Scapegoating & the Gospel Story

So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death (John 11:47–53 ESV).

Caiaphas was prophesying, but he did not mean to prophesy (or did not mean the prophecy). God gave him words that meant something (see Matthew 1:21; 20:28), but Caiaphas imagined a different meaning. His false narrative is essentially a counterfeit Gospel that superficially resembles the real Gospel.

Kingliness v. the Treehouse in the Horse & His Boy

The last time I read The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis was the first time in many years and also shortly after the publication of Solomon Says. It was a transfixing re-read! It seemed like the perfect novelization of my nonfiction book on Proverbs.

The story is literally about a journey from slavery to sonship. Shasta had to learn to handle freedom and, ironically, found his identity at the end of the journey in involuntary obligations that he could never escape. Adulthood means responsibility. All other “freedom” is a scam.

The Birth of the Age of Wisdom

I started my book, Solomon Says, with a discussion of learning to drive as an extended analogy (or perhaps example?) of gaining wisdom. I compared the transformation that occurs in a modern teen who changes from an exclusive passenger to a driver to the transformation to adult maturity and (for a Christian) godliness.

One element that intrigued me about this analogy (or example?) is that it had an obvious parallel to human culture through history. There was a time when no one thought a sixteen-year-olds would often be piloting self-propelled vehicles faster than a mile a minute. That thought would have been considered crazy. Even if the technology was imagined, probably no one would think of controlling such a machine as an everyday skill. It was not considered a part of human potential.

Yet, here we are. We live in an age of mechanized superheroes and invent fantasy characters like Tony Stark/Ironman to make us blind (or because we are blind) to the fantastic miracle that occurred in human history through the automotive revolution.

The Wisdom of Jael

Judges 4 and 5 tell the story of Jael. She is in the Bible for a reason.

And that reason is not to give male theologians an opportunity for “mansplaining.”

“Mansplaining” is typically a pejorative word used to cow men into silence. As such, it is a manipulative and cowardly expression. But sometimes men communicate in such a bad way and/or with such bad content that the insult seems justified.

So Tim Keller:

A video debate: Is Postmillennialism Biblical?

Many thanks to Lucas Curcio of the Method Ministries Podcast for the opportunity to exchange views!

What do you mean, “prunes”?

“Prunes” is the word used in the ESV and other English Bible translations for a word in Jesus’ discourse in John 15:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit (John 15:1–2 ESV).

The meaning of this passage commonly understood to refer to life’s trials that God sends our way to refine us (like in James 1:2).

But I have to wonder if something more might being also hinted at.

How Blood Moves History Forward

Admittedly, this is a macabre headline, but it does allude to a Biblical issue.

I recently tweeted about Matthew’s Gospel, arguing that Jesus literally told his followers to expect violent death before that entire age was judged. This is explicitly in Matthew 23 and 24, but by the time you read through chapter 10, the message is obvious.

In this post, I want to point out in this post is that this [major!] aspect of Matthew’s Gospel fits with other Biblical patterns.

An Obstacle to Reading the Bible No One Talks About

Christians are supposed to read their Bibles. They are supposed to listen to Scriptures read in public worship by a minister called to speak to them for God, but they should also augment this by their own regular reading.

An advantage to hearing someone else read the text is that he might be able to explain it better than what you would get reading on your own.

The Future of Jesus 3: The “Millennium”?

I have written a brief introductory case for the world being destined to become Christian in history (followed by a case for a general resurrection and judgment at the end of history). In my first post, I briefly discussed Revelation 20:1ff to bring up a possible implication of the Devil being released “to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth.” But I could have easily constructed my case without mentioning anything from that chapter in Revelation and I have done so in the past.

However, a common label attached to the view of the future for which I am arguing is “postmillennialism.” That name is entirely derived from Revelation 20:4, 6, 7. The millennium refers to the “thousand years” mentioned in those verses.

Justification, Sanctification, and the Illusion of Timing

Ever heard the expression, “There’s no such thing as being a little bit pregnant”? It’s used to expose people when they try to underplay something in an inappropriate way. (“I sort of told a lie.”O The fact is, some things are simply either/or. Either you told a lie or you didn’t. Either you’re pregnant or you’re not.

But, then again, pregnancy is progressive–from conception to delivery.

Is that a contradiction? No. We’re comparing apples and oranges. The development of a fetus is not in conflict with the status of being pregnant. One is either/or and the other is gradual but they both reflect the same reality.

This simple illustration might show you why I was so frustrated to hear of educated theological popularizers who demanded a “nanosecond” between justification and sanctification in order to “protect” one from the other–typically to protect justification from sanctification (no one seems really to worry about the integrity of sanctification that much).