Cutting to the True Issue . . .

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I was reading recently in Matthew 26:47-50 about Jesus’ betrayal. Amazingly Judas decided that the sign of his betrayal would be a kiss of his “Master.” Verse 49 says, “Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ and kissed Him.” As I researched this further, I learned that this was the ultimate sign of insolence—in those days, the disciple would not greet/kiss the Rabbi first . . . it was always the Rabbi’s initiative.

The next verse is what’s most interesting: “But Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, why have you come?” (NKJV) or “Friend, do what you came to do.” (ESV) There’s a lively debate among commentators about whether this was a question or statement. But in either case, here is the key: Either way, Jesus is cutting through the pretense of Judas to the true issue . . . Jesus ALWAYS does that. How many times have we attempted to “cover” our true motives with seemingly innocent words or actions . . . and yet in our heart of hearts, we know that Jesus sees right through it?

Let’s stop pretending (it doesn’t work with a spouse or children, either, by the way!), and let’s allow Jesus to cut to the true issues in our own lives . . . We, and everyone around us, will be much better for it!

The Greatest Glory of the Cross

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This is another great excerpt from Dug Down Deep by Josh Harris. Here he shared his encounter as a young man with a life-changing message by John Piper:

                Then Piper pointed to the Cross. On Calvary, God displayed His justice and His love. He was glorified in the death of His Son. He loves His glory that much! And how great was the glory of the death and the resurrection of the one and only Christ—the very Son of God! “The foundation of your salvation,” Piper said, “is God’s love for His own glory.”

                I’d never heard anyone speak that way about Jesus’ death on the cross. I had always heard it explained in terms of my great worth. I am so valuable that God would send Jesus to die. The question Piper closed his message with deeply challenged me. “Do you love the Cross because it makes much of you?” he asked. “Or do you love it because it enables you to enjoy an eternity of making much of God?”

                I left Austin with an unsettling thought that has never left me. If I love the Cross only for what it does for me, I will have reduced it to a monument to myself. But the greatest glory of the Cross is what it tells me about God. A God of justice and mercy. A God who loved helpless sinners like me so much that He came to die so we could be free to know and worship Him for eternity.

“God loves you” is certainly a message of the Cross, but it’s not the whole story . . . may we become more “God-centric” and less “me-centric” when we next gaze upon the cross!

What does it mean??

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Recently our family reviewed Genesis 9 as part of our household worship . . . so I was intrigued by this link that I found recently:

Hiker Sees Double Rainbow 


It’s supposed to be a “funny” video, and in one sense it is, because it seems like this hiker is way overreacting to the beauty of seeing a double rainbow. But . . . as I thought about it further, and I reflected on the hiker’s emotional question “What does this mean?”, I realized that this was Genesis 9 “coming to life.” Whether he knew it or not, this hiker was coming face to face with a sign from God—a promise that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood.

Once again, Romans 1:19-20 is fulfilled . . . even a “godless” hiker who seems simply overwhelmed with a beautiful moment in nature is actually getting a glimpse of God’s personal handiwork and intervention. May we be quick to share the meaning of the rainbow with our own household . . . and with anyone else who might ask “What does this mean?”
 

The Reason for Doctrine

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This is a great passage from Josh Harris’ book Dug Down Deep. In this excerpt, he explains why doctrine is so important:

            Doctrine can never take the place of Jesus Himself, but we can’t know Him and relate to Him in the right way without doctrine. This is because doctrine tells us not only what God has done but also what His actions mean to us. A theologian named J. Gresham Machen, who wrote in the early part of the twentieth century, helped me better understand all of this. His explanation of Christian doctrine helped me see how it connects to the living person of Jesus. In one of his books, Machen explains that while Christians in the early church wanted to know what Jesus taught, they were primarily concerned with what Jesus had done. “The world was to be redeemed,” Machen writes, “through the proclamation of an event.”

            Of course, the event he’s referring to is Jesus’ death by crucifixion and His resurrection from the dead. The first Christians knew they had to tell people about this event. But simply telling them wasn’t enough. They also had to tell them what the event meant. And this, Machen explains, is doctrine. Doctrine is the setting forth of what Jesus has done along with the meaning of the event for us.

            “These two elements are always combined in the Christian message,” Machen continues. “The narration of the facts is history; the narration of the facts is doctrine. ‘Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried’—that is history. ‘He loved me and gave Himself for me’—that is doctrine.”

            Doctrine is the meaning of the story God is writing in the world. It’s the explanation of what He’s done and why He’s done it and why it matters to you and me.

I hope this helps you as much as it did me! We need to declare both the “event” and “what the event meant”! Let’s do that today, starting in our households!
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