Tag: Jesus Christ

Jesus on the Cross: “I Thirst”

  

Two simple words of Jesus from the cross—I thirst—confirm His human nature. The exact nature of Jesus was a source of debate in the early church. I don’t think there was any disagreement during the apostolic era about precisely who He was as both God and man, but when certain theologians came along and raised questions, the church leaders needed to get together and settle the matter once and for all. One question raised was whether Christ’s divine nature removed… Read more »

Lewis: What Are We to Make of Jesus Christ?

  

As I prepared my course on C. S. Lewis’s many essays, one of my choices (because there are so many excellent possibilities and limited time) was an essay that I hadn’t recalled previously. I selected it because it goes to the very heart of Christian faith. While this might seem matter of fact to some, and certainly not a controversy among Christians, the world has many different views about Jesus. It’s also good to remind Christians of the uniqueness of… Read more »

Father, Forgive Them

  

The first recorded words of Jesus as He hung upon the cross were “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” He uttered these words after being beaten, scourged, forced to carry the crossbeam through the streets of Jerusalem, and then having nails pounded into His hands and feet. And yet, as He hung there, He wanted those who were responsible for this to be forgiven. C. S. Lewis once wrote, “Everyone says forgiveness is a… Read more »

My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?

  

Of all the words Jesus spoke from the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me,” had to be the ones of greatest personal anguish. Why? What makes these words so searing? The key is the word “forsaken.” We must stop and consider the depth of this anguish and why it is so. In order to do this, we have to draw from the rest of Scripture the reason why this would be so devastating. The Father, Son,… Read more »

Words from the Cross

  

Yesterday was Good Friday. We take time on that day to consider deeply what Jesus suffered for us. There are many paintings of Christ on the Cross, but few that try to show what He saw as He hung there. This one, by Jame Tissot, is, I think, thought-provoking. From the Cross, Jesus uttered some very dramatic words: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”; “This day you shall be with me in Paradise.” Other words may… Read more »

The Hellacious Choice

  

I’ve been teaching a special class at my church on C. S. Lewis. We meet every Monday evening (both in person and on Zoom) to cover some of Lewis’s most thoughtful discourses on life, death, and eternity. My opening slide for the class revealed what we were going to read. We’ve concluded our discussion of Surprised by Joy and just this past Monday finished key chapters in The Problem of Pain. The most jarring and challenging was the chapter on… Read more »

Phrases in Need of Context

  

I’ve never been one to jump on bandwagons of trendy phrases and slogans. I’m not going to start now. I don’t care if they emanate from political Left field or political Right field. I avoid them all. Instead, I think it’s important to explain matters cogently and with the proper context, tossing aside phrases that create certain images in people’s minds that may not be accurate. As much as possible, I always want to provide both theological and historical context… Read more »