Skip to main content

Houston...

           Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him. (John 12:9-11)

         “Houston, we have a problem…. It’s not just a little problem. It’s not that He healed some minor beggar from the slums that we can shut up with a glare or discredit with a word. He raised Lazarus from the dead. Yes, Lazarus, that guy from Bethany. Yes, the Bethany that is the next exit down the highway. Yes, Lazarus, the one who is a member of the country club. Oh wait, he’s the owner of the country club. Anyway, he’s not someone we can intimidate or ignore and hope he goes away. The only solution is to put Lazarus back in the ground. No, it wouldn’t be murder. He’s already dead, or he was. We’re just setting things right. Maybe we can say that he was a golem, and that his sisters are infected. Yes, we might have to get rid of them. They’re useless in the court of law, but Martha has a mouth, and Mary won’t let go. The rest of them will see reason.”
         So, now we’re up to two men dying for the people rather than the whole nation perishing.  Well, two men and two women, but the women didn’t count in that day. We have something of the same problem today. There are people who would like to get rid of Christianity (and all other religions, but very specifically Christianity.) Since they can’t physically kill Jesus, they seek to figuratively kill Him, to reduce Him to someone of little significance if they can’t make Him disappear altogether. Just as in the days when the Pharisees were plotting to kill both Jesus and Lazarus, those who want to get rid of Christianity have the problem of all the folks who have followed Jesus.
         That creates a huge problem for those who want to make Christianity disappear. It requires that no one study history very deeply, because history is full of Christianity.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

              Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me . (John 14:6)           If “I am the gate of the sheep…I am the good shepherd” from chapter 10 is a double whammy, this verse is a triple whammy. And its first victim is the notion that any other so-called god was acceptable or the same as Jesus. He, and He alone is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to get to the Father. There is no other Savior, or Redeemer, according to Jesus. Now, to be fair, other religions will claim that their religion or god(s) are the only way. That is the nature of gods and of religions. If this and that are equally good and agree on what’s necessary, then this and that are the same thing, so there’s no need to from the other to one. If that’s the case, then why speak against the other or promote the one? There’s a song I’ve been listening to i...
Post a Comment
Read more