from Lig
onier
C. S. LEWIS 1898
–
1963
ministries a
nd r.C. sProUL
|
JanUary 2008
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$3.00
coraMdeo
Liv ing b
efore t
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A Mi nd Capti vat ed by God BY BURK PARSONS
I
have journeyed through the land of Narnia. Nearly ten years ago, I had the privilege to stay at Rathvinden House, located in the beautiful rolling-green country side of County Carlow , Ireland. At that t ime, the Rat hvinden estate was owned and operated by Douglas Gresham, the stepson of C.S. Lewis. Late one afternoon, as I was walking on the grounds of the estate with a friend, we came across a lush, green pastu re that was The Lord took simply breathtaking. As we stood atop that pasture and beheld its majesty, one of our hosts turned to us captive the mind and said, “We call this the land of Narnia.” It was as if of C.S. Lewis, we had entered a different world. And knowing that and Lewis, in we were not too far f rom Lewis’ birt hplace, I felt as if I had entered the very wor ld of C.S. Lew is him self. tur n, captivat ed Although he was not a profe ssed Calvini st, Lewis the minds of was indeed a professed Christian, a nd his professed atheism the Lord sovereignly overcame by taking Christians. him from his own dark, atheistic world, where it is always winter but never Christmas, and placing him in the world of Jesus Christ, who is on the move to destroy every stronghold, argument, and lofty opinion raised against G od so that we might take every t hought captive to obey Christ and live coram Deo , before His face and in His realm , forever . By His grace, the Lord took captive the mind of C.S. Lewis, and Lewis, in turn, captivated the minds of Christians throughout the world as he penned words suc h as these: “If you read history you wi ll fi nd that the Christia ns who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to thin k of the other worl d that they have become so ineffective in th is.” Burk Parsons is editor of Tabletalk magazine and minister of congregational life at Saint Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Florida.
R.C. Sproul EDITOR Burk Parsons PUBLISHER Ligonier Ministries EXECUTIVE EDITOR Chris Donato ASSOCIATE EDITORS Keith A. Mathison, Robert Rothwell SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR Kevin Struyk ART DIRECTOR Monty Morgan PRODUCTION MANAGER Chris Larson CIRCULATION MANAGER Dawn Sanders COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Tabletalk (USPS
009-013) is published monthly by Ligonier Ministries, Inc., 400 Technology Park, Lake Mary, FL 32746. Annual subscription price (12 issues): $20.00. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Ligonier Ministries, 400 Technology Periodicals postage paid at Lake Mary, FL, and additional mailing offices. Park, Lake Mary, FL 32746-6229. Unless noted, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION : Required by Title Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 39 United States Code 3685. Title of publication: Tabletalk. Publication no.: 009013. Date of filing: 10/19/07. Frequency of issue: monthly. No. of issues published annually: 12. Annual subscription price: $20/yr.USA; $30/yr. foreign. Location of known office of publication: 400 Technology Park, Lake Mary, Seminole Co., FL 32746-6229. Mailing address of headquarters: 400 Technology Park, Lake Mary, FL 32746-6229. Publisher: Ligonier Ministries. Executive Editor: R.C. Sproul. Owner: Ligonier Ministries, a nonprofit educational organization. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities: none. The purpose, function, and nonprofit status of this organization and the exempt status for federal income tax purposes has not changed during the preceding 12 months. Total no. of copies printed (net press run): average/last year: 73,000; last issue: 70,000. Paid/ requested circulation: 1) Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, and counter sales: average/last year: 2,249; last issue: 2,268; 2) Mail subscription: average/ last year: 52,482; last issue: 53,258. Free distribution by mail, carrier, or other means: average/last year: 3,817; last issue: 2,985. Total nonrequested distribution August last year 2,603, last issue 3,063. Total distribution: average/last year: 61,151; last issue: 61,574. Copies not distributed: average/last year: 11,849; last issue: 8,426. Total: average/last year: 73,000; last issue: 70,000. I certify that the statements made by me above are corr ect and complete. — Burk Parsons, editor
tabletalk
contents
IN THIS ISSUE
{ THE LIFE AND
WORK OF C.
S.LEWIS
}
JA N UA RY 2 00 8
FEATURES
VOLUME 32 | NUMBER 1
4 The Weight of Glory RIGHT NOW COUNTS FOREVER BY R.C. S PROUL
DAIL
Y STUDIE
S
23 Into the Word 28 Good News for All Nations By Robert Rothwell 37 Jesus’ Family Tree By Joel R. Beeke 48 Jesus’ Childhood By Jerry Bridges 55 What about Repentance? By Tom Ascol
COLUMNS
10
Surprised by Joy BY SINCLAIR B. FERGUSON
14
God in the Dock
BY ROGER NICOLE
18 The Chronicles of Narnia BY LELAND RYKEN
64 Pastor’s Perspective By Alistair Begg 68 Pro Ecclesia: For the Church By Michael S. Horton 70 Generation to Generation By Harry L. Reeder III 74 Tolle Lege: Take Up and Read By Keith A. Mathison 80 Seek Ye First By R.C. Sproul Jr. 82 Truth and Consequences By Gene Edward Veith
ON THE COVER
C.S. (Clive Staples) Lewis by Wolf Suschitzky (1959). Used by permission of The Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois
T he We ight o f Glory
The Significance of C.S. Lew is RIGHT N
OW COUNTS FOREV
ER
BY R.C. SPROUL
C.S. Lewis emerged as a twentieth-century icon in the world of Christian literature. His prodigious work combining acute intellectual reasoning with unparalleled creative imagination made him a popular figure not only in the Christian world but in the secular world as well. The Chronicles of Narnia and The Space Trilogy, though rife with dramatic Christian
BRITISH WRITER C.S. LEWIS
(1950)
JOHN CHILLINGWORTH / STRINGER,
HULTON ARCHIVE / GETTY IMAGES
rigHT noW counTS ForeVer
THe WeigHT oF glory
symbolism, were devoured by those who had no interest in Christianity at all, but were enjoyed for the sheer force of the drama of the stories themselves. An expert in English literature, C.S. Lewis functioned also as a Christian intellectual. He had a passion to reach out to the intellectual world of his day in behalf of Christianity. Through his own personal struggles with doubt and pain,
r.c.Sproul
matched by few of his twentieth-century contemporaries. His was indeed a literary genius in which he was able to express profound Christian truth through art, in a manner similar to that conveyed by Bach in his music and Rembrandt in his painting. Even today his introductory book on the Christian faith — — Mere Christianity remains a perennial best seller. We have to note that although a
His was i nde ed a literar y gen ius in which he was able to express profound Chri stia n tr uth th rough art, in a ma nner similar to that conv eyed by Bach in hi s music and Rembrandt in his pai nting .
he was able to hammer out a solid intellectual foundation for his own faith. C.S. Lewis had no interest in a mystical leap of faith devoid of rational scrutiny. He abhorred those who would leave their minds in the parking lot when they went into church. He was convinced that Christianity was at heart rational and defensible with sound arg umentation. His work showed a ma rriage of art and science, a marriage of reason and creative imagination that was unparalleled. His gift of creative writing was 6
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literary expert, C.S. Lewis remained a layman theologically speaking. Indeed, he was a well-read and studied layman, but he did not benet from the skills of technical training in theology. Some of his theological musings will indicate a certain lack of technical understanding, for which he may certainly be excused. His book Mere Christianity has been the single most important volume of popular apologetics that the Christian world witnessed in the twentieth century. Again, in his incomparable
style, Lewis was able to get to the nitty-gritty of the core essentials of the Christian faith w ithout distorting them into simplistic categories. His reasoning, though strong, was not always technically sound. For example, in his defense of the resurrection, he used an argument that has impressed many despite its invalidity. He follows an age-old argument that the truth claims of the writers of the New Testament concerning t he resurrection of Jesus are veried by their willingness to die for the truths t hat they espoused. And the question is asked: Which is easier to believe — that these men created a false myth and then died for that falsehood or that Jesus really returned from the grave? On the surface, the answer to that question is easy. It is far easier to believe that men would be deluded into a falsehood, in which they really believed, and be willing to give their lives for it, than to believe that somebody actually came back from the dead. There has to be other reasons to support the t ruth claim of t he resurrection other than that people were willing to die for it. One might look at the violence in the Middle East and see 50,000 people so persuaded of the truths of Islam that they are willing to sacrice themselve s as huma n suicide bombs. History is replete with t he examples of deluded people who have died for their delusions. History is not lled with examples of resurrections. However, despite the weakness of that particular argument, Lewis nevertheless made a great impact on people who were involved in their initial explorations of the truth claims of Christian ity.
To this day, people who won’t read a Bible or won’t read other Christian literature will pick up Mere Christianity and nd themselves engaged by the acute mental processes of C.S. Lewis. The church owes an enormous debt to this man for his unwillingness to capitulate to the irrationalism that marked so much of Christian thought in the twentieth cen tur y — an irrationalism that produced wha t many describe as a “mi ndless Christianit y.” The Christian ity of C.S. Lewis is a mindful Christianity where there is a mar velous union between head and heart. Lewis was a man of profound sensitivity to the pain of human beings. He himself experienced the crucible of sanctication through personal pain and anguish. It was from such experiences that his sensitivity developed and his ability to communicate it sharply honed. To be creative is the mark of profundit y. To be creative without distortion is rare indeed, and yet in the stories that C.S. Lewis spun, the powers of creativity reached levels that were rarely reached before or since. Aslan, the lion in The Chronicles of Narnia, so captures the character and personality of Jesus; it is nothing short of amazing. Every generation, I believe, will continue to benet from the in sights put on paper by this amazi ng personality . d. r.c. S s s mst f h th t St aw’s ch Sf, F , h s th f th The Truth of the cross.
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Su pr ise d by Joy of
The Life BY
JOY GRESHAM AND C.S. LEWIS
SI
NCL
(1958)
AI
R
C.S. Le wi s
B . FE
RGUS
ON
© MICHAEL PETRO COLLECTION, UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE / SCOTLAND
ovember 22, 1963, the date of President Kennedy’s assassination, was also the day C.S. Lewis died. Seven years earlier he had thus described death: “The term is over: the holiday s have
N
The Student
begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.” The metaphor inherent in these words is striking. It comes from the world of students and pupils, but only a teacher would employ it as a metaphor for death. The words (from The Last Battle ) bring down the curta in — or perhaps better, close the wardrob e door — on Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia. But they also open a window into who C.S. Lewis really was.
Lewis, a promising attorney and his wife, Florence (“Flora”), daughter of an Anglican clergyman and one of the earliest female graduates (in Mathematics and Logic) from what is now Queen’s University, Belfast. She was probably the sharper of the parents, although “Jack” did not inherit her mathematical gifts. Were it not for a military service waiver from the Oxford University mathematics entrance examination his
10
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C
live Staples Lewis (“Jack” to his friends) was born on 29 November 1898 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the second son of Albert
life might have been very different. Flora died of abdo mina l cancer in 1908. Lewis was a motherless son. Sent off to boarding school, his teenage years were generally miserable. Latterly he was privately tutored by his father’s former headmaster, the remarkable W.T. Kirkpatrick (known by “Jack” and his brother Warren as “The Great Knock”). Kirkpatrick had earlier abandoned aspirations to the Presbyterian ministry and was by this time an avowed atheist (yet, still with a decidedly Presbyteria n work ethic!). His inuence was substantial, both religiously (sadly) and intellectually. Lewis had probably completed the required reading for his Oxford Bachelor’s deg ree even b efore entering University College, Oxford. He sailed through his studies with “rst s” in classics, then in philosop hy and history, and then in literature, and after some time he became a Fellow of Magda len College, Oxford.
The “Mere” Christian
L
ewis tells the complex story of his pilgrimage to the Christian faith in genres ranging from the philosophical The Pilgrim’s Regress (1933) to the autobiographical Surprised by Joy (1955). Doubtless, elements of it are also reected in his works of imagination — his “science-ction,” his children’s books, and in The Great Divorce (1945). Immersed in ancient, medieval, and modern literature Lewis was inevitably confronted by Christia nity. He was helped by various other scholars like Neville Coghill (1899–1980, a Chaucer expert), J.R.R. Tolkien
(1892–1973, already professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford), and Hugo Dyson (1896–1975), and he was inuenced by writers like G.K. Chesterton and George MacDonald (whom he began to read as a teenager) — all of whom made a Christian profession. Lewis came first to theism — and some time later to faith in Christ. Thereafter his thinking often expressed the common motif that the Christ-story was the ultimate story in which alone the longings a nd redem ption- patterns in a ll great stories and myths were historically realized. Thus the need for the dying and rising divine figure would be echoed in as different literature as the ancient myths on the one hand to the Narnian Chronicles on the ot her.
Lewis came first to theism — and som e t ime later to faith in Christ.
In a sense (probably unwittingly), the Narnian Chronicles do in story form what Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109) had done in dialogue form in Cur Deus Homo (Why God Became Man). Using what he called the “ remoto Christo ” principle (that is, without specic reference to the revelation of Christ in Scripture), he had attempted to show how the Gospel is necessary for our salvation. TableTalk TableTalk
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SupriSed by Joy
Sinclair FerguSon
Academic and Author
L
ewis was an academic. An Oxford education was, and remains, one of the most rigorous and privileged in the world. While lectures are offered, the student is supervised by a tutor who is a scholar of distinction in his own right. Thus Lewis for many years listened to his students as they came weekly or fortnightly to “read” their papers to him. Many loved it — although not all: John Betjeman (1906–1984), later British Poet Laureate, was none-too-keen on Lewis. (He also failed to graduate.) Lewis, however, found it a trial. Being appointed to a professorship (an appointment of high distinction in the Oxford system) would have multiplied his salary and eased his tutorial work load. But the likelihood
Oxford History of English Literature series. By the time of its publication, Oxford’s academic rival had claimed him, and in 1954 he became professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge, resigning only shortly before his death.
Companion s on the W ay
A
ny account of Lewis’ life would be incomplete without reference to a number of other inuences, including (and especially) two women. Chief among the influences on Lewis’ way of “doing” Christian theology was George MacDonald (1824– 1905). In 1946 he published an anthology of MacDonald’s writings, noting that he had virtually never written on the Christian faith without reecting his inuence: “I know hardly any
His stre ngth lay in his use of the imagination rather tha n his expe rt ise as either exeg ete o r theolo gian. of this was probably in inverse proportion to the growth of his reputation as a popular Christian writer (the adjective “popular” being as damning as “Christian”). Yet by any measure Lewis was an outstanding scholar. His best known academic works include a study of the l iterature of the Middle Ages, The Allegory of Love (1936), and his scintillating monograph on John Milton’s epic poem A Preface to Paradise Lost (1942). The eminence of his scholarship led to an invitation to write the volume on English Literature in the Sixteenth Century (1954) in the prestigious 12
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other writer who seems to be closer, or more continually close, to the Spirit of Christ Himself.” Certainly anyone who has read MacDonald’s fantasies such as Phantastes and Lilith will soon realize the source of many ideas that might otherwise be thought of as uniquely Lewisian. MacDonald, it should be noted, was deeply inuenced by the world of Romanticism, and this impacted his view of the Gospel. Lewis on the other hand employed his imaginative genius in the cause of a more mainstream orthodox, if not consistently evangelical, Christianity. Lewis’ name is virtually synony-
mous with the group of scholars and others who met regularly in Oxford in an informal literary brotherhood called (brilliantly) “The Inklings.” Here they would share one another’s work. It is remarkable that this little group included the authors both of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings. The two women whose lives were intertwined with Lewis’ were very different indeed. The rst was Jane Moore, the mother of “Paddy” Moore, a young cadet with whom Lewis had trained for the army. They apparently promised to look after each other’s parent in the event of the other’s death. Moore was killed. The relationship between Lewis and Mrs. Moore (which continued to her death in 1951) is one of the most enigmatic elements in the Lewis saga. Much has been made of it by both critical and sympathetic scholars. Was Jane Moore surrogate mother, sometime lover, or perhaps both? Whatever the truth, following his conversion, Lewis felt bound to provide support for her for the rest of her days, and he did this with an extraordinary sense of duty and single-mindedness. In January 1950, Joy Davidman Gresham, an American writer, began corresponding with Lewis. Estranged (later divorced) from her husband, in 1952 she visited England with her two sons. Lewis enjoyed the challenge of her company, and in 1956 formally married her, thus enabling the Greshams to remain in England. In time, the relationship blossomed into love — which it may well already have been without Lewis clearly recognizing it. Joy died of cancer in 1960, and this led to Lewis publishing (srci-
nally under the nom-de-plume N.W. Clark) A Grief Observed (1961). After three years of mixed health, Lewis himself died on November 22, 1963. The Lewis corpus has, of course, become a minor industry in its own right. His books have sold over 200 million copies. The Problem of Pain (1940), Screwtape Letters (1942), Mere The Christianity (1952, based on radio talks from 1941–1944), and The Four Loves (1960) have been particularly widely read, as have some of his sermons, notably “The Weight of Glory.” Perhaps more than any other twentieth-century author, C.S. Lewis has played a role in people’s understanding of the Christian faith akin to the one that hymns used to play. His strength lay in his use of the imagination rather than his expertise as either exegete or theologian. Interestingly, he himself found it somewhat tiresome to be paraded as the great popular apologist for the Christian faith. The most widely-read Christian author of his time, Lewis left behind not only his many academic and popular works but also a substantial collection of correspondence and papers, which have guaranteed the continuation of the Lewis industry to the present day. It is an indication of his impact that while “the holidays” began for him, a vast plethora of articles, research theses, books, institutes, journals, fan clubs, documentaries and screenplays — not to mention movies — have now occupied a term that has lasted more than forty years. d. S b. Fs s s mst f F st ps t chh cm, Sth c, h s th f The Christian Life .
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God in th e Dock Th e A pol ogeti cs of C.S. Lew is BY R
AUTHOR AND CAMBRIDGE DON C.S. LEWIS
OGER NICOL
(1958)
© BURT GLINN, CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND /
E
MAGNMUN PHOTOS
I
n modern English the wordsapology and apologize indicate regret because some statement or action was offensive and wrong. This is not the case for “apologetics” in theology, for that discipline is intended to manifest “a point of view is right.” It is intended for those who differ in order to win them over, or for those who agree in order to conrm them in the truth for which the apologist testies. It is in this sense that C.S. Lewis is recognized as an “apologist,” for a number of his works are intended to manifest the adequacy of the Christian outlook over against a “naturalist” position, which asserts that the universe is simply a great material mass functioning in terms of its own mechanism or laws without any possible intervention from the outside and specically without a creative or governing power of a mind. C.S. Lewis was very well prepared for this task because until late in his twenties he was a devotee of atheism without any reference to Jesus Christ and was twenty-nine years old before being converted and embracing a Christian world-and-life view. Thus, he was more knowledgeable than many Christian apologists who know the views that they dispute only from the outside. He also experienced personally the gravity of the problems that the atheist has to face and the way in which such problems may force a person of integrity to look beyond atheism for a suitable philosophical and religious outlook. C.S. Lewis wrote about his own experience in 1933 in an autobiographical volume entitled The Pilgrim’s Regress, in the manner of John Bunyan, and again in Surprised by Joy (1955).
His rst contribution to apologetics was entitled The Problem of Pain, published in October 1940 as part of The Christian Challenge Series (it was reprinted ten times by 1943). He dealt there forthrightly with the question: “If God is almighty and supremely loving, why does He permit pain in this universe?” showed howwherpain is inevitable forHe real persons ever sin exists. Who could imagine what a frightful world it should be if sin could grow without restraint? C.S. Lewis proceeds in his analysis in an orderly and lucid manner, dealing with this d ifcult subject in a way that a lay person can readily understand. From time to time, he has striking comments that remain u nforgettable, like the following: “A man can no
Lewis can cast a c
ritical
eva luat ion of ma ny…motives that are f lourishing under the umbrella of Ch ristia nity .
more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word “darkness” on the walls of his cell” (p. 41). From 1941–44, he delivered a series of thirty-three broadcast talks whose titles describe well their contents: 1941: Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe (5 talks) 1942: What Christians Believe (5 talks) 1943: Christian Behaviors (12 talks) TableTalk
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god in THe dock
roger nicole
1944: Beyond Personality; or, First Steps in the Doctrine of the Trinity (11 talks) First published separately in three volumes, these lectures were gathered together under the title Mere Christianity and often republished. The term mere in this title means “pu re,” as it did in old English. The emphasis is to deal with major views largely common to all denominations in Christendo m. In 1943, The Screwtape Letters
scholarly studies in early English literature, his wit and discernment surface on every page as some of the following quotations evidence: “We have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is [God’s] invention, not ours. He made the pleasure: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one” (p. 41). “A moderate religion is as good for us as no religion at all — and more amusing ” (p. 43). “It does not matter how small the
We c an app reciate …his ear nestness, his ga ps i n hi s reasoni appeared, and this is probably C.S. Lewis’ most popular writing. Here we have a course by correspondence in which a master demon, Screwtape, instructs Wormwood, a novice in the art of tempting human beings and preventing on their part a true allegiance to God and the Gospel. This gives an opportunity to look on the Christian claims from below, so to speak, not with some articial adornments provided by self-deceitfulness or charity in considering others, but with a kind of cynical realism that penetrates into the actual motives that people ordinarily attempt to hide. C.S. Lewis can cast a critical evaluation of many moves and motives that are ourishing under the umbrella of genuine Christianity. With sharp discernment and superb control of language, gained perhaps in his 16
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ng, his t hor ou gh
sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one” (p. 56). “A good many Christian political writers think that Christianity began going wrong and departing from the doctrine of its Founder, at a very early stage. Now, this idea must be used by us to enco urage aga in the conception of a historical Jesus to be found by clearing away later ‘accretions and perversions’ and then be contrasted with the whole Christian tradition. In the last generation we promoted the construction of such a ‘historical Jesus’ on liberal and ‘humanitarian’ lines; we are now putting forward a new ‘historical Jesus’ on Marxian, cata strophic, and
revolutionary lines. The advantage of these constructions, which we intend to change every thirty years or so, are manifest. In the rst place they all tend to direct ma n’s devotion to something which does not exist, for each ‘historical Jesus’ is unhistorical ” (p. 106). If these few quotations arouse your appetite, get the book and you will nd much more than this sample. The volume entitled Miracles: A Preliminary Studyappeared in 1947, very shortly after Dr. E.W. Barnes,
meticulous ca
interaction between this power and His world might occur where the laws that govern matter might not function as they ordinarily do. C.S. Lewis then devotes an essential chapter to the “Grand Miracle” of the incarnation of the second person of the Trinity. Then he discusses miracles of the old creation with “the Divine Man focusing for us what the God of Nature has already done on a larger scale” (p. 169). The miracles of the new creation are those in which a “reversal” is manifest, principally the
re not to leave any
comm itment to Holy Scr Bishop of Birmingham, published The Rise of Christianity , in which he denied the factuality of all miracles recorded in the New Testament, including those concerning the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. The word preliminary in the title should not be mistaken for elementary, for it is a rather technical vindication of supernaturalism versus naturalism dened as a view that nothing exists except nature, that is, the gigantic interlocking of all particles of matter existing from times immemorial. Nature cannot explain the srcin of rational thought, and even less provide a basis for morality and conscience. We are led, therefore, to recognize a powerful and purposive reality beyond the material world, who is the creator and sustainer of all that exists. With this in view, it is not strange that there would be occasions in which
iptu re …. resurrection, which is fundamental for the wholeof Christianity. A brief epilogue and two appendices conclude the book. Throughout we can appreciate the great qualities of C.S. Lewis, his earnestness, his meticulous care not to leave any gaps in his reasoning, his thorough commitment to Holy Scripture, and his marvelous style. Dealing with objections to the virgin birth of Christ, he says that some opponents of it “think they see in this miracle a slur upon sexual intercourse (though they might just as well see in the feeding of the ve thousand an insult to bakers)” (p. 115). That parenthesis is worth the price of the book! d. r n s fss m ts f th t rfm Th Sm o, F , h s th f Our Sovereign Saviour .
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The C
hronicle
s
of
Na r n i a
The Imagination
of C.S. Lewis
LAMPPOS
T IN A C OLD WORLD
(2004)
© ANNEKE SCHRAM / ISTOCKPHOTO
BY LELAND RYKEN
T
The most important lessons that we can learn from C.S. Lewis’ Narnian Chronicles are the ones that Lewis himself wanted us to learn. It so happe
ns t hat Lewis
literature in gene
ral a nd the N ar nia n books
in particular that it is possible to read Lewis’ classic children’s stories with the author himself. One of the most i mportant pieces of advice that Lewis gave to readers of literature is that they must receive a work of literatu re instead of using it. Lewis wrote, “A work of…art can be either ‘received’ or ‘used’. When we 18
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said enough about
‘receive’ it we exert our senses and imagination and various other powers according to a pattern invented by the artist. When we ‘use’ it we treat it as assistance for our own activities” (emphasis added). According to this line of thought, “The rst demand any work of art ma kes upon us is surrender. Look. Listen. Receive. Get
yourself out of the way.” This is not to deny that we should make use of what we read. It is instead a caution to let stories set their own agenda of concerns according to t he order created by the author, not to impose our own agenda on them according to our own timetable as we progress through a story. Lewis’ rule of thumb was to let stories “tell you their own moral” and not “put one in.” The relevance of this to the Narnian stories is that the religious aspects of the stories usually do not appear until approximately halfway through the books. Many Christian readers are impatient with that a nd force the opening chapters into something that Lewis did not intend. The second warning that Lewis gave is not to reduce works of literature to a set of ideas. He claimed that “one of the prime achievements in every good fiction has nothing to do with truth or philosophy…at all.” To regard a story “as primarily a vehicle for…philosophy is an outrage to the thing the poet has made for us.” Works of literature “are complex and carefully made objects. Attention to the very objects they are is our first step.” This, too, should steer us away from how many Christian readers deal with The Chronicles of Narnia.
How the Narnian Stor ies Became Christ ian Classics
How the Nar nian Stories Were Compo sed
O
I
n addition to the general guidelines for reading literature, Lewis left us some very useful tips for reading the Narnian stories in particular. For example, Lewis famously said
that “all my seven Narnian books… began with pictures in my head. At rst they were not a story, just pictures.” Thus The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe “began with a picture of Faun carrying an umbrella and parcels in a snowy wood.” Just as we are recovering from the shock of that revelation, Lewis adds, “This picture had been in my mind since I was about sixteen. Then one day, when I was about forty, I said to myself: ‘Let’s try to make a story about it.’” Just in case we might think that we cannot possibly have he ard th ings correctly, Lewis also gave us another passage of simila r import — only more shocking. In countering the assumption of some of his readers that he “began by asking myself how I could say something about Christianity to children,” Lewis claimed that “at rst there wasn’t even anything Christ ian a bout [the stories].” The order of composition suggests an order of reading. If we follow the lead of Lewis himself, a major lesson we can learn from the Narnian stories is that they are rst of all stories — adventure stories, fantasy stories, children’s stories. These narrative features are not simply “a disguise for something more ‘adult’.”
f course this does not mean that we need to abandon our conviction that the Narnian Chronicles are Christian classics — stories in which Christian experiences and doctrines are movingly embodied. In the same passage in which Lewis claimed that initially there was nothing Christian TableTalk
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19
THe cHronicleS oF narnia
leland ryken
about the stories, he added, “That element pushed itself in of its own accord.” So there is a Christian dimension to the stories, as we have known since our rst encounter with them. In a letter that Lewis wrote a year and a
The Biblical Themes of the Narnian Chronicles In a letter written late in his life (5 March 1961), Lewis identified the main religious theme of each of the seven Narnian books. It is his account of how “the whole series works out.” The list is as follows: th Mg’ nphw: the creation and how evil entered Narnia th L, h Wh, h Wb: the crucifixion and resurrection P cp: restoration of the true religion after a corruption th H H B: the calling and conversion of a heathen th vg f h dw t: the spiritual life (especially in Reepicheep) th sl ch: the continued war against the powers of darkness th L Bl: the coming of the Antichrist (the Ape), the end of the world, and the last judgment
half before his death, he said that there is “a deeper meaning behind” the surface details of the stories. The key to the religious meanings of the Narnian stories is the gure of Aslan. When at age fort y Lewis decided to try to make a story out of his mental 20
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pictures of “a faun carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sledge, a magnicent lion,” at rst he “had very little idea how the story would go. But then suddenly Aslan came bounding into it. … Once He was there he pulled the whole story together, and soon He pulled the six other Narnian stories in after him.” It is pretty obvious that Aslan pulled not only the stories together but also the religious vision of the stories. Lewis himself said as much: in the letter quoted above, Lewis said that “the whole Narnian story is about Christ.”
Spirit ual and Moral Lessons from Narnia ne level of Christian meaning in the Narnian Chronicles is the moral vision embodied in the stories. It is the story of a great, cosmic struggle between good and evil — and the need of every creature to choose between them. The vision of the stories corresponds to Lewis’ view of the world itself, which in one of his essays he described as a universe in which “there is no neutral ground” and in which “every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.”
O
In addition to this moral vision, the Narnian stories embody a theological vision. At the heart of that vision is the gure of Aslan, who represents Christ. Thus the qualities attributed to Aslan, the acts that he performs, the ways in which he relates to characters in the stories and the characters to him, the devotion that he elicits from those who believe in him and follow him — all t hese are an implied picture of the Christian life. We will
not go wrong, therefore, if we simply view the story of Aslan as the story of Christ. The parts of the stories in which Aslan is an activ e participant can thus be read devotionally, and in fact this is how Christian readers intuitively assimilate the stories. Generating outward from this christological center of the narrative world of Narnia are more general Christian themes. The stories as a whole cover the same metanarrative (“big story”) that the Bible presents. Within the mode of the fantasy story genre, we read about the creation of the world; the fall of that world from
the stories we get a picture of God as creator, as judge, as sovereign, as the one who guides history to His ends, and as the one who saves. A view of the person emerges strongly as well. Its chief tenets are that people are moral agents who must choose for or against God, and that people have a dual capacity for great good and great evil. A doctri ne of evil also emerges strongly, as we are continuously aware of the tremendous power of evil in the world and its ultimate defeat by Christ (the Christus victor motif). The nal lesson that we need to learn in regard to this spiritual depth
We will not go wrong, there fore, if we si mply view the sto ry of Asla n as the story of Christ.
an srcinal innocence; the struggle between good and evil (or Christ and forces of darkness) throughout fallen history; the atoning, substitutionary death and the resurrection of Christ; and the eschatological end of the world and beginning of eternity. It is no stretch to say that the Bible itself forms the subtext of the Narnian stories. As we revisit the contours of salvation history in the Narnian stories, we are also led to contemplate the outline of Christian doctrine. Chief among these doctrines is what might be called the doctrine of God. From
in the stories is that the religious meanings are embodied in the form of narrative fantasy. As readers we need to experience and relish the stories as children’s stories rst of all. The religious meanings can be trusted to reveal themselves at the points in the narrative (chiey the parts where Aslan is an active character) where Lewis intended them to be present. d. l r s fss f esh t Wht c Wht, is, h s th f The Christian Imagination .
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RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
Books by
C.S.Lewis
The Abolition of Man BY C.S. LEWIS
Decades ago, C.S. Lewis saw the rise of relativistic thought in Western culture, alerting readers to the inevitable ramifications that come when our children are taught that all values are subjective and that there is no objective reality that determines what is worthy and meaningful. The Abolition of Man is a thorough and reasoned defense of natural law, those moral principles that are known innately by all men despite sin’s corruption of the human mind. Available for a limited time. ABO02BP
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Mere Christianity BY C.S. LEWIS
Mere Christianity has taken its place as one of the
most important and influential works century. of Christian apologetics produced in the twentieth This classic text by C.S. Lewis approaches the defense of the faith through an exposition of mankind’s universal sense of right and wrong, Christian beliefs and morals, and the defense of the Trinity.Mere Christianity is a must-read for all those with doubts about Christianity and for basic training in apologetics, the science of defending the Christian faith. MER03BP
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Janary t h iNto a
y Bb
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woRd
“From what a re the p eople being saved? Not from visib le warfa re or barb aria ns but something fa r greater: from their own sins , a work that had never been possible to anyone before.” JOHn CHrySOStOM,
HOMIlIeS
On tHe GOSPel OF S
F
iction is lled with stories of rescue. Noble knights save fair damsels in distress. Costumed heroes work to defeat those terrorizing their city. Whether the story is told on the big screen or on the printed page, everyone wants to see good triumph over evil and the restoration of peace and justice. This longing to see men and women saved from wickedness reects our human condition. Each of us knows that we have been overcome by evil and need to be rescued (Rom. 1:18–32). We sense that the world is not as it should be and needs restoration. Unlike the heroes of ction, God has provided a non-ctional Redeemer who saves His people from their sins. Jesus alone brings us the real rescue that we hope for. His story, as told by the apostle Matthew, will be the focus of our study this year Tabletalk. in Our Lord’s story is the climax of a glorious promise the Father gave after Adam fell. This month we will also look at this plan as described by the old covenant prophets using Dr. R.C. Sproul’s teaching series Coming of the Messiah.
tabletalk
t. MattHeW
, 4.7
Abng in the
woRd These verses parallel the themes of the studies each week. We encourage you to hide them in your heart so that you may not sin against the Lord: WEEK OF JANUARY 7 MATTHE
WEEK OF JAN
W 1 :21
UARY 14
ISAIAH 49:7
WEEK OF JAN
UARY 21
GALATIANS 4:4–5
WEEK OF JANUARY 28 JOHN 1:1
January2008
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ma ’ G p
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“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulll them” (v. 17). MattHeW 5:17
1
atience is a virtue, it is said, probably because waiting is so difcult. Young children nd themselves having to endure an almost unbearably long stretch of school days before the freedom of summer. Engaged couples spend what seems like ages waiting for their wedding day even though the ceremony may be only a few months away. After the fall of man (Gen. 3:1–13), God turned us over to the consequences of our sin. Strenuous labor, pain in childbirth, broken relationships, and nally death would be our lot (vv. 16–19). Yet our gracious Lord spoke good news as well. His curse would not last forever, one day the seed of the woman, a people holy unto the Lord, would crush the serpent and his seed (vv. 14–15). Thus began our long wait for Satan’s defeat. Our Father did not start over from scratch to keep this promise but chose some out of fallen humanity to be His own. Abraham and his seed would be the family through which God would bless the world (12:1–3). For centuries Abraham’s offspring waited for the great blessing they would share with the world. Yet though there were times when the patriarch’s seed blessed the earth (47:13–26; Jonah 1–4), most of the nation of Israel failed to be salt and light to the world; thus, the Lord kicked them out of the Promised Land (Deut. 28:58–68; 2 Kings 17:7–23; 25). But God also promised an even greater blessing would come if His exiled people repented (Deut. 30:1–10). The covenant community would go back to their land and a holy son of David would rule the world when they turned to Yahweh (Isa. 35; Zech. 12:7–9). Israel did return to Palestine (2 Chron. 36:22–23), but national repentance did not follow (Mal. 2:10–17; 3:13–15), and the Jews lived as a shadow of their former selves, under the heel of one empire after another. However, the faithful remnant in Israel continued to trust God for His blessing. Four hundred years or so after the voice of prophecy fell silent in Israel, the Father sent Jesus His Son to fulll His promises (Matt. 5:17). The Gospel of this Jesus, according to Matthew, will occupy our study this year.
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Take the time to look over Matthew in preparation for our study this year. Find one passage that you have not spent much time examining. Meditate on that text today and ask the Lord to help you focus on His message. Commit yourself again to lead the life of discipleship to which our Savior has called you, a life that you can live by grace through the power of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:16). Thank Him for His transforming work in your life.
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
LEvITICUS 26:44–45 MATTHEW 4; 12:15–21; 28:16–20 LUkE 5:27–32 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
GENESIS 1–2 MATTHEW 1
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“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (v. 1).
MattHeW 1:1
nlike Paul’s letters, none of the four Gospels explicitly identies its author in the body of its text. Though the title,the gospel according to[insert the apostle’s name], is attached to each book in the oldest New Testament manuscripts, biblical scholars regard each gospel as an anonymous work. Liberals deny that apostles or their associates wrote the Gospels. However, believers have always afrmed the apostolicity of these books. The early church was certain that the apostles Matthew and John composed the gospels bearing their names. Mark and Luke were not apostles, but the church fathers knew Peter and Paul to be the sources of the second and third gospel, respectively. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the Synoptic Gospels because of the similarities between them that set them apart from John. These three authors probably worked interdependently, relying on the same sources and the work of one another when writing. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, each man selected and arranged the historical data to give us an accurate portrait of Jesus. Literary interdependence leads liberals to reject Matthew as the rst gospel’s author. Why, they ask, would Jesus’ disciple use the gospels of Mark or Luke to record the life of Christ? Yet this objection is not conclusive. If Mark is based on Peter’s testimony, why would Matthew not use Mark’s work to write the rst gospel? Moreover, nothing in Matthew’s gospel makes apostolic authorship impossible, and the early church testied that Matthew was its author. We have no reason to deny that Matthew wrote the gospel bearing his name. Matthew also went by the name Levi and worked as a tax collector, at least prior to his conversion (Matt. 9:9; Mark 2:13–14). This vocation required ofcial dealings with the Greek-speaking Roman empire and certainly helped Matthew develop the Greek prociency reected in the gospel’s srcinal text.
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One church tradition says Matthew was martyredallusions in Ethiopia . 60. Matthew’s text is teeming with Old Testament andaround quotations. The ubiquity of such references shows us Matthew wrote his gospel to explain how Jesus, the son of David, fullls God’s promises to the nation of Israel. Livin FOR FURTHER STUDY:
jErEMIAH 33:14–26 MATTHEW 9:9 LUkE 1:68–79 ACTS 1:12–26 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
:
GENESIS 3–5
g before th
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CORAMDEO
Even in the very first verse of his gospel, Matthew tells us that Jesus fulfills God’s promises to His people. As the “son of Abraham,” Jesus is revealed as the one through whom Abraham will bless the nations (Gen. 12:1–3). Many in this world think they can find this blessing through means other than the mediation of Christ Jesus. In this age of syncretism and relativism let us always maintain that God’s favor comes only through Christ Jesus.
MATTHEW 2 tabletalk
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fr Abraa ex “Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king” (vv. 5–6). MattHe W 1:2–11
t is not difcult to understand the reasons why Matthew and John were the most widely quoted gospels among the early church fathers. John, for example, writes some of the boldest words about Jesus’ divinity in the New Testament. Matthew emphasizes Jesus’ teaching ministry, and sections like the Sermon on the Mount (chap. 5–7) were widely memorized early on in the life of the church. In fact, Matthew was read aloud more often than even the gospel of John in the years immediately following the death of the last apostle. Matthew’s gospel is placed rst in the New Testament canon largely because of its clear connection to the Old Testament. Certainly, the apostles all wanted to show how Christ and His church fulll God’s promises to Israel. However, the rst evangelist (another title for a gospel writer) alone begins with Jesus’ genealogy, putting Him in the context of God’s plan of redemption and tying Him, through His forefathers, to the Old Testament promises. Notably, Matthew shows in 1:1–17 that Jesus is a direct descendant of David and therefore the Messiah. Yet Matthew makes other important theological points in his presentation of the historical data. For example, genealogies in the ancient world did not normally include women, but Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Uriah’s wife (Bathsheba) are found in Matthew’s ancestry of Jesus (vv. 3, 5–6). All of these women were Gentiles or married to a Gentile: Tamar and Rahab were Canaanites (Gen. 38; Josh. 2), Ruth was a Moabitess (Ruth 1:4), and Bathsheba’s rst husband was a Hittite (2 Sam. 11). These names could have been omitted, but Matthew includes them to show us that God’s family in Christ is comprised of faithful Jews and Gentiles. Moreover, Rahab’s inclusion in Jesus’ lineage despite her past in harlotry reminds us of God’s grace. Indeed, the Savior has relatives with a more wicked past than Rahab (Manasseh, for instance; 2 Chron. 33:1–20; Matt. 1:10), but these sinners, because they turned from their evil, were not cut off from God’s covenant blessings. Jesus, Matthew Henry comments, “takes even great sinners, at their repentance, into the nearest relation to himself.”
I
CORAMDEO
Living
before the
face of
God
Not every ancestor of Jesus trusted in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Still, the Lord’s grace overcame what could be called “impossible” odds in working through the sinful sons of David to bring about our salvation. This grace seeks out even the most wicked person and calls God’s chosen to repentance, even if they are as vile as Manasseh or as lost as Rahab. Our status as Christ’s brothers and sisters (Heb. 2:11) comes only by such almighty grace.
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
2 SAMUEL 12 1 CHroNICLES 2:1–14 LUkE 3:23–38 ACTS 9:1–31 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
GENESIS 6–7 MATTHEW 3–4
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“From Abraham to David…fourteen generations…David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations…Babylon tothe Christ fourteen generations”(v. 17). MattHe W 1:12–17
4
esus’ ancestry is traced back through David all the way to Adam in Luke 3:23–38. However, Luke’s listing of David’s sons is almost entirely different than the one recorded in Matthew 1:1–17. Two different scenarios can explain this discrepancy. First, Luke may actually be giving us Mary’s genealogy without mentioning her name since it was not acceptable back then to include women in such lists. Luke’s birth narrative highlights Mary, and Joseph is called Jesus’ “supposed” father (3:23). Matthew, on the other hand, gives us Joseph’s ancestry. Or, Matthew could have recorded the throne succession while Luke gives the actual, physical parentage of Jesus. David’s throne passed from father to son starting with Solomon (1 Kings 1:28–31). Under levirate marriage laws, a Davidite whose physical forefathers were not heirs to the throne could be adopted into the royal line if the heir by way of natural descent died childless (Deut. 25:5–10). Matthew 1:12, for example, tells us Zerubbabel was Shealtiel’s son even though he was Shealtiel’s nephew (1 Chron. 3:17–19). Perhaps Shealtiel died without having a son and Zerubbabel was adopted as the royal heir due to a levirate marriage. Maybe the right to David’s throne by way of Solomon nally came to Joseph through such marriages even though Jesus’ actual physical ancestor was Solomon’s brother, Nathan (Luke 3:31). Matthew 1:17 notes that three sets of fourteen generations separate Abraham and the birth of Jesus Christ — a span of about ve hundred years versus the two thousand years that really intervened. It is common for biblical writers to omit names in ancestry lists (“the father of” can refer to a remote ancestor), and the evangelist’s focus on “fourteen” is likely intended as an aid for memorization. Letters were used in place of numerals in the rst century, with the Hebrew consonants daleth (d ) and waw (w ) representing four and six, respectively. David is spelled dwd in Hebrew consonants, which is equivalent to the number fourteen (four plus six plus four). Thus, Matthew’s focus on fourteen generations also emphasizes Jesus’ kingly role as the Son of David.
J
Living FOR FURTHER STUDY:
1 CHroNICLES 17:1–15 MArk 12:35–36 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR : GENESIS 8–11 MATTHEW 5 FOR THE WEEKEND : GENESIS 12–16
before the
face of
God
CORAMDEO
We are not yet certain why Matthew’s genealogy differs from Luke’s, but this ought not cause confusion. Scriptur e has been proven trustwor thy time and again, and differences such as these cannot be contradictions (Heb. 6:18). Thus, our inability to answer every single question about the Bible is nothing to fear. It is not wrong to admit the limitations of our knowledge, for we rest upon and submit to the knowledge of God revealed in His Word.
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Writing for Tabletalk is a g reat hono r. It is ha rd to put into words the privilege of having one’s writing published alongside contributions from today’s finest theologians and pastors. Those who worked on the magazine before
us set a high standard, and by God’s grace we hope that we can be faithful to their example. This standard also makes writing for Tabletalk a great responsibility. We are called to be true to the legacy Dr. R.C. Sproul has set, a legacy of faithful ness to the biblical doctri nes recovered during the Reformation. Our job is not to present teachings for the sake of increasing our readership; our task is to present truth, even if it is unpopular or unfashionable. Of course, the demand that we be true to the Word of God is where we feel the heaviest weight. We lack the time and space to provide the most thorough examination of Scripture possible. No matter how many words we are allotted, we can always say more. The Bible is so rich that we must invariably choose to cover only a few aspects of the text. This 28
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means there is always something we cannot bring out in the exposition of a passage. It is always a challenge to decide what lesson from the text will most help our readers grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). Sometimes I wonder if the gospel writers endured a similar struggle. After all, there is much from the life and teaching of Jesus that is not recorded in the New Testament (John 21:25). This information is not found in some document the Vatican is keeping under wraps, nor is it hidden in the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci. There is nothing unknown about our Savior that will one day reveal the Gospels as works of ction. Despite their brevity, we can be condent that the Evangelists accurately summarize the life and mission of Jesus.
Still, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were forced to choose what to write about the Christ, lest they work for a lifetime recording the Messiah’s life only to die before completing their task. In some ways, it must have been hard for them to leave out certain events in Jesus’ life, though they did have the Holy Spirit inspiring their efforts to produce what God most wants His church to know concerning His Son. And it is a testimony to the importance of our Savior and His work that the Spirit has given us four Gospels, each with its own particular insight into Jesus. One perspective alone would never do Him justice; a fourfold witness therefore helps us to understand His signicance. Matthew’s inerrant account of our Lord’s life and ministry is the subject of our study this year. Perhaps more clearly than the other three Gospels, the rst evangelist (gospel writer) helps us see that in Jesus God keeps the promises He made to His old covenant people. It is a distinctly Jewish gospel, written to point Jews to their Messiah. Yet, we must not mis s Matt hew’s interest in Gentiles. From the very beginning, those who are not physical descendants of Abraham play important roles in the rst gospel. The wise men (2:1–12) are obvious examples, but the mention of Rahab, Ruth, and Uriah in the Lord’s genealogy (1:1–17) shows the evangelist’s interest in Gentiles as well. The Holy Spirit, theoretically speaking, could have inspired Matthew to leave out these individuals. We can be saved regardless of whether or not we
know who Jesus’ ancestors were. But under divine guidance, the tax-collector turned apostle chose to list these persons, and there is a reason why God had hi m reveal this information. To show us that Jesus fullls the deepest and truest longings of the Gentiles seems to explain why the information aboutFather them includes in Matthew’s gospel. Episodes in Christ’s life, from the centurion who has more faith than many of Israel’s sons (8:5–13) to the guards who call Jesus “the Son of God” (27:54), show us that our Lord’s ministry is not limited to one nation alone. The parable of the tenants (21:33–46) presents the church, made up of faithful servants from both Israel and the Gentiles, as the community in which God keeps His promises to the Israelites of old. Matthew dispels any thought that the nations are an afterthought in the saving purposes of our Creator. Again, humanly speaking, it would have been just as easy for the Spirit not to inspire Matthew to record these particular events and teachings. Yet, we Gentiles who trust Christ today should rejoice that this data was not left aside when this gospel was written. For in having Gentile concerns reflected in so Jewish a gospel, we are assured that we are God’s true people in Christ and not second-class citizens in the kingdom. Matthew shows us that the Gospel is for all people, and for that we should be forever grateful. ro rohw is ssoci di o of tbk mgzi. H is wiig h di sdis o h gosp of Mhw i 2008.
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RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
Defending Your F aith BY R.C. SPROUL
C.S. Lewis and other Christian apologists (defenders of the faith) have taught us how to answer the objections of unbelievers. Sitting at their feet offers us invaluable training for fulfilling Scripture’s call for all believers to be ready to give an answer for our hope (1 Peter 3:15). In Defending Your Faith, Dr. Sproul provides an overview of Christian apologetics, summarizing the insights of the great defenders of the faith in order to train us to be apologists in everyday life. DEF04DC
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The steady descent of Western thought from a biblical worldview through the Enlightenment down to the murky depths of post-Christian secularism lies behindinallour of the moral and intellectual confusion day. Dr. Sproul looks at the degeneration of the Christian worldview in Battle for Our Minds, equipping us to defend and proclaim biblical thought so that we may be agents of transformation and renewal in our culture. BAT01CC BAT01U
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When Worlds Collide BY R.C. SPROUL
It is common for people to ask, “Where is God in all this?” whenever tragedy and disaster strike. But the Lord is still sovereign and still present even in the most terrible of circumstances. When Worlds Collide powerfully proclaims the foundational truth of our Lord’s control over all things. (REG. $17) $13.60
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Dealing with Difficult Problems BY R.C. SPROUL
Life is often complicated, and we find ourselves in situations where the right choice is unclear or in which we have difficulty trusting God. This series looks at some of the hard issues in the Christian life from a biblical perspective and helps us deal practically with suffering, guilt, a nger, anxiet y, forgiveness, and knowing the will of God. DEA01CC
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Suffering raises many questions about the goodness of God in the minds of all people. This series is a helpful discussion of the role of suffering in the Christian life and the renewed world He has promised to prepare for all His children.
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MattHeW 1:18–21
“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (v. 21).
atthew wishes his Jewish audience to see — through the structure of his geneology — that Jesus is the Messiah. Beginning with Abraham (Matt. 1:2), two of the three sets of fourteen generations in the list of ancestors nd conclusions in David (v. 6) and the exile (v. 11). Of course, Abraham, David, and the deportation of Israel to Assyria and Babylon (2 Kings 17:7–23) are pivotal points in the story of God’s people. David fullled, in shadowy form, the Abrahamic promises, but his sons lost the kingdom. Yet Yahweh pledged to send His servant, a greater son of David, to end Israel’s exile (Amos 9:11–15). The placement of Joseph’s family at the end of the third set of fourteen generations (Matt. 1:16) tells us that they will be the people God uses to restore the kingdom. Joseph is the adopted father ofthe Son who fullls ultimately all of the Lord’s promises. Righteous Joseph is a ne choice to raise the Christ, for he loves and delights in God’s law. According to the custom in Joseph’s day (circa 4B.C.), he and his bride-to-be would be engaged for a full year (without cohabitation), and would require a legal divorce to dissolve their bond. Mary becomes pregnant during this period (v. 18), which implies the couple has had sexual relations unlawfully before the proper time. Joseph is not guilty of this sin and needs to initiate a divorce to preserve his righteousness and good name. He is unwilling, however, to put Mary to shame, and so he pursues a private divorce, an acceptable provision according to the law of Moses (Num. 5:11–31), in order to avoid embarrassing Mary publicly (Matt. 1:19). Neither Mary nor Joseph has sinned, and an angel is sent to tell Joseph not to divorce her.Mary has become pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit and will bear One who will “save his people from their sins” (vv. 20–21). This Jesus, John Calvin tells us, delivers His people in two moves. “Having made a complete atonement, he brings us a free pardon, which delivers us from condemnation to death, and reconciles us to God. Again, by the sanctifying inuences of his Spirit, he frees us from the tyranny of Satan, that we may live ‘unto righteousness’ (1 Peter 2:24).”
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In mercy, Joseph did not call for the Law’s harshest penalties on the wife he thought unfaithful (Deut. 22:13–21). Depending on the offense and its circumstances, while the church is always called to discipline, it is not always required to exact the harshest penalty. Applying God’s Word rightly involves much prayer. Matthew Henry wrote: “Were there more of deliberation in our censures and judgments, there would be more of a mercy and moderation in them.”
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
LAMENTATIoNS3:58 HoSEA 13:4 LUkE 1:26–38, 46–56 HEBrEWS 1:1–4 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
GENESIS 17–19 MATTHEW 7
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:
ian MattHeW 1:22 –25
“This took place to fulll what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name ‘Immanuel’” (vv. 22–23).
tsd January
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iberals have long scrutinized Matthew 1:22–23 and the passage it quotes, Isaiah 7:14, leading them to deny the virgin birth. They say that since Isaiah uses almah, a Hebrew term literally translated as “maiden,” he is not afrming the virgin birth. This argument has no merit, for almah almost always refers to a young woman who is also a virgin. Also, the Septuagint, an ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, understands that Isaiah is talking about a virg in as it renders almah with parthenos, the normal Greek word for “virgin.” We wholeheartedly afrm the virgin birth of Jesus based on today’s passage and Luke 1:26–38. But let us note that Matthew may not be reading Isaiah as has been often supposed. When we look at the word “fulll” in Matthew 1:22–23, we tend to think Isaiah saw into the future and made a prediction that could only come true for Mary. However, Isaiah 7:14 would then have no meaning to its srcinal readers, Israelites living centuries before Jesus. The context of Isaiah 7:14 explains why Matthew cites this verse. When Ahaz reigned in Judah, Syria and Israel threatened to invade Judah if he would not join them against the Assyrian empire (v. 1). Yet this threat actually tempted Ahaz to seek aid from Assy ria against these foes. God promised him protection if he did not join with Assyria, telling the king to ask for a sign to conrm His pledge (vv. 2–11). But Ahaz did not trust the Lord and would not ask for a sign. God gave Ahaz a sign anyway — a sign of cursing, not blessing! A child’s birth would signify that God would use Assyria to judge faithless Judah (vv. 12–25). By natural means, Isaiah and his wife — formerly the virgin maiden — would produce Maher-shalal-hash-baz (8:1–4), a sign of God’s curse on those who trusted in an alliance with Assyria. (vv. 5–22). And as the prophet warned, Ahaz would be humiliated in his deal with the Assyrian Empire (2 Chron. 28). If this curse foretold by Isaiah came to pass, how can we escape the curse if we do not trust God when the sign is the very Son of God, born of a virgin? Just as Isaiah’s son signied a curse on Judah’s unbelief, so too does Jesus’ miraculous birth sig nify disaster for those who do not submit to God’s royal Son.
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Livin FOR FURTHER STUDY:
ISAIAH 11:1–10 MATTHEW 17:1–5 LUkE 2:22–34 joHN 5:30–47 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
:
GENESIS 20–22
g before t
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The fulfillment of prophecy in Jesus can only be understood if we first understand the meaning and application of the prophetic word for its srcinal audience. In this case, Jesus fulfills or “fills up” the word of Isaiah because He, as a Son brought forth by extraordinary means, is the sign of a greater curse or blessing depending on how we respond to the Gospel. Let us follow Him alone as Savior and Lord so that we may receive the greater blessing.
MATTHEW 8 tabletalk
January2008
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“Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him” (v. 2). MattHeW 2:1–6
oon after the sign of God’s blessing or curse is born (Matt. 1:22–25), another sign appears to tell the world the Messiah has come. “Wise men from the east” come to Jerusalem because they have seen a great star in the heavens, a portent that to them signies the birth of the king of the Jews (Matt. 2:1–2). These magi must think this birth is good news, for they want to nd and honor Him. However, there are some who do not rejoice when the magi come calling. In today’s passage we read of Herod the king who is troubled by the rumors that a new king has been born (v. 3). It is the year 4 B.C. or so, and Herod, known as “Herod the Great” by historians, is serving as the client ruler over Romancontrolled Palestine. A skilled politician and capable ruler who loves power, he holds this position because he has wrangled himself into the good graces of Rome and not because his Jewish subjects want him on the throne. In fact, despite his monumental restoration of the Temple, he is detested by the populace largely due to his oppressive taxation. The fact that he also descends on his father’s side from Edom, the ancient enemy of Israel, does not help matters. Herod constantly fears the loss of his authority, and thus, for him, the birth of a new king is not a happy occasion. Herod moves immediately to determine where this child might be, and he turns for this information to the chief priests (the high priest, former high priests, and other priests of note) and the scribes (lawyers skilled in the Mosaic law and the oral traditions, v. 4). The Messiah’s birthplace is easily located; according to the Scriptures it must be in the city of Bethlehem (vv. 5–6). A paraphrase of Micah 5:2 and 2 Samuel 5:2 is the proof-text for this location cited to the king. As King David’s hometown (1 Sam. 16:1–13), Bethlehem is the tting place for his greater Son’s entry into the world. Note especially the differing reactions to the Christ child’s birth. Foreigners to the covenant with Israel are those most excited to see the Messiah, but Herod, one who has blood ties to this covenant, refuses to receive him gladly. This irony will be oft-repeated during the life of Jesus (Matt. 27:41–43, 54).
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The wise men are likely from Babylon and have had to take a long and arduous journey to find Jesus. Matthew Henry draws this application from this event: “Those who truly desire to know Christ, and find him, will not regard pains or perils in seeking after him.” What has it cost you to follow Jesus? Consider whether your devotion has cost you friends, family, income, or reputation, and if not, consider how eagerly you seek after Him.
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
rUTH 4 2 CHroNICLES 10 MATTHEW 19:16–30 joHN 7:42 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
GENESIS 23–24 MATTHEW 9
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:
t w mn Rjc
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MattHeW 2:7–10 “When
they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy” (v. 10).
10
resent among the gurines in the nativity crèches found everywhere at Christmastime are usually three regal men bearing gifts. As we know, these kings are supposed to represent the wise men. Unfortunately, this depiction of the wise men takes liberties with the text. Matthew never tells us how many wise men come to see the Messiah. The tradition of three wise men probably comes from the three different gifts mentioned in Matthew 2:11. Moreover, the rst gospel does not say the magi are kings. This idea goes back to the church father Tertullian (around 200 A.d.) and is likely due to his reading of passages like Psalm 68:31 and Isaiah 49:7. Who, then, are the wise men? Precise identication is difcult, but we do know they are “from the east” of Judea (Matt. 2:1). Persia, Babylon, and Arabia are all possible countries of srcin, with Babylon the likeliest option since contact with its large Jewish community would have prompted the magi to come looking for a king in Jerusalem. The Greek term for “magi” (magoi) refers to a group interested in predicting the future via dream interpretation, magic, and other methods, such as astrology, which explains their interest in the star. Apparently the star at rst directs them only to Palestine, and they go to Jerusalem to nd the child because the capital city is a logical rst place to start searching for a newborn king. Herod calls the wise men to his court in today’s passage and then sends them out to nd the baby. We know that his desire to worship the Christ is a lie (vv. 7–8, 16), but the magi are ignorant of Herod’s machinations, and they go forth in search of the child. After seeing Herod, the star leads them to where the child is living (v. 9). This prompts exceedingly great rejoicing (v. 10); seeing the star has conrmed their mission. The wise men and their mission are highly signicant. God promised Israel that their restoration and redemption after exile would be accompanied by an inux of Gentile nations into the covenant community (Isa. 11:10). Though motivated partly by superstition, the wise men are the rst Gentiles to seek out Jesus, and they serve to demonstrate that God fullls all His promises.
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Livin FOR FURTHER STUDY:
PSALM 72 ISAIAH 60:1–7 joHN 5:19–24 rEvELATIoN 4 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
:
GENESIS 25–26
g before th
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CORAMDEO
The Father will ensure that His Son will be glorified despite all obstacles (John 12:23). Mary has been forced to give birth to the Messiah in a less than ideal setting (Luke 2:7). Herod, who lives under the Lord’s covenant, is trying to kill Him (Matt. 2:16). Yet God has led foreigners to His promises to bow before His appointed king (vv. 1–12). Will we be like Herod and fail to glorify the Son with our lives, thereby provoking the Father to raise up others in our place?
MATTHEW 10:1–25 tabletalk
January2008
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tr G r kng
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MattHeW 2:11–12 “Opening
their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh” (v. 11b).
esterday we noted the historical inaccuracies regarding the magi found in Christmas crèches, but we failed to include among these errors their presence at the manger in most nativity scenes. Thewise men do not gather with the shepherds only hours after Jesus’ birth; they visit months or even years later. Today’s passage makes the case for a later visit of the magi. When the wise men nd the Christ child in Bethlehem, He and His family are living in a house and are no longer staying in the stable (Matt. 2:11; Luke 2:1–20). Also, the magi rst saw the star announcing the King’s birth while they were in their own land (Matt. 2:1–2) and have made a long journey from the east to Judea. Therefore, a visit soon after Jesus’ birth is impossible. Finally, when he issues the order to slaughter the Messiah, Herod has all the males in Bethlehem “two years old or under” killed according to the timing of the star he has ascertained from the wise men (v. 16; see also v. 7). Apparently, there is at most a two-year window between the birth of Jesus and the adoration of the magi. As soon as the wise men arrive at their destination, they worship the king and give Him gifts (v. 11). Interpreters throughout the ages have typically viewed the gif ts symbolically. Gold represents royalty and the Messiah’s reign. Frankincense, a glittery, fragrant gum from different Near Eastern trees, is useful in worship (Ex. 30:1–10) and symbolizes Jesus’ deity. Myrrh, a scented resin obtained from Arabia and Greece, is an embalming spice (John 19:39–40) and points to our Lord’s death. This reading of the text is insightful, but the wise men probably do not have such things specically in mind when they present their costly gifts. In any case, these presents are resources that can potentially nance Joseph and Mary’s later sojourn in Egypt (Matt. 2:13–15). Questions of illegitimacy attend Jesus’ birth (1:18–19), but as one scholar tells us, the magi’s visit proves He is Israel’s legitimate king. God often does the unexpected and uses what men consider foolish or illegitimate to reveal His wisdom to the world (1 Cor. 1:18–25). May we remember this principle and never make ourselves look respectable to the world atthe expense of the Gospel.
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If our Lord at times seems “crazy” or “foolish” to the world because of His life and message (Mark 3:20–21), we can expect the world to feel the same about us when we are true to Him. Unfortunately, too many Christians miss this point and adopt positions or techniques that they believe will make Jesus “more attractive” to the unbeliever. Who or what in your life is pressuring you to “change” the Savior and His message? Pray that you would be faithful to Him.
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
HoSEA 2:14–23 1 CorINTHIANS 4 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR : GENESIS 27–28 MATTHEW 10:26–42 FOR THE WEEKEND GENESIS 29–33
MATTHEW 11 36
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:
foRtheweekeNd
o f J A N uA
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– 1 3
J ’ fa y t r BY
Joel
R. Beek
e
Genealogies are hardly spellbinding. Perhaps, like me, you are tempted to skip them in your Bible reading. Yet genealogies are a significant part of God’s infallible Scriptures. They, too, are “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for cor-
rection, for instruction in r ighteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16 kjv and hereafter). Matthew’s genealogy is a family tree of Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God incarnated as the Son of Man. Matthew wrote his gospel primarily to the Jews. Strictly speaking, the purpose of this genealogy is to prove to Jewish readers that Jesus of Nazareth as the seed of Abraham and the son of David was the longawaited Messiah. The genealogy further teaches us that Christ entered the stream of humanity for all people — Jews and Gentiles alike. The Creator became incarnate. He fully took on esh, made Himself of no reputation, and humbled Himself, submitting to the death of the cross (Phil. 2:7–8). The mystery is that He took on human esh and human nature and yet did not sin.
As a covenant document, Matthew’s genealogy reveals the faithfulness of God in keeping His promises from generation to generation to Abraham and his seed, to Judah and his tribe, to David and his house, to the Hebrews bowed down under the yoke of bondage in Egypt, to the children of Israel dwelling in the land of promise, to the Jews languishing in captivity, and even to sinners of the Gentiles by nature. Likewise, it reveals God’s mercy “unto all, and upon all them that believe,” no matter how weak their faith may have been, or how greatly they have sinned against God, or how late in time they came to repentance and faith. A study of all the names in this genealogy conrms the Gospel promise that “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21). tabletalk
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Depravity is clearly evident in the genealogy of Matthew 1. Christ’s forefathers were deeply fallen descendants of Adam. If the genealogy listed only such heroes of faith as Abraham or King Asa, we might say, “What a noble ancestry!” But the genealogy of Jesus also includes Judah and Tamar, Rahab the harlot, David and Bathsheba, Joram and Manasseh. The Holy Spirit wants us to know that Jesus’ family history includes wicked men, prostitutes, and other notorious sinners. The sinless Lord of glory was willing to descend from notably sinf ul forebears. The Holy Spirit inspired Matthew to include Judah, Tamar, Rahab, Bathsheba, and Manasseh in Jesus’ genealogy. He could have left their names out. After all, this list is not complete; several names, including at least three kings, a re missing. The undesirables in Jesus’ ancestry are included to show us that no sinner is beyond the saving reach of Jesus. Matthew records that, by divine command, His name was to be called Jesus — a contraction of “Jehovah saves” — “for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). We learn from Jesus’ genealogy, virgin birth, and saving name that He is able and willing to save sinners. All of us, without exception, are depraved, corrupt, and full of wickedness. When the Spirit opens our eyes to this, we will confess, “I am no better than Rahab or Manasseh.” We are all sons of fallen Adam — and heirs of corruption. Christ’s genealogical register is a record of our guilt, our shame, our lost state, our srcin, our humiliation. It raises the question, who can break the terrible cycle of 38
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sin? “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom. 7:24). Thanks be to God, Jesus broke the repeating cycle of human sin by identifying with and saving wretched sinners like us. Jesus is not ashamed to have Rahab or Manasseh or any other sinners in His family tree. Likewise, He is not ashamed to receive us into family. of love He rescues us,His makes usOut holy and acceptable in God’s sight, renews and tran sforms us, and will never let us fall away again and be lost to Him. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). Christ became like us in all things but sin. His name is Immanuel, “God with us” (Matt. 1:23). He was and is God the Son from eternity past, at every point in His earthly ministry, and unto eternity future. He was God even as He hung on the accursed cross and was broken as our substitute and atoning sacrice. Having taken our sins upon Himself, He became a curse for us, and endured our punishment, so He is God for us. Having taken our nature upon Himself and having lived in the world as we must live, tempted at all points as we are, He is God with us. He understands and knows us; He humbled Himself so completely that He became both our Savior and our elder brother. Graciously He offers Himself to us and asks of us no more than that we believe in Him and seek Him with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. D. Jo r. b is pso of Hi g nhds rfom d Coggio d psid d pofsso of ssmic hoog d homiics Pi rfomd thoog ic Smi i Gd rpids, Michig.
tr ir a “This was to fulll what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son’” (v. 15b).
MattHeW 2:13–15
Mod January
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cripture is clear that God is the architect of history. Time does not march forward by means of chance, nor is it an endless, repetitive cycle. Instead, history’s ow is linear and marches toward a goal. History at times can seem to repeat itself, but even such instances are ordained by the Lord for His purposes. Consider Joseph, adopted father of the Christ. Like his namesake, a notable old covenant saint, he receives dreams from heaven (Gen. 37:5–11; Matt. 1:20). Moreover, the rst Joseph took his clan to Egypt to save their lives (Gen. 45–46) just as t he second Joseph goes there to keep his family safe (Matt. 2:13–15a). This tie between the history of Jacob’s sons (the Israelites) and the history of Jesus is the key to interpreting today’s passage rightly. The evangelist writes that Jesus’ ight into the land of the Nile and return to Palestine fullls a prophecy recorded in Hosea 11:1 (Matt. 2:15b). What, then, does he mean? Remember that the fulllment of biblical prophecy is more than just one-toone correspondence between prediction and realization. Hosea, in the passage Matthew cites, was not even predicting anything. The nation of Israel is God’s son in Hosea 11, which retells the nation’s history from exodus (v. 1) to idolatry (vv. 2–4) to exile (vv. 5–7), and nally to deliverance from its sin and enemies (vv. 8–11). Matthew surely knows this to be the case and is not twisting the Old Testament passage to make it about Jesus as opposed to the Israelites. “Fulll” means to “ll up to overowing.” A later person or event fullls a prior person or event when what is later lls up, or completes the purpose of what came earlier. In this fulllment, the later person or event engulfs what came before and becomes its truest and fullest expression. Our Creator redeemed His son Israel from Egypt to be His light to the world (Isa. 42:6), but this son failed to complete his mission. Jesus also ees to Egypt and then returns, showing us that our Savior recapitulates, or repeats, the story of Israel and is a second opportunity for the Father’s intent to be realized. He is the true Israel, the true Son of God who will endure what His people endured and yet will be faithful to His Father and accomplish His purpose for the nation.
S
Livin FOR FURTHER STUDY:
EXodUS 4:22 EZEkIEL 21:1–17 joHN 14:1–14 rEvELATIoN 21:5–7 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
:
GENESIS 34–35
g before th
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Our sovereign Lord has ordered history to accomplish His purposes and bring His plan for His people to pass. Even when His people failed, the Father sent Jesus so that He might live out the design God has for them. Christ’s success where we have failed is reckoned to our account when we trust in Him, and we are therefore called to imitate His faithfulness. Pray that you will succeed where you failed in the past when you have the opportunity to do so.
MATTHEW 12 tabletalk
January2008
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t en ex
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“A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more” (v. 18). MattHeW 2:16–18
pproximately one million Jews live in Egypt under Roman rule, making it an excellent place for Jesus’ family to hide during Herod’s reign (Matt. 2:13– 15). This sanctuary is necessary, the angel has told Joseph, because of Herod’s desire to kill the Christ child. He does not want to bend his knee to the Messiah, despite what he has said to the magi (v. 8). Unfortunately, Matthew Henry comments, “the greatest wickedness often conceals itself under a mask of piety. ” Today’s passage describes Herod’s attempt to eliminate the One who has legitimate claim to his throne. In order to cover all of his bases and ensure that Jesus is eliminated, Herod orders the slaughter of every boy ages two and younger in Bethlehem and its surrounding region (v. 16). Herod derives this age span by adding the time since the star’s rst appearance (and hence, Jesus’ birth, v. 7) and a window of a few extra months. Bethlehem’s population is small, and twenty or fewer children are killed under Herod’s purge. This horrible act is in line with the same cruelty and paranoia that drove the evil king to kill a brother-in-law, wife, and three sons when he thought they might take his throne. Herod will also arrange to have the most beloved men in Palestine killed after he dies to guarantee that someone will mourn at the time of his death, though this order will not be carried out. As with Jesus’ ight into Egypt, Herod’s killing of Bethlehem’s toddlers fullls prophecy. Matthew 2:18 quotes from Jeremiah 31:15, a passage describing how the mothers of Israel (personied here in Rachel, matriarch of the nation) mourned when their children, the tribes of Israel, were carried into exile. However, the rest of Jeremiah’s chapter is hopeful, predicting a day when God will rescue His people from exile and inaugurate a new covenant. In quoting this passage, Matthew tells us two things. First, in Matthew’s day the people are still enduring the suffering of exile even though they are living in their own land. Second, this exile will end with Jesus. The tears of Bethlehem’s mothers over their murdered children ll up and end the suffering of exile because the One who will bring in the new covenant has arrived.
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Herod is one example of all those who have tried to destroy the Christ and His people. Though this evil king did much harm, he was in the end unable to thwart the plans of the Father for His Son. We too can be sure that even when the church suffers persecution at home and abroad, God’s kingdom will never be overcome. Pray today for believers who are suffering for their faith that they will remember the Lord’s victory and stand firm for His Gospel.
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
EXodUS 1:8–22 1 SAMUEL 18:6–16 oBAdIAH 10–18 rEvELATIoN 12 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
:
GENESIS 36–37 MATTHEW 13:1–23
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RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
Books by
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A Grief Observed BY C.S. LEWIS The death of C.S. Lewis’ wife, Joy Gresham, not long after the two were married provoked a struggle with profound doubts and the problem of evil. This book is Lewis’ reflection on this dark period. It deals honestly with the difficult questions raised by suffering and confronts the anger and heart-break we feel when we experience a great loss. A Grief Observed helps us see how such times can be used of the Lord to lead us into Christlike maturity. GRI01BP
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t mv Na zar “He went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fullled: ‘He shall be called a Nazarene’” (v. 23).
MattHeW 2:19–2
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6
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s we nish our study of Matthew 2, note how the evangelist has taught us about God’s providence. First, we should see that Herod’s hatred of Jesus and slaughter of the young boys in Bethlehem (vv. 16–18) parallel Pharaoh’s attempt to kill Moses (Ex. 1:8–2:10). Moses was the mediator of the old covenant, and in ordaining the circumstances of the birth of Christ to be so similar to Moses’ birth, our Father has prepared His people to receive Jesus as a new and greater Moses, the mediator of a new and better covenant (Heb. 7:22). Secondly, the dreams of warning that Joseph and the magi experience (Matt. 2:12–13, 19–20, 22) show that God has sovereignly overruled man’s attempt to destroy His Son. Herod’s attempt to kill Jesus has been unsuccessful. In fact, it is Herod who dies (in 4B.C., dating the Savior’s birth therefore between 6 and 4 B.C.), enabling Joseph and his family to return to Palestine (v. 21). After learning that Archelaus is ruling in Judea, Joseph takes Jesus and Mary to Nazareth in Galilee (v. 22). This is wise, for Archelaus can be as ruthless as his father Herod and might very well be a threat to Jesus. Matthew tells us the move to Nazareth fullls prophecy, and yet verse 23 does not quote the Old Testament directly. The use of “prophets” and not “prophet” helps explains why this is so. Jerome, a famous biblical scholar from the early church, said Matthew, “in speaking of the prophets in general…has shown that he has not taken the specic words but rather the sense from the Scriptures” (Commentary on Matthew 1.2.23). The evangelist is giving us a general teaching about the Messiah found throughout the Old Testament. In Jesus’ day, Nazareth is considered a backwater village from which nothing good can come (John 1:46). To be from Nazareth brings scorn and ridicule, and many people question Jesus’ validity because of His hometown (7:40–44). However, there are many passages in Scripture that tell us the Messiah will be despised and aficted (Isa. 53:1–3; Dan. 9:26a). Many would nd reason for hating our Savior once they learn He is a Nazarene, and so in settling in Nazareth, Jesus begins to fulll His work as Messiah.
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PSALM 69:6–8 ISAIAH 49:7 MATTHEW 27:15–23 1 PETEr 2:4–8 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
:
GENESIS 38–40
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CORAMDEO
Understanding how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament means that we have to look at more than just isolated verses and proof-texts. A s Matthew 2:23 indicates, the apostles teach that Jesus fulfills the broad themes, ideas, and stories found throughout the Old Testament. If we are to understand the vocation Jesus fulfills, we must be well-versed in the Old Testament. Take time this week to study the Old Testament sacrificial system or the exile.
MATTHEW 13:24–58 tabletalk
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“This is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight’” (v. 3). MattHe W 3:1–3
1
ollowing Christ’s move to Galilee, Matthew does not give any further details of Jesus’ childhood. Instead, he picks up the story of his gospel three decades after Jesus returns from Egypt, as we learn elsewhere that He is about thirty when He begins His ministry (Luke 3:23). The events of Matthew 3 take place around A.d. 27, and Joseph has probably already passed on, as none of the other gospels mention him during Jesus’ adult life. In all likelihood, Joseph has been gone for awhile, with the responsibility to support the family resting on Jesus and His brothers, that is, until His itinerant preaching begins. Today’s passage depicts John the Baptist’s ministry in the “wilderness of Judea” (v. 1), a region covering the Jordan valley just north and west of the Dead Sea. His message is well-received by the Jews in Palestine, and crowds from all of Judea receive his baptism (vv. 5–6). Importantly, in John’s day the voice of prophecy has been silent for 400 years according to various extra-canonical writings. When John ministers in the wilderness wearing camel’s hair, the people associate him with Elijah, who acted similarly (1 Kings 19; 2 Kings 1:7–8), and consider John a prophet(Matt. 21:23–27). Through John the people realize that God is speaking to them again. In 3:3, Matthew again says prophecy is fullled at the coming of Jesus and cites Isaiah 40:3. The meaning of this passage for Isaiah’s srcinal audience shows us how John fullls it. Isaiah 40 is about the restoration promised to the exiled Israelites after they repent. A highway for God will be built, and the people will travel back to their land in glory (v. 3). The exiles longed for this day, but the promise of glory did not occur when they returned to Palestine, for the nation as a whole did not repent. In a real sense, life in exile away from the Lord’s blessing continued even though many of the people had returned. John is the ultimate realization of Isaiah 40:3 because he sets the stage for the Lord’s favor to come to the exiles. Jesus is the way through which God’s blessing comes to His people (John 14:6), and in heralding His coming, John is the road that leads the nation to blessing and thus to God in Christ.
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John the Baptist was the primary herald of Christ in his day, but the task of bearing witness to the Savior was not laid solely upon him. Jesus Himself commissioned first the apostles, and secondly, the entire church to testify to the grace of God manifest in His life, death, and resurrection. Our witness will only be effective if, as with John, the surrounding culture sees that the church is different. Is your manner of life different than that of an unbeliever’s?
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
dEUT. 30:1–10 MALACHI 4:5 LUkE 3:1–6 1 TIMoTHY 2:5 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
:
GENESIS 41 MATTHEW 14:1–21
46
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Jn ’ m ag an Bap “Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins” (vv. 5–6). MattHeW 3:4–6
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ohn the Baptist heralds the king and His kingdom. Today, we will look at notions of the kingdom current in his day and the baptism John administers in preparation for its coming. According to Matthew, John says that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (v. 2). Of note is the phrase “the kingdom of heaven,” the preferred name for the kingdom in the rst gospel. In a few instances, Matthew uses “the kingdom of God,” which is favored in the other Gospels. These phrases are synonymous, and Matthew’s use of heaven is probably nothing more than a stylistic variance — a decision to use a different word that gives a slightly different emphasis. In this case, heaven points us to a kingdom not of this world. The ancient Jews knew God was sovereign over all creation even if many did not submit to Him (Jer. 10:6–10). The kingdom of heaven refers not to the reality of this reign, but to its universal acknowledgment, especially as administered through God’s chosen regent. Beginning with Abraham, who was promised kings as sons (Gen. 17:5–6), Scripture looks to the day in which all nations bow to Yahweh and willingly serve the Son of David, through whom the Lord exercises His dominion most visibly (Amos 9:11–15; Zech. 14:16). Different ideas as to how the kingdom will come are present in Judaism in the rst century A.d. One popular view longs for a Messiah who will be a military ruler, thereby kicking Rome out of the Promised Land and setting Israel over all the nations. Though John the Baptist knows the kingdom is at hand, it seems he is unclear as to the exact manner in which it will come (Matt. 11:1–19). However, John does understand that the Jews in his day are not ready for the kingdom. In the rst century, Gentile “sinners” are washed with water when they convert to Judaism, but Jews are rarely, if ever, baptized for the confession and forgiveness of sins (3:5–6). As John preaches in Judea, he calls upon even the covenant people of God to repent of their transgressions. He understands their lack of contrition is causing their troubles and knows that being a Jew outwardly is not enough to secure for oneself a place in the kingdom (vv. 7–10). Needless to say, John’s message is unpopular with those who nd security in their ethnicity.
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PSALM 103:19 jAMES 5:7–11 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR : GENESIS 42–43 MATTHEW 14:22–36 FOR THE WEEKEND : GENESIS 44–49
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CORAMDEO
We will talk about the kingdom and its coming over the course of our study this year. For now, note that God’s kingdom did not come with military force, as was popularly expected, but in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Though foretold by the prophets, many people missed this truth. Today, many churches expect the kingdom to come through programs, cultural savv y, and political legislation. May we never believe this falsehood.
MATTHEW 15:1–28 tabletalk
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the historica l data we have con cerning the ea rly childhood of Jesus. And since the wr
iters of the Gospels were masters
of brevity and understatement, Matthew 2 fairly bristles
with questions we long to have answered. Among them we’d like to know more about the wise men, the star they saw, and how they connected it to the one who was born king of the Jews. Obviously, if the Holy Spirit had wanted us to have more information, He would have guided Matthew to include it. So rather than being distracted by unanswered questions, we should look for the main purpose of the passage. What does the Holy Spirit want us to learn? First, Jesus was sent, not only to be king of the Jews but also of the Gentiles. The wise men were prestigious and wealthy members of their Gentile society, so it was tting that our Lord’s birth would be announced to them as king of the Jews. This announcement anticipated the glorious day when 48
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the great commission to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19) would be fullled and “all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you” (Ps. 22:27). To the Gentiles He is announced as king and to the shepherds as Savior. Perhaps this was God’s way of announcing that Jesus was sent to be both Savior and king to both Jews and Gentiles, and to all levels of society from the lowest to the greatest. But before the throne there would be the cross. And before the cross there would be a lifetime of suffering and humiliation. The wise men who worshiped Jesus had no sooner left than Joseph, Mary, and Jesus had to ee to Egypt to escape the sword of Herod. And when they did return to
Israel, the town of Bethlehem was still not safe, forcing them to return to the city of Nazareth. So, instead of being known as a child of the royal city of King David’s Bethlehem, Jesus grew up to be known as a Nazarene. Being called a Nazarene was not just a means of geographical identication, such as being called a New Englander. It was actually a demeaning term since Nazareth apparently had a bad reputation as evidenced by Nathaniel’s sincere question: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). Being called a Nazarene then was like saying he came from “the other side of the tracks.” Thus, Isaiah’s prophecy that “he was despised and rejected by men…he was despised and we esteemed him not” (Isa. 53:3) began to be fullled even in His childhood. Matthew records four specic incidents from the early childhood of Jesus, and he is careful to point out that all four incidents — the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the ight of the family to Egypt, the killing of the small boys and the nal settlement of the family in Nazareth — occurred in fulllment of prophetic utterances (see Matt. 2:5–6, 15–17, 23). Though Matthew’s purpose at the time was to prove that Jesus was the fulllment of Old Testament expectations concerning the Messiah, these prophecies should also give us condence in God’s prophetic promises about events yet to unfold, such as the return of Christ, the resurrection, and the ushering in of the new heavens and the new earth. What God has predicted prophetically, He will certainly bring to pass in His t ime.
The details of the actual fulllment of the four prophecies concerning Jesus would have surprised us all. Who would have imagined that Joseph and Mary would journey all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem in response to a Roman decree so that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem — not Who Nazareth he was conceived? wouldwhere have guessed that Hosea 11:1, which referred srcinally to the exodus from Egypt, would have a further fulllment in the life of Jesus? Or that Jeremiah 31:15 written at the time of the Babylonian exile would be fullled in the kil ling of the small boys of Bethlehem. Who could have predicted the events that caused Joseph nally to settle in Nazareth in fulllment of Scripture? So let us hold our various views of end time events with humility. That those events will occur is something we can be certain of. But our views as to how those events will unfold are, for the most part, only speculation. So let’s hold our views with humility and practice love and acceptance toward those who hold other views. A good rule for us all would be to focus not on the more speculative parts of the Bible such as unanswered questions and unfullled prophecy, but on that which is clearly taught — that Christ is both Savior and king. As Savior He was despised and rejected and crucied for our sins, and as king He is to rule in each of our lives as both Savior and Lord. D. J bidg s is ho d sp, s w s p-im sf f mm wih th nvigos i Coodo Spigs, Coodo.
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MattHeW 3:7–10 “
But when he saw many of the Phariseesand Sadducees coming for the baptism,he said to them,‘...Who warned you to ee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance’” (vv. 7–8).
fter centuries of silence, the covenant Lord spoke to His peop le again through John the Baptist. Beginning around 27A.d., John prepared the way for the Messiah to inaugurate God’s kingdom, calling Israel to repentance because the nation as a whole had not shown contrition for the sins that led to exile from Palestine. In John’s day, the people were not ready for the kingdom to come. John’s call is laid on all of us throughout the Bible. “Repentance” is the English translation of the Greek term metanoia, which literally means “change of mind.” Repentance expresses sorrow for the ways in which we have offended God (Ps. 51:4), but it is also much more. Repentance is a change of mind and actions wherein we cease our approval of wickedness and justication of bad behavior. It is foremost a decisive reorientation of one’s life away from the self and toward the Lord. This does not mean we repent only once at the start of the Christian life and then go our merry way, for confession of sin is needed until life’s end (1 John 1:8–9). But this subsequent repentance ows from and conrms the initial act wherein we realize our desperate state, admit our need of pardon, and come to Jesus in a childlike manner (Matt. 19:13–15). John Calvin comments on today’s passage, saying, “Repentance is an inward matter, which has its seat in the heart and soul, but afterwards yields its fruits in a change of life.” It is not enough to profess sorrow for transgression; we have not truly turned from sin if our lives are unchanged (Isa. 29:13–14; James 2:14–26). Scripture does not teach that sinless perfection is possible before we are gloried, nor does it deny that some sins are harder to overcome than others. What it does say is that those who are truly repentant do what they can to “resist the devil” (James 4:7) and ee temptation. They also look for others to help them bear their burdens, to hold them accountable and help them nd strength when they are weak (Gal. 6:1–2). The truly repentant lapse into sin on occasion, but they always return to the nar row path of righteousness. True converts will not nd their assurance in denominational membership (Matt. 3:9–10) or in a past act of devotion. They nd it in a justied life of repentance and faith.
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One of the more neglected tools that can help us grow in our holiness is the confession of sins one to another (James 5:16). It can be difficult to admit to other people that we have sinned, but loving brothers and sisters in Christ can help assure us of His forgiveness and help us overcome persistent temptations. Without being involved in the lives of other believers we will not find these opportunities. Take the initiative and be a part of the lives of other Christians.
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
2 CHroNICLES 7:14 EZrA 9:1–10:4 2 CorINTHIANS 7:10 rEvELATIoN 2:1–7 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
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GEN. 50–EXodUS 1 MATTHEW 15:29–16:4
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MattHeW 3:11–12 “I
baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I…. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with re” (v. 11)
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ohn Calvin looked to John the Baptist’s condemnation of the Pharisees and Sadducees as an example of how the church should deal with those especially hard in heart. He comments on Matthew 3:7–10 that “those whose habits of uttering falsehood to God, and of deceiving themselves, lead them to hold out hypocrisy and pretension, instead of the reality, ought to be urged, with greater sharpness than other men, to true repentance.” At times only strong confrontation will rescue the soul of a professing believer who has grown complacent and presumed upon the Lord’s grace (18:15–20; James 5:19–20). Matthew 3:7–10 is clear that the Sadducees and Pharisees needed such upbraiding. These Jewish leaders during the Lord’s earthly ministry were often at odds because of their conicting theological opinions. The party of the Sadducees was a kind of priestly aristocracy not against conforming to Roman customs and law. They also denied the bodily resurrection of God’s people, but the idea that they accepted only the ve books of Moses as Scripture is probably mistaken. Like the Pharisees, they submitted to the entire Old Testament. On the other hand, the Pharisees added the oral law — traditions that people followed as a guide to the Torah, that is, the Scriptures. The Pharisees were not priests but scholars who afrmed the resurrection and were popular with the people. Despite their disagreements, both groups united against John and later, Jesus. After all, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Both groups had seats on the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jews, and many of them apparently felt that Abrahamic descent guaranteed them a place in the kingdom (v. 9). It is one thing to reject John the Baptist, but quite another to deny the One whom he precedes. John promises in today’s passage that the Messiah will baptize not just with water but with the Spirit and re (v. 11), an image with double meaning. The long awaited ame of the Holy Spirit will purify the soul and eventually remove all corruption from those who submit to the Son of David (Isa. 1:24–26). But those who continue in their rejection of this king will nd only a ery destruction (Isa. 66:15–16; Matt. 3:12).
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dEUT. 4:32–40 joEL 2:28–32 LUkE 3:15–17 ACTS 2:1–13 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
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EXodUS 2–4
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CORAMDEO
The purifying work of the Holy Spirit commences in the believer when he first turns to Christ. Sometimes the Spirit works on us in the fire of adversity, through which the Lord promises to take us for His good purposes (Isa. 43:1–7). When we face trials in our lives we have an opportunity to prove our faith and reliance on God. If you face trouble this day, consider how the Lord may be using it to purify your soul.
MATTHEW 16:5–28 tabletalk tabletalk
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“Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, for thus it is tting for us to fulll all righteousness’” (v.15a). MattHe W 3:13–17
ohn the Baptist has labored to prepare a way for the Messiah (Matt. 3:1–12) and is nally granted an audience with the Christ Himself. In today’s passage, Jesus comes to John for baptism (vv. 13–17). This encounter is not the rst time the two meet. As relatives (Luke 1:26–66), they undoubtedly spent time with each other while growing up. John certainly knows Jesus’ purity, which, along with his prophetic insight into the identity of Jesus, explains his reluctance to baptize Him (Matt. 3:13–14). To baptize Jesus for the same reason John baptizes the people would be wrong, our Lord has no need to repent (1 Peter 2:22). But Jesus is not baptized “with water for repentance” (Matt. 3:11) as His people are. He is baptized to fulll “all righteousness” (v. 15). Dr. R.C. Sproul has said this means that Jesus must obey all of the laws God has given to Israel, including John’s baptism. John Calvin wrote that Christ is baptized to “render full obedience to the Father.” Thus, “to fulll all righteousness” means that Jesus has to obey the overarching saving plans and purposes of God. Thousands of years before Christ’s earthly ministry, the Father called His “son,” the people of Israel, out of Egypt (Hos. 11:1) and gave them His Law to show them the way of life (Lev. 18:5). God punished His son as He promised when Israel failed to be the Lord’s obedient servant (Deut. 28:15–68), but the fullness of His wrath never fell on the people, though they suffered severely for their sins. Isaiah predicted a day when Israel would be God’sservant and pay for transgression (52:13–53:12). Due to our fallenness, our Father knew His people could never themselves be His servant and pay fully for iniquity. So He placed a king over His people to identify with them as their representative and succeed where they failed. In place of Israel, David’s line would be God’s son and servant (Ps. 2:7). Because of sin, no fallen son of David could fulll this vocation. Therefore, Jesus comes as God’s perfect Son and servant. In receiving baptism like they do, He identies Himself with His people. God calls Jesus His Son (Matt. 3:17), showing us that He is accepted as faithful Israel, servant of the Most High.
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In His baptism, our Lord confirmed His willingness to identify with the plight of His people, a willingness first displayed when He became incarnate (see also Heb. 2:14–18). We who live under the new covenant experience the awesome benefit of knowing that God came down to our own level to identify with us and help us in our trials. If you lack strength this day, consider Jesus who is uniquely able to fortify you because He too suffered on this earth.
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
2 SAMUEL 7 PSALM 78:67–72 LUkE 3:21–22 PHILIPPIANS 2:5–11 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
EXodUS 5–6 MATTHEW 17
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in fn t “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law” (v. 4).
GalatIOnS 4:4–5
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ur study this month has dealt mainly with the miraculous birth of the Savior in Bethlehem. This Messiah, we have seen, comes in fulllment of the Old Testament promises. In the interest of looking at the biblical prophecies about Jesus more closely, we will take a short break from Matthew and follow Dr. R.C. Sproul’steaching seriesComing of the Messiahas our guide. Across the United States this day, many college students are sitting under professors hostile to the New Testament. Parallels are often drawn between Greek myths of dying and rising gods and the biblical account as proof that the Scriptures are just another work of mythology. Unfortunately, young people are too often unprepared for this onslaught and begin to doubt the Christian faith. However, as those familiar with ancient literature well know, these similarities are supercial. The Greeks made no real attempt to defend their myths as historical while the Bible grounds itself in real space and time. Luke 2, for example, locates the birth of Jesus during the reign of Caesar Augustus and the governorship of Quirinius, both of whom were real people. The evangelist assumes that we will take his account at face value — that Jesus was a real person who lived in space and time. Scripture is also clear that God became incarnate in the person of Christ Jesus (John 1:14). Ancient Greeks abhorred this idea because they believed the physical body to be corrupt, unlike the spiritual realm. Many other such differences between the Bible and pagan thought could be cited. We must not miss the emphasis Scripture places on history. God’s Word is clear that the events it describes actually occurred, and even tells us our faith is in vain if events like the resurrection of Jesus never happened (1 Cor. 15:14). Yet, Scripture does not give us every detail concerning what happened between the time of Adam and the apostles; it often omits pedantic gures and details (as was common in those days) in order to relay God’s plan of redemption (2 Kings 20:20–21). When time was “full,” when all things were perfectly ready, the most signicant event of all took place — Jesus was born (Gal. 4:4–5). Tomorrow we will begin to study what the Old Testament says about this fullness of time.
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EXodUS 20:16 dEUT. 19:15–21 ProvErBS 6:16–19 LUkE 1:1–4 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
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EXodUS 7–10
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CORAMDEO
College students are not the only ones who face attack s on the historicity of Scripture. Hollywood, the Internet, apologists for other religions, and so on bombard us with assaults on Scripture’s integrity. The Bible is the most vilified book on the planet, and yet its stories are regularly found to be historically reliable. Take time to find some resources on the historicity of Scripture so that you may be able to answer its critics (1 Peter 3:15–16).
MATTHEW 18:1–20 tabletalk
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“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (v. 15). MattHe W 3:14–15
ince the early days of the church, scholars and theologians have found in Genesis the rst announcement of the coming Messiah. Today’s passage gives us what is called the protevangelium— the “rst gospel.” The context of this passage is well-known to most of us. Having thumbed their noses at God by eating the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve nd themselves alienated from their Creator (Gen. 3:1–13). Before He pronounces His righteous judgment upon them, however, the Lord curses the tempter. The serpent will crawl upon the ground and lick the dust. He will bruise the heel of the woman’s offspring or, in other translations, “her seed,” and her seed will bruise the serpent’s head (vv. 14–15). This pronouncement has cosmic signicance. The serpent in this passage is no ordinary reptile, he is Satan, the adversary of God and His people (Rom. 16:20; Rev. 12:9). The Lord pledges to put enmity between the serpent and the woman’s seed (Gen. 3:15). This conict is God-initiated and perpetuated. It has a visible reminder in snakes who lick the dust of defeat, but the one whose head will be bruised — the one who will suffer a crushing blow — is the Devil himself. It is the identity of the woman’s seed that tells us this passage is messianic. Grammatically, “seed” is a collective singular and can refer to a whole group of people. The woman’s seed cannot be every child of Eve because Scripture calls God’s human enemies “the children of the Devil” (John 8:39–47), thereby identifying some people as the serpent’s seed. If the Lord’s enemies are the seed of the serpent, then His friends among mankind must be the victorious woman’s seed. These will suffer bruising from the evil one before bruising his head. God’s people will suffer, but they will win in the end (for example, Ex. 1, 14). However, even the friends of the Almighty cannot defeat Satan themselves. They need a representative to ght on their behalf. We have seen that this One is King Jesus, who as the Son of David defeated Satan on the cross for our sake. He is the seed of the woman par excellence who suffered the worst bruising of all so that He might crush the Devil (Col. 2:13–15).
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Proverbs 21:31 tells us that “the victory belongs to the L ORD.” Jesus defeated death, sin, and the evil one on the cross and now shares with us the benefits of His conquest. No problem of ours is too formidable for the Lord. There is no sin that we cannot overcome if we are in Him. There is no enemy of ours that can finally defeat us. Be encouraged today that our Savior has won a great victory, and, therefore, we who are in Him need not worry about tomorrow.
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
dEUT. 20:1–4 rEvELATIoN 19:11–21 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR : EXodUS 11–12 MATTHEW 18:21–35 FOR THE WEEKEND : EXodUS 13–16
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After four hundred years of prophetic silence, John the Baptist appeared on the scene of redemptive history as the forerunner of Jesus Christ. He came in fulfillment of prophecy and with the spirit of Elijah to be a voice
“crying in the wilderness” calling people to “prepare the way of the Lord” (Matt. 3:3; 11:14; 17:11–12). John preached a very simple and clear message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (3:2). That message was no more popular in his day than it is in ours, yet our need of it is as urgent now as it was then. Repentance has fallen on hard times in many sectors of Christianity in the West. Between Rome’s mischaracterization of it as penance and some Dispensationalists’ denial of its place in Gospel preaching, it is possible to attend church regularly and never hear a biblical message on repentance. That certainly was not the case for those who gathered to hear John preach in the wilderness. Neither was that the experience of those who heard Jesus (Matt. 4:17; Luke
5:32). From the very dawn of the New Testament age, repentance has been an integral part of the Gospel message. The Westminster Shorter Catechism summarizes what the Bible means by repentance: “Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience” (Q. 87). When John preached repentance he was calling his hearers to turn away from sin and to turn toward God in Jesus Christ. With the coming of Christ into the world, He could proclai m with confidence that God’s kingdom is present. In fact, the presence of that kingdom on earth is the reason that John tabletalk
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gives for cal ling people to repent. The kingdom cannot be entered apart from repentance. For while it is correct to speak of salvation through faith alone we must never forget that the faith that saves is, as John Murray put it, “a penitent faith.” Before he ascended into heaven, Jesus declared that his death and resurrection were necessary so that “repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations” (Luke 24:47). The apostles took this to heart and incorporated a call to repent into their preaching. This was the heart of Peter’s admonition at Pentecost (Acts 2:38) as well as when he spoke at Solomon’s porch (Acts 3:19). The evidence that true salvation had come to the Gentiles was that God had granted them “repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18). Paul explained his commission as an apostle to the Gentiles in these very terms. He told Agrippa that, in response to the heavenly vision given to him on the Damascus Road, he began to preach that people should “repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance” (Acts 26:20). At Athens, we nd him doing exactly that to the intellectual elites of his day, declaring that God “commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). Any evangelism that does not include a clear call to repent is not biblical evangelism. Jesus Christ is a great Savior for great sinners, but His salvation is granted only to those who renounce their sins and “tur n from darkness to ligh t and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins” (Acts 26:18). 56
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It is cruel to misrepresent the terms of salvation to people. Yet that is exactly what happens when sinners are encouraged to “accept” Christ without due consideration of the necessity of repentance. That kind of false evangelism results in false conversion, and those who are thus victimized are deceived into thinking that they to canlive haveatChrist while continuing peace with their sin. John would have no part in such spiritual abuse. He loved his Savior too much to edit the message of His salvation. And he loved people too much to trie with their souls when eternity was at stake. So he not only preached repentance, he insisted on it. When religious leaders came to him to be baptized, John spoke very plainly to them, exposing their hypocrisy. “You brood of vipers,” he said, “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matt. 3:7–8). True repentance always bears fruit. (Paul gives us a helpful summary of what such fruit looks like in 2 Corinthians 7:11 — making right the wrong .) That is what repentance is — turning from sin to God with a commitment to pursue a life of obedience to His will. What convinces a sinner to repent? Not only a sense of the sinfulness of his sin, but also the recognition that, because of Christ, God is full of mercy to repentant sinners. The Gospel not only calls us to repent, it sets us free to live in repentance. D. tom asco is pso of Gc bpis Chch i Cp Co, Fo id, d xc iv dico of Fods Miisi s.
A Vrgn sa Cncv
Mod January
ISa IaH 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.
Behold,the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (v. 14).
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oday we return to Isaiah 7:14, a passage we examined several weeks ago because Matthew cites it in the birth narrative of the Savior (1:23). Since Isaiah’s text has inspired so much controversy, we will look at its fulllment again from a slightly different angle in order to understand it better. That Jesus was supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary has always been a dening tenet of Christianity. The virgin birth appears in every major creed and confession, and it sets our Lord apart from all of Israel’s prophets, indeed, from every person that has ever lived. Yet when many church leaders began to embrace the naturalism increasingly prevalent at the beginning of the twentieth century, they repudiated the virgin birth as an essential truth. Even today some believe the virgin birth is impossible even if they accept other aspects of the Christian faith. However, as J. Gresham Machen wrote, picking and choosing which parts of Scripture to believe is the rst step toward a wholesale rejection of orthodoxy. “The overwhelming majority of those who reject the virgin birth reject also the whole supernatural content of the New Testament, and make of the ‘resurrection’ just what the word ‘resurrection’ most emphatically did not mean — a permanence of the inuence of Jesus or a mere spiritual existence of Jesus beyond the grave” (Christianity and Liberalism, p. 108). Our study of Isaiah 7:14 a few weeks ago demonstrated that the passage had been fullled in the time of Isaiah (with the birth of his son), yet it was realized in a greater way in the birth of Jesus, God’s Son. Jesus is thus a sign that God will bless all those who follow Him and curse all those who reject His way. And clearly, the New Testament teaches that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in Mary, who at the time of conception had not yet known a man sexually (Luke 1:34). To reject the virgin birth is to reject God’s testimony and incur His curse. The virgin birth is essential to the Christian faith. It clearly reveals Jesus as the Son of David to whom the prophets looked as the king of God’s supernatural kingdom (Ps. 110; Dan. 7:13–14).
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Livin FOR FURTHER STUDY:
ISAIAH 40:5 ZECHArIAH 12:1–9 GALATIANS 4:1–7 rEvELATIoN 12 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
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EXodUS 17–19
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CORAMDEO
It is important for all of us to grasp and embrace the core doctrines of Christianity. Otherwise, we will be unable to defend the truth delivered to the saints of God (Jude 3). Take some time today to review one of the main summaries of Christian truth such as the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed. Determine which parts of the creeds you can explain well and study the Bible’s teaching on those parts to which you have not devoted much attention.
MATTHEW 19:16–30 tabletalk
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t kng sa C “For to us a child is born…and the government shall be upon his shoulder,and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (v. 6).
ISaI aH 9:6–7
ithout a doubt, King David ushered in a golden age during the old covenant period (1 Chron. 18:14). This humble son of Jesse transformed Israel from a confederacy of tribes into a major power (2 Sam. 5), a remarkable achievement given the size of the country and the threats it faced as a place of strategic importance. He who controlled Palestine, a land bridge connecting Afr ica, Europe, and Asia, controlled commerce in the ancient Near East. During the reign of David’s son Solomon, things began falling apart as the king was led into idolatry (1 Kings 11). Eventually the kingdom was divided in two (12:16–20) and suffered, for the most part, under the reign of incompetent, godless, and foolish rulers. World powers including Assyria, Babylon, and Persia conquered the land and became the de facto kings of Palestine. Understandably, the people longed for a return to the golden age, a return of a king like David who would bring in an era of peace, justice, and security. This longing would be fullled in the Messiah, the “anointed one” (Amos 9:11–15). Today’s passage is a prophecy regarding what was to come after the Assyrian invasion of Israel and Judah. God’s people are told that they will not suffer under judgment forever; He will send a deliverer, aSon of David beyond compare. This child will one day have the government “upon his shoulder” (Isa. 9:6). Anyone in leadership knows what a burden that can be. Good leaders understand the responsibility of taking care of their followers. Yet this child will shoulder this ofce well. He will also be an “Everlasting Father,” an image that tells us the Son of David will not look out for His own interests alone. Rather, like any good father, He will put the needs of His children rst and work for their benet. We have every reason to be condent that He will succeed, for He is also “Wonderful Counselor.” The Hebrew term forcounselor is the same term used of the king’s most trusted advisor. This Son of David has no need for counsel. As wisdom incarnate (1 Cor. 1:24), He is His own advisor. We know this Son of David is Christ Jesus Himself, the “Mighty God,” the warrior who has defeated all the powers of death and hell (Rev. 1:1–18).
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Jesus is the “Prince of Peace” for all those who come to Him on His terms. Sometimes, however, we find that we are not at peace with those who refuse to follow Him. This is because the Prince of Peace bears a sword — love and obedience to Him is unacceptable to those who hate Him, and they will often be hostile to us (Matt. 10:34–39). When this happens, we must hold to the truth and never compromise it for the sake of a peace that cannot last.
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
EXodUS 15:3 1 CHroNICLES 27:32 joHN 1:1–18 HEBrEWS 13:20–21 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
:
EXodUS 20–22 MATTHEW 20:1–16
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A s a tn, a G ra kn g “He shall stand and shepherd his ock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God” (v. 4a).
MICaH 5:1–6
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he nal prophecy we will examine in our brief study of the Old Testament teachings about the Messiah is Micah 5:1–6, a passage cited in part by Matthew in 2:6 of his gospel. A more thorough reading of Micah’s word to Israel than we undertook when we looked at Matthew 2:6 will help us better grasp the signicance of our Savior’s birthplace. As always, we begin with the srcinal context of the prophecy in order to interpret the text rightly. Micah prophesied during the second half of the eighth century and the rst decade of the seventh century B.C., a time of great moral decline in the history of Judah and Israel. The poor were oppressed and some priests were sexually promiscuous. Because of such debauchery , God sent Micah to prosecute the covenant, that is, to convict H is people of their violations. During this period, the people were told that the covenant curses would fall on them, nally culminating in exile to Assyria and Babylon (Lev. 26:27–33; Micah 4:10). However, this was not the prophet’s nal word. Though judgment would fall, Micah in today’s passage says a ruler born in Bethlehem will redeem a faithful remnant (Micah 5:2, 7). As we have already seen, Bethlehem is the city from which David hailed (1 Sam. 16:1–13), which informs us that Micah is talking about a Davidic king. The Messiah will come to lead the people out of exile and back to their land where they will be sheltered from their foes. King Jesus was born in Bethlehem while His people suffered under the hands of occupiers. Aside from being David’s birthplace,Bethlehem in Hebrew means “house of bread,” providing a tting place for the Bread from heaven to become incarnate (John 6:22–59). Micah’s prophesy of the king also speaks of Him having an srcin “from old” and “from ancient days” (5:2). This hints at His divinity, a truth more clearly revealed in the New Testament (John 1:1–18). Bethlehem was tiny and seemingly insignicant (Mic. 5:2). Yet, the Lord chose to reveal His glory and salvation in this village, not a mighty city (Luke 2:1–20). Needless to say, this is right in line with His character. He loves to fulll His purposes through those things man has forsaken (1 Cor. 1:18–31).
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NUMBErS 12:3 ProvErBS 29:23 MATTHEW 11:25–30 1 PETEr 3:8 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
:
EXodUS 23–25
g before th
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CORAMDEO
God’s often uses what the world deems insignificant or unlovely. Across the world, His kingdom is spread by ordinary people who will probably themselves never be famous or remembered in the history books of men. Yet, those who know Christ are remembered by God and are the most significant people of all in His eyes, the only eyes that really matter. Each one of us, famous or not, can be used by the Lord in mighty ways.
MATTHEW 20:17–34 tabletalk
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“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (v. 1). MattHeW 4:1
he Messiah who would defeat the Devil (1 John 3:8b) and bring back God’s people from exile came to Israel around 4 B.C. As the prophets foretol d, Jesus was the Son of David, had a miraculous birth, and was opposed by many of His own brethren (Matt. 1–2). Despite this opposition, Jesus still identied Himself with His people and conrmed His ministry through His baptism (chap. 3). Today, we return to Matthew’s gospel and begin our study of chapter 4, which describes Jesus’ testing in the wilderness. Before we look at His testing in detail, we must rst place this event in its historical and theological context in order to understand clearly what occurred when Satan tempted the Christ. The Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 7, says God made a “covenant of works” with the rst human being. In Eden, the Lord ordered Adam to refrain from eating the forbidden fruit (Gen. 2:15–17). Since his failure to comply with this demand plunged mankind into eternal death (Rom. 5:12–14), we know that his perseverance would have meant eternal life for him and for us. But our gracious God did not destroy mankind. Neither did He change His demands. He established a covenant of grace wherein He would send a new Adam to sat isfy the covenant of works and restore favor to His people. Parallels between Israel and the rst man tell u s the nation was, in a sense, called to be the new Adam. Israel and Adam both had to be fruitful and multiply (1:27–28; 35:11). Moreover, like Adam, Israel was told that perfect obedience to the covenant law would bring life (Lev. 18:5), a reminder that the covenant of works was still binding. Still, the Mosaic covenant actually fa lls under the covenant of grace. Its sacrices for sin tell the people of Israel that their failure is inevitable and that they must wait for another to fulll the covenant of works on their behalf. Israel went through the Red Sea into the desert where God tested their loyalty for forty years (Ex. 14; Deut. 8:1–2). Jesus was similarly tested for forty days after passing through baptism’s waters into the wild (Matt. 3:13–4:2). Such similarities reveal Jesus as the new Israel and thus, the last Adam. Christ succeeded where Adam and Israel failed, and He will restore all things.
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Matthew Henry captures the significance of the temptation of Jesus, commenting on today’s passage that “the offspring of the woman suffers, being tempted, and so has his heel bruised, but the serpent is quite baffled in his temptations, and so has his head crushed.” Though we look to our Lord as a model for overcoming temptation, let us remember it is His success, not ours, that enables us to stand before God. Worship Him for this amazing grace!
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
GENESIS 3 HoSEA 6 MArk 1:12–13 1 Cor. 15:42–49 THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
EXodUS 26–28 MATTHEW 21
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F
or sixty years, successive generations have been helped by what C.S. Lewis wrote on the subject of pain and suffering. The sustained benefit is due in large measure to the fact that he brought to the “problem” a solid dose of Christian realism. This medicine may be more important now than ever. It is not uncommon to watch as television preache rs infor m their audiences that God “does not want you to be sick.” It is hard to imagine such an assertion proving to be an encouragement to the wheelchair bound, long-term sufferer of multiple sclerosis. At best, such preachers are confused. The Bible makes a clear distinction between the now of our earthly pilgrimage and the then of our heavenly home. A day is coming when there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. But as any honest observer of the human condition will admit, that day has not arrived. While most of us are probably not facing “the heartbreaking routine of monotonous misery,” as Lewis puts it, few of us are untouched by tria ls of various kinds. Although the trial may appear in the disg uise of an enemy , in reality it may prove to be a friend. The biblical writer James encourages 64
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his readers whe n faced with tr ials to welcome them as f riends rather than resenting them as intr uders. Instead of runn ing and hiding we are to face them in the awareness that they come to prove us and to improve us. Lewis does not argue that suffering is good i n itself. Instead, he points to the redemptive, sanctifying effects of suffering. Thirty-two years of pastoral ministry have brought me into direct contact with those whose experiences of pain and suffering have proved to be a severe mercy. I think of a nuclear physicist in our church in Scotland who attended out of deference to his wife and three young daughters. He listened to the sermons with an air of polite indifference; he accepted a copy of John Stott’s Basic Christianity but remained secure in his scientific shell. It was only when his fourth child, a son, died at eleven months that the megaphone sounded. Recognizing that his worldview was inadequate to de al with t ragedy and loss, he found himself reaching beyo nd his shadow land to f ind himself caught up in the embrace of the God who is there. By this terrible necessity of tribulation God conquered his rebel will and brought him to t he place of peace.
It is also true that God uses suffering to wean His children away from the plausible sources of false happiness. The Christian may grow drowsy in the sun but will not fall asleep in the re or the ood. Each of us must recognize how easy it is to thin k little of God when all is we ll on the outside. But what a change occurs when, for example, the biopsy comes back positive. A sharp blast of anxiety comes to shatter any illusions of self-sufciency. H ow ki nd of God to rouse us and to bring us to the place of dependence. Our experience of pain, if sanctied, will create an awareness of the trials that others face and a tenderness in our dealings. When our pains and disappointments become the occasion for the softening of our hearts, we can anticipate the privilege of bearing with the inrmities of others. Jesus, the Chief Shepherd, our great High Pr iest, is “touched with the feelings of our inrmities,” and He has left us an exa mple that we should follow. It ought to concern us greatly when those of us who have been called to teach and to lead fail to display gentleness and compassion for the faint and the trembling. Although I have only dipped a toe in the sea of suffering, it is immediately apparent that God uses the lonely hours in the middle of the nig ht to teach us lessons that we never learned in our bright and healthy hours. We rise to afr m Wiliam Cowper’ s observation that “behind a frown ing providence, God hides a smili ng face.” I only begin to scratch the surf ace of thi s topic. I must leave the reader to ponder two thing s. First, consider
how suffering and pain often prove to be God’s means of discipline and how in this discipline we find an evidence and seal of our adoption (see Heb. 12:5). Secondly, consider the corrective element in affliction as referenced by the psalmist (Ps. 1 19:67, 71). Lewis helps us to realize that when megaphone pain of sounds in ourthe lives and in theoflives our unbelieving friends and neighbors we dare not respond with some form of superficial triumphalism or descend the abyss of pessimism. If those whose lives are marked by quiet despe ration, who are painf ully aware of their trials and sufferings
The Christia n ma y grow drowsy in the sun but wi ll not fal l asleep in the fi re o r the f lood . are going to seek out the Christia n for help, it will not be becau se we appear to live lives that are free from trials but because we are honest about our own sufferings and difculties. We will not attempt an an swer for eve ry question since we know that God has His secrets (Deut. 29:29). We will af rm that even in the myste ry of His purposes we know the security of His love, and we will seek to introduce others to our God who entered into our sorrows and our sufferings. Dr. Alisair Bgg is sior pasor of Par sid Chrch i Clvlad, Ohio, ad hos of truh for Life . H is ahor of The Hand of God.
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t has often been observed that Sunday morning between 11 a.m. and noon is the most segregated hour in America. While there are some hopeful signs that race may not play as great a role in dening the body of Christ in the future, covenant families are increasingly broken up according to the demographic niches that have been created and enforced by a culture of marketing. Jesus and Paul spoke of the kingdom of God as “the age to come” breaking in on us even now, in these last days of “the present age.” Christ had accomplished our redemption, and the Spirit was poured out. This is the big news! The world trains us, however, to think in terms of its own headlines, regardless of how the passing fashions come and go. Daily exposed to the relentless bombardment of advertising that would dene us and our children, we enter the Lord’s Day as the “today” of salvation into which God creates His own cast for the real drama of the ages. On this day, the Lord of the covenant publicly placards Christ before us. It’s a campaign that is not manipulative, nor is it one that leaves us with one more “make-over”; it’s nothing less than the crucixion of the self and its resurrection in Christ unto new life. That’s why the current fascination with church-planting and home mis68
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sions based on niche demographics (that is, dividing the market up into age, race, gender, socio-economic strata, politics, etc.) is such a problem. The church becomes a collection of consumers or tourists rather than a communion of saints and pilgrims. However, it’s not our choices, but God’s, that create this new society. The older denominational divisions are tragic enough, but at least many of these were due to different interpretations of biblical teaching. Today, in the same denomination, even in the same local church, there are new divisions that are not only tolerated but encouraged by the leadership. Where the only division that we nd in Scripture is “in Adam” or “in Christ,” our churches are increasingly divided by consumer loyalties — which means that they can no longer be united by thepublic ministry of Word and sacrament. This means that where the whole church learned God’s Word together, it is possible for the different segments to meet only in passing on their way to their speciallyformatted events. Where the older men and women used to teach the younger (as Paul enjoined Timothy), now the likelihood of the youth learning the catechism of their parents and grandparents is diminished. Evangelical pollster George Barna, in fact, has introduced an even newer
demographic: the “Revolutionaries,” the “millions of believers” who “have moved beyond the established church and chosen to be the church instead” ( Revolution , Tyndale House, back cover). According to Barna, these millions of “believers” are opting out of organized churches altogether — a trend that he celebrates. Intimate worship, says Barna, does “not require a ‘worship service,’” just a personal commitment to the Bible, prayer, and discipleship (Barna, p. 22). Where the common worship prescribed in Acts 2 focuses on God’s work of giving gifts to His people, creating a body for His Son, centering on the means of grace (preaching and sacrament), Barna says that the main thing in the Christian life is what we do as individuals for God. “What matters is not whom you associate with (that is, a local church), but who you are,” says Barna (p. 29). “Scripture teaches us that devoting your life to loving God with all your heart, mind, strength, and soul is what honors Him. Being part of a local church may facilitate that. Or it might not” (p. 37). What is called for in these, as in any other time, is a church that is a genuine covenantal community dened by the Gospel, rather than a service-provider dened by laws of the market. For this, we need nothing less than a new creation, where the only demographic that matters is “in Christ.” In Christ we embrace both, in a communion of saints. We are not baptized into a sect of secular sociology and marketing, so shouldn’t our hearing and fellowship be governed by our being in Christ? When the Word creates community, the result is a church and not a lobby, special interest group, or market niche.
Here and there even now the triune God is creating a place of grace out of the abstract space that is dened by sin, futility, and death. In the public confession of sin and absolution, in the prayers, singing, and hearing of the Word, at the font and table, we not only recall that the most decisive niche is “in Christ,” we actually become located there, together everyone else who may not sharewith our life experiences, cultural preferences, or political views. In a covenantal perspective, where “the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself” (Acts 2:39), there can be no niche markets. “Lord,
When t he Word cre ates commun ity, the resu lt is a church a nd not a specia l interest group . you have been our dwelling place in all generations” (Ps. 90:1; see also Pss. 100:5; 102:12).Under the sun — that is, from the perspective of this fading age, “A generation goes, and a generation comes,” and “all is vanity” (Ecc. 1:4), but in the Son, each generation of the covenant community belongs to the Lord, transcending itself by participation in the catholic body of Christ, whose “kingdom endures from generation to generation” (Dan. 4:34). Dr. Michal S. Horo is Mach Profssor of Ss maic tholog ad Apologic s a Wsmisr Smiar Califor ia i escodido, Califor ia. H is also hos of h Whie Horse Inn ad ahor of God of Promise.
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hen I was asked to participate in this column designed for older Christians to share insights and encouragements to younger believers, I had no doubt what issue to address — the Gospel-dr iven life. The Gospel of saving grace in Jesus is the foundation, the formation, and the primar y motivation for the Christian life. The Gospel message brings you to Christ as the sure foundation for eternal life. The Gospel message provides direct ion for the formation of your new life. The Gospel message provides the primary motivation for a maturing life. The importance of living a Gospel-driven life is why Paul reminded the Corinthian church that when he was “with them” he was determined to maintain their focus upon the Gospel, by preaching “Christ and Him crucied.” Adding emphasis, he declared, “I did not come to baptize, but to preach the Gospel” (see 1 Cor. 1:17). He was not demeaning baptism, but rather undersc oring t hat the G ospel is essential to evangelism and disciple-making. Early in my Christian life, I thought the Gospel was the message to win people to Christ, then, in disciple-making, one moved on to “deeper things.” What a fallacy! 70
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You never move beyond the Gospel. You go deeper and higher with the Gospel, but never beyond the Gospel. The Gospel is what denes how to be a Christian man, woman, spouse, parent, and citizen. The Gospel brings the reign of Christ’s kingdom to our hearts and throughout the world. The Gospel blessings give joy to the Christian life and the ability to rejoice even in suffering. The Gospel imperatives direct our new desire to lovingly obey our Lord. The Gospel provides the foundation, the formation, and the motivation as it ignites our loving obedience to Christ as we discover the transform ing truth that “He r st loved us” (1 John 4:19). A steady delivery of brochures to my ofce offer conferences that will help the church “make the Gospel relevant.” Betsy Childs, a daughter of our church and writer for Ravi Zacharias, in commenting on this phenomenon, writes: “Why would we think the Gospel is irrelevant?” She is right. Nothing is more relevant tha n the Gospel. To be sure, we must understand the issues of our age a nd connect meaningfully with people for effective evangelism and discipleship, but nothing is more relevant than the Gospel message, which announces: When there was no way for man to be right with God, He
made a way, through Chr ist, His Son, who is “the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through [him]” (John 14:6). The Gospel message reveals that God’s love has met God’s holiness at the cross. Therefore, our salvation is by the power of God and the unfailing righteousness of God. Most religions have a commonality. They tell you what you must do to gain salvation. In contrast, the Christian Gospel declares what we do is not the a nswer, but the proble m. I am convinced the greatest words in the Bible are: “But God.” “Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you…” (Rom. 1 1:22). In Romans 1:15 Paul declares that a key to his desire to come to Rome is because he is “eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.” The “you” are identied in verse 7 as “the loved by God and called to be saints.” In other words, Christians. Paul was eager to preach the Gospel not only to the lost but also to the Christians. Paul obviously believes that the Gospel is essential to both evangelism and discipleship as it provides the foundation, the formation, and the motivation for the Christian life. When I was sixteen, my father bought me a car at an auct ion for $7 5. It was a pink ’57 Ford, which Dad insisted was “coral.” I couldn’t drive a pink car to school! I then heard words that in a n ot-to-di stant fut ure my children would hear, “Son, a poor ride is better than a proud walk.” It was said so convincingly I knew it was probably in the Bible. Then my
Dad opened the hood, and to my surprise, underneath was a 390 engine with two four-barrel carburetors. The car had been a South Carolina State Interceptor (a highway patrol car). Nothi ng had more power under the hood. Space and conviction prevents me from detailing the surprises that Corvettes and Roadsters would after they ingly atgetmy pink ’57looked Ford laughwhile sitting side by side at stoplights. It didn’t look like much, but there was power under the hood. Young Christian, the world despises the Gospel in its simplicity and disdains the vessels entrusted to carry and proclaim it. But there
Young Chr istia n, the world desp ises the Gospel i n its simplici ty and disdai ns the vessels entr usted to car ry and proclaim it.
is power under the hood. Live the Gospel, believe a nd preach the whole Gospel — the Gospel blessings that declare who you are in Christ, the Gospel imperatives that call you to your new life for Christ. This Gospel transforms the hearts, minds, and wills of sinners. Thankfully, it continues to transform mine. Preach it to yourself, to each other, and to the lost, and know the joys of the Gospeldriven life. Dr. Harr L. Rdr III is sior miisr of Briarwood Prsb ria Chrch i Birmigham, Alabama.
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Reading Between the Lines BY GENE EDW
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As we explore the methods and meaning of Christian discipleship as revealed in Matthew’s gospel, we recommend this book by Dr. Ferguson as a helpful guide to spiritual growth. He applies Scripture’s teaching on topics including grace, repentance, the new birth, calling, election, the war with sin, and perseverance to our lives today. CHR18BP
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When Wright Is Wrong B Y
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KEITH
A. MATHISON
f you are a reader of contemporary theological works and you have not already encountered the name “N.T. Wright,” you will. Wright is the Anglican Bishop of Durham, and he is one of the most prolic biblical scholars of our day. I rst encountered Wright’s name years ago while doing research on the topic of eschatology. His work on the Gospels provided a number of insights that assisted me in my own work. His magisterial book on the doctrine of resurrection will likely be the standard work on the subject for decades to come. Since my reading of Wright at the time was limited primarily to what he was saying in regard to specic Gospel texts related to eschatological issues, I would never have guessed how controversial he would soon become. The questions raised in connection with Wright’s work on the Gospels were not unusual for that branch of biblical research. Wright, however, has not limited himself to study of the Gospels, but has also written extensively on Paul. Unlike his work on the Gospels, his study of Paul has caused great controversy. But why? What could Wright have possibly said that would create such a furor? To 74
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put it very simply, Wright argues that the church has misunderstood the doctrine of justication for centuries. Justication, he argues, does not deal with how one becomes a Christian. Instead it is a declaration that one is already a Christian. Also, according to Wright, justication does not involve the imputation of Christ’s righteousness because such an idea is nonsensical. Furthermore, our future justication is based on our whole life, or as Wright says, on the basis of our “works.” This future verdict, based on works, is received in the present by faith. The reason for the controversy, then, should be evident. A number of brief critiques of Wright’s doctrine have been written over the last several years in journal articles, book chapters, and denominational study reports, but to my knowledge there has not, until now, been a comprehensive book-length response to Wright’s teaching on the subject of justication. John Piper’s The Future of Justification: A Response to N.T. Wright (Crossway, 2007) lls this void in the literature. The need for such a book is evident because the subject matter is so important and because Wright is a
very popular author who has gained a hearing among evangelicals. Piper makes it clear from the beginning that he is not writing in order to score points. In fact, he includes a brief section on the manner in which controversy should be conducted by Christians. Piper himself practices what he preaches throughout the book, never letting emotion cloud his judgment. This does not mean that Piper comes across as detached. On the contrary, his passion for the truth is evident on every page, but he does not allow his passion to reduce his arguments to a shouting match. In eleven chapters, Piper methodically examines every aspect of Wright’s doctrine of justification, carefully demonstrating where Wright has gone astray. In chapter 1, he looks at some of the problematic methodological presuppositionsunderlying Wright’s exegesis. He then moves on to an examination of Wright’s “law-court” metaphor, showing where Wright has misunderstood the meaning of the concepts of “justication” and “righteousness.” Wright, according to Piper, has confused that which righteousnessdoes with that which righteousnessis, and this has skewed his entire doctrine. In chapters 5 and 6, Piper critiques Wright’s explanation of the relationship between justication and the Gospel, and in chapter 7, he looks at one of the most serious problems with Wright’s doctrine, namely, his assertion that the basis of our nal justi cation is our own works. Wright claims that he is saying essentially the same
thing the Reformers said, only in different words. In chapter 8, Piper shows the speciousness ofthis claim. In chapters 9 and 10, Piper turns to an examination of Wright’s understanding of Paul’s opponents. These chapters are a brief critique of what has come to be known as the “New Perspective on Paul.” In contrast to Wright claim that Judaismand of others Paul’s who opponents wasthe a religion of grace, Piper demonstrates that Paul was confronting a deepseated legalism. In his nal chapter, Piper summarizes the content of his book Counted Righteous in Christ, setting forth the biblical case for the doctrine of imputation. Wright has written in one place, “I frequently tell my stu-
The Future of Justication
by John Piper r analyzes the .T. Wright on the cation and calls o discernment. ww.ligonier.org
dents that quite a high proportion of what I say is probably wrong,or at least awed or skewed in some way which I do not at the moment realize.The only problem is that I do not know which bits are wrong; if I did I might do something about it.” In this book, Piper has done Wright a great favor by showing him at least one of the wrong “bits.” Dr. kih A. Mahiso is a assoc ia dior of tablealk magazi ad will b wriig h boo rviws for toll Lg his ar. For more reie ws go to www.ligonier. org/bookreiews
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miNistry focus
De eva ngel n de pep le he bblal Je? 20 08 NA TIONAL CONF
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ERENCE PRE
early hal the population o the United States claims to be “born-again.” Sel-identifed “eangelicals” are a oting bloc courted by our major political parties, and a large percentage o citizens attend church serices at least once a week. Yet, as we look at the culture around us, an unmistakable erosion o the JudeoChristian ethic has taken place. God is regularly blasphemed, proessing belieers oten lie no dierently rom non-Christians, and many churches are captie to the trends o this present age. Two actors explain this set o contradictory realities. First, the church has ailed to preach the biblical Gospel. Instead o preaching about mankind’s depraity and the truth that citizenship in the kingdom o God comes only by the imputation o Christ’s righteousness, we hear about a powerless and insipid Creator and the cheap grace He laishes upon all. Secondly, because the church has ailed to preach the biblical Gospel, our eangelism has too oten introduced people to the wrong Jesus. We are told that “Jesus can gie us our
vIEW
best lie now” or that “He wants to be our best riend,” and not that He is our Saior rom enslaement to sin and the righteous judgment o God. As such, He demands a lie o costly discipleship (Luke 14:25–33). This spring we inite you to join us as we seek to help the church address these critical issues. On March 13–15, 2008, Ligonier Ministries will hold its 21st annual national conerence, “Eangelism According to Jesus,” in Orlando, Fla. During three days o worship, ellowship, encouragement, study, and prayer, we will proclaim the dierent aspects o the Gospel and explain how they must impact our eangelism. Joining us will be respected pastors, theologians, and leaders Sinclair Ferguson, Stee Lawson, John MacArthur, C.J. Mahaney, R.C. Sproul Jr., and Joni Eareckson Tada — all o whom will remind us o the great truths o the Gospel and help us eangelize more eectiely. It is imperatie that we preach no other Gospel than the one deliered by our Lord and His apostles. Join us in March as we explore and apply the aith once deliered to the saints.
NA
tioNAL c
oNfErENcE
Oer 6,000 people joined us at the annual Ligonier Ministries’ National Conerence in Orlando last year. Dr. Steen J. Lawson, senior pastor o Christ Fellowship Baptist Church, introduced Dr. Sproul on the opening day. Dr. Sproul, Dr. Lawson, and other prom inent pastors and theologians will be speaking onEangelism According toJesus at this year’s conerence. Guests include noted speaker JoniEareckson Tada, ounder o Joni and Friends.
S e e k
y e
F I R S t
In k li ng of W on der BY
I
R.C.
SPROUL
am a Calvinist. No, better to say that I am a rabid Calvinist. I am the son of a Calvinist. My spiritual grandfather was the Calvinist’s Calvinist, John Gerstner. When I consider my own theological education, I divide it into three equal parts. First, I was raised by R.C. Sproul. Calvinism not only runs in our blood, but it gave the savor to our soup. It was the spice in our stew. The ghost of John Calvin haunted my home, and for that I give thanks. Second, I studied theology at Reformed Theological Seminary. There, all my professors were required to afrm their commitment to Calvinism as a prerequisite for their employment. Third, as a boy, with the able aid of my pastor, I studied The Westminster Shorter Catechism for Study Groups, by G. I. Williamson. It was there that the pieces fell into place. When I was in high school, while others were souping up their cars or lining up their dates for Saturday night, I was in my room, reading Calvinists. My children are Calvinists, and I pray their children will be Calvinists as well. Yet, if I am honest and consider those men who have most shaped my own thinking, right after my father and John Gerstner, there stands “Jack,” C.S. Lewis. How could such a fervent 80
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Calvinist be shaped by someone from the other side? One might expect that the an swer would be Mere Christianity. In that important work from Lewis he lays out the importance of not appending sundry appellations to our Christianity. We ought not be vegetarian-Christians or LibertarianChristians. We ought instead to be Christians. It’s a sound enough point, as long as we understand the wisdom of Spurgeon, that Calvinism isn’t the icing on the cake of Christianity, but is the substance of it. Still, this isn’t why Lewis, despite not being a Calvinist, has had such a profound inuence on me. Truth be told, and while I am loathe to cause this great man to spin in his g rave, I love Lewis, despite the painfully obvious truth that he was not a Calvin ist, because I am a Calvinist. The great thing about Calvinism, rightly understood, is not its emphasis on the sovereignty of God. That instead is but a symptom of a previous commitment. Calvinism, as a system, emphasizes the gap between God and man. It is a system of thought that afrms that God is God and that we are merely men. It is a system that seeks always to awaken as many people as possible to the holiness of God. Somehow, some way, Lewis,
escaped becoming a Calvinist, while his life’s work was comm itted to th is great, fundamental Calvinist truth, that God is God and that we are not. The center of his theology was not the sovereignty of God. It was instead, perhaps slightly more at the center of reality, the wonder of God. Lewis builds an entire world around the wonder of God in his Chronicles of Narnia. There we discover that Alsan is not a tame lion, that he has not only consumed little girls but has consumed whole cities of children. There we witness creation as it truly was, not a marvelous feat of modernist engineering, but the fruit of beauty, the result of a song. There we come to discern the relationship of life on earth, as it is in heaven, as the Pevensies move further up and fur ther in, at the “beginni ng” of the story. We are taught the transcendence of God in The Abolition of Man. There we learn, long before any of us were even aware of postmodernism, that the great evil at work behind this world view is false — beauty is not in the eye of the beholder; rather, it is the manifestation of the very character of God. In That Hideous Strength, the nal chapter of the Space Trilogy, we see the battle bet ween the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman as it really is, a battle bet ween ofcious pettiness masquerading as world-changing power and humble service as the true linchpin of human history. We nd the same principle at work in The Great Divorce, an allegorical tale of the intersection of heaven and hell. There we discover the soft reality that reality is more solid, more substantial tha n the folly of t he world
around us. We discern, as we do in The Screwtape Letters, the fo olishness of folly, and why and how we always seem to fall for it. In the end the message is simple enough — God is God, and we are not. We will not enter the kingdom of God until we learn to do so not as theological scientists, but as children. The secret spiritual maturity, according to of Jesus, is learning to be like children. When we come to Narnia, therefore, we do not come as more sophisticated versions of Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, but as more jaded versions, who must learn from our spiritual betters — chi ldren.
C.S. Lewis was n ot a Calvi nist, thoug h by God’s grace he is one now. Lewis was not a Calvinist, though by God’s grace he is one now. He was instead a grown child who can lead us into the maturity of childhood. He was gifted by God to gift us in this way — he teaches us to be as children, that we might enter into the kingdom of God. He reminds us that God is God and that we are not. He reminds us that our response to this truth ought not to be mere theological speculation, but mere Christianity — crying out to our Father to have mercy on us, miserable sinners, and rejoicing that He has done so in Christ. He reminds us that this is how we move further up and furt her in. Dr. R.C. Sprol Jr. is fodr of h Highlads Sd Cr i Mdoa, Virgiia.
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The Ke y to C. S. Lewis BY GENE EDW
C
. S. Lewis was not only a Christian apologist and lay theologian. He was also an unusually imaginative and creative novelist. And in his day job at Oxford and then Cambridge he was an astonishingly perceptive and inuential literary scholar. At a time when the modernist literary establishment was obsessed with depressingly bleak realistic ction, Lewis sent readers’ imaginations soaring in his Chronicles of Narnia. While the modernists were looking down their noses at popular genre ction, Lewis was writing the provocative science ction of his Space Trilogy. In his apologetic and theological writing, Lewis was surprising both non-believers and emotional pietists in applying lucid, logical thinking to argue that Christianity is actually true. In his ction, though, Lewis opposed the dull rationalism of his age to provoke in his readers feelings of wonder, mystery, and longing. In his literary scholarship, Lewis taught modern readers, inhibited by the blinders of their own narrow little time, how to respond to allegory (The Allegory of Love), how to understand Milton (Preface to Paradise Lost), how to appreciate ancient cosmology (The Discarded Image), and how to read for pleasure (An Experiment in Criticism). In his breath-takingly comprehen82
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sive volume in The Oxford History of English Literature, with the daunting title English Literature in the Sixteenth Century (Excluding Drama) , Lewis not only discusses apparently every work written in that century, he develops the notion that there are two styles of poetry: the golden and the drab. Golden verse employs beautiful language to evoke the transcendent. Spenser, Shakespeare, and Milton are golden. Drab verse employs colloquial, unadorned language to evoke the cynical and down-to-earth. Donne and most poets currently in vogue are drab. In other writings, Lewis defends Shelley (the atheist) for his golden verse, while critiquing John Donne and T.S. Eliot (his fellow Anglican Christians) for their drabness. The point here is that Lewis was a complex thinker with a wide-ranging sensibility. He was both logical and wildly imaginative, conservative and a non-conformist, a devout Christian whose faith was never stodgy or limiting, but stimulating and liberating. And I think I have found the key to understanding Lewis in all of his complexities and in all of his different kinds of writing. Not long after he became a Christian, Lewis wrote about his conversion in an odd book entitled Pilgrim’s Regress. An allegory, like
John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, it depicts an everyman named John who reects Lewis’ own spiritual journey. He leaves his childhood home, Puritania, rebelling against its rules and restrictions, just as Lewis left behind his protestant upbringing in Northern Ireland. Just as young Lewis did, John falls in with characters like Mr. Sensible and Mr. Humanist and faces the temptations of the spirit of the age (Freudianism, Marxism), as well as moral temptations (the Brown Girls, symbolizing lust, and the Clevers, symbolizing worldliness). All along, John has glimpses of a far-away island, which lls him with transcendent longing, just as Lewis describes in his memoir Surprised by Joy . Eventually, through the mysterious leading of the “Man” (Christ), John comes to accept the Landlord (God) and is received by Mother Kirk (the church). But he still must travel a narrow path, avoiding both the the arid rocks on the North (symbolizing rationalism) and the fetid swamps on the South (symbolizing emotionalism). Eventually, he arrives at where he began, the faith of his childhood at Puritania, which he now recognizes was not about rules and restrictions at all, but grace and faith. He then, like Bunyan, crosses the waters into the everlasting life beyond. Pilgrim’s Regress is an odd book for many people, but it has always been one of my favorites. Its deft portrayals of different philosophies and worldviews are insightful and illuminating. More than that, the book is an evocative fantasy — giants, dragons, and adventure — of the sort that Lewis later would develop so thoroughly in The Chronicles of Narnia. And
everything that Lewis would write is summed up in the book’s subtitle: “An Allegorical Apology for Christianity, Reason, and Romanticism.” The phrase seems strange. The words do not seem to go together. Are not reason and romanticism opposites? The Enlightenment’s Age of Reason was countered, at least for aEmotion. while, with of AndRomanticism’s did not both Age movements oppose Christianity? And yet, it is true that all three need to be defended, since they are all three under attack. Today, even more than in Lewis’ time, our culture rejects not only reason but objective truth altogether. Romantic idealism has
Christianity offers not only a world view but… a way to think and feel. been replaced with cynicism and nihilism. True, both rationalism and romanticism, by themselves, lead to falsehoods and dead ends. But there is a legitimate use of reason and of emotion. And Christ ianit y is the only world view big enough to account for them both. Christianity offers not only a world view but a sensibility, a way to think and to feel. Lewis addresses both the head and the heart. He is an apologist for reason, romanticism, and — what holds them together — Christianity. Dr. G edward Vih is acadmic da of Par ic Hr Collg i Prcllv ill, Virgiia, ad h is ahor of Reading Between the Lines.
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t n e m at s e T d l O e h t f o s k o o B ci te h p ro P e h T : h t n o M t x e N
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