Posted by Pastor Pat on April 19, 2009
“Jesus said to her, ‘Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” John 20:17
Often in reading the Scripture, we skim past great oceans of truth and thus fail to appreciate the height, depth, width, and breadth of what we just read. I believe John 20:17 is one of those untapped “oceans.”
In the words of our Lord, something powerful happened because of the cross. The alienated become brethren, the orphaned become adopted and the wayward become worshippers. Jesus uses an Old Testament formula to speak of the relationship His people have to their God, “My Father and your Father, and My God and your God” (Ex. 6:7; Lev. 26:12 ['I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people']; Jer. 7:23; 30:22; Ezek. 36:28). “His words are reminiscent of Ruth’s words to Naomi: ‘your people shall be my people and your God my God’ (Ruth 1:16)” (F.F. Bruce, The Gospel of John, p.391). The language is that of the covenant made with Israel and promised to Israel. Let us not miss the slight alteration in our Lord’s expansion of this idea. Jesus identifies Himself with His people. Jesus includes us in His family. Let us for a moment recall the statement of our Lord in John 15:14-15.
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Posted by Pastor Pat on March 5, 2009
I would like to begin this short study on noting the relationship of the cross to the Lenten season. Like most things surrounding us, familiarity causes them to lose their significance. We become so accustomed to all things “Christian” that we fail to see beyond the shadow and believe the thing it represents is the shadow itself. It is like the plastic fruit sitting comfortably in the middle of the dining room table. What the plastic fruit represents is real fruit, but the illusion exists to make those who see it for the first time to think it is real. The cross in our “Christian” culture is like plastic fruit. It exists only to represent. In many ways, we have allowed the cross to collect dust as it sits comfortably in the middle of our lives; to become familiar, and in its familiarity, our view of it diminishes and we rob it of its intrinsic value. Albert Mohler captures this idea in his thoughts on, “The Foolishness of the Cross.”
Paul’s language is familiar to us because we have read and heard these words so many times. In fact, we have probably become too familiar with them, because what Paul says here, as the Corinthians would have heard it, is a revolutionary message, a counterintuitive message, a counter-cultural message, and in all probability, the Corinthians were not quite prepared to hear this. For what Paul says is that the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God.[1]
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