Book Review: Jesus and The Gospels by Craig Blomberg

This is an excellent starting point for understanding Jesus Christ and the times that surrounded Him. The text delves into the all aspects of Christology without going so deep as to alienate a new believer striving to understand their Savior. From the publishers website I quote: 
In my own critique I would say that this is an excellent conservative work of scholarship by Craig Blomberg. It is broken down into five comprehenive sections that include:

• Part One: Historical Background for Studying the Gospels
• Part Two: Critical Methods for Studying the Gospel
• Part Three: Introduction to the Four Gospels
• Part Four: A Survey of the Life of Christ
• Part Five: Historical and Theological Syntheses

These sections help digest the breadth and scope of Christ's life and His times (including the Jewish background). This book aids in understanding the Gospels themselves collectively and individually. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone wishing to gain a deeper understanding of Jesus Christ and the players of the New Testament (and inter-testamental) world. What is truly great about this book is that you do not need to be a bible scholar to appreciate it. If there is a notable drawback in this book it is in Part Two: Critical Methods of Studying the Gospel concerning literary and historical criticism. It becomes a little dense and seems to bog down a tad in this area. Once you are through this portion things speed up again.

Rating: 95 out of 100

A sample chapter can be found here:
Part One: Historical Background for Studying the Gospels

"This second edition of Jesus and the Gospels prepares readers for an intensive study of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the events they narrate. Craig Blomberg considers the historical context of the Gospels and sheds light on the confusing interpretations brought forth over the last two centuries. The original 1997 book won a Gold Medallion Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, and this updated version, factoring in new scholarship, debate, critical methods, and the ongoing quest of the historical Jesus, ensures the work will remain a top tool for exploring the life of Christ through the first four books of the New Testament"

Intolerant II: Moral Relativism

You know them. They're the ones that refuse to admit to any absolute right or wrong. Everything is morally ambiguous to them. The moral relativist. To them tolerance is a virtue for all those that believe...well...they believe you should believe nothing. Their rules though do not apply to themselves. These folks believe that we as Christians should just let everybody be as they are, especially if they are "good" people (good in their opinion, because in their universe you as a Christian are not allowed a judgement on what is good or bad).

The truth is that regardless of how open-minded moral relativists claim to be or appear, there are plenty of things they will not tolerate. The first and foremost thing they will not tolerate is Christianity and Christians. They are intolerant tolerant people. A true system of no right and wrong (but only in their own mind). If you are a Christian they only tolerate you if you keep your mouth shut and agree with their opinion, otherwise your a target for their criticism or attacks. If you do not think like them...you will not be tolerated.

Nor do they see their intolerance of you as a Christian as being hypocritical as they feel they are doing society a favor by tearing you down and putting you in your place.  They hate you for your beliefs and that fact that you "cram" them down their throats....funny, I thought I was just talking to them. You know, communicating like others humans do. I guess we're not human to them?

There are no foundations in the moral relativist's life that are based in unchanging standards of wrong and right. For a Christian, living by this distorted philosophy is not possible. You either believe their is an absolute unchanging standard of right and wrong which for a Christian is the Bible or you do not. You cannot hold both opinions simultaneously, they are by their nature contradictory and violate the Law of Non-Contradiction. As the Bible clearly says:

Isaiah 5:20:
^"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil"

Isaiah 5:24:
Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble and dry grass collapses into the flame, so their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust; for they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

In the moral relativists point-of-view everyone is a victim. A victim of their parents, society, abuse, you name it...your a victim. Your parents didn't pay you enough attention. Your parents paid you too much attention. They didn't pay the right kind of attention (even though a MR would never acknowledge that a "right" attention exists). It is a way to defer blame from one's self and not take accountability for one's actions. We see this everywhere in society. It is pervasive. It has utterly overburden and already overtaxed legal system in the United States with frivolous lawsuits (even though a MR would never acknowledge that any lawsuit concerning a victim was frivolous). Lawsuits that demand and absolute ruling concerning a person that does not believe in right our wrong.

Are you beginning to sense the lunacy of this worldview?

Moral relativism by its nature was non-traditional and at the time of its inception...rebellious and appealing to non-conformist types. As a fad it is now tending to run its course. I am beginning to see that the Millennial Generation those that have come of age after 2000 are of an absolute bend. They want absolutes. They want to see right and wrongs defined. The "so-called" rebellious tolerant types are now beginning to become passe. I guess they aren't/weren't as "cutting edge" as they thought they were. As a matter of fact, they and their ilk (like the Emergent Church) are a fad for sure...and old one. Of course it is being replaced by things that are just as vitriolic and aggressive towards the faith of the Bible. The venom from this quarter never stops, it just changes forms. It is not that they don't like religion, its just that they want you to pick a more pluralistic or flexible one. A tolerant and inclusive one like the eastern religions (Buddhism,which really isn't tolerant or inclusive...do your history).

Moral Relativists...they believe all is fair....for them, not for you. There is no absolute standard of morality. They believe having total freedom to do whatever you want is the surest way to be as happy as you possibly could be. Have you ever seen an addict do as many drugs as he wants? He usually ends up dead. If not dead, he ends up strung out, broke and miserable. Sure sounds like pure joy, huh?

As a Christian our orthodoxy and doctrine makes us exclusivist. Jesus was clear what is expected of us as believers if we expect eternal life. Christianity is not one of a multitude of ways to reach God...it is the only way. To disbelieve in Jesus Christ and His ministry, Crucifixion and Resurrection is to bail on and dismiss Christianity altogether. There is no middle ground. Not intolerant...definitive. Sure beats the ambiguities of the other religions.

John 14:6
"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me"

I could go on ad nauseum about these poor deluded folks but you get the idea. But then again, if you're a moral relativist perhaps you don't get the idea do you? Your ideology is not willing to let your mind go there will it? It won't let your mind go to a place when linear and sound thought is possible because your minds have been seared by faulty reasonings and sin. As Paul Newman once said in Cool Hand Luke, "Gotta get my mind right, right boss?" Until people begin to square their thought processes with rational thinking and sound reasoning like that expounded upon in the Bible, there will continue to be what we have had in the past "failure to communicate". Please start with John 3:16, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 or Matthew 1:1 but at least start somewhere and stop trying to pass off emotion as reason and doing things solely because you "feel" they are right and "you think" they are right. Do your homework. Please morally ground your thought processes instead of ideologically/politically and stop being so intellectually arrogant. So arrogent that you refuse to consider other possibilities outside a morally ambivalent world. A world that isn't truly ambivalent and tolerant because the truth is, as a rule of thumb, they hate Christianity. It is the one thing they are not relativistic about or tolerant about. I would venture to say that the reason they are so pluralistic is because Christianity is not. I would even be bold enough to say that the reason why moral relativists are so tolerant of everything else is because the things they are being tolerant of are not Christianity.

Gotta get your mind right with the Boss.

_

Behind Closed Doors

Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. ~John 20:19

His healing hands that blessed,

caressed,

are torn beyond all balm

and we could see

by the wound in His side

that He was no different from any man...

Were baptism sight and sound,

mountaintop experience,

vast hillside picnics

tempest stillings

only hallucinations?

and what about the answers

to "Who do you say that I am?"

the claims to "raise this temple

and in three days..."

or "I and the Father are one"?

Certainly those were only hyperbole.

"Follow Me," He said.

But those footsteps on Galilean dust

only lead to a cross at the place of the skull

but yet...

even now in modern day...

Minor Prophets XCVII: Living Water

In Zechariah 14 we see the phrase, "on that day" occur a load of times. What is its significance?

(7x) “In that day” [KJV]: After the nations are punished and Israel has been purified the Lord will establish His righteous kingdom on the throne of David. The Lord will be King over all the earth and there will be one Lord. It is the day on which the Lord will reign over all the earth. If the Lord is reigning over all the earth then the Kingdom of God has come.

I will briefly summarize Zechariah 14:1-21. The deliverance of Jerusalem from the nations. In the day of the Lord Jerusalem will be sacked. We see allusion here to the coming millennial kingdom also. The plunder referred to is the plunder taken from Jerusalem by the Gentile nations “in their midst” or “among you” within the city itself. The conquerors appear as if they will be brazen. Jerusalem will be sieged by all the nations. This appears to be the Battle of Armageddon. Before the peoples of Judah and Jerusalem will be empowered for victory and before the Lord destroys the Gentile armies, the Gentiles will at first appear to gain a small but fleeting victory in Jerusalem. Half of the population will be left in the city or the Lord will destroy the enemies before their job is half done. The Lord will go out and fight against the nations. The king will go out to battle for His people. The Messiah will stand on the Mt of Olives physically which is the very place from which He ascended. There will be an earthquake that will split the Mount of Olives in two forming a valley. When the Lord returns he will be accompanied by angels.

The Messianic Kingdom will be established. It will be a unique day without day or night which appears to be celestial darkness accompanying the Lord’s return. Regardless, the Return will be accompanied by unparalleled natural phenomena. ”Living Water” will spring from Jerusalem dividing its waters between the Dead Sea (eastern sea) and the Mediterranean Sea (western sea). This new source of abundant water will produce fertility throughout the land. The Lord will not only reign as the King of Israel but the entire world. Idolatry will be removed from the land. The whole land of Judah will be leveled to a flat plain like Arabah, the low plain below Mt. Hermon to the Jordan River. This change will make Jerusalem more prominent and pronounced compared to its surroundings. It will be the capital city of the Great King. The King that has returned.

There is then what appears to be a flashback. The nations that fought with Jerusalem (Gentile) and surround Jerusalem will be destroyed. There will be a divine plague on both man and beast. There will be panic sent from the Lord and then plunder taken from the Gentile armies. Some of this plunder will probably be the plunder they are reclaiming as their own having just been plundered themselves.

After Jerusalem has been secured and the Messiah’s reign begun, there will be worship of the Messiah-King by all surviving nations. The survivors from the nations will not be Jewish since they will have already been re-gathered. These survivors will probably be non-military personnel of the nation’s whose armies have been destroyed by the Messiah. They will enter the Kingdom as sheep. Just because they come to worship at Jerusalem doesn’t mean they will be Jewish. The millennial worship will be a newly instituted worldwide order embracing Jews and Gentiles and will center on Jerusalem. Worship annually will be necessary for people to enjoy fertility of crops. Those that refuse will forfeit their water supply. For most this will be no rain. “In that day” holiness will characterize the life in the Millennium. Zechariah’s book which begins with calls to repentance concludes with all will be holy unto the Lord.

Lindsey, F. Duane. "The Return of The King ." The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition Of The Scriptures. Ed John Walvoord & Roy Zuck. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1985. 1490-1492. Print.

Minor Prophets XCVI: Strike the Shepherd and The Sheep Will Scatter

In Zechariah 13:1-6 we see a discussion about a particular type of prophet.

There is mention of the fact that idols and idolatry will be banished from the land. With this removal we will also see the false prophecies. The implication is that the false prophets will be gone too along with their supernatural evil origins of their bastardized prophecies. Instead of a Spirit of grace there will be a death penalty exacted on false prophets by their nearest of kin to remove them “from the land”. This pervasiveness of this judgment will scare the daylights out of false prophets and make them disavow all associations with their former “trade” or evil shenanigans. To avoid detection they will not wear the prescribed garments of a prophet. They will claim to be lifelong farmers. They will lie about the self-inflicted wounds from self-mutilation and self-flogging of idol worship. The provision of the True Shepherd (Christ) in contrast to these charlatans will be pronounced and the polar opposite.

Zechariah 13:7b we see a quote that we will see again in the New Testament.

The second portion of this verse (v.7b), “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones.” Is found in two places in the New Testament. Both are obviously in the Gospels. Both are accredited to Jesus.

Matthew 26:31- [ Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial ] Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: “‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
Mark 14:27- [ Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial ] “You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written: “‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’

In Jesus’ crucifixion Christ was beaten (struck) and His own disciples abandoned Him. As noted by the brackets included in both of these Gospel references, this statement is given in relation to Peter’s denial…he lied and he fled…or should I say scattered?

Minor Prophets XCV: They Will Look On the One They Have Pierced

We see a mood swing between Zechariah 12:1-9 and Zechariah 12:10-14.

Zechariah attempts to encourage God’s covenant people in v.1-9 by first contrasting or showing judgment with ultimate deliverance and blessing. “In that day…” is littered all over this introduction to chapter 12. The oracle focuses primarily on the siege of Jerusalem and the Messiah’s return to destroy or hammer Israel’s enemies thereby establishing His kingdom. This sets the stage for what remains in the book of Zechariah. This needs to be understood as physical deliverance that will happen.

When we move to the latter portions of this chapter we see a state of mourning or lament. We move now to a spiritual deliverance. We see Zechariah deliberately using duplicity with imagery to prove illustrate a picture of for the people and us as a reader of the oracle. Anthropomorphic language is used when the Lord promises a profusion of His Spirit on the covenant people. The recipients will be the royal leaders and people of Jerusalem. We then see that they will “look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son”. There will be sadness as they will not have realized their error.

In Zechariah 12:10 we see a famous verse from the Bible used here and in the New Testament.

John 19:37: “…and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”

Roman soldiers and Jewish believers were involved in the Lord’s burial. It was not uncommon for victims to linger and hold onto life for days. So the Jewish leaders did everything they could to expedite the death of Jesus and the two thieves. Of course it was really Jesus who was in control. He sent the Spirit away in the ninth hour. The Roman soldiers did not do as commanded which was break Jesus’ legs which would’ve sped up the dying process. Because of Passover. What they did do they did according to the will of God. They pierced the savior. In this way they actually fulfilled two prophecies. No bones were broken when Jesus was crucified and they pierced his side. It is at this point we must leap forward to what appears to be the second advent when God’s people, the Jews will look upon their Messiah and finally recognize Him for who He is. Their Messiah.

We see here in John that the person changes from the first person in Zechariah to the third person Him/One. This mourning will evidently not be because of what happened to Jesus as much as they will probably be convicted of their sin. As it will take the power of the Holy Spirit for them to “come around” the Spirit will more than likely convict them of their sin. The blood and water proved beyond a doubt Jesus’ humanity. He had died a human death. In the Zechariah application it is referred to as the nation’s action of piercing Him or “rejecting” Him.

This phase is also used in Revelations 1:7, “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him…”

Minor Prophets XCIV: The Shepherd-King Messiah II

When we reach Zechariah 11 we have a continued allusion to the Shepherd-King Messiah. We also have what appears to be an improper chapter division. Cardinal Hugo de Sancto Caro did this 1244 to 1248 A.D. He did this while creating a concordance of the Latin Vulgate, in order to help people look up verses of the Bible. But the typical modern chapter divisions were apparently devised by Stephen Langton, who was an Archbishop of Canterbury in England. He started to do this around 1227 A.D. The Wycliffe English Bible did use them, as it was circulated in 1382. They should've done a little bit better job of dividing the passage up as it is incongruent.

There is a dispute as to whether Zechariah 11:1-3 are the conclusion to chapter 10 or the introduction to chapter 11. Let's go look at it ourselves, shall we?
This poem in Scripture is fraught with theological and hermeneutic landmines if one is not careful on how it is explained or understood. It is not sure whether this is the conclusion to Chapter 10 or the intro to 11. It is dependent on the interpretation of the poem itself. Some understand this to be a taunt song describing the lament over the destruction of the nations’ power and arrogance in Chapter 10 represented by the cedar, pine and oak. Their kings are pictured as shepherds and lions (v.3). Understood in this context it is a conclusion to Chapter 10.

The other point of view using figurative language, interpret this piece more literally as a description of Syro-Palastine due to the rejection of the Messiah and the Good Shepherd (v.4-14) which would move this portion forward to be included as the introduction to Chapter 11. All things considered, because of the mention of Lebanon, Bashan and Jordan, the second explanation is preferable.

Regardless, we must understand that, although the Scripture was inspired. Verse numbering and chapter divisions are not and should be viewed as non-inspired, non-divine divisions in the text to help orient and aid man in the in their understanding of Scripture since they are limited and finite beings. This confusion in chapter division was caused by man not God.

We then see a mention of "two shepherds" in Zechariah 11:4-14 and 11:15-17.

This portion of Scripture is allegory. If we understand (v.1-3) to be calamity that befalls the people and this portion explains why. The people in (v.4-14) reject the Messianic Shepherd-King. This portion parallels the servant songs in Isaiah in that the they are rejected. This portion dramatizes that rejection of the Messianic Shepherd-King and it ends in their judgment. With the true Shepherd-King out of the picture a worthless one replaces Him in (v.15-17). God is going to raise up a shepherd who will not do what a shepherd should do. As a matter-of-fact, he will destroy the sheep.

Wiersbe, Warren W.. "Messiah Rejected By His People." The Bible exposition commentary . 1. print. ed. Colorado Springs, Colo.: Victor, 2001. 468-469. Print.

Minor Prophets XCIII: The Shepherd-King Messiah I

We hit Zechariah 10 running. It is repleat with mentions and allusions to Messiah. If we compare Zechariah 10:1-3 with Ezekiel 34's emphasis on "shepherds" we see a similarity Israel in the latter days will be like wandering sheep because their leaders will follow lies instead of God’s truth. There are references in this passage to idols that speak deceitfully (they don’t speak, people do), tell false dreams and give comfort in vain. The diviners are speaking lies, therefore the people are leader astray like sheep without a shepherd. The “shepherd” motif appears to be a royal motif whether it is referring to human or to the divine King. It is a metaphor in ANE culture as it is even mentioned in the Codes of Hammurabi. God will judge these corrupt unqualified leaders. Since the earthly leaders will not care for the flock, the Lord will.

We see the same type of metaphor or comparison in Ezekiel 34 as it is the idea that the LORD will Be Israel’s Shepherd. In Ezekiel the “Son of man” is called to “prophesy against the shepherds of Israel” because there too Ezekiel describes a nation with leaders that are putzes and connivers. “Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves” is a pretty clear statement to these lame “leaders”. There is a judgment of woe upon them.

In Zechariah 10:4 we see messianic references of assorted kinds: a cornerstone, a tent peg, a battle bow and a ruler. They are all references to Messiah. The cornerstone is the stone that is the foundation of all other stones that are aligned to it. The tent peg refers to the one on whom burdens are placed with confidence (so the tent doesn’t collapse). The battle bow is the symbol of the victorious warrior who never loses a battle. Every ruler since David came from the tribe of Judah.

Israel will be gathered from a present worldwide dispersion. God says He will signal for them. The term signal in Hebrew means to whistle or the reed pipe a shepherd uses to gather his flock. This is especially appropriate language to use considering the surrounding text and languages used referring to a Shepherd-King. This re-gathering will also include by redemption and they will multiply. They will remember God. God says He will bring them back. The mentions of Assyria and Egypt are analogous of countries of dispersion. Lebanon and Gilead are to indicate the most northern and eastern extent of their dispersion. God will remove any impediment to their return just as when He originally brought them through sea (Red) and dry land (Sinai).