Gospel Reading - Second Tuesday of the Great Lent (St. Mark)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

As we walk in faith and observe the Great Lent, of which we are now in the second week, I would like to bring your thoughts to the Gospel Reading of the day, i.e. reading from the Gospel of St. Mark 4:21-34. This passage is basically about the various parables that had been said by Jesus and if you read the whole chapter, we would understand some of the most well known and most taught parables that Jesus had taught. I would mostly be looking at the two parables that are in verses 21-25 (The Lamp under the Basket) and verse 26-29 (The Parable of the Scattered Seed).

The Lamp Under the Basket - St. Mark 4:21-25

Before we understand the passage, it is important to understand the image and purpose of the lamp. A lamp is a source of light in darkness to avoid stumbling. The Jews also understood that the "light" as an expression of inner beauty, truth and the goodness of God. 

In His light we see light (Psalm 36:9)

His Word is a lamp that guides our steps (Psalm 119:105)

We as followers of Christ Jesus have the Eternal Light shining in our lives. And His light, not only illuminates the darkness in our lives, but it also fills us with spiritual light, joy and peace. Jesus used the example of the lamp to describe how His disciples are to live in the light of His truth and love. Just as natural light illumines the darkness and enables us to see visually, so the light of Christ shines in the hearts of the believers and enables us to see the heavenly reality of God's kingdom. 

In fact, our mission is to be the light-bearers of Christ so that others may see the truth of the gospel and be freed from the blindness of sin and deception. Jesus remarks that nothing can ever remain hidden or secret. We try to hide the light of Christ from others and it is like placing a lid on the light of Jesus that shines in our lives. If a lamp doesn't help people on how to find the correct path, i.e. the path to find God and how to live for Him, then what use is the light in our lives? Do not hide your lights by the baskets of complacency, resentment, embarrassment, stubbornness of heart, or disobedience. Let your light shine forth and let the people know the True God.

The Parable of the Scattered Seed - St. Mark 4:26-29

This parable is very unique to the Gospel of St. Mark, for this is not mentioned by any of the other Gospel writers. This parable reveals about the how the Word of God - the seed, produces fruit and how it grows. The growth produced by the Word is a mystery, for the sower can sow the seed and see it sprout and grow, but the growth in itself is beyond his comprehension, and even the seed grows by itself. The growth is also gradual, it does not occur all at once, but step by step, first the blade, then the head, then the full grain. But through such growth, the harvest comes eventually. So the Kingdom of God, growing by the virtue of the Word of God being planted, is similar to the amazing growth observed in the sowing of grain.

In our mission to be light-bearers of Christ, we must be like the sower in the parable, sowing the Word of God in the lives of all those around us. We should share the Word of God with all expecting and praying for a plentiful harvest. The harvest will not be sudden and over-night, but it will take time for the "seed" - The Word of God, to sprout in the lives of the hearers and take root. But just like a sower, we need to water the soil and keep on giving nutrients by encouraging them and not lose hope when the seed takes time to grow in their lives.

May the Lord Almighty bless you and keep you and enable you to be the light-bearers of Christ and sowers of the Word of God in the lives of many people around you.

Your brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin George

Gospel Reading - First Friday of the Great Lent (St. Matt. 5)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

All praise and glory to the Triune God. As we continue our walk during this Lenten period, I would like to reflect on a small portion of today's evening Gospel Reading from the Gospel of St. Matthew 5: 17-26. From this section, I would like to ponder on our Master's Voice from verses 21-26, which is on Anger.

Robert Jones, in his book Uprooting Anger, wrote "Anger is a universal problem, prevalent in every culture, experienced by every generation. No one is isolated from its presence or immune from its poison. It permeates each person and spoils our most intimate relationships. Anger is a given part of our fallen human fabric. Sadly this is true even in our Christian homes and churches."

Adding on to Robert Jones' observation about our Christian homes and churches that our anger is often directed toward those we should love most: our spouse, children, parents, or siblings in human families, and those who are true brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus in our church families. What is anger? We will mostly say, "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it, especially if it's directed toward me." We can generally define anger simply as a strong feeling of displeasure, and usually of antagonism. It is often followed by sinful emotions, words, and actions hurtful to those who are the objects of our anger.

Some people may justify their anger as righteous anger. They feel that they have a right to be angry, given a certain situation. How, then, can I know if my anger is righteous anger? First, righteous anger arises from an accurate perception of true evil - that is, as a violation of God's moral law. It focuses on God and His will, not on me and my will. Second, righteous anger is always self-controlled. It never causes one to lose his temper or retaliate in some vengeful way.

In facing up to our anger, we need to realize that no one else causes us to be angry. Someone else's words or actions may become the occasion of our anger, but the cause lies deep within us - usually our pride, or selfishness, or desire to control. We may become angry because someone has mistreated us in some way. A person gossips about us, and when we hear about it, we get angry. Why? It's likely because our reputation or our character has been questioned. Again the cause is our pride.

We get angry because we don't get our way. We frequently see this in children, but it is true of us who are adults too. We get angry as a response to someone else's anger too. 

These hypothetical situations are not intended to justify our actions. Clearly they are sinful. But we can choose how we will respond to the sinful actions of others towards us. Consider Apostle Peter's words to the slaves in the first-century churches, who often served under cruel and unjust masters. According to much present-day thinking they would be justified in their anger, but here are Peter's words to them:

Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God." (1 Peter 2:18-20).

St. Peter's instructions to slaves are a specific application of a broader scriptural principle: We are to respond to any unjust treatment as "mindful of God". To be mindful of God means to think of God's will and God's glory. How would God have me respond in this situation? How can I best glorify God by my response? Do I believe that this difficult situation or this unjust treatment is under the sovereign control of God and that in His infinite wisdom and goodness He is using these difficult circumstances to conform me more to the likeness of Christ? (see Romans 8:28; Hebrews 12:4-11).

I have no doubt that in tense situations and in the emotional heat of the moment, we are not going to go through a checklist of questions. But we can and should develop that habit of thinking this way. Oftentimes, my response to someone else's unjust action is sinful anger. But in the after moments of a difficult episode, we can choose to continue to hold on to our anger, or we can reflect on such questions as above and allow the Holy Spirit to dissolve our anger.

There might be a myriad of other circumstances or actions of other people that can tempt us to be angry. But they can never cause us to be angry. The cause always lies within our hearts, usually as a result of our pride or selfishness. It is safe to say that all of us get angry from time to time. So how do we handle our anger in a God-honoring way? First, we have to recognize and acknowledge our anger and the sinfulness of it. Then we need to ask ourselves why we became angry. Was it because of our pride or selfishness or some idol of the heart we are protecting? If so, we need to repent not only of our anger but also of our pride, selfishness and idolatry.

After having dealt with the expression of our anger through recognition and repentance, we need to change our attitude toward the person or persons whose words or actions triggered our anger. If we have expressed our anger outwardly, we also need to seek the forgiveness of the person we have wounded by our anger.

Do remember our Master's Voice in St. Matt. 5:23-24

"So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer you sacrifice to God."

May the love of the Father, grace of the Son and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be unto you all and guide you to fight the issues of anger you might face in your life.
Please do keep me in your prayers.

Your Brother in Christ Jesus
Jobin George 

Gospel Reading - First Thursday of the Great Lent (St.. Matt. 7)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

As we observe the Great Lent, I would like to focus on the Gospel Readings on the daily basis. Today, I am concentrating on the readings from evening portion, St. Matthew 7: 1-12. I would like to point out one lesson that Jesus teaches us, and that we mostly forget.

Judgementalism (v. 1-5)

Jesus teaches us that we are not to meant judge others, so that we might not be judged. But today, judgementalism is one of the most subtle sins that we practice, under the guise of being zealous for what is right. It's very obvious that within our conservative circles, there are a myriad of opinions on everything from theology to conduct to lifestyle and politics. Not only are there multiple opinions but we usually assume our opinion is correct. That's where our trouble with judgementalism begins. We equate our opinions with truth.

We are judgmental on the people dress when going to church. Most people would think "Didn't they have any reverence for God? Would they dress so casually if they were going to an audience with an important personality?". Only such thoughts are wrongs. There is nothing in the BIble that tells us what we ought to wear to church. I have had such thoughts in my heart.

Finally, I decided that reverence for God is not a matter of dress; it's a matter of the heart. Jesus said that true worshipers are those who worship the Father in spirit and truth (John 4:23). now its true that casual dress may reflect a casual attitude toward God, but I cannot discern that. Therefore, I should avoid ascribing an attitude of irreverence based purely on a person's dress.

Apostle Paul faced the problem of judgmentalism among the people in the church at Rome. One was vegetarianism vs. an "eat whatever you want" mentality. The second issue was a matter of observing sertain days as holy days. In Paul's words, "One person esteems one day as a\better than another, while another esteems all days alike." (Romans 14:5). Apparently, both sides of the parties were judgemental towards the other. Similarly, we today are judgemental towards contemporary music tunes in our churches against traditional music tunes. The same is true with the issue of temperance versus abstinence.

The point that I intend to make here is, it doesn't matter which side of an issue we are on. It is easy to become judgmental toward anyone whose opinions are different from ours. And then we hide our judgementalism under the cloak of Christian convictions.

Apostle Paul's response to the situation in Rome was, "Stop judging one another regardless of which position you take." And then he added, "Who are you to pass judgement on the servant of another. It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make Him stand" (Romans 14:4). Basically, Paul was saying, "Stop trying to play God toward your fellow believers in Christ. God is the Judge, not you."

That's what we do when we judge others whose preferences and practices are different from ours. We are arrogating ourselves a role God has reserved for Himself. Perhaps this is what Jesus had in mind when He taught in the above said passage.

What I have written to this point does not mean that we should never pass judgement on the practices and beliefs of others. When someone's lifestyle or conduct is clearly out of line with the Scriptures, then we are right to say that the person is sinning. There are practices clearly condemned in Scripture. For examples, look for St. Paul's description of the moral slide into utter depravity in Romans 1:24-32, or at his description of the "works of the flesh" (Galatians 5:19-21), or the characteristics of the "last days" (2 Tim. 3:1-5). These practices are clearly sinful and when we judge them as such, we are agreeing with the Word of God. It is the Bible that is judging, not ourselves.

Having said that, though, we can still sin even when we judge accordance with Scripture. We can sin if we judge from an attitude of self righteousness or if we judge harshly or with a spirit of censoriousness. We sin if we condemn the obviously flagrant sins of others without at the same time acknowledging that we ourselves are sinners before God.

During this blessed Lent, may the Lord Almighty help us to find our faults and help us in not judging others, without first judging ourselves.

Your Brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin George

3 Day Lent - The Disappearance of Sin

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

We are now observing the 3 Day Lent or also known as The Nineveh Lent. The Nineveh lent symbolifies the repentance of the people of the city of Nineveh and they coming back to God. As we come to the close of the first day of the lent, I would like to bring to your notice the mind boggling scenario of the disappearance of sin or the notion of it from our lives.

Author Peter Barnes, in an article titled "What! Me? A Sinner?" wrote,

In the twentieth century England, C. S. Lewis noted that, "The barrier I have met is the almost total absence from the minds of my audience of any sense of sin." And in 2001, New Testament scholar D. A. Carson commented that the most frustrating aspect of doing evangelism in universities is the fact that the students generally have no idea of sin. "They know how to sin well enough, but they have no idea of what constitutes sin."

In many of our cultures, we can see that the entire concept of sin has virtually disappeared and in most of our churches the notion of sin has been softened, to accommodate modern sensibilities.  Strong biblical words for sin have been excised from our vocabulary. People no longer commit adultery, instead they have an affair. Corporate executives do not steal, they commit fraud.

In many of the churches and conservative societies, the idea of sin has not disappeared, but in many instances, it has been deflected to those outside our circles who commit flagrant sins such as abortion, homosexuality, and murder, or the notorious white-collar crimes of high-level corporate executives. It's easy for us to condemn those obvious sins while virtually ignoring our own sins of gossip, pride, envy, bitterness, and lust, or even the lack of those gracious qualities that St. Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23).

Many a times, the attitude towards sin can be seen reflected in our prayers. Many of us appear to be concerned about the sins of the society than we are concerned of our own sins - sins committed by the saints, people sanctified by God, for God. Our gossip or unkind words about a brother or sister in Christ Jesus roll off our tongues without any awareness of wrong doing. We also harbor hurts over wrongs long past without any effort to forgive as God has forgiven us. We look down our religious noses at "sinners" in the society without any sense of a humble "there but for grace of God go I" spirit.

We are ready to cry out in anger and are incensed when something wrong is done in the society. But why do we not mourn over our selfishness, our critical spirit, our impatience, and our anger? We find it so easy to let off our sins from the hook by saying that our sins not as bad as the flagrant ones of the society. But God has not given us the authority to establish values for different sins. Instead, He says through the writing of James, "Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for (is guilty of) all of it" (James 2:10). That Scripture is difficult for us to understand because we think in terms of individual laws and their respective penalties. But God's law is seamless. The Bible speaks not of God's laws, as if many of them, but of God's law as a single whole. When a person commits murder, he breaks God's law. When a Christian lets corrupting speech (that is, speech which tends to tear down another person) come out of his mouth (see, Ephesians 4:29), he breaks God's law.

We all understand that some sins are more serious than others. I would rather be guilty of a lustful look than of adultery. Yet Jesus said that with that lustful look, I have actually committed adultery in my heart. I would rather be angry at someone than to murder that person. Yet Jesus said that whoever murders and whoever is angry with his brother are both liable to judgement (see Matthew 5:21-22). The truth is, all sin is serious because all sin is breaking of God's law.

The apostle John wrote, "Sin is lawlessness" (1 John 3:4). All sin, even sin that seems minor in our eyes, is lawlessness. It is not just breaking of a single command; it is a complete disregard for the law of God, a deliberate rejection of His moral will in favor of fulfilling one's own desires. The Bible states simply states that sin - all sin without distinction - is lawlessness.

In the Greek culture, sin originally meant to "miss the mark", that is, to miss the center of the target. Therefore, sin was considered a miscalculation or failure to achieve. There is some truth in that even today. A person, for example, when genuinely repentant over some sinful behavior and is earnestly seeking to overcome it but fails frequently. He wants to hit the bulls-eye every time, but he can't seem to pull it off. However, many a times it would seem that our sinful actions do not stem from a failure to achieve but from an inner urge to fulfill our own desires. As Apostle James wrote, "Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire: (James 1:14). We gossip or lust because of the sinful pleasure we get out of it. At that time, the lure of that momentary pleasure is stronger than our desire to please God.

Sin is sin. Even those sins that we tolerate in our lives are serious n God's eyes. Our religious pride, our critical attitudes, our unkind speech about others, our impatience and anger, even our anxiety (see Philippians 4:6); all of these are serious in the sight of God.

The apostle Paul, in stressing the need to seek justification by faith in Christ alone, quoted from the Old Testament, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them" (Galatians 3:10). That is the standard of obedience that is expected of us. St. Paul goes on to assure us that Christ has "redeemed us (that is, all who trust in Him as their redeemer) from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13). But the fact still remains that the seemingly minor sins we tolerate in our lives do indeed deserve the curse of God.

Yes, the whole idea of sin may have disappeared from our cultures. It may have softened in many of our churches so as not to make the audiences uncomfortable. Also, sad to say this, the concept of sin among many Christians have been redefined to cover only the obviously gross sins of our society. The result is that for many morally upright believers, the awareness of personal sin has effectively disappeared from their consciences. But it has not disappeared from the sight of God. Rather, all sin, both the respectable sins which are often tolerated and the flagrant sins of the society, are a disregard for the law of God and are reprehensible in His sight. Both deserve the curse of God.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, during this period of the 3 day lent season, let us remember and recollect all of the sins that we have committed against God, for no sin is worthy to be placed before God. Let us become clear in our consciences so that we can stand upright in the presence of God. 

May the Lord Almighty bless you and keep you in all your ways.

Your Brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin George

P.S. The above portion has been taken from the book "Respectable Sins" by Jerry Bridges

Gospel Reading for Feb 2nd - St. Luke 2:22:40

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

Today we have crossed 1 month into the New Year and today we are celebrating the dedication of baby Jesus to the Temple of God in Jerusalem. Today's Gospel reading is from the book of Luke 2:22-40. I would like to bring forth a few points that has been going around in my head on understanding this portion of the Gospel.

In the Old Testamental laws that were provided by God Almighty, in the book of Leviticus (Chapter 12) whenever a woman bears child, she would be unclean to enter the house of God and on the eighth day, the male child would undergo circumcision. And after forty days the mother and the child are declared to clean to come and enter the temple of God. In the Orthodox tradition, the mother and the child are specially blessed on the fortieth day. As per the old laws, the family had to offer an unblemished lamb to be offered to God. If the mother is not able to bring an unblemished lamb, then she brings a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. 

In the current scenario, the baby is brought and dedicated to God Almighty during the baptism of the infant. The baptism holds two meanings:

1. The baby is dedicated to God, who is the giver of all life. We all are in that sense dedicated to God on our baptism and we are to meant to be His instruments in this world. 

2. Through baptism, we are bought into the Christian fellowship, so that our faith in Jesus Christ might develop such that we are dead to the pleasures of this world and are made new creation in the image of God. 

Through baptism, we are brought into the fold of believers who will help us to realize our shortfalls and help us to develop our faith in Jesus such that we lose our sinful selves and we are called "to be saints" (1 Corinthians 1:2). First of all, who is a saint? We normally describe a person as a saint because of his unusually Godly character. We have given the title of saints to people who had a Godly character in them and who were close to God. But I found it very astounding that St. Paul addresses the Corinthian church as people who are set apart to be saints. Now I will tell you the reason why.

The Corinthian church, if you look at them from today's point of view, they had many many faults in them. They were really messed up, both theologically and morally. They were proud and fractious; they tolerated gross immorality, sued each other in court, flaunted their freedom in Christ, abused the observance of the Lord's Supper, misunderstood the purpose of spiritual gifts, and were confused about the future resurrection of believers. Yet when writing to them, Paul addresses them as "saints" (2 Corinthian 1:1) or as those "called to be saints" (1 Corinthians 1:2). I clearly did not understand why Paul of all people would address the people of Corinth as saints in such a situation. But as I read his letters to the other churches, I found that this form of address was a favorite of Paul's address and reference to the believers (for example, Romans 1:7; 16:15; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; Philippians 1:1; 4:21-22 and Colossians 1:2). 

The answer to this lies in the meaning of the word as it is used in the Bible. The Greek word for saint is hagios, and it refers not to one's character but to a state of being. Its literal meaning is "one who is separated unto God." In this sense, every believer - even the most ordinary, and the most immature - is a saint. The actual wording of St. Paul's address in 1 Corinthians is to "those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints" (1:2). Hence a saint is simply someone who is separated for God. Every true believer, through his/her baptism has been separated or set apart by God for God. Christ Himself through His death on the cross and gave Himself for us, redeemed us from all lawlessness to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works (comparing Titus 2:14 and 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Thus through our dedication to God through baptism, every new believer has been set apart by God, separated unto God to be transformed into the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ. In this sense, every believer is a saint - a person separated from his old sinful way of life and set apart by God to increasingly glorify God as his life is transformed.

In the biblical sense of the term, sainthood is not a status of achievement and character, but a sense of being - an entirely new condition of life brought about by the Spirit of God. We don't become saints by our actions. We are made saints by the immediate supernatural action of the Holy Spirit alone who works this change deep within our inner being so that we do, in fact, become new creations in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). This change of state is described prophetically in Ezekiel 36:26: "I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."

It would have been nice to end the story here, because above paragraphs might suggest a saint is someone who no longer sins. But that is not true. If we are rather honest to ourselves, we know that nearly every waking hour we sin in thought, word and deed. Even our best deeds are stained with impure motives and imperfect performance. Why is there a disconnect between what god has seemingly promised and what we experience in our daily lives? The answer to this can be found in Galatians 5:17, which says, "The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep from doing the things you want to do." This guerrilla warfare between the flesh and the Spirit described in Galatians 5:17 is fought daily in the hearts of every Christian. So Paul begins his first letter to the Corinthian church by addressing them as "those sanctified (set apart by God) in Christ Jesus, called to be saints (set-apart-ones)". Then he spends the remainder of his letter vigorously exhorting them to act  like saints. That is, be in your behavior what you are in your state of being. So although the word saint basically describes our new state of being as people separated unto God, it carries with it the idea of responsibility to live as saints in our daily lives.

So in the future, remind yourself when we gossip or become impatient, or get angry, that we are to conduct ourselves as saints because we are a people who are set apart by God for God, to His wish in this land that He has provided us to till and toil.

May the grace of our Almighty Father, and love of His Son Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all during this week and in all the days to come. 

My humble request is to keep this sinful servant in your prayers.

Your views and comments are always welcome and you may please mail them to jobin.george 2012@gmail.com

Your brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin George

Christ and the Bible - Conclusion

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

Before reading this conclusion, I would request you all to first please spend some time to read the prior sessions (Part I, Part II, Part III & Part IV). Now to sum up, we believe the Scriptures because of Christ. He endorsed the Old Testament, and he made provision for the writing of the New Testament by giving to the apostles His authority. We therefore receive the Bible from the hand of Jesus Christ. It is He who has invested it with His own authority.And since we are determined to submit to Him, we are determined to submit to it. Our doctrine of Scripture is bound up with our loyalty to Jesus Christ. If he is our Teacher and our Lord, we have no liberty to disagree with Him. Our view of Scripture must be Him.

At this point some people raise an understandable objection. "The Scriptures bear witness to Christ and Christ bears witness to the Scriptures," they say, accurately summarizing what we have been studying. "But surely," they continue, "this reciprocal testimony, each bearing witness to the other, is a circular argument? Does it not assume the very truth you are wanting to prove? That is, in order to demonstrate the inspiration of the Scripture you appeal to the teaching of Jesus, but you believe the teaching of Jesus only because of the inspired Scriptures. Isn't that a circular argument, and therefore invalid?" This is an important objection to face. But actually our argument has been misstated, for it is linear and not circular reasoning.

Let me put it in this way: When we first listen to the biblical witness to Christ, we read our New Testament with no preconceived doctrine of inspiration. We simply accept it as a collection of first-century historical documents, which indeed it is. Through this historical testimony, however, quite apart from any theory of biblical inspiration, the Holy Spirit brings us to faith in Jesus. Then this Jesus, in whom we have come to believe, sends us back to the Bible and gives us in His teaching a doctrine of Scripture which we did not have when we started our reading. For now He tells us that His historical testimony is also divine testimony, and that through the human agency of prophets and apostles His Father is bearing witness to Him.

Whenever you read the Bible, please do remember its major purpose. Scripture is the Father's testimony to the Son. It points to Him. It says to us, "Go to Him in order to find life - abundant life - in Him." Therefore any preoccupation with the biblical text which does not lead to a stronger commitment to Jesus Christ, in faith, love, worship and obedience, is seriously perverted. It brings us under the rebuke of Jesus. "You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me [to whom they bear witness] that you may have life."

Scripture, as Luther used to say, is the manger or cradle in which the infant Jesus lies. Don't let us inspect the cradle and forget to worship the Baby. Scripture, we might say, is the star which still leads wise people to Jesus. Don't let us allow our astronomical curiosity to so preoccupy us that we miss the house to which it is leading, and within it the Christ-child Himself. Or, we might say, Scripture is the box in which the jewel of Jesus Christ is displayed. Don't let us admire the box and overlook the jewel.

Dr. Christopher Chavasse, formerly Bishop of Rochester, once put the matter admirably. He said:

The Bible is the portrait of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospels are the Figure itself in the portrait. The Old Testament is the background leading up to the divine Figure pointing towards it and absolutely necessary to the composition as a whole. The Epistles serve as the dress and accoutrements of the Figure, explaining and describing it. Then while by our Bible reading we study the portrait as a great whole, the miracle happens, the Figure comes to life, and stepping down from the canvas of the written word the everlasting Christ of the Emmaus story becomes Himself our Bible teacher, to interpret to us in all the Scriptures the thing concerning Himself.

It is not enough to possess a Bible, to read the Bible, love the Bible, study the Bible, know the Bible. We need to ask ourselves, Is the Christ of the Bible the center of our lives? If not, all our Bible reading has been futile, for this is the end to which the Bible is intended to be the means.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, some of you believe that with all my previous writings I am leaning towards the Sola Scriptura theory, but I would say otherwise. The Bible as a book came to be formed in the 3rd century and it was widely made available to the lay people after the typewriter was invented. My meaning for the writings are that the prophets and the apostles wrote the Word of God through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and the church believes that the Word initially was passed on through the word of mouth and writings. But now since we do have a written Bible in our hands, it should not be kept n the closet, but it should be taken out daily and the Word of God should speak to you and you should make it a point to understand it.

Hope you enjoy reading this post and I await more responses from all my readers.

Your Brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin George

P.S. The Bible - John R. W. Stott

Christ and the Bible - Part IV

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

First and foremost, wishing you a blessed and a happy new year to all of you. I really would like to apologize to be out of the blogs for such a long time. I was facing a issue called writer's block. I really would like to continue with the blogs where I had left off. But most importantly, I would like to thanks each and everyone of you for keeping me in your prayers. Your prayers are most needed for me to continue writing.

Now coming back to where I had left off in the last portion, i.e. Part III (Please click on the word to go to the relevant post to read in entirety) I was saying about how Jesus bears witness to the Old Testament.We saw how Jesus endorsed the Old Testament scriptures. he reverently submitted to the Old Testament writings, for He was submitting to His Father's Word. He also made the Old Testament His ground for appeal in all his arguments with the religious teachers of His day. Through this we, who look towards Jesus as his Teacher and Lord should have a lower view of the Old Testament, and should also follow the Old Testament teachings. His view of the Scripture must become ours. Since He believed Scripture, so must we. Since He obeyed Scripture, so must we.

2. Jesus made provision for the writing of the New Testament. Just as God called the prophets in the Old Testament to record and interpret what He was doing and then sent them to teach the children of Israel, so Jesus called the apostles to record and interpret what He was doing and saying, and then He sent them to teach the church and, indeed, the world. This is the meaning of the word apostolos, a person "sent" on a mission with a message.

This parallel between the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles was deliberate. Jesus chose twelve in order that they might be with him - to hear His words, see His works, and then bear witness out of what they had seen and heard (compare Mk. 3:14; Jn. 15:27). Next He promised them the Holy Spirit in order to remind them his teaching and to supplement it, leading them to all the truth (Jn. 14:25-26; 16:12-13). This explains why Jesus could then say to the apostles, "He who listens to you listens to me; he who receives you receives me; he who rejects you rejects me" (Mt. 10:40; Lk. 10:16; Jn. 13:20). In other words, He invested them with His authority so that people's attitude to their teaching would mirror their attitude to His. Later Jesus added Paul and maybe couple others to the apostolic band, investing them with the same apostolic authority.

The apostles themselves recognized the unique authority they had been given as the teachers of the church. They did not hesitate on occasion to put themselves o a par with the Old Testament prophets, since they too were bearers of the Word of God (1 Thess. 2:13). They spoke and wrote in the name and with the authority of Jesus Christ. They issues commandments and expected obedience (e.g. 2 Thess. 3). They even gave instructions that their letters should be read in the public assembly when Christians were gathered together for worship, thus placing them alongside the Old Testament Scriptures (see Col. 4:16; 1 Thess. 5:27). This is the origin of the practice, which continues to this day, of having an Old Testament and a New Testament lesson read in the church.

A striking example of Paul's self-conscious apostolic authority occurs in his letter to the Galatians. He had climbed over the Taurus mountains on to the Galatian plateau to visit them, and he had arrived a sick man. He mentions some disfigurement, which had perhaps affected his eyesight (Gal. 4:13-15), and goes on to say; "You did no scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus" (v. 14). Not only had they welcomed him as God's "angel", or messenger, but they had actually listened to him as if he were Jesus Christ himself. Notice that he does not rebuke them for this. He does not say, "What on earth were you thinking about, that you should have given me the deference that you would give to Christ?" No, he applauds them for thee way they had treated him. It was not merely Christian courtesy which had motivated them to welcome a stranger. It was more than that. They had recognized him as a divine messenger, an apostle, who had come to them in the name and with the authority of Christ. So they had received him as if he were Christ.

Not only did the apostles understand the teaching authority they had been given, but the early church understood it also. As soon as all the apostles had died, church leaders knew they had moved into a new post-apostolic era. There was now no longer anybody in the church with the authority of a Paul or a Peter or a John. Bishop Ignatius of Antioch is perhaps the earliest clear example of this he dies about A.D. 110, which was very soon after John, the last surviving apostle had died. On his way to Rome to be executed, Ignatius wrote a number of letters to the Ephesians, the Romans, the Trallians and others. Several times in these he wrote: "I do not, like Peter or Paul, issue with commands. For I am not an apostle, but a condemned man." Now Ignatius was a bishop in the church. He is, in fact, one of the earliest witnesses to the rise of the episcopate. But, although he was a bishop, he knew he was not an apostle, and he therefore did not have an apostle's authority.

The early church clearly understood this difference. When the time came to fix the New Testament canon in the third century A.D., the test of canonicity was apostolicity. The essential questions to be asked of a disputed book were these:

Had it been written by an apostle?

If not, did it come from the circle of the apostles?

Did it contain the teaching of the apostles?

Did it have the imprimatur of the apostles? If in one of these ways it could be shown to be apostolic, then it was admitted into the canon of the New Testament Scripture.

It is extremely important to recover today this understanding of the unique authority of Christ's apostles. For there are no apostles in the contemporary church. To be sure, there are missionaries and church leaders of different kinds who may be described as having an apostolic ministry. But there are no apostles like the Twelve and Paul who were eyewitnesses of the risen Lord (Acts 1:21-26; 1 Cor. 9:1; 15:8-10) and who had received a special commission and inspiration from Him. We have no right, therefore, to dismiss their teaching as if it were merely their own opinion. They were not speaking or writing in their own names, but in Christ's.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, I thank you deeply for reading my posts. I would really love to know your thoughts and views on the same. Please be free to reach me on the below email address. May the love of God, the Father, the grace of Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forever more. In the next session, I intend to conclude the series on Christ and the Bible.

P.S. The above post has been taken from the book "The Bible" - John R. W. Stott

Your brother in Jesus 

Jobin George

jobin.george2012@gmail.com

Christ and the Bible - Part III

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

In the previous two sessions, Part I and Part II (please click on the links to read in depth on the said parts) of the Christ and the Bible series, we understood how the Scriptures bear witness to Jesus Christ. Jesus did not rely on his own testimonies about himself to prove who He is, rather He showed what the Scriptures talked about him. Neither did he rely on the testimony of any mere human being, not even of John the Baptist, who is a fore-bearer of Jesus. Jesus always taught that Old Testament Scripture was God's Word bearing witness to him. We also learnt that the Bible is God's picture of Jesus. It bears witness to him. We also see that the Old Testament sacrifices foreshadow the perfect sacrifice for sin that was made once and for all upon the cross, by Jesus for the redemption off our sins.

Christ Bears Witness to the Scriptures

In declaring that the Scriptures bear witness to him, Jesus is himself bearing witness to them in turn. When he spoke of the testimony of John the Baptist, he referred to it as a human testimony (John 5:33-35) and added that the testimony which attested him was "not... from man". The testimony he had was greater. It was his Father's testimony through his works (v. 36) and his word (v.38). Here then is Jesus' plain statement that the Old Testament Scriptures are his Father's "word", and that this biblical testimony was not human but divine.

This too was Jesus' consistent teaching. In fact, the major reason why we should desire to submit to the authority of the Bible is that Jesus Christ authenticated it as possessing the authority of God.  (Apart from also submitting to the Holy Traditions of the Orthodox Church. Both play an equal role in the life and teachings of an Orthodox believer). If we are to understand this point, then we need to distinguish between the Old and the New Testaments. The Bible, of course, comprises them both; but Jesus was born, and lived, and died in the middle, between them. As a consequence, the way in which he authenticated one portion is different from the way in which he authenticated the other.

He looked back to the the old Testament, he looked on to the New Testament, but he authenticated them both.

1. Jesus endorsed the Old Testament. He not only described the Scriptures as his Father's "word" and "witness," as we have seen earlier; he also said that "scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount he declared, "Think not that I have come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished" (Matthew 5:17-18).

Jesus' personal attitude toward the Old Testament Scriptures was one of reverent submission, for he believed that in submitting to the written Word, he was submitting to his Father's Word. Since he believed in its divine origin, he interpreted his own messianic mission in the light of its prophetic testimony and added that certain things must come to pass because the Scripture must be fulfilled. Further, Jesus obeyed the moral injunctions of the Old Testament, so that in the temptations in the Judean wilderness he commanded the devil to leave him alone of what stood written in the Scripture. However subtle Satan's insinuations might be, Jesus was prepared neither to listen nor to negotiate. He was determined to obey God, not the devil, and what stood written in Scripture settled the issue for him.

Jesus also made the Scripture his ground of appeal in all his arguments with the religious leaders of his day. He was often engaged in controversy, and on every occasion it was to the Scriptures that he appealed. He criticized the Pharisees for adding their traditions to the Scriptures; he criticized the Sadducees for subtracting the supernatural (the resurrection) from the Scriptures. Thus Jesus exalted the Scriptures as his Father's Word which was to be both believed and obeyed. He permitted no deviation from it, either by addition or by subtraction.

Jesus declared, of course, that with him the time of fulfillment had come (see Mark 1:14-15) and that therefore the era of anticipation was over. This meant, as his followers soon recognized, that Gentiles were to be admitted to God's kingdom on equal terms with the Jews, and that the Jewish ceremonial system had been rendered obsolete, including its dietary laws (Mark 7:19) and above all its blood sacrifices. But there is no example in the Gospels of Jesus' disagreeing with the doctrinal or ethical teaching of the Old Testament. On the contrary, he endorsed it. What he contradicted was the scribal misinterpretations and distortions of the Old Testament. This was his point in the Sermon on the Mount, in which six times he said in effect, "you have heard this, but I tell you something different." What they had heard were the so-called traditions of the elders. It was these which he was criticizing; it was not the teaching of Moses in the law. For what stood written in the Scripture he received as his Father's Word.

If this is so, and the evidence is overwhelming, we have to add that the disciple is not above his teacher. It is inconceivable that a Christian who looks to Jesus as his Teacher and Lord should have a lower view of the Old Testament than he did. What is the sense in calling Jesus "Teacher" and "Lord," and then disagreeing with him? We have no liberty to disagree with him. His view of Scripture must become ours. Since he believed Scriptures, so must we.He emphatically endorsed its authority.

Dear brethren, with this we have now seen why we must still place importance to the Old Testament Scriptures. In the next session, we will see how Jesus made provision for the writing of the New Testament.

May the Lord Almighty bless you all and keep you in all your ways.

Your Brother in Christ Jesus

Jobin George

P.S. The above writing has been taken from the book "The Bible" by John R. W. Stott

Christ and the Bible - Part II

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

Glory & Praise to the Triune God in the Highest. In the previous session, Part 1, we learned that the Old Testament Scriptures bear witness to Jesus Christ. Also from the beginning to the end of His ministry Jesus declared that the whole prophetic testimony of the Old Testament, with all its rich diversity, converged upon him.

But Jesus' Jewish contemporaries missed this testimony. They were very diligent students of the Old Testament. They spent hours and hours in the most meticulous examination of the minutiae of the Old Testament Scripture. They used to count the number of words, even the number of letters, in every book of the Bible. They knew they had been entrusted with the oracles of God (Rom. 3:2). They somehow thought that an accumulation of detailed biblical knowledge would bring them into the right relationship with God. What an anomalous thing that was, to think that the Scriptures themselves could give eternal life! The Scriptures point to Christ as the Lifegiver and urge their readers to go to HIM for life. But instead of going to Christ to find life, they imagined that they could find life in the Scripture itself. It is somewhat like getting a prescription from the doctor and then swallowing the prescription instead of getting and taking the medicine.

Some of us make the same mistake. We have an almost superstitious attitude to Bible reading, as if it had some magical efficacy. But there is no magic in the Bible or in the mechanical reading of the Bible. The written Word points us to the Living Word and says to us, "Go to Jesus." If we do not go to Jesus to whom it points, we miss the whole purpose of Bible reading.

As Christians, we are not meant to 'worshipers of the Bible.' We should not worship the Bible; but worship the Christ of the Bible. We should not love the Bible for the book it is. But we love it only because we love Him of whom it speaks.

This is the main key to the understanding of Scriptures. The Bible is God's picture of Jesus. It bears witness to him. So whenever we are reading the Bible, we must look for Christ. For example, the Old Testament Law is our "schoolmaster" to bring us to Christ (Gal. 3:24). Because it condemns us for our disobedience, it makes Christ indispensable to us. It drives us to Him through whom alone we may find forgiveness.

Next, the Old Testament sacrifices foreshadow that perfect sacrifice for sin made once and for all upon the cross, the sacrifice of Christ for our redemption. Another example is the teaching of the Old Testament prophets who foretell then coming of the Messiah.

When we move into the New Testament, Jesus Christ comes yet more clearly into focus. The Gospels are full of Him. They speak of His birth and His public ministry, of His words and works, of His death and resurrection, and of His ascension and gift of the Holy Spirit. The books of Acts tells us what Jesus continued to do and teach through the apostles whom He has chosen and commissioned. The letters of the apostles set forth the glory of Jesus in his divine-human person and his saving work. When we come to the last book of the Bible, the Revelation, it too is full of Christ. For there we see him patrolling the churches on earth, sharing God's throne in Heaven, riding forth on a white horse conquering and coming in power and glory.

The old writers used to say that, just as in England every footpath and every country lane, linking on to others, will ultimately lead you to London, so every verse and every paragraph in the Bible, linking on to others, will ultimately lead you to Christ. The Scriptures bear witness to Him. That is the first truth which is very plainly taught in our text.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, we now come to a close on how the Bible bears witness to Jesus. In the next session, let us try to understand on how does Jesus bears witness to the Scriptures.

Your Brother in Jesus

Jobin

Christ & the Bible - Part 1

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus

In the previous series "The Bible", we considered the origin of the Scripture, where it came from- the great subject of revelation. Now we shall be thinking not of is origin but of its purpose; we will be asking not where it came from, but for what has it been given?

Our text is John 5: 39-40. Jesus, speaking to his Jewish contemporaries, says, "You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life."

From these words of Jesus we learn two profound and complementary truths about Christ and the Bible...

The Scriptures Bear Witness to Christ

Jesus Himself says very plainly, "It is they that bear witness to me" (v. 39). The major function of the Scripture is to bear witness to Christ.

Now the context in which this text is embedded is concerned with testimony to Christ. What testimony can validate the claims of Jesus of Nazareth? He Himself tells us. To begin with, He does not rely on His own testimony to Himself, as is clear from verse 31: "If I bear witness to myself, my testimony is not true." Jesus is not suggesting that He is telling lies about Himself. Indeed he later rebuts a criticism of the Pharisees by insisting that His testimony to Himself is true (John 8:14). His point here is that self testimony is inadequate; there would be something suspicious about it is the only testimony he had came from him alone. no, "there is another who bears witness to me," He says (v. 32).

So the testimony He relies upon is not his own testimony. Nor is it human testimony, even the testimony of that outstanding witness John the Baptist. "You sent  to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony which i receive is from man" (v. 33-34). So then, says Jesus, it isn't from me and it isn't from human beings. of course, John was "a burning and shining lamp" (v.35), and people had been willing "to rejoice for a while in His light." But the testimony that Jesus claimed was greater. It was greater than His own testimony to Himself, and greater than th testimony of any human being, even of John. It was the testimony of His Father. "The Father who sent me has himself borne witness to me" (v. 37). Moreover, the Father's testimony to the Son took two forms. First, it was given through the mighty works, the miracles, which the Father enabled Him to do (v. 36). But secondly, and more directly still, it was given through the Scriptures, which are the Father's testimony to the Son. Verses 36-39 makes this plain:

The testimony which i have is greater than that of john; for the works which the Father has granted me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear me witness that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness to me. His voice you have never heard, His form you have never seen; and you do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He has sent. You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me.

It was the consistent teaching of Jesus that old Testament Scripture was God's Word bearing witness to him. He said, for example, "Abraham rejoiced... to see my day" (John 8:56). Or in John 5:46 he says, "Moses... wrote of me." Again, 'the scriptures... bear witness to me" (v. 39). At the beginning of His ministry, when He went to worship in the synagogue at Nazareth, He read from Isaiah 61 about the Messiah's mission and message of liberation, and He added: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:21). In other words, "If you want to know whom the prophet was writing about, he was writing about me." Jesus continued to say this kind of thing throughout His ministry. Even after the resurrection He has not changed His mind, for "he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself" (Luke 24:27). thus from beginning to the end of his ministry, Jesus declared that the whole prophetic testimony of the Old Testament, in all its rich diversity, converged upon him: "The Scriptures... bear witness to me."

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus, we now understood that the Old Testament speaks about Jesus and his ministry from many years. In the next session, we will try and understand more about Jesus and what the Bible says about him.

May the Lord Almighty bless you and keep you in all your ways.

Your Brother in Christ

Jobin