The Deity of Christ

A Broadcast with R.C. Sproul

The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is much more than another prophet. Today, R.C. Sproul concludes his overview of apologetics by defending the deity of Christ.

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Sharing in His Death & Resurrection

A Broadcast with Sinclair Ferguson

Even our weakness, suffering, and dying have been appointed by God to transform us into the likeness of our crucified and risen Savior. Today, Sinclair Ferguson expounds on the fruit of our union with Christ in His death and resurrection.

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The Miracles of Jesus

A Broadcast with R.C. Sproul

Nearly everywhere Jesus went, His ministry was accompanied by signs and wonders. Today, R.C. Sproul considers the role that these miracles served in confirming Christ’s teaching, identity, and authority.

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Under the Fig Tree

 

“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” John 1:48

It is a common misconception that God will only speak to you while in church or will only reveal himself to you during a worship service or revival. We believe that God will find us when we are at our best spiritually; otherwise, we doubt he can even see us, let alone use us.

John the Baptist had been preparing his followers for the arrival of Jesus the Messiah, so upon seeing Him, they quickly began to follow Him. These disciples not only followed Jesus, but they were eager to tell their brothers and friends that they had found “The Messiah” (John 1:41). When Jesus called the disciple Phillip to follow Him, he too ran to tell a friend. Like many of our friends and family, Phillip’s friend, Nathanael, responded a little skeptical and doubtful (John 1:45-46). Upon Phillip’s persuasion, Nathanael followed and found that Jesus already knew him; not only knew him, but Jesus had been watching Nathanael! (John 1:48) Jesus had observed Nathanael sitting under a tree, possibly submerged in his own thoughts; unaware that God knew those thoughts and counted Nathanael as an asset in building God’s kingdom. As Nathanael approached Jesus, he realized that Jesus had been waiting for him to come and follow Him! Imagine the emotions Nathanael felt upon learning that Jesus had personally handpicked him, even though he had doubted and had not come running when he had heard Jesus was in town.

Jesus is still keeping an eye out for His followers today. You might be feeling a little skeptical about the Lord’s grace and mercy. You might be on the fence about fully surrendering to God. Maybe you have a friend whom you know needs to hear about Jesus but are unsure of their reaction. Know, today, that Jesus has already chosen his children – those who will follow him and be His disciples. It is up to us to take that first step in following the call of the Messiah. Tell that friend today that you have found Jesus and persuade them to follow; it may be that Jesus has already had His eye on them too, even under the fig tree!

Suggested Prayer:

Dear Lord, you are so mighty and so loving. You have sought each of us out individually and have a plan for our lives that will bring glory and honor to you; all we have to do is follow. Thank you for choosing me for your Kingdom. I ask for the courage to bring others to you too. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

• From Daily Encounter

Beyond the Text

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life. 1 John 1:1 As much as we love reading the Bible for its own value, we must remember our fellowship is not with the Book itself, but with its Author. The purpose of Scripture is to enable us to fellowship with Him who is the Word of Life. The Bible is more than a textbook, more than a storybook, more than a guidebook, and more than a songbook. It’s a living Book that brings us into the presence of a living Savior.

A. W. Tozer wrote, “As we come to the Word of God, we do not come just for information; we come for an encounter with the living Word of God…. I will not settle for just the text. I want to see beyond that text and encounter the Christ—the Word of Life.”[1] Our study of the written Word reveals the living Word. The next time you open your Bible, think of it as a conversation in which the Author is speaking through His Book personally to you. There have been times when I have lost myself in the manifest presence of the Lord as I meditated on His Word; He has come mysteriously close, defying explanation. A. W. Tozer David Jeremiah

What Manner of Man Is This?

A Broadcast with R.C. Sproul

When the disciples were caught in a fierce storm, they feared they were going to die. Once Jesus calmed the wind and the waves, however, they became even more afraid. Today, R.C. Sproul reveals what it is about Christ that makes people uneasy.

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The Widow’s Son

A Broadcast with R.C. Sproul

When a widow lost her only son in first-century Israel, she wasn’t only left in grief—she was left destitute. Today, R.C. Sproul continues his expositional series in the gospel of Luke to consider Jesus’ compassion for a woman who had lost everything.

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On Bended Knee

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth. Philippians 2:10  Bowing out of respect, reverence, or worship has a long history. Throughout history, most nations were monarchies ruled by a king or queen and bowing before the monarch was commonplace. We still see it in modern monarchies like Great Britain where bowing to the current Queen is a sign of respect for her position. What we don’t see often is monarchs bowing to anyone. But a day is coming when everyone on earth—including monarchs—will bend the knee before the divine King of kings, Jesus Christ.

The bowing of humanity before God’s Messiah was foreseen by Isaiah, an image the apostle Paul then used in Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10. The prophet Zechariah foresaw the nations streaming to Jerusalem because they will have heard that God is with the Jews (Zechariah 8:23). Exactly how and when this bowing before Christ takes place remains to be seen. But it will happen. Bowing in prayer and worship is a rightful posture for those who serve the King of kings and Lord of lords—today and in the future. Jesus will not be a Savior to any man who refuses to bow to Him as Lord. Walter Chantry David Jeremiah

Jesus Comes into View

Don Merritt Luke 3:21-38 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”   Luke 3:31-22 In contrast to Matthew’s […] Read more of this post

40 Questions About the Historical Jesus – book

https://chab123.wordpress.com/2022/04/21/book-review-40-questions-about-the-historical-jesus-40-questions-series-by-c-marvin-pate/

 

chab123

40 Questions About the Historical Jesus (40 Questions Series) by C. Marvin Pate,

2015, 395pp.

Over the last twenty years I have read a slew of books on The Historical Jesus. I was already familiar with Pate’s book Communities of the Last Days: The Dead Sea Scrolls, the New Testament & the Story of Israel. It has been a nice addition to my collection of books on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Anyways, given that the publisher has provided a series with 40 questions about a specific topic, Pate covers plenty of ground with his book 40 Questions About the Historical Jesus. Part One is a section on Background Questions about the “Historical” Jesus. For over 100 years, there has been a quest to identify the historical Jesus and differentiate between the Jesus of history and the Jesus of faith. 

The First Quest Period (1778-1906) operated on the assumption that the historical Jesus is not one and the same with the portrait found in the four Gospels. This was first championed by H. Samuel Reimarus in his article, written anonymously, “On the Aim of Jesus and His Disciples.” For Reimarus, the real Jesus was an apocalyptic preacher whose expectation of the soon arrival of the kingdom of God met with stunning disappointment. Christianity would have died were it not for Jesus’ disciples, who falsely claimed that Jesus arose and preached his future return and establishment of the kingdom of God. Reimarus’ study initiated the first quest for the historical Jesus, a search that spawned the writings of hundreds of books in an attempt to recover the sayings and miracles of the authentic Jesus. A traditional response consisted of conservative accounts of the life of Jesus such as J. J. Hess’ three volumes on The History of the Three Last Years of the Life of Jesus (1768–72). However, this quest also was marked by some who saw the life of Jesus from a liberal, or anti-supernatural, perspective. This was espoused  by Friedrich Schleiermacher, David Friedrich Strauss,  and J. E. Renan,  to name a few. -pg. 40-41.

Also, during the 1920s, Rudolf Bultmann’s form-critical program attempted to fill the void created by the demise of the first quest for the historical Jesus. Form criticism was pioneered by F. L. Schmidt, Martin Dibelius, and Rudolph Bultmann. Schmidt’s The Framework of the Historical Jesus (1919) claimed that the framework of the gospel stories was created by the evangelists for their own purposes and was historically invalid. Martin Dibelius’ From Tradition to Gospel (1934)- pg. 43.

In what is called “The Second Quest Period” (1953-Late 1960’s), It is generally agreed that Ernst Käsemann’s celebrated paper delivered at a Marburg reunion of Bultmann’s former students in 1953, “The Problem of the Historical Jesus,” initiated the second, or new, quest for the historical Jesus. In that paper, Käsemann challenged Bultmann’s radical divide between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith, arguing that the early church held the two together—the exalted and humiliated Lord. To do otherwise was to invite the label of Docetism (the heresy that said that Jesus was divine but not human)- pg. 43.

In  the “Third Quest Period”  (1970 and on), biblical scholars have embarked on what  has been characterized as “the Jewish reclamation of Jesus.” Rather than saying Jesus broke away from Judaism and started Christianity, Jewish scholars studying the New Testament have sought to re-incorporate Jesus within the fold of Judaism. In this study, scholars have placed a great deal of emphasis on the social world of first-century Palestine. The scholars of the Third Quest have rejected the idea that the Jesus of the New Testament was influenced by Hellenic Savior Cults. Since Ben F. Meyer’s insightful study, The Aims of Jesus (1979), a third type of study of the historical Jesus has emerged, that of rooting Jesus in the Jewish culture of his day. Meyer has been followed by both Christian scholars, e.g., E. P. Sanders (Jesus and Judaism, 1985),9 G. Theissen (The Shadow of the Galilean, 1983), James Charlesworth (Jesus Within Judaism, 1988),  and especially N. T. Wright (Jesus and the People of God, 1992 and Jesus and the Victory of God, 1996),  and John P. Meier (A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus; Mentor, Message and Miracles; Companions and Competitor), as well as Jewish scholars like Geza Vermes, whose Jesus the Jew (1973) and Jesus and the World.-pg. 50.

The Jewish reclamation of Jesus is also a response to The Jesus Seminar. Among the seventy scholars and laypersons that have comprised the Seminar (some are deceased now),  are Robert W. Funk  (co-chair), John Dominic Crossan (co-chair), and Marcus Borg (Oregon State   University). For most of those in the Seminar, there is a dichotomy between the “Jesus of history” and the “Christ of faith.” The “Christ of faith” is seen as a figure of the early church who was elevated to a divine status by the use of early Christian creeds and through the mythological embellishment accounts of the Gospels that were written later.

Pate also mentions that there have been been different views on Jesus. Some have viewed him as an apocalyptic preacher, Gnostic teacher, or Cynic sage. Pate thinks the evidence demonstrates that Jesus was an apocalyptic preacher. However, Jesus is the Messiah who announced the dawning of the kingdom of God in his life and ministry—a kingdom that will be fully unveiled at his parousia- pg. 66-67.

Pate’s next section is about the sources we have for Jesus. He discusses the oral tradition (my favorite chapter), the Old Testament expectations for a coming Messiah, the canonical Gospels, sources outside the New Testament, the Apocrypha and Gnostic Gospels, archaeology, and what I can tell us about Jesus,  Paul as a source for Jesus, etc. I should note that in the chapter on oral tradition, Pate mentions the work of Richard Bauckham and others who have shown the failings of the form criticism model espoused by Rudolph Bultmann and others.  He notes that “the Jesus of history and Christ of faith—are one and the same; this owing to the reliability of the oral tradition that informs our canonical text.”- pg. 111.

The remaining sections/chapters are about the historical life of Jesus. The reader gets to learn about the birth of Jesus, the family of Jesus, the miracles of Jesus, the actual teachings of Jesus, his temptations, transfiguration, his cleansing of the Temple, death, and resurrection, ascension, His message about his return, etc. Pate also gives the reader a snapshot of the Four Gospels by discussing the “main message” of each one.

A book on 40 questions means each chapter is short. But despite the length of the chapters, I think Pate gives the reader some fine starting points to chew on. There are also reflection questions at the end of each chapter. In the end, I would call this book a “comprehensive” treatment on the topic. While this is an excellent starting point for anyone new to the topic, it is also a wonderful resource for those who are looking to add to their collection on the topic.