Hearts that Were Changed at Calvary

While some Bible readers understand that one of the two thieves crucified with Jesus had a change of heart about him at Calvary, they may not realize that many others had a change of heart too. Let’s look at three sets of people and see how hearts were changed in each.      

                                              

1.      Thieves. When the thieves were first crucified with Christ, both joined in the people’s mockery of Christ (Mt. 27:39-44). However, after “the lights go out” and darkness falls at midday, one of the thieves repents of his mockery and comes to see that Christ is who he claimed to be. His repentance is confirmed by his rebuke to the impenitent thief and humble petition to Jesus, whom he refers to as Lord and king (Luke 23:39-42). For this, he is assured of salvation, despite his crimes and his helplessness. 

2.      Soldiers. The soldiers mock Jesus before his crucifixion (Mt. 27:27-31) and during it (Luke 23:36), but not afterward. When Jesus breathes his last and signs follow, the centurion comes to see that Christ was righteous (Luke 23:47) and, in succession, “the Son of God” (Mt. 27:54). But note carefully that not only he ascribes Deity to Christ, but also “they that were with him.” Perhaps the centurion is enlightened first (Luke 23), then through his testimony and the accompanying signs, the soldiers are enlightened too. 

3.      People. The Jewish people mock Christ (Mt. 27:39-40; Mark 15:29-30; Luke 23:35), along with the rulers. While there’s no evidence that the latter repent (some do in Acts 6:7, 15:5), the people do have a change of heart, since their remorse at Christ’s death is recorded in Luke 23:48. While it’s true that “a great company” of Christ’s sympathizers are present (Luke 23:27), 23:48 affirms that “all the people that came together to that sight”…”smote their breasts” in remorse (cf. Luke 18:13). Perhaps these same people are the ones converted by the apostles in Acts 2-6 and afterward (15:5, 21:20)!

The Two Natures of Christ in All Four Gospels

 All four gospel writers emphasize Christ's two natures, one perhaps more than the other (e.g., John Christ's divinity), but both nonetheless. Some examples are provided below:

1. Matthew. Matthew emphasizes Christ's human descent from Abraham and David in Mt. 1. But he also highlights Christ's deity in Mt. 14:33, 16:16, and 27:54 among other places.

2. Mark. Mark emphasizes Christ's servanthood by focusing on Christ's actions rather than his teachings and, more subtly, by not recounting Christ's lineage in Mark 1 (a servant's lineage is irrelevant). However, in the first verse of Mark's gospel, he refers to Christ's deity ("the Son of God") and records Jesus' affirmation of his own deity in Mk. 14:61-62 and Christ's ascension to the right hand of God, another proof of his deity (Mk. 16:19).

3. Luke. Luke has more to say about Jesus' birth and youth than any gospel writer, yet he refers to Jesus as "the Lord" 14 times in his gospel (e.g., 7:13, 10:1, 17:5, 22:61, 24:34).

4. John. John emphasizes Christ's deity in his gospel from start (1:1) to finish (21:25), but he also underscores the humanity of Jesus in the Samaritan interlude, where a weary and thirsty Jesus stops at Jacob's well (4:6-8). 

Our Saviour was fully God and fully man at the same time ("hypostatic union"), from birth to death and beyond. He maintains this union of natures at the right hand of God, and when he appears again to the body of Christ (Col. 3:4, 2 Tim. 4:1, Tit. 2:13) and later to the world (Rev. 1:7), he will still have those two natures and continue to forever. I'm not sure where the teaching that Christ will some day shed his manhood came from, but I don't think that it's supported by scripture (cf. Is. 9:6-7, Luke 1:32-33, Rev. 22:3-5...two natures!).  

A Tale of Two Rich Men

 

Text: Luke 18:18-27, 19:1-10 

Most Bible readers are familiar with “the rich young ruler” and Zacchaeus, but I’ve never seen or heard them compared (kudos to those who have—the body of Christ is BIG...and so is the body of literature!). While reading through the gospel of Luke lately, I noticed some striking similarities and differences between these two men, as well as the juxtaposition of their encounters with Christ in Luke 18 and 19. Some of them are found in the table below.

 

	Rich Young Ruler (RYR)	Zacchaeus
Name given?	No	Yes
Times the gospels mention him	3 (Mt. 19:16-24; Mk. 10:17-25; Lk. 18:18-27)	1 (Lk. 19:1-10)
Physical description	young man (Mt. 19:20, 22)	little of stature (Lk. 19:3)
Ruler?	Yes (Luke 18:18)	Chief among the publicans (Lk. 19:1)
Rich?	Very (Lk. 18:23)	Yes (Lk. 19:1)
Runs?	Yes—to meet Jesus (Mk. 10:17)	Yes—ahead of the crowd to see Jesus (Lk. 19:3-4)
Other physical actions	Knelt before Jesus (Mk. 10:17); showed visible sorrow (Lk. 19:23-24)	Climbed a tree (v. 4), came down (v. 6), stood before the Lord (v. 8)
Jesus shows him affection	Yes (Mk. 10:21)	Yes (Lk. 19:5)
Saved?	No (Lk. 18:26)	Yes (Lk. 19:9-10)
Describes his personal righteousness (level of obedience to the law) to Jesus	Yes (Lk. 18:21) [affirms Jesus’ description]	Yes (Lk. 19:8)
Willing to give possessions to the poor	No (Lk. 18:22)	Yes (Lk. 19:8)

I think that the last comparison is the most critical, since the RYR’s refusal to give to the poor excludes him from salvation under the law. The setting here is before the cross and the revelation of both the gospel of grace (Eph. 2:8-9) and the one-body mystery (Eph. 3:1-6), so works are required to prove the validity of a saint’s faith (James 2:22-24), which is NOT the case today (Eph. 2:8-9, 2 Tim. 1:9, Titus 3:5). 

But the Lord probes even deeper than outward obedience to show what both men loved and trusted in (Mk. 10:24). For the nameless RYR, who remains unknown to Christ, it was his great possessions (Mt. 19:22, Mk. 10:22), which he ultimately allows to possess him. But Zacchaeus, in describing his personal righteousness to Jesus, cuts right to the chase: Lord, I don’t love money (Lk. 19:8). Christ is satisfied with his explanation and asserts his salvation as a “son of (faithful) Abraham” (Lk. 19:9-10)! In giving up his riches, Zacchaeus could say, like the heroic Sydney Carton in Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.”  

Thought on the Canonical Placement of Philemon

I've often wondered why this briefest of Paul's epistles comes last canonically in them. It's not the last chronologically, since 2 Timothy was written just before Paul's death. I think that I know the answer now, by considering vv. 1, 24.  

Philemon was a fellowlabourer (v. 1) like Timothy, Titus, and those mentioned in Phile. 24, hence its inclusion next to the "Pastoral Epistles," though it was written earlier, around the same time as Eph.-Col. Accordingly, I think that it's placed exactly where it should be, since it's written to a fellowlabourer like the other pastorals are. Perhaps we should include Philemon as a Pastoral Epistle instead of a Prison Epistle, considering its placement and content. 

One BIG Value of Long Novels

Many times when a long novel like War and Peace, Don Quixote, or Les Miserables is brought up, the first response is something like "Wow; long book!" or "Way too long for me!" But once you've read and enjoyed a long novel, I think that you're less likely to respond that way. One reason why is that long novels inherently give you a better chance to know the characters deeply. While that's possible, say, in shorter works like Of Mice and Men and The Death of Ivan Ilyich, it's even more likely in a long novel. By the time one finishes Les Miserables, s/he has gazed long and deep into the soul of Jean Valjean, Cosette, Marius, and even Javert. Yes, these big books demand more of your time, but a carefully selected long novel can yield big dividends to your soul and even your spirit. I'm on the last stretch of Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov, and this novel has not only educated me about Russian life in the late 1800's, but it's also stirred my soul and given me some spiritual insight and refreshment through its theological content (thank God for Alyosha--what a balance he provides to the carnal Dimitri and skeptical Ivan!).

I hope that this note is an encouragement for you to tackle some long, wholesome novel you've been thinking about reading. Allegories like Pilgrim's Progress and epic poems like Paradise Lost and The Divine Comedy count too! If you'd like some recommendations, please let me know, though I've dropped several hints already :).

Disclaimer: Since novels are books of the world, there may be parts that are unsavory. I was horrified by one chapter in Brothers Karamazov, for example ("Rebellion"), and although that was the author's intent--to show how warped Ivan's skepticism could be--one could skip several pages of lurid material and not "miss" anything.

Peter, Paul, and What Constitutes Scripture

The leader of the kingdom church, Peter (Mt. 16::17-19) affirms that certain epistles that Paul, the "masterbuilder" of Christ's body (1 Cor. 3:10), wrote were scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16). Conversely, Paul affirms that writings from the kingdom church were scripture. Note 1 Tim. 5:18--"the labourer is worthy of his reward"--which is citing Luke 10:7, Mt. 10:10, or both! Both churches (kingdom church or "little flock"; church which is Christ's body) affirm that the other is producing inspired scripture (2 Tim. 3:16) and therefore approved of God.

Addendum: Christ is the ultimate foundation of both churches (Mt. 16:18, 1 Peter 2:6; 1 Cor. 3:11, Eph. 2:20), but each church has a chosen, individual builder God works through to begin and lay plans for its superstructure. 

• Peter receives the revelation of Jesus as the anointed king of Israel (Mt. 16:16-17) and the  "keys to kingdom of heaven" through the kingdom gospel: the "blueprint" for the kingdom church. 

• Paul receives the revelation of Jesus the Saviour of "all men" (1 Tim. 2:1-6, 4:10) and "the mystery" (Rom. 16:25) of the body of Christ (Eph. 3:1-9), which is entered by believing the gospel of grace (1 Cor. 15:3-4, Gal. 1:11-12, Eph. 3:6). This final verse, gently shown to me by a mid-Acts minister, showed me that no one could enter the body of Christ before Acts 9, when Paul received the revelation of his gospel, the sole means of entering that body according to Eph. 3:6. Hallelujah! One verse from Paul is sometimes all it takes to settle doctrinal disputes. Examples: How do we give under grace? See 2 Cor. 9:7. Are there still "healers" today? See 2 Tim. 4:20. Will the body of Christ see antichrist? See 2 Thes. 2:4 (no; can't have two temples of God at once; 1 Cor. 3:16). Is self-defense permitted? See Rom. 12:18. Can we eat pork? See 1 Tim. 4:4. And many more...

Hope that some or all of these thoughts have been helpful. May the Lord bless you as you "give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine" till Christ comes (1 Tim. 4:13). 

Cheer

Texts: Deut. 24:5, Eccl. 11:9 

This time of year, we hear a lot about “good cheer” and “Christmas cheer” from many sources, including songs, so I thought it would be helpful to consider what the KJ Bible says about cheer: what it is, what it's connected with, and how we can have it and give it to others. I’ll show the definition first, then the second and third together as we consider each reference in scripture and the application(s) thereof. 

DEFINITION

The two texts, the first and fourth uses of it, give us a good idea of what “cheer” is.

Notice in Deut. 24:5 what word follows “cheer”: the word “up.” Now look at Eccl. 11:9, “let thine heart cheer thee…” Cheer has to do with lifting the heart up, or encouraging, rather than bringing it down, or discouraging.  Look at the middle of both of those words: courage; root of courage is cour-, or heart, very close to “cheer.” We only need two verses to see what cheer refers to in scripture and in our daily lives.

CONNECTIONS AND APPLICATIONS

“Cheer” and its forms only appear 17 times in the entire Bible, and some references are so related and/or similar that we can group them for consideration.

Deut. 24:5. Transition. First year of marriage is a time of great transition, esp. for the wife. Away from family; learning her husband and how to please him; all new physical relationship they have to learn about together. Man’s physical presence is needed for this cheer; writing isn’t enough.

Judg. 9:13; Zech. 8:19, 9:17. Food and drink. Certain substances God made to promote cheer, including corn and wine (and sugar 😊). He didn’t make any to be abused (1 Cor. 6:12, 7:31) but used (1 Tim. 5:22). How does wine “cheer” God (Judg. 9:13)? I don’t think that it’s referring to Jesus’ consumption of wine (Mt. 11:19, 26:29; Mk. 14:25), which would have cheered him as a man. It could refer to God being cheered by seeing men cheered or…men offering wine to him in sacrifice and pleasing him thereby (Lev. 23:13; Num. 15:5, 7, 10).

Prov. 15:13. Merriment in the heart (mirth). What’s in your heart often shows on your face, and here’s where something good in the heart affects your appearance. If your heart is up on the inside, it will raise your face on the outside. You won’t be frowning (mouth down) but smiling (mouth up). To be cheered is to be up inside, not down, and it spreads to your face eventually.

Eccl. 11:9. Youth. Being young can cheer you, realizing you have strength, and beauty, and likely time to enjoy life, but this verse also warns you not to lose sight that these things will end and, even more importantly, that you will be held accountable for how you spent your youth, good or bad (12:14), so use it wisely. If you don’t know how to use your youth, ask someone older. They’ve had years to look back on their lives and learn from it, and you’d be silly not to ask them. You don’t have to believe everything they say, but take note of it and remember it as you live your life. You’ll have something to draw upon as you face new situations in life.

Mt. 9:2. Forgiveness of sins. Nothing is more discouraging than sin, but hearing from God that he no longer holds your sins against you is one of the greatest “ups” that a human heart can feel. Many songs have been written about the joy that comes when the burden of sin is lifted. I have felt that. Also forgiving and being forgiven by others brings joy: Corrie ten Boom.

Mt. 14:27, Mk. 6:50. Presence of the Lord. When your heart is down, the best thing you can do is seek the presence of the Lord, in the word, in prayer, and among his people. I’ve found all of them able to raise my heart, esp. when I sought all three and not just one of them. Remember: “a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Eccl. 4:12).

John 16:33. Christ’s victory over the world. When it seems like the world has defeated you outside and inside, it’s encouraging to know that our Saviour was not defeated by the world in any way. They hurt his body, but he rose again. They saw God forsake him, but now he’s at his Father’s right hand. What amazing victory, and those of us who trust him as our Saviour share in it. The world cannot bring us down if we don’t let it. Even if they hurt our bodies, they will rise just like Jesus’ did, when he comes for us.

Acts 23:11, 24:10. Opportunities to present the gospel. Paul’s preaching in Jerusalem looked like a failure, but it opened a way for him to preach at Rome (23:11) and to rulers along the way (24:10). How encouraging to a minister!

Acts 27:22, 25, 36. God’s protection in danger. Three times here; most concentrated in scripture. In the WORST of situations (all seemed lost), you can still find cheer from God. David learned this when his wives were kidnapped and his followers wanted to kill him (1 Sam. 30:6).

Rom. 12:8, 2 Cor. 9:7. Giving. Cheerfulness should attend giving; it should be in your heart when you give. It can raise your heart afterward, and the hearts of those you bless. You should give cheerfully because of the promises God makes to givers all through the Bible: that he’ll give them back far more than they give. Jesus assures us, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35), and that’s why: the giver receives more rewards, ironically, than the receiver. Try it!