Life of Christ 1
I've
always loved to read, from my earliest days in kindergarten. About five years
ago I picked up a really thick book, and opened it up, not knowing it would
change my life. Published by a relatively obscure 19th century
European Presbyterian minister, The
Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, checks
in at 1,523 pages and a hefty four pounds. Its value, though, is not so much in
its size as much as it is in its author. Alfred Edersheim was raised a Jew in
Vienna, Austria before his conversion at the age of twenty.
His background, so
steeped in the literature and culture of orthodox Judaism (the modern
grandchild of the Pharisees), brings a wonderful light to the life of Christ.
In meticulous detail he sets the pearl that is Jesus in the context and culture
of His own time, thus lending a much deeper understanding of all that Jesus did
and said.
For
two years I read this book, slowly, methodically, and sometimes even
impatiently. I cannot count the number of times I re-read a paragraph or a
page, working my way through the thick prose. Sometimes I would set it aside
for a time, but I always returned to it. As I moved into the meat of the book I
discovered that my knowledge of the life of Christ was fragmentary at best, and
disjointed, with no real sense of the flow and purpose of His ministry. I had
attended church multiple times a week for the entirety of my life. I had
attended a Christian grade school and high school. I had graduated from a Bible
college. I had already been preaching for over twenty years, and pastoring for
a dozen of those. To my shame I say I had somehow managed to build a picture of
Jesus in my mind that was woefully incomplete. Edersheim changed that for me.
Yes, he taught me many wonderful things, but most of all he lent me, through
that dusty tome, an ever-growing desire to know Christ. I had been taught all
my life to trust Him and to love Him. Now, for the first time, I was being
taught to know Him.
I
began to study, laying out four Bibles on my desk (one opened to each of the
four Gospels), Edersheim to the side, and various other books on the life of
Christ stacked within easy reach. For hundreds of hours I sat at my desk and
dug into those books, occasionally fact checking things online, and built
myself a framework of Jesus' earthly life and ministry. Increasingly, I said to
myself, I need to preach this, to share with my people the riches I was
discovering.
That
time has finally come. Beginning in January of this year and ending in December,
I will preach sequentially every Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday
evening the story of Jesus' life. Additionally, each of those sermons will form
the seed kernel for a blog post, an entirely new endeavor for me, and hopefully
a blessing to you as you read along.
I
believe holiness can be defined as being like Jesus, and that the better I see
Him for Who He is the better the Holy Spirit can change me from me into the
image of Christ (Romans 8.29, II Corinthians 3.18). With this blog I am not aiming at the crowds thronging the easy
religion of our day. They have heaped to themselves teachers having itching
ears (II Timothy 4.3), men and women
who will prophesy unto them smooth and pleasant things (Isaiah 30.10). No, with this blog I am aiming at the
Christian who finds inside himself a burning desire to know Christ, who wants
to love Him with all his heart, strength, and mind (Luke 10.27), and who bears inside of him an Holy
Spirit enabling purpose to become less like himself and more like that holy and
humble Galilean carpenter whose life 2,000 years ago changed everything.
If you would like to listen to the audio sermon that accompanies this blog post you will find it here - http://maplewoodbiblebaptistchurch.org/#/preaching/audio-sermons Just launch the media player and choose We Preach Christ 1, 'We Preach Christ.'
Looks to be a good series Tom.
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