through the whole chapter. He begins by telling them not to be deceived. In other gospel accounts of this story, we find out that Satan will be hard at work in those days deceiving even the believers. He’s trying to get them to turn away from God.

If that’s not bad enough, he starts talking about wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famine, pestilence, death, and worse, if at all possible, and those things are just the beginning! Of course, he started all this by saying all the magnificent buildings in Jerusalem would be utterly destroyed, without one stone left on top of the other.

Before we look any further into this, I think it’s okay to jump to the end of the story, because most of us know what that is: “You will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory” (vs. 26). When I was in high school in the ‘70s, mom started leaving a bunch of Christian comic book tracts around the house for us to read. Now I’d grown up going to Sunday School here pretty regularly, but those tracts talked about the “second coming of Jesus.” If I had heard that in Sunday school here, it must have gone right over my head. That was kind of exciting to me. I wanted to know more. I read everything I could get my hands on about the subject. It ultimately led to me make, affirm, and take ownership of my own confession of faith.

Little did I know I was stepping into the middle of a huge debate about just how and when that second coming would take place. The predominant view of the tracts was that Jesus would “rapture” or “call up to heaven” the church at the beginning of a seven-year tribulation period alluded to in Daniel 7:25 and again at the end of his prophecy in 12:7. An alternate view said that Christians would not be raptured until half-way through this seven-year period. These were perhaps the most popular views among many Christians in that day.

The idea behind these is that the church would escape the tribulation of the end times, or at least the worst of it in the mid-tribulation perspective, because the thought was that the church had never in history experienced persecution. But a quick review of history would prove that belief false. The early church in Acts experienced persecution at the hands of the Jews at first. Initially, Rome tried to stay out of apparently. It wasn’t until Nero and the destruction of Jerusalem did that persecution reach its height early on. But eventually, Constantine would adopt Christianity as a “State” religion a couple centuries later.

The problem with the pretribulation view for some scholars is that it wasn’t ever articulated with any sort of clarity or consistency until the early 19th century, not even the so-called rapture. The early church fathers may have some snippets here and there that hint at it, but nothing solid. That’s not to say those hints weren’t accurate. The mid-tribulation view developed even later than that. It is possible that the church up to that point in history didn’t make a big deal about the “when” because they knew they didn’t know when. Jesus even admits in Mark 13:32 that he doesn’t know when. I think the only fair thing we can say about it is that we don’t know when and the early church didn’t really care when, even though many tried to discern the signs.

The view that was popular when I was in seminary is called the “amillennial” position. This view sees the “millennium,” or thousand-year binding of Satan in Revelation 20:2, as “code” for the reign of the church on earth. “Millennium” in that view simply represents a very long period of time. At the end of that thousand-year reign (figuratively speaking), Satan is released from those chains to “go out to deceive the nations.” Some think we might be in those times now.

Another support for that view is a biblical passage suggesting the rapture comes at the end of the tribulation period, between the sixth and the seventh (final) bowls of wrath in Revelation 16:15: Jesus says: “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.” It’s almost as if that time of persecution was intended to purify the church and prepare her as the bride of Christ in the final consummation of human history. That phrase “Look, I come like a thief,” is the language used in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5 (specifically, 5:2) to describe that moment when we are all “changed” in the twinkling of an eye into our heavenly bodies for the rapture of the living and the resurrection of the dead.

Other views exist but have limited exposure or are not widely accepted. But whatever you believe about if and when the rapture occurs or when the tribulation starts or anything like that has nothing to do with your eternal salvation. Jesus said we wouldn’t know the day or hour, so how can he judge us on such a thing? So what is the point of Mark and the other gospel writers of telling us about what is to come? I think we all know the answer to that: HOPE!

Getting back to Mark 13, Jesus goes on to say that he wants us to be ready for that day, and he gives us some warning signs to look out for it and tons of encouragement to endure it. After warning us about wars and rumors of wars (plenty of those going around these days) and other civil and political unrest, he tells us to be on our guard. It’s almost as if he’s talking about the apostle Paul’s experience (Acts 21:27ff; compare Acts 20:31 with Mark 13:9) in the next few verses. Paul was arrested in the temple, beaten by the Jews, and from there he was subjected to a series of trials before several Roman rulers because he appealed to Rome. One might say after his first three missionary journeys, he was embarking on a fourth missionary journey, this time as a prisoner of Rome. What a way to be a missionary, eh?

Paul may have been the exemplar of the persecution described in Mark 13:9–13, but he would not be the only one who would face trials, persecution, and even death. Legend has it that Peter was crucified upside down on a cross because he didn’t deserve to be crucified upright as Jesus was. In Acts 12:2, we know Herod had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. Many Christians through history would suffer similar fates for their profession of faith.

We are no longer immune to this in America, either. We’ve numerous examples of our own government going after Christians for their beliefs and for “standing guard” to protect children from influences we wouldn’t have thought possible a generation ago. Jesus warns us that there will be false messiahs everywhere (our political leaders are NOT messiahs!) trying to deceive us. We will see dreadful signs in the heavens. But in his mercy, the Lord will cut those days short. Is the end near? It’s closer than it was yesterday.

So again, regardless of how these events play out, we can be certain that they will play out at some point. So how do we get ready? If indeed we as Christians are going to experience the persecution, and Jesus’s statement in Mark 13:13 about “the one who stands firm to the end will be saved” seems to hint at that in some respects, then how can we get ourselves prepared for what will come?

My concern here is not to address the physical and material components of “getting ready.” We have an abundance of “preppers” out there that can speak to those things, assuming we will experience a significant part of the tribulation. My concern for us as believers is how do we get our souls and our friends and family ready for the return of Christ.

Jesus says in Mark 13:10 that “the gospel must first be preached to all nations.” That is the missionary function of the church. This doesn’t just mean that we send missionaries overseas. We’ve seen in the last few years that the world is coming to us. As concerning as some aspects of that might be, it does present us with opportunities to share the gospel with those who are truly hungry for that and who want a better life for themselves. But it also presents us with opportunities for more difficult tasks for those who have “certain skills” to address the more sinister evils of human trafficking and abuse. Our prayers to end such evils will not be ignored.

We should also continue to meet together as a body of believers and keep focused on God’s word as much as possible. The more we dig into God’s word, the more we will be able to recognize the signs of times, as Jesus would have us do. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:4–5: “But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.”

Paul goes on from there to encourage believers to put on the full armor of God in verse 8. Of course, he details the armor of God, that is, the armor that God himself is said to wear in the Old Testament, in Ephesians 6. He wants us to be able to stand in those last days and stand firmly. He doesn’t want us leaving anything to chance.

In our small corner of the world here at Mount View, we do have a vital and thriving ministry relevant to the size of the congregation. Rejoice in the opportunities you have to share the gospel with others, but don’t be afraid to look for or take on new opportunities as they may come your way. God would not send those opportunities your way if he didn’t think you could handle them. Whatever that is might be easy, or it might take some courage and a step of faith. But I’ve seen your faith and your dedication to this ministry, and I know you will find ways to help strengthen your faith and broaden your outreach to our little corner of the word and beyond. The end is getting nearer every day, and the urgency to share God’s word with those who need to hear it grows as well. Take courage! Have faith! Let us all stand firm as we await the blessed appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!

Pastor Scott Stocking, M.Div.

My views are my own.

September 1, 2024

World Mission Society Church of God (WSMCOG): What Do You Know?

Filed under: Biblical Studies,Ecclesiology,Eschatology,False Prophets — Scott Stocking @ 5:16 pm
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Just had an interesting 1/2-hour conversation with a couple WSMCOG members. I wasn’t buying what they were selling, and they didn’t leave me the one pamphlet I saw they had about the Mother of God. When I came in the house and told my stepdaughter the name of the group they represented, she immediately knew they were a cult, or at least had several accusations of cult-like behavior. I’ve included some links she shared with me. If you’ve had any experience with these folks, let me know please. I told them if I was checking them out, I’d appreciate it if they’d check my blog out. If you have information to the contrary of what these posts suggests, you’re welcome to share those in the comments. Thank you.

https://people.com/celebrity/ex-followers-say-south-korean-church-is-mind-control-cult/

@greatlightstudios

This is just a small example of some of the horrible things that happen inside the World Mission Society Church Of God cult and this is one reason why I continue to make videos to help those who have been negatively impacted by this group. Find my videos and interviews with former WMSCOG members on YouTube at “Answering the WMSCOG” #truestory #awareness #WorldMissionSocietyChurchofGod #wmscog #elohist #truth #bible #storytime

♬ original sound – Great Light Studios

https://www.examiningthewmscog.com/

https://youtube.com/@answeringthewmscog?si=xLK8i4k-v0cJFU3H

Pastor Scott Stocking, M.Div.

My views are my own.

June 1, 2024

Christianity and Nationalism: A Brief Survey of Biblical Passages

Filed under: 2 Chronicles,Biblical Studies,Ephesians,Eschatology,Government,Prayer,Proverbs,Romans,Spiritual Warfare — Scott Stocking @ 11:03 pm
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What is “Christian Nationalism”? Some might say it’s that this nation was founded by educated adults who, for the most part, believed in the God of the Bible, even if they did not hold a monolithic view of what his nature, personality, and characteristics were. Some may have been deists; some may have been predestinationists; others may have been open theists. Regardless, some have the view that our nation should “get back to its Christian roots,” that our laws should reflect the moral and ethical principles defined in the Christian Scriptures. But apart from a mention of “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” and the phrase “endowed by their Creator” in the Declaration of Independence, that document doesn’t mention anything about any church, worship, or religion. We never see our founding fathers arguing too much about specific religions or religious viewpoints, at least not in our founding documents.

But that doesn’t mean their ideas about freedom, the free will of man to determine his own destiny apart from political or governmental overreach didn’t come from the Bible. It’s entirely possible that such a worldview was (and is) an underlying assumption supporting the principles of freedom they put forth. Many of the founding fathers had a classical education and had read some of the great works of Greeks and Romans, especially from the last half of the first millennium before Christ and a few hundred years after that. That would have included an education in Scripture as well, because the Greek and Roman material provided the sociocultural background for the growth and expansion of the early church. Their ideas about the best form of government to establish came from a wide variety of religious and secular sources full of stories about the ups and downs of ancient democracies, republics, monarchies, and so forth.

Another view that might be seen as Christian Nationalism is a little more generic. It’s not one that would seek to impose a strictly Christian or Judeo-Christian viewpoint be a test for government service, but one that expects a government and its servants to live up to the principles it has outlined in its founding documents. If the government says people should be free to worship as they choose and to associate with those they agree with, and for that matter free to not associate with those with whom they disagree if they so choose, then the expectation would be that the government should distance itself from any kind of religious disputes or regulations and truly allow people to be free in that regard. The moment the government says “You can’t express that view,” “You can’t associate with one another,” or “You must allow your enemies and detractors to associate with you,” they have crossed the line, and the people whom they govern have every right to call the government out on such interference.

I think for the vast majority of Christians, however, Christian Nationalism means you recognize that you are both a citizen of heaven the heavenly kingdom (John 18:36; Ephesians 2:19; Philippians 3:20) and a resident in the earthly kingdom (John 17:6–18, esp. vv. 11 & 16–18) doing your best to live out your heavenly purpose in the eyes of God. Each of us is responsible for our own salvation and our own relationship to God, but we also want to share the hope of Christ and eternal life with those around us. We have influence one person at a time. This is why Jesus said in John 17:9: “I pray for them [believers]. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.” Jesus is most concerned about individual hearts, not about a world that will pass away.

Even though we live in a world that will one day pass away (some of us may be thinking that will happen sooner than later at this point), we still have concerns about the larger issues of oppression and corruption, a fair justice system, and care for the indigent and infirm, just as Jesus did in his day. While Jesus never once criticized the Roman government, he was not afraid to speak to Pilate or Herod in the hours leading up to his crucifixion. The most popular thing Jesus ever said about the Roman government was his response when asked about paying taxes: “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Here’s the question for believers, then: How do we give back to Caesar while we’re still citizens in an earthly kingdom? I want to spend the rest of this article looking at Bible passages that have to do with our relationship and responsibilities with government and justice.

Old Testament

To lay a foundation, let me first start with Proverbs. While the Proverbs are not commands, they still reflect profound truths about life on earth. Proverbs 20:23[1] says, “The Lord detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him.” This is primarily a reference to economic transactions, but the general principle behind it is to treat everyone fairly, to apply the same standard regardless of any social, economic, ethnic, or religious background. It’s no accident that “Lady Justice” wears a blindfold and holds a scale: that image comes from the underlying principle of this passage. When we see an injustice, it is up to Christians, and indeed all decent people who have a sense of fairness, to speak out in opposition to it and do what they can to seek its correction.

Perhaps the most popular verse that Christians like to turn to is 2 Chronicles 7:14, which is one line from the prophecy (vv. 12b–22) the Lord gave to Solomon after he finished building the temple and the royal palace. The Lord promised that after a time of catastrophe,[2] “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Obviously, we cannot underemphasize the power of prayer for a nation, both individually and corporately wherever a body of believers is gathered. But the word to Solomon at this time was for him to walk faithfully as well. In that context, they were primarily governed by God’s decrees and laws.

In the American context, we would expect the rulers of America to abide by the decrees and laws on the books as well, otherwise, there will be trouble for those who don’t. We can already see, for example, how America is becoming “a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples” because our leaders are not following and upholding the long-held tenets of the U.S. Constitution. It really doesn’t matter whether we think the Constitution contains religious or Judeo-Christian principles: the Constitution is the foundation for our laws and rights as citizens, but if it’s not upheld, the leaders should expect trouble and blowback. We can see the warnings of this prophecy beginning to manifest themselves even today. There is nothing wrong with Christians using the power of their voice in a society that claims to respect the right to freedom of speech to call for political or spiritual “righteousness” in their leadership.

We see the prophecy of 2 Chronicles fulfilled in the story of Isaiah and Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 32; par. Isaiah 37), where they prayed to God for deliverance from Sennacherib’s siege. God heard their prayer and wiped out all 185,000 soldiers with his mighty hand. I’m not saying that’s how God would handle it in every situation, but if we don’t pray and do our part, would God think we’re not really invested in and reliant on his mighty power? Ephesians 1:19 says the power we have as believers “is the same as his mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead.” That power, at least in large part, is represented by the Holy Spirit in our lives. We can be bold because we have that power. Let us not shrink back!

New Testament

As I said in the introduction, Jesus never once offers any commentary, positive or negative, on the form of Roman government he was living under. He’s just not concerned about that because that’s not his focus. His focus is establishing the kingdom of God. That is evidenced by his statement of giving back to Caesar what is his (Luke 20:25). In other words, he fully supported paying taxes. It is interesting, then, that just a few chapters later, in Luke 23:2, the mob accuses Jesus of opposing payment of taxes to Caesar! The old dipsy-do flip-a-roo, as Dan Bongino says. Some people might see Jesus’s response to Pilate in that setting as off-handed snark: Pilate asks Jesus if he’s the king of the Jews, and Jesus replies, “You have said so,” as if he’s accepting Pilate’s confirmation of that grant of royalty!

Before looking at Paul’s interaction with Roman rulers in Acts, I want to look at the book of Romans itself, namely the passage in Romans 13 where Paul directly addresses what the believers’ attitude should be toward governing authorities. Here’s 13:1–7 in its entirety:

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.

6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. [3]

The beauty of the American republic (and it is a republic, not a democracy according to the Constitution) is that our public representatives govern with the consent of the governed. As such, the founding fathers intended to be a mutual sharing of this power for which the people, if they so choose, could withdraw their consent at any time: the power to elect in most cases resides with the people, while the power to enact laws lies with the representatives so elected. The Constitution also states that the people in each State do NOT elect the president directly by virtue of the aggregate popular vote across all States, but that they elect electors dedicated to vote for the candidate who, in 48 States at least, wins the popular vote in each State.

By the time Christ was born, the Roman republic had been overthrown in favor of the autocracy of the Caesars. Rome still had the Senate as an artifact of the republic, but it had no real representative power. So when Paul writes Romans, he’s writing about an autocratic government under the rule of Caesar with regional governors or kings established in various localities. We see this hierarchy in the latter part of the book of Acts as he goes through his appeal process to Caesar.

In Paul’s day, then, Roman rulers feared wrongdoers because they could cause disruption in the empire. But they had no fear of the population generally because their tenures were not necessarily dependent on the consent of the governed. But as we’ll see when we look at Acts, they did have some fear of Roman citizens, who had special rights in Roman law, especially a right to a fair trial, so I believe we can offer a caveat here on Paul’s words: rulers and their enforcers do seem to have a certain level of fear of potentially mistreating a citizen. Having said that, let’s look at Paul’s interactions with Roman law enforcement and rulers in the book of Acts.

Acts: Paul’s Defense

The story of Paul’s arrest and subsequent appeals begins in Acts 21:27, where some Jews have Paul arrested by stirring up the crowd against him with, you guessed it, false charges that he had brought a Gentile into the temple. The Jews dragged Paul out of the temple and began to assault him with the intent to kill him. The Romans came and arrested Paul, not necessarily because of the false accusations, but because the Romans didn’t like unruly mobs and riots. Since Paul appeared to be at the center of the controversy, Paul got arrested, shackled, and carried (literally) off to the barracks amidst the riotous mob.

After a brief attempt to relay his conversion story to the angry mob, the crowd decided they still didn’t like him and resumed their calls to have him executed. At that point, the commander had had enough and ordered that Paul be flogged and interrogated to figure out why he was the main attraction at the riot. It is at this point that things get interesting with respect to Roman law and law enforcement, and we learn quite a bit about how Rome viewed citizens’ rights. Here’s the exchange from Acts 22:23–29:

23 As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24 the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. 25 As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”

26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.”

27 The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”

“Yes, I am,” he answered.

28 Then the commander said, “I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.”

“But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.

29 Those who were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains. [4]

Paul knew his rights as a citizen of Rome, and he “turned the other cheek”[5] by claiming his Roman citizenship and thus de-escalating the situation. He knew he should never have been put in chains in the first place. He also knew Rome shouldn’t flog him unless he’d been found guilty in a fair trial. He wasn’t about to let himself get pummeled by cruel Roman soldiers. We shouldn’t let ourselves get pummeled or walked all over either. We must stand strong and claim our rights.

The commander and his subordinates were “alarmed” (φοβέομαι phobeomai, from which we get “phobia”) that his soldiers had put Paul in chains. The commander knew he could get in serious trouble for that. The same could be said for the interrogators. They withdrew immediately once they heard he was a natural-born citizen of Rome. They could smell the scandal brewing and wanted nothing to do with it. Politicians today are so drunk with power and corruption that they’ve lost their fear of the electorate. Maybe it’s time to change that, nonviolently of course.

After that, Paul was taken to Felix, but Felix took his own sweet time interviewing Paul and trying to figure out what to do with him. At the end of Acts 24, we find out that Felix is interested in Paul because he was hoping Paul would bribe him. Paul, as a citizen, was in prison for at least two more years after that, but was able to have visitors to care for his needs. Felix is replaced by Porcius Festus in Acts 24:27, who seems to want to resolve this situation quickly.

The Jews wanted Festus to bring Paul back to Jerusalem, because they were still committed to ambushing and killing Paul, but instead, Festus invited them to Caesarea where Paul was being held. It is in this exchange where we see Paul again assert his Roman citizenship rights. After more than two years, he must be frustrated with the slow progress of his case, so he’s anxious to move on as well. Here’s what Paul says after Festus asked Paul if he wanted to go back to Jerusalem to stand trial with the Jews:

10 Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. 11 If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”

12 After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!” [6]

Paul is done playing the Jews’ game at this point. His appeal to Caesar essentially puts an end to the Jews plot to kill him because he becomes a protected prisoner at that point; he knows that they are obligated to get him to Rome alive to make his appeal to the Autocrat Caesar, who is also chief (only) justice of the Roman supreme court as well. Through all of this, Paul never gives up, never gives in, and ALWAYS asserts his rights as a citizen.

Paul has one more appearance before a Roman ruling official, King Agrippa, whom Paul speaks quite convincingly to in his defense of his ministry and the gospel. King Agrippa says to Festus at the end of Acts 26: “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.” In other words, the favorable ruling of a “lower court” was not sufficient to set Paul free. There was no escaping Paul’s appearance before Caesar, which is probably what Paul wanted anyway. He had availed himself of an incredible opportunity to present the Gospel to the highest levels of Roman government.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, the book of Acts ends before we find out what happened to Paul in Rome. But several principles of the believer dealing with government stand out here.

First, for American Christians who live in a society with (supposedly) guaranteed rights, Paul demonstrates that we can and should avail ourselves of those rights to affect our preservation. We should not simply give up those rights or become doormats for the oppressors, but we should be bold in defending our rights and ensure that the government knows they have something to lose if they unfairly or prejudicially deprive us of those rights. We should be the strong ones who take that stand. Otherwise, this would empower the government even more to continue that corruption and take advantage of even “the least of these” who may not have the means, the courage, or the wherewithal to fight back. After all, aren’t “the least of these” special to Jesus? If we fail them, we fail Jesus.

Second, make sure you understand all your rights afforded you by the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the other amendments, and the statutes and ordinances in your own State and town and wherever else you may travel. If you feel like someone is unfairly targeting you about some issue, you ALWAYS have the right to an attorney; and if you’re accused of something, exercise your Miranda rights to have an attorney present if authorities are questioning or interrogating you. Don’t allow warrantless searches of your property or even warrantless “interrogation” about others. Give the government a nonviolent reason to be afraid of how you might respond if your rights are violated.

Third, as much as you can, take every opportunity to share the gospel with those who need to hear or especially those who want to hear. Consider that sometimes, the person you’re talking to may not be the only one listening. Someone else may hear your testimony or message and be moved by it. Keep yourself “prayed up” as well. Make sure you’re faithful with church and group attendance; Bible reading, study, and meditation; and your family and marriage commitments as well. DON’T LOSE YOUR FAMILY!! You’ll need them for support in the tough times ahead.

Finally, much of what is going on in America right now seems to have a spiritual warfare component: good vs. evil; right vs. wrong. “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (Ephesians 6:10–11). I have already written quite a bit on spiritual warfare,[7] but the important thing to realize is that the “armor of God,” if you look up the references to the individual items in the Old Testament, always refers to armor that God himself wears (figuratively, of course). It’s not from some giant spiritual storehouse; it’s God’s own armor. Knowing you have that defensive protection can give you even greater assurance as you speak boldly in his name.

I’m sure there is much more I could say from a biblical perspective on this matter, but I trust this gives the reader enough to go on and stay motivated to defend your freedoms, your family, and your faith. As for the title “Christian Nationalism,” remember it’s just a title the media likes to use and distort to make Christians look bad. Love your country but remember that your first allegiance is always to God. Peace to all of you, and may God bless the United States of America!

My opinions are my own.

Pastor Scott Stocking, M.Div.

[1] See also Leviticus 19:15, 35–36; Job 31:5–8; Proverbs 11:1, 16:10–15; Ezekiel 45:9–12; Hosea 12:7; Amos 8:5; Micah 6:11.

[2] Although only three catastrophes are mentioned (drought, locusts, and plague), these are merely examples given of natural catastrophes akin to the plagues on Egypt and, by extension, any socio-political catastrophes as well.

[3] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[4] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[5] For a discussion about turning the other cheek as an effort to de-escalate a situation, see my article Getting Naked for Jesus: A Lesson on Loving Your Enemy

[6] The New International Version. Acts 25:10–12; emphasis mine. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[7] Spiritual Warfare in Ephesians; Helmet of Salvation; The Lord’s Prayer: Deliver Us from the Evil One.

December 6, 2023

“Bones” in the Bible: Why I Do NOT Want to Be Cremated at Death

Filed under: 1 Corinthians,2 Kings,Biblical Studies,Creation,Eschatology,Exodus,Ezekiel,Genesis,Hebrew,Jeremiah,John Gospel of,Leviticus,New Testament,Old Testament,Passion,Resurrection,Thanatology (Death),Theology, Biblical — Scott Stocking @ 6:15 pm
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Watch the related video on Rumble here: Why I Don’t Want to Be Cremated: A Personal Biblical Perspective, or Facebook here: Why I Don’t Want to Be Cremated: A Personal Biblical Perspective.

The following article is long overdue, at least from my perspective, because I’ve been stewing on it as I get older and must make decisions about the disposition of my own body upon death. The question I’ve been stewing over is whether cremation is an appropriate final disposition for those who consider themselves Christ followers.

If we only look at the obvious difference between cremation and traditional burial, that is, the rapid reduction of the body and bones to ashes versus the slow decay of the embalmed body over time in a tomb or coffin, one might think the cremation is perhaps more environmentally friendly, and there are certainly antagonists to traditional burial ceremonies.[1] But as with all things that relate to our spiritual lives and disposition, this temporary habitation we call Earth will not survive the final judgment and is thus a secondary concern to the spiritual realities.

Now before I go into my analysis, I want to emphasize that my conclusions should NOT be considered a theological tenet, as the Bible has no explicit “Thou Shalts” or “Thou Shalt Nots” regarding the disposition of the bodies of those who have gone before us. After looking at all the Scriptures that mention “bones” (since that is ultimately the difference in what remains after the different means of disposition), I have discovered that most of those passages are anecdotal at best, but they do seem to reveal a broader worldview about the disposition of the dead. My intention here is not to criticize or condemn those who have chosen cremation for themselves or loved ones, because there is no ultimate biblical basis to do so.

My main purpose here, then, is to let my family know in no uncertain terms what my wishes are for the disposition of my body. I absolutely do NOT want to be cremated. After studying these passages, as you will see in my analysis below, I believe the Judeo-Christian worldview (as well as that of several other Middle Eastern, northern African, and southern European cultures represented in the Scriptures[2]) has a high regard, even sacred view, of the bones of their dead on the one hand. The corollary to this view is that keeping the bones of the dead either intact, or at least collected in an ossuary, sends a signal that there was hope of a resurrection, much as the Egyptians mummified their dead because they believed they had their own journey in the afterlife.

On the other hand, when judgment is involved, especially on the enemies of God’s people, the desecration of their bones serves as insult added to injury. A corollary to this is that the desecration or total destruction (crushing, breaking, etc.) of the bones in conjunction with that declaration of judgment sends a signal that there is no hope of resurrection or redemption of those so judged.

Setting the Tone With the “Clone” of the Bone

Of course, the first reference we have to a bone is in the creation story in Genesis 2:21–22. The Hebrew word for rib (צֵלָע ṣē·lāʿ) in this passage is typically a generic word for “side,” but this is the only time it is understood as “rib,” perhaps based on Adam’s “bone of my bone” (עֶ֚צֶם מֵֽעֲצָמַ֔י ‘eṣem mē‘ăṣămay) comment in vs. 23. I think there is a greater significance to this than just a poetic statement about Adam’s new female human companion, Eve. Without getting too technical, the bone contains marrow, which is responsible for creating a constant supply of red and white blood cells as well as platelets in the body as those cells do their part to carry oxygen, fight infection, and promote healing, respectively.[3] God apparently had distinct medical reasons to use a bone for such a purpose.

If, as Leviticus 17:11 says, “the life of a creature is in the blood,” then the “life” of the blood is in the bones. This would make a bone, with some flesh attached, the perfect primitive source for God to “clone” another human being. Another thing to consider here: only males carry both X and Y sex genes. As such, to create another human of a different gender in the way God did would require a male donor. God could create a female from a male bone, but could he create a male from a female bone? I guess the answer to that questions depends on whether you think God would respect the natural order he created. This doesn’t take away the miracle of creating an adult human being out of a rib. But I do believe it sheds some light on how important God considers the human body even after death. One final thought here: our DNA can survive in our bodies long after we’re dead even with standard embalming practices.[4] DNA can also still be recovered from burnt or cremated remains in the bones or teeth, but not for quite as long a period.[5]

I believe Genesis 2:21–23 confirms, anecdotally at least, why the bones of a person are considered sacred: they constantly produce what the body needs to maintain life when not hindered by disease. We don’t really hear about bones again in Genesis until the very end of chapter 50, where Joseph insists that the Israelites must carry his bones out of Egypt when they return to the Promised Land. We are reminded of that promise in Exodus 13:19 when Moses ensures that the bones of Joseph are among the spoils of the exodus and again in Joshua 24:32 toward the end of the conquering phase in the Promised Land when we learn that Joseph’s bones were buried at Shechem. In the New Testament, the final mention of bones is found in Hebrews 11:22, when we’re again reminded that Joseph’s bones were to be removed from Egypt.

Elsewhere in the Torah, we see that the Passover lamb was not to have any bones broken (Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12). The bones could be separated at the joints, but the individual bones themselves were not to be broken. In fact, all sacrificial animals had to be “without blemish,” which included not having any broken bones. This was true of Jesus as well, as prophesied in Psalm 34:20 and fulfilled in John 19:36.

Bones and the Resurrection

The connection of bones to a resurrection motif is found in 2 Kings 13:21, where some Israelites, faced with a band of marauders, hastily threw a body into the tomb of Elisha instead finishing the burial, and the man came to life when his body touched Elisha’s bones. Perhaps the most stunning connection to the resurrection, though, is the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37. The Lord commanded Ezekiel to prophesy to the dead bones, and they “reconstituted” themselves into an entire army. Another word of prophecy filled them with the breath of life. The conclusion of that event still speaks to us today, especially when we feel defeated by the world: “These bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’” O, that we would have faith to allow God to renew us with his mighty breath!

There is an interesting translation issue with Ecclesiastes 11:5 that may tie into the sacredness of the bones. Two recent translations have the following:

ESV: 5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.[6]

NRSV: 5 Just as you do not know how the breath comes to the bones in the mother’s womb, so you do not know the work of God, who makes everything.[7]

These are very literal translations of the passage, and the translators see a causal connection between the הָר֔וּחַ (harûaḥ wind/spirit/breath) and the כַּעֲצָמִ֖ים (bones). However, most other translations (as the NIV below) would seem to respect the zāqēp̄ qāṭōn (:) accent over הָר֔וּחַ, which indicates the main break in the first half of a Hebrew sentence:

5 As you do not know the path of the wind,
     or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
     the Maker of all things.[8]

As such, as much as the NRSV and ESV translations of Ecclesiastes 11:5 may hint at an enhanced sacredness of the bone, I don’t think the Hebrew text supports their translation. This does not, however, negate the fact that “bones” is a metonymy for the precious human fetus.

Other signs of the sacredness of human bones would include Numbers 19:16–18, where touching bones out in the open wilderness caused one to be unclean. Israel apparently had a special class of people (“gravediggers”) who were responsible for handling the bones of the dead, especially in a battlefield (Ezekiel 39:15).

“Bones” in the Poets and Prophets

The poetic and prophetic books in the OT have several figurative uses of the word for “bone.” In many cases, it signifies the inner self or the inner soul, sometimes in a positive sense (Jeremiah 23:9), but many times reflecting angst or pain in the deepest part of our souls. Other times bones visible in the malnourished frames of a starving people reflect the oppression or severe trials of the people (Job 33:21; Proverbs 17:22). Proverbs 15:30 and 16:24 speak of the importance of how good news can strengthen our “bones,” our inner self. Even though the figurative uses of the word “bone” don’t have much bearing on the concept of the disposition of one’s earthly body, this still shows the intimate connection we have with our inner self. I’ll save further discussion of this for another time.

One other aspect of how the OT treats the subject of actual human bones does, however, have a huge bearing on the cremation vs. burial debate. Several times in the OT, we see the refusal to bury human bones (Jeremiah 8:1) or the burning of human bones was used as a means of desecration, shaming, or cursing. In 1 Kings 13:2, there is a prophecy about Josiah burning human bones on pagan altars, which was fulfilled in 2 Kings 23:14–20 (see also 2 Chronicles 34:5), which defiled the pagan altars. I can’t help but make the comparison here to a common practice with cremation: scattering the ashes, typically in some memorable location. The latter practice, however, is not typically done with the intent, but more on this below.

What Is Cremation?

Cremation doesn’t consume the bones. A full skeleton remains after cremation, so the bones are pulverized (“cremains”) such that the whole “collection” fits into the urn or other chosen container.[9] Given what the Bible says about the problem of human bones scattered on the ground (e.g., Ezekiel 6:5), I personally would have to think long and hard about scattering someone’s ashes. But I emphasize that I am only making an educated guess here, not promulgating a theological tenet.[10]

Even with the cremains, there still may be recognizable bone or tooth fragments, so imagine how you might feel hiking in some scenic location and finding a couple partially charred fragments of human teeth. I can understand the sentiment involved in scattering a loved one’s ashes, but how might others feel about that? I can’t answer the question, but I can’t avoid asking the question either: Is scattering someone’s ashes a desecration in the view of the Bible or the biblical worldview? I think people need to decide that for themselves, because as I said at the beginning of the article, there is no “Thus saith the Lord” on that question. My mom had my stepdad cremated a couple years ago, but she just recently had the small wooden casket, if that’s what you call it, buried in his prepurchased burial plot, so his cremains are sealed in one place.

“Bones” and Resurrection in the NT

On the whole, we can learn much more about the significance of how human bones are treated in the OT, but I want to turn to the one significant reference to bones in the NT to wrap up this study. Before looking at this reference, however, I want to cite a couple passages that will help support my argument. John 12:24 says, “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” Chapter 15 in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians gives a detailed description of his view of the resurrection. I would encourage you to read that whole chapter, but I think it will do to cite 1 Corinthians 15:42–49:

42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.

If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.[11]

The two passages above both suggest the idea that burial is akin to “planting” a seed. My question is, then, to what degree should we take that as a metaphor? And if it is a metaphor, to whatever degree, what is the spiritual (or physical?) reality behind it that makes it meaningful? What role do the bones play? Remember what I said above about the purpose bones serve in the body. They create life-giving blood. You can also extract DNA from the bones long after the flesh has begun to deteriorate. Add to that the reverence shown to bones in the OT that I documented above, and I think I can make a pretty strong case that our bones are the “seed” of the spiritual body Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 15.

Doubts? Look no further than the accounts of Jesus’s resurrection appearances and what he says about himself. What does he say to his disciples at his first appearance?

39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.

Of course, Jesus had just recently died, so there was no visible deterioration to his body, but he still apparently showed the scars of his crucifixion. Was Jesus’s body the “spiritual” body that Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 15? Suppose for a moment Jesus had been cremated? Would his resurrection body have still showed the scars? It’s hard to say. I do believe we will recognize one another in heaven, but we have no way of knowing on this side of eternity what that might look like save for the resurrection appearance of Jesus. Jesus’s whole body was resurrected, and I would expect my remains would be resurrected as well. I believe my coffin will be empty at the resurrection.

Final Questions

Before I get to my conclusion, I want to include here several questions that occurred to me after I finished writing the main article. I let things stew sometimes to see if any other issues arise, and I thought some of these question worth asking, even if they could never be answered. As I said above, I believe the preservation of the bones was a sign of the hope of the resurrection. But after considering the two NT comparisons to “planting,” I’m wondering: Is there something about the bones that may “facilitate” the resurrection in God’s economy?

If the bones contain DNA long after a person’s death, is there something about God’s design in creation where he might use the person’s DNA to facilitate the resurrection? You might think that’s silly but hear me out. If God is all-powerful that he could resurrect us with just a word, would he not also be all-efficient? Does God in fact use what he already created (i.e., our DNA, our skeletal remains) to facilitate the resurrection process, that is, as the “seed that dies”? Does he speak a word and our DNA is “supercharged,” so to speak, to renew our bodies into their eternal spiritual form, similar to how he created Eve from Adam’s rib? Or would our eternal bodies even have DNA? It’s not clear whether Jesus’s post-resurrection appearances are in his final heavenly body or if he’ll be transformed upon his ascension. But what does seem to be clear is that the graves of the faithful will be empty after the resurrection.

Conclusion

My conclusion here is a very simple one. The Jews (and other cultures) believed that preserving the bones was a means of preserving one’s hope for a resurrection, and that worldview carries over to the NT and thus the Christian faith. (In the case of the Egyptians, it was belief in a whole new journey in the afterlife. NOTE: I’m not saying I believe in Egyptian cosmology; I’m only saying that their view of burial and the afterlife is not at odds with the Hebrew worldview.) I have a strong hope in that resurrection, and I want my dead body left intact as an enduring sign of that hope.

I do want to be sensitive here to those who have had loved ones cremated. If God created Adam from the dust of the earth, then I believe he can resurrect us from whatever the final state of our bodies is, whether they are ashes scattered on a mountainside, a corpse at the bottom of the ocean, or a body in a buried coffin. But for me, and again, I’m not claiming this is any sort of gospel truth, the fact that God can resurrect us from ashes doesn’t necessarily mean I should have my body reduced to ashes and pulverized bone fragments. I prefer to follow the pattern of the ancients and keep my body intact in its own coffin. Please don’t cremate me; I don’t want to take a chance that I’ve interrupted God’s divine design for resurrection.

My opinions are my own.

Pastor Scott Stocking, M.Div.

[1] Environmental Impact of Burial Funerals, What Funeral Homes Don’t Want | Safe Passage (safepassageurns.com) Accessed 12/03/23.

[2] For example, see Journey to the afterlife: mummification in ancient Egypt | Reading Museum Accessed 12/06/23.

[3] Bone Marrow: What it is & Why it is Important (clevelandclinic.org) Accessed 12/03/2023.

[4] How Long Does DNA Last? – Investigative Sciences Journal Accessed 12/06/2023.

[5] Is DNA Destroyed During Cremation? (knowyourdna.com) Accessed 12/06/2023.

[6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2016. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

[7] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. 1989. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

[8] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[9] Cremation: The Process Of Reducing The Human Body To Bone Fragments – FuneralDirect Accessed 12/05/23.

[10] The death of Saul and the disposition of his body should be mentioned here. Saul’s body (and the bodies of his associates) were hung from a wall, so there probably had already been some significant deterioration of their bodies by the time they were recovered. The bodies were burned, most likely because of the deterioration and the difficulty of trying to embalm the bodies in such a condition. But the bones were still buried, twice (1 Samuel 31:12–13, then moved to the tomb of Saul’s father, 2 Samuel 21:12–14).

[11] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

November 12, 2023

Are You Ready for His Return? (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18; Matthew 25:1–13)

Filed under: 1 Thessalonians,Amos,Biblical Studies,Chronology,Eschatology,Matthew Gospel of,New Testament,Resurrection — Scott Stocking @ 6:33 pm
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Click the “Play” triangle above to hear the message preached 11/12/23 at Mt. View Presbyterian Church, Omaha, NE.

High school was a very important time for me with respect to my spiritual life. A lot happened in those three years in our family, the most important of which was a change I had begun to see in my mom. Without going into the “why” of what led to her transformation, she got connected with a regular weekly Bible study with other women, and I noticed a positive change in her spirit and her demeanor. That change was amplified by her sharing her renewed faith in Christ with the rest of her family, primarily by leaving little “Jack Chick” comic book tracts around the house for anyone to read.

Many of them were rather simple: short stories about someone looking for God or discovering their need for forgiveness or reconciliation, or even encouraging “right living.” But amongst those more traditional evangelistic topics, there were a few tracts that spoke about the second coming of Christ. That was a totally new concept to me, or so it seemed. I had been pretty regular in my Sunday School attendance here at Mt. View as a kid, and if we ever talked about the second coming of Jesus in Sunday School up through my junior high years, it never stuck. But now I was curious, especially because my mom had a new testimony about her own renewal.

The topic of Jesus’s second coming was the spark that started the fire for my own spiritual renewal, eventually leading up to the summer between my sophomore and junior years at my aunt’s ranch in Wyoming, where I discovered she had a whole collection of these tracts, and several copies of each to boot. That was the summer, summer of 1979, that I made my faith my own. I understood that I had a decision to make to finish the work my parents started when they had me baptized as an infant here, dedicating themselves along with the congregation to raise me in the faith.

Now I’ll admit that, in the first two years after that summer, I made the mistake that the late great preaching professor Fred Craddock warned about: I got so caught up in the second coming of Christ that I ignored his first coming and everything that went along with that. I nearly undid my renewal because I hadn’t focused on growing in my knowledge of Jesus and what he wanted from my life until that day would come. I don’t think I was alone in that, either. I remember finding a bookmark in the Zondervan store that said, “Don’t be so heavenly minded you’re no earthly good.” That kind of hit home for me.

Our passages today bring back a ton of memories from that time in my life. The world is a much different place now than it was 44 years ago. Many so-called prophecy experts or eschatologists of the day thought Russia was the evil empire, Magog of the North from Ezekiel’s prophecies, and China and Iran (remember the hostage crisis?) were the manifestation of “the Kings from the East” of Revelation 16. But it wasn’t bad enough then. Today, it seems we’ve come full circle, only this time it appears to be much worse. Some of the same players have come back to the forefront again, and we should heed the signs of the times. Let’s take a look at our passages today.

Let’s start with our 1 Thessalonians 4 passage that we read this morning. The passage describes what is popularly known as the “rapture,” even though that word never appears in the Bible. It describes a time somewhere in the future (at least from Paul’s perspective, and in line with Jesus’s own words from Matthew 24) when the world will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds, resurrecting his followers first, then “catching up” his followers who are alive to rescue them from the final judgment of the earth.

The first couple verses of 1 Thessalonians 5, if I may borrow them from next week’s passage, tell us that day will come “like a thief in the night.” Now we may be tempted to think that day will be a day like any other day in our lives. As I started writing this section of my sermon, a commercial came on for David Jeremiah’s new book on the rapture, with video clips of people going about their daily lives just “disappearing,” with their clothes on (which I thought was bit odd), with nothing spectacular going on around them. But one of the Old Testament passages for today that we didn’t read, Amos 5:18ff, paints a very different picture of that day, and actually warns against being too excited about its coming:

18 Woe to you who long

for the day of the Lord!

Why do you long for the day of the Lord?

That day will be darkness, not light.

19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion

only to meet a bear,

as though he entered his house

and rested his hand on the wall

only to have a snake bite him.

20 Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light—

pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?[1]

If you’ve studied this topic in the past, you’re probably well aware of the differing opinions about just exactly when this “rapture” happens in the whole scheme of the “end times” and the tribulation. I think this passage from Amos gives a hint about when that might happen if we put some other pieces of the puzzle together as well. I don’t want to dwell on this too much, because as Jesus says, no one knows the day or the hour when that’s going to happen. But we should be wise to the signs of the time and be able to discern at least the beginnings of that final era of our mortal history.

For example, some people think that what Jesus foretold in Matthew 24 has already happened, because he says, “This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” The question is, does “this generation” refer to the people he’s speaking to, or is it more broadly referring to the period of the Church? Those who believe it refers to the people he’s speaking to are typically called “Preterists,” which is just a fancy word for historical. For them, the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70 marks the final point of judgment on the nation of Israel, and that is what is described in graphic imagery in the Book of Revelation. No rapture for us then! In this view, the age we’re living in now represents the rule of God’s kingdom on earth through the imperfect church, and there will still be a final reckoning of this history when perfection comes for good.

Others think the rapture will come at the beginning or half-way through the tribulation. Some take the phrase “time, times, and half a time” in Daniel 7:25 to say that’s three-and-a-half years, half of the seven years Ezekiel mentions about the last days in 39:9. But if you look a little closer at the Daniel 7 passage, you’ll see that God’s people will be “delivered” into the hands of the enemy for three-and-a-half years before being released. This leads to the very popular “mid-tribulation” speculation about when the rapture will happen. That’s the interpretation I learned as a teenager. But if you’ve been held captive by the evil in the world for three-and-a-half years, things probably aren’t going to be “business as usual” if and when you’re freed. It is nice to think that God wouldn’t want us going through the worst of the tribulation, but I don’t think things will be “bad enough” yet by the half-way point.

The phrase “thief in the night” that both Jesus and Paul use about the second coming of Christ is found in one other place in the New Testament, and it might surprise you where. It’s found in Revelation 16:15, where Jesus says of himself: “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.[2]” Now in case you haven’t read Revelation in a while, Jesus makes that statement after the penultimate sixth bowl of wrath is poured out on the Euphrates. Remember, the sequence of sevens is seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls, so if these things represent a linear history, we’re almost at the very end of this final judgment. This begs the question: will Christians still be around through all these judgments up until the point of the final battle? What does the next verse of chapter 16 say? “Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.[3]” Where is Armageddon, which is Hebrew for the Valley of Megiddo? It’s about halfway between Tel Aviv and the border with Lebanon, just north of the border with the West Bank. And immediately after that, the seventh and final bowl of wrath is poured into the air. Things that make you go “Hmmm.” I base my own personal views on the end times on this then, that the rapture doesn’t happen pre- or mid-tribulation, but at the bitter end of the world to save us from the devastating final wrath and judgment of God. That is our hope.

Now again, I want to emphasize that I don’t have any special knowledge here about these things. I’m just doing some investigative work on how the pieces of the puzzle might fit together and making an educated guess. I’m not trying to make any predictions about when anything is going to happen in the future; I’m just putting forth the facts about what Scripture says, and letting the chips fall where they may. I’m not saying I’m right and anyone who disagrees with me is wrong. I’m not that arrogant about my understanding of the timeline. But the point I’m making is that you can see how this Day of the Lord might be a dark and gloomy time as Amos prophesied. It is kind of scary, but we know for sure that God will win in the end, and in that grand thought and fact, we put our hope.

This is where our Matthew 25 reading comes in. Although on the surface this appears to be a parable about any old wedding banquet, it’s actually a parable about the final wedding banquet we’ll have in heaven when the Church is made the bride of Christ. Because the virgins don’t know when the bridegroom is coming, and they know he could come in the middle of the night, it’s important for them to be ready and have oil for their lamps so when he arrives, they can enter straightaway. If they’re not ready, they’re not getting in. There’s no turning around at that point and trying to get more of what they need to get in. Nor can anyone share their “oil” with them to help them get in, because if they share it, they might not have enough for themselves and may be left out as well.

If that sounds a bit selfish, it is, intentionally so. Each of us can, in the end, only be responsible for our own salvation and readiness, and we’d be foolish to give up that readiness for the sake of someone who wasn’t ready. God wouldn’t allow it anyway, because he judges each of us on our own readiness and faithfulness, as the parable of the sheep and goats at the end of chapter 25 suggests. Those who aren’t ready can’t ride on the coattails of those who are. Those who thought they could make excuses for not doing what God has called them to do won’t get a mulligan. When it’s finished, it’s finished, done, and over. Eternal consequences are locked in.

The Day of the Lord and the end times in general are topics of interest to many believers, and perhaps even more so in today’s climate. Unfortunately, at times they can become topics of debate as well, but we must never make one particular view of the end times a test of faith, because I believe there’s so much more we don’t know about how all that will play out. My encouragement to you, then, is to stand firm in the last days. Be ready. Put on the full armor of God as Ephesians says. Be in a constant state of prayer. Don’t neglect the fellowship with your fellow believers. As I’ve said before, we don’t know when our final day will be. Our last day could be today, tomorrow, or ten or twenty years from now. Jesus is coming! God will ultimately destroy this temporary abode of ours and establish us in his eternal kingdom, a new heaven and a new earth, in our new immortal bodies. It is and will be a place of perfection where there will be no more sorrow or shame, only joy and rest in the light of God’s glory, the light of the Lamb. Amen.

[1] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[2] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

[3] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

October 2, 2023

Obedient Sons (Psalm 25:1–9; Matthew 21:23–32)

Filed under: Biblical Studies,Christology,Ecclesiology,Eschatology,Faith, Faithfulness,Matthew Gospel of,Passion,Prophet,Psalms,Repentance,Soteriology,Spiritual Warfare,Work — Scott Stocking @ 10:54 pm
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Message preached October 1, 2023, at Mt. View Presbyterian Church, Omaha, NE.

What does it mean to trust someone? How does it affect your life when you either learn that you can trust a person, especially someone who might be new in your life, like a new significant other in the life of your kids or grandkids? What does it feel like when someone violates your trust?

Our reading from Psalm 25 this morning lets us know that we can put our trust in God, even in the face of our worst enemies. One thing that is striking about Psalm 25 is that it begins and end with David’s concern that he not be put to shame. In a culture that valued honor above all else, shame could be devastating to someone personally, professionally, and even spiritually. David says the surest guarantee against shame was to put his trust in the Lord. But again, what does that look like? David paints a pretty good picture in Psalm 25, so let’s take a look at that.

First we see that David’s trust involves putting his hope in the Lord. That “hope” in God gives David the confidence to know his enemies will not defeat him. Psalm 25:3 has one of the two negative statements about David’s enemies: they are treacherous without cause, and because of that, they will suffer the social stigma of shame.

But David also shows us the path to avoid shame: He asks God, by his personal name “Yahweh,” to teach him about and guide him in his divine paths. In David’s day, pretty much all he had to go on for spiritual guidance was the Torah itself, the first five books of the Old Testament, and perhaps a prophet or a seer. He didn’t have all 66 books of the Bible like you and I have to keep us on the straight and narrow. David most likely had read the Torah himself a few times during his kingship; his many psalms that he wrote offer ample proof of how well he knew the Torah.

He also asks God to remember the good and forgive the bad. He first asks God to remember his own character, his mercy and his love for his creation. Then he asks God to forget, and essentially forgive, his own sins and shortcomings. But then he asks God to remember him as a person who can’t survive without God’s love.

Verses 6 & 7 here give us a nice concise pattern for a quick prayer should we ever need to utter one. Acknowledge God for who he is and what he’s done; cry out for forgiveness; and ask him to remember us, just as the thief on the cross would do 1,000 years later. The word “remember” here should not be overlooked, since it’s use three times. In the Bible, when God remembers, he acts. So when he remembers his mercy and his love, he shows his mercy and his love. When he remembers us, he loves us and reassures us of our place in eternity with him.

As an aside, there’s another application of that word remember as we celebrate World Communion Day today. What do most communion tables say? “In remembrance of me.” So when we partake of communion later, let us not only remember what Christ has done for us, but act on it by sharing it with others and recommitting ourselves as his followers.

In the last couple verses of our Psalm reading today, David again reminds us of God’s goodness and guidance in the lives of those who humble themselves before him.

These principles from this first part of Psalm 25 tie together our two gospel stories we read this morning. The first passage is an actual account from the life of Jesus as he encounters the Pharisees. The second is a parable targeted at the Pharisees.

The first story takes place the next day after Jesus has made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Do you remember what the first thing Jesus did was after his triumphal entry? He entered the Temple courts and threw out the money changers! And what did he say when he did that? “My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers,” bringing together two quotes from Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11. Because Jesus’s true father is God himself, and the temple is God’s dwelling place on earth, the Temple is also Jesus’s birthright home. He is the earthly steward of the Temple, not the priests or the religious rulers. Jesus’s first act after entering Jerusalem was to establish his authority over and ownership of the Temple as his rightful home. This sets the stage then, for day two, when the chief priests and the elders of the people ask Jesus where his authority comes from.

It’s interesting in this passage that these religious leaders don’t want to engage Jesus on the Scriptures he cited when clearing the temple. The religious leaders are evidently well aware that they’ve been using the temple as an excuse to place a financial burden on the people. Instead of addressing that fact, they try to do what? They try to assassinate his character! Sound familiar? But Jesus, ever the shrewd one with the religious leaders, comes back with a question of his own, which puts them in a pinch. Either way they answer it, they know they’re in trouble of losing their respect and power with the people. Jesus had already said that John represented the return of Elijah, so that put him above the religious leaders in the eyes of the people. If John’s authority was from God, the religious leaders should have believed him. If it wasn’t, the people knew better and would most likely rebel against the religious leaders. Only a nonanswer could save their skins in the short run: “I don’t recall.”

Because the religious leaders couldn’t answer Jesus’s question, which was a perfectly legitimate response in Jesus’s day according to the rules of rhetoric in Greek culture, Jesus deferred the answer to his question as well. Of course, Jesus had already demonstrated his authority at the Temple the day before, but he had also been demonstrating it all along with his healings and miracles he’d done in full sight of the people and the religious rulers. Any attempt to damage Jesus’s character would result in the same backlash to the religious rulers as either of their answers about John the Baptizer would have. Jesus’s response, then, actually helps the religious rulers save face as well.

Jesus was obedient as a son to his Father by defending both the honor of the Temple and his own honor as the true image of God on earth. In the second story from the Gospel reading today, a parable, we have two sons who would in that culture be expected to do their father’s will when asked. The first one says no, but then later reconsiders and decides to go anyway. The second one says he will go, but he never does. The first and I think most important point from the parable is that God expects us to do his will. There’s really no hiding from that.

At first glance, you might think the parable is about keeping your word to do what you promised. But then, if the son who said he wouldn’t go never actually went, would he really deserve anything for keeping his word if he didn’t do his father’s will? Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? But by the same token, the son who said he would go but didn’t is in a bit of double jeopardy. Not only has he not kept his word, but he’s failed to do his father’s will as well.

The point of the parable, then, is not how or when you do God’s will, but THAT you do God’s will. Jesus goes on to continue the comparison to John the Baptizer’s ministry that he began in the first part of our Gospel reading. The religious leaders had not heeded John’s warnings to repent, but the “tax collectors and the prostitutes” did believe him and they repented, thus gaining access to the kingdom of God. Their past didn’t matter. God accepts those who humbly come to him in repentance seeking forgiveness.

But the more amazing thing is that, even after the tax collectors and sinners began to repent and turn back to God, the religious leaders still refused to repent themselves! They could see the work of God happening right before their eyes, but they couldn’t bring themselves to believe it. Jesus says earlier in Matthew that his followers would be known by the fruit they bear. Those who do his will bear good fruit. Those who do not bear no fruit or bad fruit.

It’s not clear why the religious leaders didn’t see the importance of John’s (and Jesus’s) message of repentance. The biblical story is full of examples from the patriarchs and other men of faith who repented and went on to do great things for God.

Abraham took Sarah’s slave as a second wife and had a child by her, but God still allowed the line of his chosen people to descend from Sarah.

Abraham and Isaac both lied to kings about their respective relationships with their own wives, but God continued to propagate that family line as his chosen people.

Moses directly disobeyed God’s command, yet God still allowed him to finish his task of leading the people to the doorstep of the Promised Land.

David committed adultery and had the husband of the woman killed in battle, but God still used him to lead Israel to greatness and write numerous inspiring Psalms that are still with us today.

Solomon had hundreds of wives and concubines, yet God still allowed his wisdom to survive the ages in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.

In Isaiah’s day, Hezekiah repented while Jerusalem was under siege, and he witnessed the miraculous fatal judgment upon 185,000 of Sennacherib’s soldiers overnight.

Every single one of Jesus’s disciples, with the exception of John, abandoned him on the night of his arrest, and Peter denied knowing him, yet all except Judas were restored to leadership status by Jesus after his resurrection. Peter went on to preach at the birth of the church on Pentecost. The teaching of the apostles was the standard of the early church according to Acts 2:42.

Paul persecuted the early church and tacitly approved of the stoning of Steven, yet God used him to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles, and his letters form a significant portion of our Scriptures today.

Jesus never promised that the path of following him would be without struggle and effort, failure and heartache. When he says, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light,” we can’t forget that we still have a “yoke” on; there’s still fertile ground to plow, and that takes some measure of strength and effort. In researching this passage, I came across an anonymous Jewish parable that the rabbis used to teach a similar point to this one. It goes like this:

The matter may be compared to someone sitting at a crossroads. Before him were two paths. One of them began in clear ground but ended in thorns. The other began in thorns but ended in clear ground….

So did Moses say to Israel, “You see how the wicked flourish in the is world, for two or three days succeeding. But in the end they will have occasion for regret.” So it is said, “For there shall be no reward for the evil man” (Proverbs 24:20)….”You see the righteous, who are distressed in this world? For two or three days they are distressed, but in the end they will have occasion for rejoicing.” And so it is said, “That he may prove you, to do you good at the end” (Deuteronomy 8:16). (Sifre to Deut. 53).[1]

So following God may have its thorny patches in the beginning, but when we get to the end of the road, the path is clear and welcoming. But if we try to go our own way, thinking that might be the easier way, and never get on the right path with God, we can only expect trouble in the end. The tax collectors and prostitutes realized they were on the wrong path and changed their ways and their destination. I know many of you have been on the right path, and you’ve experienced your thorny times, but you are stronger, wiser, and more dedicated to God for that because you know his is and will continue leading your through it. Your obedience will yield a great reward. I would encourage you to remain firm and steadfast on that path.

So we see how the truths of Psalm 25 play out in these two stories from the Gospel of Matthew. If we put our trust in God and allow him to guide us, even through the most difficult times, we will know his reward and his glory. I pray that each of us here will continue on that straight and narrow path that is the road to eternal life. Peace to you all. Amen.

[1][1] Trans. Jacob Neusner, Sifre to Deuteronomy, vol. 1 (Atlanta: Scholars, 1987), pp. 175‒76.

Kingdom Equity (Exodus 16; Psalm 145; Matthew 20:1–16)

Filed under: Biblical Studies,Christology,Ecclesiology,Eschatology,Exodus,Matthew Gospel of,Psalms,Thanksgiving,Work — Scott Stocking @ 10:03 pm
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Message preached September 24, 2023, at Mt. View Presbyterian Church. Joel Brady helped me with the sketch at the beginning of the message; I screwed up the most important line of the sketch!

What are the consequences of grumbling against God? How does God respond to us when we think he hasn’t been fair to us?

In Exodus 16, the Israelites are on their way to Mount Sinai, when the naysayers had finally had enough of the nomadic desert life and complained to Moses that they weren’t back in Egypt sitting around pots of meat and eating their fill. God, being somewhat tolerant of their frustration and their trouble adapting to their new nomadic lifestyle, promises to give them some meat that night, then rain down bread from heaven in the morning.

That night, God provided them a “harvest” of quail for their meat. Then in the morning, when the dew dried, there was a bunch of white flaky stuff on the ground, and it wasn’t snow. The people, through Aaron, asked Moses about it. Here’s what that exchange might have been like:

Aaron: “What’s this white stuff, Moses?”

Moses: “What’s-it.”

A:“Yeah, Moses, what’s it called?”

M: “Yes, that’s what I told you, what’s-it.”

A: “When did you tell us? You’re just repeating our question back to us.”

M: “Just now. What’s-it’s what it’s called.”

A: (chidingly) “Moses, you’re stuttering again. Stop playing games.”

M: “I told you, the white stuff is called what’s-it.”

A: “That’s what we’re trying to find out! What’s it called?”

M: “Yes.”

A: “What’s it on the ground?”

M: “Everywhere you look.”

A: (frustrated) “GRR!”

M: “Bless you, Aaron. You speak Hebrew. The Hebrew word for “What’s-it” is “manna”!

A: (loudly) “Then why didn’t you say that in the first place! Ugh!” (drop script and storm off to your seat).

Thank you, Joel, for helping out with that. Even before the Israelites got to Mt. Sinai, God was already at work showing his people how he would care for them in the journey ahead. When the manna came each morning, everyone was able to gather as much as they and their family needed, and no more. Except on Fridays, when the “super-manna” came that would keep an extra day through the Sabbath.

At that time, the manna was intended to be a short-term solution for traveling through a deserted wilderness. The journey probably would have only taken them a few years had they not rebelled against God when they spied out the land in Numbers 13. But even in Exodus 16, Moses or perhaps Joshua, as they’re putting the finishing touches on the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, can’t resist putting a little reminder in at that early point in the story that the Israelites would go on from there to eat manna for the next 40 years. Perhaps it’s a sarcastic reminder to the Israelites that their stubbornness and rebellion didn’t start with the scaredy-cat spies, but much earlier with the with this rebellion in the desert.

If there’s a bright side to 40-years of wandering in the wilderness, it would have to be that the Israelites were truly a free people in those 40 years. They ruled themselves based on God’s divine leadership. Sure, it must have been boring after a while, wandering here and there as God led them, but at least they had a long stretch of freedom as wanderers. They had sufficient food; their sandals and their clothes never wore out (Deuteronomy 29:5); and they knew exactly which way to go and when because of God’s miraculous manifestation in the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day.

The other part of the bright side is that the peoples in the region began to realize how powerful this nomadic group of Israelites had become, and actually came to fear and respect them. Yet like most of us do, even when things seem to be going well with us, we can get bored and find a reason to grumble, an excuse to stray from God’s path, a reason to look back on “better days,” or at least that’s what we tell ourselves they were. Even though God had given them everything they needed in that time, I’m sure once the new generation began to settle in the Promised Land, they found that settled life much more desirable than their desert wanderings.

Our reading from Psalm 145 today brings to the forefront of our hearts and minds the great works that God has done as a preventive measure of sorts from grumbling about our current situation. The remedy: never stop recalling and recounting the great works of God and all that he has done for us. Tell the stories to your kids, your grandkids, and your great grandkids. Meditate on the greatness of God and his works. Sing about them with a loud voice. When we remember the goodness and greatness of God, any reason we think we may have to grumble pales in comparison.

Fast-forward to our Gospel passage today. We find yet another group of people ready to grumble. This time, we have a parable, or at least, it starts off like most parables of Jesus: “For the kingdom of heaven is like…” We’ll do well not to lose sight of this being a parable about the kingdom of God. It is NOT intended to be a command on how employers should pay their employees! Sorry, folks, but the CEO isn’t taking a pay cut, and you’re not getting a big raise. If this were really about employers and employees, then of course the workers who worked the whole day and got the same pay as those who only worked an hour or two would have every right to grumble. A denarius, after all, was considered a day’s wage in that time.

The parable uses the setting of the vineyard, which is a standard metaphor for the Jewish nation. The workers’ job is most likely to harvest the grapes, and it would seem that time is of the essence, as the owner of the vineyard must keep going back to the marketplace to get more laborers, even up to eleventh hour, one hour before quitting time. We shouldn’t read too much into the number of times the owner has to return to find laborers. One of the key points of the parable is found in this: the work of harvesting souls for God’s kingdom is a continuous process, and it’s never too late to stop harvesting. This doesn’t mean that the owner didn’t know how many laborers he needed; from a practical standpoint, I think it’s a safe speculation that he needed to space out the labor force for a variety of purposes, and each group may have had different tasks throughout the day.

Another point of the parable that may be obvious to most of us is that, since it’s really about the kingdom of God and not about how long you work, the perfect reward of heaven doesn’t have any kind of system of tenure. The one who’s been a saint all their life receives the same reward as those who come late to the kingdom of heaven. It’s interesting that the owner starts with the workers hired last when he pays them. Had he started with those hired first, they may have never known that those who were hired last got the same pay as they did! But then Jesus wouldn’t have been able to make his point about equity in the reward of the kingdom.

“The last will be first, and the first will be last,” then, is not a statement about flipping the rankings in the kingdom of heaven; it’s an affirmation that there are NO rankings in the kingdom of heaven. Everyone is on a level playing field. Your reward is the same as the apostle Paul, Paul’s helper Timothy, any of your former or current pastors, and a pre-teen who has just made a commitment to follow Jesus.

The final and related point here is that the owner of the vineyard never failed to keep his promise. He promised to pay the first workers a denarius, and that is indeed what they got. When he hired the later workers, he said he would pay them “whatever is right.” From a strictly business perspective, if you’ve got a deadline to meet and you don’t have enough help to meet it, the owner’s perspective is going to be that the value of the late laborers increases the closer the deadline looms. If the grapes need to be picked by the end of the day so they don’t start spoiling on the vine, the owner could lose a substantial amount of his investment. So paying the last laborers the same as the first is a sign of his great appreciation for their last-minute efforts, and he probably still made a profit even though everyone got the same daily wage.

As I said above, it’s never too late to stop working for the kingdom of God to “harvest” the souls who are ready to come into his kingdom. As the coming kingdom gets closer every day, the urgency to get God’s word out and change hearts for his kingdom becomes greater and greater. As Timothy says, God desires that all people come to the knowledge of his truth. That can only happen if each one of us does our part to share the love and hope of Jesus with the world.

The biblical story never hides the failings of God’s people. We see everyone for who they are: they find redemption for their fallenness and go on to do great things for God. When they think God is not being fair about what they receive from him, God reminds them, sometimes gently and sometimes more severely, that he has been and always will be their Jehovah Jireh, or Yahweh Yireh as the Israelite would say: The Lord is my Provider. When they try straying from God’s path of righteousness, God reminds them that he is their Yahweh Nissi, The Lord is my Banner.

Paul reminds believers in Galatians 3:26–29 that there are no worldly distinctions in Christ: 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.[1]

The kingdom of God is for all who will come willingly to him, regardless of race, ethnicity, age, gender, or their level of knowledge. Let us go forth from here today and be a people who would shine God’s light through our words and our lives so that the world might know the love of God.

[1] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

December 13, 2022

Signs of the Son (Matthew 11:2–11; Psalm 146:5–10; Isaiah 35:1–10)

Filed under: Biblical Studies,Christology,Eschatology,Isaiah,Life of Christ,Matthew Gospel of,Miracles,New Testament,Psalms,Theology, Biblical — Scott Stocking @ 9:39 pm
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Message preached at Mt. View Presbyterian Church December 11, 2022, Third Sunday in Advent, based on passages from the Revised Common Lectionary for that day.

How many of you remember the 1971 hit song “Signs” by the Five Man Electric Band? “Sign, Sign, everywhere a sign, blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind. Do this; don’t do that. Can’t you read the sign.” The song came out at the tail end of the Hippie movement, questioning authority and flaunting rules that seemed to exclude those who weren’t socially acceptable in the eyes of those who had power.

The Bible only ever speaks of two such “signs” associated with Jesus: One sign read, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews,” and it was hung on the cross with Jesus. The other sign was a seal on the stone covering the entrance to his tomb (Matthew 27:66), indicating that Rome had authorized it and secured it. The first sign was accurate, even if the Romans only intended it to indicate the accusation against Jesus for which he was crucified. The second sign turned out to be of no consequence, because no one could keep the Son of God from rising from the dead and sealed in a tomb.

Of course, the other signs associated with Jesus in the Scriptures were not carved into wood, embossed on a wax seal, or chiseled into stone. They were the kinds of grandiose signs that only God and his son could “write” both in people and in nature. These were the signs that the prophets had written about long ago of what to expect when the Messiah would come.

The reading from Psalms (146:5–10) today speaks of some of those signs:

Upholding the cause of the oppressedForgiving the woman caught in the act of adultery when the male was nowhere to be found (John 7:53–8:11)
Giving food to the hungryFeeding the 5,000 and 4,000 (Luke 9:10–17 & par.; Mark 8:1–13 & par.)
Setting the prisoners freeAt Jesus’s crucifixion, the dead came out of their tombs in Jerusalem (Matthew 27:52–53)
Giving sight to the blindHealing many who were blind (Luke 7:21–23)

Isaiah 35:1–10 gives us more insight into what the OT prophets were expecting from the Messiah, some of it overlapping with the Psalm passage above:

The desert and the parched land will be glad;

the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.

Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom;

it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.

The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,

the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;

they will see the glory of the Lord,

the splendor of our God.

3 Strengthen the feeble hands,

steady the knees that give way;

4 say to those with fearful hearts,

“Be strong, do not fear;

your God will come,

he will come with vengeance;

with divine retribution

he will come to save you.”

5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened

and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

6 Then will the lame leap like a deer,

and the mute tongue shout for joy.

Water will gush forth in the wilderness

and streams in the desert.

7 The burning sand will become a pool,

the thirsty ground bubbling springs.

In the haunts where jackals once lay,

grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

8 And a highway will be there;

it will be called the Way of Holiness;

it will be for those who walk on that Way.

The unclean will not journey on it;

wicked fools will not go about on it.

9 No lion will be there,

nor any ravenous beast;

they will not be found there.

But only the redeemed will walk there,

10   and those the Lord has rescued will return.

They will enter Zion with singing;

everlasting joy will crown their heads.

Gladness and joy will overtake them,

and sorrow and sighing will flee away. [1]

Most of us know the various stories from the Old and New Testaments that go along with Isaiah’s description in the first 7 verses of chapter 35. Noah and his family were spared through the flood, which Peter would say is a “sign” or “type” of the NT concept of baptism in his first letter. The Passover and the parting of the Red Sea were the ultimate events that won the Jews their freedom from Egypt. In the church today, we celebrate that “Passover” with the signs of the bread and cup at communion. Moses drew water from the rock for the Jews in the desert, and Jesus told the woman at the well (John 4) that he had water that would permanently end her thirst. Elisha raised a Shunamite widow’s son, and Jesus brought forth Lazarus from the tomb after four days. Let’s not forget the resurrection, either!

In vs 8 of the passage from Isaiah, the prophet mentions a highway called “The Way of Holiness.” In those times, some religions had special paved roads between temples only for those who were faithful. Essentially what this is saying is that God will clear out all obstacles that might keep us from heaven. No longer would it depend on legalistic rules or strict adherence to the Law of Moses. Jesus himself would be the Way, and that is in fact what he calls himself in John 14, “The Way, the Truth, and the Life,” and the believers early on in Acts are said to be following “The Way.”

So as we turn to our Gospel passage today from Matthew 11, let’s look at what’s been going in Jesus’s ministry to this point. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus spends three chapters delivering the Sermon on the Mount. Then the next two chapters after that contain several stories of Jesus healing people, calming a storm, and calling more disciples. In chapter 10, he solidifies his “leadership team” of the twelve disciples and gives them a long list of instructions before sending them out, as well as the authority to heal and cast out demons on their own. In chapter 11, Jesus’s ministry, mission, and popularity have grown significantly, and his cousin John the Baptizer wants to know if Jesus really is the coming Messiah. I think this is why Matthew has organized his Gospel the way he did, because Jesus can point to his teaching and the miracles he’s been doing and others are doing in his name as “signs” that he is indeed the Messiah. Jesus always seems somewhat reluctant to admit that outright; he simply indicates that his work speaks for itself. As Muhammed Ali once said, “It’s not bragging if you can back it up.”

After Jesus sends John’s disciples away with the information they needed, he turns toward the crowd and their attention to John the Baptizer. He asks them about who they came out to see when John was preaching in the wilderness. The bottom line was, they had come out to see a prophet, because there hadn’t been a prophet in Israel for over 400 years. With this, Jesus confirms yet another “sign” for the crowd, the sign of John’s ministry, by applying the words of Malachi 3:1 to John: the messenger who goes ahead of Jesus announcing his arrival. By doing so, this adds another layer of fulfilled prophecy to what Matthew already applied to him: not only does Jesus indicate he’s fulfilled prophecies about his work and ministry, but now he’s saying he’s fulfilled prophecies about what others would be saying about him.

The Pharisees and Sadducees should have recognized the signs. They, after all, were the primary repository of all Jewish written and oral tradition when it came to the Scriptures and history. But in Matthew 16, Jesus scolds them for being able to interpret weather signs, but not the “signs of the times” that pointed to Jesus. In Matthew 24, we get the fuller picture of what that “end time” might look like. Wars and rumors of war; famines and earthquakes; persecution and death; false prophets; the increase of wickedness; and every other evil at work to spiral us down the drain.

Christians throughout the ages have found reason to speculate they were each living in the time of the end and that they would see the return of the Messiah. I can remember in the late 70s and early 80s when I first began to understand that Jesus was coming again and the various things they were saying about the world we live in. Talk of supercomputers, even as the home computer was just starting to enter the market, that would be able to read the mark of the beast on your forehead or hand to determine if you could buy or sell. The irony is, the talk in the 70s and 80s about what some of these things might look like sound very much like our modern day smart phones. But don’t go chucking your cell phones through the stained glass here: They’re not the antichrist. But they are tools that can be used for both good and evil; we’re called to make sure they don’t get used or abused for evil purposes. It’s a little scary to think they’re real-time history books of our own lives, so let’s make sure we’re writing a good history.

Two weeks ago, we learned that no generation of God’s people has ever lived that didn’t have the hope of a coming Messiah. Today we’ve seen that the signs of that coming Messiah show up in so many places in the Old Testament. Doesn’t it make sense then that God has been revealing signs of Jesus’s second coming throughout history since his crucifixion and resurrection? Jesus does imply that we should be able to recognize the signs of the times, so they must be out there, right? But as technology has gradually taken over our lives and our culture has sadly grown more biblically illiterate, we’ve tended to lose the sensitivities we once had as a human race to see these “big picture” signs that God is still at work to bring his eternal kingdom to those of us who believe.

God has been revealing signs of Jesus’s second coming throughout history since his crucifixion and resurrection

I think most of us are savvy enough to distinguish what these “signs” of Jesus’s second coming look like. Matthew 24 has an extensive list, and some of the things on that list are not much different now than what they were in Jesus’s day. They’re not limited to a particular political viewpoint or cultural perspective. After all, we’ve ALL sinned and fallen short of God’s glory; but thanks be to God for his grace, forgiveness, and mercy that will protect those who put their trust in him in the last days.

So amidst the hustle and bustle of the final two weeks of the Christmas season, take some time to reflect on the signs of the Son: those that show he is the Messiah, and those that suggest he may be coming soon. Rejoice that we have a Savior who’s sent his Spirit to encourage and embolden us. Be alert, be aware; prepare yourselves and be ready. That day may be closer than you think.

[1] The New International Version. 2011. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

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