Jesus was the greatest paradox

JESUS WAS THE GREATEST PARADOX
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Paradoxes ofChristmas
A paradox is an apparent contradiction which concealsa profound truth - and
the Bible is filled with paradoxes:We triumph by first surrendering to God.
We find rest under a yoke. We see the unseen through faith. We find freedom
in becoming Christ's bondservants. We are made greatby becoming little. We
gain through giving. We become wise by becoming fools for Christ's sake. We
can only truly live if we die to self.
Yet the greatestparadoxin the entire Bible is found in the birth of Jesus
Christ. During the time of Jesus'birth, CaesarAugustus was the greatest
ruler of the world. He possessedabsolute powerand incredible wealth. Yet
even with all of his earthly authority and riches, Caesarwas justa man. When
God Himself came to earth, He was not the leader of the largestempire. He
was born as a poor and obscure child in Bethlehem. The pagan man, Caesar,
was at the height of power; the God-infant, Jesus, was in the depths of
helplessness. Caesarwas the wealthiestman on earth; Jesus was one of the
poorest. Caesarsleptin a Roman palace on a golden bed coveredwith fine
linens; Jesus sleptin a manger, bundled in swaddling clothes.
But none of the wealthor power that Caesarpossessedcomparedto the glory
and splendor that Jesus had left in heaven. "Foryou know the grace ofour
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakeshe became
poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9).
Jesus endured a human, earthly birth so that everyone who follows Him can
undergo a spiritual, heavenly birth. Jesus found no room at the inn, yet He
said, "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have
told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2). Jesus

became a member of a human family so that those who love Him can become
members of His heavenly family.
The infant Jesus was pursued by the ruthless and evil King Herod who killed
the baby boys in the Bethlehem area, hoping to end the threat of the One
"born king of the Jews" (see Matthew 2). Yet Jesus was born for the very
purpose of pursuing and destroying the rootof all evil, Satan.
We canlearn from the paradoxes of Christmas: We should not judge things
by appearance, becauseGodhid His greatestgift in a humble package. We
should not judge an end by its beginning, because the babe in the manger will
one day return in full glory. We should make room in our hearts for others, so
that we can find room for Jesus. Byreaching out and witnessing to those who
need to hear about Jesus, we canexperience Christ even more fully.
In celebrationof His birth, thank Jesus for giving up the riches and splendor
of heaven to be born a poor and humble infant. Thank Him for dying on the
cross, eventhough He Himself was sinless, so that we may find forgiveness
and reconciliationwith the Father.
"Who, being in very nature God, did not considerequality with God
something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of
a servant, being made in human likeness."Philippians 2:6, 7
****
Excerpted from My Journal, a monthly devotional magazine from Leading
The Way with Dr. MichaelYoussef.
For more information on the ministry of Leading The Way, please visit our
web-site at www.leadingtheway.org.
Jesus-Christ:

The Ultimate Paradox
Jesus-Christ:The ultimate paradox! God incarnate we ask? Who was, and
who is Jesus-Christ? Even asking this question, however, itselfraises a
paradox!
Jesus-Christ:The Son Of God
Credit: Google Images
Who Was, And Who Is Jesus Christ?
We know he lived in Israel2000 years ago. After a short and controversial
ministry lasting approximately three years he was condemned for heresy by
the Jews, andfor insurrection by the Romans, and subsequently executedby
crucifixion. This is all well recordedundisputable historical fact. Restassured,
Jesus Christ is not a myth. He lived.......anddied!
This briefly summarizes who Jesus Christ"was". The paradoxhoweverlies in
the question "Who "is" Jesus-Christ?"The wording unavoidably infers that
he is alive today! History though, as stated above, records that he died 2000
years ago!
This is the first obvious paradox: Jesus-Christ"was" but he also "is"!This
paradox forms the very basis of Christianity. Christians believe that he died,
but that he was resurrectedafter three days, thereby conquering death and
manifesting eternal life!
It is recorded that, over a period of forty days after his resurrection, he
appearedto his followers on severaloccasions proving to them that he was
indeed alive even though his body still carriedthe wounds inflicted by his
crucifixion.

Acts 1:3 NLT: "During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appearedto the
apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was
actually alive. And he talkedto them about the Kingdom of God."
After this time of further teaching and instruction he then ascendedto heaven
before the eyes of a gathering of his followers, leaving them with a commission
to spread the Gospeland a promise to return again. Therefore, to his
followers he definitely "is" - in every sense of the word! They commune with
him on a daily basis.
The life and death of Jesus has had such a dramatic and profound effecton
the world that it has changed the course of human history. In fact in large
parts of the world our calendars divide all history into what occurredbefore
Christ (BC) and what ensued after Christ (AD for Anno Domini).
Jesus Christ remains a phenomenon through every age and we are, even
today, still confrontedwith the same question Pontius Pilot originally askedof
Jesus'accusers:
Matthew 27:22. NLT: "Then what shall I do with Jesus who is calledthe
Messiah?"
The Trial Of Jesus-ChristBy Pontius Pilate
Pilate Pleading With The Jews
Pilate Washing His Hands
What Shall We "Do With Jesus Who Is calledThe Messiah"?

What has been the world's reactionto this question originally posedby the
vacillating Romangovernor Pontius Pilate before choosing the path of
appeasementrather than that of justice by condemning Jesus to death by
crucifixion.
Pilate even emphasized that this was an act of appeasementby symbolically
washing his hands in a bowl of waterand declaring:
Matthew 27:24 NLT: "I am innocent of this man's blood. The responsibility
is yours!"
I wonder how much of what has happened to the Jews throughout history,
culminating in the Holocaust under Hitler, is a consequenceofthe Jews'reply
to Pilate?:
Matthew 27:25 NLT: And all the people yelled back, "We will take
responsibility for his death - we and our children!"
This question is still valid today. What are you and I doing with Jesus-Christ?
The Crucifixion And ResurectionOfJesus-Christ
DeathOf Jesus
The Empty Tomb
What Has THE WORLD Done With "Jesus Who Is CalledThe Messiah?"

It is never wise to generalize, but I think the world's reactionin subsequent
history to the phenomenon of Jesus-Christcanbest be summed up by
analysing his impact on the world's major religions, and philosophies. I have
formulated the following list to essentiallyreflectwhat mankind as a whole
has "done with Jesus who is called the Messiah":
1: Inherited Mythology:
Ancient Greek Mythology
The world into which Jesus was born had a multitude of religions, myths, and
superstitions which were deeply embedded into various cultures.
Mostof these, Pagan, Egyptian, Grecian, and Roman, worshiped a diverse
pantheon of gods.
Throughout the Roman Empire people were also compelled, often under
threat of death, to worship and honor Caesaras a god.
This provided the straw Pilate seizedon tojustify condemning an otherwise
guiltless Jesus to death. It was an act of self-preservation.
Jesus'assertionthathe was a king, despite the factthat he had made it clear
that his kingdom was not of this world, was clearlyputting Pilate's political
careerat risk. This claim was in direct conflictwith the authority of the
Empire of Rome, and Pilate as an officialof the Roman Empire placedhis
allegiance accordingly!
We read in John 19:12 NLT:

"Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewishleaders shouted, "If you
release this man, you are no 'friend of Caesar'. Anyone who declares himself a
king is a rebel againstCaesar."
2: Judaism:
Judaism's Symbols
The Jewishreligious fraternity viewed Jesus as a heretic. They were awaiting
the coming of a promised Messiahwho they believed would re-establishthe
Kingdom of David, freeing them from the Roman yoke, and restoring the
prestige that they had previously enjoyed as a nation.
When it became clearthat Jesus did not fit into this mould, coupled with his
assertions ofdivinity, it became imperative in their eyes to get rid of him.
Sadly, their descendants are still today awaiting the coming of this Messiah!
3: Christianity:
Christianity's Symbols
(Including The symbol For The Holy Spirit)

Christianity, of course, emergedout of ancient Judaism as a Jewishsect, with
Jesus himself and later his followers even preaching and teaching within the
Temple precincts.
Nearly all its initial adherents were Jews. TheyacceptedJesus-Christas the
promised Messiah. Manyhad in fact physically interactedwith the
resurrectedJesus and receiviedthe Commissionto spread the Gospelof the
New Covenant- that Jesus'death was both the Propitiation and the Expiation
for our sins - throughout the world.
They had witnessedhis ascensionto heavenfrom the Mount of Olives and
receivedthe assurancethat Jesus would one day return to fetch his own.
Christianity was not establishedthrough "hear-say" but by the witness of
people that had actually lived with and followedJesus during his earthly
ministry,
His followers acceptedhim as the fulfillment of all Old testamentprophecy in
the contextof scripture that: “the stone the builders had rejected, becoming a
cornerstone" (Luke 20:17-19).
Despite Judaism and the Roman Empire the attempting to eradicate the new
faith - even by persecution, torture, and death - Christianity continued to
spread; eventually becoming the official state-endorsedreligionunder the
emperor Constantine.
In hindsight, many believers regardthis as a regrettable development because
this political victory in effectsecularizedthe church. Christianity was
tragicallytransformed from being a “persecutedfaith", into becoming a
“persecuting faith", thereby compromising the essence ofempathy that
characterizedits original foundation.
The invention of the printing press and the subsequentprolific distribution of
the Bible (now translatedinto virtually every knownlanguage)initiated the
subsequent proliferation of personal opinions and interpretations of Scripture
and dogma that has led to the fragmentation of the church we have come to
know.

This is the situation in which Christianity, the"Body of Christ", finds itself in
today. Fragmentedand devided, but earnestlysearching for new direction
and meaning while endeavoring to rediscoverit's original essence oflove,
empathy, and spirituality.
https://www.life-and-matter.com/jesus-christ.html
The GreatestParadoxin History
December7, 2015/inGeneral, Scripture, Seeking God, Spiritual Truth, The
Bible, Wisdom Richard E. Simmons III Blog /by Richard E. Simmons III
On that first Christmas morning, very quietly and very humbly, God entered
the world. He was born into a family that had no power, no wealth, and no
influence. They could not even arrange a decentplace for His actualbirth.
This would not seemto be a greatstart for one who came to transform the
world.
Use your imagination for a minute. If God gave you the task of creating a life,
any life, for your son or your daughter, that would enable them to have a huge
influence on the world, what would you choose? Assume you can determine
their giftedness, their achievements, their wealth. What would you chose?
Presidentof the United States? King of England? Chief Justice ofthe
Supreme Court? Senator? Presidentof Apple? A rock star, a movie star, an
Academy Award winner, Heisman trophy winner? What would you choose?
Mostof us would choose forthem power and influence, some type of celebrity
status, a mover and shaker, a personof substance whose character, opinions,
and actions extended deeply into the world of commerce and politics.
I ask that because this is what God could have easilyprovided for Jesus. He
could have put him in a wealthy Roman household, or in Athens, where all the
scholarlyinfluence resided.

God could have given Jesus every advantage you would want in life, but
instead he was born and lived in the most desolate part of the Roman Empire
calledPalestine. He lived a very quiet life with his parents for thirty years as a
carpenter. He left almost no traces of himself on earth, and he never owned
any belongings or possessions that could be enshrined in a museum. He never
wrote anything. He allowedhimself to be takeninto custody. He was mocked,
beaten, spat upon, and then, stripped naked in front of a massive crowd. He
then was takento the cross and was crucified betweentwo criminals for all
the world to see.
And he askedGod the father to forgive those who executed him and then was
buried in a tomb. Yet somehow Jesus and his small following have produced
the dominant faith in Westerncivilization. How do you explain this?
Philip Yancey wrote in one of his books about the life of French philosopher
and anthropologistRene Girard, who was a very accomplishedman. He
ended his careeras a distinguished professorat Stanford. At a certain point in
his studies and research, Girardbegan to notice that a cavalcade ofliberation
movements from the abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, the Civil Rights
movement, women’s rights, minority rights, human rights had gatheredspeed
in the twentieth century. The trend mystified Girard because he found
nothing comparable in his readings in ancient literature. Through further
research, Girardtraced this phenomenon back to the historicalfigure of
Jesus.
It struck Girard that Jesus’story cuts againstthe grain of every heroic story
from its time. Indeed, Jesus chose poverty and disgrace. He spent his infancy
as a refugee. He lived in a minority race under a harsh regime. He died a
prisoner. From the very beginning, Jesus took the side of the underdog, the
poor, the oppressed, the sick, the marginalized. His crucifixion, Girard
concluded, introduced a new plot to history. The victim becomes a hero by
being a victim. Girard recognizedthat two thousand years later the
reverberations from Christ’s life have not stopped. And yet, ironically, at the
centerof the Christian faith, hangs a suffering Christ on the cross, dying in
shame, for all the world to see.

And to the shock and consternationof his friends and secularcolleagues,
Girard announced that he had become a Christian because ofthe
unexplainable life of Christ.
Jesus did not impact the world with powerand wealth, nor did He seek to set
up a worldly kingdom. He did not employ any of the means that leadto
human greatness. Instead, He chose the path of humility, which is clearly what
God desires for eachof us.
https://thecenterbham.org/2015/12/07/the-greatest-paradox-in-history/
THE GREATESTPARADOXBY GLENN PEASE
Jesus was a paradoxicalperson. How could He not be when He was both
God and man? He was the most unique being that has ever been, and the
result is we see Him exhibiting opposite characteristicsatthe same time. He
was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief as He went through the
experience of Gethsemane and Calvary. It was literally hell he went through
as He bore the sins of the world and endured the agonyof separationfrom the
Father. And yet at the same time we read in Heb. 12:2, “…who for the joy set
before him endured the cross….”No one but the Son of God could experience
both heaven and hell at the same time, for no one but the Sonof Godwas also
the Sonof Man. Jesus was a person with two natures so that He could
experience the greatestsorrow and the greatestjoy simultaneously.
Because we have a problem in grasping the dual nature of Jesus we tend to
focus on one aspectof Him and neglectits opposite. This is especiallytrue
when it comes to the matter of sorrow and joy. Historically the focus has been
on the sorrow of Jesus becausethe cross is so central to Christian theology.
Artists through the centuries have portrayed Jesus in a state of agonyas He
sweats drops of blood in Gethsemane, orwhen crownedwith the ugly thorns
that pierce His forehead, or when carrying the cross with His weak and
bleeding body due to a severe whipping, or when He hangs God-forsaken

upon the cruel cross. All of this is a true picture of the price Jesus paid for our
redemption, but the truth of it has been so overwhelming that it has blinded
our minds to the other side of the experience of the God-Man. This brings us
to our text in Heb. 1:9 where we getan insight into the paradox of the Man of
Sorrows being also the Man of Joy.
This text goes beyond saying that Jesus was a man of joy to saying that He
was the most joyous person to ever live. He was the happiest man alive, even
as a man of sorrows. Listen to this text: “You have loved righteousness and
hated wickedness;therefore God, your God, has setyou above your
companions by anointing you with the oil of joy." It was by means of the oil of
joy that Jesus was setabove His companions. In other words, His joy was the
greatest, andthere is none who cancompare with Him when it comes to joy.
Jesus is only hours awayfrom the cross, but we hear Him saying to His
disciples in John 15:11, as He is teaching them to love Him and to love one
another, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy
may be complete.” Jesus was heading to Gethsemane and Calvary, and all
that led Him to be the man of sorrows, but it was with complete joy. He was
the greatestofparadoxes. He was the happiest sad man in history. What He
had he wanted to pass on to His disciples, and so He prays in John 17:13, “I
am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so
that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.” You do not get
any greaterjoy than the joy of Jesus.
This verse starts off with the paradox of Jesus being a person of greatlove
and greathate. Again, we tend to focus on the love of Jesus and forget that He
was also a greathater. We forget that if you really love righteousness you
must hate its opposite, which is wickedness. Oppositeshave to coexistin all of
us, for you cannot be truly loving if you do not hate what is unloving. Hate of
evil is a part of love for the good. If you love peace, you will hate violence. If
you love generosity, you will hate greediness. If you love loyalty, you will hate
betrayal. If you love truth you will hate falsehood. You cango through every
virtue and see that you cannot truly love any of them without a hate for their
opposites. Love cannot be complete without hate of what is not love, or what
hinders and destroys love. The more we love Christ and what He loves, the

more we will hate what He hates. It is a paradox but a factthat hate is a part
of love. Notunderstanding this leads to a superficial understanding of the
statementthat God is love. Yes He is, and that is why He is a God of judgment
on all that is not loving. Complete love hates evil and demands judgment on it.
Every positive virtue is paradoxicalbecause it has to contain within it the
hatred of what is opposedto it. Love without hate is incomplete, and that
makes love a paradox. Jesus was the greatestparadoxbecause He was perfect
love, and that means He had to have a perfect hatred for what was the enemy
of love. The joy of Jesus was also paradoxicalin that joy cannotbe complete
without sorrow. If you are joyful over what is good, then you have to be sad
over that which is not good, or over sin. Sin made Jesus the man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief, but joy over the sacrifice that made salvationfrom
sin possible for mankind made Jesus the greatestpersonof joy to ever live.
We are all paradoxicalin combining opposites in our nature, but Jesus
combined them to the highest degree, and so He is the greatestparadox. In
this messagewe wantto focus on the paradox that the man of sorrows was the
most joyful man who ever lived.
Jesus is more joyful than the angels, forthey do rejoice overevery sinner
who repents, but Jesus has a greaterjoy, for He is the one who made their
repentance possible by His sacrifice forthem. The angels sing for joy over the
marvels of God’s creation, but Jesus is filled with joy because He was the
agentof creationand the agentof salvation. He is the King of joy and
gladness, forall that is beauteous, glorious, andwondrous in both the physical
and spiritual universe is the work of His hands. God anointed Him with the oil
of joy above His companions. Christ means the anointed one, and so He is the
Christ of Joy, or Jesus of Joy. He is the greatestofjoyous persons. There is no
greaterjoy than the joy of Jesus. No matter how joyful the angels are over
sinners who repent they cannot match the joy of Jesus. Jesus is always
happier over what is righteous and goodthan any other can ever be. The
Hebrew word for joy in Ps. 45:7, which is quoted here, canbe translated
gladness, rejoicing and mirth. The Greek wordused here for joy means
leaping with gladness. It is an overflowing joy that canbe calledhilarity.

Jesus is anointed with the oil of hilarious joy. The angels are joyous
creatures, but they cannotmatch Jesus, forHe is setabove these companions.
Some commentators feel the companions are Christians, and this does fit too,
but since the whole contextis about Jesus being superior to angels, it is best to
see them as the companions referred to here. It does fit his human
companions, however, for when the 72 that Jesus sentout to go to every town
to prepare the way for Him came back with joy it says in Luke 10:21, “At that
time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because youhave hidden these things from the wise
and learned, and revealedthem to little children.” The disciples were joyful,
but Jesus was absolutelyfilled with joy, for he saw what none other could see.
Jesus says in 10:18, “I saw Satanfall like lightning from heaven.” Jesus had
the greatestjoybecause He knew more of what God was doing in history, and
how the kingdom of God was coming in greaterpower. The greaterour
knowledge ofwhat God is doing the greaterour joy in being a part of it, and
Jesus was fully aware of what God was doing.
In the light of this truth we need to get a more complete picture of the
human life of our Lord. He was a man of sorrows in the final week of His life
because ofthe horrible treatment He had to suffer at the hands of sinful
people, but this one week of His life should not be the way we see Jesus for all
of His life. The facts will not support that He was anything less than a very
happy person. If he was filled with joy even as He faced the cross, how much
more when He was going about preaching the truth that changedlives before
His very eyes every day. And how could he be anything but filled with joy as
He watches the happy faces of families as they saw their loved ones being
healed from hopeless situation. Tellme, if you dare, that Jesus did not rejoice
with those who rejoiced, as well as weepwith those who weeped. Mostall of
His ministry Jesus lived in the midst of people who were praising God for His
loving and compassionateheartthat met their needs as no other could. Jesus
was not merely happy, He was the happiest of all men, for He loved
righteousness andhated wickedness, andHe was seeing righteousness win
over evil powerevery day.

God’s greatestpleasure is in doing good. He loves people and He loves to
do what is goodfor people in time and eternity. God is goodoriented by His
very nature, which is good. In Jer. 32:41 God says about His people, “I will
rejoice in doing them good….” In Zeph. 3:17 we read, “The Lord your God is
with you, he is mighty to save. He will take greatdelight in you, he will quiet
you with his love, he will rejoice overyou with singing.” God is a happy God
who loves to sing and rejoice overhis people. Jesus, as Godin the flesh, had
the same nature, and there is no way He could feed the hungry, heal the sick,
and raise the dead and not feel greatjoy in doing so. Only once do we read of
Jesus and His disciples singing a hymn just before they left the upper room to
go to Gethsemane, but there is no doubt that after many a day of ministering
to happy delighted people they had served, they sat around the camp fire at
night and sang songs ofjoy. Jesus had to be the happiest man on earth during
those years of ministry.
PeterMarshallin his famous “Christianity CanBe Fun” sermon said
something we need to hear: “Godis a God of laughter as well as of prayer….a
God of singing, as well as of tears. God is at home in the play of His children.
He loves to hear us laugh. We do not honor God by our long faces…our
austerity.” We serve a God of joy and a Savior who is the most joyful being in
the universe, and He wants us to have His joy in us completely. How in the
world has anyone gottenthe idea that there is anything sacredor holy in being
solemn? There is a place for solemnity, for even the happiest man alive wept
at the tomb of Lazarus, but this is the exception, and not the pattern of daily
life. Eccles. 3:4 says, “There is a time to weep and a time to laugh.” It is
mighty poor theologyto think that more time should be spent weeping than
laughing. Jesus spentmost of His days in rejoicing with a complete joy, as He
was filled with the Spirit, who is the author and giver of joy. The joy of Jesus
was not based on circumstances, but was a part of His very being, as it was of
God’s being, and the Spirit’s being.
Erma Bombeck once wrote about her experience of being in church when a
small boy turned around in the pew and smiled at the people behind him. The
mother slapped the child and said, “Stopthat grinning! You’re in church!”
Erma said, “I wanted to grab this child and tell him about my God; The
happy God. The smiling God.” It is unfortunate that so many people have a

misconceptionabout God and Jesus whenit comes to their joyfulness. The
point of the book of Hebrews is that Jesus is the greatestand best of
everything. If angels are great, Jesus is greater. If Moses is great, Jesus is
greater. If Aaron is great, Jesus is greater. The point of this verse is, if anyone
is happy and joyous, Jesus is more joyous and the greatestthat canbe when it
comes to being happy with eternal joy. There is no being in the universe more
joyful than Jesus.
When you look at what Jesus saw as God’s plan for His life you cansee
why He would be so happy. In Luke 4:18-19 Jesus in reading in the synagogue
from Isa. 61:1-3, “The Spirit of the SovereignLord is one me, because the
Lord has anointed me to preachgoodnews to the poor. He has sent me to bind
up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from
darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the
day of vengeance ofour God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those
who grieve in Zion-to bestow on them a crownof beauty instead of ashes, the
oil of gladness insteadof mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit
of despair. They will be calledoaks ofrighteousness, a planting of the Lord
for the display of His splendor.”
Jesus saidthis was being fulfilled by Him that very moment. Jesus came to
reverse the effects of the fall and restore man to fellowshipwith God and to a
life filled with the blessings of God. One of His goals was to pass on His own
anointing with the oil of joy. He wanted His people to be people who are
anointed with the oil of gladness where mourning and despair are out of place
excepton rare situations. For some strange reasonsome Christians want to
remain prisoners of darkness and negativity, and resist the joy of the Lord,
which is their strength. The more I focusedon the joy or Jesus the more I was
compelled to try and convey His joy in going to the cross in poetry. The whole
purpose of the plan of salvationto bring many to glory with Jesus was being
fulfilled by His actof sacrifice. It was the saddestand the gladdestevent ever,
and I have tried to say it in this poem:
Joyful is the Lord of glory Son of God and Son of Man. There’s no more
glorious story Since the creationbegan.

He was full of joy and laughter, As He walkedthis earthly road. There will
never be one after Who could with joy bear His load.
For the joy that was before Him He went to the cross to die. He would never
let that joy dim
In spite of His fearful cry:
“Why, my God, have you forsaken Me in this most awful time? Cruelly my
life they’ve taken. It’s mankind’s most gruesome crime.
Father, they know not what they do, So I pray you forgive all. I soonnow will
be home with you, As I break through death’s dark wall.
It’s the thought of this victory Over Satan and all foes That makes me finish
this story In spite of trials and woes.
My joy never could be complete If I returned home alone. I want billions of
sinner’s feet Marching past me on my throne.
For this joy I came down to earth To give my life for mankind. It’s my goal
to give a new birth To all who saving faith find.
My sacrifice couldsave all men If they would just callon me. My greatestjoy
of all is then, Billions in eternity.
For this joy I lay my life down. For this joy I intercede. Forthis joy I gave up
my crown, So that my plan could succeed.
There’s no greatersorrow than mine That men in such bondage be. There’s
no greaterjoy that is mine My shed blood will set them free.”
And so we see how it is that Jesus could be a man of sorrows and a man of
joy at the same time. It was the saddesttime in history when men could be so
blind to love that they crucified the Lord of love. It was also the gladdesttime
in history because that Lord of love was willing to give His life so that even the
worstof men could become children of

God by faith in Him. Jesus saw this end result of the cross and that is why He
could face the cross with a joy that made Him the most joyous person in the
universe.
History's greatestparadox
By Hal Lindsey
Throughout Westernculture, today is known as "GoodFriday." Christians
commemorate this as the day on which Jesus Christ gave His life as payment
for the sins of mankind on a hill outside ancient Jerusalem. The hill was called
Golgotha – "the place of the skull."
Jesus was born in a stable in an obscure village named Bethlehem. He grew up
in another obscure village knownas Nazareth. He never traveled more than
about 200 miles from His birthplace. He was not known beyond Nazareth
until He beganHis public career. And that public careeronly lastedthree
short years.
His profession, prior to what he calledhis life calling of saving men from their
sin, was a carpenter. During his life, He never ran for public office, yet
hundreds of millions have followedHim over two millennia. He never wrote a
book, yet hundreds of thousands have been written about Him. He never
became the patriarch of a family, yet untold millions considerthemselves His
children. From the time he beganpublicly teaching, he never had a house. He
was never formally educated, yet He confounded the most brilliant sagesof
His time. He never commanded an army, yet his teachings have captured the
hearts of mankind for more than 2,000 years.
Advertisement - story continues below

In short, none of the characteristicsassociatedwith some of the greatestmen
of history such as PharaohRamessesII, Nebuchadnezzarof Babylon, Cyrus
the Greatof Persia, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Fredrick
the Great, Charlemagne, etc., are associatedwith Jesus.
At the end of his earthly life, some believed that He was the long-awaited
Messiahthat Israel's prophets predicted would come. But the religious leaders
of Israel condemned Him as a false prophet and a blasphemer on the grounds
that He claimed to be the Son of God, thus making himself equal with God. So
Jesus was condemnedfor claiming to be exactly what the Hebrew prophets
predicted the true Messiahwouldbe.
When the religious leaders forcedthe Roman governorto try him for
promoting the overthrow of Roman rule, the governor, Pontius Pilate,
officially declaredthat he found no fault in him.
As He stoodbefore His accusers,eventhe men that he chose as his apostles
desertedhim.
At his execution, only his mother, his aunt, a disciple named Mary Magdalene
and the Apostle John remained with him till the end.
Humanly speaking, there is nothing about Jesus that explains the fact that, 20
centuries after His birth, He stands as the most influential figure who ever
existed in human history.
The one event that changedit all was this. Jesus hurled a challenge at His
bitterest enemies that what He claimed and taught would be proven true when
He would be raised bodily from the dead on the third day.
His cowering and disillusioned disciples suddenly became bold as lions and
fearlesslyproclaimedthat they were witnesses to the fact that they saw him
bodily alive after the third day. More than 500 of Jesus'followers were

immediately transformed and never changed their witness to the fact that they
saw Him bodily alive and talkedand ate with Him. Mostof these suffered
terrible martyr's deaths. But not one recantedof his witness.
As someone eloquently summed up the paradox of Jesus'life in a poem called
"One Solitary Life," "… Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today he
is the centralfigure of the human race. I am well within the mark when I say
that all the armies that have ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all
the parliaments that eversat, all the Kings that ever reigned – put together–
have not affectedthe life of man on this earth as much as that one, solitary
life."
It is an undeniable factthat the calendarby which the civilized world marks
the passage oftime dates to the birth of Jesus ofNazareth. Even though Jews
and Muslims use a different calendar, they still have to deal daily with the
BC/AD calendar.
There are many paradoxes about Jesus. But perhaps the greatestis what a
Jewishprophet named Isaiah predicted about him 750 years before he was
born. Note that all through this prophecy Isaiah uses the pronouns "we" and
"us," which could only refer to Isaiah's ownpeople, the Israelites. So the
suffering servant here could not be a poetic symbol of Israelas a nation, since
the servantdies for Israel.
Isaiahpredicted,
Ads by Revcontent
Man Who Predicted GM's Fall: Look Who's Going Bankrupt Next
Stansberry Research

Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
He is despisedand rejectedby men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteemHim.
Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemedHim stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisementfor our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheephave gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressedand He was afflicted,

Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheepbefore its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressionsofMy people He was stricken.
And they made His grave with the wicked–
But with the rich at His death,
BecauseHe had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth. [Isaiah53:1-9 NKJ]
Could any paradox be greater?
View all Sermons
The Paradoxes OfChristmas Series
Contributed by Chuck Sligh on Nov 30, 2015
(rate this sermon)

| 3,020 views
Scripture: Colossians 2:9
Denomination: Baptist
Summary: The Christmas story is filled with the paradoxes. This sermon
examines four of them, and closes withthe greatestparadoxof all, that Christ
would come to earth, live a sinless life and die for our sins, and people would
still rejectChrist.
1 2 3 4
Next
The Paradoxes ofChristmas
Chuck Sligh
November 29, 2015
A PowerPointpresentationof this sermon is available by emailing me at
chucksligh@hotmail.com.
This sermon is basedon D. Greg Ebie’s sermon “Christmas Paradox” found
on SermonCentral.com.
TEXT: Colossians 2:9 – “Forin him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily.”
INTRODUCTION
Reading:“The Nativity”
As helpless as He was He deserved more privacy. Yet they gatheredand
stared, not completelyunderstanding what they saw—justthat they had to
see….

Mary was tired and sore and a little sick. But she had heard the heralding
angeland knew they would come, that they had to come to see this small life
that had been holy conceivedinside her. She did what she could to tidy the
dusty stall, putting fresh hay in the manger and carefully wrapping the Child.
There was no more time to be done. She smiled bravely, trying to look her
best, trying to collecther thoughts, and slow her racing heart.
Josephstoodbeside his beloved young wife, uncertain how to act, how to
stand. He was a father, yet not a father. He was proud of his brave Mary, and
awedby this birth. Just moments before she had been wrackedby the
shrieking pains of labor. And above her screams andsobs, he could have
swornhe heard singing. Voices sweetlike only voices of angels couldbe.
Then the Child’s first grasping cries crashing againstthe impinging darkness.
He wasn’t sure he would ever understand what was taking place, and not sure
he wanted to. Shifting his weight, he stoodsilent, his brow creasedin thought
watching the gathering people . . .
The shepherds, gesturing from stallto sky, begantalking in quick excited
words about what they had seenand heard in the hills. How night turned to
noon, and of angelchoirs and the Child found just as was promised, small,
red, and wrinkled, sleeping next to cattle and chickens…
It was all too amazing. Yet He lay quietly dozing, having just been fed, not
totally unaware of the world, but not more so than any other newborn. He
deservedmore privacy. But they would never leave Him alone. Always they
would come to Him, time after time, to adore and obey, or to mock and kill, as
the paradox of Christmas beganburning in their hearts.
—Source:Stephen R. Clark (PentecostalEvangel;December25, 1994)
Christmas is a paradox; or more precisely, a series of paradoxes. The
Christmas story is filled with the unexpected—the unimaginable. And Christ
was born amidst these paradoxes. Fora few moments let’s think about the
paradoxes of Christmas.
I. FIRST, CONSIDER WITHME THE PARADOX OF THE PRESENTS

Isn’t it amazing that as we celebrate Jesus’birthday you and I are the ones
who getall the presents?
If we aren’t careful, Christmas day canquickly come and go and all we think
about are our gifts insteadof pausing to remember JESUS—the REAL gift of
Christmas.
Video Illustration of the Week
Get weeklyvideos including full access to all illustrations, sermons, and
church media.
Free With PRO →
Christmas is not about PRESENTS;Christmas is about Christ’s
PRESENCE—His presencewith us on this earth, one of the most remarkable
and unlikely truths in history.
His presence with us on this earth is one of the most remarkable and unlikely
truths in history.
John 3:16 says, “ForGod so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoeverbelievethin him should not perish, but have everlasting
life.”
Jesus didn’t come into the world to receive presents from us but to GIVE!
Jesus is the greatestgiftof all. Jesus is “Emmanuel,” which means “Godwith
us.” Christ’s presence is worth far more than the value of all our presents
combined.
This theme is one of the most powerful ones that resonates atChristmas
perhaps like at no other time of the year. The song, “I’ll Be Home for
Christmas” is so relatable to us because atChristmas a gift would be great
from someone we love, but to have the PRESENCEOF THE GIVER is all the
more wonderful.
There’s a country song that talks about all the gifts the kids want from Mom
for Christmas, though she is awayfrom them at Christmas. The chorus goes
like this:

Just put a ribbon in your hair, darlin’
You’ll be the best gift anywhere
Christmas Mornin’
There’s no worldly treasure
I’d like any better, than you standin’ there
Just put a ribbon in your hair
The presence ofthe giver is always more important than the gift. Christmas is
about God’s PRESENCEwith us on earth in the form of a man.
II. NEXT, THINK ABOUT THE PARADOX OF THE PLACE – Isaiah9:6-7
– “Forunto us a child is born, unto us a sonis given: and the government
shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7
Of the increase ofhis government and peace there shall be no end, upon the
throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with
judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the
LORD of hosts will perform this.”
Where should this greatruler be born? What place would YOU choose forthe
coming of the Prince of Peace?Godchose the place to be some unimportant,
obscure village called Bethlehem.
One time a little 12-year-oldboy wrote a letter to God which said this: “Dear
God. Was there anything specialabout Bethlehem, or did you just figure that
that was as gooda place as any to start a franchise? —Yourfriend, Kyle.”
Not only did God choose anobscure village for the Christ Child to be born in,
but He chose an unknown, nondescript stable or cave—wedon’t really even
know for sure which it was. The only thing the Bible does tell us is that Mary
laid Jesus in a “manger,” which was a common feeding trough for animals.
Jesus—the King of kings and Lord of lords—¿Shouldn’t He have been born in
a better place? Shouldn’t Jesus have had fine linens and fragrant perfumes

instead of torn strips of cloth and the smell of animals? Shouldn’t He have
been laid in an ivory and gold crib, tuckedunder sheets ofsilk and satin?
Yet into such humble, meagersurroundings Jesus welcomedthe shepherds
and He welcomes us all. None are too great; no one is too small or
insignificant.
Jesus came to a place where ANYONE willing to come could find Him.
III. THIRD, CONSIDERTHE PARADOX OF THE PINE
For many, their Christmas celebrationcenters around the Christmas tree. An
evergreenpine, whether real or an artificial tree, is decoratedwith lights and
all that glitters. But within Christ’s nativity there was no decoratedpine; no
twinkling lights; no ornaments or garlands.
church media.
Free With PRO →
The first Christmas tree would not be placed into its stand for another 33
years after his birth. Well, it really wasn’ta tree actually, but two beams of
woodlashed togetherto become the cruelestpunishment imaginable for that
One who had been born in Bethlehem, and the most likely tree for Christ’s
cross in Jerusalemin 33 AD would have been a pine. That first “Christmas
tree” had no ornaments, but from its branches our Saviorwas nailed. The
first Christmas tree did not sparkle;rather it was stained with His blood.
1 Peter2:24 says that Jesus “…himselfbore our sins in his own body on the
tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness:by whose
stripes ye were healed.”
Bethlehem’s Child was BORN TO DIE! Through the cross, Jesus took the
penalty for our sins and He died in our place. And because ofHis death on the
cross, we canhave eternal life, forgiveness ofsins, and a personalrelationship
with the living God.

The celebrationof Christ’s birth at Christmas is forever linked to His death
and resurrectionwhich we remember eachEasterseason. The OBSCURITY
of His birth would have been lostforever were it not for the PURPOSE ofHis
life. We celebrate more than a Child’s birth; we rejoice in the coming of God’s
one and only Son—bornto die in our place.
IV. FINALLY, THINK WITH ME ABOUT THE PARADOX OF THE
PERSON
There in Bethlehem’s stable Jesus was born as the Son of MAN—and yet He
is also the Son of GOD. This infant child receiving nourishment at Mary’s
breast(the most human activity you could conceive), this baby, totally
dependant upon His parents for care and protectionlike any other child—was
also the CREATOR of the world and through Whom the world and all of
creationwas and is SUSTAINED.
As all babies do, Mary’s little child would be heard crying—trying to
communicate His needs with His parents, causing Mary to wonder, “Is he
hungry? Is he tired? does he need to be changed?” justas any mother would
wonder. Yet Jesus is the WORD of God made flesh. The One who spoke the
entire universe into existence would, as all children, have to learn to speak.
Amazing!
Jesus was like every other child in His humanness because he WAS human—
yet He was also in every respectlike God—because He WAS divine. The Child
who grew in stature like any other human child—is also the Omnipotent God
Almighty. Jesus grew in knowledge onearth—but was and is at the same time
the Omniscient All-knowing God.
Jesus is “Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.” He is God incarnate—God
in the FLESH. Jesus is the GOD-MAN—fully God and fully man. These are
all PARDOXES WITHIN PARADOXES which we can never fully
comprehend.
Yet the Bible is clear – Our text says, “Forin him [that is, Jesus]dwells all the
fullness of the Godheadbodily.” You and I can no more understand it than an

ant canunderstand a Shakespeareanplay. But it is TRUTH—revealedto us in
God’s Word.
CONCLUSION
So those are some of the paradoxes of Christmas.
Christmas is a wonderful time of year, yet full of paradoxes.
Now, view any sermon on a single page with PRO
Enter your church name and email addess to begin, plus getupdates & offers
from SermonCentral.com. PrivacyPolicy.
• The paradox of the PRESENTS—Christmasisn’t about presents we give
and receive in this season, but the gift of CHRIST’S PRESENCEonearth.
• The paradox of the PLACE—Jesuscanbe found by all who seek Him.
• The paradox of the PINE—AChristmas tree should ever remind us that
Jesus was born to die on a cross so that we can be savedfrom sin and have a
relationship with God.
• The paradox of the PERSON—Jesus is fully God and fully man.
And oh, what a God-man He was!This little Babe changedthe course of
history! Take awayChrist, and what do you have at Christmas time?
Illus. – The story’s told about a man who toured Europe and complained
about everything he saw. The cathedrals were musty and dim, the castleswere
drafty, damp and badly in need of repair, in his opinion. Finally, his tour
group reachedSwitzerland, and as they stoodon a ledge that gave them a
spectacularview of the Alps, the man’s companion said, “Now, youcan’t
complain about Switzerland, can you?” The man lookedaround and replied,
“Hmph! Take awaythe sceneryand what you do have?”
Folks, atChristmas we have some pretty scenery, don’t we? We see splendid
displays of lights; trees beautifully decoratedwith all kinds of ornaments and
lights; tables spreadwith all kinds of mouth-watering food; and expensive

gifts wrapped in colorful paper and ribbons. But take awayall this “scenery”
and what do you have?—There is nothing unless JESUS CHRIST is behind it
all!
Now let me close with the biggestparadox of all: That Christ would come to
earth to live among us, that He would live a sinless life and die on a cross for
our sins, and that He would make the gift of salvation available to anyone who
would receive Him—and yet there are those who would not receive Him—who
would turn Him away, as we imagine the innkeeper did in the Christmas
story. This is the greatestparadoxthere is.
Hebrews 2:3 says, “How shall we escape, ifwe neglectso greatsalvation;
which at the first beganto be spokenby the Lord, and was confirmed unto us
by them that heard him.”
How we love Jesus’comforting words in John 3:16 – “ForGod so loved the
world, that he gave his only begottenSon, that whosoeverbelievethin him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.” How comforting to know that
God loves us so much that He sent His sonto die for our sins and by trusting
in Him as our Savior, we canhave everlasting life. If you will trust in Christ,
you canclaim that wonderful promise.
But one of the fundamental rules of proper interpretation of Scripture is to
never isolate a verse from its context. Yes, Jesus talks of love and everlasting
life and all that goodstuff, but it’s attached with a condition—that you believe
in Him as your Savior, and a warning if you turn Him away.
church media.
Free With PRO →
Look what he says in verses 17-18:“ForGod sentnot his Soninto the world to
condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He
that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is

condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only
begottenSon of God.”
And at the end of the chapter, Jesus says this: John 3:36 – “He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Sonshall not see
life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Jesus lays out a very clearchoice:Believe on Him and be saved and have
everlasting life; or turn from Him and refuse to trust in Him, and you will die
in condemnation and will not have everlasting life, but face God’s wrath in the
judgment.
Will you choose life, and by doing so, choose Jesus who loves you so much that
He died for you? Paul told the Philippian jailor, “Believe onthe Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved.” My heart’s prayer is that you do that today.
The Jesus Paradox
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM
Jesus:Human and Divine
The Jesus Paradox
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
If we are humble and honest, Christians must acknowledge thatmost of our
churches and leaders have not consistentlyread the Gospels in a
contemplative way or with “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). Without
contemplative consciousness,we severelylimit the Holy Spirit’s capacityfor
inspiration and guidance. We had arguments to win, logic to uphold, and
denominational distinctions to maintain, after all. Without the contemplative
mind, humans—even Christians—revelin dualisms and do not understand
the dynamic unity betweenseeming opposites. The Jesus Paradox(i.e., Jesus

being at once God and human) was meant to teachand exemplify this union.
[1] The separate selffears and denies paradoxes—whichis to deny our own
self, which is always filled with seeming contradictions.
“Unless the single grain of wheat dies” we see everything as a mirror of our
separate and small selves, rather than whole. As Jesus put it, we “will not
yield a rich harvest” (John 12:24). We are unable to comprehend that Christ
is our wholeness (see1 Corinthians 1:30)—setforth for all to imagine, trust,
imitate, and comprehend. He is the Exemplar of ReconciledHumanity, the
Stand-In for all of us. At this wondrous level, Christianity is hardly a separate
religion but simply an organic and hopeful messageaboutthe nature of
Reality.
I believe the world—and the Westin particular—is experiencing a rapid
evolution of consciousness inrecent centuries. Only in the past few decades
have WesternChristians even had the capacityto think nondually! While
mystics throughout history have recognizedthe powerof Christ to overcome
dualisms, dichotomies, and divisions, many Christians are just now realizing
what this means. As Augustine said, we are being offered something “forever
ancient and forevernew.” It is revolutionary because it is so traditional and
yet so hidden. This traditional teaching can still create a revolution of mind
and heart—and history itself.
As Amos Smith writes: “My core truth about Jesus isn’t rooted in mainstream
Christian tradition. It’s rootedin Jesus’essence. It’s about the deep stillness
of silent prayer and a theologybig enoughto give that blessedstillness
words.” [1]
Jesus has always been so much bigger than our ideas about him, our readiness
to surrender to him, and our ability to love and allow what he clearly loves
and allows in creation. He is the microcosmof the macrocosm. He is the Great
Coincidence ofOpposites as St. Bonaventure taught. Only the Jesus Paradox
gives us the permission and freedom to finally and fully love the paradox that
everything already and always will be. https://cac.org/the-jesus-paradox-2019-
01-29/

THE JESUS PARADOX
Derrick Gillespie
Theology
348 Views
Download
Bulk Download(22 Papers)
Save to Library
Share

8
means it is more than the one same book in nature; it’s just
two distinct specimens ofthe very
same species
, or class, orfamily. Likewise, Jesusbeing God in nature like the Father, does
not
“two Gods” make;simply
two persons of the one divine nature
, the one divine specie, the one
divine family, who are operating togetherto be the one same thing, but to the
glory of God the
Father! The Fatherremains the one true God; the original prototype of all
divinity!! That truth
remains undisturbed and forever settledin heaven!!
Thus
Sir Isaac Newtonstands debunked forever, and all others like him who
subscribe to his

puny appeal to logic!! Isaiah 52:15 will forever stand as a witness to the
paradox that is Jesus!
THE PARADOX OF JESUS BEING THE CREATOR
Hebrews 2:17 makes it plain that Jesus was “MADE”
in all things to be like his brethren, i.e. he (through
the ultimate miracle) became in all things like us humans, who are basically
CREATURES!!How then can
Jesus be properly deemed the Creator, as the Fatherhimself testified in Heb.
1:10-12, and as Paul
describedHim in Col. 1:16, 17, if he is numbered among human creatures?
Herein lies another paradox!
As already learnt, in the reality of Jesus (an originally divine being)
miraculously becoming human, it
therefore meant thereafterthat all the seemingly impossible realities are
accomplishedliterally and
vicariously in/through him. Thus anything and everything DIRECTLY
accomplishedin the human Jesus is
credited to the Father, just as if he himself accomplishedit. Thus it was not
just the human Jesus that
was to be deemed to be the Savior, or the divine SacrificialLamb that died,
but AMAZINGLY the Father is
vicariously
depicted as the same
through
Him (2 Cor. 5:19 and Acts 20:28 explains this mind-blowing

truth). Thus the other truth of Jesus being originally the Creatorand
Sustainerinvolves the same
principle, because we are not just seeing Jesus being the Creator, but the
Father is deemed to be the
same
in/through
Him (Acts 17:24-26)becauseit was Jesus who initially did it on his behalf
(Heb. 1:2,3).
Thus ultimat
ely the human ‘creature’we know to be the human Jesus was originallyour
Creatoron
behalf of the Father!! No wonder the savedof earth will all recognize the
equal role of both Father and
Son as they lift their voices in praise and worship to both (Rev. 7:9, 10).
Hallelujah to the Lamb, to the
glory of God the Father!!
THE PARADOX OF JESUS BEING KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF
LORDS
The Fatheris deemed
the only
Potentate (i.e. Supreme ruler) as King of kings and Lord of lords, and he is
also
deemed “King
eternal
” in 1 Tim. 6:14

-16 and 1 Tim. 1: 17. This is a foundational truth seenin
Exodus 15:18 and Ps. 145:13. Yet, lo and behold, not only is Jesus
also
calledKing of kings and Lord of
lords in Rev. 17:14 and Rev. 19:16 (indicating that
the same nature of supreme ruler-ship is inherent in
Jesus
), but
Jesus’
dominion is likewise deemedan
everlasting
rule/dominion
that will never end
, as
seenin Dan. 7:13, 14, and as finally pictured in Rev. 22:1. It cannot be denied
that Jesus is not only
pictured on the one Throne of universal dominion with the Father in Rev.
3:21, but he pictures himself
as ALREADY “g
i
ven”
all
powerin Matt. 28:18, and hence ALREADY rules above all dominions in the
entire

universe (i.e. both
on earth
,
in heaven
, and
anywhere and everywhere
). This truth is made plain in
9
Ephesians 1:20-22. But some question,
“
how can this be
?”
if the Father is deemed the
only
Potentate
(i.e. supreme Ruler), and is the King
eternal
….an indication that
he will
never
take a vacationfrom being

such? Here again the mind blowing paradox in the life of Jesus stops the
mouth of kings (Is. 52:15). But
the explanation is so simple
…
once the big picture in the whole Bible is lookedat.
When a king has a son it means that his
son is ‘heir apparent’ to the throne. This means that this ‘heir
apparent’ has all rights to the throne, all rights to the supreme titles of the
king, and all rights to the
entire kingdom of the king; not as a favor, but as A NATURAL RIGHT (!!).
Now, if Jesus is the only TRUE
Son of the Father
“from everlasting” (John 3:16;Micah 5:2; Prov. 30:4)
, if Jesus
is Heir to “all things”
(Heb. 1:2), and if he depicts himself as owing ALL that his Father owns in
John 16:15, then the truth of
Jesus being also deemed the same as the Fatherbecomes easyto see. Notall
kings wait until they die
to pass on all they own (i.e. all titles, their throne, and their entire kingdom) to
their
‘heir apparent’,
and it certainly is not unknown among men for some kings to rule co-jointly
with their sons, and so

why should this reality be deemed impractical with Jesus and the Father who
will both live eternally?
The fact is that it is not only true that
all
royal offices and titles of the Father Jesus is supreme Heir to,
and hence he has
NATURAL RIGHT
to their functions, but it is also true that God the Father, in his
supreme unselfishness and supreme demonstrationof love (1 John 4:16), has
already decided to SHARE
all
these with his Son (Col. 1:19; Col. 2:9), evenas he operates
through
Him as both Judge (John 5:23),
and King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev. 17:14). In fact, even as the
Executorof final punishments (Rev.
19:15)and as Giver of all rewards (Rev. 22:12) it is Jesus who operates on
behalf of the Father, since he
has all natural rights to these prerogatives as supreme Heir. Thus everything
that the Father is to us
from beginning to end
, he has allowedJesus to be the same to us in a family oneness and unity that

many fail to understand. That
’s
why Jesus is also called“Alpha and Omega” or
“
the
first and last”
(Rev.
2:8), just as his Father is.
What many people fail to understand is that
the Fathersees his Son so one with Himself that even
when he
’
s presentedas the one King over the earth, and one King over the rest of the
universe (since
they are two different things), yet he shares this function in oneness with his
own Son, even into
eternity future!!
Rev. 22:1, 3; Rev.3:21.
This is the ultimate demonstration of true love and family unity
that many cannot understand, and which could only be ultimately
demonstrated by the God himself, the

Author of true love!! If God used the human family of love on earth to be a
faint demonstration of the
nature of Original Family, then how do we expectthat God and His Son
would not be the best and
original picture of unselfish love, of supreme cooperation, ofsupreme
recognitionof equality of nature
among like beings; even while there is a reciprocationofloving leadership
from the divine Father, and
an equal loving submission of the Son of like nature; One who is naturally (by
natural Heir-ship) allowed
to rule alongside the Father without ever trying to usurp his ultimate
Headship. Selfish human thought,
and misguided teachers, picture the Father as operating in isolationand
independence (with he not
needing anyone), but the ultimate Author of love depicts himself in another
way; i.e. always operating in
an atmosphere of love,
‘team’
cooperation, reciprocation, and he needing his Son (His personalWord),
and His Son needing him. That’s love!! And it is this original blueprint that
was imaged in Man, and it will
never
be otherwise.
Now because
Jesus became man and remains human even today
(despite resurrectedwith a glorified

body) he therefore
still
(since becoming man) has the Father as His
“
God
”
, as the secondAdam, and
as
10
our continued Model of a true human worshipper
(Heb. 2:11, 12). That’s why today he is still the
human
Mediator(1 Tim. 2:5), why he will receive a kingdom before he returns as
“o
ne like the sonof
man”
(Dan. 7:13, 14), why he returns as
a man
(Phill. 3:20, 21; Matt. 24:30)

. That’s why too
, when he
ceremoniallyturns overthe
earthly (!!)
kingdom to the Father at “the end” (1 Cor. 15:24
-28; Zech. 14:9),
he will still be
the second
Adam or “Christ”
handing it over, with the Father still as His
“
God
”
. And yet
notice that
Daniel 7:13, 14 shows Jesus will still have a
“kingdom” and “ruler
-
ship”
THAT WILL NEVER
END (!!), just like the wider scope ofreign of the MostHigh in Daniel7:27!!

So will Jesus give up a
kingdom at “the end”?
As the Messiah, certainly!! Confusing? No!! Many fail to remember that the
earth is not the universe (just a speck in it), and the universe is not the earth.
It is earth ALONE that
was lost, that became the lost domain to Satan, and where death reigns!Jesus
UNIVERSAL reign goes
way beyond the earth. But as the secondAdam, his role of restoring the
previously losthuman
kingdom on earth (and the earthly throne of David, his Jewishancestor)
demands that he models this
human behavior too; of ceremoniallysurrendering and subjecting all earthly
dominion to the Father
(Zech. 14:9). This is all part of the plan of redemption. Thus 1 Cor. 15:24-28 is
a shift in focus from the
Messiah’s role of earth’s restorationt
o the eternaland unbroken rule of divinity, as centered in the
Father!!
Remember, “
Redemption
” is not just
about lost humans, but about the lost earthly domain as
well! And BOTH of these Jesus became human to save and restore to His
Father!

This reality, however, does not deny
Jesus’
divinity, and it never will, since
as divine co-ruler on the
throne of the *WHOLE UNIVERSE, of innumerable galaxies, solarsystems,
worlds, etc. (Rev. 3:21; Rev.
22:1), and not just ruling over the redeemedearth with the saints, it is this
natural right of his to rule
the whole universe that will never end!! Dan. 7:14. By no stretch of the
imagination could earth be the
only place Jesus is allowedto rule as supernatural and universal Heir of the
universal Father. But earth
is only what he is pictured as returning ceremonially to the Father, since it
was only earth that had the
Enemies of the Fatherheadquartered, that had death reigning, and which had
the human Jesus
operating on behalf of Man to rescue their lost domain (as Gen. 1:26-28, Ps.
8:4-8 and Heb. 2:5-10
shows). This is what Jesus restores as the human Messiahand human Son,
and then ceremonially
hands over this
‘
lost kingdom
’
to the Head of divinity (the Father), with whom he will remain subject

to as Man, yet one with in DIVINE and eternal co-ruler-ship
as “the Word of God” or “the Logos” (Rev.
19:11-16). Thus this is why Rev. 22:1 pictures him into the eternal future
STILL on the throne of
universal dominion with his Father! Why? Because his super
natural right as the royal “Heir of all
things”
in the UNIVERSE, and not just on earth (Heb. 1:2, 3), cannot be reversed.
And he STILL
occupying the throne in Rev. 22:1, 3, into the eternal future, shows precisely
what Daniel 7:14 makes
plain; his divine UNIVERSAL dominion will be EVERLASTING, in union
with that of His divine
Father’s
!
Yet he will foreverstill Model
for
his brethren, even in Paradise on earth, full human subjection to the
Father as His
“
God
”
.

NOWHERE IN THE ENTIRE BIBLE BEFORE JESUSBECOMING MAN
IS IT SHOWN
JESUS CALLING THE FATHER HIS GOD;ONLY AFTER.
Again, this is all part of the plan of redemption. No
wonder the Bible makes it plain that “greatis the mystery (i.e. the revealed
truth) of godliness”.Pride is
the “mystery of iniquity” (as unfolded in the life of prideful Lucifer who, as a
lesserbeing in nature,
wanted to be equal with Godboth in nature and headship
or status
). In the meanwhile, the amazing
humbleness on the part of the divine Jesus (one equal with the Father
in nature
) is indeed the greatest
evidence of the “mystery of godliness” playing out itself in his very life, from
everlasting to everlasting.
No wonder Paul invites all to “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ
Jesus” (Phill. 2:4
-8), in that
despite you may have certain equal rights because ofyour nature, yet you can
humbly surrender them,
take a lowerplace of
status
and servitude and give up yourself completely, for the greatergoodof

others. This is preciselywhy the Fathercontinues to allow him to be given
divine equal place alongside
himself, even as Jesus continues to exhibit divine humility. Paradox of
paradoxes!And yet it simply the
unadulterated truth of God’s Word!
I say Amen.
GreatestParadox
joebabatunde (25)
in life • 2 years ago
The greatestparadoxis Jesus Christ.
I will attempt to prove this with few points.
Everyone needs Him but not everyone wants Him.
Everyone loves life but not everyone knows that life itself is Jesus Christ.
Everyone will at a point wish that death be conquered yet the personwho
made it a reality is the one many don't want to hear about, I'm of course
talking of Jesus Christ.
When everyone will love to live a goodlife, Jesus Christ bids all to come and
die. He died to live foreverlaying a foundation that those who must live must
die.
Jesus Christ was condemnedto death on the cross for claiming He's God, yet
those who don't believe Him will be condemned to eternal death.

There are other paradoxes about Jesus Christ and from His teachings that
make Him an embodiment of paradoxes. You are free to add more.
life live god christianity quotes
2 years ago by joebabatunde (25)
Christus Paradox
lawsonjohn1by1leaders /11/21/2013
Christus Paradox
GoodMorning Friends,
By definition, a true paradox is a statementor proposition that seems self-
contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a truth. A paradox isn’t a
puzzle to be solved. A paradox isn’t a contradiction that asserts its own
opposite. A paradox is a mystery into which we cango deeperand deeper.
This coming Sunday is Christ the King Sunday and as part of it we will be
singing a song that describes, in a way, the mystery of how Christ rules from
the cross. It was written by a 36 year old woman back in 1991 two years
before she died of cancer. The lyrics are included below and I ask that you
read through them more than once. Skimming them just will not do them
justice. The name of the anthem is Christus Paradox.
Scripture: May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his
glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience,
while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in
the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescuedus from the powerof
darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we
have redemption, the forgiveness ofsins.
Colossians 1:11-14 (NRSV)

When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus
there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said,
“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they
castlots to divide his clothing. And the people stoodby, watching; but the
leaders scoffedat him, saying, “He savedothers; let him save himself if he is
the MessiahofGod, his chosenone!” The soldiers also mockedhim, coming
up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews,
save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of
the Jews.”
Luke 23:33-38 (NRSV)
“I am the goodshepherd. The goodshepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
John 10:11 (NRSV)
Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse!Its rider is called
Faithful and True, and in righteousnesshe judges and makes war. His eyes
are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name
inscribed that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in
blood, and his name is calledThe Word of God. And the armies of heaven,
wearing fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From
his mouth comes a sharp swordwith which to strike down the nations, and he
will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the
wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name
inscribed, “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
Revelation19:11-16 (NRSV)
Message:Let’s do a little review here on the paradoxes in the Bible. Nothing is
something. Christ is exalted through humility… we discoverstrength in
weakness…. in giving we receive… we find freedom through servitude…
gaining by losing…living by dying…finding by losing. But perhaps the
greatestmystery and paradox of all is Jesus. He does perk our curiosity and
wonder of how is it that the Bible canclaim that Jesus is both God and the son
of God; sheep and shepherd, prince and slave, peacemakerandsword
bringer, and the everlasting instant? To speak of the Paradoxes ofChrist is to

disclose the very center of that which is the objectof our faith. Paradoxes of
Christ callus to look past the shallowness ofman and see the life and
crucifixion of Christ and the hope of His return from God’s perspective.
Christ both small and large was never superficial. Christ is “the everlasting
instant.” Jesus was here, like we are, for a brief moment but he is also ever
present. As our mind reaches outin these multiplicity of approximations it
gives our faith an amazing richness and elasticity. There is power in the
paradox.
Pray we realize that the event of the cross demonstrates God’s powerto rule
as both a King and as a servant. Pray we experience the assurance offaith
even if it is to draw us deeper into the mystery. Pray we taste and smell the
essenceofour faith by discovering that we are nothing without Jesus. Praywe
realize that paradoxes are like batteries to recharge our spirit…that without
both poles there is no charge. Praywe realize that without the sense of
paradox, we end up missing the delight and the disturbance of the gospel.
Pray we rejoice in the wisdom of knowing what we do not know.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Christus Paradox
You, Lord, are both Lamb and Shepherd.
You, Lord, are both prince and slave.
You, peacemakerandswordbringer.
Of the way you took and gave,
You, the everlasting instant;
You whom we both scornand crave.
Clothed in light upon the mountain,
Stripped of might upon the cross,
Shining in eternal glory,

beggar’dby a soldier’s toss,
You, the everlasting instant,
You who are both gift and cost.
You, who walk eachday beside us,
Sit in powerat God’s side.
You, who preach a way that’s narrow,
have a love that reaches wide.
You who are our pilgrim guide.
Worthy is our earthly Jesus!
Worthy is our cosmic Christ!
Worthy your defeatand victory.
Worthy still your peace and strife.
You who are our death and life.
Alleluia!
Alleluia!
Alleluia- you who are our death and our life.
Christus Paradox, by Sylvia Dunstan
The GreatestParadoxThe GreatestParadox

Especiallyfor those of us who come from godly families, there are few things
more familiar to us than the notion that Jesus, the Son of God, came to earth
to live as a man. Gospelpreachers proclaim this from the pulpit every week,
and most in the congregationscarcelyblink. However, once we begin to think
about this familiar conceptand what it truly means, its strangeness emerges.
Even though we are made in the image of God, He is not like us. His ways are
not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. He is a being entirely of
spirit, and He does not suffer from the unhappy dualism that our flesh
imposes on us. He is everywhere, He knows everything, and He can do
whateverHe pleases. He fears nothing, He cannot be tempted, and He is able
to survey the endless possibilities of eternity with the same ease with which we
survey the view from our front steps. He is perfectly loving, perfectly good,
and perfectly worthy of our worship, but He is very alien. For Godto become
man is every bit as strange a transformation as if one of us were to become a
hydrangea. The mind balks at imagining how such a thing could even be.
And yet, what we would declare impossible is preciselywhat happened. The
fullness of deity was somehow crammed into bodily form, and His name was
Jesus. Somehow, Jesuswas like Godand like us at the same time. This made
Him different from any man before or since, and more than any other gospel,
the gospelofJohn captures that difference. Johntakes pains to revealthe
humanity of Jesus: weeping at the tomb of Lazarus, getting bossedaround by
His mother at the wedding feast, being discounted by His brothers.
However, John spends even more time emphasizing that this apparently
ordinary man, a man who wouldn’t have attracteda secondglance from His
countrymen, is unimaginably different than those around Him. He is the
Creatorof heaven and earth, and nothing exists apart from Him. He is able to
create banquets from next to nothing, to heal the blind, and even to raise the
dead. He teaches with such authority and powerthat He canpersuade even

His enemies, and one day, all who are in the tombs will hear His voice. Today,
we must come to grips with this paradoxicalportrait of our Redeemer, and
the better we understand it, the better we will be able to follow Him. We must
learn how our lives must change because the Word became flesh.
About the Author About the Author
M. W. Bassfordpreaches forthe church in Joliet, IL, where he lives with his
wife, Lauren, his daughter, Zoë, and his son, Mark.
The Paradoxof Jesus the King
Luke 23:32-43 and Colossians1:11-22
Where do we expect to find a king? In a palace. Ona throne. Maybe on TV.
Jesus is our king. Where do we find him? Well, in our Gospeltext this
morning, as he enters into the glory of his Kingdom, we find him in a pretty
unlikely place.
Jesus is at Golgotha, the place of the skull. We don’t know exactly where it
was. Bible scholars suggestone of two different sites, but honestly we don’t
know. All we know is that it was outside the city walls of Jerusalem, and it
was along a well traveled road. We know it was along a road because that’s
how Rome did crucifixions. Theywere more than just executions;they were
public warnings. “Youcause trouble for Rome, and this will happen to you.”
He is being crucified with two criminals. We often hear them calledthieves,
but Rome didn’t crucify thieves. They were most likely revolutionaries or
highway robbers.
The Romans expecteda condemned man on the cross to beg forgiveness for
his sins. But we know Jesus is innocent. By Old TestamentLaw, if you made
false accusationsagainst a man, like the religious leaders did to Jesus, then

you were supposedto suffer the fate you intended for him. Instead, we find
Jesus begging forgivenessfor his tormentors.
The crowd mocks him, “If he claimed to save others, let him save himself!”
The irony, of course, is that it is preciselyby not saving himself that Jesus is
saving others.
The Romans put a sign with the charge againsthim, called a TITULUS,
above his head reading “King of the Jews.” Pontius Pilate probably meant
that to be a mockery of the Jewishpeople. He despisedthem. It was common
in the ancient NearEastworld that a vanquished king would be executed
publicly, after being humiliated. But the irony here is that Jesus is not
vanquished. He is victorious. And he is not dying nearly so much as he is
entering into the glory of his Kingdom.
One of the condemned criminals joins in the mocking of Jesus. But the other
does something remarkable. He pleads with Jesus, “Rememberme when you
come into your Kingdom.” In truth, that is the only plea any of us as sinful
human beings can make with Jesus. Whatmakes it remarkable are the
circumstances. He is able to see something in Jesus that no one else can see
right now. The religious leaders see a heretic. The Romans see a
troublemaker. The crowds see a big disappointment. “We were hoping he
might be the Messiah, but obviously, he is nothing.” But this condemned man
sees a king ascending to his
throne, a Savior who candeliver him, not from a cross, but from his sins.
What amazing faith he had! Few people are able to see greatness in the midst
of humility, but he did.
Jesus answershim, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” Paradise,in
first century Jewishculture, was the place of the righteous dead. It is the
place where righteous souls go to wait for the day of the resurrection. It was
the opposite of Gehenna or Hades, the place of the wickeddead.
Who is Jesus that he could make such an incredible claim, that he could
deliver a condemned criminal to paradise? Colossianschapter1 might be the
most profound answerin the New Testamentto that question. I think it’s

probably the most exalted description of who Jesus is and what he has done in
Scripture.
I think it’s important for us to understand the backdropagainstwhich
Colossians was written. Colossians wasone of the later letters of Paul, and by
the time it was written, the Church was already struggling with a heresy
calledGnosticism. Gnosticismwas a “religious philosophy” that originated in
Greek culture and had existedfor some time before Christ. Gnostics had a
habit of co-opting other religions and philosophies and re-interpreting them
as “Gnostic myths.” And that happened with Christianity very early on in
Church history. And the same basic thing continues to happen. The gospel
messagehas been re-interpreted a number of times to mean something other
than what God intended.
The basic premise of Gnosticismis that everything physical, everything
material is evil. But God, who is pure spirit, is good. God, being good, could
not have createdthe evil material world around us. Instead, God sent out a
series ofemanations. Eachemanation was farther from God, and so eachone
lost some of the nature and essenceofGod. Eachemanationbecame less like
God, and thus, less good. The world as we know it was createdby an evil god
in one of those emanations farthest from God.
But all throughout these emanations, there are little sparks of the divine, little
pieces of God, so to say. And inside eachone of us, there is a spark of the
divine. But that spark is imprisoned in a body of evil flesh. Salvationin
Gnosticismconsists ofrising through all these various emanations to return to
God. But to get through eachemanation, we need to have a secret, special
knowledge. This is the origin of the word Gnostic, which means
“enlightened.” In Gnosticism, not everyone could be saved. Only the
intellectuals, only those capable of grasping deep, secretknowledgecouldever
be saved.
In Gnostic thought, Jesus was not God. He was a spiritual being from one of
these emanations closestto God who came to us to teachus this secret
knowledge. And Jesus was not human. He was not even a physical being. He
couldn’t be, since everything physical is evil. They believed in what was called

docetism, which meant that Jesus only appearedto be human. He didn’t
really have a body. And therefore, of course, he didn’t really die on the cross.
He simply rose back up to God and someone else was crucifiedin his place,
Judas they said.
This was the first heresythe Church had to contend with. And when the
Church is confronted with heresy, it has to be able to articulate the truth
clearly. That may be the origin of Paul’s words in Colossians 1. Some
scholars think verses 15-20 are from an early Christian hymn. Hymns were
some of the first confessions offaith. If you think about the teachings of
Gnosticism, you can see how they are counteredhere.
“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.” The Greek word is EIKON,
meaning exactrepresentationor visible manifestation. Christ shows us
exactly what God is like because he is God. He is not some lowerspirit or
angel.
“He existed before creation. He is the firstborn over all creation.” The title
firstborn is one of the highest honor.
“He is the one through whom all things were made, both the visible and
invisible. Everything was createdby him, for him, and he holds all of creation
together.” He is the sustainerof creation.
“Christ is the head of the Church.” Head means both source of and authority
over. The Church comes from Christ, and he is the Lord of the Church.
“He is the first of the resurrectionand first in everything. For God in all his
fullness was pleasedto dwell in Christ. And through him, God reconciled
everything to himself.” Even us, who were once enemies of Godbecause of
our sin. Sin distorts our thinking and changes ourperception of God. So we
can’t possibly save ourselves. We needhelp from outside ourselves, and
Christ is our help. Only Christ can restore us to friendship with God.
Through Christ, we share in the inheritance of God’s people. The word
inheritance was used in the Old Testamentto refer especiallyto the Promised
Land. In the New Testament, it usually refers to the New Heavens and New
Earth.

“Forhe has rescuedus from the kingdom of darkness and brought us into the
Kingdom of his Son.” This is important. But we have to understand another
conceptfrom the ancientNearEasternworld to graspit fully. In the ancient
NearEast, it was common that when an empire conquereda kingdom, they
would exchange people. They would take many of the residents of the
vanquished kingdom and bring them back to their territory. Then they would
move some of their people into the vanquished kingdom. This was intended to
prevent that kingdom from rising up in rebellion againstthe empire. We see
it in the Old Testamentin the Babylonian Exile. They took some of the people
of Judah back to Babylon and moved in their own people.
But here the idea is used in connectionto a rescue. In the Old Testament,
God rescuedhis people out of Egypt in the Exodus and transferredthem into
the PromisedLand. Now, in Christ, God has rescuedus from sin and death
by the cross and transferred us into his Kingdom of light.
But not completely. Not yet. We’re still here. Jesus is a paradox. He is the
greatestofall kings, and yet we find him in the lowestpossible place:
suffering and dying on the cross. And Jesus createsa paradox in our lives:
We are citizens of the Kingdom of God, but we live in the world. We’re still
here, for now.
This is both a privilege and a challenge. The privilege is that we have the
opportunity to show the love and goodnessofGod to a world that desperately
needs to see love and goodness. Butthe challenge is that we are living in
betweentwo kingdoms. We don’t have luxury of that dying criminal on the
cross! He went to paradise that day! We have to muddle through for the rest
of our lives asking how we live as children of light in the darkness ofa fallen
world. And it’s not easy. But that’s our task. We are citizens of the Kingdom
of God, but we have to live in “Babylon” until Christ, our King, returns.
http://www.sewardunitedmethodist.com/TheParadoxofJesustheKing
Isaiah53:7 - The Lamb Slain

He was oppressed, and He was afflicted
yet He opened not His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheepthat before its shearers is silent,
so He opened not His mouth.
In this verse, the lamb-like qualities of the Saviorare emphasized as His
sufferings are further explained. The primary lamb-like quality to which our
attention is drawn is silence. The explored aspectof His suffering is its
essentialinjustice.
The Nature of Christ's Suffering: Injustice
Our Lord was oppressedas men--His own creation--placedHim under their
authority and exercisedtheir false judgments againstHim. He was afflicted
and humbled as He willingly subjectedHimself to this treatment. At the same
time, He receivedfrom the Fatherall of the wrath and condemnationthat
should have been borne by sinners, and submitted Himself to the will of the
Father. Man's judgment againstHim--as He stood innocently before human
rulers--was unrighteous, untrue, and hateful. God's judgment againstHim as
He stood in our place was righteous, accurate, andan actof infinite mercy.
The comparisonto a lamb that is led to slaughterbrings our attention to the
nature of His death: a sacrificialoffering lovingly made on behalf of guilty
sinners.

Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us,
a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Jesus'death and suffering was "forus" and it was "to God." And this is what
Christian love always is: sacrificial(i.e. unselfish) actionthat is done FOR
OTHERS (to benefit them) and TO GOD (to honor Him). The cross ofJesus
radiates this love in full power, and our lives of faith--sharing in the sufferings
of Christ as well as His resurrectionpower--canradiate it, too. We are
commanded to WALK in this love. Steps of sacrifice, steps ofmercy, steps of
worship, steps of joy. "Offering and sacrifice"are the language of worship.
Jesus'worshipof the Father was further expressedin His response to the
oppressionand affliction He experienced.
Christ's Response to His Sufferings: Silence
Jesus'use of words was perfect. His selectionof verbiage was precise. He
knew when to keepsilent, when to utter a few efficient words, and when to
unleash a torrent of speech. We usually hold these matters in reverse
proportion, remaining sinfully silent when we should speak, and babbling
incessantlywhen we should hold our tongues. Jesus'silence before his
accusersand His quiet acceptance ofsuffering remind us that He went
willingly to the place of sacrifice.
The silence predicted by Isaiah was demonstratedby the Lord when He was
questioned by the High Priest:

Matthew 26:62-63a And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no
answerto make? What is it that these men testify againstyou?” But Jesus
remained silent.
Mark 14:60-61a And the high priest stoodup in the midst and askedJesus,
“Have you no answerto make? Whatis it that these men testify againstyou?”
But he remained silent and made no answer.
Silence in the face of false accusations,injustice, and suffering is a dauntingly
difficult discipline to master(or to practice from time to time, or even to
achieve once). Jesus'masteryof this discipline is evident.
Nevertheless,He did not remain entirely silent and later answeredin wisdom
and truth, thereby ensuring a false condemnation. His silence had merely set
the stage forthe answerthat would follow, building the sense ofanticipation
and drawing attention and emphasis to His final reply. In this way, He
assuredHis owncondemnation while securing our release from divine wrath.
He acceptedman's false judgments againstHim and He embraced the
Father's true judgments that were rendered for us. He willingly chose to be
condemned and graciouslychose to die in our place.
Matthew 26:63b-66 And the high priest saidto him, “I adjure you by the
living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus saidto him,
“You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Sonof Man
seatedat the right hand of Powerand coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then
the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What
further witnessesdo we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is
your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.”

Even from the cross, His statements are few and deliberate. As He dies, Jesus'
words are life-giving. How much more as He now lives and sits exaltedin the
heavens!
Dearfriend, do you trust in Jesus'sacrificeonyour behalf? Do you hang on
His words? Do you confess a confident and sure trust in the One who suffered
and remained silent, then spoke deliberatelyand acceptedthe sentence of
death--only to rise againin victory?
There are many problems in the world today. The GospelofJesus Christ is
the only answerto the greatestofthem. And it is the only answerto your
greatestproblem, and mine: sin againsta wise, holy, and loving God, and the
condemnation it brings. With this problem resolvedforever, you and I go free,
and we are setfree to walk in God's holy love.
Postedby THEOparadoxat 10:11 PM
https://theoparadox.blogspot.com/2019/08/isaiah-537-lamb-slain.html
“The Greatest” Paradox
Postedon May 22, 2012
I recently read an article on leadership and the need for godly ambition.
While it stated some things that I didn’t totally agree with (that it’s okayto be
seenas arrogantif it’s coupled with ambition) I would agree that we as
Christ-followers needto be ambitious in our faith. Notonly do we need to put
in work to grow in our faith so that we do not become stagnantChristians, but
Christ has given his followers a task to fulfill, to ‘go and make disciples’
(Matthew 28:19-20).

So what does “godly ambition” look like? My wife and I have four children
and our youngest, Kelly, who is two now, is at the stage where she constantly
follows people around copying what they do. Mostoften you’ll find her
following her older brother who is three doing everything he does, whether
it’s talking, jumping, or climbing the kitchen cabinets. She wants to be just
like her big brother. But how often do we as Christians find ourselves doing
the same thing with Jesus? Ithink I’m safe in guessing not as often as we
should.
Following Christ is not exactlyan easything to do. If it were easy, everyone
would be doing it. But God’s Word teaches that in order to be like him we
must deny ourselves, that we must think of others first, that we should even
carry others’ burdens, and that just doesn’t come naturally for any of us.
Americans, or humans for that matter, have a huge inferiority complex. We
don’t like being consideredas someone’s servant. Eventhree of the four
gospels recordstories ofthe twelve disciples arguing about which one of them
was the greatest. Mark evenplaces the story after the Lord’s Supper just
moments before Jesus was arrested. So here are twelve men who have spent a
little over three years with Jesus. They’ve walkedwith him, listened to his
teaching, witnessedfirsthand the many miracles, watchedhow he interacted
with people, and they still didn’t get it! But Jesus said, “If anyone wants to be
first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mark 9:35). Being the
greatestmeans being the least.
So look at your home, your workplace, evenyour church. Who are the
“greatest” among you according to God’s standards? How many people do
you know who put others aheadof themselves? Are you one of those people?
As a pastor I’ve learned that many people will easilygive a complaint, few are
willing to give a solution. If you are a followerof Christ the places you live,
work, and worship should be better places because youare there. If there’s a
problem you should find a way to be part of the remedy. The presence of God
living in and through you should improve the people and situations around
you as you learn to put others ahead of yourself just as Christ did. It’s a
paradox that’s hard to grasp, but as we look to God’s Word for how to live I
hope we’ll begin to see lives transformed.

http://www.cedarpointchurch.org/blog/2012/05/22/the-greatest-paradox/
The GreatestParadoxofAll
Guestpost by Grant Castleberry
Miracle birth and a manger scene
The paradox of a humble king
He came down to bring us up
So we would know the Father’s love
The Paradoxof the Incarnation
Christ’s birth is an incredible juxtaposition of miraculous royalty and humble
obscurity.
On the one hand, he is the long awaitedMessiah, who is coming to usher in his
kingdom and sovereignrule over the nations (Psalm2). On the other hand, he
is the suffering servant coming to lay down his life for his people (Isaiah 53).
In one respect, his birth is ushered in in the way you would expect it to be—
with incredible miracles and splendor. There is the appearance of Gabrielto
Mary announcing the virgin birth of the Savior (Luke 1:26), the appearance
of an angelto Josephboth to announce to him Mary’s miracle child (Matt
1:20-21)and then later to flee to Egypt from Herod (Matt 2:13), the
miraculous star bringing the wise magi from the eastto Bethlehem (Matt 2:1-
12), the angels appearing to the shepherds in the pasture announcing Christ’s
birth (Luke 2:8-15), and the miraculous conceptionitself (Luke 1:34-35).
But then there is the humble woman, Mary, from the obscure, unimportant
town of Galilee (Luke 1:26). Not exactly the obvious choice to be the bearer
and mother of the Son of God. There is the virgin birth in a stable, because

Mary and Josephhad been rejectedfrom the inn (Luke 1:7). There is the
Lord Jesus himself, laid in an animal feeding trough (Luke 1:7), and the poor
shepherds, who were the first human onlookers ofthe king of the universe
(Luke 2:16-20).
Miracles and obscurity. Wise men and shepherds. The line of David coming to
fulfillment with a carpenter.
He Came Downto Bring Us Up
But it had to be this way. Christ came to rule and establishhis kingdom (Matt
3:2). But he also came to give his life as a ransom for many (Matt 20:28). He
first had to be the suffering servant before he could be the reigning king in
glory. The wayof the kingdom was through an atoning death. The victory
over Satanwas first shrouded in dramatic defeat.
For, the way to bring about the kingdom was the way down. The way through
the cross. Because itwas only in taking on our humanity, living under and
fulfilling the law perfectly, and then laying his life down as a perfect
substitute, that he could secure the kingdom. In was only through his
righteousness thathe might obtain a people for his own glory.
And to do all of this, he had to take on flesh. Human flesh. Our flesh.
Becausehe had to accomplishwhat Adam didn’t and what every single
human after him couldn’t: a perfect righteousnessbefore God(2 Cor 5:21).
Then, and only then, could he usher us into the presence ofGod.
Conclusion
I once heard Bryan Chappell tell a story about a tribe in Africa. They had a
well in the middle of their village, and a man had fallen down into it and
injured himself. Severalhad tried to bring the man up, but the attempts had
all been unsuccessful. Finally, the chief of the village came. He put on grungy
garments and descendedinto the muddy depths of the well. Finally, he
emerged, muddied and soiled, but with the injured man in his arms.

In a small sense, thatis exactly what Christ did for us. He descendedto where
we are. He took on our flesh. Lived in our humanity and fulfilled the law. Died
for our sins. All to bring us up to where he is out of our miserable state.
I once heard Douglas Kelly say that the incarnation is the greatestmiracle of
all of Christ’s earthly ministry. And I think he’s right. Becauseit meant that
God had takenon our flesh, so that we could know him.
And that is the most wondrous paradox of all.
Previous Posts in this Series:
GoodNews and Merry Promises
The Glories Angels Tell
Grant serves as the Executive Directorfor CBMW. He is also a PhD student
in Historical Theologyatthe Southern Baptist TheologicalSeminary. He is a
Captain in the Marine Corps. He holds a B.S. from Texas A&M and an M.Div
from The Southern Baptist TheologicalSeminaryand his wife, GraceAnna,
reside in Louisville, Kentucky with their two daughters.
GoodFriday Homily No. 2 The Paradoxof Divine Foolishness
THE GOOD FRIDAY-2019:THE PARADOX OF DIVINE FOOLISHNESS
(L/19)
Anecdote: If Jesus were here today he would be “wanted” by: The Liquor
Licensing Board for turning water into wine without a license;the Australian
MedicalAssociationforpracticing medicine without a license; the Health
Department for feeding 5,000 people in the open with none of the servers
wearing hairnets or gloves;the EducationDepartment for teaching without a
certificate;the Water Police for walking on waterwithout a life jacket;the
RSPCAfor driving a herd of pigs into the sea;the Australian Boardof

Psychiatrists for giving free advice on living a guilt-free life; the Women’s
Liberation Movementfor not choosing a woman disciple; the Inter-Faith
Movement for condemning all other religions. Jesus has always been
controversial – even when He was walking this planet. His life was a paradox
to his contemporaries.
Introduction: We Christians believe in a setof paradoxes and ironies. We
believe that God had to become man to save man from the bondage of sin and
eternal damnation. We believe that He did so because Godloved man so much
(John 3:16). We also believe that the bestoption for God to express His love
for man was through the suffering and death of His Son. On GoodFriday we
remember the irony of how mortal men killed an immortal God.
Paradoxically, the main accusationleveledagainstGodby His own “Chosen
People” was blasphemy – God Incarnate Jesus claimedthat He was God. We
believe that Christ’s passionand death in a remote corner of the world has
universal salvific effecton the entire human race. (“But he was wounded for
our transgressions,crushedfor our iniquities; upon him was the punishment
that made us whole” (Isaiah 53:5). “Godhas shown us how much he loves
us—it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us! … We were
God’s enemies, but He made us his friends through the death of his Son.”
(Romans 5:8,10). According to St. Paul these paradoxes form the core of
God’s ‘Foolishness.’The Christian theologyof a suffering God faces a real
challenge in a Christian country where we have Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists,
the Jews andother religious groups claiming their ownways of salvation.
To die for the sins of all mankind knowing that man would never stop sinning
is a crazy act of a fool. So, in a sense, GoodFriday is “Fool’s Day.” Youand I
as Christians are indeed FOOLS for Christ. “We are FOOLS for Christ’s
sake,”(I Cor. 4:10) The Cross was “a scandalto the Jews andas folly to the
Greeks”, SaintPaul tells us in his epistle (I Cor. 1:23). Fora Divine Personto
leave Heaven, come to earth, take on a human nature, and most of all to
willingly die for the sins of mankind is FOOLISH in the eyes of the world. The
Romans and the Jewishleaders thought Jesus a Foolto ask people to “love
your enemies” (Mt 5:44), to “turn the other cheek”(Mt5:39), and to “forgive
those who wrong you”(Mt 11:25). Throughout history, the followers ofChrist

Jesus was the greatest paradox

Jesus was the greatest paradox

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Jesus was the greatest paradox

Similar to Jesus was the greatest paradox (7)

More from GLENN PEASE

More from GLENN PEASE (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Jesus was the greatest paradox