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UNC Psych Visit!
A UNC grad tells his psychiatrist, "Doctor, I feel like a pair of curtains." The shrink replies, "Come now, pull yourself together." #ProfHowdy Google: T3H7P12H (Images & Videos Also)
A UNC student goes into a restaurant and notices there's a "peel and win" sticker on her coffee cup. So she peels it off and starts screaming, "I've won a motorhome! I've won a motorhome!"
The waitress says, "That's impossible. The biggest prize is a free lunch."
But the student keeps on screaming, "I've won a motorhome! I've won a motorhome!"
Finally, the manager comes over and says, "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but you're mistaken. You couldn't have possibly won a motorhome because we didn't have that as a prize!"
The UNC student says, "No, it's not a mistake. I've won a motorhome!" And she hands the ticket to the manager and HE reads .
When considering the Christian message, it is important to remember that the disciples of Jesus were totally surprised by the events that took place in Jerusalem. After the crucifixion of Jesus, the apostles rightfully believed that all was lost.
Though some have argued that the disciples merely refused to accept failure after Jesus’s death and made up the story of the resurrection, a crucified and risen Messiah simply did not fit into Jewish expectations for the One who was to come. Though there was no single understanding of what the Messiah would be like, there were common elements that every Jew would have assumed within their messianic expectations.
First, the Messiah was closely linked to Jewish beliefs regarding the place of worship. He was to institute a renewal of the temple in Jerusalem. It was also commonly understood that the Messiah would be a royal military leader who would overthrow Israel’s enemies and prove his lordship through conquest. Jesus clearly did neither of these things; rather, he came in peace and died in his youth like a criminal. Why, then, would his followers maintain that he was the Messiah? Why did they not just cut their losses after his death and move on?
New Testament scholar N.T. Wright explains:
“There were, to be sure, ways of coping with the death of a teacher, or even a leader. The picture of Socrates was available, in the wider world, as a model of unjust death nobly borne. The category of ‘martyr’ was available, within Judaism, for someone who stood up to pagans... The category of failed but still revered Messiah, however, did not exist. A Messiah who died at the hands of the pagans, instead of winning [God’s] battle against them, was a deceiver... Why then did people go on talking about Jesus of Nazareth, except as a remarkable but tragic memory? The obvious answer is that... Jesus was raised from the dead.”(1)
In this light of resurrection, the disciples had to go through a massive renewal of their thinking. Seeing the once-dead Jesus now standing before their eyes brought them to what was a radical new way of understanding the Messiah. Of course, this is in addition to the radical suspension of the well understood laws of nature with which they also had to grapple. Despite the quick dismissal from modernity, no mind is so primitive so as to believe all is usual when bodies rise from the dead.
The events of Holy Week remain similarly radical today. On the day that Jesus rose from the dead, he spoke of himself saying, “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:26). As if resurrection were not hard enough to grasp, it is vastly difficult to see how there could be glory in suffering. Yet it is not hard to see that the death of Christ carries with it the force of something much more. The glory of the suffering Messiah lies in the magnitude of the love he showed on the Cross.
It was this very point that Jesus’s disciples missed until his resurrection, and it is a point that many are still missing today. The Messiah’s glory was not shown through his power, though it easily could have been, nor was it shown in status or position. Instead, it was shown in his suffering and his love, which remains a far-reaching, albeit stymieing, gift to the world. He may not have been the Messiah all had hoped for, but he is indeed the Messiah of great hope.
Stuart McAllister is vice president of training and special projects at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.
(1) N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996), 658.
In today’s Just Thinking broadcast, Ravi wraps up his look at the centrality of Christ and makes three final points to balance the four we’ve heard so far. We invite you to join us for this insightful presentation. Click here to listen:http://www.rzim.org/USA/Resources/Listen/JustThinking.aspx
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A UNC student goes into a restaurant and notices
ReplyDeletethere's a "peel and win" sticker on her coffee cup.
So she peels it off and starts screaming, "I've won
a motorhome! I've won a motorhome!"
The waitress says, "That's impossible. The biggest
prize is a free lunch."
But the student keeps on screaming, "I've won a
motorhome! I've won a motorhome!"
Finally, the manager comes over and says, "Ma'am,
I'm sorry, but you're mistaken. You couldn't have
possibly won a motorhome because we didn't have
that as a prize!"
The UNC student says, "No, it's not a mistake. I've
won a motorhome!" And she hands the ticket to the
manager and HE reads .
"W I N. A. B A G E L"
The Messiah We Hope For
ReplyDeleteWhen considering the Christian message, it is important to remember that the disciples of Jesus were totally surprised by the events that took place in Jerusalem. After the crucifixion of Jesus, the apostles rightfully believed that all was lost.
Though some have argued that the disciples merely refused to accept failure after Jesus’s death and made up the story of the resurrection, a crucified and risen Messiah simply did not fit into Jewish expectations for the One who was to come. Though there was no single understanding of what the Messiah would be like, there were common elements that every Jew would have assumed within their messianic expectations.
First, the Messiah was closely linked to Jewish beliefs regarding the place of worship. He was to institute a renewal of the temple in Jerusalem. It was also commonly understood that the Messiah would be a royal military leader who would overthrow Israel’s enemies and prove his lordship through
conquest. Jesus clearly did neither of these things; rather, he came in peace and died in his youth like a criminal. Why, then, would his followers maintain that he was the Messiah? Why did they not just cut their losses after his death and move on?
New Testament scholar N.T. Wright explains:
“There were, to be sure, ways of coping with the death of a teacher, or even a leader. The picture of Socrates was available, in the wider world, as a model of unjust death nobly borne. The category of ‘martyr’ was available, within Judaism, for someone who stood up to pagans... The category of failed but still revered Messiah, however, did not exist. A Messiah who died at the hands of the pagans, instead of winning [God’s] battle against them, was a deceiver... Why then did people go on talking about Jesus of Nazareth, except as a remarkable but tragic memory? The obvious answer is that... Jesus was raised from the dead.”(1)
In this light of resurrection, the disciples had to go
through a massive renewal of their thinking. Seeing the once-dead Jesus now standing before their eyes brought them to what was a radical new way of understanding the Messiah. Of course, this is in addition to the radical suspension of the well understood laws of nature with which they also had to grapple. Despite the quick dismissal from modernity, no mind is so primitive so as to believe all is usual when bodies rise from the dead.
The events of Holy Week remain similarly radical today. On the day that Jesus rose from the dead, he spoke of himself saying, “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:26). As if resurrection were not hard enough to grasp, it is vastly difficult to see how there could be glory in suffering. Yet it is not hard to see that the death of Christ carries with it the force of something much more. The glory of the suffering Messiah lies in the magnitude of the love he showed on the Cross.
It was this
very point that Jesus’s disciples missed until his resurrection, and it is a point that many are still missing today. The Messiah’s glory was not shown through his power, though it easily could have been, nor was it shown in status or position. Instead, it was shown in his suffering and his love, which remains a far-reaching, albeit stymieing, gift to the world. He may not have been the Messiah all had hoped for, but he is indeed the Messiah of great hope.
Stuart McAllister is vice president of training and special projects at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.
(1) N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996), 658.
In today’s Just Thinking broadcast, Ravi wraps up his look at the centrality of Christ and makes three final points to balance the four we’ve heard so far. We invite you to join us for this insightful presentation. Click here to listen:http://www.rzim.org/USA/Resources/Listen/JustThinking.aspx
For I know the plans I have
ReplyDeletefor you, says the LORD.
They are plans for good
and not for disaster,
to give you a future and
a hope. - Jeremiah 29:11