Finishing Well and Starting Again

"There we both sat and rested for a while, facing the rising sun the way we'd climbed, for looking back can sometimes help you on." ― Dante

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things." – Leonardo da Vinci

"Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending." ― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning." ― T.S. Eliot

Alexander Solzhenitsyn - A World Split Apart - 3

Here is closing remarks from Solzhenitsyn's commencement address at Harvard:

To such consciousness, man is the touchstone in judging everything on earth -- imperfect man, who is never free of pride, self-interest, envy, vanity, and dozens of other defects. We are now experiencing the consequences of mistakes which had not been noticed at the beginning of the journey. On the way from the Renaissance to our days we have enriched our experience, but we have lost the concept of a Supreme Complete Entity which used to restrain our passions and our irresponsibility. We have placed too much hope in political and social reforms, only to find out that we were being deprived of our most precious possession: our spiritual life. In the East, it is destroyed by the dealings and machinations of the ruling party. In the West, commercial interests suffocate it. This is the real crisis. The split in the world is less terrible -- The split in the world is less terrible than the similarity of the disease plaguing its main sections.

If humanism were right in declaring that man is born only to be happy, he would not be born to die. Since his body is doomed to die, his task on earth evidently must be of a more spiritual nature. It cannot be unrestrained enjoyment of everyday life. It cannot be the search for the best ways to obtain material goods and then cheerfully get the most of them. It has to be the fulfillment of a permanent, earnest duty so that one's life journey may become an experience of moral growth, so that one may leave life a better human being than one started it. It is imperative to review the table of widespread human values. Its present incorrectness is astounding. It is not possible that assessment of the President's performance be reduced to the question how much money one makes or of unlimited availability of gasoline. Only voluntary, inspired self-restraint can raise man above the world stream of materialism.

It would be retrogression to attach oneself today to the ossified formulas of the Enlightenment. Social dogmatism leaves us completely helpless in front of the trials of our times. Even if we are spared destruction by war, our lives will have to change if we want to save life from self-destruction. We cannot avoid revising the fundamental definitions of human life and human society. Is it true that man is above everything? Is there no Superior Spirit above him? Is it right that man's life and society's activities have to be determined by material expansion in the first place? Is it permissible to promote such expansion to the detriment of our spiritual integrity?

If the world has not come to its end, it has approached a major turn in history, equal in importance to the turn from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. It will exact from us a spiritual upsurge: We shall have to rise to a new height of vision, to a new level of life where our physical nature will not be cursed as in the Middle Ages, but, even more importantly, our spiritual being will not be trampled upon as in the Modern era.

This ascension will be similar to climbing onto the next anthropologic stage. No one on earth has any other way left but -- upward.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn - A World Split Apart - 2

Continuing with Solzhenitsyn's critique of the West from his commencement address at Harvard (1978), he turns his attention to early democracies and how they modulated individual rights and protected the society from boundless freedom:

However, in early democracies, as in the American democracy at the time of its birth, all individual human rights were granted because man is God's creature. That is, freedom was given to the individual conditionally, in the assumption of his constant religious responsibility. Such was the heritage of the preceding thousand years. Two hundred or even fifty years ago, it would have seemed quite impossible, in America, that an individual could be granted boundless freedom simply for the satisfaction of his instincts or whims. Subsequently, however, all such limitations were discarded everywhere in the West; a total liberation occurred from the moral heritage of Christian centuries with their great reserves of mercy and sacrifice. State systems were -- State systems were becoming increasingly and totally materialistic. The West ended up by truly enforcing human rights, sometimes even excessively, but man's sense of responsibility to God and society grew dimmer and dimmer. In the past decades, the legalistically selfish aspect of Western approach and thinking has reached its final dimension and the world wound up in a harsh spiritual crisis and a political impasse. All the glorified technological achievements of Progress, including the conquest of outer space, do not redeem the 20th century's moral poverty which no one could imagine even as late as in the 19th Century.

As humanism in its development became more and more materialistic, it made itself increasingly accessible to speculation and manipulation by socialism and then by communism. So that Karl Marx was able to say that "communism is naturalized humanism."

This statement turned out not to be entirely senseless. One does see the same stones in the foundations of a despiritualized humanism and of any type of socialism: endless materialism; freedom from religion and religious responsibility, which under communist regimes reach the stage of anti-religious dictatorships; concentration on social structures with a seemingly scientific approach. This is typical of the Enlightenment in the 18th Century and of Marxism. Not by coincidence all of communism's meaningless pledges and oaths are about Man, with a capital M, and his earthly happiness. At first glance it seems an ugly parallel: common traits in the thinking and way of life of today's West and today's East? But such is the logic of materialistic development.

The interrelationship is such, too, that the current of materialism which is most to the left always ends up by being stronger, more attractive, and victorious, because it is more consistent. Humanism without its Christian heritage cannot resist such competition. We watch this process in the past centuries and especially in the past decades, on a world scale as the situation becomes increasingly dramatic. Liberalism was inevitably displaced by radicalism; radicalism had to surrender to socialism; and socialism could never resist communism. The communist regime in the East could stand and grow due to the enthusiastic support from an enormous number of Western intellectuals who felt a kinship and refused to see communism's crimes. And when they no longer could do so, they tried to justify them. In our Eastern countries, communism has suffered a complete ideological defeat; it is zero and less than zero. But Western intellectuals still look at it with interest and with empathy, and this is precisely what makes it so immensely difficult for the West to withstand the East.

I am not examining here the case of a world war disaster and the changes which it would produce in society. As long as we wake up every morning under a peaceful sun, we have to lead an everyday life. There is a disaster, however, which has already been under way for quite some time. I am referring to the calamity of a despiritualized and irreligious humanistic consciousness.

In the next post we'll conclude this brief series.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn - A World Split Apart - 1

In 1978, Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn gave a commencement speech at Harvard University. In his address, he critiqued both the East and...surprising to many in the audience...the West. I've heard a lot of commencement speeches but none quite like this. As it did in 1978, it serves as a warning to western democracies that our decline is a moral and spiritual one. I'll pick up his speech as he addresses this decline. As not to overload you all, this may take up a couple of posts.

How did the West decline from its triumphal march to its present sickness? Have there been fatal turns and losses of direction in its development? It does not seem so. The West kept advancing socially in accordance with its proclaimed intentions, with the help of brilliant technological progress. And all of a sudden it found itself in its present state of weakness.

This means that the mistake must be at the root, at the very basis of human thinking in the past centuries. I refer to the prevailing Western view of the world which was first born during the Renaissance and found its political expression from the period of the Enlightenment. It became the basis for government and social science and could be defined as rationalistic humanism or humanistic autonomy: the proclaimed and enforced autonomy of man from any higher force above him. It could also be called anthropocentricity, with man seen as the center of everything that exists.

The turn introduced by the Renaissance evidently was inevitable historically. The Middle Ages had come to a natural end by exhaustion, becoming an intolerable despotic repression of man's physical nature in favor of the spiritual one. Then, however, we turned our backs upon the Spirit and embraced all that is material with excessive and unwarranted zeal. This new way of thinking, which had imposed on us its guidance, did not admit the existence of intrinsic evil in man nor did it see any higher task than the attainment of happiness on earth. It based modern Western civilization on the dangerous trend to worship man and his material needs. Everything beyond physical well-being and accumulation of material goods, all other human requirements and characteristics of a subtler and higher nature, were left outside the area of attention of state and social systems, as if human life did not have any superior sense. That provided access for evil, of which in our days there is a free and constant flow. Merely freedom does not in the least solve all the problems of human life and it even adds a number of new ones.

In the next post, Solzhenitzyn offers insights into freedom in the democratic age.

Solomon's Commencement Speech

Joe Carter, editor of the Gospel Coalition, continues here with his speculation of what a commencement address by Solomon might be:

People often ask, “What's the key to success?” My father—who was quite a success himself—gave me some sound advice on the subject (1 Kings 2): “Be strong, and show yourself a man, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses.”

One of the most important things I know is this: Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1).

I knew a kid once who was poor but wise (Eccl. 4:13-16). He went from being in prison to become a king. Led a great number of people. But now no one remembers him—at least not fondly. He was better off being poor. What happened to him? Well, after he got in power he no longer knew how to take advice. The lesson: Listen to advice and accept instruction, so that you may gain wisdom in the future.

Young men, admire the beauty of your wife; young women, admire the beauty of your husband. (I recommend comparing a woman's hair to a flock of goats [Song of Solomon 4] and a man's hair to a raven [Song of Solomon 5].)

Don't love sleep (Proverbs 20:13).

I had a dream once that God would give me whatever I asked. If you ever have a similar dream, here's what I recommend: Don't ask God to give you wealth or a long life (1 Kings 3). Ask for an understanding mind and the ability to discern good from evil (1 Kings 3).

Keep your tongue and you'll keep out of trouble (Proverbs 21:23). What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done. Sure, you may have iPhones and Starbucks now. But when it comes down to it, there is nothing really all that new.

Buy truth, and do not sell it (Proverbs 23:23). Buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding too.

Aim to get rich slowly. Wealth gained hastily will dwindle; wealth gained little by little increases (Proverbs 13:11).

Go out into the grass and find some ants. Watch what they do (Prov 6:6-11). Notice how even this insect works hard preparing for the future? You should do the same.

Don't ever say, “Why were the former days better than these?” (Eccl. 7:10) Wise people never ask that question. Even fools who keep their mouths shut seem wise. So if you want people to think you're intelligent, close your lips (Prov. 17:28). Don't marry someone who doesn't share your faith (I Kings 3). Trust me, it only leads to heartache and pain (I Kings 11). Remember when you were a kid and your dog died? That's going to happen to you too. Did your dog go to heaven? I don't know (Eccl. 3). Don't take everything people say to heart (Eccl. 3:21). You know that many times you yourself have cursed others.

When you vow a vow to God, pay it as soon as you can. God takes no pleasure in fools, so pay what you vow (Eccl 5:4).

Don't spend too much time drinking alcohol. It may go down smooth, but in the end, it'll bite you like a snake (Prov 23:29-35).

Wine is a mocker, liquor a brawler (Prov 20).

The more you know, the more the world breaks your heart (Eccl 1:18).

Never trust a woman who would accept half a baby (1 Kings 16-28).

Wear sunscreen (Song of Solomon 1:6).

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/if-king-solomon-gave-a-commencement-address/

A Biblical Commencement Speech

Joe Carter, editor of the Gospel Coalition, spent some time thinking about what a biblical commencement speech would look like. With college commencements approaching (and I'm thinking of one in particular), I thought this might be a timely post. Here is the introduction; I'll post the speech tomorrow.

The most popular commencement address never given falls short of the biblical ideal at several points. But what would a biblical commencement address sound like? And who would be the best person to deliver such a speech?

Several candidates from the New Testament may seem to be obvious choices (the apostles Peter or Paul), though wouldn't they be more likely to deliver a sermon than a graduation address? Similarly, the Old Testament offers a range of excellent speakers—namely all the prophets. But if you were waiting to get your diploma and head off to the post-graduation party, wouldn't you be disheartened to see Isaiah take the stage? When you consider all the options there is only one clear favorite, a man who would have been the best commencement speaker in history: King Solomon.

Solomon had all the attributes we look for in a commencement speaker. He was fabulously wealthy (2 Chron. 1:14-17), accomplished (his biography as well as three of his written works are included in the best-selling book of all time), worldly-wise (“I have seen everything that is done under the sun. . .”)(Eccl. 1:14), and able to provide suitably aphoristic advice for young people (he even wrote a wildly popular advice book)(Proverbs 1).

Given all of this, what commencement speech might King Solomon deliver? I'll share that in tomorrow's post.

Isaiah 55:1-5 - The Compassion of the Lord

Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.

Worship

This devotional is from Winston T. Smith as part of The Heart of the Matter volume. It is based on Mark 12:28-34 and Christ's admonition to love the Lord completely.

Heart, mind, soul, and strength obviously overlap. God uses these overlapping terms so that there can be no mistaking that he requires from us an all-consuming love. Is there any part of life that falls outside of your heart, mind, soul, and strength? We're accustomed to dividing life into the spiritual and nonspiritual, handing the spiritual things over to God and managing the rest by ourselves. There are certain areas that we like to consider outside God's control. But this command makes clear that God should be at the center of it all. All barriers between the spiritual and nonspiritual are broken down.

The Bible has a word for this kind of all-consuming love, a devotion that shapes and directs every area of life: Worship. That may surprise you since we often use the word worship in a very limited sense. We think of worship as a set of specific activities that we perform on one day of the week. We go to a special place, sing songs, pray, listen to a message, stand, kneel, etc. We then leave that special place and worship is over. It is true that God tells us to worship him that way, but the command to love God with our whole being teaches that every aspect of our lives is an act of worship. Everything we do is guided by our love or God, our every act one of devotion to him.

Easter 2019 - Luke 24:1-12

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

Easter 2019 - Luke 23:44-56

It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.



Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.



On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Easter 2019 - Luke 23:26-43

And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.  And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Easter 2019 - Luke 23:1-25

Then the whole company of them arose and brought him before Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.” And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.” Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this man.” But they were urgent, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee even to this place.”

When Pilate heard this, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And when he learned that he belonged to Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him over to Herod, who was himself in Jerusalem at that time. When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. And Herod with his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate. And Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before this they had been at enmity with each other.

Pilate then called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading the people. And after examining him before you, behold, I did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. I will therefore punish and release him.”

But they all cried out together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder. Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” A third time he said to them, “Why? What evil has he done? I have found in him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release him.” But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will.

Easter 2019 - Luke 22:54-71

Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house, and Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking him as they beat him. They also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it that struck you?” And they said many other things against him, blaspheming him.

When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him away to their council, and they said, “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.” Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips.”

Easter 2019 - Luke 22:39-53

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”

The Worst Evil is Meant for Good - 4

This is the last installment of John Piper's chapter on Christ's suffering:

There is no greater sin than to hate and kill the Son of God. There was no greater suffering nor any greater innocence than the suffering and innocence of Christ. Yet God was in it all. "It was the will of the Lord to crush him" (Isaiah 53:10). His aim, through evil and suffering, was to destroy evil and suffering. "With his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). Is not then the passion of Jesus Christ meant by God to show the world that there is no sin and no evil too great that God, in Christ, cannot bring from it everlasting righteousness and joy? The very suffering that we caused became the hope of our salvation. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).

The Worst Evil is Meant for Good - 3

In John Piper's book, The Passion of Jesus Christ, he provides 50 reasons why Christ had to suffer and die. In the last chapter, he argues that He had to die to show that the worst evil is meant by God for good. We're continuing with that chapter today:

But the most astonishing thing is that evil and suffering were Christ's appointed way of victory over evil and suffering. Every act of treachery and brutality against Jesus was sinful and evil. But God was in it. The Bible says, "Jesus [was] delivered up [to death] according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God" (Acts 2:23). The lash on his back, the thorns on his head, the spit on his cheek, the bruises on his face, the nails in his hand, the spear in his side, the scorn of rulers, the betrayal of his friend, the desertion of his disciples - these were the result of sin, and all designed by God to destroy the power of sin. "Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, [did] whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place" (Acts 4:27-28).

This is profound and mysterious, but it must be true.

Palm Sunday 2019

Our pastor sent the following to us ahead of Palm Sunday. I thought he expressed the commemoration of this special day very well:

This Sunday is Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is when Christians commemorate Jesus’ “Triumphal Entry” into Jerusalem at the beginning of what would end up being the final week of our Lord’s earthly ministry. All four gospel writers record this event. You can read their accounts in the following passages: Matt 21:4-9; Mark 11:7-10; Luke 19:35-38; John 12:12-15.

From those passages, we learn that the crowds on the first Palm Sunday shouted, “Hosanna!” to Jesus. In Christ’s day, that expression meant something close to the English expression “You are our Savior!” By saying such things about Jesus, the people were declaring that they recognized Him as the Messiah. Such recognition also meant they were declaring Jesus to be their King, the long hoped for son of David! The gospel writers tell us the crowds shouted all those things to Jesus that day.

Speaking of those crowds, we are told that they also laid down their cloaks before Jesus and waved palm branches in royal celebration. It is interesting to note who was part of the crowd on the first Palm Sunday. Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us Christ’s disciples were in the crowd. But John informs us that the crowd was also made up of people from all over Judea, who were already present in Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. They too welcomed Jesus as their King. This is noteworthy because those same crowds, less than a week later, would cry out for Jesus to be crucified.

Why the sudden and shocking shift in public opinion? Why did the people in Jerusalem call Jesus their King on one day, only to cry out for his execution just a few days later? The reason is that Jesus was not the kind of Messiah the people were hoping for. Rather than come to the city ready to finally confront the Romans and liberate the Jews, Jesus entered Jerusalem in order to confront His people’s sin — and, after that, to die for it. Though they might have hailed Him as Savior on Palm Sunday, the people quickly realized Jesus was not offering the kind of salvation they had in mind.

What should all of this mean for us as Christians today? For one, Palm Sunday is an opportunity to publicly declare once more that Jesus truly is our only Savior and King. What a privilege it is to shout our “hosannas!” to Him this time each year. He has come into this world, and into our lives, in the Name of the Lord. In fact, Jesus has come as the Lord. What a joy it is to know Him, our divine Savior and Ruler!

Yet we should also not forget how similar we are to those fickle crows in Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday. Sometimes Jesus is not the kind of Savior we think we need. Sometimes His rule of our lives leaves us doubtful of His goodness or competence. Thankfully, we eventually realize such thoughts are absurd; yet they can often lead us to grow cold in love for the Lord and to grow lax in our service to Him.

That is why it’s such a comfort to know what happened shortly after the first Palm Sunday. Our Lord gave His life, dying in our place for our many sins, sins that include our remaining fickleness. And on the third day after, He rose from the dead to assure us that His sacrifice was effective, that our sins have been fully cleansed. So though we should be humbled by how disloyal our hearts still are, let us also rejoice this Palm Sunday that our Savior has already provided the true salvation we each so desperately need. What else is left to say but…

"Hosanna! Blessed is He who has come in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! Amen."

The Worst Evil is Meant for Good - 2

This post continues with John Piper's thoughts on why Christ needed to suffer:

The heart of the Bible is not an explanation of where evil came from, but a demonstration of how God enters into it and turns it for the very opposite - everlasting righteous and joy. There were pointers in the Scriptures all along the way that it would be like this for the Messiah. Joseph, the son of Jacob, was sold into slavery in Egypt. He seemed abandoned for seventeen years. But God was in it and made him ruler in Egypt, so that in a great famine he could save the very ones who sold him. The story is summed up in a word from Joseph to his brother: "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good" (Genesis 50:20). A foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, forsaken in order to save.

Or consider Christ's ancestry. Once God was the only king in Israel. But the people rebelled and asked for a human king: "No! But there shall be a king over us" (1 Samuel 8:19). Later they confessed, "We have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king" (1 Samuel 12:19). But God was in it. From the line of these kings he brought Christ into the world. The sinless Savior had his earthly origin in sin as he came to save sinners.

The Worst Evil is Meant for Good - 1

As Easter is approaching, I started thinking about the crucifixion and Jesus' suffering. It makes sense, but then it doesn't. God could have worked out our salvation in numerous other ways, but he chose the Cross. John Piper wrote a book back in 2004 entitled The Passion of Jesus Christ. In it, he enumerates 50 reasons why Christ suffered and died, including the following: to absorb the wrath of God; to show his own love for us; to make us holy, blameless, and perfect; to reconcile us to God. As I leafed through it again, it was the last chapter that gave me pause: Christ suffered and died to show that the worst evil is meant by God for good.

The problem of evil is a knotty one. Just as God could have chosen a different method of salvation, he also could have created a different paradigm of good and evil. But he didn't and it remains a mystery to me. But Piper offers a thoughtful explanation in the context of the Cross. I thought I would share it with you over the next few posts. To start, Piper opens the chapter with this passage:

"In this city were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus...both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever you hand and your plan had predestined to take place." - Acts 4:27-28

And he introduces the narrative with this statement:

The most profound thing we can say about suffering and evil is that, in Jesus Christ, God entered into it and turned it for good. The origin of evil is shrouded in mystery. The Bible does not take us as far as we might like to go. Rather it says, "The secret things belong to...God" (Deuteronomy 29:29)

Using Leisure Time Well - Part 5

This is the last post from The Reformation Heritage Study Bible essay on leisure. I hope this series has been helpful:

God's grace enables us to enjoy His gifts with thankfulness to Him, redeem leisure time, and delight in the greatest recreation of all. The Puritan Isaac Ambrose wrote, "Contemplation is soul-recreation." He then proceeded to write a large volume (recommended reading!) entitled Looking Unto Jesus. As important as other uses of leisure time are, the most blessed activity involves seeking and delighting in the Lord. That is why God gave a weekly day of rest. Though we may not consider the Sabbath "leisure time," it is "time when one is not working." Guard that day, devote it to spiritual exercises, treasure the means of grace God gives on it, and seek rest in Christ. His grace makes this weekly day of rest the highlight of "leisure time" and will affect how you spend your spare moments and free days.

Using Leisure Time Well - Part 4

In this part, we'll explore some of the dangers in poor uses of leisure time:

Another danger is letting time-wasters consume time without profit. Recreation and sports give exercise and teach teamwork, but when they become an obsession they rob time as our idols. Social media, internet surfing, computer games, and online entertainment easily devour spare minutes and even hours. Take spare moments to seek the things above in the midst of a busy day, maybe with the help of an app on your device or book beside your chair.

What we do when we do not "have to do" anything often betrays the priorities and preferences of our hearts. Haven't you found that your greatest problem in your use of free time is your heart? What reason we have to confess to God our sin! How we need the cleansing blood of Christ and the righteous covering of the Savior, who always redeemed the time He received to work and rest. Let us seek His enlivening grace to lead us to set our affections on the things above and to give us true love to others.

This post may be particularly meaningful to God Before Midnight readers. Kicking back after a long day and staying up late to relax can lead to temptations. That late night leisure time can often reveal the priorities of our hearts. Be careful and use that time well.

Using Leisure Time Well - Part 3

The third part of this series is about how leisure time can strengthen interpersonal bonds and serve to enjoy God's gifts:

Another purpose for leisure time is to strengthen bonds with others. God pronounced His blessing on the God-fearing people who took time to speak "often one to another" (Mal. 3:16). Bonds of family, friends, and church can be strengthened and others blessed in our free time.

Another purpose is the enjoyment of God's gifts (1 Tim 6:17b). God shows His glory in the wonderful variety and exquisite beauty of His creation. He gives food, marriage, and other things for us to enjoy in thankfulness to Him (1 Tim. 4:4-5).

These purposes ought to govern our activities. Guard against things that conflict with them. Selfishness is one danger. Free time is often considered "my time" in which I am free to do whatever I want (Luke 12:16-21), as if God's call to love Him above all and my neighbor as myself doesn't apply during those hours. So use your free time to benefit others.

Using Leisure Time Well - Part 2

Here's some more advice on how to use leisure time wisely:

One purpose for leisure time is to be refreshed physically, mentally, and spiritually. That is why God gave us a weekly day of rest, begin to know Him. While on earth, the Lord Jesus knew He and His disciples needed additional times of rest. After becoming wearied by ministry and receiving the disturbing news of John of the Baptist's death, He said to His disciples, "come ye yourselves apart...and rest awhile" (Mark 6:31). Times of rest better equip us to work. As the Puritans said, the one who doesn't take time to rest is like the harvester who doesn't pause to sharpen his scythe and ends up being less productive.

Tomorrow we'll look at how leisure time helps us bond with other believers.

Using Leisure Time Well - Part 1

This is a series from the Reformation Heritage Study Bible. I used one of these in the past concerning "Coping with Criticism." This series is on how we approach our free time. I often think that I'm wasting time when I'm not working or doing chores, or watching TV, or reading...or doing nothing. I feel guilty. Maybe I am wasting time, but there may be other times when it's ok to rest and "waste time." This series will shine some light on the subject and offer a biblical perspective.

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Most people never have enough leisure time. They view work as a necessary evil to earn enough money to do what they want to do in their free time. They live for the evenings, weekends, and vacation. The recreation and entertainment industries love these people. Then there are others who feel guilty when they are not working. After all, God's Word says we are to "labour" six days and redeem every moment (Ex. 20:9; Eph. 5:16). Where are you in the spectrum between these poles? Neither of these extremes is biblical. Work is not a necessary evil but a God-given calling (Gen 2:15); leisure time is not from the evil one, but a God-given gift (Eccl. 3:13; 5:18-19; 9:9).

We'll look at some purposes for leisure in the next posts.

Luke 6:43-45

“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."