I read a great verse this morning in my devos about Christ.
"Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from people and given to people who will produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he whom the stone falls on will be crushed."
Matthew 21:43-44, NIV
Wow! What a watershed person Christ is! He either cause you to be broken up or crushed. Not exactly the tender and compassionate Jesus that we often gravitate towards. The brokenness comes from realizing that we do not have any idea of what we are doing. We literally hit the wall again, and like the crash test dummies are smashed to smithereens. But so totally like Vince and Larry, we are accomplishing much because we are learning and growing. We are making advances spiritually by coming to the end of ourselves and realizing that Jesus is the rock!
Christ is also the "crusher" or the enforcer. He is the judge! He is coming to cruhs the rebellion, to put the antagonist in his place, to quite literally destroy them as their unforgiven sins deserve. Again, not exactly the kind and forgiving tender side of Jesus. But both aspects of "stoning" must be accounted for in a realistic view of who Jesus is. The reason why I can be so confident of this is the real Jesus (whom having not seen I love -- 1 Peter 1:8) is because it is based squarely in Scripture. It's part of that Bib world view thing. (see other posts).
We are stirred in our spirits, roused to a higher appreciation and communion with Christ. We will not be shaken by the troubles of our world. James Bond had it totally backwards -- stirred not shaken! :)
Rock on!
Mike
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
First let me say that while you ar ethere ask dad if he reads/responds to the comments on his blog. Then tell him to update it.
Next I think that I may have figured out your spelling dislexia-sp? problem. It usually occurs at about the third or fourth paragraph as you are starting to get fired up. I think that you just need to breath a little. Don't settle down at all just breath better.
Excellent post! as a climber/biker I had never considered slamming into the rock as a good thing but when you consider the alternative of being crushed by it I think I'm ready to hit the wall full speed.
After further study of the verses in question I think broken and crushed are both negative. Both refering to the pharasies. Although your take preaches better.
Well, thanks for thinking about your posts after you write them. It is even better if you think through them before you type! ;)
Just kidding bro.
Thanks for the dyslexia advice. I will keep it in mind.
I wonder however what further study convinced you that I was wrong? I looked back at the passage and did not change my "spin" on the verses. Christ is indeed a watershed person. What you do with Christ does indeed determine whether you will be rewarded or judged. Consider the sheep and the goats in Matt. 25:31-46. A true watershed event!
Consider also that the fact of a negative word used positively is not enough to throw the argument out. Consider that Matthew 24:42-44 is a parable about Christ coming as a thief in the night. Not exactly the positive image!
Also consider that all of the major translations translate the conjunction between the falling in the rock and the rock falling on them as "but" -- a contrast, not a connective. Therefore, I'm going to think some more on it myself, but I wonder if you would share your stuff so that I can evaluate it with you.
Forgive the length of this comment. One of my great fears is that I will preach a great message but not from this passage. My homiletics prof accused me of this in front of my whole class and I was shattered (pride probably). The scar and the conversation have propelled me to test that stuff out more than the average guy. Actually a good thing from a bad event! :)
As for Dad, I tried to boost his posting for you. We actually set up duelling laptops the other night and he read and did some research online but never posted. Hmmm. Maybe he feels like he doesn't have anything of value to add to the conversation. So not true.
Again, thanks for posting,
Mike
If you look at the refernce that he is refering to in the ot Isaiah 8:14,15 it appears they are all neg. stone to strike, rock to stumble, snare and a trap, many will stumble fall and be broken even be snared and caught.
Hmm. I wonder what JMac has to say about that passage?
My thought is that the stumbled upon ones are those who reject general rev. -The crushed ones being those presented with the gospel and willfully reject. Allthough Christ was talking to jews so it would be stumblers were pre messiah crushed-the ones he was talking to rejecting the messiah in person. JMac says "wether a ceramic pot falls on a stone or a stone falls on the pot the results are the same. 1peter2:8
both enmity and apathy are equally bad responses to christ
Chuck skips that verse-- which usually means that he isn't sure what it means or it is controversial.
scoffield seems to support me too. face it bro you are wrong. Good thought just wrong proof text. Or as your prof put it good sermon wrong passage. Love and hugs -Todd
Thanks for the legwork Todd. I will check those guys out. I want to be careful to believe that just b/c the big 3 of book-writing said something we should believe it. I do want to consider the sources and think through the issues. However, there is another aspect that you did not mention. Some of the earlier manuscripts do not have verse 44! I will work on it some more before I preach it.
Think about the fact that while Isaiah 8 does talk about a rock, it is not a quote by Christ. Psalm 118:2-3 fits better.
Thanks,
Your fellow learner,
Mike
Post a Comment