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Episodes
Saturday Apr 09, 2016
Saturday Apr 09, 2016
Part 25: John 6:13
More extravagant grace
How do we, or did Jesus, prove that what he said was true, right, valid, in a disbelieving world? That was the problem Jesus had to face and the one that has troubled his people ever since.
The first thing Jesus said, “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true” (5: 31) is really rather puzzling since 3 chapters later he seems to say the exact opposite. He is referring here to the Jewish requirement that witnesses always come in twos. They had no forensic methods at all: no finger prints, blood types or DNA analysis; so they had to rely exclusively on witnesses, to the events at dispute, if there were any direct witnesses, or to character references. On these criteria the unsupported testimony of Jesus to himself was not valid.
So he goes on to cite 3 other witnesses to himself: John the Baptist, the works he was doing and the scriptures right back to Moses. As I commented before John was listened to in this context more than Jesus because he, unlike Jesus, behaved in the way they expected a prophet to behave. He fitted in to their expectation of what a prophet might do and Jesus did not. By the next thing he said about the ‘works he was doing’ Jesus meant the ‘signs and wonders’ which he had discounted previously as a way to faith but were valid in this different context. He is quite brutal in his comment on the third thing when he says about their use of the scriptures, ‘you do not believe what Moses wrote’ presumably meaning that they had added so much to the original intentions of the words of Moses that their use of them was no longer valid.
All that is very fundamental but it is not easy to understand. Perhaps the best thing that has ever been written about this is what C.S. Lewis said in his book "Mere Christianity" many years ago. They are comments particularly well said in relation to this chapter where Jesus has said that God is his Father (not in the general sense in which we talk of God as our Father), that what he was doing is special because he copies the Father in all he does, that he has been given all judgement to do at the end of the age and that honour paid to him is honour given to the Father.
Lewis said, “I am writing here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Jesus ‘I’m ready to accept him as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God.”
I cannot improve in any way on those comments so I will just leave you to think about them …
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Friday Apr 08, 2016
Friday Apr 08, 2016
Partakers Friday Prayers!
8th April 2016
We pray together and when Christians pray together, including across the internet and from different times, different nations, different churches and different denominations - that reveals Church unity!
Today we pray once more, a Morning Prayer from the Syrian Clementine Liturgy. This Liturgy, dates from the 4th century, and was celebrated in Syria and throughout the Church of Antioch. It is the oldest model known in Antioch, and is a liturgy is related to the Apostle James. Come pray!
Syria at the moment is in turmoil. Let us pray for peace in this ancient land... Pray particularly for the christian communities, not only in Syria but throughout the region.
'a very senior Christian leader in the region yesterday, he said “intervention from abroad will declare open season on the Christian communities”. They have already been devastated, 2 million Christians in Iraq 12 years ago, less than half a million today. These are churches that don’t just go back to St Paul but, in the case of Damascus and Antioch, predate him. They will surely suffer terribly (as they already are) if action goes ahead."'
Archbishop of Canterbury - See more of this speech by clicking here
A Morning Prayer from the 4th Century Syrian Clementine Liturgy
O God,
You are the unsearchable abyss of peace,
the ineffable sea of love,
the fountain of blessings,
and the bestower of affection.
~~~~~
O God,
You who sends peace to those that receive it;
open to us this day the sea of Your love,
and water us with the plenteous streams
from the riches of Your grace.
~~~~~
Make us children of quietness, and heirs of peace.
Kindle in us the fire of Your love;
sow in us Your fear;
strengthen our weakness by Your power!
~~~~~
Bind us closely to You
and to each other
in one firm bond of unity;
for the sake of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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Monday Apr 04, 2016
Monday Apr 04, 2016
Think Spot -4 April 2016
As Christians, we are to love others. That is a fundamental of the Christian life. If we love each other as commanded by Jesus, then people will know we are Christians, part of God's family here on earth and will ask us about the hope we have.
This love we are to have for all others, is a love which is to imitate Jesus' love for the church. It is sacrificial, honouring of others and placing the interest of others above our own. It is a love which encompasses the whole person - mind, body and soul.
We are to look after the whole person - not just their body, but their minds and emotions also. That is how God loves people - and we are to be the same. When a person is saved, all of them is saved, not just the body and so all the person needs to be cared for and loved...
Go into this week and show love to somebody else in all facets of their life - mind, body and soul.
If you need help, ask us at Partakers.co.uk or buy our books at http://www.pulptheology.co.uk and on Amazon sites, which will help your thinking.
Right mouse click here to download as a MP3 audio file
You can now purchase our Partakers books! Please do click or tap here to visit our Amazon site!
Click or tap on the appropriate link below to subscribe, share or download our iPhone App!
Saturday Apr 02, 2016
Saturday Apr 02, 2016
Part 24: John 5:36
A Heavy Testimony
How do we, or did Jesus, prove that what he said was true, right, valid, in a disbelieving world? That was the problem Jesus had to face and the one that has troubled his people ever since.
The first thing Jesus said, “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true” (5: 31) is really rather puzzling since 3 chapters later he seems to say the exact opposite. He is referring here to the Jewish requirement that witnesses always come in twos. They had no forensic methods at all: no finger prints, blood types or DNA analysis; so they had to rely exclusively on witnesses, to the events at dispute, if there were any direct witnesses, or to character references. On these criteria the unsupported testimony of Jesus to himself was not valid.
So he goes on to cite 3 other witnesses to himself: John the Baptist, the works he was doing and the scriptures right back to Moses. As I commented before John was listened to in this context more than Jesus because he, unlike Jesus, behaved in the way they expected a prophet to behave. He fitted in to their expectation of what a prophet might do and Jesus did not. By the next thing he said about the ‘works he was doing’ Jesus meant the ‘signs and wonders’ which he had discounted previously as a way to faith but were valid in this different context. He is quite brutal in his comment on the third thing when he says about their use of the scriptures, ‘you do not believe what Moses wrote’ presumably meaning that they had added so much to the original intentions of the words of Moses that their use of them was no longer valid.
All that is very fundamental but it is not easy to understand. Perhaps the best thing that has ever been written about this is what C. S. Lewis said in his book Mere Christianity many years ago. They are comments particularly well said in relation to this chapter where Jesus has said that God is his Father (not in the general sense in which we talk of God as our Father), that what he was doing is special because he copies the Father in all he does, that he has been given all judgment to do at the end of the age and that honour paid to him is honour given to the Father.
Lewis said, “I am writing here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Jesus ‘I’m ready to accept him as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God.”
I cannot improve in any way on those comments so I will just leave you to think about them …
Click or Tap here to listen to or save this as an audio mp3 file
~You can now purchase our Partakers books including Roger's latest - Finding the Way in AD100!
Please do click or tap here to visit our Amazon site!
Click or tap on the appropriate link below to subscribe, share or download our iPhone App!