Last night of the season for the track. And this is a bunch of fully-grown men on children’s bikes. Low quality. Hard to see on the video, but a fall-about-laughing-reminder for all who were there.
Pedal faster
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Monthly Archives: March 2010
Easter
Yesterday at church we read all of Matthew 26-27. It’s a longer than usual reading. But certainly a great use of 20 minutes of your life!
We may hear some of the incidents in isolation, or in smaller readings. Yet there’s something powerful about the cumulative effect and power of hearing al the events of Jesus’ final day – from death plot to burial plot.
Some sentences that came to mind for me thinking about what Jesus did on the cross:
# Jesus was unloved by all, for in judgement he was cut off from love itself
# No one spoke up on behalf of Jesus, because the judgement of God was pronounced against Jesus on behalf of us
# Jesus did not deserve the penalty, yet Jesus did not share the penalty
# Jesus is not ruler and saviour despite the cross, he is saviour and ruler – and revealed as saviour and ruler – by means of the cross
No doubt you could think of many more. Without cliché, the Easter events form the truly powerful and moving story.
The green-eyed monster
Jealousy.
How easily it arises. As I was reminded on the weekend.
At a friend’s house talk turned to solar panels for electricity generation. He’s getting some installed. We got some last year. As he talked through the decisions he had to make, he explained about the inverter – the box that does the clever stuff to make AC electricity. I can guarantee you that I know nothing about this.
But when I heard that he’d opted for a ‘solid state’ system because it is more efficient than the usual ‘transformer’ system, I admit I was jealous. I caught myself thinking, ‘I want solid state.’ Despite not having a clue about what this means!
The wise teachers of the Old Testament know the folly of envy.
A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh,
but envy makes the bones rot. (Proverbs 14:30.)
Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbour. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. (Ecclesiastes 4:4.)
Most significant of all, envy killed Jesus. Envy of those around him at that point in history – but also envy, I believe, from me and from all humans. We are unsatisfied with being the individuals God made us to be, and we desire to take the place of God himself. In our envy, when unchecked by grace, we seek to remove God himself.
For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. (Matthew 27:18.)
Matthew 24
Yesterday at church we looked at Matthew 24.
It’s a full-on passage, leading into Jesus’ death and resurrection. There are varied opinions on some specifics, so I wanted to make a few notes. This is mainly to remind myself of some interpretive decisions I made. If it makes any sense to another, or even helps you read the passage, bonus!
I think that Jesus’ words in Matthew 24 bring into close association a few key teachings:
# The coming judgement of God against all wrongdoing. This theme touches the whole passage: stones thrown down, kingdoms in turmoil, fig tree, Noah’s time, etc
and
# The imminence of this judgement (see Matthew 23:36 and Matthew 24:34)
and
# That a sign of the judgement is Jerusalem’s destruction (Matthew 23:37-39; 24:1-2; 24:15ff). Note that this prophetic word, as in Jeremiah 26, results in a death sentence against the prophet
and
# That the judgement is at the same time as the arrival/enthronement of the Son of Man (see Daniel 7, especially verses 13 & 14). Daniel is mentioned by name in Matthew 24:15, and see verses such as Matthew 24:27
I think *all these* are fulfilled in Jesus’ cross and resurrection. Jesus’ death and resurrection life are: judgement, Jerusalem destroyed, Son of Man enthroned. That means we now live in the age marked by the cross and the empty tomb. In other words, Easter inaugurates the age we live in – not only by marking the chronological starting point, but by determining the present activity of God.
For me, then, Matthew 24 does not *predict* events, but it does *explain* events. For a concrete example, Matthew 24 does not predict the 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem. But having happened, we understand this destruction, and the physical end of the temple.
Or, to put it differently, Matthew 24 is making a *theological* point about Easter and the Easter age, rather than making *historical* points about ‘what will happen next.’
Hitchins the theist
There is the ‘God is not great’ Hitchens (Christopher). And the Hitchens who believes in God (Peter). This piece of writing is from the ‘Peter’ version of the brothers.
Why is there such a fury against religion now? Because religion is the one reliable force that stands in the way of the power of the strong over the weak. The one reliable force that forms the foundation of the concept of the rule of law.
The one reliable force that restrains the hand of the man of power. In an age of powerworship, the Christian religion has become the principal obstacle to the desire of earthly utopians for absolute power.
Peter’s observations would receive a hearty Amen from influential atheist Nietzsche, who saw Christianity as constraining the true men of power in society, limiting modern progress. (The Amen would, of course, be ironic, since Nietzsche had no place for prayer.)
A re-think
It’s important to keep learning. A good indicator is if we change our minds about things, either major or minor. So I was pleased to change my mind on a bit of the Bible I read recently.
Leviticus 10 is not in the most commonly-read book of the Bible (despite it’s in a book of fundamental importance to understanding the whole, especially Jesus as a sacrifice for sin).
Aaron is high priest, and the new priests’ workplace has just been commissioned. It’s running smoothly, according to God’s instruction. Then two of Aaron’s sons presumptuously rock up to God to try and ‘be religious’ or whatever. Their death teaches all that God’s holiness is without compromise, and that it’s folly to think humans can freely approach God without the cleansing that he alone can supply.
Later in the chapter it turns out that Aaron has not done the daily sacrifices completely properly – he didn’t eat the part that was allocated to him. Aaron says:
And Aaron said to Moses, “Behold, today they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD, and yet such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would the LORD have approved?”
I used to think Aaron was expressing his regret and mourning, like any dad. Now I don’t!
Rather, this is about Aaron’s huge role as high priest for the whole nation. By Aaron being acceptable to God the whole nation is also acceptable to God. He’s worried that eating might be improper and cause another problem – perhaps another death in the high priestly family.
I reckon at times nowadays we psychologise texts too much, imagining how people feel and their motives. That’s not really bad – except when it makes me miss the obvious. In Leviticus, the priest is essential for the spiritual health and vigour of the whole nation. (And so we need think of Jesus as the great high priest, not some denominational so-called priest.) Aaron knew this, so did not approach God in his mourning, in case this would not be acceptable to God.