commentary – Page 24 – Year in the Bible

September 19, 2012

The Gospel in Zechariah’s Vision of a High Priest

Zechariah 3 includes a vision of the priest Joshua that in one short paragraph paints a picture of the gospel.

1 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.”

Joshua is standing before the Lord with Satan beside him, accusing him. I imagine Satan describing Joshua’s inadequacy and sin. How could God accept one like him? What use does God have with Joshua? Look at his filthy garments!

But Satan’s accusations are of no use. The Lord rebukes Satan, removes the filthy garments, and bestows upon Joshua pure vestments. God overcomes Joshua’s iniquity and provides for him.

This could easily be the scene for any of us, sinful as we are, standing before God in judgment. Satan would not be lacking in his accusations. Who of us does not have a long list from which Satan could pick and choose? But the good news is that our sin, our filthy garments, that should disqualify us from standing before God are removed because of the work of Jesus Christ. God does not base his love for us in our deeds. Our deeds amount to nothing. Our right standing is based on what God has supplied for us. He removed our sin and gives to us his own righteousness.

Satan has no right to accuse us any longer. The only one who can condemn us, who can judge us in such a way is Christ, but he is the one who stands at the righthand of God interceding for us (Romans 8:34). The one who could accuse instead stepped in for us and died in our place so that his own righteousness could be placed upon us like pure vestments. It is a righteousness not our own, but of Christ (Phil 3:9).

Our sinfulness clothes us in filth, but by God’s grace we are cleansed, and instead clothed in Christ himself.

September 18, 2012

Clarifications and Intro for Malachi

If you use this site to guide your readings, rather than a printout of the reading plan, then you may have had some confusion this week. I posted Micah 1-4, realized Micah has 7 chapters, changed the corresponding texts, then realized Malachi was the assigned reading, saw that Malachi has 4 chapters, then changed everything back. What made it more difficult was all this was using a finicky internet provided by my brother’s cell phone.

Hopefully you have not tried to read seven chapters of Malachi, come up short, and conclude your Bible was a misprint.

Malachi is the final book in the Old Testament, but don’t be deceived into thinking we’ve now finished that part of the Bible. We’ve still got plenty to go. But it is the last of the Minor Prophets as they are ordered in our Bibles.

You’ve got to love it when you find a good one sentence summary of a book, so I thought I’d share this one I came across:

The theological message of the book can be summed up in one sentence: The Great King (1:14) will come not only to judge his people (3:1–5; 4:1) but also to bless and restore them (3:6–12; 4:2).

That’s what you’ll come across as you read. I hope I caught you before you began to follow my poor guidance. If so, you might want to read further introductory comments from the article the above quote is taken from.

Malachi – Biblica.com

September 14, 2012

More on foolishness of the cross

I want to continue with the passage from 1 Corinthians–the one about the foolishness of the cross. I’ve been trying to get a grasp on just how difficult this would be to accept for Paul’s hearers. Having read three gospels already in our Year in the Bible plan, you see how much the Jews wanted a political messiah. How could they overthrow Rome with a crucified Christ? Jesus had shown great power. How could he waste it all by submitting to the cross?

But imagine you’re a Greek or Gentile. You have many gods and perhaps you are hearing about a new one from Paul. But you hear that this God is glorified in weakness. How does that make sense to you? Does Zeus deserve recognition because he is thought to be strong or weak? Who among the gods is praised for dying, humility, service, or crucifixion? Especially being crucified would make it hard, for Christ died the death of a criminal. What is deserving of worship in an executed criminal?

But so it is. Christ crucified. Failure to Jewish political pursuits. Ridiculous to Greek notions of the divine. Our God is not like the rest for he came to serve us, love us, die for us, and in his death he is glorified.

September 12, 2012

To some, being a Christian will be like wearing a dunce cap

We talked a great deal tonight in our Reading Group about 1 Corinthians 1. It is our focus passage for the week and in it Paul talks of the foolishness of the cross in the eyes of the world. Conversation went in all directions so we did not make it through all the prepared questions, so I had to ask one question as we parted. (By the way, that’s my favorite way for conversation to go).

The cross is foolishness to others, so how do we prepare ourselves to be seen as fools because of it? I know I try avoid appearing stupid, dumb, foolish (toss in your favorite synonym). But, if I serve a crucified Christ, I won’t be able to avoid being seen that way.

Do I care more about how I’m perceived? Do I want to look smart more than I want to look like a fool for Christ? I think in certain circles we Christians want to appear to have all the answers and be seen as wise. While we shouldn’t seek to be ignorant or unwise, that cannot be our greatest pursuit. The cross of Christ is utter foolishness to the world and no matter how we phrase it, the cross will be a stumbling block and folly to a great many.

We just need to find ourselves more comfortable resting in the wisdom and power of God than vainly struggling to muster strength and smarts of our own. How others see me is nothing compared to knowing and being known by God.

September 8, 2012

A Whale of a Tale

Jonah is a peculiar book among our readings this past week. These prophets we’ve had for a few weeks in Year in the Bible typically are part of the people they minister to. But Jonah is sent away to speak God’s message to another nation in the city of Ninevah. Also, the prophets typically want their recipients to stop their wicked ways and turn to God. As you read the short four chapters of Jonah, you see he’s not that concerned with Ninevah’s fate. He wants God to judge them. And when God relents, Jonah is upset.

1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Jonah 4:1-3

Jonah complains saying to God, almost in his defense, “This is why I ran. I ran off to Tarshish because you’re gracious. I know you’d do this!” He is displeased exceedingly because God is gracious. You want to shove the Bible in his face and tell Jonah that God’s grace is exactly why he still has a people of his own. Israel has been a sinner just like the others, but they have been forgiven more times than we can keep count.

But Jonah has a selfish pride and a pompous assumption that Israel has a monopoly on God’s mercy. He doesn’t want a rival nation to be spared because he wants his own nation, and only his nation, to prosper. Jonah would rather see thousands die than witness their repentance because he hates the people of Ninevah.

Tarshish and Nineveh Map — Jonah tried to go as far away from Ninevah as he could.

Along with Jonah being a story of Assyrian sin and God’s grace and forgiveness, it is a book displaying an ugly nationalism that would prevent Jonah from obedience and love, choosing instead sin. Jonah sins by fleeing, ends up in the belly of a whale, then cries out for God to take his life, all because of his displeasure at seeing God work wonders in another people.

We should never follow Jonah’s lead in this regard. We are called to love our enemies, to pray for them, and to work to spread the gospel to all peoples. We cannot lay claim to God’s grace as though it is ours to possess. We don’t deserve it and we can’t earn it. Thanks be to God that he is in fact slow to anger and merciful.

*Tim Keller has an excellent chapter on Jonah’s idolatry in his book, Counterfeit Gods.

September 6, 2012

Just to be invisible: Philippians and Humility

Philippians is a book that shows the great depths of Christ’s humility. Christ is the one who has the most reason to be proud, but instead he humbled himself more than any other. He came down to us from heaven, emptying himself and taking the form of a servant. Not only did he come to serve, but he came to die for the people he came to save.

Paul writes to the church urging us to follow Christ in this regard. He says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus…” Then what follows it he powerful description of Christ’s humility.

But Christ does not end in a lowly position. His end is not the cross. He has been raised up and at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. This is quoted from the book of Isaiah, here in reference to Jesus and in Isaiah as a reference to God. Paul is making the case that it is right to worship Christ, to lift up his name. He is the Son of God.

In sight of this, how can we not be humble? God came to us, died for us, saved us, loves us. This is not something God had to do, but something he chose to do in his great mercy. We cannot live in light of this with conceit or pride. We ought to live like Christ, being like servants. If we are to make a name for anyone, it should be the name of Christ. Like John the Baptist our pursuit is to decrease so that Christ may increase (John 3).

We should put great effort and energy into spreading the name of Christ, all for the glory of God. Our work should be to shift focus away from ourselves and onto the one who has saved us.

I read this quote a while back and I think it is fitting. It is about orchestras and the way in which the best musicians come together not to bring attention to themselves, but to come together and make something greater than themselves. It’s from an article The Believer, which I’ve slightly edited, referring to the New York Philharmonic:

They were the top in their school and then the top at Juilliard and now they’re playing second cello. And the humility is as high as the musicianship. Let’s say you’re playing a Beethoven piece in a room where the same piece was played one hundred years ago. They’re sitting in the same chairs, wearing the same shoes and suits, playing instruments that are one hundred years old, playing the same sounds with the best conductor of their time, who is standing under photos of twenty of the greatest conductors. And when the music started playing, I had this idea that the music was coming through this little channel—for lack of a better word—for years and years. Musicians come and go and they’re stewards of the music for a brief period of time. But once the music plays—it’s really between Beethoven and the listener at that point. The musicians are there to get their … hands off of it. All that training! Thousands of hours! Sight-reading every day! All so they can get … out of the way because nobody gives a crap about them at all. The less you notice them, the better it sounds. I mean, it was the highest level of art in music that I’d ever seen, and it was performed by people who had spent countless hours of work just to be invisible.

We may know the name of an orchestra or even the name of the conductor. But can we name all the musicians whose work comes together to make something beautiful? That is how it should be in the church. We hope the church has made itself known for its great work and witness in this world, and certainly we hope the conductor, Christ, is known the world over. But our aim, as a second cello, should not be to draw attention to ourselves.

We are stewards of the gospel, stewards to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He has entrusted us a great work to do for his kingdom. We ought to devote such countless hours to make Christ visible and ourselves invisible–at least compared to Christ. That is humility. May he be seen by what we do. May Christ’s name receive all glory for our labors. May Jesus Christ receive all praise.

September 5, 2012

You’ve Got Mail!

So imagine you’re the church in Philippi.

Paul has done work in your area a while back. He came and taught, spending time in the household of a neighbor, Lydia. He got in to some trouble with the local officials, and while in jail he ministered to fellow prisoners and even though an earthquake loosed his chains and could have freed him, he remained. In doing so he kept the prison guard from taking his own life, and later this guard and his whole household believe in Jesus.

You believe what he taught about Jesus and seek to follow his teaching, even in a city that has shown itself to be hostile. There are some things that are familiar to the Jewish faith, and Jesus seems to be a continuation, but there is a radical newness to Christianity, as well. As much as you try to hold on to Paul’s teaching of the gospel, you have still have questions. Other teachers have come around and are spreading a message that doesn’t quite sound the same, and that troubles you. You’re also troubled because you know Paul himself has again found himself imprisoned in Rome.

You worry about him and the work he is to do for the gospel of Christ. Can he still spread the word?

To your delight you hear that your church has received a letter of encouragement, and it is from Paul, and from his fellow servant Timothy! You’ve been given the chance to hear it read for body of believers in Philippi. At the end of the day you all gather together in a home that you’ve frequently used for meetings–for prayer and worship, and you sit down to hear the news. He writes:

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…

August 29, 2012

Looking back to Hosea and the motivation of prophets

This fits with last week’s readings, but I thought it’d be worth writing about.

Hosea is a startling story. It is unique in what the prophet is called to do, not just say. He is to marry a whore, and his relationship of faithfulness to an adulterous spouse parallels that of God’s love for his adulterous people. And that still applies to us now, to his church. It reminds me of a song by Derek Webb called “Wedding Dress.” He writes about the church’s tendency to look for something more than Christ, to find satisfaction outside of him. But this is a propesterous idea given that Christ has given us all we need. He even gave his very life.

Listen to the song below:

If you want to hear his explanation for the song, you can find it here. I’d mention this as some context–he doesn’t write and sing about the church and its sin as some third party observer. He acknowledges that he is a part of it and he is sinful, too. He doesn’t speak in condemnation of the church, but in rebuke that comes from love. We must still love the things that God loves, including the church, but that then leads us not to accept such faults, but to work for its restoration.

That is what the prophets do, as well. They love God’s people and because of such love they desire greatly for their repentence.*

*Jonah is a bit odd here since he is a prophet to a people he doesn’t love, but that’s a problem that we’ll talk about next week.