by Eric Holter on November 5, 2006
“But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them.”
Luke 24:11
On the first Easter morning the apostles were cognitively non-Christians. When Mary, Joanna and Mary the mother of James reported that angles had told them that Jesus had risen, they considered the words as nonsense. It’s remarkable to me that the apostles would be so dull. After all, these men had been with Jesus, they heard everything He said, they saw every miracle He performed, and they had even been told in advance about His betrayal, crucifixion, and resurrection. In addition to their direct experiences with Jesus, having heard all His words and seen all His works, they also had three reliable, trustworthy eye witnesses testifying to the gospel they heard from the mouths of angels. All this was still not enough. The first time they heard the gospel message they thought it was nonsense.
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by Eric Holter on August 5, 2006
“But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be!”
Galatians 2:17
Paul confronted Peter in Antioch for standing aloof from the Gentiles when his fellow Jews arrived from Jerusalem. Paul recalls this story in his letter to the Galatians as a means of defending the gospel. The issues at hand were not small but the truth of the gospel was at stake—and not just the facts of the gospel, but how the gospel is lived out.
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by Eric Holter on March 10, 2006
“But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!”
Luke 12:50
How good it is to come out the other side of a trial. Trials are painful, but they accomplish a good purpose. But going through them is no fun. All trials are designed to produce a fruitful harvest of righteousness and they always ultimately improve our lives and increase our joy. How good it is to enjoy the fruit of righteousness which has been born of an accomplished and completed trial.
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by Eric Holter on October 10, 2005
“And departing, they began going about among the villages, preaching the gospel, and healing everywhere.”
Luke 9:6
I wonder how the gospel was preached prior to the crucifixion? Throughout Jesus’ ministry He and His disciples preached the gospel of the kingdom of God. Whatever allusions to the cross contained in these messages were lost to its hearers. Yet the gospel was preached. Certainly, there are many things that can be said about the gospel without direct reference to the cross. For example: righteous requirements for human conduct, promises for future rewards, hope for peace, and standards for justice. Such facets of the nascent gospel were understood best by Jews – because they had the law and prophets as context. Even so the Jews struggled to comprehend the basic aspects of the non-cross centered gospel – how much more perplexing would a cross exalting gospel be to them.
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by Eric Holter on October 5, 2005
“But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him; but He sent him away, saying, ‘return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.”
Luke 8:38-39
Which, among all the great things that Jesus has done for me, should I describe? For if my eyes are open and my heart is responsive to the tender mercies of God, I will see a thousand great things every day that God does for me. Even trials, which sometimes cloud my view of God’s blessings, can be counted among the great things God does, since they flow from His throne of grace. Times of testing are brief in the balance of eternity and Jesus will turn each test and every pain into servants for my good.
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by Eric Holter on July 10, 2005
“The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, ‘Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?’”
Luke 5:30
O Poor Pharisee, stuck in your old ways of performing righteousness – making much of your displays of prayer and fasting. You think such efforts will make you acceptable to God. You have drunk your old religion of law for so long that Jesus’ words are impossible for you to understand. Your legalistic ways offer no categories for this new wine of gospel grace. You question why Jesus’ followers don’t act like other religious people? The Lord’s answer comes back in riddles, stories, and parables you cannot understand by your categories of duty and performance.
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