Guest Writer - Dene's Blog

Jesus' Four Statements at Trial

2/16/2015 0 Comments

Today’s article is by guest writer, Lucas Ward.
Just as it was prophesied in Isaiah, Jesus didn't speak much during His trial(s). In fact, He never once responded to any of His accusers. Not the false witnesses at the Jewish sham trial, not the Chief Priests before Pilate or the Jews before Herod. In all these cases, He stood mute. His silence enraged the High Priest and astounded Pilate. (Mt. 26:62-63, 27:12-14) In fact, the only times Jesus spoke were in answer to direct questions from the prosecutor/judge in reference to His identity. Even then, His answers weren't what one would normally expect from a defendant. Let's examine each of the four times He spoke and then see what conclusions we can draw.

Mat 26:63-64 "But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." Jesus said to him, "You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven."" Notice that Jesus didn't merely answer in the affirmative, He went beyond that. "Seated at the right hand of Power" can only mean with God and in fact is a claim that He not only was the Christ the son of God, but that he was fully divine and equal to God. Who else could sit with Power? He adds to that statement that they will see Him coming in the clouds of heaven. Throughout the literary prophets, God coming in the clouds signified God coming in judgment to destroy a city or nation. Jesus is saying, not only am I the Christ, I'm God and I'm going to come in judgment on you! Immediately, the Sanhedrin declares that He is worthy of death for blasphemy (a charge which would have been true had anyone else uttered those words.)

Luk 22:67 ""If you are the Christ, tell us." But he said to them, "If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God." So they all said, "Are you the Son of God, then?" And he said to them, "You say that I am."" One of the proofs that this session is separate from those recorded in Matthew and Mark is that the whole line of questioning is different. There are no false witnesses, and Jesus' answer to their question is a bit different. This is the formal "official" trial, and they need to get His "blasphemy" on record. This time when they ask, He tells them there is no point in answering, because they are too stubborn (and stupid?) to believe. He then continues to say that He will be seated with God and finally confirms that He is the Son of God. They again condemn Him to death.

Mat 27:11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus said, "You have said so." John gives a much fuller account, but this is sufficient. Jesus claims to be a king to the Roman governor.

Joh 19:10-11 "So Pilate said to him, "You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?" Jesus answered him, "You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin."" While there may have been some slight compassion for Pilate on Jesus' part here – after all, Pilate was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, unjust and self-interested as he was -- He seems also to be thumbing His nose at Pilate. He tells Pilate that Pilate's power and authority count for nothing when dealing with Him, that Pilate would have no authority over Him except that God had so arranged it.

Do you see a theme threading through these statements by the Lord? In every case, He said precisely what would enrage His questioners most. Before the Jews, He not only claimed to be the Christ, the Son of God, but fully divine Himself and promised that He was coming in judgment upon them. He later repeated most of that while hinting that they were too stubborn to believe the truth. Before Pilate, He claimed to be a king. What was the primary responsibility of the Roman governors? To keep the peace and stamp out insurrections before they could get started. The fastest way to earn a death sentence was to claim to be a king and to gather followers around you. John records that not only did Jesus confirm to Pilate that He was a king, He also said that He had servants who would be willing to fight if He ordered it. While Pilate seems to have considered Jesus a harmless crazy person, this claim would have caused his antennae to twitch. Finally, Jesus tells Pilate that he holds no true power over Him. For a power hungry bureaucrat, this was a serious insult. All of Jesus' answers seem to be designed to upset His judges in the worst way.

Unlike the case for most defendants, victory for Jesus entailed being convicted. His purpose was to be condemned to die. Always the master of what was going on around Him, He said exactly what He needed to in order to ensure that His condemnation came to pass. He wanted to be crucified and made sure that it happened, because that was the only way He could save us.

Lucas Ward

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Just Say No

1/30/2015 2 Comments

Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.

“Buried with Christ …. Dead to the old life …of sin.”

Don’t we just wish? We sing the song. We mean it sincerely. We try to believe it really happened when we were baptized. But, the reality that rots away our hope and that Satan twists to tempt us and bring us back down is that not much seems to have changed. We proclaim that we have Christ and we come to church and we put on the front, but we are still tempted by the same old passions that we were last year, and the year before our conversion and that we did AGAIN last week and we wonder if our only hope is that our last prayer comes after the last time we yielded. Boy, doesn’t the devil just love this attitude, “Just go ahead and give up,” he says. We need to talk to each other and help each other.

Listen to the man who wrote the words behind the song above, “I have been crucified with Christ and it is no more I that lives, but Christ lives in me and the life I now live in the flesh, I live in faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me.” High and noble and don’t I just wish I was on that peak?

Some time later, Paul wrote. “I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected” (1Cor 9:27). Though he had already penned Gal 2:20, Paul still struggled; so great a struggle that he called it beating himself into submission.

If Satan can get us depressed over our failures, we will repeat them. We can triumph, but it is not easy. It is not supposed to be. We are in training to be a spiritual elite, not SEALS, Christians; not SWAT, children of God. Tough training makes tough soldiers of faith.

Don’t give up. Try harder. Pray more. Get a fellow soldier to help and help him. Even Paul had to work at it.

“Just say NO!” Nancy Reagan was mocked for her motto. It is God’s motto. I’ve seen the billboards, “What part of “Thou Shalt Not” did you not understand?” If one believes in God, he must also believe that he is a created being, not a being that is the result of chance. God says that the beings He created have a choice. They can say, “NO!” to Satan. God gave them this power.

Stop it with the excuses.

The mystery …now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great …are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. [Col 1:26-27]

Keith Ward

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Figuring It Out

1/14/2015 0 Comments

Today’s post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.

When Peter gets to Cornelius's house, he states that he wouldn't normally have attended a Gentile's invitation, "but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean." (10:28) Wait! God never told him that! There is no place in the whole Bible where God tells Peter that he shouldn't call people common or unclean. It's just not there. However, Peter doesn't say God told him, he said God showed him. But again, God never showed him anything about people. Earlier in chapter ten God showed Peter a vision of animals and encourages Peter to "kill and eat". Peter refuses, saying that he's never eaten anything unclean. This is where the heavenly voice says, "What God has made clean, do not call common." (vs 15) So, God showed Peter about animals and Peter figured out that He was talking about more than just animals. The Holy Spirit's instruction to go with these Gentiles and Cornelius's obvious humility and desire to learn things pointed to this conclusion. In fact, it was almost necessary that he infer this conclusion . . . .WAIT A MINUTE!

This is an almost perfect example of what preachers/teachers/theologians mean when they say "necessary inference". While Peter was never out-and-out told that no person was common or unclean, he was given so many hints along those lines that any other conclusion was impossible. If he was thinking about God's revelations at all, then this was the conclusion he had to come to. This conclusion is later backed up by the Holy Spirit falling upon the Gentiles, proving that no man was common or unclean due to his race. Also notice that this wasn't the product of wishful thinking on Peter's part, nor was it the result of taking one bit of revelation and twisting it beyond its original intent. After Peter considered all that God had revealed to him on this subject, this was the only conclusion possible.

Another thing to look at is the first 18 verses of chapter 11. When the Jewish Christians accosted Peter in Jerusalem, he was not able to answer them in the way of the OT prophets; he could not say "Thus sayeth Jehovah" because God had never told him directly to do what was done with Cornelius. So, how did he answer? He told them of the vision. He told them that he was ordered to go with these men "nothing doubting" (the only direct verbal statement of God during this whole incident). He recounts what Cornelius had told him regarding the angel's visit. He tells of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon Cornelius and that the incident brought to mind a saying of Jesus. He summed it all up by saying, "Who was I, that I could withstand God?" (11:17). Upon hearing this, the Jewish Christians praised God that the Gospel was extended to the Gentiles, too. But what was Peter's justification built on? One generalized statement of the Lord and one statement by the Holy Spirit to go, one rather cryptic vision, a Gentile's claim to having seen an angel, and the rather emphatic proof of God's approval of what was going on. (By the time the Holy Spirit had fallen upon them, Peter had already preached the Gospel to them; he had already come to his conclusion by that point -- the Holy Spirit's outpouring was for the benefit of others.) To understand what God wanted and approved of, Peter and the rest of the Jewish Christians examined all the evidence available, the whole of God's revelation on the subject to that point, and came to a conclusion. In other words, they had to exercise their gray matter upon the subject and think.

Yes, God expects us to think about His revelation and our religion. Isa 1:18 "Come now, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." God wants us to think, just as He implored the ancient Israelites. The "wise of this world" scoff at religion and label it the domain of unthinking brutes -- and many do unthinkingly follow religious leaders to horrible ends -- but the religion God set up is a religion for thinkers. Not that you have to be super smart. Not that it is extremely difficult to understand. But God has given us His word and expects us to understand it. To do so, we must read and think about it. Understand it as a whole, rather than wresting individual bits of it. See what God is clearly implying about how we should live our lives.

Peter figured it out and he was an uneducated fishermen. Surely we can follow his example.

"It is important for doubters to understand that many of us believers came to the point of faith by first studying the evidence and using -- not abandoning -- our reasoning powers to analyze it. I discovered that to believe in Jesus Christ does not require us to discard our intellect." ----David Limbaugh "Jesus on Trial"

Lucas Ward

Friends of God

12/31/2014 2 Comments

Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.

To have friends, one must be a friend. I have had a little success with this axiom of interpersonal relationships, but I am not a good practitioner. I became more concerned when I considered that Abraham was called the friend of God (James 2:23). How does one act to become known in truth as God’s friend? Developing friends takes time; one must have time to listen, time to help out, time to “be there,” etc. How can one do these things for God?
   On one occasion, Jehoshaphat called Abraham “thy friend” as he prayed for God’s help (2 Chron 20:7). But, of more significance, God himself referred to “Abraham, my friend” (Isa 41:8). Does it not send thrills through your soul to consider the possibility that God might refer to you in that way? Friendship is a two-way street. We can readily understand what God did for Abraham, but find only question marks when we consider what Abraham might have done for God.
   I think I might be described as a good servant of God, but friend? How do I move up to that level?
   Friends do more than obey; friends do more than ask. Abraham talked with God, he did not just make requests.
Abram complained to God because he did not have offspring and God responded with clarification of the Promise and renewal of the covenant. They talked back and forth. When God came down in person to promise Isaac, Abram laughed and proposed that Ishmael be the one (17:22).   Rather than smite him, God reiterated the promise. Abram then expressed his faith by circumcising himself and his house.
   Later, when Sarah laughed, she evidently did not know the guest was God, but by the time Abraham spoke on behalf of Sodom, he knew.   He bargained with God, not as an equal but as one who had the right to so speak plainly. And God honored his pleas, and as a friend, went beyond them to rescue Lot from destruction.
   Yet, Abraham did not presume on his friendship to think he could disobey. When God said, “Go offer,” he went and only the hand of his Friend kept him from fulfilling his obedience. Friends do great deeds for their friends.
   So, today, how do I become a friend of God? Just praying the standard prayers is clearly insufficient. That is just asking/thanking. Where is the exchange that comes with friendship? To love the Lord with all my heart and soul and might involves more than an act of teeth-gritting determination to will it so. Being a friend involves much more than simple obedience. I must like God. More than worship him; more than obey him, God wants me to like him. He is not coming down to man’s level, he is asking me (and you) to step up and to consider him and to like him and be his friend.

Keith Ward

Tabitha/Dorcas/Gazelle

12/15/2014 0 Comments

Today’s post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.

We are introduced to this lady in Acts 9:36. Her name in Aramaic was Tabitha, which translated to Dorcas in the Greek. If we translated it to English, it would be Gazelle--a beautiful name for a woman who shone with spiritual beauty.

Dorcas, described as being full of good works, died, and was mourned greatly. Peter was called, apparently to offer some comfort to the brethren. Instead, he raised her from the dead, and as the story went out, many believed. But there is more to it than just that.

She was full of good works. (Would anyone describe me that way? Even half full?) What type of good works? The mourning widows showed Peter that practically all they wore was given to them by Dorcas. Widows back then were, almost by definition, destitute. There were almost no jobs that a woman could do. A widow was reliant upon the charity of others. So Dorcas, finding people who could not afford to buy decent clothes for themselves, did what she could for them. She bought cloth and sewed garments for these widows and gave it to them so they would have something decent to wear. That reminds me of something. Here it is:

Mat 25:35-40 "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I WAS NAKED AND YOU CLOTHED ME, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' "

Tabitha/Dorcas exemplified the qualities that Jesus said He would be looking for on Judgment Day. She literally clothed those who couldn't afford decent clothes. And notice, it wasn't the great preachers or miracle workers who were raised from the dead; it was a quiet lady who did what she could to help those less fortunate than herself.

When we got to this point the other night in Bible Study, I told my class, "Being a Christian is much more than what we do in here [the church building]. In fact, being a Christian has almost nothing to do with what we do in here. Being a Christian is how we live our lives everyday of the week out in the world." When people saw Dorcas/Tabitha on a day-to-day basis, they knew from her actions that she loved and feared God. What do people think when they see me?

I doubt Peter would have bothered raising me from the dead. What about you?

Lucas Ward

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Hell Is Real

11/12/2014 0 Comments

Today’s’ post is by guest writer Helene Smith.

People are going to Hell. Literally. Look around. That guy who sits down the table from you at lunch, the lady behind you in the line at Walmart, that cute family who visited at your church last week, your Aunt Susie, they could all be headed for Hell.

Do I have your attention?

Recently my husband and I read a pair of books by Thom Rainer, Breakout Churches: Discover how to make the Leap and Surprising Insights from the Unchurched and Proven Ways to Reach Them. The books had a lot of startling conclusions. But perhaps the most surprising of all was this - churches that preach a clear doctrine of Hell are churches that are likely to be growing.

I'll take counterintuitive for a 1,000, Alex.

I'd have supposed that itching ears were happy to hear some less Biblically rigorous doctrine. Perhaps they are, but still the churches who are "intolerant" and "exclusive" (notice I did not say harsh or unloving) are the churches that are growing. The survey concluded that if the leaders and the followers in a church don't believe with all their hearts that Jesus provides the one and only way to escape eternal punishment in Hell, the church will be remarkably ineffective in terms of evangelism.

And I think I know why. Churches grow evangelistically (not by sheep rustling- stealing members from the church down the road) when the whole church is involved in telling their friends about Jesus. And that's a high stakes game. When our friend says, "I've got NO life. Not a thing going this weekend! You?" And we say, "I'm going to church, wanna come?" We're really putting ourselves out there. When our friend says, "I just feel like there's something missing." And when we reply, "I used to feel that way too," proceeding to tell them the story of how we became a Christian, we've left our heart naked before them. No one likes being branded, no one likes being rejected. So what on earth is a strong enough motivator to get Joe Christian to step out like that? Why would we pay the cost?

Love.

I know. You thought I was going to say fear, as in a fear of the lake of fire.

But see, if my coworker is going to hell, and I don't love them, I don't care. Seriously, I might be sorry but not sorry enough to stretch out my neck. A good hellfire and brimstone sermon might bring ME to Christ but it is not nearly enough to make me tell someone I couldn't care less about.

But love? Love is a whole different story. Love will keep us up at night. Love makes our stomach hurt. Love makes us say things, hard things, honest things, because we care more about that person's well-being than peace in the relationship.

Moreover, loving God drives us to love people. He fashioned them. They are his spitting image. He DIED so that they could live. When we love him, really love him, when we know how much he loves them, we can't help but love them too. John puts it like this, "for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also."

Churches grow when each and every person sees the world in two categories: redeemed and redeemable. Churches grow when Christians look at their work-a-week coworkers, family members, and friends with Jesus' eyes. They see sheep without a shepherd (Mark 6:33-35), and their hearts are moved by compassion. Churches grow when we believe that hell is real, people are lost, and that if we love them at all we have to tell them so.

Helene Smith

More of Helene’s writings may be found at www.maidservantsofChrist.com

Incomplete Evangelism

11/5/2014 0 Comments

Today’s post is by guest writer Melissa Baker.

The Plan of Salvation. The steps to salvation. The Roman Road. Personal testimony. Are these familiar to you? As people who are already Christians, we memorize these in an attempt to learn to share the gospel with our friends. All churches seem to have one version or another they stick to. When I was a kid, I even had a bracelet with different colored beads to help me remember. While none of these things are wrong, I recently read a book that challenged me to believe that many of these methods of evangelism don't go far enough in letting people know what being a Christian is all about.

In his book The Gospel According to Jesus, John MacArthur explores the way that Jesus evangelized and compares it to modern church evangelism. While I must say that there is a whole host of things I disagree with the author about in this book (he is a staunch Calvinist), he made a strong argument that our simple plans of salvation don't come to the heart of conversion as Jesus taught it: someone who becomes a Christian must acknowledge through their actions the lordship of Christ.

The New Testament is replete with the image of slavery, the idea that a Christian is a slave to Christ. Our culture doesn't like to speak of slavery, most likely because of our relatively recent history with slavery in the Unites States. Many versions of the Bible even omit the word "slave," exchanging it for the more politically correct word "servant." But Mr. MacArthur points out that the Greek work doulos isn't talking about a hired man. "It describes someone lacking personal freedom and personal rights whose very existence is defined by his service to another. It is the sort of slavery in which 'human autonomy is set aside and an alien will takes precedence of one's own.' This is the total, unqualified submission to the control and the directives of a higher authority -- slavery, not merely service at one's own discretion."

Jesus himself is the one who began to use this term, and he never softened its edges (Matthew 10:24-25; Matthew 25:21; Luke 9:57-62). In fact, many times his hard teachings drove would-be followers away because they were unwilling to follow them. The rich young ruler, for example, put his money before Jesus and would not follow Christ if it meant giving up his wealth (Matthew 19:16-22). How many times have we made absolutely sure our Seekers know the cost of following Christ before they make a decision? Jesus told a whole crowd of people exactly what they would have to give up.
Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'" (Luke 14:25-30)

No simple plan of salvation I've seen has ever contained the enormity of these words, yet Jesus over and over again let people know that he was calling them to a changed life. Not just a life of salvation, but a life of obedience to Him above all else.

There is a man in my life whom I love dearly and pray for every day. Because he intellectually believes everything about Jesus, he thinks his soul is secure. I was understandably concerned because he had not put Christ on in baptism. I thought if he would only do that, then I would be able to sleep at night knowing his salvation is secure. But his refusal to be baptized is a sign of something much deeper. He is unwilling to submit to the Lordship of Christ in any way, and because of the "easy believism" prevalent in the church today, he thinks he is safe. My letter urging him to be baptized should have been a long conversation urging him to become a slave of Christ.

What about you? What do you think of when you think of evangelism? An easy, five step process? A path through the Scriptures? That's the way I used to think about it, but The Gospel According to Jesus has challenged me to share my faith the way Christ, the Author of that faith, did. In turn, I challenge you to do the same.

Melissa Morris Baker
- See more of Melissa’s writings at: http://www.maidservantsofchrist.com/

Everyday People

10/31/2014 0 Comments

Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.

Before I retired, often on a cool morning I built a fire of twigs before I left for work to have a few moments, “Just God and me”. I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the ordinary things in Jesus’ life. How many times did he sit around a fire in the evening with the apostles? What did they talk about? It was not all religion, I bet: “Did you see the size of that viper under the bush this afternoon?”

Those desert nights get cold. They might have built more than one fire so that when they bedded down, there would be enough for all of them to be near one. Even when they were near a town, there would be difficulty finding enough rooms for all. Jesus, twelve apostles, up to half a dozen women who ministered to him (probably not all there all the time, but maybe there were others occasionally who were not listed as they were not there often); from the 120 in Acts 1, they selected two that had been with him all the way, and once he sent out seventy in pairs of two, so they had to have journeyed with him some of the time. It was a small army -- never less than thirteen; often more than a hundred. Firewood would be a problem, as would food. Jesus might wake up in the morning to the sound of the women getting the fires re-started and breakfast on. (NO BACON!! No sausage gravy. What would be the point of even having breakfast? )

If Jesus came to me, at my morning fire, what would he say? I have imagined several conversations centered around my perception of my problems and needs. I do wonder, though, if I have faced myself well enough to even be in the ballpark.

Then, I was working in the garden one day and wondered, “Did Jesus garden?” Surely, he must have. Most homes had what our parents called “kitchen gardens.” The wife cared for those, and the young children helped. Think about Jesus pulling weeds, planting seeds, watering. “Mom, I finished, can I go play now?”

He was a carpenter taught by his father. Joseph demonstrated, corrected, helped. Or do you think he formed furniture and houses by fiat?

That first century generation had great difficult seeing that this everyday man was in fact, God. For many generations, we have over-taught deity so that we have difficulty seeing him as a real man.

The reality of this overemphasis is that many dismiss his example and do not try very hard to measure up—after all, he was deity, I cannot do that. The truth is that no one, especially they of Nazareth who knew him best, saw him as being any different than any other child, teen, adult. Obviously, after he was 30, he did miracles, but in no other way was distinguished from any other man in anyone’s eyes.

So, when we read Peter and others urging us to follow his example, to be what he was, to let him live in us, it is possible. He was tempted like we are, He “in like manner” partook of flesh and blood that he might deliver us. We can live like he did because he lived “in like manner” as we do (Heb 2:12). Take hold of the power of that example.

Keith Ward

Jesus' Four Comments During His Trial

10/15/2014 0 Comments

Today’s article is by guest writer, Lucas Ward.

Just as it was prophesied in Isaiah, Jesus didn't speak much during His trial(s). In fact, He never once responded to any of His accusers. Not the false witnesses at the Jewish sham trial, not the Chief Priests before Pilate or the Jews before Herod. In all these cases, He stood mute. His silence enraged the High Priest and astounded Pilate. (Mt. 26:62-63, 27:12-14) In fact, the only times Jesus spoke were in answer to direct questions from the prosecutor/judge in reference to His identity. Even then, His answers weren't what one would normally expect from a defendant. Let's examine each of the four times He spoke and then see what conclusions we can draw.

Mat 26:63-64 "But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." Jesus said to him, "You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven."" Notice that Jesus didn't merely answer in the affirmative, He went beyond that. "Seated at the right hand of Power" can only mean with God and in fact is a claim that He not only was the Christ the son of God, but that he was fully divine and equal to God. Who else could sit with Power? He adds to that statement that they will see Him coming in the clouds of heaven. Throughout the literary prophets, God coming in the clouds signified God coming in judgment to destroy a city or nation. Jesus is saying, not only am I the Christ, I'm God and I'm going to come in judgment on you! Immediately, the Sanhedrin declares that He is worthy of death for blasphemy. (A charge which would have been true had anyone else uttered those words.)

Luk 22:67 ""If you are the Christ, tell us." But he said to them, "If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God." So they all said, "Are you the Son of God, then?" And he said to them, "You say that I am."" One of the proofs that this session is separate from those recorded in Matthew and Mark is that the whole line of questioning here is different. There are no false witnesses, and Jesus' answer to their question is a bit different. This is the formal "official" trial, and they need to get His "blasphemy" on record. This time when they ask, He tells them there is no point in answering, because they are too stubborn (and stupid?) to believe. He then continues to say that He will be seated with God and finally confirms that He is the Son of God. They again condemn Him to death.

Mat 27:11 Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus said, "You have said so." John gives a much fuller account, but this is sufficient. Jesus claims to be a king to the Roman governor.

Joh 19:10-11 "So Pilate said to him, "You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?" Jesus answered him, "You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin."" While there may have been some slight compassion for Pilate on Jesus' part here – after all, Pilate was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, unjust and self-interested as he was -- He seems also to be thumbing His nose at Pilate. He tells Pilate that Pilate's power and authority count for nothing when dealing with Him, that Pilate would have no authority over Him except that God had so arranged it.

Do you see a theme threading through these statements by the Lord? In every case, He said precisely what would enrage His questioners most. Before the Jews, He not only claimed to be the Christ, the son of God, but fully divine Himself and promised that He was coming in judgment upon them. He later repeated most of that while hinting that they were too stubborn to believe the truth. Before Pilate, He claimed to be a king. What was the primary responsibility of the Roman governors? To keep the peace and stamp out insurrections before they could get started. The fastest way to earn a death sentence was to claim to be a king and to gather followers around you. John records that not only did Jesus confirm to Pilate that He was a king, He also said that He had servants who would be willing to fight if He ordered it. While Pilate seems to have considered Jesus a harmless crazy person, this claim would have caused his antennae to twitch. Finally, Jesus tells Pilate that he holds no true power over Him. For a power hungry bureaucrat, this was a serious insult. All of Jesus' answers seem to be designed to upset His judges in the worst way.

Unlike the case for most defendants, victory for Jesus entailed being convicted. His purpose was to be condemned to die. Always the master of what was going on around Him, He said exactly what He needed to in order to ensure that His condemnation came to pass. He wanted to be crucified and made sure that it happened, because that was the only way He could save us.

Lucas Ward

Seven Things Not to Say to a Missionary

10/10/2014 0 Comments

Today’s post is by guest writer Helene Smith, who has been a missionary’s wife in Asia for several years.

Over the years I have had the pleasure of knowing lots and lots of people, young and old, single and married, male and female who are or have been missionaries. When their hair was down and they were talking shop, they talked about you, the folks at home. Sometimes they talked so gratefully about the cards you sent, the love you showed, the hospitality and kindness you showered them with while they were in America. But other times they talked to me frankly about things that people say, things that were often meant in the kindest spirit but that nonetheless frustrated or hurt them. So on their behalf, I'd like to share these statements with you so you have a chance to encourage them better.

7. When are you coming home?

This was mentioned many times. Each missionary understood that the speakers were trying to say that they were loved and missed. Yet what they longed for was encouragement. Where were the cheerleaders? Who could understand that in many ways they were making a new home?

6. When are you going to come back to your real life?

The missionaries I spoke to were baffled by this question. They lived for months, years, decades in their host countries. They married, had children, and made friends they'd never forget. They had worked, sometimes two jobs, a secular one and a religious one. They had taught Bible classes, hosted one on one Bible studies, prayed, cried and rejoiced. It hurt to have others minimize their "real life."

5. How can you take your kids into... situation?

There's no good answer to this question. The missionary who mentioned this told me that he met with a lot of ignorance, but informing people about the realistic dangers in his host country didn't help. Every missionary parent has the same concerns about their kids that you do about yours. Every missionary parent entrusts them into God's hands just like you do. If you're genuinely curious, ask genuinely; it won't be hurtful. But if you're thinking, "I don't care what God wants, I wouldn't do that to MY kids," don't say it out loud and discourage others!

4. I could never do what you're doing. Never.

This statement, the missionaries I interviewed told me, came from one of two kinds of hearts. Sometimes the speaker thought he was talking to a super-Christian. However missionaries are ordinary Christians called to an unusual lifestyle. They don't think of themselves as any different from you, spiritually speaking. No matter how flattering, life on a pedestal is life separated from your fellowship. The other people who say this sentence seem to fear the idea of going abroad (especially to a dangerous or underdeveloped country). They really DO think that they couldn't do it.

3. We have lost people here too. I don't know why you have to go all the way to...

Once again there's no good answer. I talked with missionaries who tried to explain exactly why they felt that they were being called by God, missionaries who tried to explain the statistics and the weight of people who would die without the opportunity to hear the name of Jesus, missionaries who tried to talk about the great commission and how they were trying to fulfill it. However, it seems none of the answers was particularly successful. Each missionary felt frustrated because they couldn't communicate the power and burden of their call. While the people in America had Bibles, local churches and people just like the one asking the questions, the people in their host country might have no chance to hear the gospel if the missionary didn't go.

2. When are you going to get a real job?

See number 6. Being a full time missionary is a real job. Missionaries are responsible to two congregations not one. They have administrative, teaching, studying, evangelistic and other duties. It's a real job.

1. Well over there...

Whether its true or not, no one likes to hear criticism of a place or a people they love. Finding reasons to complain about their host country's politics, policies, economics, crime or culture is likely to upset them. Although they may well agree with you about the problem, as they identify more and more with their host culture it hurts to hear outsiders comment negatively. It's like hearing a stranger say something bad about your child. You can say what you like, you're his or her mom but when a stranger does, it hurts! If you want to talk about it, ask what they think instead of repeating what the talking heads on TV said.

I'm not suggesting that you should start treating your missionary with kid gloves. Just take a minute and think about how your comments sound. Make sure that you tell them that you're proud of them, acknowledge that they have a tough but blessed job, and find out what they'd like to be prayed for. And I can't emphasize enough, ask. Missionaries home on furlough often would like to tell about their host home but feel that they are boring others. They'd love to share their victories, terrors and defeats; they'd love to tell you what they've learned. They'd love to encourage and be encouraged by you.

Helene Smith

See more of Helene’s writings at www.maidservantsofChrist.com