Saving Christ

(Hebrews 4:15- 5:3; 5:7-9) à “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people.”
“In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him”

I just read these scriptures again this morning and they are to me one of the most stunning portions of the sacred writings we have. One of the reasons for this is because of the implications of taking this passage at face value as we read it, more specifically as it was designed to be read. Of course, any time one speaks of intentions with regards to what Scripture originally meant, it is very difficult to be taken seriously, because no one absolutely knows because we do not have the original author present with us. This doesn’t mean, however, as NT Wright has said, that it is anyone’s guess as to what they mean, because there are some sign posts (clues, if you will) that guide the way in our journey of interpretation, and it is important that we pay attention to these and not miss the point of these writings.

For example, this passage for many years in my mind has to be explained as something other than what we immediately think that it says. In other words, to take it at face value, the idea is that Jesus when he was on this earth had weakness and that he even struggled with weakness. It also uses terms to indicate that Jesus needed to learn obedience through hard lessons in life (v. 8), i.e. “suffering” and that his maturity or growth as a human being was a process (v. 9), as well. On the other hand, I believe these are the things that are actually being said, and I think this undergirds the entire point of what the writer is saying, which is that Jesus connects with our weaknesses and struggles to sin. I feel as if the modern church has so emphasized the deity of Jesus as to almost negate his humanity. Even when this passage is dealt with in many commentaries, it seems that writers go to great lengths to overstate the obvious, which is that Jesus is God and that this passage is not saying that he sinned, and ultimately I feel like they take away from the beauty of what is trying to be communicated to the average Joe.

As a chaplain at a homeless shelter and trying to help guys in a drug and alcohol recovery program, I often will have gut-wrenching conversations with these guys who are desperately hurting and going through experiences about which I know nothing. This doesn’t mean that I can’t say anything or try to help them, but it does go to show that I cannot connect with everything they are going through. I may at times be tempted to say, “I understand”, but the truth is I really don’t. I suppose I could probably share some experiences with them that they know nothing of, to which they might say, “I understand”, but they don’t. Jesus, however, does understand and does connect with us, because he has journeyed through real life with a real body that had real temptations and real weaknesses. When the woman caught in the very act of adultery in John chapter 8 was brought before him, he looked down and started drawing in the sand, apparently struggling with the temptation to lust after her nudity. When the people called him a demon, or prince of Satan, and tried to murder him, he was undoubtedly tempted to be angry and bitter and perhaps even struggled with hatred towards them. When rich Pharisees had him as a guest at their house, he most likely felt the pressure to covet things or money. When he drank wine or ate food, he was most assuredly tempted to get drunk or to eat too much, and was even falsely accused of those things because of the frequency with which he did them with others.

In addition to the fact of Jesus’ temptations, he was fully human in the realm of needing to learn things. If this is not the case, then the writer surely makes a tremendous gaffe in saying that Jesus “learned obedience”. This means he did not know something and that he subjected himself to ignorance and weakness for the purpose of fully identifying with humanity. I think this is what it means when Scripture indicates he gave up his right to be God (Philippians 2). I think sometimes we imagine that the fully divinity of the universe in power and majesty was caged in an infant’s body and therefore that six pound, two ounce, Baby Jesus knew everything perfectly and fully. If this is the case, then it surely must have been strange for a new-born infant to have spoken to his parents on day one in a “Look’s Who Talking” kind of reality. This is assuming, of course, Jesus did not need to learn to talk. To think of things in a modern way, we might also assume he didn’t need to learn anything from his parents, like to walk or to dispose of his bodily waste in a properly Jewish way. In fact, when Joseph tried to teach him how to use a hammer or build a chair, I suppose Jesus, as perhaps a five year old, would have asserted his deity and said, “I already know how to do this; do you think I am stupid?” Of course Jesus had to learn these things and obedience was fully learned, as well, through going through difficult paths of temptation.

What, to me, is the most comforting thing is that Jesus “offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.” What this says to me is Jesus needed the Father and was, at times, in anguish and suffering, in his battles with temptation, and that he cried for the Father to rescue him from the temptations to give in to sin. As I think of my own daily, often-times hellish, struggles with sin, I am comforted in knowing that Jesus not only journeyed for me when he was on this earth, but in a sense he is journeying through me now. And I know that he understands and has traveled this way before and is there to give me mercy and deliver grace to help in my time of need. And, once again, Jesus has subjected himself to the struggles of humanity through his people, and once again we struggle along to be saved from our weakness. This, to me, is truly amazing.

Embracing the Mystery of Scripture

It is hard to believe that it has been about ten and a half months since my last blog, although I have still continued to write in my journal periodically during this time. My emotions have run the full gamut during this past year- everything from disappointment to sheer elation. My journey of faith has continued and I wished that I could say my transition from where I have been to now has been really smooth, but the truth is I cannot, because I have witnessed again my own brokenness at work.

During the past year, I have learned much about myself, my family, my friends, and even my enemies, but I honestly in many ways feel that I have unlearned a lot, also. As many have heard the old adage, “the older I get the less I know”, I have rediscovered this firsthand with regards to my own perspective of God and His People and Scriptures. I say it this way, because in my walk of faith, these three things seem to comprise the biggest space and I think there are obvious reasons why.

For example, I have come to question and doubt many things in Scriptures, to which most would be horrified at the mere suggestion of such a thing. I know that ultra-conservatives would want to burn me at the stake for this, but I think the greater point is not what I think, but how I use the Scriptures. What I mean is that I still study and read and ascribe many, if not most, of the Scriptures to God. I know that arguments might be hurled at this point towards me as the end-all polemic to say, “This is a slippery slope you are now on, and you will eventually deny everything good in the Bible, if you just pick and choose.” Well, I just think things are much more complex than that. I have read several books that have actually helped me with my objections to the Bible, and honestly if it were not for these perspectives I don’t know if I would have held on to my faith. The heart of these books has shown me that the Bible is a piece of literature written by men and yet directed by God in many cases. With that having been said, however, our lives are supposed to be directed by God, as well, but often contain shimmers of darkness and poor choices and selfishness, and yet God somehow works through all of it still.

I think, for me, the Scriptures are as sacred as they have ever been, but not in the same sense they were growing up. What it means for me is that the Bible is, as one early Christian writer put it, “alive”. That indicates that God still works through the pages of the biblical canon in a way to reveal Himself to us, to speak to us, to point out darkness in our own life, to remind us of why we are here, to connect us with the community of Christ historically and ultimately to point us to Jesus Christ.

For this point in my journey, the Scriptures still serve a sacred purpose in my life individually, but that purpose is played out more through my connections with others who are not just reading the Scriptures, but interacting with them. Charles Spurgeon, a 19th century British preacher, said that the bible is like a lion. You don’t have to defend it; just let it loose. So many ultra-conservatives have spent their days and energies trying to defend the bible from “liberals” and such as a textbook or a book containing all of the right facts that they have missed the greater point that the bible is a book of the community of Christ pointing the way through their own brokenness back to Christ Himself. The Scriptures need not be defended but loosened in our own community’s life, so that God’s Spirit may work. For me this will always contain much tension and complexity, but I think this mirrors real life and I think this is where God wants His people: embracing the mystery.