After a Little While

I recently was reading through 1 Peter, and chapters four and five caught my eye.

Starting with 1 Peter 4:12 (from the English Standard Version):

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

Much of Peter’s first letter deals with suffering, especially for Christ. I find it interesting that Peter tells the recipients that they should not be surprised when trials come their way. According to him, trials are nothing out of the ordinary and should be expected.

The book of Acts chronicles the years after Jesus’s ascension into Heaven and the growth of the early church. Everything goes more-or-less well for the church suffering-wise until chapter six. In this chapter, Stephen, a man who was “full of grace and power,” “doing great wonders and signs among the people” was seized by a mob that included the “synagogue of the Freedmen” as well as Jewish elders and scribes. The mob brought him before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high court, and charged him with speaking against the holy place and the law. In a speech consisting of most of chapter seven, Stephen refuted their accusations and claimed that his accusers were guilty of committing the very crimes they charged him with.

Naturally, this didn’t go over well, and the mob cast him out of Jerusalem and stoned him. The beginning of Acts 8 says that “there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”

Some scholars think that the early church had stayed for too long in Jerusalem, thus disobeying what Jesus had told them at the beginning of the book, that when the Holy Spirit comes upon them they are to be witnesses not only in Jerusalem but “in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” God didn’t necessarily send the persecution on the church, but He used it to get them going. If this interpretation is true, it should serve as a strong warning for the church in America.

Now Peter, being an apostle, stayed in Jerusalem. This probably was a very dangerous thing to do. The Jewish Pharisee Saul (the very man who the killers of Stephen laid their garments at the feet of) was, according to Acts 8:3, “ravaging the church, and entering house after house,” and dragging off men and women and sending them to prison. Soon, in chapter 12, the apostle James would be executed by Herod, and in that same chapter Peter himself would be put in prison, most likely to await a similar fate after the Passover celebration ended.

Even though he was ultimately rescued by an angel of the Lord in this episode, these events and others should give Peter ample authority to speak on the issues of persevering through trials and suffering for Christ. And Peter says we should not be surprised when “fiery trials” come our way.

Moreover, it is important to note that Peter didn’t always persevere and succeed in the face of trials. Much earlier, back during the trial of Jesus, Peter was questioned three times if he knew Jesus. Peter, probably very afraid because of the recent events, denies his association and friendship with Jesus three times, each time getting more defensive and violent. Jesus had predicted he would do this, and after he denied Jesus, according to Mark 14:72, Peter “broke down and wept.”

Peter definitely knew what he was talking about when it came to suffering. He was both one who fails under trials and one who withstands them. So what advice does Peter give about suffering? The next verse, 1 Peter 4:13 says:

But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

He reminds us that Jesus also suffered. He was hated and reviled by the world He came to save. At least two of his closest friends betrayed Him. He ultimately was killed. But He rose from the dead, and He is with us again. He will not let our suffering, especially our suffering for His name, go unrewarded. When He comes back to earth, He will reward us for the trials we underwent. As 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 says:

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Peter ends chapter four by saying:

Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

Remember that suffering is not in vain, and, according to this verse, it is “according to God’s will.” Maybe suffering tests us. Maybe it drives us to action to do God’s will. Maybe it shapes us into something closer to who God wants us to be. Whatever the reason, we need to “entrust out souls to a faithful Creator.”

“Entrust” implies assigning responsibility to something or someone and depending on that entity completely for protection. God promises to protect our souls if we trust Him to guide us. He is a “faithful Creator,” someone who never backs down on promises, and who knows us better than anyone; He created us. Finally, while trusting God, we need to continue doing good, and not let our trials keep us from helping others with theirs.

1 Peter 5:6-11:

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Blood on the Door

While reading a passage in John, I noticed something interesting. For those of you who don’t know the Bible, the Book of John is one of the four “gospels” or biographies of Jesus’s life (the other three being Matthew, Mark, and Luke).

The passage in question was John 18. This chapter covers the events of Jesus’s arrest and part of His trial. After teaching and ministering for roughly three years, the enemies Jesus had made (by His teachings threatening their power) were finally able to execute a plan to kill Him, with the help of one of Jesus’s close friends and disciples, Judas. The part of the passage I found particularly thought-provoking was John 18:28, which reads:

Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.

The Jews arresting Jesus wanted to be able to partake of the Passover meal, a tradition they had been doing since it was instated by the Lord in Exodus 12. If they entered the house of a Gentile (non-Jew), they would be ceremonially unclean according to their understanding of the law, and would be unable to eat the Passover.

The first Passover was while the Israelites (the Jews) were slaves in Egypt (a very long time before Jesus came around). The Lord had sent nine different plagues upon Egypt, so that the Pharaoh would release the Lord’s chosen people, the Israelites. After each plague, Pharaoh’s heart was only hardened further. The Lord commanded the Passover as preparation for the final plague.

Each household was to select a lamb, a year-old male without defect, and slaughter it at twilight. They were to take the blood from the lamb, and spread it over the sides and top of their doorframes, and after that, they were to roast the lamb and eat it. All of it, along with herbs and unleavened bread, in haste, and eat unleavened bread and no yeast for seven days.

At midnight, the Lord struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, from Pharaoh’s firstborn to the livestock’s firstborn. However, the firstborn of the houses of the Israelites, which had blood on their doorframes, were spared. Seeing this, Pharaoh finally broke and sent the Israelites out of Egypt.

And the Lord commanded them to celebrate the Passover every year, as a reminder of how He had taken them out of Egypt.

It was this celebration that the Jews wanted to partake in, so they did not enter the house of Pilate, the Roman governor when they brought Jesus to Him. Interestingly enough, they didn’t care about whether Jesus (also a Jew) was unclean or not. However, there is something more that is terribly ironic about this.

As described in Matthew 26:17-30, earlier in the evening of His arrest, Jesus had eaten the first meal of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Verse 18 says:

He replied, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’

Jesus was preparing to celebrate the Passover. At this time, key parts of the Passover meal were the bread and the wine.

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Jesus was explaining what He was about to undergo- His death by crucifixion- and why it was necessary. He was about to be killed for the sins of the world.

As I just said, Jesus was preparing to celebrate the Passover. He was preparing to be the blameless lamb slaughtered at twilight.

And much as the blood of that first Passover lamb covered the door frame and protected the homes of the Israelites (who were now killing Him), the blood of Jesus would cover the sins of the world, and protect it from God’s wrath against sin.

Jesus was the true Passover, and the Jews were rejecting Him, and keeping themselves from becoming ceremonially unclean. Ironically enough, Jesus, through His blood, was the only one who could make them truly clean.

Now, what about you? Are you an Egyptian, or one of those in the mob killing Jesus? Are you rejecting Him, even though He’s the only way you can achieve what you really want and need? Or do you want to be the Israelites, and have your sins be covered by the blood of Jesus?

He died for you, and His blood is there. Do you cover your doorframe with it?

The End of the Story

I’ve recently been thinking about worry and stress. Certainly in today’s world we seem to find much to stress about.

It’s important to remember that, even Jesus, during his time here on Earth, underwent stress, as described in Luke 22:39-46:

Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”

Jesus was preparing to undergo something that I will venture to guess that none of us will ever have to go through- the very violent death that was crucifixion at the hands of the Romans. Also, not only was He preparing for earthly torture, but also for the spiritual burden of taking on the monstrous expanse of the sins of humanity. He certainly had a little to be stressed about.

Compared to the trials of Jesus, our present worries seem to lack significance. However, we should still follow Jesus’s example of responding to stress.

And what did He do? He prayed, not that God save Him from death, no matter the cost, but instead “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” He commended Himself totally to God.

He also instructed his disciples to pray that they not fall into temptation. They too were very stressed (they were “exhausted from sorrow”), and Jesus needed them to be strong for the trials that were soon coming.

What happened after Jesus prayed for God’s will to be done? Did things get instantly better? On the contrary, things got very bad very fast. While He was still speaking, a mob came up and seized Him, and while He was taken away, Peter, one of His foremost disciples, denied ever having anything to do with Jesus. Jesus was then mocked and beaten by guards, given a sham trial, brutally flogged, taunted by a vicious crowd, and ultimately crucified.

If we end the story there, we have a pretty bleak picture. After praying for God’s will to be done, what is arguably the very worst thing that could of happened did. If we stopped there, we could glean very little comfort out of knowing that God is in control of everything.

However, the story does not end there. After all these disastrous events took place, people then thought the story was over too. It was far from it, though. After lying dead in the tomb for three days, Jesus Christ rose to life, and with His resurrection He triumphed over His enemies and brought the central event in the ultimate plan of God. If an observer had turned away at any point before this, he would only know of the dark happenings and never learn of the glorious finale.

We need to remember this in our lives. No matter what stresses we’re going through, no matter what worries plague us, no matter what seemingly endless trials we’re being subjected to, we need to understand that, beyond our present troubles, is something so wonderful, so amazing, that the moment we finally catch sight of it, all our stresses, all our worries, will vanish in an instant.

And I know this comfort is dulled in the middle of stress and worries. When undergoing trials, our sight is blinded to the end, and the thought of “this won’t matter in the future” is little help in surviving the present. However, we still need to pray for God’s will to be done.

Remember, God isn’t some uninvolved king ruling from a vast distance. Jesus came down to earth, and He knows what it is like to be overwhelmed by stress. He sweated blood, and was overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. He knows exactly what we’re going through, and He wants to help. As the famous hymn goes, what a friend we have in Jesus.

One of my favorite passages of scripture is 2 Corinthians 4:16-18:

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal

All the stresses, all the worries, all the trials we go through on this earth, no matter how big, and no matter how small, are temporary. They are simply light and momentary troubles.

Remember that our story does not end with them, but with an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

The One Year Bible

I just came across this site today. It’s a organization of the ESV translation of the Bible so it can be read in one year if one page is read a day. I like how it isn’t organized on a purely linear basis, but has a passages from the Old Testament, the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs on each day’s page.

I’m definitely going to make an attempt to keep up with this, and encourage everyone to do the same (New Year’s resolution, anyone?).

I’m sure this isn’t the only one-year Bible reading plan or website out there. Does anybody else have a favorite?

UPDATE: No sooner had I posted this than I came across this from Tom Gilson at Thinking Christian. This one is designed to be used with your own Bible.