Musing – What’s the real message in John 3:16?

Hebraic Musing – What’s the real message in John 3:16?

The chapter and verse designations in the Bible are somewhat arbitrary as the original intent was to make referencing the Bible easier.  But, all too often the chapter/verse breaks disrupt the context of the message.

John 3:16 is a classic verse that so many memorize, quote and point to as stand-alone verse about God’s love for man and a simple call to simply believe in Jesus.  "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16  NIV   But, the significance of this reference changes when we put that verse into context if we start with the words of Jesus in vs.14 & 15  “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

What is the significance of Jesus’ reference to the snake on a stake in Numbers 21:8 “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.’"?   Jesus is pointing out that when the snake was lifted up on a pole by Moses and you believed, as evidenced by looking at it, you would be saved from death.  Why a snake?  What did that “Snake on a pole/stake/cross” represent?  The snake represents sin.  Jesus is reminding us to recognize that we have all been bitten by the snake and are born with an evil/sin nature.  This is the sin deserving death that all mankind deserves.  

Key concept – remember that Jesus became sin on the cross.  Those who saw themselves as okay saw no need to look upon the snake and acknowledge the horribleness it represents; thus they will die in their denial of their sinfulness.  BTW – Why did Jesus become unrecognizable on the cross?  Did He become the representation of the snake?

So, this conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus in John chapter 3 is about recognizing our sinful nature; and that we need to recognize the role of faith in knowing who Jesus really did for us.  It is indeed about being born again and that salvation requires three inter-related things –
1. Recognition of our sinful nature which leads to death, and
2. Looking at our sin on the cross/stake/pole in the form of Jesus, the Son of God. 
3. Repentance

So in the OT passage, Jesus had already been lifted up on the cross/stake as the source of salvation, not dying.  Nicodemus is being reminded that the sin-snake has bitten all of us, thus we are in need of a Savior. 

These verses are definitely about the demonstration of God’s love that he sent Jesus, His Son, to be the snake upon the pole that we can look at it in faith and  thus we would be saved from the certain death that entered our lives the day the serpent, sin, bit mankind.  Unless we look at and acknowledges the sinfulness in our lives and repent, we cannot accept and receive the benefit of the sin offering.  We fear to look at the sin, it is foul, disgusting, horrific, just as the snake was to look at on the pole.  We need to realize that Jesus was on the cross because he became our sin; He became you and me to die for you and me on that cross. 

When Jesus said that God gave “his one and only Son,” He is making reference to His being given for the purpose of being the object of faith to be viewed and acknowledged on a “tree”, “pole”, and/or cross.  So, to receive healing and salvation we need to look with faith on Jesus as the perfect, blameless lamb sacrificed for our sinful nature.

Points to ponder

Is John 3:16 about God’s love, or about our recognizing our sinful nature?

Does salvation require more than just simple belief that Jesus existed?

Let’s learn to read John 3:14-16 without the manmade breaks. 

 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”  Rom 3:23-24 

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                             April 25, 2017

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage” “Musings - A Victorious Life”  “Musings - The Torah and New Testament”
Weekly “Hebraic Musings”      www.InsightsByYosef.com

Musings – Who Mentored You? Whom do You Mentor?

Hebraic Musings – Who Mentored You?  Whom do You Mentor?

Who played a significant role in your Spiritual Life and how?  It’s surprisingly easy for Christians to answer that question. We don’t easily forget our mentor(s).  We have a younger generation growing up around us who need mentoring.  The millennials are contributing to a “None Generation” defined as those who claim no religious affiliation.  And churches are trying to figure out how to appeal to that generation? 

What brought about this segment of our society?  They are a product of upbringing, no paddling, broken homes, no Godly examples, electronic entertainment, lack of meaningful relationships and a “privileged” mind set.  How to connect with that group? 

Mentoring requires an investment – time, commitment and purpose.  But as the saying goes – “Somebody did it for you.”  Are there biblical examples of mentoring?  Paul was mentored by Barnabas and in turn Paul teaches us to “be a mentored mentor who mentors mentors”.  In fact, Paul said that to his mentee, Timothy – “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” 2 Tim. 2:1-2   You may have to read that again to realize that Paul is a “mentored mentor who mentors mentors.”  And as a result, the book of Acts portrays powerful examples of explosive growth of the Church.

Jesus gives us a classic example.  He taught thousands; He discipled 70, He mentored 12 and He had an inner mentorship to the three He took to the “Transfiguration”.  Jesus was mentored by His Father in many prayer sessions, and in turn mentored twelve and closely with the three; and they in turn were sent forth to mentor others.

Jesus started his ministry by identifying His mentees.  He chose and committed to mentor them when He saw Peter and Andrew and said “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matt 4:19.   When they dropped their nets, they were enrolled in Jesus’ school. 

Paul shares teachings with Corinthians and tells them to “pass the teachings on” in 1 Corinth. 11:1-2  “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.  I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings, just as I passed them on to you.”

We may teach and we may influence many Christians and non-Christians around us, but who do we make a conscious effort and commitment to take under our wings?   Whom have we or should we be mentoring by meeting regularly with purpose and intentionality to –

  (a) confirm salvation,

  (b) develop a salvation testimony,

  (c) train to pray,

  (d) answer questions,

  (e) develop openness and trust,

  (f) identify whom they in turn will mentor? 

These steps represent an agenda for a worth-while, effective mentoring program.

Points to ponder

If every Christian mentored one person who mentored one person who…
how long would it take for the whole world to be saved?

Whom are you mentoring?  Whom are they going to mentor?

“No one learns as much about a subject as one who is forced to teach it.” ― Peter F. Drucker

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                   April 18, 2017

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage” “Musings - A Victorious Life”  “Musings - The Torah and New Testament”
Weekly “Hebraic Musings”      www.InsightsByYosef.com

Note – Inspired by Pastor Chris Cooper, Student Minister at Immanuel Baptist Church, Rogers, AR

Musing – Are You Being a Christ Follower; or Becoming a Follower?

Hebraic Musing – Are You Being a Christ Follower; or Becoming a Follower?

Acts 17:28 does say “…in him we live and move and have our being.” and I cannot say that without singing the familiar refrain.  But according to Paul’s message we should be becoming rather than simply being.   Paul wanted us to grow and become like him in his plea in Acts 26:29  "Short time or long — I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains."  

Paul challenged himself as he served as an example to us when he said in Phil 3:10-11   “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”  NIV

The word become appears 398 X in the NIV.  Are we charged with action rather than existence?  Admittedly, the word become is frequently used as admonition to not become a sinner by adopting sinful ways.  Romans1:29-32 describes the deep sinners that men become when left to their own devices.  “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.”  

What are we called to become?  “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe…”   Phil 2:14-15    

Being does not require action; becoming does require action. Many will say we are to Know, Love and Serve the Lord.  My favorite rephrase of that statement is –  

“To Know Him is to Love Him; and to love Him is to Serve Him. 
And if you are not serving Him it is because you do not love Him,
    and if you do not love Him you do not know Him.” 

This phrasing stresses that knowing and loving are static attitudes or conditions; but serving requires action.   Being is static, but becoming requires action.

Maybe instead of calling ourselves “human beings” we need to acknowledge that we are “humans becoming”.  And that can be either good news or bad news depending on who we are becoming… whether we are following Him as Lord of our lives, or if we are following our old sinful nature?

Points to ponder

Can we be a Christ-follower without becoming a Christ-follower?

“Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." John 12:36

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                     April 11, 2017

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage” “Musings - A Victorious Life”  “Musings - The Torah and New Testament”
Weekly “Hebraic Musings”      www.InsightsByYosef.com

Musing - Holy Week, or Mark’s Wartime Gospel

Hebraic Musing - Holy Week, or Mark’s Wartime Gospel

Holy week starts next Sunday, Palm Sunday, April 9^th.  During Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Passover and Resurrection Day, Mark’s gospel documents Jesus’s daily and hourly events with military precision.  Mark’s gospel is a wartime gospel in context of the times, the culture, and most important, the political and spiritual condition of Jerusalem and the temple practices.  Jesus’s symbolic actions and parables are generally interpreted individually, but taken as a whole, His actions and words proclaim the already present kingdom of God is pitted against the kingdom of Rome.*  The Jewish high priests were in collaboration with the Roman domination of Jewish Israel.  For a clear example of Rome’s dominion, consider that Rome changed the high priests many times; whereas God appoints the great high priest for a lifetime.  The appointments were corruptly acquired, and the people knew it! Consider these events in light of the corruption:

·         Mark 11:1—(Palm) Sunday: “When they were approaching Jerusalem …”   Jesus enters on a donkey with the people cheering him wildly.  Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, the Roman governor Pontius Pilate was entering in a regal procession in order to be present and quell any uprising that may occur during this major Jewish feast of Passover.  Palm Sunday starts with a declaration of war by God’s kingdom against Rome’s dominion by mocking the governor with Jesus’s parade.  (Incidentally, His cousin John had been baptizing for the forgiveness of sins, which was supposed to be a temple duty.)  The friction between righteous people and Rome’s priestly appointees was already building.

·         Mark 11:12—Monday: “On the following day…”  Jesus says to a fig tree, “may no one ever eat fruit from you again.”  Thus He cursed the symbol of Israel and Jerusalem by pointing out the lack of fruit.  Why?  The high priesthood was controlled by Rome; the sacrificial system was corrupted; the temple was built by Rome; and God was no longer in charge.  Then He symbolically desecrates the temple by turning over money changers’ tables.  He calls the Temple a “den of robbers”.   A den is what robbers call home and where they hide out and feel safe.  The authorities were using the temple as a hiding place for their misappropriation of authority.  In Mark 11:19, He and His entourage have to get out of Jerusalem.

·         Mark 11:20—Tuesday: “In the morning …”  The fig tree has withered.  Jesus talks to His disciples of “throwing a mountain into the sea”.  Could this be reference to Mount Zion, Jerusalem, which needs to be moved through serious prayer?  The corrupt leaders challenge His authority, and He in turn rightly challenges theirs for good, godly reason.  In Mark 12:1–12, He indicts the temple leadership with a parable of the wicked tenants.  Read it in this light.  It is frequently preached as a foretelling of the beloved Son’s coming; but that message misses Jesus’s indictment of the tenants, stewards, and authorities in the temple who were greedily using their positions for their own aggrandizement.  In Mark 12:13–17, the ruling party tries to trap Him on the issue of paying taxes.  He responds , “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”.  The people were forgetting to distinguish between, or choose sides between, God and Caesar.  Then in Mark 12:18, He starts to attack the Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection.  (That is why they are “sad, you see.” [pun]) In chapter 13, He says, “Not one stone will be left on another” which is prophetically forty years before Jerusalem was utterly destroyed. Then he discourses on the end of the age.

·         Mark 14:1—Wednesday: “It was two days before Passover…”, and the chief priests and scribes were out to get Him.

·         Mark 14:12—Thursday: :On the first day of Unleavened Bread when they slaughtered the lamb for Pesach…” over their seder (feast meal), He says His good-byes, shares the cup, prays, and gets arrested by the corrupt Sanhedrin, members of the leadership body.

·         Mark 15:1—Friday, 6 a.m.: “As soon as it was morning…”  some of the Sanhedrin “reached a decision …”.

·         Mark 15:25—Friday, 9 a.m.: “It was the third hour when they crucified him”. The worst possible curse for an Israelite: to be nailed and hung on a stake.

·         Mark15:33—Friday, noon: “At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.”  I wonder what the corrupt leaders were thinking then.

·         Mark 15:34—Friday, 3 p.m.: “At the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice …”   And in  verse 38, the curtain of the temple was rent from top to bottom. Could that be the Father tearing His garment in mourning for His Son?  In verse 39, a Roman centurion became a believer.

·         Mark15:42—Friday, 6 p.m.: “It was Preparation day, the day before a Sabbath…”  And Joseph of Arimathea, one of the righteous leaders who had become a disciple, claimed Jesus’s body and buried Him before sundown, which began the Sabbath.

·         Mark16:1–2–Sunday, “early”: “When the Sabbath was over … very early in the morning they were on their way to the tomb…”   A good Jew would not walk that far or go to a tomb on the Sabbath.

I hope and pray that we will all read Mark’s gospel during Holy Week, with fresh perspective, and be inspired to identify the dominions that we are called to protest in today’s world.

The dates used in this Insight are somewhat traditionally understood.  The next Insight, “Three Days in the Grave?” spells out an alternative and more logical dating which differs from tradition.

Points to Ponder

Is He the same yesterday, today, and forever?

What dominions are we called to protest
 in today’s world?

Happy Resurrection Day! (April 16^th)

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                   April 4, 2017

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage” “Musings - A Victorious Life”  “Musings - The Torah and New Testament”
Weekly “Hebraic Musings”      www.InsightsByYosef.com

This ‘Musing’ is reprinted from Insight #64 in Hebraic Insights – 95 Messages Exploring the Hebrew Roots of our Faith, by Yosef.  Available from Amazon.

*  Inspired by  Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan’s  “The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus’ Final Days in Jerusalem”  (New York: HarperCollins, 2006).