More Questions Than Answers

Monday, March 2, 2020

Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood.  For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.  Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.  Hebrews 2:14-15[1]

Many questions beg answers; in the letter to the Hebrew Christians sometimes the questions seem to beg, and beg, and beg….  This is not one of those times.  For me, at least, this text is one of the clearest, most satisfying pegs that holds my faith secure, even in the fiercest of life’s storms.  Paul answers the questions for which my frightened little soul craves light:  Does God care about me?  It shines light on:  Why the cross?  And it assures that:  It’s REALLY possible to be forgiven!

Peter seemed to have been in awe of Paul’s deep and complex insights, and, at times, more than a little confused about Paul’s letters! 

Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture.  And this will result in their destruction.   2 Peter 3:15-16

With Paul and Peter, you and I can also understand the cross and the nature of suffering for our sins, as well as the gift of the One who is eternal, who became one of us to pay the ultimate cost. 

If actions speak louder and more eloquently than words, then the cross is our assurance that God indeed loves us, and forgiveness is not only possible, it is palpable.  Forgiveness isn’t a far-off question to beg an answer until it drives you mad; forgiveness is a blood-stained reality, offered from the best friend you could imagine (even if you cannot fully understand why He offers himself in your place)!

Paul’s throwaway line in this is that we humans live in slavery to the fear of death.  And it’s true.  Those who, as Peter said, are ignorant and unstable may offer a false kind of bravado, asserting that they’re unafraid, and even go so far as to deny God’s existence.  But it’s just whistling in the dark against their fear.  The plain and inexorable reality is that everyone who has ever drawn breath trembles against the day they will stop drawing breath.  In short, we dread knowing, but can’t stop wondering what (or WHO) is beyond this life.  We dread the final answer which we will ALL one-day encounter.

For those who choose to believe and embrace the forgiving act of Jesus Christ on that cross as He broke the power of fear and death, the result of such trust brings peace that is unmistakable and makes little sense to the skeptic.  But it is the answer that makes all other questions moot.

For You Today

For a believer in, and follower of Christ, Lent holds preparation with humility and expectation.  For the unbeliever, it holds nothing but the anxiety of more questions without answers.  Should be a no-brainer!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day! 

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Title Image:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

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[1] For other posts on Hebrews 2:14-15 see He Was Crushed...for US   and When the Candle Dies 

When the Candle Dies

[1]

                                                                                                  Friday, March 18, 2016

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Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood.  For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.  Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.  Hebrews 2:14-15^(NLT) 

A week from tonight the candle will flicker and go out.  For some years now Good Friday has been one of my favored services of worship.  There is something about the readings depicting Christ’s mission and passion, the mournfulness of songs rehearsing His suffering, blood and death, and the silence, which grips my soul and moves me to tears. 

Sounds like a crowd-pleaser, eh?  Well, if it’s truly a Christian crowd….well, then yes!

It’s been so long ago I cannot recall where I read the story of the little boy who was sitting with his parents in church watching a quite realistic dramatic presentation of Jesus being nailed to the cross.  The church drama team had gone to great lengths to recreate the bloody scene, complete with the pounding of spikes into the hands and feet of Jesus.  They hoisted him up and the scene ended with a loud gasping cry of the Savior, and then His limp head and body hanging pitifully in the picture of death.  The little boy was heard as he whispered a question to his Dad:  Why did Jesus have’ta die?

Indeed; good question, little man!

The writer of Hebrews recorded the answer to our child’s question two millennia before it was asked:  by dying, and then rising from the dead, Jesus broke the power of death.

Scripture tells us that the wages of sin is death[2].  This is the echo of Adam and Eve’s punishment in the Garden of Eden.  The first sin introduced death to Adam’s race, and we have been choosing that pathway ever since. 

And that has been the theological “pickle” for humankind ever since.

As sin requires the penalty of death, no human being can actually pay that penalty and still have life.  It is a debt we are all powerless to meet.  Jesus’ sinless life as a human being meant he was without that debt, and when he submitted willingly to die on the cross, the power of sin was broken eternally.

So…the correct answer for our little man’s question in the church crowd is that Jesus had to die…for us…for our sins…to take away the penalty of the power of sin. 

And a better question is also answered by this same moment of the flickering candle going out on Friday, when the light of the world seemed to be extinguished on Calvary’s hill:

          ·       The question – what does it mean that Jesus got out of the grave? 

          ·       The answer – it means He lives…and He said we could too!

For You Today

Maybe today is a good day to pull out that calendar and make sure nothing will interfere with you attending the events of Holy Week at your church. 

You don’t really have anything better to celebrate than that; do you?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…and have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image:  By Nevit Dilmen (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

[2] Romans 6:23