Tag Archives: Christianity

Did Jesus Break the Sabbath?

Posted on by

It’s been asserted that Jesus broke the Sabbath, and hence we are free to disregard it as well. But did Jesus break the Sabbath?

The basis for the idea that Jesus broke the Sabbath is the accusations made by Jesus’ enemies among the Pharisees and scribes. Because Jesus performed miracles of healing on the Sabbath, the Pharisees accused him of breaking the Sabbath (Matthew 12:10; Mark 3:2, John 9:14-16). John records a healing that Jesus performed at one of the festivals in Jerusalem. Because of this the Jews sought to kill him. John records that in a confrontation following the healing Jesus said to his enemies, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” Then it says, “Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God” (John 5:17-18). Hence the argument is made that Jesus worked on the Sabbath and broke the Sabbath, leaving Christians free to do so. Continue reading →

Why Did God Become Flesh?

Posted on by

Have you ever stopped to think why God – an eternal Being who existed before time began (as we count time) – would become flesh and blood? Does that not seem a bit peculiar, when you think about it, that the very Creator, the Being whose power sustains the entire vast Universe, would be changed into a mere human, infinitely weaker and limited by comparison? Continue reading →

Love in Action

Posted on by

After Jesus Christ returns to establish the Kingdom of God on earth, we’re told that his law will go forth from Zion to all the nations (Isaiah 2:2-3). God’s law will become the law of every nation on earth. What is the foundation of that law?

On an occasion during his ministry Jesus was involved in a discussion with some of the religious leaders among the Jews: “Then one of them [a Pharisee], a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said to him, ‘ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets’ ” (Matthew 22:35-40).

The very foundation of God’s law, it’s vital essence, the motivating principle which permeates it, is the principle of divine love. Those who are in the first resurrection will be teaching to all nations that law, founded on the principle of divine love (Isaiah 2:3-4; Matthew 5:19; 1 Corinthians 6:2; Revelation 20:4-6). It’s essential that we master the concept of divine love, not only intellectually, but in its application as well. Continue reading →

A Nation At Risk

Posted on by

As I write I’m spending a few days with my youngest son, who just finished college.

He’s extremely blessed to have been granted a job offer upon finishing his degree program, as many college graduates are having a difficult time finding any employment, much less employment in their fields of interest and at salaries they might have expected as graduates.

We’re in Northern Arizona, hiking some of the many trails in the area. Thursday afternoon and night, it snowed about seven inches where we are. But on Friday we managed to find a snow covered trail we could hike up a mountain, and view other majestic peaks in the distance, across a snow covered landscape of Ponderosa Pine forest.

Like many others his age, or any age, my son wants to explore and sample the good things of life. Trying new restaurants, new varieties of foods and beverages, and in general experience life to the full. Nothing wrong with that, as long as it’s done in the proper balance. Though we’re separated by a generation, I haven’t lost many of the interests we share in common.

As we were traveling across the country, I couldn’t help but think of the incredible blessings we in the U.S.A. have been granted as our heritage. We saw huge stores of grain piled high on the ground at a number of grain elevators we passed on the road (cf. “Bumper Grain Harvest Overwhelms Ships, Trains,” December 9, 2013, Reuters.com; “Finally, Kansas wheat is a cash crop again,” theolathenews.com, July 12, 2013). Continue reading →