Is Easter Real or Not?

With Easter just past, I was reminded or a book by Hugh J. Schonfield entitled The Passover Plot in which the author tries to  prove that Jesus was a charlatan who engineered the crucifixion and the events leading to it to make it fit the prophecies.  He even says that the betrayal of Jesus by Judas was a hoax.  The story goes that Jesus told Judas how to accomplish the betrayal to fit the signs in Isaiah and Psalms and the other prophets. Schonfield even says the death was faked with a drug.


Schonfield builds a very tight framework for his proposition of Jesus as a sincere pretender.  The Christian believers have not flocked to Schonfield for prayer or support when they are in need or solace.  Surprisingly, there are still people who believe in the risen Christ.  Actually, I think it would be impossible to fake the crucifixion, especially when you remember that Jesus had very credible proof that he was the Son of God before he got that far.  He was born of a virgin as testified by all the Gospels.  He performed miracles that convinced the disciples he was the Son of God.  Many people believed on him and received miracles at his hand.  


Fulfilling the prophecies from Isaiah 53, Psalms 22,   and multiple other scriptures is proof that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah.  In addition to the prophecies is not the only proof of his claim.  There is also the continuing story of the Church he established to witness to the fact that he was who he claimed to be.  Read the Bible and find the proof for yourself.  Live in faith and you, too, will become evidence that Jesus is the Son of God.

Joy Is Not Always Fun

 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  James 1:2-3

Listen, I don't want to be a Christian if it's not going to be joyful and a splendid way to live with good things happening.

Did somebody promise you that the Christian life would be a walk in the park, a real picnic?  I know you hear a lot about how joyous you are supposed to be when you are a Christian, praising God and looking happy and getting the best seats for the show, but there is another side to it.

Well, it can't be very hard.  After all, you don't do anything but go to Church.

No, that's not quite right either.  You still have to make a living, work, you know, and send your kids to school, and buy groceries, and pay bills.  You face all the same demands as any other person in this world.  There is disease, disorder, and disaster that comes on all people, and it will come to you too.

Then being a Christian doesn't really benefit me.  Man, what a crock!  I thought you had a gimmick here.  I've had financial  problems and illness.  If God doesn't relieve me of that, what's the use?

You need to read all of it--the part about perseverance.  Sometimes you have to tie a knot in the rope and hang on.  But it's really more than that, too.  You hang on because you believe that God loves you and has given you grace to endure to the end.  There is the joy part too.  Joy in the love you have for family and friends is still a blessing of God.  There is joy in knowing that Jesus' death relieved you of sin.  All you have to do is confess to him, and he takes the sin to himself.

I guess so.  But man, that takes a long time.  I need help now.

Yeah, I know.  It all started with instant coffee, now we want everything instant.  God doesn't work that way.  He is in this thing for the long haul.  He is patient so he can see results in you, and learning perseverance may be your first lesson.  You have to keep on keeping on.  

I don't see that he has put a limit on how long to persevere.

That's true.  And I'll give you another hint   When one is over and you have learned the lesson he wanted to teach in that trial, you may find there is another one maybe even worse.  But by that time, you may also find the joy

Paul"s Prayer for the Ephesians

Do you pray for people, situations, and conditions?  We are commanded to pray about those events and problems that most of us just worry about.  Praying about those things relieves us of all that worry and mental anguish.  When we release the matter to God, we can be assured that he will take care of it.  That is easy to say, but sometimes it's hard to do.


In Ephesians chapter 1, Paul gives us insight into prayer as he prays for those he is writing to.  Prayer does not require that we agonize and cry and plead with God.  Paul prayed by first giving thanks for the salvation of the Ephesians and remembering them.  As he prayed he called on God and proclaimed him as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and the source of the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.  


The object of Paul's entreaty was not physical comfort or blessing, but that they may know God and the Lord Jesus Christ better.  He continued to pray that their eyes may be opened to see the hope to which he has called you and to be able to see and claim the inheritance which is yours.  


We are recipients of the power of God working in us and the mighty strength which he exerted in Christ to raise him from the clutches of death and seated him at his right hand on a throne of grace.  


I am guilty of praying for mundane and trivial matters.  Money, health, comfort, and jealousy shrivel in comparison to the might and power, glory and grace, dominion and revelation he calls us to view.  Paul wants us to see that our inheritance and possession is far above and beyond what we see.  With wonders at our fingertips  we focus on the trash and the trivial.  


These minor matters are swallowed up in God's view.  Of course they are a bother, but we must not let them distract us from God's intention and God's plan.  Submit them to him and let it go.  We don't have to hold on to the temporal and physical elements, but we must always renew our commitment to see God's vision and see ourselves in it.   


Ephesians 1:15-23  ¹⁵ For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶ I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ¹⁷ I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸ I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, ²⁰ which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.(NIV)

Isaiah Had a Lot to Say

I  finished the Bible Study Fellowship Study of Isaiah last year. I found it facinating. Isaiah is  the most quoted of the Old Testament prophets. Jesus, Paul, and other writers refer to him many times. His prophesies foretell the birth, life and death of Jesus as well as the end times and the coming of the Kingdom.

The prophets, and Isaiah is no exception, focus heavily on judgment, sin, and retribution. In our society, much like the society of the people Isaiah preached to, we resist that negative stuff and avoid the whole idea of the consequences of sin. It doesn't make Isaiah very popular in pulpits around town, but it will get back to his message eventually.

I see the people in the news--Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen, Tiger Woods--whose behavior has been objectionable getting praises and press notices without any evidence of shame. They are applauded and immulated rather than chastised, and their publicity gurus are thrilled that they get noticed. No matter that their behavior is shortening their lives, that their sins are a burden they cannot carry, and their lives are a hollow reflection of real purpose. In the last chapter of Isaiah he calls for all of us to come with a humble and contrite spirit in repentance as we hear the word of God.

It will benefit our nation to read Isaiah with deliberate attention and understand its words. It is truly amazing to me that people do not see the damage their sins produce in their bodies and in their lives. God will bring judgment, but the natural course of sin will bring it, too, and with any kind of common sense we should be able to predict that without Isaiah.

Salt--Seasoning, Preservative, or Symbol?

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The Bible says some very interesting things about salt. Salt was required in all the sacrifices (Leviticus 2:13). Bread offered on the altar was to be made with salt. Meat sacrifices were to be salted.

The prophet Elisha healed a spring that had bad water by putting salt in it (2 Kings 2:19-21). The proclamation that David and his descendants would reign on the throne of Israel was sealed with a covenant of salt (Chronicles 13:5).

Salt is used as a seasoning. It makes things taste good. Paul advises in Colossians 4:6 “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (NIV). Paul wants his readers to understand that they should used words that are meaningful and worth hearing. Salt does not dull the taste or leave a hint of bitterness.

As a preservative, Christians are called to be a witness and to preserve the nation, the society and the world against the ravages of sin and disaster. Abraham performed that service when he pled for Sodom and Gomorrah asking “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right? Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” And God answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it”(Genesis18:24, 33)

In Ezra 7:22-23 King Artaxerxes ordered the treasurers to provide the priests with the supplies for sacrifice when the Jews returned to Jerusalem. He listed a hundred talents of silver, a hundred cors of wheat, a hundred baths of wine, a hundred baths of olive oil and salt without measure. This strikes me as amazing. Make sure they don’t run out. Bring the salt until they are finished with the sacrifices. Have a plentiful supply.

I like the concept that salt represents other things that we don’t specify an amount. God gives us some things that don’t have a limit–grace, the Holy Spirit, forgiveness. There are things that God expects us to surrender in unlimited amounts, too: love, obedience, worship. Make your own list.

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• Quick History of Salt (takeabitefull.wordpress.com)

What Goes Around. . .

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The Book of Obadiah is one of the books of the Minor Prophets.  The term Minor does not denigrate or insult the writer or his message.  Minor just means he didn't write much, maybe he didn't prophesy for very long.  


The people of Edom were considered to be the descendants of Esau the brother of Jacob.  I suppose they settled there before the children of Israel sought safety and sustenance in Egypt.  Edom was well established and could have made the Israelites journey to Canaan shorter, but they would not allow them to pass through, so Moses led them to the River Jordan at Jericho.  This is the first insult, but the rant concerns another event: Presumably this occurred about 587b.c.e. when the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem.  Edom delighted in it, and even took part.  


The prophesy describes Edom as full of pride making her home in the clefts of the rocks, but she will be despised and small among the nations.  


Though you soar like the eagle 
   and make your nest among the stars, 
   from there I will bring you down,
            declares the LORD. (NIV)

Obadiah describes the details of the destruction of Edom: Esau will be ransacked and pillaged.  The wise men will be destroyed and the warriors will be terrified.


Edom should not stand aloof when a brother is being destroyed, "when strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates."(NIV)  Edom was like one of them.  Obadiah may be warning Edom of judgment to come.  Is it too late to repent?  "You should not wait at the crossroads to cut down fugitives or hand over their survivors in the day of their trouble."(NIV)


15 "The day of the LORD is near 
   for all nations. 
As you have done, it will be done to you; 
   your deeds will return upon your own head."(NIV) 


 This verse may be the most damning of all.  You punishment will be what you dealt out.  When I worked in the prison system, this was a favorite proverb:  What goes around, comes around.  It is measured to you with the same scoop you dish it out to others.  The most fearful part of this is that the person who was injured doesn't have to be the one to retaliate.  


In the case of Edom,  it may be the other nations or God himself that responds.  For us on an individual level, it comes from any angle and with unknown force.  Edom was destroyed and it is not mentioned in historical sources after the Jewish Wars in 68 A.D.  The region of Idumea was mentioned as late as 400.


This whole book consists of one chapter.  Read it judgments and consider whether you are might be included.  


The final verses give a hopeful prospect.  Verse 21 says:

Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion 
   to govern the mountains of Esau. 
   And the kingdom will be the LORD’s.

A Command: Follow Me

An Invitation: Come Follow Me is a post I wrote some time ago.  It seems Jesus said that a lot, and here in John 21 after the resurrection he says it to Peter twice.  First, he took Peter's admission of love for him as agreement and indicated that Peter's life would go in a painful direction.  Peter did not question or argue, but then he saw John.


"What about him?"  he asked.  I wonder what his tone was.  Was he just curious about John's assignment?  Did he fear that John would be left out?  Did he think John was being favored?


Jesus dismissed the question.  "What is that to you?"  John had a different assignment than Peter.  Jesus did not treat everyone the same.  He loved everyone, but the invitation to come and follow meant different things for different people.  


Then he shares with Peter that his future holds some distressing  events, and he continues with indications of a different path for John.  He doesn't indicate that either one will be more or less favored; they will just be different.


Jesus says "What is it to you if he stays till I come.  You follow me."


We have he same sort of questions Peter had.  What about my sister or husband or child?  I have friends who need to be here; what about them?  Jesus looks at us with the same questions he asked of Peter:  What is that to you?  It won't change your mission to check out the mission of others.  You must be obedient to your own call.  You don't get see if they have a better deal than you.  Jesus calls you to serve in the place chosen for you. 

We each have a place of service in obedience to the call of Jesus.  The greatest joy and ultimate fulfillment of our lives comes in obeying the call.  It really doesn't matter what others have or do or what their call is.  Like Peter, we are called to follow him.