The Crux of Christianity by Tom Neven on 04/10/2009 at 11:00 AM

This weekend we mark that nexus of history, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the crucial, defining event of Christianity.

Yet despite this clear teaching of Scripture, there have been those through the ages who have reduced Christ to merely a great teacher and Christianity to a code of good works. The most recent example of this I’ve come across is Erik Reece’s essay “Save Jesus, Ignore Easter.” In it this son and grandson of Baptist preachers confesses that he does not share their faith. But, he adds, he still wants to follow Jesus. He writes:

American Christianity has historically been focused so obsessively on the Nicene Creed—which says Jesus was the son of God, who was crucified for our sins and rose from the grave three days later—that it never made much room for the actual teachings of this radical Jewish street preacher.

This is why I'm against Easter. It celebrates the death of Jesus nearly to the exclusion of his life. If the Easter miracle can save us from this life, then why bother with the harder work of enacting the kingdom of God here? It is, after all, much harder.

I’m always confused when I hear things like this. What “radical” teachings  does he refer to? Perhaps this? Or maybe this? Or how about this? And there’s always this. To carry one’s cross was not just a great burden; under the Roman form of punishment, the condemned was forced to carry his cross as an acknowledgment of guilt. It was a way of saying that Rome was correct in meting out justice to this criminal. To carry one's cross is to acknowledge that you are guilty and that God is correct in meting out justice. That is the full import of that frequently misused verse.

The good news is that Christ carried the cross and endured God's justice for us. Knowing this adds special weight to Paul’s declaration that “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Reece wants to do good works on this earth. Good for him. We can all learn from his example. But when he takes only a partial Jesus and ignores the full teaching of Scripture, he is not obeying Jesus.

Me, I want Jesus, too, but I want the Jesus of Good Friday and Easter morning. Without that Jesus, I’d be a pitiable fool.

The Crux of Christianity by Tom Neven on 04/10/2009 at 11:00 AM

This weekend we mark that nexus of history, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the crucial, defining event of Christianity.

Yet despite this clear teaching of Scripture, there have been those through the ages who have reduced Christ to merely a great teacher and Christianity to a code of good works. The most recent example of this I’ve come across is Erik Reece’s essay “Save Jesus, Ignore Easter.” In it this son and grandson of Baptist preachers confesses that he does not share their faith. But, he adds, he still wants to follow Jesus. He writes:

American Christianity has historically been focused so obsessively on the Nicene Creed—which says Jesus was the son of God, who was crucified for our sins and rose from the grave three days later—that it never made much room for the actual teachings of this radical Jewish street preacher.

This is why I'm against Easter. It celebrates the death of Jesus nearly to the exclusion of his life. If the Easter miracle can save us from this life, then why bother with the harder work of enacting the kingdom of God here? It is, after all, much harder.

I’m always confused when I hear things like this. What “radical” teachings  does he refer to? Perhaps this? Or maybe this? Or how about this? And there’s always this. To carry one’s cross was not just a great burden; under the Roman form of punishment, the condemned was forced to carry his cross as an acknowledgment of guilt. It was a way of saying that Rome was correct in meting out justice to this criminal. To carry one's cross is to acknowledge that you are guilty and that God is correct in meting out justice. That is the full import of that frequently misused verse.

The good news is that Christ carried the cross and endured God's justice for us. Knowing this adds special weight to Paul’s declaration that “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Reece wants to do good works on this earth. Good for him. We can all learn from his example. But when he takes only a partial Jesus and ignores the full teaching of Scripture, he is not obeying Jesus.

Me, I want Jesus, too, but I want the Jesus of Good Friday and Easter morning. Without that Jesus, I’d be a pitiable fool.

Comments

[1. Texas Craig said the following at 3:36 PM on Apr 10:]

1

And part of the problem with Reece's view is that it misses the key fact that none of us can do truly good works apart from the Holy Spirit working through us. Certainly, people can do good things, but those which are lasting for eternity are done only through the power of the Holy Spirit.

As for me, I don't want to just focus on rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Rather, I want to meet people's needs here and now as a means to show them the love of the One who can meet their eternal needs. If all I have done is help them here, without pointing them to Christ, then I have really done little for them.

Faith without works is dead, but works without faith is similarly dead. Let us have both -- faith demonstrated by works!

[2. Psalm 19:14 said the following at 4:15 PM on Apr 10:]

2

Reece is one of my literature professors and I sit under his teaching three days a week. I did not know his view of the Gospel, but after reading this, I have an overwhelming burden for his eyes to be opened to the glorious, freeing Gospel of the Living Savior. Pray that the Lord will give me strength to radiate the love of the Christ in subtle ways through the rest of the semester. Thanks so much for this post-it was providential!

[3. Lost In the World said the following at 4:38 PM on Apr 10:]

3

Y'know, not to get all persnickety on you but...Jesus didn't carry his own Cross. From Mathew 27:32:
"As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross."

This is an important distinction, because as Pilate had said just a few verses earlier (22-25):
"'What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?' Pilate asked.
They all answered, 'Crucify him!'

'Why? What crime has he committed?' asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, 'Crucify him!'

When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. 'I am innocent of this man's blood,' he said. 'It is your responsibility!'

All the people answered, 'Let his blood be on us and on our children!'"

They all(Pilate, the crowd, the Jewish leaders [see John 11: 49-50]) knew he was innocent, yet they killed him anyway.

Thank you Jesus.

[4. Jonathan Sarfati, Ph.D. said the following at 7:07 PM on Apr 10:]

4

The Resurrection a firmly attested historical fact, and the vindication of Jesus' claims. Why should we or this Reece clown bother with Jesus if he were just another man who died?

And Paul gives the reason that Jesus, the Last Adam, came to die physically for our sins and then conquer this death: the sin of the "first man, Adam" who first brought physical death, "the last enemy" into the world (1 Cor. 15:21-22,26,45). See also The Resurrection and Genesis.

[5. Tom Neven said the following at 12:26 PM on Apr 11:]

5

Lost in the World (#3)

Actually, Jesus did start out carrying his own cross.

"Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha)." John 19:17

It is inferred that at some point he became unable to carry it, hence the accounts in the Synoptic Gospels of finding Simon of Cyrene to help him carry it.

[6. brx said the following at 12:57 PM on Apr 11:]

6

NOT either or,

BOTH AND

Faith AND good works. I think our western christian culture has generally minimized the discipleship practices of spuring on good works and loving the stranger and enemy. Instead, our tendency can often be to rest too much on the promise of grace - to the point of becoming collectively selfish rather than self-denying.

I think that's what upset Reese about American christianity.

Grace AND peace AND radical hospitality

[7. Sasha said the following at 10:42 PM on Apr 12:]

7

The sad thing about Reece's comments is that he misses the fact that Jesus's resurrection is absolutely central to the kingdom of God. By his resurrection, Jesus inaugurated that kingdom, and it is precisely because of His resurrection that we are (and can be) called by grace to help Him extend that kingdom here on earth. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Without Christ's resurrection -- and the promise of renewal by God's grace that it brings to us and to the whole earth, as many as will receive Him -- what would be the point?

Just finished read N. T. Wright's book Surprised by Hope and it's gotten me thinking a lot about this....it's a wonderful read for the Easter season.

[8. JuliaH said the following at 10:25 AM on Apr 13:]

8

1 Corinthians 15:19 (New International Version)

19If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

[1. Texas Craig said the following at 3:36 PM on Apr 10:]

1

And part of the problem with Reece's view is that it misses the key fact that none of us can do truly good works apart from the Holy Spirit working through us. Certainly, people can do good things, but those which are lasting for eternity are done only through the power of the Holy Spirit.

As for me, I don't want to just focus on rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Rather, I want to meet people's needs here and now as a means to show them the love of the One who can meet their eternal needs. If all I have done is help them here, without pointing them to Christ, then I have really done little for them.

Faith without works is dead, but works without faith is similarly dead. Let us have both -- faith demonstrated by works!

[2. Psalm 19:14 said the following at 4:15 PM on Apr 10:]

2

Reece is one of my literature professors and I sit under his teaching three days a week. I did not know his view of the Gospel, but after reading this, I have an overwhelming burden for his eyes to be opened to the glorious, freeing Gospel of the Living Savior. Pray that the Lord will give me strength to radiate the love of the Christ in subtle ways through the rest of the semester. Thanks so much for this post-it was providential!

[3. Lost In the World said the following at 4:38 PM on Apr 10:]

3

Y'know, not to get all persnickety on you but...Jesus didn't carry his own Cross. From Mathew 27:32:
"As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross."

This is an important distinction, because as Pilate had said just a few verses earlier (22-25):
"'What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?' Pilate asked.
They all answered, 'Crucify him!'

'Why? What crime has he committed?' asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, 'Crucify him!'

When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. 'I am innocent of this man's blood,' he said. 'It is your responsibility!'

All the people answered, 'Let his blood be on us and on our children!'"

They all(Pilate, the crowd, the Jewish leaders [see John 11: 49-50]) knew he was innocent, yet they killed him anyway.

Thank you Jesus.

[4. Jonathan Sarfati, Ph.D. said the following at 7:07 PM on Apr 10:]

4

The Resurrection a firmly attested historical fact, and the vindication of Jesus' claims. Why should we or this Reece clown bother with Jesus if he were just another man who died?

And Paul gives the reason that Jesus, the Last Adam, came to die physically for our sins and then conquer this death: the sin of the "first man, Adam" who first brought physical death, "the last enemy" into the world (1 Cor. 15:21-22,26,45). See also The Resurrection and Genesis.

[5. Tom Neven said the following at 12:26 PM on Apr 11:]

5

Lost in the World (#3)

Actually, Jesus did start out carrying his own cross.

"Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha)." John 19:17

It is inferred that at some point he became unable to carry it, hence the accounts in the Synoptic Gospels of finding Simon of Cyrene to help him carry it.

[6. brx said the following at 12:57 PM on Apr 11:]

6

NOT either or,

BOTH AND

Faith AND good works. I think our western christian culture has generally minimized the discipleship practices of spuring on good works and loving the stranger and enemy. Instead, our tendency can often be to rest too much on the promise of grace - to the point of becoming collectively selfish rather than self-denying.

I think that's what upset Reese about American christianity.

Grace AND peace AND radical hospitality

[7. Sasha said the following at 10:42 PM on Apr 12:]

7

The sad thing about Reece's comments is that he misses the fact that Jesus's resurrection is absolutely central to the kingdom of God. By his resurrection, Jesus inaugurated that kingdom, and it is precisely because of His resurrection that we are (and can be) called by grace to help Him extend that kingdom here on earth. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Without Christ's resurrection -- and the promise of renewal by God's grace that it brings to us and to the whole earth, as many as will receive Him -- what would be the point?

Just finished read N. T. Wright's book Surprised by Hope and it's gotten me thinking a lot about this....it's a wonderful read for the Easter season.

[8. JuliaH said the following at 10:25 AM on Apr 13:]

8

1 Corinthians 15:19 (New International Version)

19If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.