Jesus Wants to Save Christians
Chapter 3, David’s Other Son

“One thinks of the prophets of Israel, of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, all of them. They were par excellence the putters of words to things, and the words they put are so thunderous with rage and exultation, with terrible denunciations and terrible promises, that if you are not careful, they drown out everything else there is in the Old Testament and in the prophets themselves. At the level of their words, it is not truth they are telling but particular truths. They are telling about the nations and naming names, telling about Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Persia, and, above all, about Israel as a nation, and the truth they are telling until the veins stand out on their necks and their voices grow hoarse is the truth that by playing power politics Israel is not only bringing about her own destruction as a nation but is acting against her holy destiny, which is to be not a nation among nations but a nation of priests, whose calling it is to be a light to the world. -Frederick Buechner, Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale, 17-18

“It is important to read Jesus’s parable of the lost son in the context of the whole of Luke, chapter 15, but the story has an even larger context. If we read the narrative in light of the Bible’s sweeping theme of exile and homecoming we will understand that Jesus has given us more than a moving account of individual redemption. He has retold the story of the whole human race, and promised nothing less than for the world.”-Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God, 90

In my estimation, this is the best chapter in the book. I mean that sincerely. The authors bring us into the story in the earlier chapters, but in this chapter they focus our attention on a single point within that history. All eyes are turned towards the powerful, the Solomon son of David, the power-brokers like Rome and her Caesars. The prophets kept pointing and looking and searching–and they were not pointing to the powerful, the wealthy or the influential except to say ‘look at what won’t work.’ No, they pointed to God and said, ‘Behold God!’ Then one night, there in the midst of a dark and frightful place, all the light in the universe converged on a single human being: Jesus, the son of David.

And this chapter sets about the problem of understanding what it really means to be a, the, son of David.  They also point us in only one direction for it seems to me that the authors have taken this approach: there is only one true son of David. So over the course of 16 choppily written pages, the authors of the book scatter that Name 61 times. You may think I am merely making a rather pedantic observation that proves absolutely nothing. What can mere word counting prove or accomplish? Maybe you are right. My point is, however, that usually when an artist wants you to see something in a painting, something rather particular, she draws her picture in such a way that the perspective is drawn towards only one point. For example, the Last Supper by Da Vinci. All the perspective is focused on Jesus. Or a musician who writes a symphony will add in a refrain and come back to the refrain at various times throughout the piece.

That’s what Bell and Golden did in chapter 3: they brought our attention back to Jesus over and over again. As I read through the chapter, I kept seeing the name Jesus, over and over and over again. These men want me thinking about something…someone…in particular. They are drawing the perspective in such a way that I can neither see nor think of anyone else but Jesus. In other words, David’s other son can only be one person: Jesus. And they did so masterfully. For people who are routinely accused of being un-orthodox or anti-christian, or heretics, or whatever other label you may have heard–they sure do spend an awful large amount of energy to work their narrative and understanding of Scripture and history around Jesus of Nazareth.

It’s almost, dare I say, as if they were constrained to do so. It’s almost as if these god-haters read the Bible and see that there is only one possible outcome to the story. It’s almost as if they can could do nothing but write the name of Jesus over and over and over again in this chapter. Almost? These are men who have read the Scripture and they know where Scripture leads and the story it tells. Of course they were constrained! Of course there was nothing else they could write! Of course the only possible outcome of this story is Jesus. Of course.

Now I’d like to make a couple of pointed observations about the chapter that I found either heartening or troubling. I’ll keep these brief so as not to give away too much or overwhelm you with minutia.

First, one reason why this book resonates with me is due to the authors’, in my estimation, proper understanding of Israel as a kingdom of priests. I know there are all sorts of ways to understand and misunderstand the role of Israel in redemptive history. I doubt seriously any of us will ever fully exhaust the literature or debate. But in my judgment, I think many theologians have overplayed the ‘Israel’ card much to the detriment of Israel. Jesus, yes, was ‘sent to the Jews’ first, but I don’t this was ever meant to mean that he was sent to the Jews only. In fact, when Matthew tells us of Jesus’ beginnings, he quotes from Isaiah’s prophecy and said that Jesus fulfilled it. What does he quote? A passage about Gentiles! (Matthew 4:12-16). So Bell and Golden note, “Jesus hears everyone’s cry, even the cry of the Canaanites” (79). Or, another way, “Not just Jewish exile but human exile [...] So if all creation is in a sort of exile, east of Eden, estranged from its maker, far from home, what’s the penalty for that?’” (88, 89). This also comports with the quote from Kellar above.

I guess I sort of grow weary of the typical John Hagee approaches to Israel. Bell and Golden rightly view Israel as priests, a son of God (‘out of Egypt I called my son’), who were meant to fulfill an important, redemptive role, but failed. “The prophets had declared that someone would come who would be willing to pay that price, the price for all of creation breaking covenant with God. And if that price was paid, that would change everything” (89). Indeed. And they say that it was Jesus who was Israel, the son of David, the Adam who didn’t fail, the Suffering Servant, the new Moses. Jesus and only Jesus. That’s a rather important and exclusive thing to say because if it was Jesus it cannot be anyone else; there can be no other way.

Second, a complaint. On pages 83-84, the authors bring up an important point: “The writers [prophets] want to make it very clear that this new son of David isn’t just leading a new exodus for a specific group of people; he’s bringing liberation for everybody everywhere and ultimately for everything everywhere for all time” (83). The problem here is that this language is a wee bit fuzzy. I’m fully on board with the former statement (‘…not just a specific group of people…’), but that latter part of the statement is a bit fuzzy and unclear and unrefined (and to an extent, undefined). Jesus did, indeed, promise that he will ‘draw all people’ to himself (83) and I think Bell and Golden are right to emphasize the ‘all’ of this, but here I think they can easily be accused of espousing a non-exclusive version of redemption (not a Calvinistic sort of limited atonement, but an atonement that makes no demands on those who are saved). “The ‘whole world,’ ‘all nations,’ ‘all people,’ ‘all things’ are the biggest, widest, deepest, most inclusive terms the human mind can fathom. And they were on the lips of Jesus, who is describing himself” (84). I think this statement is far too vague and indeed I didn’t think they spent enough time or space unpacking what they mean by this. They step to the edge, but never walk over it. Maybe it was intentional.

I really don’t want this to relapse into a discussion concerning universalism. They are clear, I think, that Jesus is the way (81). They are unclear on who will follow that way and exactly what ‘Jesus is the way’ means. I’m not saying they don’t clear it up later, but I am saying that this is an easy place for someone who is nit-picking to do just that: nit-pick. Here I think the language should be clarified or they are open to the very charge they probably don’t want to be labeled with. I’m not saying they are universalists. I am saying that they open themselves up to the possibility of being accused as such. (In my judgment.)

Third, the authors are wholly dependent upon Scripture to make their case. They rely on the prophets. They rely on Moses. They rely on the Gospels.  In fact, the last 8 pages are an exposition of sorts on Luke 24. The best sentence in the chapter highlights the importance they place on Scripture: “In a couple of hours, using nothing but the Hebrew Scriptures, this man converted all of their despair to hope and a vision of the new future” (90). They are pointing out what Jesus saw as the real problem: “In Jesus’ day, people could read, study, and discuss the Scriptures their entire lives and still miss its central message” (90). This is their point: By taking those two disciples on the road to Emmaus back through the Scripture (Law, Psalms and Prophets) Jesus was saying, ‘Look, I was there all along. God had already told you what to look for and you missed it.’

The authors are warning us, as preachers should, not to miss Jesus. It is far too easy and far too often that people miss the greater point. We get so consumed by systems and ideas and proof and (being) right (thinking we know when really we do not) that we miss the point of Scripture which is, surely, Jesus. We want to carry around Scripture like a sword in our hand instead of as sword in our mouth which it really is. In doing so, we miss the point; we don’t hear the refrain; we get caught up in a detail and miss the perspective, the focal-point. This, it seems to me, is their warning: We cannot afford to miss Jesus. And if those who walked with him did, how much more easily will we if we are not cautious? “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:27; see also, Luke 24:44). 16 pages. 61 times. And if you have read the book and noticed the style of writing and sentence structure then you know that this is a much greater ratio of words to words than it is words to pages. Don’t miss Jesus. (See page 91.)

There are some other things that are important about the chapter, but these sort of stood out to me. Other points that could be discussed are: their use of exclusive terminology (81), the importance of the suffering servant (87), their discussion of exile (89), the importance of non-violence (88), and the crusher of serpent’s heads (90).

The Scripture presents to us the history of humanity. A pretty picture it is not. It is a tragedy. According the Buechner, “The Gospel is bad news before it is good news. It is the news that man is a sinner, to use the old word, that he is evil in the imagination of his heart, that when he looks in the mirror all in a lather what he sees is at least eight parts chicken, phony, slob. That is the tragedy” (Telling the Truth, 7). But it doesn’t end there: “But it is also the news that he is loved anyway, cherished, forgiven, bleeding to be sure, but also bled for. That is the comedy” (Telling the Truth, 7)

But if we miss Jesus, the world will never know that. Bell and Golden’s point is that if we miss Jesus how in the world will anyone else get him? David’s other son is, and can only be, Jesus. This is the Jesus who crushes the head of the serpent, this is the Jesus who suffers, this is the Jesus who leads us out of exile, this is the Jesus who instead of resisting violence absorbs it, this is the Jesus whom Scripture speaks of in exclusive terms. This is the Jesus of bad news and good news. “In Jesus’ day, people could read, study, and discuss the Scriptures their entire lives and still miss its central message. In Jesus’ day, people could follow him, learn from him, drop everything to be his disciples, and yet find themselves returning home, thinking Jesus had failed” (90)

Jesus wants to save Christians from thinking that he failed. Jesus wants to save Christians from missing the point of Scripture. Jesus wants to save Christians from missing Jesus. And if there wasn’t a real danger that we might, or a dangerous reality that we have, there wouldn’t be a need for a warning, would there?

Soli Deo Gloria!

Tags: book review, Don Golden, Jesus Wants to Save Christians, rob bell

At some point someone at Lighthouse Trails Research should read the articles to which they link. When/If this is done it is quickly apparent that their alleged research fails – and does so miserably.

Lighthouse Trails Research Project warns believers of the dangers of Spiritual Formation and even lists schools, colleges, authors and churches that offer classes in the same. Spiritual Formation is “A movement that has provided a platform and a channel through which contemplative prayer is entering the church. Find spiritual formation being used, and in nearly every case you will find contemplative spirituality. In fact, contemplative spirituality is the heartbeat of the spiritual formation movement.” As far as I can tell, if a schools offers a class with “Spiritual Formation” in the title – it is guilty of promoting this dangerous trend.

We can only assume that spiritual formation in and of itself is acceptable, for who could deny this as biblical? The offense appears to be the use of “Contemplative Spirituality” which they define as:

Contemplative Spirituality: A belief system that uses ancient mystical practices to induce altered states of consciousness (the silence) and is rooted in mysticism and the occult but often wrapped in Christian terminology. The premise of contemplative spirituality is pantheistic (God is all) and panentheistic (God is in all). Common terms used for this movement are “spiritual formation,” “the silence,” “the stillness,” “ancient-wisdom,” “spiritual disciplines,” and many others.

And here is where their supposed

Re-search: [ri-surch, ree-surch]  – noun

1. diligent and systematic inquiry or investigation into a subject in order to discover or revise facts, theories, applications: Recent research in medicine…

becomes a colossal

Fail: [feyl] –verb (used without object)

1. to fall short of success or achievement in something expected, attempted, desired, or approved: “Their research failed.”

On the page that contains the above definition for Contemplative Spirituality (which we would all oppose if it were really as they describe) are links to two articles; one by Dallas Willard and another by Richard Foster. It takes one only a few minutes to read these two articles to see how the “research” of Lighthouse Trails Research Project “fails.” Compare the accusations in the definition above with these two excerpts…

Dallas Willard:

So let me say to you very formally: Christian spiritual formation is the process through which the embodied/reflective will takes on the character of Christ’s will.

Spiritual formation in Christ would, then, ideally result in a person whose reflective will for good, fully informed and possessed by Christ, has settled into their body in its social context to such an extent that their natural responses were always to think and feel and do as Christ himself would.

Richard Foster:

Nothing is more important in Christian Spiritual Formation than our need to continue ever focused upon Jesus. This is not formation-in-general. This is formation into Christlikeness. Everything hangs on this. Everything. Jesus gives skeleton and sinews and muscle to our formation. In Jesus we find definition and shape and form for our formation. Jesus is our Savior to redeem us, our Bishop to shepherd us, our Teacher to instruct us, our Lord to rule us, our Friend to come alongside us. He is alive. He teaches, rules, guides, instructs, rebukes, comforts. Stay close to him in all things and in all ways.

We need to study the Bible with a view to the transformation of our whole person and of our whole life into Christlikeness. We come to the Bible to receive the life “with God” that is portrayed in the Bible. To do this we must not control what comes out of the Bible. We must be prepared to have our dearest and most fundamental assumptions about ourselves and our associations called into question. We must read humbly and in a constant attitude of repentance. Only in this way can we gain a thorough and practical grasp of the spiritual riches that God has made available to all humanity in his written Word.

…if you read the whole articles from which these quotes were excerpted, you will see how neither is remotely an example of the definition created by Lighthouse Trails. Neither promotes altered states of consciousness, the occult, or either pantheism nor panentheism.

When your examples contradict your premise – that is a research fail.

Unfortunately, many do not read the links, they simply drink the Kool-Aide as if it were safe.

To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. I know where you live – where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city – where Satan lives.

Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.

Revelation 2:12-17

This is second of seven articles on the seven cities mentioned in Revelation 2 and 3.
Part I: Ephesus
Part II: Smyrna

The Asian kingdom of Pergamon existed for nearly one hundred and fifty years, with its seat of power in Pergamum, until it was willed by its King Attalus III to Rome upon his death in 129. Today, the ruins of Pergamum are found on a large rocky hill overlooking the Caicus River, about 20 miles from the Agean Sea. Its architecture is amazing to behold, even today, and one can only imagine how majestic it must have been 2000 years ago. (For you Lord of the Rings fans, think of Minas Tirith…)  It was the seat of political power in Asia Minor (Ephesus was the commercial center), and it was also home to the frumetaria, a Roman garrison that protected food shipments through the major trade route from the Agean into Asia Minor.

Where Satan has His Throne

When we read John’s letter to the church in Pergamum, we must wonder why John twice refers to this city as a place where Satan rules. When we examine the city in its first century context, the possibilities abound.

One possibility lies in with the series of kings Attalus I – III and Eumenes I-III, alternating. The people of Pergamum may have been some of the first to deify their kings upon death, constructing Heroon (places of hero worship) upon their tombs. Many scholars believe that the Caesars were greatly impressed by this practice in Pergamum, and that it led first to the deification of the Caesars in the outlying provinces, and then to the deification upon death of Caesars in all of the Empire – including Rome, and finally, with Domitian, to the deification of Caesar while still living. At Pergamum, upon the highest height of the Acropolis (the place where the greatest god was worshipped), are the ruins of a once great temple to Trajan Caesar (Emperor from 98 – 117 AD). With the atrocities conducted against early believers who refused to bow to Caesar, and Pergamon as the originator of Caesar worship, this is one possibility why this might be “Satan’s Throne”.

Another possibility lies in the agora (marketplace) on the Acropolis of Pergamum. It is here that the practice of burning incense to Caesar in order to be able to buy and sell in the market may have first begun. This practice later spread to Ephesus and became so pervasive that one could not buy or sell, get fire or water, or acquire meat without declaring Caesar was god, and to refuse could mean death to the believer. It is very likely that this is the practice referred to in Revelation 13:16-17, with the “beast” representing Nero or Domitian (most likely):

He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:16-17)

Because Pergamum was the seat of power in Asia Minor, and because of the evil practices in the worship of this power, this is another possibility of Satan’s throne.

Dionysus Worship

A third possibility may have been in the Theater, which was a place of primary importance in Pergamum. The purpose of the theater was to make the city’s views into the peoples’ views. (Does this sound familiar?) The 10,000-seat theater on the Acropolis in Pergamum, the largest of several in the city, was dedicated (as all Hellenistic theaters were) to the god Dionysus, the god of wine and orgy.

Right next to the theater was the temple of Dionysus, and just before each performance, the people would go and partake of all the free wine they wanted (donations accepted, of course), before watching the day’s performance.  The plays in the ampitheater were often performed in the nude, and sometimes “interactively”.*  After the performance, many of the people would go next to the theater to participate in the binging and purging, where people would drink as much wine and eat as much raw meat as they could, before throwing up into the lowered center of the room and then partaking more drink and food. This would put them into an ecstatic state where they could have “visions” from Dionysus, after which they would leave the vile place and partake of the Dionysus temple prostitutes.

And So…

Regardless of whether it was hero worship, power or gross epicureanism, Pergamum received these words from Jesus, through John:

I know where you live – where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city – where Satan lives.

Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

While we covered the Nicolaitans in Ephesus, the mention of Balaam is an interesting one.

In Numbers 22-24, Balaam was called on to curse Israel so that Balak (a Moabite king) could defeat them with his military might. However, Balaam could only bless the people of Israel (with the story of his ass in there, as well). So how did Balaam entice the Israelites to sin, as John refers to here? In Numbers 25, we find the people of Israel involved in sexual immorality and idol worship with the Moabites – what Balak could not do militarily, he did culturally. This is a warning to us, today, as well.

The Mayo Clinic

Dr. Tim Brown refers to the asclepieion of Pergamum as the “Mayo Clinic of the Ancient World”. It was here that the famous Greek physician, Galen**, practiced his arts in the gardens of the god Asclepius. Roman citizens from all over the empire would come to the asclepieion of Pergamum for healing, where they would stay through their illness and then, sometimes, even years after they were healed. Once healed, the grateful parishioner would carve out a large white stone, detailing how Asclepius healed him or her, and would include his name upon the stone.

And so it is that John writes

To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.

He is telling the church in Pergamum that they won’t need a frumetaria to protect their food or to debase themselves (like the Nicolaitans) to receive food, and that if they can overcome, they will receive their own white stones – not from Asclepius, but from Jesus.

One other potential meaning to the reference to “white stones” was a contemporary practice in the latter first century, where trusted friends would take a small piece of tile and break it in two.  Each would write his name on one half, and then exchange the halves.  Then, whenever they, or their descendants, met in the future, they could match the halves, which would guarantee extended hospitality, because it identified the person as a true friend.  This, too, could be the reference of a white stone with a new name written upon it…

So What?

In America, today, we have far more to eat than we need. We drink far more than we should. We also engage in cheap sex and worship of the culture in ways less blatant, but no less sinful, than those in Pergamum. While we in the church have withstood the physical persecution of the ages and now reside in physical safety, we forget the lesson of Balaam, and fall victim to the idol worship and immorality which has crept up on us.

I may not bow down to an idol of wood and stone, but do I bow to one made of pigskin? I may not sleep with prostitutes, but I certainly don’t turn away that fourth helping of lasagna. I may not sell my soul for the right to buy and sell, but do I sell it to climb the corporate ladder to get the money I use to buy and sell?

Living in the world and being enough of a part of the culture that I can be salt and light – interacting regularly with “sinners” – is difficult to do. It is even more difficult to do so without sinning right along with them – but that is where I am (and all of us are) called – to be out there in the world, but not a product of it.

Grace & Peace,

Chris
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*As an interesting side-note, all theater performances began with a rhetor announcing to the crowd “May all that is done in word and deed, be done in the name of our lord, Dionysus” – which Paul would later borrow for good in Colossians 3:17; “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

**Galen, it should be noted, despised the Jewish account of creation and the Judeo-Christian world view which said that God created the world from nothing (whereas the Greek gods took evil matter, and by their work created something good). In his mind (and in the Greek/gnostic world view), physical matter was evil, and for God to create and call what He created “good” was blasphemy. His most famous work, Deuxus Pardiem (”On the Usefulness of the Parts of the Human Body”), was an attempt to refute this, and – interestingly enough – was quoted by Charles Darwin in his Origin of the Species.

The following article was submitted by CRN.Info Reader, Steve W. Thank you, Steve!

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I went to a new church the other day. At first, I was having a great time. The pastor spoke for one hour about his favourite topic, which was why 99.999 per cent of the churches out there are apostate.

At first, I was thrilled to hear such a stirring and uplifting message. Pastor Joe gave at least a dozen different examples as to how the modern church differentiates from the early New Testament church. “We’ve replaced this with that and that with this,” Pastor Joe said. “God is angry. He hates these apostate churches.”

He went on about how women should have their heads covered in church and he deplored how modern church youth groups will actually do evil Satanic things like go on trips to waterslide parks.

“The early Christians certainly never took time out from preaching the word in order to go water parks or amusement parks,” he said.

Amen, brother Joe, I thought. All these Satanic forms of entertainment were put there by the devil with the exclusive goal of tearing our eyes from Christ.

But now I come to the sad part of the story.

After the service was over, I walked up to Pastor Joe and kissed him on the cheek.

Pastor Joe did not kiss me back. Instead he looked stunned, and a little angry.

“Why did you do that?” he asked.

I was a little taken aback, but I explained to him that I was merely greeting him with a holy kiss, as the early New Testament church did and as we are instructed to do in Romans 16:16.

Pastor Joe had none of it. He told me not to do that again.

I left that church with great heaviness in my heart. I really thought they were one of the few churches on the straight and narrow, but now I can plainly see that they are just another apostate church that is on the broad road to hell.

Yeah, I’m biased — these guys are from Atlanta (and even my neck of the woods).  But even past the fact that it’s a great rockin’ song, this kinda epitomizes the ideas of trying to restore our view of Jesus’ humanity and the oft-counter-culture nature of His ministry.

And at times, our problem too:

Dogmatism As Christian theologians we are likewise faced with the temptation toward dogmatism.  We run the risk of confusing one specific model of reality with reality itself or one theological system with truth itself, thereby ‘canonizing’ a particular theological construct or a specific theologian.  Because all systems are models of reality, we must maintain a stance of openness to other models, aware of the tentativeness and incompleteness of all systems.  In the final analysis, theology is a human enterprise, helpful for the task of the church, to be sure, but a human construct nevertheless.

- Theology for the Community of God by Stanley J. Grenz, 13.

Tags: dogmatic, dogmatism, Theology

Came across this quote recently in some reading I am doing.

Since faith fastens on God’s benevolence, it yields gratitude, which in turn sponsors risk-taking in the service of others. Grateful people want to let themselves go; faithful people dare to do it. People tethered by to God by faith let themselves go because they know they will get themselves back.
Grateful people overflow a little, especially with thanksgiving and passed-on kindness. But they do not therefore lack discipline. In fact, self-indulgence tends to suppress gratitude; self-discipline tends to generate it.

Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin
~pp. 35