Laborers in the Vineyard: Exposition of Matthew 20:1-16

¹"For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ²After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴and to them he said, 'You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.' ⁵So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same.⁶And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' ⁷They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.' ⁸And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.' ⁹And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius.¹⁰Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. ¹¹And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, ¹²saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' ¹³But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. ¹⁵Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?' ¹⁶So the last will be first, and the first last."

Though several primary meanings of this parable are possible, we must consider its context of being surrounded by very similar language: many who are “first will be last, and the last first” (Mt. 19:30 and 20:16). [1] The parable is set in a wider circle of context (19:13-20:28) explaining that the kingdom of heaven is drastically different than any earthly kingdom, for it is founded upon God’s humbling grace. “God’s grace makes some who are last first,” and it is man’s responsibility to accept and properly use the free gifts of God with humility.[2]

It follows the structure of two thirds of Jesus’ parables by having a “master figure” and “two contrasting subordinates” (those who worked all day and those who were hired at the end of the day).[3] As Davies and Allison observe, it closely parallels the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk. 15:11-32); in both parables, the master figure shows “unexpected generosity” towards an undeserving subordinate, causing the other subordinate to become resentful and complain of injustice.[4] In both, the master figure responds by benevolently explaining his “extravagant generosity.”[5] In both stories, the underlying imploration is that it is far better to accept God’s mercy than to oppose it in lieu of standing on one’s own merit.[6]

In response to the charge of God’s unfairness, the master in the parable responds, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong” (v. 13). The following rhetorical questions (vv. 13b-15) show the master’s gifts are given “not because they are earned, but because he is gracious.”[7] In the kingdom of heaven, no one receives less than what they deserve; some receive far greater. Therefore, neither may charge God with injustice. Further, in God’s kingdom, he defines what is just and unjust.

The immediate application for Christians today is that we should not expect to receive certain blessings because of our own merit. This kind of thinking is rooted in a comparison of ourselves to others, and the root of that impulse is pride. This passage teaches us to be humble, having been given more than we deserve through the blood of Jesus. It is only by Christ’s merit that we are will receive our eternal reward.

---

[1] For nine possible meanings, see W.D. Davies and D.C. Allison, Jr., A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on The Gospel According to St. Matthew (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1997) 67-68.

[2] D.A. Carson, “Volume 8 (Matthew, Mark, Luke)” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Regency, 1984) 428.

[3] W.W. Klein, C.L. Blomberg & R.L. Hubbard, Jr., Introduction to Biblical Interpretation, Rev. Ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2004) 413.

[4] Davies and Allison, Gospel According to St. Matthew, 69.

[5] Ibid.

[6] C.S. Keener, A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999) 483.

[7] Carson, “Matthew,” 428.

Helpful Presuppositions to Understand the Bible

Everyone approaches the Bible with presuppositions. It doesn't matter who you are; you can't escape it. Your culture and life experiences will shape the way you view Scripture. This explains how so many interpretations can come from the text. It explains different theological viewpoints, heresies and cults. Man is depraved, and throughout history, has interpreted texts to his own liking and benefit. In fact, only by the illumination of the Holy Spirit can man rightly interpret God's Word. The goal should not be to eliminate presuppositions, but to read the Bible with the correct ones.

1. The Bible is the authoritative, infallible Word of God. The Bible calls its readers to have faith in this (2 Tim. 3:16-7, 2 Pet. 1:17-21). It is God's full and final revelation, all that man needs to know about God and nothing that we don't.

2. The Bible centers on the life and work of Jesus Christ. The gospel is the starting point for understanding the Bible. Christ has died! Christ has risen! Christ will come again! Jesus has fulfilled/will fulfill all the promises of the Old Testament by these three acts. (Lk. 24:13-47, 2 Cor. 1:20)

3. The Bible is a book about God, not man. It is the story of the Triune God's redemptive work in history for his own glory and our good. It is not primarily an instruction book or a road map for us, but tells us what God has done for those who believe. We are called to respond to what God has done, but that is not the primary focus. (Col. 1:15-20, Isaiah 6:1-7)

The most damaging presupposition of our time is humanism. In a culture that tells us that it's all about us, it's hard for us to imagine that the Bible is not all about us. This affects our understanding of the Bible in varying degrees, from the prosperity gospel to more subtle interpretations. But it is not specific to our time or culture. Adam's original sin in the garden was derivative of thinking he could be like God. From what the Bible reveals about the rebellion of the devil, it is from the same spirit of pride. That prideful self-centeredness which motivates us to glorify ourselves instead of God has always been present through the sinful nature of man. The beauty of the gospel, however, is that Christ became man and defeated our sinful nature by living a perfect life, dying on a cross for our rebellion and rising to intercede for his enemies made friends by his blood. Thanks be to God!

Exposition of Deuteronomy 21:18-21

For the context of this post, see first paragraph of previous post. On the surface, this is a very problematic passage. Did God really mean for his people to kill their own sons? How does this apply to us today under the New Covenant?

18"If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, ¹⁹then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, ²⁰and they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.' ²¹Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 explicates the negative human consequences of the Fifth commandment (Deut. 5:16). As Craigie notes, those guilty of not honoring their fathers and mothers are under the wrath of God.[1] This passage pertains to a son exhibiting apathetic and unrepentant dishonor towards his parents. It is contained within a section of Deuteronomy in which the original given law is being expounded upon for the sake of clarity and application.

In the broader context of the Torah, this passage is vital to understanding the kind of covenant people that Yahweh wants to possess the Promised Land, the kind of community with which he wants to have relationship. He will not tolerate unrepentant disobedience even from those who are born into the people Yahweh declares to be his own through his redemptive work (Deut. 7:6-8). To disobey paternal authority had implications beyond the family. As McConville observes, “the family unit is an essential part of the larger political and religious fabric. Respect for parents was therefore a basic element in a right attitude to the whole society and indeed to God.”[2]

God has revealed himself as a loving Father, one who knows what it is to love and discipline his children. Hosea 11:1, 8-9 is a promise Yahweh makes to Israel, his children, that because of his love for his people he will not destroy it. It is difficult to imagine that any parent could hand over his son, though rebellious, to be executed, even for the good of the community. As McConville notes, “there is no evidence of such measures actually having been taken in the OT.”[3] However, the fulfillment of this passage and Hosea 11 is the death of the obedient son, Jesus, as a representative of a disobedient people. God the Father did the unimaginable, giving up his own son, who was “numbered with the transgressors” (counted rebellious) that the rebellious son who deserved death (God’s chosen) might be spared and renewed into right relationship with the Father.[4]

Because Jesus died for these sins, Christians should not punish them by death in state or communal practice. Also, this is incompatible with Jesus’ ethics. Christ’s fulfillment of this passage doesn’t diminish that God takes this sin very seriously. On the contrary, it shows that it was worth dying for. Therefore, Christians today should take the principle of respect for one’s parents, grandparents and elders in general very seriously.

---

[1] P.C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976) 284.

[2] J.G. McConville, “Deuteronomy,” in Apollos Old Testament Commentary, eds. D.W. Baker and G.J. Wenham (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2002) 331.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Jn. 3:16; Is. 53:12

Exposition of Genesis 12:10-20

So it's regrettably been a while since I've posted anything. I do not lack interest, but only time. This post is a "copy and paste" post. It is a copy of the first hermeneutical assignment due in my Biblical Interpretation class. In the class, we have several short (one page, which can be more difficult than writing five) assignments to interpret different Biblical genres (Narrative, Law, Psalms, Wisdom, Prophecy, Gospels, Parables, Acts and Epistles) from passages given to us. The first passage given was Genesis 12:20-13:1. I was asked to interpret the passage within its narrow and wider circles of context and to answer questions mostly regarding application today.

¹⁰Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, "I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, ¹²and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake."¹⁴When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

¹⁷But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸So Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go." ²⁰And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

This passage reveals God’s faithfulness to his covenant promise even when the recipient of the promise is unfaithful. Chapter 12 begins with the calling of Abram to take his family away from all that is familiar to a place not yet revealed to him. He goes because he trusts that God will bless him and make him a blessing. As Wenham notes, “After the great expectations aroused by the first episode in the Abraham cycle, this second one surprises us by the unheroic performance of the hero.”[1] No later than v. 13, his doubt is apparent. Telling the Egyptians that they are siblings is at best a half-truth, for she is his half-sister.[2] In leaving out the fact that they are married, he risks his own marriage, thereby risking the fulfillment of the promises of 12:1-3.[3] The promise is saved only because of divine intervention, God afflicting Pharaoh and his house with great plagues (v. 17).

In its wider literary circle of the Old Testament narrative, it is the first revelation that the Lord will intervene at times to protect his blessings.[4] At different times he provides plagues (Gen. 12:17, Ex. 7:14-12:32), famine (Gen. 42-46), miracles (Ex. 3-4, Ex. 14), strength (2 Sam. 22:40) or whatever else was necessary for the preservation of his covenant people. Though his people may doubt, deceive, dismay or disobey, he will go to great lengths to fulfill his promise, for, as Ross notes, His word is at stake.[5] This theme reaches its apex in the life and work of Jesus Christ, who went to the greatest length to redeem his people from their sin by taking it upon himself and destroying it at the cross.

Christians today can derive a greater trust in God from this passage. A Christian can know that when his life circumstances are not going the way he had hoped, he should not resort to deceitful practices. God is in control and working all things for the good of his people (Rom. 8:28). We understand the promises of God much more richly than Abram could have. As Hamilton notes, this certainly does not give Christians the excuse to be disobedient. But this passage gives believers security that God will act and has acted on their behalf when they are unfaithful.

Though Abram is the father of those who believe, he is not set up as an example to follow in this particular passage. Should one mistakenly discern this to be the case, one might conclude that God needs our help or our wisdom to fulfill his promises. Abram is a model for Christian living is that he perseveres in following the Lord’s call, but only because of God’s commitment to him.

---

[1] G.J. Wenham, “Genesis 1-15,” in Word Biblical Commentary, eds. D.A. Hubbard and G.W. Barkert (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1987) 290.

[2] V.P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1900) 381.

[3] A.P. Ross, Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998) 270.

[4] Ibid., 276.

[5] Ibid., 277.

Life Together

The second week of the semester, I decided I would try (try) not to compete with my classmates, but seek instead to mutually encourage and support one another for the greatest good of the whole. In other words, myself and many other students have were intentional early on about forming (here's the buzz word) community. We were inspired by John Macmurray's (moral philosophy professor at Edinburgh) contrast of community of with society, as communicated by his student, James Torrance. According to Macmurray, society is "a collection of individuals indirectly related to one another by law, by employment, by contract to meet needs (economic, financial, physical, etc.)." Community, on the other hand, he defined as "a group of persons in relation, directly related by love." Brilliant.

In my first couple months here at Beeson, I am pleased to say I have developed community with the other first-year students, some of whom are single, some married (most are single), some of whom are younger than me, some older (most are younger). Community is not always (perhaps not often) easy. There are disagreements and people I don't always care for and times I want to be alone, but a commitment to love in the midst of these things is what separates community from mere friendships. This intentional community has spread to include others not in their first year, especially my roommates. Other students and professors are noticing the tight-knit bonds forming already between my class. As we embark on three years of grueling grad school studies together, it's nice to have a group that's going through the same things,the same joys and frustrations. We have set time aside to meet on Thursday nights for conversation, pints and pipes (though I only engage in the first two, and some only engage in the first one). I pray this will be edifying both as we prepare for a lifetime of ministry and as we face the troubles that come with such a life.

I can't imagine a more significant or timeless book on community than Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together, which is mandatory reading for our Spiritual Formation class. I've admittedly developed a man-crush on Bonhoeffer over the last couple months for the radical Christ-centeredness in the thinking and writing, living and dying. He is the man famous for saying, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die!" And he did at the hands of the Nazis in 1945. (I talk about him because I realize many are not familiar with Bonhoeffer and I this is sad; please take the time to read about his life, death and maybe a book or two of his.) In the opening pages of Life Together, Bonhoeffer makes a most inspiring and challenging case as to the necessity of Christians to live together in community if they are going to take seriously the call of the Kingdom:

It is not simply to be taken for granted that the Christian has the privilege of living among other Christians. Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. At the end all his disciples deserted him. On the Cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers. For this cause he had come, to bring peace to the enemies of God. So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes. There is his commission, his work. (Quoting Luther:) "The Kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies. And he who will not suffer this does not want to be of the Kingdom of Christ; he wants to be among friends, to sit among roses and lilies, not with the bad people but the devout people...If Christ had done what you are doing, who would ever have been spared?"

Bonhoeffer then explains that God's people are scattered throughout the world, united in the death and resurrection of Christ, and the hope of his return, at which point we shall be "gathered from the four winds" (Matt. 24:31).

Until then, God's people remain scattered, held together solely in Jesus Christ, having become one in the fact that, dispersed among unbelievers, they remember Him in the far countries. So between the death of Christ and the Last Day it is only by a gracious anticipation of the last things that Christians are privileged to live in visible fellowship with other Christians. It is by the grace of God that a congregation is permitted to gather visibly in this world to share God's Word and sacrament. Not all Christians receive this blessing.

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!" (Ps. 133:1) I am privileged to have community in Birmingham that is directly related by love, Christ's love, for I need other believers if I am to remain faithful in sharing the gospel of Christ to a world that doesn't know they don't care about it. Thanks be to God!

The Wit And Wisdom of Dr. Dorsett

Every Wednesday and Friday at 8am, I have the privilege to sit under one of the most entertaining, energetic and passionate sixty-five plus men I can imagine. Dr. Lyle W. Dorsett is a historian and theologian, having taught history in secular universities before becoming a Christian. He is a premier C.S. Lewis and John Wesley scholar and his also written biographies on D.L. Moody, A.W. Tozer, and Billy Sunday, among others. He is an ever-interesting mix of, a Charismatic Wesleyan High-Church Anglican, and pastor of Christ the King Anglican Church, which meets at Beeson's chapel on Sundays. He is often less of a professor and more of a general giving marching orders. I differ from him many ways theologically, but have learned a great deal from him. He has made me more resolutely Reformed in my theology, while at the same time making me more resolutely ecumenical in my thinking about church practice. Above all else, he is a warm, real, compassionate, heart-on-his-sleeve kind of man. A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to talk with him in his office about power evangelism, church planting and Wesleyan theology. Though he is a busy man, we talked for over an hour and a half!

So I thought I would share some of the wisdom he has passed on to our 8am class, which I quickly jotted down to later consider (and share).

"The simple truth is that worship is elementary until it begins to take on the quality of admiration."

On the same subject, he quoted A.W. Tozer: "God has few admirers among Christians today."

"In churches today, we have too many Bible deists, those who read the Bible without the Holy Spirit."

"When you climb up into that pulpit on Sunday, you are who you've been all week."

"Ministry is not glamorous; as long as you think it is, you're not doing God's work."

"It's the hobgoblin of little minds to insist that we know everything."

"If you know God, you can't hide him." To illustrate this, he told the story of when he first met his wife. He couldn't help but "share" her with people, his parents, his best friends. We ought to be more like that regarding Jesus.

"Why don't we pray regarding our ministry? Are we too proud to pray? Or too busy for God? Prayer is our lifeline to the Spirit."

"Roll Tide? Someday nobody will care. Roll Church! The gates of hell will not prevail against it!" (that's a hard one for me)

"If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. If they perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned or unprayed for." (that's a classic Charles Spurgeon quote that sits framed on his desk.)

I finish with a story he told about a friend's church that had an old woman known by the children as "Old 100" because no one quite knew how old she was, possibly a hundred years old. Every week during the sermon, she sat in the front row, hunched over. If the pastor took too long with an introduction, she would mutter "Lift him up," referring to Jesus. If she wasn't heard, she started speaking louder and louder, "lift him up, get him up." She wanted to hear about none but Jesus. On one occasion, a visiting preacher started touting himself and his ministry. This was eventually interrupted by Old 100 shouting, "Lift him up! Get him up!" from the front row.

A Prayer for a Holy Ambition

For me and everyone else who is searching out God's calling in their lives:

"Lord, I will not let you go until you give me a holy ambition. Forbid that I would waste my life. Even in these student days, don't let me waste it, Lord. Show me your glory! Show me your passion for your glory. Draw me into it, O God! I don't care about being famous; I want to be faithful. And as small and insignificant as I feel, O God, I want my life to count. So show me, grant me, a holy ambition."

- John Piper

A Brief History of God and Man

First, a biographical note. I am loving Beeson! Receently, I was reading in the library for what seemed like an hour, but was actually three hours. As I walked out of Samford's excellent library through the brilliant campus, I thought about how much I love reading about the glory of Christ. That being said, it is a ton of work. I love the reading, but it is hard to find time and muster up the energy to do it all. Plus, I'm social and I want to spend time with my roommates and the people I'm meeting in school. It can be difficult to find that balance.

My first exam in seminary was to write an essay summarizing redemptive history as revealed in the entire Bible. It was the kind of thing I was glad I did, and I'm glad it's over. It was a great way to start seminary and undoubtedly the most important essay I've ever written. The assignment was not to summarize my own interpretation of the Bible, but to basically "regurgitate" Graeme Goldsworthy's According To Plan, a brilliant Biblical Theology. Since I have so little time to write anything on here due to reading, writing and learning Greek, I figured I would just put my practice essay on here for you all to read. This is something like what I wrote on the exam, except completely different (this is a rough draft, and it's rough in grammar and content, but you can at least get the idea. It's long, but not ridiculously long, since I only had fifty minutes in class to write it all out. This is my seminary education being passed down, and I can't understate the importance of understanding how the Bible, as a whole, fits together. So please read and enjoy!

1. God’s covenant with man, his commitment to redeem and recreate a kingdom for himself, is the most dominant, over-arching theme of the Bible. This commitment is perhaps best summarized by the statement repeated throughout Scripture: “I will be their God, and they will be my people” (Ex 29, Jer 31, 2 Cor 6, Heb 8, Rev 21). There is but one covenant which has a number of different expressions in the course of redemptive history. Each expression was initiated by God, the superior party, but in all instances, something was required of man: obedience. This covenant was perfected in the person and work of the God-man Jesus Christ, who lived a perfectly obedient life and bore the wrath of God on the cross so that God might be reconciled to his people forever. All other expressions of the covenant foreshadow this new covenant.

2. In the beginning, God created, according to his word, all things in right relationship with him. Creation itself shows the fullness of God’s sovereignty and freedom (Gen 1). The best of all of God’s creations was humankind, whom he chose to give his image that they might partake in a special communion with their transcendent, wonderful Creator. Instead, Adam and Eve, representatives of all humankind, rejected God’s word as being truthful and trustworthy. The choice to rebel in Genesis 3 was a failed attempt to become as God, to become the primary authority, causing all relationships of the kingdom of God to be dislocated. In Genesis 3:15, however, we find the first hint the gospel, a hint that God himself will make things right.

3. In Genesis 6, the Bible states that “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” Despite the wickedness of humankind, God chose one family to be his instrument to preserve righteousness in the world. He made a covenant with Noah and his family to save them from his wrath (in this case, the flood) if they would obey, and it was their benefit to do so. The nature of God’s grace is that it is unconditional; Noah did not do anything to deserve receiving an escape from God’s wrath, but God initiated with him a covenant.

4. God, in this same grace, calls Abraham away from his country and kindred to be the great father of many nations, a promise which is ultimately accomplished through Jesus. His electing grace continues to younger sons in Abraham’s line, Isaac and Jacob. Jacob’s sons then become the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel. Through providential circumstances involving great suffering (Gen 50), the eleventh son, Joseph, is ordained to save his family from starvation, thus preserving the chosen, Messianic line that will come through his brother, Judah.

5. God purposely brought his people to Egypt so that he might display his power. He institutes the Passover to show the importance of his children (his chosen ones) and decrees that his redemptive acts should always be celebrated. With the exodus, he shows that he will not let Egypt or anything else stand in the way of his covenant, but will do everything necessary to accomplish his purposes. The blood of the lamb is an escape from judgment for God’s covenant people and the blood of the Lamb of God gives the elect an escape from judgment, thus celebrated continually by the Lord’s Supper. His redemption of Israel from an alien power, Egypt, foreshadows his redemption of his chosen from an alien power, the devil.

6. God’s acts of faithfulness towards his people require God’s people to respond faithfully. After the exodus, God reminds the Jews of what he has done for them (Ex 19). On this basis, the law is given so that God’s people might respond appropriately. It also reveals to them their inadequacies to keep the law, from which they can only be freed by the shedding of blood, and can only approach the holy God through a mediator. Christ came to establish himself as the eternal, perfect mediator through the shedding of his blood.

7. In the events that happen in the wilderness following the exodus, we see God’s longsuffering love. Though Israel rebels and is disciplined for forty years, they are ultimately allowed into the promised land under Joshua, for God is a God who keeps his covenants in spite of the faithlessness of his people. Thus where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. God then appoints judges to save the people from the folly of not submitting to God’s law. Also, the examples of Rahab and Ruth are the beginning of the revelation of God’s purposes to bring Gentiles into his kingdom as well, a theme that runs throughout the Old Testament and is fulfilled Jesus’ death for every nation, tribe and tongue.

8. After the judges, Israel lusts for an earthly king. God gives them the king the want, Saul, who fails. Then he provides his chosen king, David, who is a foreshadowing of the perfect King to come, the Christ. God makes a covenant with David summarizing the previous covenants and promising a great King, the Messiah, through David’s line. God fulfills his covenant partially through Solomon, who builds the temple to be God’s dwelling place, but ultimately fulfills his covenant through the temple veiled in human flesh (Jn 2:19-22). During the time of the early kings, important psalms of praise and wisdom literature are written. Both teach of the glory and attributes of God for wisdom and worship. Jesus is the full and final revelation of God’s glory and wisdom (Heb 1).

9. Among good and poor kings of Israel and Judah, God appoints prophets to speak his very words. Such prophets object to the faithlessness of God’s people in keeping their part of the covenant, for which the exile is a result. During this time of exile, however, great Messianic promises are given, including Jeremiah 31, one of the most important text of the Old Testament, which declares that though God’s people have failed again and again, God himself will see to it that they uphold their end of the covenant. Later prophets continue to instruct Israel and prophesy concerning the details of the Messiah, but the Old Testament is a book that in itself is not completed. It hinges on the hope of the Messiah coming to restore God’s people.

10. In the gospels, Jesus of Nazareth presents himself as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy as the true prophet, priest, king and wise man. After the resurrection, he explains to his disciples that the Old Testament scriptures were all about him (Luke 24:25-7). He teaches that he is the true temple (John 2:19), the true Israel and last Adam (Luke 3) by succeeding in overcoming temptation where man failed, and Word of God incarnate, the same who created (Jn 1). All that he was, he was on our behalf. God’s promises, fulfilled by his life, death and resurrection, were all to redeem and recreate a people for himself.

11. The kingdom of God, foreshadowed in the Old Testament, is fulfilled in the book of Acts by the spreading of Jesus’ kingdom, which is not of this world. In Acts, we see regeneration that first came in Jesus is now available and spreading to all nations. In Acts, the Holy Spirit takes the place of the bodily presence of Jesus so that God is still with his people and promises to be until the end of the age (when he will dwell more visibly with his people).

12. The New Testament epistles help us to understand how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament, how we access salvation by faith, how this good news changes our individual lives and communities. They explain the relationship and differences of what Christ did to save his people (justification), the saving work he’s doing in them (sanctification) and that one day he will finally save them (glorification). Just as God’s covenant community received the blessings of what the priestly mediator did on their behalf, so Christians are recipients of all the blessings in and with Christ Jesus.

13. In the book of Revelation, God has given humankind a great gift through John’s vision, the ability to see the end, though we are not there yet. The end is not really the end, but the beginning of God dwelling and reigning with his people forever in a more visible way than ever before. It is the consummation of the gospel inaugurated on the cross, the regeneration of all things into their final glorified form and the reason for all the expressions of the covenant throughout redemptive history, including the new covenant of Jesus’ blood.

Evangelism, Sovereignty and Manipulation

If you've talked to me much the last couple months, since I've returned from Ireland, then you've probably heard me talk about this or something close. When I returned to America, I was appalled with the way most American Evangelical Christians do evangelism.

The tendency is to emphasize how easy it is to "accept Jesus", and not consider that it was not at all easy for Jesus to endure the cross and separation from the Father to save us. This leads to a weak, minimalist, man-centered theology. Moreover, I have personally witnessed preachers emotionally manipulate congregations into making a decision. While a decision to follow Christ is a part of our salvation, the cause of our decision can only come by regeneration of the Holy Spirit, not through a counterfeit emotional experience. But so many practice evangelism as if we can trick men into being Christians, and as if we can fool God by holding Him accountable to a one-time decision. If we are primarily saved by our decision to follow Jesus, then what happens when we decide not to follow him, which is what we decide every time we sin?

Yet many preachers evangelize in this way in order to see results, results not necessarily to boast in their efforts, but in order to see measurable progress. So often, sadly, our faith is contingent upon seeing God work, yet we are called to trust that God is accomplishing "all things according to the counsel of his will" (Eph 1:11), even when we can't see it. It takes a greater level of faith to do real evangelism, not manipulation. We need to trust that God is more interested in glorifying himself than we are.

Until recently, I had not clearly and directly recognized how our view of God's sovereignty played into evangelism. For my Evangelism and Church Growth class at Beeson Divinity, we read a book by J.I. Packer titled Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. Packer explains that a high view of God's sovereignty over all things does not inhibit man's responsibility, nor evangelism, but quite the opposite. He explains:

So far from inhibiting evangelism, faith in the sovereignty of God's government and grace is the only thing that can sustain it, for it is the only thing that can give us the resilience that we need if we are to evangelize boldly and consistently and not be daunted by temporary setbacks. So far from being weakened by this faith, therefore, evangelism will inevitably be weak and lack staying power without it.

Concerning manipulation, Packer, writing in 1959 apparently foresaw what a low view of God's sovereignty would create in Evangelical Christianity, for he describes what is common today:

If we regarded it as our job, not simply to present Christ, but actually to produce converts--to evangelize, not only faithfully, but also successfully--our approach to evangelism would become pragmatic and calculating...(If this were true) We must have...an irresistible technique for inducing a response...And we should evaluate all evangelism, our own and other people's, not only by the message preached, but also of visible results...Thus our philosophy of evangelism would become terrifyingly similar to the philosophy of brainwashing.

Packer goes on to say,

It is not right when we regard ourselves as responsible for securing converts, and look to our own enterprise and techniques to accomplish what only God can accomplish. To do that is to intrude ourselves into the office of Holy Ghost, and to exalt ourselves to the agents of the new birth. And the point that we must see is this: only by letting our knowledge of God's sovereignty control the way in which we plan, and pray, and work in his service, can we avoid becoming guilty of this fault. For where we are not consciously relying on God, there we shall inevitably be found relying on ourselves. And the spirit of self-reliance is a blight on evangelism.

We are called to proclaim the gospel, in word and deed, everywhere and all the time with heartfelt love and compassion for all. But it is dangerous when we operate under the false pretense that it depends on us. Instead, we go forth declaring the victory Jesus already won at the cross! Go forth and make disciples with the conviction that our mission cannot fail as long as God is on his throne!

If Satan took control of a city

On Sunday night, the pastor at Red Mountain Church in Birmingham spoke on the seditious nature of the gospel. He read a quote from longtime pastor of 10th Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Donald Grey Barnhouse, that rocked me. Barnhouse was asked on radio in the 1950s what it would look like if Satan really took control of a city. Over a half-century ago, this was his reply:

All of the bars would be closed, pornography banished, and pristine streets would be filled with tidy pedestrians who smiled at each other. There would be no swearing. The children would say, "Yes, sir" and "No, ma'am," and churches would be full every Sunday...where Christ is not preached.

What is the Bible Basically About?

Real Beauty Changes Everything

"I can't see my reflection in the water,

I can't speak the sounds that show no pain,

I can't hear the echo of my footsteps,

or remember the sound of my own name."

-Bob Dylan, "Tomorrow Is A Long Time"

The other night, as I was driving home after one of those memorable and valuable late night conversations with good friends, I heard this song and these lyrics (performed more beautifully by Nickel Creek) struck me. Dylan is basically saying that he is so wrapped up in his "true love" that he is completely unaware of himself. The first line references Narcissus, a Greek mythological figure who fell in love with his own image reflecting off the water, could not stop staring at himself and eventually wasted away to death. Bobby D is saying that he is so in love with something other than himself that he can't even see his reflection, can't even remember the sound of his name, etc. In other words, true love causes us to be so wrapped up in something other than ourselves that we forget ourselves, not thinking about what we can get from our true love, but simply delighting in it.

What struck me was that I should identify with Dylan's description, not in terms of romantic feelings for a woman, but in the way view Christ. The truth is that I have rarely, if ever, felt this way about Jesus, who is more worthy to receive my praise than myself of any other creation (Rev. 4:11). Certain moments, when I have been acutely aware of his presence, I have lost all sense of self and worshipped him unaware of self, but has God not promised to be ever-present? (Ps. 46:1, Matt. 28:20, Jn. 14:16, Heb. 13:5) So, too often, I fail to live a life of Christ-consciousness. This always carries over to the way I treat others, for the Bible consistently teaches that it is impossible to love God and not love your neighbor (Is. 58:1-14, Matt. 25:31-46, Mk. 12:29-31).

Harvard Literature Professor Elaine Scarry wrote a book called On Beauty and Being Just, in which the thesis is that overwhelming beauty takes an individual away from himself and allows him to distribute his attention elsewhere, outside of himself. When we stop being narcissistic, stop staring at ourselves all the time, and start to realize that there is something out there much more beautiful, then we can live for something besides ourselves.

Tim Keller defines beauty as "a satisfying thing in itself, a delight in itself." Something is beautiful if it is the end, not the means to an end. For example, I might call a thick, juicy cut of steak beautiful, but what is really beautiful is the taste of it in my mouth and the feeling of it satisfying my stomach. A beautiful melody or landscape, on the other hand, doesn't give us anything. These things, and others, are simply beautiful in and of themselves. Would we truly have God at the top of the list of beautiful things? Would we even include God on that list? As C.S. Lewis once asked (and I paraphrase), "What if you died and went to a place where all the blessings of God were, where there was no pain, no sorrow, no death, but Jesus wasn't there?" Would you still want to go? Could you be happy without Jesus?

So many of us view Jesus based on what he gives us. Our end is the blessings of Jesus and that makes Jesus the means to our end. Don't get me wrong; it is natural and Biblical for a Christian to praise him for spiritual and material blessings, but we are not to seek these things first (Matt. 6:33). Many people talk about treasures in heaven, and the Bible talks about this as well (i.e. Lk. 18:22). What if the treasure it is referring to is Jesus himself? How many of us would be secretly disappointed? But he is to be our treasure, both in this life and the next (Matt. 13:44-5). We are to treasure and worship him for who he is, as revealed in Scripture (Ex. 3:14). As if his very being isn't enough to be worthy of worship, he became nothing and was slaughtered that we might have every spiritual blessing in him (Phil. 2:5-11, Rev. 5:9, Eph. 1:3). The crux of the Biblical revelation of his character is the cross, the moment at which all his attributes were exhibited at once; He is just and the justifier (Rom. 3:26).

May you and I be so consumed with his beauty that we forget ourselves and adore the Beautiful One, first with our hearts and following with our deeds!

It's Not About Us

The lie has been passed down from the beginning. The lie is, as Matt Chandler put it, that "my life is a story about me." Our natural, sinful, selfish tendency is to believe that in some way, shape or form.

The first chapter of Stephen Neill's History of Christian Missions illuminates the probable motives of the first-century Jewish leaders in a way I had never before considered. But we must first understand something I did not until fairly recently, that God's ideal for Israel was to tbe a light to the nations.

It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. (Isaiah 49:16)

But instead of seeking to be used by God for this purpose, most of the Jewish leaders in Christ's day were seeking to use God for their purposes. They believed the Messiah would come and conquer their oppressors, the Romans, and give them positions of honor and power (even the disciples believed this, consider James and John asking to sit on Christ's right and left). Two verses from the Old Testament that were very popular in this day and were used to justify this belief were as follows:

And many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:3)

In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you." (Zechariah 8:23)

As Christians, we should seek to understand the entire Bible in light of the cross (the gospel hermeneutic), and it doesn't take much imagination to see that these two verses are referring to the time of Jesus. But how would a first-century ruler of the Jews had viewed such verses? I imagine a pious, religious elite daydreaming of some Roman oppressor or Greek scoffer coming to him and pleading, "Now that your Messiah has conquered us, please teach me how to be more like yourself. You and your people were right all along, so I consent now to follow the law and do whatever it takes to become Jewish."

Stephen Neill says it better than I could: "The death of Jesus, and the resurrection which followed it, determined the whole future destiny of the people of God. Jesus alone, by his obedience to God to the uttermost, fulfilled the destiny of Israel...The purpose of God was now to go forward through a new Israel, called into being through faith in Jesus Christ, the chief characteristic of which was to be its willingness to die and to rise again with him. The day of the Gentiles had come. The door was still open to all Israelites who would accept and believe; but, for Jew and Gentile alike, the only entry now was through faith in Jesus Christ."

In other words, one of the things that was so offensive to the religious leaders of Jesus' time was the thought that the Messiah would come to put Jews and Gentiles on an even plain. They had assumed that the Messiah would raise their religious status, not (in their eyes) lower it. So, in the gospels, the religious leaders angrily fight against the Kingdom Jesus is proclaiming. In Acts and the Epistles (especially Galatians), we see that even those Jews who had accepted the resurrection as true still struggled with what was required of Gentiles to become part of the people of God. The disillusionment of the Jews is apparent when they finally realized Gentiles did not have to become Jewish as they were. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Gal. 3:28)

The disillusionment of the first century Jewish leaders was that it wasn't about them; it is about Christ. They were a chosen people, chosen to bring salvation (the Hebrew name for Jesus, Yeshua, is derived from the word salvation!) to all the nations of the world.

Lest I sound anti-Semitic, let me go back to the beginning: the lie that it's about us has been passed down from the beginning, and continues to be. We see this in history with the abuses of the church in the Middle Ages, asserting its own authority as opposed that of Christ. We see this lie played out in the historical tendency of Christians to want to reign over culture by means of national government. These tendencies sadly still persist today. In fact, there is perhaps no culture that has swallowed this lie more enthusiastically than our own. I will consider three ways, besides those just mentioned, that Christians today, specifically Western, Evangelical Christians (for, if anyone reads this, he/she will likely be such) have believed the lie that it is about them.

The error of the religious leaders is nothing more than a first-century prosperity gospel..."the Messiah will come to bring your best life now!" The prosperity gospel is not new, and Jesus did not come so that you could have power or glory or wealth at your disposal. He came that to himself he might reconcile all things (Col. 1:20). Seek to be used by God for his purposes and stop using God for yours. The ironic thing is that when we do "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness", we will be most fulfilled and blessed by God. But it is impossible to seek first the kingdom of God in order to get the blessings of God, for that would be to seek first the blessings of God.

We make it about us and not about Christ when we start to believe we are worthy or bettern than others due to our good works. A young preacher (I don't even know his name) said something several years ago that stuck with me..."God is not impressed by the sins you abstain from." I would add that God's not impressed by what you do either (see Isaiah 64:6). So often, the tendency is to compare our sins and good deeds to those of others and think that God is impressed. The reality is that God himself came to earth, was "made like his brothers (mankind) in every respect" (Heb. 2:17), and in every respect conquered where we failed. Next time you feel you are pretty righteous, compare yourself to that example. Then, with a broken spirit and a contrite heart (Ps 51:17), trust in the perfect life Christ lived on your behalf (2 Cor. 5:21).

The last way we have made American Evangelical Christianity about us and not Christ is by focusing on our role in salvation. The vast majority of self-identified Christians I talk to believe they are going to heaven, "because I...". If you are going to heaven, it is "because Jesus" died on the cross for your sins. What did you do? Nothing. You had faith, which Ephesians 2:8 explains is a gift from God. So many Christian youth center their theology on a few memorized phrases, all with the emphasis on what they did..."I made a decision to follow Christ, I accepted Christ, I prayed to receive Christ." I'm not saying these concepts aren't in the Bible; I'm saying the emphasis is in the wrong place, on us and not Christ, what John Piper calls "man-centered theology". When this is the emphasis for their salvation, it will naturally be the emphasis as they attempt to live out their faith. They will see their right standing before God based on what they have done or have not done.

When we start thinking it's about us and not about Christ, we risk missing the Kingdom of God altogether, as was the case for many of the Jewish leaders. The beautiful thing about the cross is that it covers all sins, should we truly trust in the one who bore it, including our own selfishness and self-righteousness, and changes our perspectives of who we are and who He is so to rid us of these evils.

What is the cure for all this self-absorption? Find something better, more valuable, than yourself. Tim Keller describes worship as "ascribing infinite value to something." In the quote from Stephen Neill earlier, he identifies the chief characteristic of faith as the "willingness to die and rise again with (Jesus)". We will only do these things when we realize that Christ is of infinite value! Read of him in God's Word, pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal him and to allow you to see him as he truly is! My prayer for you all is that you "may have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with the fullness of God." (Eph. 3:18-19) To comprehend his love, we need look no further than the cross.

Seeing Through The End

I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Revelation 21:2-5)

Not all great films include an element of surprise or a paradigm shift at the end, but some films are great for this reason. Yesterday, I watched a movie called The Illusionist that I would not own if not for its brilliant ending. Knowing the ending, I watched the film quite differently than the first time I saw it. This is also true of movies like The Book of Eli, or, more famously, The Sixth Sense and Fight Club. In these films, knowing the end not only changes the way you see the rest of the story the second time, but the way you interpret the rest of the story. You attribute different motivations and feelings to certain characters when you have a full knowledge of the story. In the Illusionist, for example, Eisenheim the Illusionist (the main character/Edward Norton) appears in the middle of the film to a first-time viewer to be a broken and desperate man due to the loss of his lover. However, one aware of the ending knows that Eisenheim is appearing a certain way as part of a masterfully woven plan.

As Christians, in faith we know how things end. We can’t predict the day or the hour, or the exact events leading up to it (those who spend a great deal of time trying to predict these things are very foolish and perhaps I will argue this in another post), but Scripture does show us the end of this world, and it is in the text above.

To be sure, God dwelling with man is the direct result the removal of sin at Calvary. Earlier in Revelation, this is made clear through the worship of Jesus: “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood your ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10).

The Bible must always be interpreted with the end in mind, and with an understanding of what secured the end, the cross. The Revelation 21 passage above should not be taken independently from the gospel, for it is part of the gospel. It is the consummation or culmination of the gospel! It is part of the glory for which Christ endured the cross.

Looking back at the movie, Eisenheim is asked by the chief inspector what he wants. His reply is, “to be with her.” This appears desperate and maniacal to a first-time watcher, but makes one who knows the ending think, “Why did I not get it before!?” And this is one reason Christ went to the cross, to be with her, his bride, the Church.

The Bible needs to be interpreted through this lens, and we need to keep in mind that the Bible is not merely some great, classical story. Revelation 21 is not merely the end of the Bible, but the reality that all who trust Christ will see with their own eyes. Thus we not only interpret the Bible through the lens of the entire gospel, but we interpret our lives the same way. When life is difficult and discouraging, we must have the end in full view. We have to believe the Bible that the end is more glorious because of our suffering (we certainly see this in the cross of Christ!).

The hard thing is that we can’t see how God will work all things together for our good (Rom. 8:28), but not seeing is no reason not to believe, for is faith not the “conviction of things not seen” (Heb 11:1)? The practice of faith in our daily lives is to see our daily circumstances through the lens of the gospel, including the end or consummation of the gospel. Only with this end in full view is it possible to rejoice in our sufferings (1 Pet. 4:13).

But the end is not the end. I have used the term "end" out of mere convenience. God coming to dwell with men is not the final end, but a new beginning. So Semisonic was correct in singing, “every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” What we see in Revelation 21 is the completion of that which began in Genesis 1:1, the first time God created. But for his recreation in Revelation 21, there will be no end. As C.S. Lewis closed the Chronicles of Narnia, "not all the books in the world could contain the stories which will come from that world." May you live every day for forever and with forever in full view.

Personal Mission Statement

I exist to know and make known the glory of God, to sacrifice myself for others in light of the understanding that I am chosen, loved and redeemed by the atoning work of Christ;

To love the Lord my God with all my

heart: to treasure Christ supremely; to love and be lead by his life-giving Spirit and commandments; to guard my heart from sexual thoughts and images

soul: to rest on the sufficiency of the cross; to boldly live the adventure for which God has called me; to firmly trust that God has a plan for my life and that he will work all things together for my good

mind: to diligently study first and foremost God’s holy Word so that I might be a well-informed servant-leader for the Kingdom; to guide others in Biblical doctrine that the Gospel might become a single passion in their lives; to always be reading and learning new things

strength: to be a warrior with the courage to fight for the well-being of those I love and for the oppressed and marginalized; to boldly proclaim the gospel everywhere I go in word and deed; to work as to the Lord in all things; to avoid wasting time watching TV and idly perusing the internet; to eat healthy at least 80% of the time and exercise at least 5 days a week

and to love my neighbor as myself: to be intentional in building relationships with those who don’t know the Lord out of compassion for them and a desire to spread his renown; to intentionally pursue a multi-generational church community, especially older men that they might provide wise counsel; to pursue strong friendships with current friends, seeking fun activities and deep conversation; to hold accountable my friends in love and to respond well when they do likewise; to keep in touch with old friends; to be a considerate and faithful listener; to never look down on those who do not believe, think, act or look like me, but to always consider others better than myself that the supremacy of Christ might be on display through me at all times in all places.