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How the Old Testament Fits into the Bible
(Read Time: 7.5 mins)As goes Adam, So goes Israel
If the First Testament
were to end on that note we could easily draw an Ecclesiastic meaning from
the Israelite saga, but it doesn’t end there. It finishes with the hope of a
Messiah, and in order to understand how the plight of the Israelites
contributes to the overarching story of the biblical message we have to see
their story not as anticlimactic. Instead it must be understood as the build up
to the most climatic event in all of history; the life, death, and resurrection
of Christ, the hope of the Israelites and all mankind.
Mark’s Prayer to the Crucified Christ
Jesus, you cry out
my God, my God, why
have you forsaken me
well, I ask you the same question
Jesus, my God, why have you forsaken me
like Adam I ran naked from the garden where you were
betrayed
exiled to this Valley of Dry Bones
waiting on you, the Son of Man, to rise up
and here you are, the Great Servant, raised above all
sitting on a throne with a crown adorning your brow
truly I am not surprised that criminals sit in the seats of
honor
but is death truly your answer
is death the only relief for a servant
does the widow with only two coins return home to share this
fate
does a man loose his demons only to face this end
your cup is too bitter to drink from
Christ, may I too drink from your cup
What does it mean to follow Jesus?
Son of Man (part 4)
When Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man he is claiming to have great authority. The context in which he uses the phrase gives us insight into the intended use of his authority.
Mark is my favorite gospel, and this is one of my favorite
passages in Mark. Perhaps because it so clearly explains what it meant for the
disciples to follow Jesus.
In Mark 8:31 – 9:1, we see Jesus describe what the role of
authority will look like when “the Kingdom of God arrives in great power!”
For the author of Mark this is critically important for his readers to understand. This is what it means to follow Jesus and to lead others in the fashion that Jesus does.
For the author of Mark this is critically important for his readers to understand. This is what it means to follow Jesus and to lead others in the fashion that Jesus does.
"Then Jesus began to tell
them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible
things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of
religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the
dead. As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him
aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.
Jesus turned around
and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing
things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
Then, calling the
crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your
selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you
give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save
it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your
own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and
sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in
the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Jesus went on to say, “I tell you the truth,
some standing here right now will not die before they see the Kingdom of God
arrive in great power!”
Following Jesus had its risks. The disciples only had to look
as far as John the Baptist to realize this. But there is more to this passage
than simple risk.
This passage follows immediately after Peter declares that
Jesus is the Messiah. That is why I think Jesus “began to tell them” what it
meant to be the Son of Man plainly and without metaphor.
To better see how the “Son of Man” phraseology helps us
interpret Jesus’s words let’s look at what N.T. Wright writes about this passage:
”’The son of man’ in Daniel 7 represents God’s people as they
are suffering at the hands of pagan enemies. He will eventually be vindicated after
his suffering, as God sets up the kingdom at last. Jesus is both warning his
followers that this is how he understand his vocation and destiny as Israel’s
representative, and that they must be prepared to follow in his steps. “
In this passage we also see that even Peter, one of Jesus’s
closest followers, is capable of missing the point of the authority and
leadership that has been given him.
How much more does this come as a challenge for us to not only think but to live from God’s viewpoint in a world where servant leadership is seen as unproductive at best and more often as simply foolish?
Check out my upcoming book at www.adhogan.com
How much more does this come as a challenge for us to not only think but to live from God’s viewpoint in a world where servant leadership is seen as unproductive at best and more often as simply foolish?
Check out my upcoming book at www.adhogan.com
Son of Man - Being a Leader who Responds
Son of Man (part 3)
So far I have established that when Jesus used the phrase Son
of Man to reference himself, he was not only illuminating his humanity but also
his authority. To better understand the weight of authority carried by claiming
to be the Son of Man read Part 1 of this series discussing Daniel 7.
In several places in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus calls himself
the Son of Man not only to establish his authority as the Messiah but also to
display the type of leader and ruler he will be (which is much different than
the authority his disciples expect). Since Christ can be understood as the
fully functional image of God, as image bearers we should take serious how he
demonstrates his authority.
Mark 2:23 -28 offers us another great insight into the
leadership of the Son of Man.
One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grain
fields, his disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat. But the
Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look why are they breaking the law by harvesting
grain on the Sabbath?”
Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the Scriptures
what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He went into the house
of God(during the days when Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by
eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. He
also gave some to his companions.”
Then Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of
people. And not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. So the Son of
Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath.”
Again Jesus makes a very serious claim in this passage about
the extent of his authority. Not only does his draw attention to himself by
claiming to be the Son of Man he uses a very specific example by comparing
himself to David. He references a time in David’s life when he is running from
Saul. David has been already anointed to be King but yet to be enthroned.
Like Saul, the current leadership doesn’t want a new kingdom to be inaugurated in His name.
As Jesus establishes the strength of his authority he also
demonstrates the nature of how he will rule. He recognizes that the laws and standards already created are designed to meet the needs of his people. His interest in allowing the people a system has always come out of his heart to serve and to lead people toward God’s
intended will for them.
The current establishment thought that if Jesus was going to
be a proper ruler he would have to judge right and wrong by the rulebook. After
all that is the only way to make a fair decision.
Jesus doesn’t dismiss rules or tradition as bad. He doesn't say they are not worth submitting our authority to. But he does recognize that there are
situations when the system, despite its good intent, fails to meet the best
interest of the people it intends to serve.
As the leader of the kingdom He is creating and inviting us
into, Christ demonstrates the humility and maturity it takes to look into every
situation with enough care and respond appropriately in the best interest of his people.
Check out my upcoming book at www.adhogan.com
Check out my upcoming book at www.adhogan.com
Get up and Walk (Why Jesus calls Himself the Son of Man?)
Son of Man (Part 2)
In my first “Son of Man” post I showed that when Jesus
refers to himself as the Son of Man he is doing more than recognizing his
humanity. He is appealing to an image in Daniel 7. He is claiming that he is
the one who comes with all authority to rule over ever tribe and nation.
Over several more posts I want to show how when we pair
Jesus’s actions with the use of his authoritative claim as the Son of Man we
can learn what it means for our own lives to exhibit Godly leadership. To do
this I am going to look at passages in Mark where Jesus calls himself the Son
of Man.
Mark 2:10-12 – So I will prove to you that the Son of Man
has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed
man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home.
These verses come at the end of the famous story about a
group of friends who cut a hole in the roof of a house to bring their paralyzed
friend to Jesus. (Read Mark 2:1-12) I think Mark uses this story as a signpost
to point to the larger narrative of the gospel story. Jesus teaches and heals,
he is condemned of blasphemy, and he is vindicated. The paralyzed man is pointed forward to a new kind of resurrected life in Christ.
Jesus’s use of “Son of Man” is extremely significant for us
in this passage. Remember when everyone there hears Son of Man used they think
of Jesus as the guy who is going to set up his rule and reign across the world.
And he is, but here we are beginning to see how Jesus is going to reshape our
ideas about his leadership methods.
Ever seen the movie “The Sixth Sense” or “Shutter Island”?
In those movies you think you have a grasp on what going on the whole time
until the end of the story. Then a plot twist is revealed at the end that makes
you say, “Wait a minute.” It causes you to go back a rethink everything you
have scene from a renewed perceptive.
That is a lot like what Jesus is doing when he says, “the
Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” In one sense Jesus is
extending his claim of authority by saying he can forgive sins. No one but God
was allowed to do that. But in another sense is redefining the type of
leadership his followers are expecting from him.
Jesus’s followers want him to take over the world. That is
not going to be easy with the Roman government in the way. But Jesus is saying
as chief ruler I am going to rule with forgiveness of sins at the center of my
leadership.
Jesus knew that forgiveness changes things. In this case it
brought healing to what seemed impossible.
Check out my upcoming book at www.adhogan.com
The Art of Roy
“Art, you going to work that same old desk job the rest of your life?” Roy said staring down the end of his fishing pole.
“I don’t know. I hope not.” Art reached into the dirt inside the old plastic margarine container to dig out another night crawler. For some reason when he went to gather the worms they always hid directly under the surface of the leaves on top of the dirt, but once he put them in a margarine tub they all hid together at the bottom under as much dirt as they could manage. It was as if they knew the end was near.
“Hope not? I wouldn’t work that job for a day longer than I had to.”
“Well right now I have to keep working there to pay the bills. I make good money Roy, real good money. It’s not the kind of thing you just walk away from.” Art found the end of a night crawler and started to pull it out of the dirt. The creature stretched to its full length becoming thin in the middle as Art pulled on what might have been its tail but very well may have been its head. He wondered how a creature so slick and cylindrical provided any resistance to his pull, but every worm always managed to exert an effort to remain in the wet darkness it preferred as if it was holding on with hands and feet that somehow disappeared with the presence of light.
“Life is too long for all that.” Roy said back.
“You mean life is too short?”
“Naw. I said what I mean. Life is too long to keep doing a thing you don’t really like. If life is going to draw on like it does day after day you are better off making use of it if you are going to be here awhile.
- a snippet from a novella I am working on called "The Art of Roy"
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