1. Life is hard and will always be hard.
2. I am not as important as I think I am.
3. It's really not about me.
4. I am not in control.
5. I am going to die.
Ouch.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Unjust Suffering
We all suffer. Sometimes we suffer justly, reaping what we sow as fallen individuals in a fallen world. If I do drugs, I suffer physical withdrawal symptoms when I stop. If I run a marathon without training, I strain ligaments. If I sleep around, I get STDs and unwanted children. If I drink too much coffee during the day, I get a headache. If I drink too little, I also get a headache. Instances of just (i.e., warranted) suffering are countless on this side of paradise. We make mistakes and we face consequences for such mistakes.
Sometimes, however, we suffer unjustly. We don’t deserve it. We are betrayed, cheated on, lied to, ridiculed, and slandered without warrant. We suffer empathetically alongside sick loved ones. We are helpless victims of criminal activity, cross-cultural hatred, and social alienation. We are persecuted for our religious convictions. The list of unwarranted forms of suffering is also endless.
Our sufferings, both just and unjust, are, however, pitiful compared to the completely unjust sufferings through which Christ went in the final days of his earthly life. For the sake of your edification and in light of it being Good Friday, I thought I would share some of the particulars of his final earthly days. Many of these details were taken from a recent sermon of a well-known American pastor. I share them with you not to be dramatic or to tug at your emotional heart strings. I am not trying to reenact Mel’s Gibson’s Passion of the Christ in blog form. My intention of sharing these details is to enable you to relativize your current sufferings and worship Christ as the one who suffered far worse than you so that you would never suffer eternally that which he suffered.
So what was crucifixion really like?
Josephus, a first century Jewish historian and apologist, referred to crucifixion as “the most wretched of deaths.” It was an act of psychological, physical, and emotional terror. In fact, the word “excruciating” literally means “from the cross.” The crucified individual would usually die of asphyxiation. In other words, hanging upon a cross would cause a person to go in and out of consciousness by impairing his or her ability to breath. It would cause intermittent choking, suffocating, and smothering, as if the person was in and out of a choke hold (mostly in) until death. Some crucifixions lasted hours and some up to 9 days. Criminals baked in the heat of the sun during the day and shook uncontrollably with chills at night. Most would lose control of their bodily functions, dripping feces and blood into a puddle at their feet. The crucifixions were done in public areas where people would spit on them, throw stones at them, and mock them. Women were often crucified with their faces toward the cross, while men generally faced the crowd. When taken down, their bodies were often fed to the dogs and vultures. Their bones were used as chew toys. It was the most shameful and physically painful way to die possible, reserved for only the most high crimes (e.g., treason, murder, etc.).
What was Jesus’ crucifixion like?
Worse than this.
Immediately after speaking of his upcoming death at the Last Supper, Jesus was under such psychological and emotional distress that he sweat blood in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. After being betrayed by one of his best friends for a mere 30 pieces of silver, he was arrested. However, there was no trial. The accusations of the Jewish leaders didn’t agree, but they condemned him nonetheless.
They began to beat him. The Bible says that he was flogged. What is flogging? It was a form of torture at the hand of a device known as a flagrum. Picture a tennis racket handle with strips of leather attached to it. At the end of the leather strips were hooks made of bone or metal, coupled with heavy metal balls used to “tenderize” the flesh. In the case of Jesus, the Roman soldiers stripped him virtually naked, extended his hands over a rock, cuffed him, and whipped him with the flagrum. While the balls softened his flesh, the hooks dug into his skin and connective tissues and ripped them out as the solider tugged at the flagrum. It is widely agreed that the hooks of the flagrum went deep enough to dislodge his ribs and pierce his lungs. Few survived flogging. Jesus did. The Bible says that he was “marred beyond human likeness,” but he did not die.
Jesus was then told to carry his cross. It weighed more than 100 pounds. He carried it as a blatant message to others not to follow him or such a fate would be theirs. After carrying the cross some distance, Jesus fell down and upon him fell the cross. The History Channel recently did a documentary on the crucifixion and the interviewed doctor compared the cross falling on Jesus to a car accident. He equated it with a no-seatbelt driver being slammed head-on by a truck traveling 55 mph. Jesus suffered a bruised heart that began leaking blood into a sac just outside the heart. Over time, the sac filled with blood and water. This explains why blood literally exploded from Jesus’ side when a soldier pierced his ribs on the cross.
Jesus then had a crown of thorns dug into his skull. These were not tiny prickly rose thorns. These were 5-7 inch thorns that were pushed forcefully into his cranium. They then laid him on the cross bar and drove the equivalent of railroad spikes through the most sensitive nerve centers of his body—his hands and feet. He was then lifted up and a statement was put over his head in mockery: “King of the Jews.” As he looked out at the crowd whom he loved, all he heard was mockery.
And then Jesus spoke. What did he say? “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” To the repentant criminal crucified alongside him, he said, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” The fact that he was speaking coherently means that his physical and mental faculties were still intact. He was not dying of asphyxiation. He was blatantly aware of everything happening to him. He could feel every wound. He could hear every insult. He was not anesthetized. He watched and felt the full extent of his murder.
Jesus then quoted Psalm 22 and cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” What was happening here? The unbroken intimacy of God the Father and God the Son was being temporarily broken. Jesus was taking upon himself our sin and as a consequence was banished from the presence of the Father. Neither you nor I have experienced such emotional pain— far worse than any physical pain I just described. Far worse than any of your breakups. Far worse than any divorce. Far worse than your mother or father dying. Far worse than your child dying. The son of God was murdered at the hands of you and I while his father, completely able to stop it, willfully watched.
And into his Father’s hands Jesus then committed his spirit. The work was finished.
As we reflect on the death of Christ this Good Friday, I urge you to soak in some of these details. I urge you to “go there.” Sit in the reality of the crucifixion. Dwell in the pain through which your Savior went so that you would never have to experience it. Mourn that you were the one who caused it. And get ready to celebrate that which followed three days later…
Sometimes, however, we suffer unjustly. We don’t deserve it. We are betrayed, cheated on, lied to, ridiculed, and slandered without warrant. We suffer empathetically alongside sick loved ones. We are helpless victims of criminal activity, cross-cultural hatred, and social alienation. We are persecuted for our religious convictions. The list of unwarranted forms of suffering is also endless.
Our sufferings, both just and unjust, are, however, pitiful compared to the completely unjust sufferings through which Christ went in the final days of his earthly life. For the sake of your edification and in light of it being Good Friday, I thought I would share some of the particulars of his final earthly days. Many of these details were taken from a recent sermon of a well-known American pastor. I share them with you not to be dramatic or to tug at your emotional heart strings. I am not trying to reenact Mel’s Gibson’s Passion of the Christ in blog form. My intention of sharing these details is to enable you to relativize your current sufferings and worship Christ as the one who suffered far worse than you so that you would never suffer eternally that which he suffered.
So what was crucifixion really like?
Josephus, a first century Jewish historian and apologist, referred to crucifixion as “the most wretched of deaths.” It was an act of psychological, physical, and emotional terror. In fact, the word “excruciating” literally means “from the cross.” The crucified individual would usually die of asphyxiation. In other words, hanging upon a cross would cause a person to go in and out of consciousness by impairing his or her ability to breath. It would cause intermittent choking, suffocating, and smothering, as if the person was in and out of a choke hold (mostly in) until death. Some crucifixions lasted hours and some up to 9 days. Criminals baked in the heat of the sun during the day and shook uncontrollably with chills at night. Most would lose control of their bodily functions, dripping feces and blood into a puddle at their feet. The crucifixions were done in public areas where people would spit on them, throw stones at them, and mock them. Women were often crucified with their faces toward the cross, while men generally faced the crowd. When taken down, their bodies were often fed to the dogs and vultures. Their bones were used as chew toys. It was the most shameful and physically painful way to die possible, reserved for only the most high crimes (e.g., treason, murder, etc.).
What was Jesus’ crucifixion like?
Worse than this.
Immediately after speaking of his upcoming death at the Last Supper, Jesus was under such psychological and emotional distress that he sweat blood in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. After being betrayed by one of his best friends for a mere 30 pieces of silver, he was arrested. However, there was no trial. The accusations of the Jewish leaders didn’t agree, but they condemned him nonetheless.
They began to beat him. The Bible says that he was flogged. What is flogging? It was a form of torture at the hand of a device known as a flagrum. Picture a tennis racket handle with strips of leather attached to it. At the end of the leather strips were hooks made of bone or metal, coupled with heavy metal balls used to “tenderize” the flesh. In the case of Jesus, the Roman soldiers stripped him virtually naked, extended his hands over a rock, cuffed him, and whipped him with the flagrum. While the balls softened his flesh, the hooks dug into his skin and connective tissues and ripped them out as the solider tugged at the flagrum. It is widely agreed that the hooks of the flagrum went deep enough to dislodge his ribs and pierce his lungs. Few survived flogging. Jesus did. The Bible says that he was “marred beyond human likeness,” but he did not die.
Jesus was then told to carry his cross. It weighed more than 100 pounds. He carried it as a blatant message to others not to follow him or such a fate would be theirs. After carrying the cross some distance, Jesus fell down and upon him fell the cross. The History Channel recently did a documentary on the crucifixion and the interviewed doctor compared the cross falling on Jesus to a car accident. He equated it with a no-seatbelt driver being slammed head-on by a truck traveling 55 mph. Jesus suffered a bruised heart that began leaking blood into a sac just outside the heart. Over time, the sac filled with blood and water. This explains why blood literally exploded from Jesus’ side when a soldier pierced his ribs on the cross.
Jesus then had a crown of thorns dug into his skull. These were not tiny prickly rose thorns. These were 5-7 inch thorns that were pushed forcefully into his cranium. They then laid him on the cross bar and drove the equivalent of railroad spikes through the most sensitive nerve centers of his body—his hands and feet. He was then lifted up and a statement was put over his head in mockery: “King of the Jews.” As he looked out at the crowd whom he loved, all he heard was mockery.
And then Jesus spoke. What did he say? “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” To the repentant criminal crucified alongside him, he said, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” The fact that he was speaking coherently means that his physical and mental faculties were still intact. He was not dying of asphyxiation. He was blatantly aware of everything happening to him. He could feel every wound. He could hear every insult. He was not anesthetized. He watched and felt the full extent of his murder.
Jesus then quoted Psalm 22 and cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” What was happening here? The unbroken intimacy of God the Father and God the Son was being temporarily broken. Jesus was taking upon himself our sin and as a consequence was banished from the presence of the Father. Neither you nor I have experienced such emotional pain— far worse than any physical pain I just described. Far worse than any of your breakups. Far worse than any divorce. Far worse than your mother or father dying. Far worse than your child dying. The son of God was murdered at the hands of you and I while his father, completely able to stop it, willfully watched.
And into his Father’s hands Jesus then committed his spirit. The work was finished.
As we reflect on the death of Christ this Good Friday, I urge you to soak in some of these details. I urge you to “go there.” Sit in the reality of the crucifixion. Dwell in the pain through which your Savior went so that you would never have to experience it. Mourn that you were the one who caused it. And get ready to celebrate that which followed three days later…
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Ancestral Bondage
Both primitive people in tribal religious groups and modern secularists believe in the power of ancestral bondage. What’s that? It’s the belief that we can be enslaved by evil powers transferred to us by our forefathers. Animistic tribal religions speak in terms of ancestral spirits and transmissions of curses. Modern secularists (many of whom live in New York City) speak of unbreakable genetic influences and intense wounding from abusive, codependent, alcoholic, workaholic, or emotionally distant parents. In both cases, there is a sense that our fates were sealed when we came into this world. We must live with the curse or wounds of our ancestry. But does this have to be the case?
The Bible says no. Absolutely not.
1 Peter 1:18-19 says, “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” Let me paraphrase. A price was paid to liberate you from the empty, meaningless, unprofitable ways of life that you inherited from your parents—ways that lead to destruction. That price was not a dollar figure. The price was infinitely more valuable than silver or gold. The price was the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
Countless New Yorkers are trying to free themselves from enslaving pain associated with their parents. What currency are they using to purchase such freedom? The currency of their jobs, looks, friends, pets, success, power, prestige, promotion, performance, human approval, titles, academic degrees, internships, morality, religious performance, ministerial leadership, bodily perfectionism, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, children, packed social calendars, exercise, drinking, or drugs. You name it. We are trying to use “perishable things such as silver or gold” to liberate our souls from ancestral bondage.
But Peter tells us these modes of currency won’t work. It’s all Monopoly money. What will work? What will liberate us from ancestral slavery? Only the blood of Christ. Only the suffering and death of Jesus Christ is a sufficient ransom to fully free those of us enslaved to such ancestral bondage.
How does the blood of Christ free us? Simple. It rips apart the bonds of our pasts and turns us into new creations. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” Christ died to transform slaves into new creations, freed from slavery. Christ died to liberate us. He died so that no hex can hold us. Nothing inherited from our parents can enchain us. No abuse, codependency, alcoholism, workaholism, or emotional distance inflicted by our parents can bind us. No level of ancestral bondage can overpower us. We are new creations. We are clothed with the righteousness of Christ and have completely new identities. We are children of God who are dearly and infinitely loved. We have all the blessings of heaven. And when God blesses us with such blessings, nothing (not even our parents) can curse us.
It has been said that the power of the liberator defines the extent of the liberation. How powerful is the liberator from ancestral bondage? How powerful is the blood of Christ? Peter tells us that it is “precious.” The word “precious” conveys infinite value. The power of the liberator is infinite. Therefore, the extent of the liberation is infinite.
Every person in this city has been wounded by his or her parents. I have. We all have. Your parents have been wounded by their parents (so have mercy on them), and you will wound your children (so ask for their mercy). But no wound that has been inflicted by your ancestors is beyond the healing of Jesus. You can be free. But “silver and gold” (idols) will never free you. Only Christ’s blood will free you. You can be a new creation. Receive this offer today and break the chains of ancestral bondage.
The Bible says no. Absolutely not.
1 Peter 1:18-19 says, “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” Let me paraphrase. A price was paid to liberate you from the empty, meaningless, unprofitable ways of life that you inherited from your parents—ways that lead to destruction. That price was not a dollar figure. The price was infinitely more valuable than silver or gold. The price was the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
Countless New Yorkers are trying to free themselves from enslaving pain associated with their parents. What currency are they using to purchase such freedom? The currency of their jobs, looks, friends, pets, success, power, prestige, promotion, performance, human approval, titles, academic degrees, internships, morality, religious performance, ministerial leadership, bodily perfectionism, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, children, packed social calendars, exercise, drinking, or drugs. You name it. We are trying to use “perishable things such as silver or gold” to liberate our souls from ancestral bondage.
But Peter tells us these modes of currency won’t work. It’s all Monopoly money. What will work? What will liberate us from ancestral slavery? Only the blood of Christ. Only the suffering and death of Jesus Christ is a sufficient ransom to fully free those of us enslaved to such ancestral bondage.
How does the blood of Christ free us? Simple. It rips apart the bonds of our pasts and turns us into new creations. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” Christ died to transform slaves into new creations, freed from slavery. Christ died to liberate us. He died so that no hex can hold us. Nothing inherited from our parents can enchain us. No abuse, codependency, alcoholism, workaholism, or emotional distance inflicted by our parents can bind us. No level of ancestral bondage can overpower us. We are new creations. We are clothed with the righteousness of Christ and have completely new identities. We are children of God who are dearly and infinitely loved. We have all the blessings of heaven. And when God blesses us with such blessings, nothing (not even our parents) can curse us.
It has been said that the power of the liberator defines the extent of the liberation. How powerful is the liberator from ancestral bondage? How powerful is the blood of Christ? Peter tells us that it is “precious.” The word “precious” conveys infinite value. The power of the liberator is infinite. Therefore, the extent of the liberation is infinite.
Every person in this city has been wounded by his or her parents. I have. We all have. Your parents have been wounded by their parents (so have mercy on them), and you will wound your children (so ask for their mercy). But no wound that has been inflicted by your ancestors is beyond the healing of Jesus. You can be free. But “silver and gold” (idols) will never free you. Only Christ’s blood will free you. You can be a new creation. Receive this offer today and break the chains of ancestral bondage.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
New York Loneliness
One of the most paradoxical realities of New York is that in this city there are 8 million incredibly lonely people living on top of one another. I get lonely. We all do. Most of us have willfully left our families and friends to come here. We assumed that when we got here we’d bond with the other 8 million people in our same shoes. But we haven’t. We dine alone. We exercise alone. We go to church alone. We read alone. Everybody is doing his or own thing. Community is non-existent. We suffer because of it. It hurts us on the insides and we become immune to its ill effects.
When I sit in my tiny Manhattan apartment and sulk in my loneliness, however, I tend to forget one thing. I forget the loneliness that Jesus faced, a level of loneliness far deeper and far more painful than you or I will ever face. How was Jesus lonely? On two levels. On a human level, He was, of course, alone as he approached the cross of Calvary where he would die the death of all deaths. Roman military officials beat him and Jewish religious leaders mocked him. This was to be expected in light of the messianic claims he was making. However, one thing we often forget is that Jesus was abandoned by those who “loved” him as well. Matthew 26:56 says that after Judas Iscariot betrayed him, “all the disciples left him and fled.” The twelve men in whom he invested his life and with whom he bonded as their teacher picked up their things at the first sign of serious trouble and bolted. Peter, the one who previously identified him as the Son of God, denied even knowing him. Jesus was ditched to his death by His best friends.
On a cosmic level, however, Jesus experienced a level of loneliness that his followers will never know. On the cross, God bolted. God abandoned him. God willfully fled. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus shouted. Imagine the most intimate relationship you have on this planet. Perhaps it is with your husband or wife. Perhaps it is with your mother or father. Perhaps a girlfriend or boyfriend. Perhaps it is with your pet (I seriously hope not). Now imagine that person not only leaves you, but actually takes a knife to you and starts stabbing you on the way out the door. Take that feeling to the infinity-eth power. That’s what Jesus went through on the cross when his heavenly father not only abandoned him but crucified him to atone for the sins of his people. The loneliness he experienced was humiliatingly painful on a cosmic level.
Yes, New York is a lonely city. Even if you have a jam-packed social calendar and hundreds of friends, I know that you often feel lonely. But when you and I feel the temptation to wallow in our loneliness, we have a source of comfort. What’s that comfort? We have a God who can identify with our loneliness. We have a God who became lonely so that we would one day never be lonely again. We have a God who willfully moved from his home (heaven) to the big city (earth), only to be abandoned not to his apartment for Friday night moo shoe pork and Office reruns, but to a cross on which he would be murdered. Why? So you and I would, when we die, will never be lonely again.
When I sit in my tiny Manhattan apartment and sulk in my loneliness, however, I tend to forget one thing. I forget the loneliness that Jesus faced, a level of loneliness far deeper and far more painful than you or I will ever face. How was Jesus lonely? On two levels. On a human level, He was, of course, alone as he approached the cross of Calvary where he would die the death of all deaths. Roman military officials beat him and Jewish religious leaders mocked him. This was to be expected in light of the messianic claims he was making. However, one thing we often forget is that Jesus was abandoned by those who “loved” him as well. Matthew 26:56 says that after Judas Iscariot betrayed him, “all the disciples left him and fled.” The twelve men in whom he invested his life and with whom he bonded as their teacher picked up their things at the first sign of serious trouble and bolted. Peter, the one who previously identified him as the Son of God, denied even knowing him. Jesus was ditched to his death by His best friends.
On a cosmic level, however, Jesus experienced a level of loneliness that his followers will never know. On the cross, God bolted. God abandoned him. God willfully fled. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus shouted. Imagine the most intimate relationship you have on this planet. Perhaps it is with your husband or wife. Perhaps it is with your mother or father. Perhaps a girlfriend or boyfriend. Perhaps it is with your pet (I seriously hope not). Now imagine that person not only leaves you, but actually takes a knife to you and starts stabbing you on the way out the door. Take that feeling to the infinity-eth power. That’s what Jesus went through on the cross when his heavenly father not only abandoned him but crucified him to atone for the sins of his people. The loneliness he experienced was humiliatingly painful on a cosmic level.
Yes, New York is a lonely city. Even if you have a jam-packed social calendar and hundreds of friends, I know that you often feel lonely. But when you and I feel the temptation to wallow in our loneliness, we have a source of comfort. What’s that comfort? We have a God who can identify with our loneliness. We have a God who became lonely so that we would one day never be lonely again. We have a God who willfully moved from his home (heaven) to the big city (earth), only to be abandoned not to his apartment for Friday night moo shoe pork and Office reruns, but to a cross on which he would be murdered. Why? So you and I would, when we die, will never be lonely again.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Introductions
This is my first blog entry. Ever. I never thought I’d be a blogger. But the truth is that I have a hyperactive mind and, for better or worse, want to share it with the world.
For those of you who don’t know me, I live and work in New York City. I’m a Christian and came here roughly two years ago to start a Christian church. Why do I share this? To set up the purpose of this blog. The purpose isn’t to vent about my personal life, the media, sports, celebrity culture, politics, or sexuality. I’m not Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City, gentlemen). I’m a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and want to reflect on what it means to follow him in a city like New York. I will not shy away from discussing politics, cultural patterns, media trends, urban idols, or current events. However, my goal is to write about God. My hope is that both those who follow Christ and those who choose not to follow him will read and be edified. Please leave comments. Feel free to disagree with me. Feel free to correct me. Keep it clean, but keep it real…
For those of you who don’t know me, I live and work in New York City. I’m a Christian and came here roughly two years ago to start a Christian church. Why do I share this? To set up the purpose of this blog. The purpose isn’t to vent about my personal life, the media, sports, celebrity culture, politics, or sexuality. I’m not Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City, gentlemen). I’m a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and want to reflect on what it means to follow him in a city like New York. I will not shy away from discussing politics, cultural patterns, media trends, urban idols, or current events. However, my goal is to write about God. My hope is that both those who follow Christ and those who choose not to follow him will read and be edified. Please leave comments. Feel free to disagree with me. Feel free to correct me. Keep it clean, but keep it real…
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
