Biblical Paradoxes

While the Bible is one book, it is composed of many types of literature. It is rich in literary genres and figurative language, a lot of which is lost in translation. Hebrew parallelism, for example, permeates the Old Testament but loses some of its effect in English. In Jesus’ teaching we see that He enjoyed the use of parables (or extended similes) to make His point, but He also utilized the paradox. Here are four paradoxes from the Gospels:

If you want to be first, you have to be last (Matthew 20:16). This paradox came at the end of a parable commonly referred to as the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Jesus’ point is that we are all saved the same way—by grace through faith—and not based on our own efforts. If you are trying to earn God’s favor by outworking everyone else, you are missing the point.

If you want to be a leader, you have to be a servant (Matthew 20:26). This statement came after the mother of John and James requested that Jesus make her sons leaders in the kingdom. Many leaders pride themselves on their leadership ability, but Jesus has no room for leaders who are not willing to humble themselves. If you think a task is beneath you, you aren’t qualified to lead.

If you want to be exalted, you have to be humbled (Luke 14:11). Too many times we see people who so desire the praise of man that they embarrass themselves in their bid to get it. Jesus’ illustration about the man taking a seat of honor at a wedding, only to be humiliated when he is asked to move, is humorous but indicative of many who want to be exalted; Jesus said it is better to take a seat in the nosebleeds and wait to be asked to move to the VIP section than to take the opposite approach. 

If you want to live, you have to die (John 12:25). The greatest paradox is that life comes through death. It is only when we die to this evil world that we experience life with God now, and dying to this life leads to eternal life in the world to come.

The beauty of these biblical paradoxes is they are more than just memorable literary devices; they are actually good doctrine as well. Jesus was doing more than using flowery language, He was telling us how to really live our lives. If your life makes too much sense, if you are not living a life of paradox, maybe you are not living right.

Beeline for the Cross

Charles Spurgeon is credited with saying, “I take my text and make a beeline for the cross.” His point was that no matter what his Sunday morning text, he found a way, sooner rather than later, to use it to preach Christ crucified. Some have objected to this homiletical approach, including pastor and author Thabiti Anywabile, who wrote, “Spurgeon was wrong. We’re not to take a text and make a bee-line to the cross…He was no expositor and he seemed to make a bee-line away from the text, which is not the same thing as making a bee-line to the cross[1].”

It is an interesting debate to be sure. I happen to align with Spurgeon, believing that any given text, in some form or fashion, has a Christological element to it. A study on the end times and Revelation can be used to make sure the audience is ready for the end of their own lives; a message on the Ten Plagues can draw a line from the Passover lamb to Jesus, the Lamb of God; a sermon on the days of Creation can be used as a reminder that Jesus recreates us at salvation. Every text makes a beeline to the cross. Consider these three terms theologians are now using to categorize the texts of Scripture:

First, a text can be christocentric, meaning Christ is at the center of the text. A passage about the crucifixion, the resurrection, or the miracles or parables of Jesus would fall into this category. These texts obviously make a beeline to the cross. There are also christotelic texts, which comes from the Greek word telos (“end or completion”). These are Old Testament passages that find their final completion in Christ. Preaching on David could lead to the Son of David; Adam can lead to the Second Adam; Moses can lead to the “greater prophet;” Melchizedek could lead to the High Priest; Israel can lead to “spiritual Israel” under the New Covenant. Finally, there are christiconic passages. These are texts that can be used to identify a similar trait in Jesus (they are icons of Jesus). The Fruit of the Spirit can be used to show that Jesus is love, joy, peace, patient, etc. The works of the flesh can show that Jesus is not those things.

I believe preachers should be like Spurgeon, that “Prince of Preachers,” and use every text to make a beeline for the cross. This means that every Christian can read their Bible for themselves and see Jesus on every page. He is the Word made flesh, so it is no wonder we see Him in all the words of the Bible.  

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[1] http://thefrontporch.org/2016/02/about-that-beeline-to-the-cross/

Pentecost Sunday

Sunday, May 20^th, is Pentecost Sunday. For many Christians, especially Baptists like myself, we tend to shy away from recognizing this special day because of its association with speaking in tongues or other [Charismatic] gifts of the Spirit (I am personally a cessationist, believing some of those gifts were for the Apostolic Era and have since passed away). Regardless of a person’s take on spiritual gifts, Pentecost Sunday should be celebrated by all who profess the name of Jesus.

The word Pentecost means fifty days because it is celebrated fifty days after Resurrection Sunday (technically it is forty-nine days by our calendar, but the Jewish calendar measured days from sundown to sundown). The official name of Pentecost is the Festival of Weeks because it was originally set to be observed seven weeks after the first grain harvest of the year. More importantly, Pentecost is also called The Season of the Giving of the Law, for on Pentecost Jews reflected on Moses receiving the law on Mt. Sinai.

Do you remember what happened when Moses was given the Torah? He descended the mountain only to find the Jews worshipping a golden calf that his brother helped fashion, a glaring object lesson to the fact that they could not keep the very law Moses was holding. As a result, 3,000 idolaters lost their lives that day.

In Acts 2, seven weeks after the Resurrection, Luke notes, “the Day of Pentecost was fully come.” In Greek, Luke was saying that this was the Day of Pentecost, a momentous fulfillment of a day that would never again be the same. The Holy Spirit descended on the assembled believers, and Peter preached a message with a newfound boldness. Do you remember how many were saved that day? 3,000.

(The Apostles began to speak in tongues. This is glossa in Greek, the word from which glossary is derived; it can only refer to known languages. People came from around the world to celebrate the Festival of Weeks, and the Spirit allowed the Apostles to preach in the languages that were represented in Jerusalem that day. Any other conclusion is not fair to the original Greek.)

We celebrate Pentecost Sunday because it is a reminder that we are under grace, not law. No one is good enough to keep the law for salvation, but because God’s Spirit now fills believers, we are saved by amazing grace.      

Five Morons

In Matthew 25 Jesus tells the parable that is commonly referred to as the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. In our Lord’s story there are ten young ladies that have been invited to a wedding celebration, and they are waiting for the festivities to begin. All ten ladies have their lamps in hand, a necessity in the pre-electricity era, but only five thought to bring enough oil to keeps their lamps burning. The forethought required to pack extra oil earns praise from Jesus as He shares this story; in their culture wedding invitations were common, but they never included a start time, but they were always after sundown.

The wedding would not begin until after the mother of the groom had sufficiently prepared the wedding feast, and she had the final say as to when they got things going. Those in the wedding party, such as these ten ladies, had to be dressed and ready in a minute’s notice. Part of the preparation would be making sure there was enough oil to get them through the event. In the parable half of the ladies find themselves without enough oil to make it, and when the bridegroom appeared, they were not able to follow him. Jesus called them foolish, and their counterparts He praised as being wise.

The Greek word for wise is sophos, from which we get our English name Sophia and the term sophisticated. In contrast, the Greek word here translated as foolish is moros, which gives us our word for moron. Jesus literally called these unprepared girls moronic in their approach to the wedding. This may sound harsh, but if we are wise we would learn from this parable and see if there is anything we need to change about ourselves.

This parable is a picture of heaven (25:1), but it is given in the context of end-times prophecy. The point is that people need to always be prepared for the rapture since no one knows when it will be. Like the ladies awaiting the bridegroom, we need to have everything in order for when Jesus calls the church home. Only a moron would live with no thought of eternity.  

“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”

Matthew 25:13