Mindful

January 9, 2024

January 8, 2024

Read Genesis 8, Psalm 8, John 8

What are some things that you will never forget? Depending on how old you are, you might recall some of the details surrounding; the moon landing, when JFK died, when Elvis died, where you were when the challenger space shuttle exploded, the 9/11 attack, when Michael Jackson passed away, when a family member got married and on and on. These were big events in your life that made an impact on your mind.  On a side note, many skeptics will balk at the idea of the gospels being written down years or decades after Jesus had died and risen from the dead, but we must remember that Jesus’ resurrection was a huge event like many of the ones listed above. You might not remember what you had for breakfast 20 years ago, but you will remember the significant events that impacted your life.

Genesis 8 starts out, “But God remembered Noah” (and all the animals too). We are not talking about a God with amnesia here. This phrase is an anthropomorphic (places a human-like character trait on an object or something not human) phrase that shows that God cares and has compassion for Noah and the animals. God is the creator of the universe and everything in it. He could have hit the reset button, but he didn’t. He chooses to save that which He has compassion for. Over a year passes and the ark finally comes to rest on the mountains. The Lord dries up the waters and tells Noah he can leave the ark safely. The first thing Noah does is to offer and sacrifice to God for His protection. When we come to appreciate and love God for what He has done for us, we should desire to thank Him or give Him praise.

In Psalm 8 we have a similar theme. David gives praise to God, “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” v. 1, David is in awe of who God is and for His interest in His creation. He acknowledges that God is the creator of the “moon and stars” v. 3. Yet in verses 4-5 he sees the personal nature of God, “what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? 5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.”

In John 8 we read the story of the woman caught in adultery. Most bibles have a note in them telling you that the earliest manuscripts do not contain John 7:53-8:11. My opinion is that it was not in the original manuscripts but was likely a scribal addition later when documents were being copied. I personal believe this interaction between Jesus and the women took place and was later added in from other sources or the oral tradition. Nothing in the 12 verses seems out of place or “unlike Jesus” from the other Scriptures. Jesus craftily keep the Law of Moses and single handedly dismissed the woman’s accusers. Jesus was mindful of this sinful woman and showed her compassion in her time of need.

The majority of John 8 is a dialog between Jesus and the Pharisees. It is started by Jesus’ statement, “I am the light of the world.” There are seven “I am” statements in the gospel of John. Jesus and the Pharisees hold a discussion over the authority to do and say the things that Jesus does. Then the conversation turns over to fathers. Jesus claims that God is His Father, the Pharisees want to name Abraham as their father, but Jesus disagrees. “’If you were Abraham’s children, said Jesus, ‘then you would do the things Abraham did. 40 As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things’” vv.39-40. The Pharisees object that they are not illegitimate children and Jesus agrees with them here, but plot twist, Jesus tells them “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire” v. 44.

 In the final section of John 8, the pharisees get mad and start name-calling Jesus. That’s usually what happens in an argument when one side is losing or they don’t have their facts straight, they resort to ad-hominem attacks (a.k.a. name calling). Christians are not exempt from this either. We need to study and know what and why we believe least we get embarrassed and start it too. In John 8:58 Jesus makes one of the most pivotable statements in all the Gospels. The confused pharisees think Jesus claims to be alive during the time of Abraham, He was just not like they think. They question Him on this and Jesus replies with a quote from Exodus 3. When Moses asks God in the burning bush what His name is, God responds with “I AM WHO I AM” v. 14.  Jesus tells the pharisees, “before Abraham was born, I am!” v. 58. You might say, well that’s not really saying He is God, but to the pharisees of the day they knew exactly what Jesus meant.  We can tell by their reaction, they picked up stones to stone him. If someone were to commit the sin of blasphemy the punishment was death by stoning. We will see even more clearing from another interaction with Jesus and the pharisees in John 10 that this is what was going on.

What else do you see in these chapters? What words, phrases, or themes stick out to you? Do you understand just have mindful that God is toward you just like he was with Noah, David, and the woman caught in adultery? Add your thoughts and comments below.  

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Posted by John Weldon

Liar, Lunatic, or Lord

April 6, 2012

It’s Good Friday, and I figured it would be good to pull out a little C.S. Lewis.  The Liar, Lunatic, or Lord proof is one of C.S. Lewis’ most famous use of reason and the law of excluded middle.  The law of excluded middle is often called the either/or law.  I will borrow an example from Ravi Zacharias to explain the law of either/or.  Imagine my wife and I are taking a walk down the street together and another couple that knows us walks up to us and makes the statement “Congratulations, I hear you are pregnant.”  At the same time my wife says “yes” and I say “no.”  The other couple stares in confusion and shock, wondering what is going on.  My wife cannot be both pregnant and not pregnant at the same time.   There is an explanation for the different answers.  Perhaps my wife hasn’t told me yet, perhaps we agreed not to tell anyone until after a certain time has passed, perhaps there might be new trouble in our marriage!!  But we know that she cannot be both pregnant and not pregnant at the same time.  One of us is wrong.

Jesus is the center of Christianity, even many other religions claim some part of Jesus either calling him a prophet, a good moral person.  Jesus made some bold claims as he taught the people, the biggest Jesus made was the claim that He was God.   Several places in the scriptures Jesus claimed to be God some of the more popular scriptures are. John 8:58, John 10:30-33, John 1:1,14.  There are many other statements and examples that we can pull from scripture, but not at this time. Jesus forgave sins, allowed Himself to be worshiped, among many other clues from other people.

Using the Law of excluded middle we can see how Jesus claim to be God was really the only one that makes sense.  You can see from the chart below of how it flows. out with the either/or law.

If He was a liar consider the following results:

1. He deceived people on purpose
2. He was a terrible blasphemer (Claim of God)
3. He was a hypocrite (Told others to tell truth & He lied)
4. He evil because He claimed to forgive sins
5. His followers trusted Him for eternal destiny
6. He was a fool, for He died for His lies.
7. He is not a great moral teacher because of this list.

Of all the results above, I find the hardest to believe that Jesus was lying and He went to His own dead on a painful cross for nothing.  I don’t know anyone who will die for a lie THAT THEY KNOW is false.  It doesn’t make sense.  However, what if Jesus just thought He was God, He believed it, and perhaps was crazy or a lunatic.

If He was a lunatic consider the following:

1. There is no evidence of Jesus being abnormal or imbalanced.  A lunatic is typically only into themselves and doesn’t care about others around themselves.
2. Unlike a madman, Jesus always demonstrated the greatest composure under pressure.  For example when religious leaders questioned Him, when crowds tried to stone Him, even when He was on trail for His life He was calm and in control.
3. Jesus was too wise, loving, and creative to be crazy.  If he was crazy we should all hope to be crazy also.
4. Mad or Insane the miracles and resurrection stand on their own.
5. The disciples would have obviously recognized a crazy man after spending 3 years with Him side-by-side in ministry.

Those two possibilities don’t seem to make a lot of sense, that leaves us with the third possibility which is Lord.  Jesus is who He says He was and it is either our choice to choose to reject Him or accept Him.

Originally in C.S. Lewis’ explanation there was a 4th category of Legend.  But since his writings in the mid-19th century a great amount of external evidence to Jesus outside the Bible has been discovered through other Christian and even non-Christian historians that make Jesus a historically a real person.

One other objection I have heard over the last year was that perhaps Jesus was a real person, but never claimed to be God, and after His death the early followers and church made up Jesus to be something greater, like God.  The problem with that argument is that many of the early Christians, even most of Jesus disciples died a martyrs death faking a story, creating a lie, and trying to keep it going.  The idea that the early church in the 3rd and 4th centuries changed the writings of the Early apostles doesn’t fit either because of the sheer amounts of manuscripts that were created as Christianity was being spread.  It would be very illogical to think that the church could get hold of every single manuscript and change them.

As always, questions, comments, and discussions are welcome.  Have a great Good Friday and remember it’s Good for us that Jesus died for our sins.

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Posted by John Weldon