I want to be clear about one thing to start with. I’m writing this because of Lex Robertson. Lex and I have blogged back and forth for years now. Sometimes adversarially, jovially, passive-aggressively, complimentarily, and admiringly. And that’s just my side. I suppose he’s had a few adverbs at points, but I’ll not speak for him. Continue reading
Author Archives: wh
Matthew 5:17-20 (part 3)
Last one on this passage. 1 is here. 2 here.
Okay, so now that we’ve thought of some ways we neglect the Old Testament, let’s think about what Jesus is saying in verse 20.
Our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. How do we do that? First of all, we have to understand what that means. And that means answering this question: How righteous were they?
If righteousness mean obeying the laws, and the laws about those laws, then they were very righteous.
If righteousness means being justified by Christ’s sacrifice and reconciled to God because of his death, then they aren’t very righteous.
What definition of righteousness is Jesus using when he tells his followers to be more righteous than the Pharisees? Continue reading
Matthew 5:17-20 (part 2)
(Part 1 is here. Part 3 tomorrow-ish.)
Surely we don’t think Jesus came to abolish the Old Testament, do we? It’s two-thirds of our scripture, so surely we take it as seriously as Christ did, right? Well, let’s ask ourselves some questions.
If we all agreed to start (or continue, if you’re one of those holy few) a quiet time tomorrow in which we picked, blue sky, what we read, how many of us would pick an Old Testament book? Not including Psalms.
In the last year, what percentage of sermons or Bible studies you’ve heard have been from the Old Testament?
I’ll confess, my focus in seminary was Old Testament and Hebrew. I claim it to be my passion. I’ve preached 4 times in the last 3 months. All 4 were New Testament passages.
Surely we wouldn’t claim we want the Old Testament abolished, but wouldn’t we say we at least diminish it?
How else do we diminish the Old Testament? Continue reading
Matthew 5:17-20 (part 1)
The following is part 1 of an even drier summation of a pretty dry talk I gave at FBC Canyon Sunday to the college ministry. While I was really bummed at how poorly the whole thing went, the preparation fired up some thoughts that I wanted to share here.
The theme for the semester is “Tough Sayings of Jesus”, hence the introductory question. The passage I picked got a lot of ink in the commentaries about being controversial. I don’t think I’d ever thought about how controversial it was, but I can see now how any discussion about what Jesus is saying here could get that way quick.
That being said, I kind of hope we all find it controversial. A Word that never challenges us is probably not a Living Word after all.
What makes something a “tough saying”? Continue reading
7th annual going-out-of-business sale
The old stuff (pre-2010) is now packed away with mothballs in a trunk up in the attic.
Stay tuned for some new mothballs.