On the walk to Emmaus, Jesus took two grieving disciples
through the Old Testament to show them pictures of why the Messiah would need to die and rise again.
Perhaps two of those pictures were from
Job and the Song of Songs.
WHEN JOB WAS SUFFERING
HE PRAYED THAT GOD WOULD LET HIM DIE,
BUT THEN AN ICY FEAR CAME, FOR JOB LIVED IN THE TIME OF GENESIS WHEN LITTLE WAS KNOWN ABOUT THE AFTERLIFE.
SO JOB ASKED:
IF A MAN DIES, SHALL HE LIVE AGAIN?
THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD CAME AND REVEALED TRUTH TO JOB.
SUDDENLY JOB CRIES OUT:
YOU WOULD CALL, AND I WILL ANSWER YOU;
YOU WOULD LONG FOR THE WORK OF YOUR HANDS.
DO YOU SEE?
WHEN A CHILD OF GOD DIES,
GOD MISSES THE ONE HIS HANDS MADE.
HE WILL CALL YOUR NAME,
LIKE HE CALLED THE NAME OF LAZARUS,
AND YOU WILL RISE!
JESUS WAS THE FIRSTFRUITS.
LOW IN THE GRAVE HE LAY,
AND HIS FATHER MISSED HIM.
PREPARE YOUR HEART FOR THIS RESURRECTION DAY WITH THIS:
IF CHRIST HAS NOT RISEN, OUR HOPE IS IN VAIN. BUT CHRIST HAS RISEN. AND ONE DAY GOD WILL CALL THE NAMES OF HIS CHILDREN AND WE WILL RISE WITH NEW BODIES, LIKE HE HAS. THE ONES YOU LOVE WHO DIED IN THE LORD WILL RISE. WE HAVE SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE!
WE SEE A SHADOW OF THIS IN THE SONG:
RESURRECTION DAY!
1.What stands out to you from the above and why?
Monday-Thursday Bible Study
2. Share a new insight or a way God met you this holy week.
3. Read Job 14:1-6 and describe his honest lament. (Compare verse 6 to the ending of Psalm 39.)
Derek Kidner writes: “The very presence of such prayers in Scripture is a witness to His understanding. He knows how men speak when they are desperate.”
4. How does Job see more hope for a tree in Job 14:7-12?
5. The turn in Job’s lament comes in Job 14: 13-14. Describe it.
6. Now the Spirit of the living God speaks — find it in Job 14:15-15-17.
7. The next time the Spirit of the living God breaks into Job’s lament is in 19:25-27. Find and describe it.
8. Job was a righteous man who nearly died from his suffering, and his story has been a comfort to millions. But there is a GREATER JOB in JESUS.. Compare their suffering, their victories, and their impact.
9. Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-26 and explain why it is vital to our faith that Christ arose.
10. Read Song of Songs 2:10-14 in light of foreshadowing your resurrection. What new things do you see?
11. USE THIS PASSAGE AS A SPRINGBOARD OF PRAISE TO GOD.
FRIDAY: INTRODUCING IMPACT360.ORG — A GREAT RESOURCE FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY. WATCH THIS FIVE MINUTE VIDEO AND COMMENT:
SATURDAY:
12. What is your take-a-way and why?
218 comments
8. Job was a righteous man who nearly died from his suffering, and his story has been a comfort to millions. But there is a GREATER JOB in JESUS.. Compare their suffering, their victories, and their impact.
Both Jesus and Job endured humiliation, physical and emotional pain, and fear of abandonment. Job did not actually die – just came close to it. Jesus did actually die, but then was raised by God from the dead. Job proved Satan wrong, that people don’t just believe in God when things are going well for them. Job was considered blameless – that was why Satan wanted to test him. Job did have to repent of his attitude concerning God’s sovereignty and justice. Jesus was completely blameless, but since he was God, he knew all about God’s sovereignty and justice.
Job has inspired millions and comforted them. He encourages men and women to trust that God is always in charge, and to acknowledge that God is all-knowing and all powerful. Jesus by his suffering, death, and resurrection bought our redemption from sin. Jesus has impacted the world more than anyone else who ever lived. Time is even dated by Jesus’ birth – either BC or AD.
I was discussing #8 with a friend in Bible Study at my church, and she mentioned something that I thought was worth mentioning here–how both Job and Jesus were betrayed by their friends. Job had three friends who were supposedly there to comfort him, but they were far, far from comforting! They gave Job bad advice, and they didn’t really stand with him and failed to believe in his innocence. Jesus had some friends who fell asleep when he asked them to watch while he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Of course, Judas was a friend who ended up betraying Jesus to the Jewish leaders for 30 pieces of silver. Finally, there was Peter, who swore he would never abandon Jesus, but Peter denied even knowing Jesus three separate times the night of Jesus’ trial.
That is very note worthy, Deanna. I had not seen the parallels before like I have in this study….and also in some things Michael Card says in his book, A Sacred Sorrow. Thanks for sharing this.
6. Now the Spirit of the living God speaks — find it in Job 14:15-15-17.
I love this…..
“You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands.”
Job 14:15 ESV
“… The work of your hands…” refers to Job himself! That’s so cool.
Job is saying God misses him and wants him in heaven with him. He says God would forgive his sins and take care of him (I think).
7. The next time the Spirit of the living God breaks into Job’s lament is in 19:25-27. Find and describe it.
I don’t know how this is the spirit of the living God when it seems like Job is talking here. He says he can’t wait until he can actually be with God.
THANK YOU to whomever fixed the posts, so the ones with my full name no longer appears. (I think anyway). My first, last and middle initial do still appear on the drop down when I type in my name for a comment. So it would be easy to accidentally post my whole name again. Anyone else have this happening??? It used to just read ‘Wanda’.
Good one, Renee. (You actually know way too much! ) 😉 But since you know where to find me……come visit!
Wanda, The dropdown contains stuff you have typed in in the past (might be from another site if not this one). I get a whole list of versions of my email that I have mis-typed before! One thing you might be able to do is to type your first name in using no caps, or caps in different locations, e.g., wandA so that you whole name becomes so low on the list you won’t accidentally hit it.
Thank you. That’s good advice. I just came home tonight and now can SEE all the posts with my full name again. They seriously keep coming and going. But apparently, I’m the only one who sees this? I’m getting really weirded out by this. I’m sorry to sound like a ‘broken record’ (for anyone who grew up with that descriptor)……I might just need to take a break.
Wanda — your full name is not appearing. The drop down is just for your eyes — pulling up anything you’ve typed close to it on your computer in the past. I’m sorry this has been so upsetting to you. I understand your fears — but it is not appearing.
DEE – just wanted you to be aware that Wanda and I were communicating on another matter and I checked this blog for her….I counted at least 5 different posts of hers that had her FULL NAME. So it is not just her computer……I am showing the same thing! Something is definitely glitchy with this……??????
JACKIE and DEE: Looks like it’s all fixed. The tech wizards were able to change the full name to just my first and i’ve learned how to avoid it happening again. Thanks for being an extra set of eyes and a part of the solution team!
Wanda! So thankful that your problems are resolved….yay! And yes, when I start to type in my first name on the blog my entire name “drops down”……so I have to be VERY intentional when jumping in!
8. Job was a righteous man who nearly died from his suffering, and his story has been a comfort to millions. But there is a GREATER JOB in JESUS.. Compare their suffering, their victories, and their impact.
Job and Jesus both suffered however Job never knew what or why he was suffering. Jesus knew…..He knew exactly what would happen and why it needed to happen. Both Job and Jesus tried to convince people to believe in something they couldn’t see or understand easily. Both Job and Jesus were loved by their Holy Father. Job didn’t actually lose his life in the end; Jesus did. Job received a new life and we receive new life because of Jesus’ sacrifice. Job impacted the people around him but Jesus has impacted the entire world.
9. Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-26 and explain why it is vital to our faith that Christ arose.
If we don’t accept that Christ rose, then our faith is in vain; we are misrepresenting God. Because if Christ didn’t rise then we cannot rise either and we live in our sin forever and hope is only in this life on earth (how depressing that is).
Laura-I absolutely love your short and sweet answer to #9!! 🙂 so true.. in a nutshell! YES depressing indeed.
???
Laura — you are like Nathanial — no guile! I love love love that about you.
It does seem like Job is talking, but he is articulating what the Spirit is impressing on his heart, for it is an answer to his question and a complete reversal to his dispairing thoughts.
9. Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-26 and explain why it is vital to our faith that Christ arose.
If He didn’t rise from the dead then our sins aren’t forgiven..and our faith is futile for He would have had to come over and over again to die for our sins and even then he couldn’t because he would have just died the first time. We would never be covered in His righteousness-never restored, never redeemed and therefore Jesus’ disciples were martyred in vain-their passion wouldn’t make sense for they were weak in their faith after he died on the cross but when they saw Him after he rose-oh their faith soared! The curtain wouldn’t have torn, the dead wouldn’t have risen and the earth wouldn’t have shook. We would have had to tear that out of scripture.
He is our creator who desires to be with us forever as was His intent when He created us..Redeeming us wouldn’t be complete without the resurrection for He redeemed us for eternity, not just to experience Him in part here on earth for He longs for us to see Him face to face in full. We would not just tear out pages in Scripture-we would have to nix the whole Bible. Only seeing the glass dim but never face to face as it was in the beginning before the fall doesn’t make sense with who God is and why He made us. Also, if the resurrection didn’t happen Jesus wouldn’t have been God because he would have lied on the cross when he said, ‘it is finished’. If in Christ we only have hope in this life-that is pitiful for then our faith is futile.
SOS 2: 10 b-11 is sticking with me this morning..
“Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away, for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come…”
Longing for this day with Him…and rejoicing that it is coming!!
4. How does Job see more hope for a tree in Job 14:7-12? He sees an ‘afterlife’ as it were. The tree has a physical, visible way to stay connected to its life source. We as humans have no roots, no visible way to be connected to our life source. Before Christ came there was longing for salvation but no assurance of that salvation after death.
5. The turn in Job’s lament come in Job 14:13-14. Describe it. He has lamented his sinfulness and God’s justified wrath on him, that he has no hope in himself. Now Job sees that though his days and judgement lie with God (making him want to hide from God) so does any hope he may have for Redemption. Interesting – he knows of Sheol, of the punishment for sins… This implies he knows that we have spirits and we go somewhere after death. He also knows that his renewal would be worth waiting for.
6. Now the Spirit of the living God speaks – find it in Job 14:15-17. He speaks through Job’s hope, Job’s heart remembers his creator, his spirit knows there is a supernatural connection.
7. The next time the Spirit of the living God breaks into Job’s lament is in 19:25-27. Find and describe it. “For I KNOW that my redeemer lives…” “…yet in my flesh I shall see God…” Job knows that God is the ultimate vindicator and redeemer. I read other translations and verse 26 seems to be a change in mortality, the first mention of flesh being this world and the second mention of flesh being the immortal flesh – flesh after death, the afterlife. Again God is speaking through Job’s hope – but this time it is faith for it seems more sure and ‘stronger’ than the first? In chapter 14 the hope doesn’t break through long for Job goes back to lamenting. But in this chapter it seems to be Job’s conclusion so I read it as a stronger resolve in his hope – faith.
9. Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-26 and explain why it is vital to our faith that Christ arose.
Christ’s resurrection is the central feature of Christian faith. Because He arose from the dead as he had promised to do in three days , we know that He is God. It gives Jesus the authority to say, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Since he arose, we can confidently know that our sins are forgiven. Other people were raised from the dead (such as Lazarus), but Christ is the only one that did not die again. Without His resurrection we would have no hope of eternal life.
It is amazing that I just never get enough of the video of Song of Songs by Jesus Culture with Martin Smith! I know we have talked in the past that this should be our theme song. The lyrics seem to be even more relevant and penetrating now than in the past! For example, in light of current events, “All the evil things that shake me…all the words that break me” took on richer meaning for me.
Yes, Deanna — I feel that way too. Was with a godly friend who said that instead of despairing, Christians need to be praying for revival — our real problem!
I keep reading here last week and this week about positive experiences with participating in “Stations of the Cross”. If anyone has fuller details of organizing such an event, I am really interested! I assume that is it done in several different ways, but I am interested in your own experiences, with the idea of possibly organizing it at our church. I have never experienced it so feel rather hesitant but it sounds SO meaningful that I would really be interested.
Diiane: I will check with my pastor and ask where they got the specific reflective ‘activities’ that accompanied their stations. This was a first time for our church too. I googled it after I got home and read of different variations. Our church used the traditional 14 stations, but I am sure there are many ways to incorporate reflections into them. I don’t know if they used a ‘set plan’ that they got written from somewhere, or if they created a lot of it. I am guessing a combination.
. The next time the Spirit of the living God breaks into Job’s lament is in 19:25-27. Find and describe it.
Job acknowledges his Redeemer lives; the surety of His coming again (at last stand on earth); the hope of seeing his Redeemer face to face.
8. Job was a righteous man who nearly died from his suffering, and his story has been a comfort to millions. But there is a GREATER JOB in JESUS.. Compare their suffering, their victories, and their impact.
Both went through excruciating pain; Job survived but Jesus died.
Both surrendered to God’s will (Job 1:21 “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” “ Luke 22:42 “”Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”)
Both still speaks today to our suffering.
Both experienced the silence of God for a time in their suffering.
God gave us both human and divine example of suffering.
Job had hope; Jesus is HOPE.
Job points us to Jesus.
Only Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Whereas Job lies dead, Jesus is alive interceding for me/us in heaven.
Great, Bing!
I may have to copy these parallels into the margin of A Sacred Sorrow, Bing. You’ve augmented Michael Card’s writing, with these good insights.
10. Read Song of Songs 2:10-14 in light of foreshadowing your resurrection. What new things do you see?
Lots, now that I am seeing it in light of my resurrection this week!
I may be mistaken but I can’t help but sense this morning in this passage, a wedding procession. When he says “arise my love and come away”. and the following verses reflect the transforming he did in me preparing me for this day. Him shaving off the darkness in my heart-the dross, and the pain in peeling off the layers is past for in my resurrection I will be like Him-fully fragrant.
You know how we meditate on the Gospel now-how His Love melts us..just think of how beautiful that meditation will be when we are face to face-no distractions, no baal on our lips. :))
A time of singing has come! He is our joy here-oh yes but experiencing Him in full in the future with no baal on our lips at all…nothing to distract our singing-Only Him, only Him!
Rebecca — when we see these verses in light of our own resurrection it follows perfectly that what would happen next is the wedding day! Good insight.
10. Read Song of Songs 2:10-14 in light of foreshadowing your resurrection. What new things do you see?
Initially studying, although it seems as if he is promoting life here on earth with all the beauty and such, I don’t think that’s what I’m supposed to be gleaning from this passage. I think I’m supposed to think that he wants me to come with him to a better place. With more thought, and going back and reading this passage out loud, I believe where he says winter has passed he is referring to the time spent here on earth. When he talks about the fig tree in the flowers blossoming and all of that, he speaking about life in another land meaning heaven. He says “… turtle dove is heard in our land.” I think that land refers to heaven.
Lovely to see this that way, Laura.
????
8. Job was a righteous man who nearly died from his suffering, and his story has been a comfort to millions. But there is a great Job in Jesus. Compare their suffering, their victories, and their impact.
Both men’s suffering brought suspicion that they were not righteous.
God came to Job in His suffering, God turned away from Jesus in His suffering.
Job’s victory was for his own understanding and that of his friends and those that would read His story, Christ’s victory was ‘once for all.’
Both of their impact was to glorify God. Job’s impact would be to point us to God and the hope of a redeemer: Jesus’s impact would be to offer a fre gift of salvation to everyone who believes.
Job teaches us how to deal with the weight of despair, Jesus takes weight from us, indeed He has destroyed despair becuase even though pain, suffering, depression are still present, we need not despair because we now have spiritual roots – we are connected to the life source, we will sprout again.
Christ’s impact is HOPE!
9. Read 1 Corinthians 15:22-26 and explain why it is vital to our faith that Christ arose. Because if Christ has not risen our faith is in vain, there is no resurrection from the dead, not even us. We are then to be pitied. There is no other option: there is God with Christ or God without Christ. One is despair (as Job assumed) and one is Hope- Faith.
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I have sort of a mixed impression from this video. For someone who had never thought through the reasons for their belief in Jesus, this would arm them with some good arguments. However my personal experience tells me that it is impossible to argue or debate someone into faith in Christ I think all of these rational facts need to be followed by someone saying “and I am personally aware of Jesus acting in my life today — I depend on him daily!” if I am bombarded by the “conspiracy theory” or the “hallucination theory,” it can’t touch me, because I know Jesus NOW! I know that he lives!
Yeah, Deanna so true! Our personal testimonies can never be taken away from us. The sense of peace despite the hardest of circumstances cannot be explained by science. Nobody can conjure peace by just striving to make it. We can do much good to this world but it is all rubbish as Paul has said. Our righteousness are like filthy rags as Isaiah says. I have search for meaning in this life through many ways but only till I found Jesus and made Him the Lord of my life did I find meaning for life on this side of Heaven.
You stated this well, Deanna. I have been in ‘rational’ discussions with unbelievers even this week, and honestly…if they are set against believing any of the truth of the Bible, no amount of reason will convince. It is only a work of the Holy Spirit. That’s not to say, we can’t learn from resources like this to……as you say, arm someone who believes with good arguments for their belief. But I think it’s limited in how much it does to bring someone to faith. You’re right. Our verbal and our lived out testimonies likely speak much louder.
Enjoying this conversation here between Deanna, Bing and Wanda……especially now that I just took the time to watch the video. You all make wonderful observations. I thought the video was pretty well done. It does potentially educate us with reasonable arguments for the “proof” of the resurrection. But you all really have shared some beautiful testimonies. And Wanda, you wrapped it up so well in speaking of “rational” discussions with unbelievers…..”no amount of reason will convince”. Amen. Until the Lord opens the spiritual eyes – the heart – there CAN be no sight! But I do believe that He can use these kinds of discussions (both the video example and the conversations that follow) do His deep work within the soil of a heart that He is preparing to respond to His call. It does seem that the video example meets the criteria for 1 peter 3;15….”but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” Very interesting.
The spoken testimony is so hard for me when talking to an unbeliever! I get tangled in my words and don’t convey the sentiment. Recently, when explaining how I was a Christian and couldn’t accept a friends viewpoint on a social issue, I told her that I could still love the person of whom we spoke, even though I didn’t agree with them, just as Jesus loved everyone. She commented, “everyone but these types of people.” My response was something like, ” not true, we see this topic as sin, and in a couple of weeks we remember how He bled on the cross to take on all our sin.” She’s is a professed atheist, so I don’t know if I spoke the correct words….
When I left, I thought I should have said how Jesus hung around the sinners of His time and got in trouble for doing it. There was more I thought I should have said too. Your prompting with the verse in 1 Peter makes me rehearse in my mind what I should say next time. Thanks for the validation of this topic.
yes, Wanda. “Our verbal and lived out testimonies likely speak much louder.” I have been more and more keenly aware of my NEED to live the gospel out in my mundane day to day! Being an introvert who would always prefer to just fly under the radar, I used to feel that the spoken testimony and sharing of the gospel was the most challenging…..but somewhere along the line that flip flopped…..and now I find the TRUE challenge to be walking daily in such a transparent love relationship with Jesus that He shines through my obvious and continual weakness. The ones who know me best are either seeing Him in me….or they are “seeing through” the words about Him that I have spoken.
Deanna initiated a good discussion.
I do think that the main reason people resist even looking into Christ is that they do not want to give up control. But I know I was taught many lies at Northwestern University about the Bible, and this would have been helpful. I think we need both. I sort of resisted the cartoon — yet with peoples’ short attention spans today it ight be helpful.
True about attention spans, Dee! For younger believers, this could help solidify.
Good discussion Deanna. Usually, I try to think through something before I read all the discussion (or I tend not to think about a question much). Should have read this discussion before I posted 😉
8. Job was a righteous man who nearly died from his suffering, and his story has been a comfort to millions. But there is a GREATER JOB in JESUS.. Compare their suffering, their victories, and their impact
8. Job was a righteous man who nearly died from his suffering, and his story has been a comfort to millions. But there is a GREATER JOB in JESUS.. Compare their suffering, their victories, and their impact
The answers to this question, is definitely a take away this week. There have been so many good parallels given by others here. I’m saving those answers!
I have also gained so much from Michael Card’s words. I could re-type the entire last two pages of his section on JOB in A Sacred Sorrow. But I won’t! Here are some excerpts.
So, I guess in simple concise terms, i’d say that Job’s suffering not only paralleled the future suffering of Jesus, but it also served to point us to the ultimate suffering servant. It rings with Keller’s oft quoted words; ‘Jesus was truly abandoned on the cross, so that we would never be truly abandoned.’.
11. USE THIS PASSAGE AS A SPRINGBOARD OF PRAISE TO GOD.
O God heavens, one day everything will be forever spring. The beauty you will bestow on the new earth and heavens will be beyond anything we can compare it to in this sin-sick world! I cannot fathom the promise of “eternal pleasures at your right hand”. Yet, that is what you have promised in your Word. Your Word is truth and in you “there is no shadow of turning with thee; Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not…” You are calling me to arise and come with you. NOW… for it is possible to experience you while in this world and then LATER…to experience you forever. Thank you for the resurrection power we have in Christ. I praise you and love you!
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I found what the video said about Jesus’ brother, James, intriguing. What am I missing? James came to believe in Jesus after he died? What is the reference for this? Am I forgetting something?
Wanda – I haven’t watched the video yet, but I have understood that James, the leader of the early church in Jerusalem and human author of the book of James, was Jesus’ brother….and also Jude, who wrote the book of Jude. Possibly. The first pretty strong clue to their belief I believe comes in Acts 1:14. “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” I think they clearly had a change of heart at some point after the crucifixion and resurrection! 🙂 There really are quite a few references to James sprinkled here and there in the N.T. I believe…..I just now looked up the one in Galatians 1:19 where Paul speaks of seeing “James the Lord’s brother” when he visited Jerusalem…… Acts 15:13 is a clue to James’ authority in the church to speak to serious matters……after Peter has spoken, he stands and makes the concluding remarks….including his judgement as to what should be done in the matter (which is what they did!). Truly fascinating!!
and it’s probably when Jesus appeared personally to him (1 Corinthians 15:7) after His resurrection that would be the key!
Wanda, I don’t know if this would help. Glad you brought this up because I always had the thought that James did not believe in Jesus until after Jesus died but have not really personally looked at Scriptures intently to support this. I have a vague memory of learning this from somebody but I don’t remember who. So here are some websites I have found: http://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/profiles-of-faith-james-half-brother-of-jesus; http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/religion-and-spirituality-apostles-of-jesus-james-brother-of-jesus/6812.aspx
“Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11
Let me know your thoughts. I need to be a Berean. 🙂
Bing! Now I see that you had already replied to Wanda! and with some articles to ponder…..I will take a look!
Thanks, Bing. I was about to do a little ‘googling’ and now I see you gave me a good start! It was lazy of me to ask without looking first! But I’m curious now. 🙂
Looks like John 7:5 is one reference that says ‘not even his brothers believed in Him’……and then there is good evidence that James, Jesus’ brother was the leader of the Jerusalem church for 30 years and that he is the author of the book of James. So, that would about sum it up. it would point to James coming to believe in Jesus as Lord, sometime after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Interesting to piece it together. I have likely forgotten it, if I had been taught this somewhere along the way. 🙂
Wanda – also, see 1 Corinthians 15:7 “Then he appeared to James….” and in Acts 1: 14 “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” Things really changed after the resurrection! 🙂 And how tender that Jesus personally appeared to James.
I had posted several responses to this and other posts just now…..and they disappeared – which I have NEVER had happen!! I am thinking it MIGHT be because I tried to post as “Jackie” rather than “Jackie R”!! I did get a little bit of my own neurosis when your full name kept appearing!!! But they DID appear here….briefly, and now are out there in space somewhere I guess! Perhaps, as usual, I just said too much and needed to be curtailed!!! 🙂
oh my goodness…now I see they are back!! I am going to go to bed!
but of course I did not go to bed….and I was compelled to check again….and they are gone!! I am totally and completely amazed and confused!!!!
Jackie..….your comments here made me smile. ‘Of course, I didn’t go to bed……’ Oh, so like me. Once I get in the ‘I gotta know’ phase, one search leads to another!
when I opened this link Bing, it said the page was unavailable? I wanted to read what you found. does it work for you?
http://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/profiles-of-faith-james-half-brother-of-jesus
If you are interested, try this link.
CheCi this out!
http://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/surprising-archaeological-find-proof-of-jesus-existence
That happened to me first too, Laura. But there are two links…..and if you separate them, they both worked for me.
About the cartoon….
I get that Paul was a convert, but I don’t understand James? Wouldn’t James, since he was Jesus’ brother, already believe in his brother? Also, I thought the explanation of the supernatural being outside the realm of science was awesome!
Laura-great questions..I don’t know..In putting myself in James shoes, I think it might be harder to believe Jesus is God if Jesus were your earthly brother, but then again I could be wrong. 🙂 I think of how Joseph didn’t believe Mary until God intervened through the angel.
Good point, Rebecca. I think that too. How hard it would be to accept your brother/half brother as the Son of God. I wonder what Joseph and Mary told their kids about Jesus’ birth. Wouldn’t you like to have been a ‘fly on the wall’! I guess I just had never pieced it all together before……kinda knew his brothers didn’t believe, but then they did. As Jackie pointed out, it’s likely that his brother, Judas, wrote the book of Jude also. I was fascinated by the articles that Bing posted. Lots to think on!
Impact 360.org video-is so good…I think it is great and may depend on your child-where they are at. God will give discernment in this I am sure. This is reasoning through the Gospel but it is also massaging the resurrection in deeper which we so need to do with our children. Paul amazed me with his discernment in how he reasoned with people. Like Jesus in how he handled Mary and Martha..each one he handled differently. When Paul was in Athens, he disarmed them first by addressing their idolatry, yet how different he approached others. In our culture in America Atheism and Idolatry are rampant. Atheism is on the rise among children and teens especially in my neighborhood and school and satan is behind it. It is a war!
All of this to say-we just need to be faithful in kneading the Gospel deeper into our hearts and kneading into our childrens hearts, and to be on our knees for our children. Our parenting shouldn’t be with an outcome in mind but an overflow of His Love and passion in us onto them, and He is in control of hearts, not us! :)) THANKFULLY. :))
How I wish I had understood this more clearly when my children were young. This was not taught by the ‘christian parenting experts’ that I was reading. It’s so clear to me now. Then……not so much. I think my husband saw this more intuitively than I did.
Rebecca – what a wonderful reminder you gave us of Paul reasoning with the Athenians in Acts 17! And the way you linked Paul to Jesus in the discerning and winsome ways in HOW each dealt with different people….precious! I love your turn of phrase “kneading the Gospel deeper….” into our own and our children’s hearts. As a lapsed bread baker and daughter of a committed bread baker, this word picture hits a home run for me! Prayer. I always, always need encouragement to persevere in prayer…… the verse that came to mind as I read your words was this: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly……” Colossians 3:16. Your entry here is a lovely word picture of that very thing! THANKS REBECCA!!!
12. What is your take-a-way and why?
Many take aways which culminated with Nicole’s song more especially these words: “I know my Redeemer lives! The tomb is empty.I spoke with Him this morning. He lives! I am gonna tell everybody He lives!”
Oh, Lord let me share the joy that I have found in you!
9. Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-26 and explain why it is vital to our faith that Christ arose.
Without the resurrection: Our faith is in vain – like reading the book of Ecclesiastes….”vanity, vanity, all is vanity”. Hopeless.
We are found to be misrepresenting God – which we probably all have been accused of! “How DARE you say that you know
what God is thinking?” If true, the most serious charge possible.
We are still in our sins. Hopeless.
Our loved ones who died in Christ have perished. We will never again see them. Despair.
We would be deserving of all the pity we receive for believing this! Being pitied feels like living in
a bubble – separated from others….sometimes false shame creeps in too.
PRAISE GOD!!!!! NONE OF THESE THINGS ARE TRUE!!! HE IS ALIVE!!!! Our hope is real. With Christ’s resurrection comes our justification before God……fruitfulness and intimacy with Christ in our daily living……a longing for heaven, a restored earth where we will worship Christ without restraint and fellowship with our loved ones in total purity!! And so much more…….
A reminder to all to log in — if you use different devices to reply, you still need to log in. I know it is frustrating when your replies don’t appear — I only check daily for comments that need to be approved (and often they are from regulars who forgot to log in — or it may be they used something that triggered the filter) and if I’m on the road — sometimes I forget. I also know the “filter” makes mistakes, but it also catches those we really don’t want here. Thanks for your patience!
I’ve never seen a place to log in before… Where/how? I do know that if I use a new email address, something is triggered though.
HMMM — if I haven’t logged into my computer, it always asks me for my name and e-mail. No one else?
…..and I’ve been meaning to comment that the filters are so much more friendly now. Which has been great! I haven’t triggered ‘security’ for months. 🙂
Video: Watched it earlier this week but was too tired to comment.What I like: I think it’s important for Christians, for us, to know this info — confidence in evidence for our own faith. This is the kind of stuff that I learned in InterVarsity as an undergrad (MANY moons ago). The beginning of the video implies that the conversation is occurring in the context of relationship
.What I didn’t like: I have mixed feelings about the cultural relevance and whether the video is realistic. We live in a “it’s true for you, but not for me” type society. Also, the people I know who would have enough background even to ask those questions have SO MUCH more info; they often are experts in the area of their own doubts. The conversation in the video seems one-sided: i.e., “simple” questions with the believer having all the answers (and it was so fast it made my head spin).
In the circles in which I travel, this approach likely wouldn’t work (in most conversations, anyway) because of a couple situations: 1) Many of the people I see (including Christians) don’t seem to give a rip about truth, scientific or historical evidence. (but the video did begin with a relationship in order to get to that point).
2) Those who do care and know enough to discuss it are EXPERTS in something. I probably would seem a little goofy if I blurted out that stuff to S Hawking! Although I certainly don’t travel in his circles, I do know smart people who could out-argue me. While I can argue social science research/evidence with the best of them, I would get no where in conversations about historical evidence, especially since I only remember the basics (as from Evidence that Demands a Verdict) .
I’ve watched several debates between top dog-type experts (e.g., Christian vs Muslim; Christian vs atheist). Where I see inroads for the gospel is in the respect they have for each other. Most of the people I know who would enjoy or benefit from a discussion like this already know both sides of the arguments (some have left Christianity altogether; others have become more liberal Christians). It seems much more helpful to listen rather than talk.
In most situations, I would recommend that Christian students NOT take on professors with arguments like this because unless the student knows a WHOLE LOT MORE than is indicated in the video, he or she will lose the argument. I do remember residence hall friends of mine (from way back) having MORE doubts about their faith after participating in discussions like this — because the other person knew more. I didn’t go to the website of the video to check out the purpose: it would be just fine as an intro/overview to educate people about the historical evidence for their faith. But as an example of “how to do it:” kind of embarrassing from an interpersonal perspective. Maybe a little too close to youTube clips from presidential candidate debates. Some of this would work in a debate between 2 equally informed people, but I wouldn’t want to enter a real conversation/friendship with win/lose arguments. As I think about presenting research-related evidence in class (especially the controversial stuff), it’s my job to have thorough knowledge of ALL the evidence for all sides, including how the evidence was obtained, the reliability, validity, context, etc. I will/should lose an argument if I only know the little slice that supports my opinion.
Summary of my impression of the video: IT DEPENDS ON THE CONTEXT 🙂 how it is to be used. I would be annoyed if someone blurted out all that to me and thought they made any difference in my life. If they said they were practicing self-talk to me, I would be impressed and cheer them on! Also related to context: I do think there is danger if information/arguments/knowledge is separated from the work of the Holy Spirit in opening doors, guiding conversations, preserving the saints. And if apologetics, evangelism, and growing in Christ are approached primarily as knowledge or knowing more than unbelievers, we lose, even if we do happen to win an argument. Just because I can spout forth knowledge doesn’t mean that I should; and even when asking questions, most people don’t want to know EVERYTHING. (I have seen eyes glaze over when I am most excited about the depths of evidence for a topic). And likely, I’ve gone too far here because I can’t SEE the eye-glazing.
oh Renee, how I love the details you provide in your very thorough answers! I miss your input here. I hope you are feeling better these days? I am beginning to realize I have bitten off too much myself these days and am thinking I will let some of my usual activities go.
I think Dee means giving your “handle” and email as “logging in.” For example, my handle is Laura – dancer then I put my email in.
yes, to debate well I suppose we should know all the material on all sides. However, I also don’t want to appear to be a know it all. I think I would start with at least the most obvious answer (the cross), and “feel out” if any others could be used. The person may be seeking info. it is definitely difficult when you can’t see the person too! I have been the recipient of that eye eye glazing…
Good points Renee. I think it works better for those who have begun to seek. I know I find discussing heart idols is a better approach with those who don’t believe there is truth.
TAKE AWAY: Connecting SoS 2:11 to the resurrection: DEEP ABIDING HOPE IN HIM.
A lot of good points here, Renee. I highlighted this one, because I have seen this so much in the last decade, at our old church. I lost count of all the apologetics conferences/ adult Bible classes on the topic they have offered. There have been many. It seemed to me, the priority was to ‘arm’ everyone but that goes no where without the work of the Holy Spirit. I didn’t see nearly as much effort going into developing personal relationships, or growing in our own love for the Lord. I know those are subjective topics, but there seemed to be an imbalance, in my view. Also, I get your point about those who argue with you often being very familiar with the very points you would be making. Being experts in the areas of their own doubts. Well said. Oh my. This is so true. Very vivid example in my mind right now. So often, they know, in advance your arguments. Without faith, without the Spirit’s softening of hearts, words and knowledge do not impact.