Late Good Friday Meditation

This Good Friday, remember Christ is the tent that was set up.
The Tent-Pegs were driven in, and the flesh opened - that we may have Life, between the Waters of Death
His Side was pierced, that we may enter in through the place where Marital Life was Born
The Black Skies and Cracking Rocks assail us, but we are hidden within the Crevice in the Rock
He shields us in His body, even as we are carried in Him to the Tomb
The Sabbath Rest in the midst of Murderous Triumph
Then He comes into His own, uniting us with Him as One Eternally, A New Life
The 3rd Day's Prelude of the 8th
Amen

Jacob Wrestling

I'm sure most of us have heard how this incident is always a comparison to Gethsemane

Christ wrestles with His Father & his fleshly will (or something like that) - to come out the Victor (Israel meaning He has striven with God and Man and wins)

Now if we continue to take Esau as Adam - then the story continues
as much as Jacob's 'mission' was to present Esau to the Father (Isaac)

now after the wrestling - Jacob is prepared to reconcile with horrible Esau who (he thinks) has come to murder Him
and in some sense - there ends the story of Jacob?

(read bit of this in someone's quotations from Chrysostom)

The rich young ruler

Allow me to try paraphrasing this story from mark 10

A 5 yr old little young overachiever runs up to 'daddy' Jesus and says
Daddy daddy I want to be the president (or some other almost unattainable positive post)
Jesus replies, the president son? Do you know what that involves ?
You must do this... And this... And this.. And this...
And the 5yr old says. Yes daddy I've done all those things in nursery
Jesus looks upon his child and loves him... Isn't he sweet.?

(taking him seriously as a child and encouraging him)
Ok kiddo... Just one more thing as a next step
You've got to take all your toys and give them to your friends to gain election votes
What?! He replies. I can't do that...
And is very sad
So is Jesus

Why do they want to do such silly things... And not just let me love them...sigh...
-----

So thats a terrible caricature ... But I think it captures the feelings between the two

On another note.. Jesus mentions the 6 latter commandments not so much because he wants to show the omission of the first 4., but he wants to show him that he did not fulfil the summary of the commandments - I.e. to love your neighbour as yourself. He does this in a positive way since he is a little earnest

Then he explains that to love your neighbour as yourself would involve giving everything you have to at least equalise yourself with the poor. By definition

To be good however... Means to 'lay down your life for others'
Therefore only the Father is good . Since He gave up His Son already - all he had for others
Jesus will soon become good when he does the same - with his life.

The 'Silence' of Creation

Creation was made 'speechless' on purpose

A harmonious concert that plays in the background,
or a vivid painting of brilliant colour

It was meant to not say anything by itself - hence it cannot save,
and by itself cannot offer any meaningful knowledge of its composer

In fact, it can be misinterpreted by those who do not know Him
to say anything they want it to say

It is only when the Word, comes and explains its creation
Does everything make sense - and then we say...
'oh I see... of course that's what it meant'

Therefore the church is the Word meant to both preserve a crumbling creation
- preserve in the sense that it must keep it pointing to its Master, when decay attacks it
and it must speak the Word that creation was never meant to say

Creation was made to be reserved for the Word to speak... it is the necessary background music

The Law that Protects

You may find this strange...

But one of my long time ponderings was why did the Lord 'outsource' parenting of kids to the law & angels -i.e. a nanny? In the context of Singapore where everyone outsources their parenting to maids or child-care centres from as young as 6 months - this gave very negative connotations that the Lord didn't want to 'deal' with His kids until they were old enough to engage with in a more meaningful way.

My sinful thinking was quite shattered this morning... when I found I had to discipline my daughter quite severely for an offence she had committed. I found my wife to be much more faithful in the matter - she is more consistent in laying down the rules & regulations and punishing the small offences in small ways. If I had more consistency - and 'more law' for the children - then my the severe discipline would have never been necessary. Anarchy would have been resisted at an earlier stage.

Thus the Lord God, in absolute loving kindness and faithfulness lays down the law to a juvenile world - through his adopted children Israel - preventing sin from spreading into total lawlessness or anarchy. In this way - we are 'protected' from the harsh (but obviously much more patient) wrath that comes hand in hand with a jealous love.

The Pharasaitical understanding of the law, therefore, so obviously becomes tyrannical - for it seeks to keep children under a caretaker - with parental convenience and domination as its motivation. Where else the law in it's proper context - laid down for the young (or lawbreakers) - forms a protective barrier, that allows children to approach near enough to see the grace that is behind, through, and ahead of it. Much like the Levitical arrangement in the camp in the wilderness.

Jesus came when the school teaching had ended - yet that does not mean we do not lay down law for our own children in their own childishness - in  holy and good motivation. The desire of the law however, must surely be the hope of complete intimacy and indwelling. The one-arms length is for our own safety and growth - not for His convenience, and neither is it His desire. He who wants to come down to be so close and never depart....

(more of that thinking in the sermon below)

God's Pleasure - to dwell with us

An attempt at a sermon based on Wesley's line "Pleased as Man with Man to Dwell"

http://www.zionbishan.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2011-12-11-Pleased-as-Man-with-Man-to-Dwell-Dr-Dev-Menon.mp3

- Scripture text was John 1:9-16

Anachronistic Insufficiency

In Bible interpretation - the accusation is that the OT was often read anachronistically:
i.e. reading the NT back into the OT

the opponents against this stand by the fact that the OT is Christian Scripture - and therefore they are reading what is already there - and explicitly meant to be there

actually, I think the problem is we don't read Scripture relationally - as though the same Person(s) is speaking
and we have the knowledge that this Person(s) does not change

so in theory - we should read Scripture contextually (more about within the setting, rather than the 'extent of the revelation'), and then apply it both currently, exponentially in to the future, and anachronistically impose it onto the past - since the goal is to find out about the character of God Who does not change

it is also understanding the basis of the fact that humanity is inherently the same at the core - sinful  - and we merely see differential expressions of sin (and faith) according to culture

What do you think?

Wealth Distribution

2 Corinthians 8:13-15  13 I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness  14 your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness.  15 As it is written, "Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack."

One wonders if this is true for the whole world
the Father daily provides in abundance - more than sufficient for everyone

the reason there is poverty - is that some have gathered too much
or that some are too lazy to gather ("he who does not work shall not eat")
the former imply a lack of trust that their Father will provide tomorrow
the latter imply a lack of gratitude that their Father has already provided

the former will also have wealth which rots in the end:
James 5:2   2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.

The point of provision - is not just sufficiency, but enjoyment
but not at the expense of others

Distribution has never been 'unequal' per se - but always enough such that those who can gather can supply abundantly to those who cannot (rather than will not)

Solus Christus (2)

Here's a slightly different version of the first sermon:

http://www.zionbishan.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2011-10-09-Solus-Christus-Dr-Dev-Menon1.mp3

random thoughts

things that i'm too lazy to write out...

 -  to be generous implies to be connected to an unlimited source of wealth (i.e. the Giver), rather than a quantifiable amount

- Jesus does not set us free to go, but to come

- The man who is completely free from his bonds, is the one who is free to be completely bound

Work

My new definition of Work

Work is to produce life

Thus sinful work only works for the self and is ultimately futile

God's work is to produce life in others, for we already have life in self - we are to create an Eden for others (despite it costing us dearly)

In this way - we testify to our Working, Resting God
Who longs to live in the Eden He made for us, with us

is that a complete enough definition?

OT Spirit

avid Murray has a series of posts on the Spirit in the OT

His conclusions are these:

Five conclusionsI’ll post some quotes tomorrow from ancient and modern commentators to support this interpretation of this passage. But in the meantime, here are some conclusions:

1. All Old Testament believers were born again from above, had faith in the coming Messiah, and were continually indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The indwelling Spirit was given to Old Testament saints prospectively, just as pardon of sin was given in view of Christ’s future atonement.

2. Old Testament believers’ experience of the Holy Spirit was usually limited to a degree of personal filling, but rarely a filling full, and even more rarely an overflowing to others in witness, evangelism, and mission.

3. The reason for the more limited experience of the Spirit’s indwelling was because of their more limited knowledge of Christ’s person and work.

4. Once Christ’s person and work and reached its apex of revelation, the Holy Spirit’s power was fully manifested in overflowing power.

5. The more we are filled with Christ, the more we will be filled with the Spirit, and the more we will overflow into the lives of others in witness, evangelism, and witness.

Agree?

I wonder for points 2-3 it is not so much an individual sense, but in a corporate sense - i.e. limited to Israel, vs overflowing to the whole world - surely Moses' evangelism and mission was as 'powerful' as ours?

any thoughts?

Ranting on 1 Samuel

So just heard the dean of a certain Australian college give a series of sermons on 1 Samuel as training on how to preach OT narratives in a Christ-focused manner:

which to him means explaining the passage in detail and then putting 1-3 minutes of Jesus at the end...
does that qualify as preaching Christ?

For example, 1 Sam 13,
Amnon & Tamar... explain whole story, let it come out in feeling...
then at the end Jesus is the true son of David who will live the way David never could
unlike the real sons of David which brought out the murderer and rapist in him

ok i guess.. but is that all we've got??

what about this...

as we trace how sin works and affects the prince and his half-sister-bride

we then come to trace the faithful prince, with his sister, his bride,

Song of Solomon 4:9 You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride; you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.

he then knows how to wait for love, for if he advances on her too soon, she will reject him and be his tool, not his helper, and he indeed will be like all the other fools who: stir up or awaken love (before)  it pleases.

No, He will woo her, and die for her, instead of murdering her husband.. to allow her to open up slowly and surely, 

then he will take his (half) sister, bride - according to the King's command, into their mother's bed chamber 

forever

or something like that?

optimism & pessimism

Being realistic is to be pessimistic about all the works of man, and to be optimistic about the compelling love of God

Going Home to Jesus

A sermon on 2 Cor 5 - continuing from the last one on 2 Cor 4:

http://www.zionbishan.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/2011-08-14-Going-Home-to-the-Lord-Dr-Dev-Menon.mp3

Paul... if you read this.. i hope you don't mind me referring a bit to Project Abraham

Oh and is it ok to quote Bryan Adams in a sermon?

Baby when you're gone, I realize I'm in love days go on and on, and the nights just seem so long Even food don't taste that good, drink ain't doing what it should things just feel so wrong, baby when you're gone

Bodily Control

From Augustine's City of God:

"Then (had there been no sin)....

... people can move their ears, either at one time or both together...

...a number of people produce at will such musical sounds from their behind (without any stink) that they seem to be singing from that region...

... I  know a man who used to sweat whenever he chose...

.. We observe then that the body, even under present conditions, is an obedient servant to some people in a remarkable fashion...if this is so, is there any reason why we should not believe that before the sin of disobedience... the members of a man's body could have been the servant's of a man's will."

Book XIV, Chapter 24

Jars of Clay

My sermon on 2 Cor 4:

http://www.zionbishan.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/2011-08-07-Treasure-in-Jars-of-Clay-Dr-Dev-Menon.mp3

a short quote:

At the cross, Christ was given over to the cruel world by God. Darkness was never as black as it was that day – so dark was it that even the noonday sun could not shine. It as though the heavens over His head became as bronze and the earth under Him was as iron - as if Christ was refused by both as all our sins lay upon Him. Darkness closed in, thinking it had won the victory, one final death blow, and it would all be over – God would come to nothing. Yet it is when the darkness was so great, when selfish humanity killed its Master, was when the light shone most brightly out of the darkness - into the whole universe – just like Day 1 in Genesis – when creation began in earnest, now new creation flowed out of the shattering of Christ.  The Clay Jar, was utterly shattered (action) and the love of God, shone so brightly so that we, like the Roman Centurion, could finally see the heart of God and believe. Behold Him, This is your God. That is what we are about to remind ourselves today as we take communion, the body of Christ was torn, that we may see our God and believe– come and see how much He loves you, let Him take the scales away from our veiled eyes.

Let's keep the world moving forward

 

I find this the video very disturbing... 

Freedom and Slavery in Galatians - Done

That's the whole essay

any comments or thoughts?

Freedom and Slavery in Galatians (1)

Will post pieces of  this essay up - thanks to references from Blackham, Glen & Dave Bish

for comments please:

            ‘Galatians is… a theological refutation of a heresy that, if accepted, would have destroyed the whole church’[1]. If Cole’s claim is correct, then it is well worth understanding this ‘heresy’!

Introduction

            The apostle Paul was writing a letter to the Galatian church[2] with very large letters, in his own personal handwriting.[3] He had a very serious issue to contend with – so much so that he would not hold back his curses[4] and even came close to insulting his own friends[5]. The issue was that the followers of Jesus were falling into some kind of slavery. They seemed to be ‘bewitched’[6] by certain religious teachers, into practicing a form of religion that was very different from the teachings of the heavenly appointed[7] apostle.

The Nature of Paul’s Opposition

            Who were these teachers? They could have been Jewish Christians from either Jerusalem, or elsewhere, perhaps with some gnostic views; Gentile Christians who wanted to get back to their Jewish roots, or simply a mixed group arguing how much they should submit to moral commandments in the Old Testament[8]. What we do know for sure is that they are accused of: preaching a distorted gospel[9]; bringing the current believers into slavery[10] through the re-introduction of certain Old Testament practices[11]; drawing the believers to become their own personal followers through praise[12]; and they ultimately wanted to avoid persecution[13]^,[14]. 

So what was happening was that “these new teachings were robbing the Galatians of their freedom and their confidence…. (and so) Paul was desperate to rescue the Galatians from this dreadful cult.”[15] “He had purely and faithfully instructed them in the Gospel; but false apostles had entered, during his absence, and had corrupted the true seed by false and erroneous doctrines.”[16]

---

[1] R. A. Cole, The Letter of Paul to the Galatians, Leicester, 1989, p. 57

[2] For a discussion on whether the churches were in northern or southern Galatia as well as the dating of the letter – see Leon Morris, Galatians: Paul’s Charter of Christian Freedom, IVP 1996, pg. 15-22

[3] Gal 6:11

[4] Gal 1:8-9

[5] Gal 3:1, cf. Gal 4:14

[6] Gal 3:1

[7] Gal 1:1

[8] C. B. Cousar, Galatians, Louisville, 1982, pg. 5

[9] Gal 1:6-7

[10] Gal 2:4

[11] Gal 4:10, 5:2-3

[12] Gal 4:17

[13] Gal 6:12

[14] Morris, pg. 23-24

[15] P. Blackham, BookbyBook:Galatians, Verite, 2011, pg. 14

[16] J. Calvin, Commentary on Galatians & Ephesians, www.biblestudyguide.org