Born of a Virgin?

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Born of a Virgin?

It seems that one of the most common doubts Christians have about the identity of Jesus is over his birth – was he really born of a virgin? This question has been a bone of contention for many years now, but hit the headlines again recently when a survey of five hundred Church of England clergy by the Sunday Telegraph revealed that twenty-seven percent did not believe in the virgin birth (Sunday Telegraph, 22nd December 2002). Does it really matter whether Jesus was born of a virgin or not? After all, as one of the clerics who took part in the survey said, ‘it was [Jesus’] adult life that was extraordinary.’

This article will look at our sources of information on Jesus’ birth, and will then look at what happens if you take away the virgin birth from the doctrines of Christianity.

Two Gospels tell of Jesus’ birth. Luke’s Gospel has more detail, and so we shall start there.

The first we hear of Jesus’ birth in Luke’s Gospel is in 1:31, when the angel Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her, ‘you will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.’ Mary is understandably quite confused, as she is a virgin, as she tells the angel, ‘How will this be… since I am a virgin?’ Gabriel tells her that ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you and overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.’

Matthew’s Gospel account of the birth of Jesus agrees exactly with that of Luke, although he provides less detail. Matthew tells us in 1:18 that, ‘This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.’ Right from the start, Matthew makes it clear that Jesus was born of God. He confirms this when he reports what Gabriel told Joseph – ‘do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit’ (Matthew 1:20). He then reports that, ‘All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” – which means, “God with us.”’ (Matthew 1:22-23). This quote is taken from the book of Isaiah, to which we shall return shortly.

The question of whether Jesus was born of a virgin, then, is simply not debateable on the basis of this evidence. Both Matthew and Luke make it absolutely clear that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth.

Most Christians take the Bible as their authority when it comes to their belief. We are right to do so, since 2 Timothy states that, “all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Yet, despite the fact that God is the source of the Bible, many feel perfectly at liberty to question this particular piece of Scripture. Why? It seems to me that people, when questioning the virgin birth, are questioning God’s ability to produce a child without humans performing a sexual act. Surely this is not outside the power of God, though, since he is the sovereign creator of the universe. He created everything, so why not one baby?!? He created human life in the first place. He created Adam from mud! To question this particular piece of scripture leaves the rest of the book, and indeed, the whole Bible, open to question. After all, if Matthew and Luke invented this particular story, their scripture obviously wasn’t “God-breathed,” which rips apart the statement made by Paul to Timothy mentioned above. And if Matthew and Luke, writing on their own, without God’s influence, chose to lie to us in this instance, how can we believe what they’ve said in the rest of their gospels? We might as well bin the whole lot. And without scripture, there is no Christian faith, so we might as well find something more worthwhile to do on our Sunday mornings, squander all our money, and give in to our evil human desires.

In addition to this, if you were writing the biography of, say, Tony Blair, and you couldn’t find anything out about his birth, would you really be likely to invent something as ridiculous as a virgin birth? After all, a virgin birth is totally unbelievable. No-one in their right mind would believe you, since it is a well-known fact that virgins do not give birth. Even in first century Palestine, people knew this. So if you were going to try and invent a story about Jesus’ origins, would you pick something as ridiculous a virgin birth, leaving your story open to mockery? I think not!

As mentioned previously, Matthew quotes from the book of Isaiah when he writes of the birth of Jesus. The verse, in context, reads, ‘Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”’ (Isaiah 7:13-14).

Isaiah is a very difficult book to read, and there is much debate regarding these particular verses. In fact, the Reverend Dr. Keith Archer, who took part in the Sunday Telegraph survey, stated that the virgin birth “is not particularly important because it is a debateable translation of a Hebrew prophecy which first appeared in Isaiah.”

I decided to seek out what other interpretations of this verse there are, and found the following suggestions in Gaebelein’s “Expositor’s Bible Commentary:”

The mother is royal, perhaps the queen, and so the child is a royal prince, perhaps Hezekiah;

The mother is Isaiah’s wife, and so the child is one of his sons;

The prophecy does not refer to a specific mother and child, but to mothers in Judah generally, who will give their offspring names symbolising hope in God;

The mother is the Virgin Mary and the child Jesus Christ;

The mother is a royal contemporary of the prophet, whose child’s name would symbolize the presence of God with his people and who would foreshadow the Messiah in whom God would be incarnate.

Grogan, who authored the section on Isaiah weighs up the evidence, and decides that suggestion five is the most likely – the passage refers to someone known by Isaiah, who was currently a virgin, but would not be when she gave birth, who would foreshadow the coming of Jesus.

The fact that Jesus was born of a virgin, therefore, is foretold in the Old Testament, in the same way as the coming of Jesus, and so many other aspects of his life were. To question the virgin birth is to question all of these prophecies. Since these prophecies, according to main-stream, Bible-believing Christians, come from God, as does the rest of the Bible, we once again find ourselves saying that the Bible cannot be trusted, which leads us to exactly the same position we found ourselves in when questioning the New Testament – preparing to throw our Bibles into the nearest bin, and declaring Christianity to be a load of nonsense.

The virgin birth is one of the central tenets of Christianity. Whilst it is sensible to question one’s faith, questioning the Bible, and its authority as the word of God, leads to problems which serve to undermine the whole of the Christian faith.

Maybe I’m naive, but if both the Old and New Testaments tell me that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus, I believe them. I don’t see the virgin birth as something which Christians can choose to accept or reject, but as a fundamental cornerstone of our faith.

Anger, Apathy or Adoration? How will you respond to Jesus this Christmas?

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Anger, Apathy or Adoration? How will you respond to Jesus this Christmas?

1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod,Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.“Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”

Matthew 2:1-18

Christmas presents us all with a great opportunity to think about our response to Jesus. For those of us who are Christians, it’s great to be able to refocus our thoughts and to consider how we stand with Christ. For those who do not know Jesus, it is an opportunity to consider anew the identity of Jesus.

Large numbers of people attend church over the Christmas period – last year over 2.6 million, compared with an average Sunday attendance of one million. That’s 1.6 million people who we, as Christians, can directly challenge with the Gospel. Add to this the countless millions of people with whom Christians have regular contact, and the number of people we can share the Gospel with at this time of year is staggering. Christmas presents us, the church, with an amazing opportunity to tell people about Jesus.

People who don’t normally go to church respond to the Christmas message in many ways. Most don’t even stop to give Jesus any thought – they sing the carols and listen to the readings in the same way they have for many years, but that’s as far as they go. Their attitude is “Christianity is not for me.”

This article looks at the reactions of different people in Matthew’s Gospel to the birth of Jesus. It is interesting to note the similarities to the way people can respond to Jesus in the twenty-first century. There is much we can learn concerning witnessing to non-Christians, and also about how we respond to Jesus ourselves.

The first reaction to comment on is that of King Herod when he hears the news of Jesus’ birth. When he hears of the birth of the king of the Jews, we learn that he reacts angrily to the news. We learn that he was initially “disturbed” by the news (verse three), and urges the Magi to report back to him when they find the Messiah, so that he “may go and worship him.” It is Herod’s reaction when the Magi fail to return that is most worrying, however – he “gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under” (verse 16). We know that Herod was a ruthless character, since he had already murdered many of his family, including his wife and his three sons. He clearly believed that Jesus, the “one born king of the Jews,” presented a considerable threat to his rule.

Whilst there are thankfully not an enormous number of murderers around today, there are many people who feel threatened by Jesus. Many people prefer to build their own kingdoms, and devote their lives to the pursuit of power and wealth, just as Herod did. Many people believe that to honour or accept Jesus is to restrict themselves to a poor and subservient life, which they are not willing to adopt. They would much rather place their trust in the here and now, their jobs, their homes and their money, rather than gambling it all away in the hope that Jesus might be speaking the truth.

The reaction of the chief priests and teachers of the law is perhaps surprising. They were intelligent men, who had devoted their lives to learning the scriptures. They knew that the Bible foretold the birth of a Messiah, and knew that he was to be born “in Bethlehem, in the land of Judah.” Yet how did they respond to the news that their anointed one, their Christ, may well have been born? They were unfathomably apathetic, and did nothing. They could have got excited at the prospect of the coming of the Messiah, but no; they appear to do absolutely nothing. There’s a stark lesson here for all of us; no matter how much we may know about the scriptures, no matter how deep our knowledge of the Bible, being a Christian is more than this. Being a Christian is about personal acceptance of Jesus Christ as our saviour. Following Christ is not merely an intellectual exercise; it demands commitment at the highest level. We must give ourselves completely to Jesus. We must love him, and obey his commands. I wonder how many of those people who attend church at Christmas, but not at any other time, believe themselves to be Christians, simply because they believe in God? People in this category need to be taught what it means to be saved. Christmas is an ideal opportunity to do this.

The reaction of the Magi could not have been more different to the responses of Herod and the chief priests and teachers of the law. We can see their commitment straight away – they had travelled a not inconsiderable distance in order to seek out the child “born king of the Jews.” Why would they do so? It is possible to make two observations about the Magi just from this one statement. The Magi believed that Jesus’ status as king of the Jews was not something that he would acquire later in life. They knew that, though he was still an infant, he was already a very important person, whose status already demanded praise and worship from the travellers. We can also see from this statement that the Magi were not Jews; they chose to talk of Jesus not as “our king,” but as “king of the Jews.” Despite this, they still feel the need to honour the king of the Jews. They clearly recognised the importance of Jesus to the whole world – not simply the Jewish community.

How did the Magi react when they met Jesus? We’re told that they “bowed down and worshipped him.” They also presented the baby with gifts, which, at the time, was a custom generally performed by people who recognised the superiority of the recipient.

There must have been something about this baby to make the Magi respond in this way. Intelligent, learned and well travelled men, they felt the need to travel a great distance to honour the birth of a baby, who they regarded as superior to themselves, who they recognised as “king of the Jews,” and chose to bow down and worship him even though they were Gentiles. They even presented him with highly valuable gifts – no expense spared!

The adoration shown by these travellers from an eastern land is a marked contrast to the reactions of others mentioned in this passage. Whilst the birth of Jesus was met with adoration by the Magi, Herod responded with anger – so much anger that he felt the need to massacre innocent baby boys – and the teachers and chief priests responded with apathy. They knew the scriptures inside out, but failed to realise that the arrival of the Messiah demanded a response on their part.

How will you respond to Jesus this Christmas? Will you be like Herod, and try to shut him out of your life, to pretend he doesn’t exist, because of the threat he poses to your way of life? Or will you listen to the stories, and maybe even read them, yet fail to respond to the call Jesus makes on your life? Or will you respond with adoration to the birth of the Son of God, the one who is God, who ultimately gave himself for you on the cross at Calvary?

Christmas is a great time to think about what you believe, and to share your beliefs with others. Do take the advantage of the break to reflect upon your faith and where you stand with God. Don’t let this Christmas pass you by.

Anger? Apathy? Adoration? How will you respond to the birth of Jesus Christ this year?

No Need for Fear

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No Need for Fear

35That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Mark 4:35-41

It was a hot, sunny day in East Anglia. The wind, blowing straight up the river, was exceptionally strong. It was one of those days when most sensible people stayed off the water. I, on the other hand, was whistling up the river on my boat, going probably the fastest I have ever been.

All of a sudden, I saw myself heading straight into an enormous wave. As I struggled to avoid the impending crash of boat into wall-of-water, I was hit from behind by a freak gust of wind. I lost control of the boat. I saw the giant wave approaching in slow motion. I felt the boat jar as I collided. I saw the front of the boat nose-dive into the water as I felt myself pulled under. I took a gulp of air, just as my head was swallowed by the strength of the water. I desperately tried to get my head above water, but something was holding me down.

The wind continued to push my boat through the water, as the boat continued to plough deeper and deeper. I struggled to breathe. I thought I was going to die.

I was pretty stupid to go out sailing on that particular day, but I thought I could cope. I knew the waters pretty well, and knew that I would be able to manage to sail the boat without any significant problems. But, as I learnt, weather conditions can change pretty quickly – even for an experienced sailor.

I can empathise with the disciples in this passage to a certain extent. They had sailed the Sea of Galilee many times before, but they were still petrified when they were hit by the squall. As they frantically struggled to bail the boat out, they caught sight of Jesus sleeping in the stern, as if nothing was happening. They were amazed – just who did this guy think he was?

Mark records exactly who they thought Jesus was; they viewed him as a teacher. What precisely they expected a teacher to do in this situation is not clear, although maybe they simply wanted some help emptying out the water. They may have expected Jesus to do something magical – Jesus had conducted several miracles already by this stage in his ministry. Whether they were expecting anything amazing to happen or not, they were amazed – and terrified – by what Jesus did. All he had to do was say “Quiet! Be still!” and “the wind died down and it was completely calm.”

Jesus’ disciples were clearly challenged by the events of that evening. They’d put to sea with a guy they’d recently met, whom they had identified as a good teacher. By the end of the evening, they were wondering just who Jesus is. “Who is this?” they asked themselves. “Even the wind and the waves obey him.”

This is the first of a series of miracles that Jesus conducted in order to demonstrate who he is. He hoped to demonstrate that he was who claimed to be – the Son of God, the Messiah, the Christ – God himself, indeed. Who else would have the authority to command the wind and the waves? Maybe, the disciples in their own minds were starting to accept this, but, as one reads on in Mark’s gospel, it becomes clear that it took them a long time to fully realise this.

It has been a popular exercise over the years since Jesus’ miracles to look for rational explanations of what Jesus did – after all, miracles don’t really happen, do they? It’s coincidence, or slight-of-hand, or it didn’t really happen. I personally do not see why it should be necessary to explain away Jesus’ miracles. After all, if he was God incarnate, there is no end to what he can do.

Take a look back at Genesis 1. Genesis tells us that in the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth. He separated the water above the earth from the water on the earth. He parted the water to allow dry ground to appear. All of this – and so much more – was achieved just by a simple spoken command. The God who did all of his was the very same God who, in the human form of Jesus Christ, was with the disciples in the boat on the Sea of Galilee. To look at it the other way round, Jesus, the “teacher” in the boat with the disciples, was also responsible for creating the earth and the water in the first place. Why should the God of creation not be able to calm a storm just by commanding it to be still? Jesus was thus demonstrating his deity.

Paul firmly believed that Jesus was the Lord not only over his church (here represented by the disciples), but also of all creation. In Colossians 1:16, he affirms “for by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” In the next verse, Paul confirms that Jesus, as the creator-God, has complete control over his creation: “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” This miracle demonstrates perfectly Jesus’ authority as the Lord of Creation.

This is just one example of where Jesus uses his power and authority to back-up his claims to be the Son of God. He surprised and amazed the disciples with his actions. We too should be prepared to be surprised and amazed. Jesus will confound our expectations, just as he did those of his followers during his earthly ministry. He will turn our worldview on its head – particularly when we get complacent.

Finally, it is worth glancing at how Jesus responded to his disciples’ fear, as this is surely how he will also respond to us. He asks them “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

This correlation between fear and faith is interesting. If we lack faith, we will find it hard to put our trust completely in God, just as the disciples did that evening on the Sea of Galilee. Instead, we must have complete faith in God, and what he has planned for us. If we succeed in this, there will be no reason to fear.

So, to conclude, remember just who Jesus is, and be amazed at his power. Be prepared to be greatly challenged by the things he does in your life. Put your trust completely in him, and he will look after you. With faith, there is no need for fear.

Why Will won’t last

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Why Will won’t last

“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or on the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

Exodus 20:4-6

Last night we saw history in the making – a new pop idol was born. Already tipped by the bookies to beat consummate idol and heart throb of girls everywhere, Robbie Williams, to the all-important Christmas number one slot, and with the support of over four and a half million of us, how can he possibly fail?

Last night was truly a momentous occasion – a truly national event. An estimated twenty million people switched on to ITV to see cheeky chappies Ant and Dec present the final Pop Idol show of the series. Eight point seven million people phoned in to vote for their chosen idol – so many that, according to BT, the sheer volume of calls threatened the national network, and they were forced to limit the number of calls that got through (I wonder whose calls they prevented from getting through!). The National Grid even called ITV to check the times of the commercial breaks amid fears of a power cut caused by huge surges in electricity demand.

It’s been fascinating over the last few months watching the Pop Idol judges and audience whittle down the thousands of contestants to the final fifty, then the final ten, then the final two, and then, of course, to help us make our decision as to who to vote for in the grand final. Like in many other homes throughout the UK, everyone in my house was glued to the television throughout the series, even holding a “Pop Idol Party” complete with a Chinese takeaway (with fortune cookies!) on the night of the final. The sheer quality of the singing of the final few contestants was absolutely brilliant, and as far as I’m concerned, Will and Gareth are both stars. It will be interesting to see which of them does the best in the years to come (Gareth has been offered a recording contract by judge and record company boss Simon Cowell). I offer my congratulations to both of them, and wish them every success in their careers.

But does winning Pop Idol really guarantee success? Some of you may recall a while ago a similar programme was aired on television called Popstars. This programme, rather than producing a single pop star, produced a band – a band that went on to be known as Hear’Say. After initial successes, the band has hardly done brilliantly, with a couple of disappointing singles, and a pretty disastrous second album release.

There are many reasons for Hear’Say’s fall from grace. We live in a society obsessed with the cult of celebrity. Every day, the tabloid press (and frequently the broadsheets too) are full of stories about pop stars, film stars, footballers, and their lives, loves, successes and failures. Britney Spears is scarcely ever off the front pages. The number of celebrity magazines and the ever increasing number of celebrity news television programmes is testimony to our insatiable appetite for the innermost secrets of these people. But the key to celebrity status is that we have to perceive these people as being different from ourselves. People just aren’t interested in reading about the lives of “ordinary” people. We’re happy for “ordinary” people to have their five minutes of fame (does anybody remember Maureen Rees, the star of Driving School? Or Jeremy Spake, one-time airline employee and star of Airport?), but after that we’re just not interested. We know about these people. We know where they came from. They’re just “ordinary.” They don’t have the mysticism of proper stars, like Robbie, Kylie, Madonna and the like. It is precisely for this reason that Hear’Say have fallen from grace. We know they’re not really celebrities – they’re normal, just like you and me! And it I precisely for this reason that Will, I’m afraid to say, will also disappear. After all, he’s just an ordinary person pretending to be a pop idol! He’s not really famous, is he?

The mysticism of the cult of celebrity is easy enough to understand – after all, we all need someone to look up to. We all need someone to respect. We all need someone to worship. But people who get too caught up in their adoration of their pop idol miss the point, and fall into a potentially dangerous trap.

We are specifically warned against the cult of celebrity. In the second commandment, as we saw in the reading above, God commands us not to worship idols. I’m sure that most people would deny bowing down before or worshipping a pop star, but it is certainly worth thinking about. How many of us are happy to say that we idolise someone? Surely that implies that we have made this person an idol, and have therefore broken a commandment of God? Even the name of the television programme suggests that this is the case – Pop Idol. The programme set out with the specific intention of creating an idol.

Celebrities may come and go. Will may get the coveted Christmas number one this year. Hear’Say may have totally disappeared by Christmas. But there is something that we’re promised that lasts forever. Something that not only lasts forever, but will fill that hole in us that makes us feel we need to worship something. This something is far greater than any wannabe from a TV game show. This something is something far greater even than the real pop idols – the Robbie Williamses of this world.

This something is the creator of the universe. This something created us. Created the earth we live on. Gave us the food we eat. The water we drink. This something sent his only son so that we, sinners that we are, can have eternal life. This something is God. His son is Jesus Christ. This is whom we should be idolising. Jesus died for us. I don’t know about you, but he’s the only person who has ever done this for me. No matter what I do, no matter who gets Christmas number one, this someone will love me just the same.

So, when Will’s debut single, Evergreen/Anything is Possible, is released on 25th February, rush out and buy it, and give Will the number one that he so rightly deserves. But at the same time, remember the one who has done infinitely more than Will will ever do for you, and give him the love, respect and attention that he so rightly deserves.

Let us do good to all people

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Let us do good to all people

1Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5for each one should carry his own load.

6Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.

7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Galatians 6:1-10

The Bible, and particularly the New Testament, is packed with instructions as to how we, as Christians should lead our lives. These instructions are not, as many non-Christians see it, an attempt to stop us enjoying ourselves, but provide a basis on which we can spread God’s kingdom across the planet.

Of all the passages in the New Testament providing us with instruction, Galatians 6:1-10 has spoken the most to me, and has encouraged me to think about how I live my life. I hope that it will speak as much to you.

Having read this passage, what would you say the main emphasis of it is? To me, it speaks very clearly of how we should place others, and the needs of others, before our own selfish needs. This point is first taken up in verse two – “carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ.” The interesting thing about this verse is that is doesn’t limit the types of burdens we should carry for others – it simply says “carry each others burdens.” Paul previously made this point in his letter to the Romans – “we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbour for his good, to build him up” (Romans 15:1-2). We have a responsibility, then, to support and encourage one another, not just in our faith, but in every aspect of our lives, because in this way we will please Christ. There are so many ways that we can support and encourage one another in everything we do – we are limited only be our imagination.

This theme is continued towards the end of this passage. In verse nine, Paul says “let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” What is this harvest that Paul speaks of? To me, he is speaking of the effect on those around us of being kind and supportive, and “doing good to all.” These days, it seems almost the norm that we knock each other down, belittle one another, and are generally rather unpleasant to each other. What better way is there of showing the love of Christ to those around us than by being prepared to stand out from the crowd, and take an altogether more positive, helpful and friendly response to people we meet and interact with? This attitude would be an amazing witness, and one that will certainly challenge the ideas of others.

Paul goes on to say, in verse ten, “therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” The value of this attitude has already been seen, specifically in terms of evangelism. But here Paul does not speak particularly of evangelism, but particularly of doing good to “those who belong to the family of believers.” As Christians, we are all brothers and sisters of Christ who try our best to live up to the standards that Christ himself set us, and to mirror his example. This implies a manner of dealing with one another that sadly does not always happen. We should always strive to place others before ourselves, and to avoid adopting a self-serving attitude.

Specific examples of how we can support one another are also included in this passage. The passage opens with Paul advising us on the approach that we should take if a fellow Christian is caught in sin – we are advised to “restore him gently.” This is important, since so often we are quick to judge, and harsh in our words and actions towards those who do things that we do not approve of. Paul’s words are, indeed, reminiscent of Jesus’ attitude to the woman caught in adultery in John chapter eight. Rather than condemning the woman, Jesus remarks “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Only one person is able to judge, and that is Jesus himself, since God has entrusted all judgement to him (John 5:22). It is not our place to judge.

So how should we respond to someone caught in sin? How should we restore such a person gently? By far the best action that we can take is to spend time with them, encouraging them in their faith, reading the Bible with them, and praying with them. It’s probably best not to even mention the sin directly, since they’ll immediately put their barriers up, and then won’t be in a position to receive the support that they deserve.

It is important to remember when dealing with such a situation that we are ourselves poor, worthless sinners who are undeserving of everything God gives and does for us. Paul tells us that “if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself” (verse three). We should not be so arrogant as to think that we are any better than anyone else. In fact, Paul adds that we should test our own actions against Christ’s, not against anyone else’s (verse five). Pride is a frightening attitude of mind, since it distances us greatly from God. If we start thinking that we are good, we immediately put a great distance between ourselves and God. We need other people to support, help, and encourage us, which is precisely why we should take this approach to others we meet.

So, in conclusion, what have we learnt from this passage? Paul’s instructions to us are summarised in verse ten – “let us do good to all people.” We need to remember this, and to constantly strive to achieve this. It’s hard, particularly when those around us seem to take great delight in making each other feel small, and proclaiming themselves to be better than everyone else. But by striving to adopt this attitude towards others, we will be serving God in one of the most effective ways we can, since not only will be helping others to remain faithful to the gospel, we’ll also be sending out a very clear message to those around us of what it really means to be a Christian. And if everyone was to adopt this attitude, the world really would be a much better place.

To Believe, or to Have Faith?

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To Believe, or to Have Faith?

46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.”50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Mark 10:46-52

It is often said that the age we live in today is a “post modernist” one; an age in which the importance of absolutes has been undermined, and in which the focus has moved to a range of spiritual experiences, pointing to the otherness of life and praising existential experience. This is an age in which church attendance in Britain is declining. In which Christ’s 2000th birthday was consigned to one of a large number of “zones” in a ludicrous tent in our capital city. Yet, despite this, a large number of British people still believe in the existence of God. In this article, I will examine what it means “to believe,” and what it means to “have faith,” uncovering a difference that I feel is crucial we recognise in order to deepen our own relationship with God.

So what does it mean “to believe” and to “have faith?” There is much confusion regarding the definition of these words; even the Oxford English Dictionary gives a rather confused definition. It defines the verb “believe” as: “to accept as true or as conveying the truth; to think or suppose; to have faith in the existence of (e.g. God); to have (especially religious) faith.” It defines the word faith as “complete trust or confidence; firm belief especially without logical proof; a system of religious belief.” It seems then, that these words are more or less interchangeable.

So, am I making something out of nothing here, or should we draw a distinction between these terms? I think we should. As I mentioned earlier, a large number of people claim to believe in God, in the sense that they acknowledge His existence. Many, recognising the existence of God, choose to accept Him into their lives, and make a commitment to Him. Others, who also accept His existence, choose to do nothing about, whilst others still just don’t know how to develop this into something more – a personal relationship with God. For me, to say that one believes in God, or to put it another way, to simply acknowledge his existence without doing anything about it, is not an act of faith. I think that to have faith, it is necessary to hand our lives over to God, and live our lives in the way he instructed.

But once again, this is easy to say, but how do we actually practice what we preach and do something about it? Paul tells us, in his letter to the Romans, that we need to offer our bodies as “living sacrifices” (Romans 12:1). Whereas belief, in today’s world, is something that is easily admitted, faith is much more about how we live our lives. Jesus himself once stated that “anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.” (John 14:12). This is quite clearly a call to service for us; to follow Jesus’ example, and to use him as the ultimate role model for our own lives.

But faith is more than that. Faith is about trust – the trust that we need in order to place our lives in the hands of God. We’re told by Jesus that if we have faith in God, we can achieve anything. In one of the most famous passages in the Bible about faith, in Matthew chapter 17, Jesus tells his disciples, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

There are plenty of examples in the Bible of people who have faith, and whose lives have been changed because of this. One of my particular favourites is the blind man Bartimaeus, whose pleas to Jesus to heal him are answered, because of his great faith.

You can read about him in Mark 10: 46-52.

I think that we can all learn something from Bartimaeus. He’s been blind all his life – laughed at by the few friends he may have had, spat on by his many enemies. It would have been thought that he was blind because of sin; either sins that he had committed, or, if he was born blind, as I suspect he would have been, the sins that his parents had committed. Consequently, he would have been an outcast from society. This is the snapshot we get of him from this passage – an outcast; a dirty, smelly man reduced to begging on the outskirts of the city. He was sitting in his usual spot one day, trying to scrape together enough money to buy some food, when he heard that Jesus was approaching. He knew that this was his chance to be healed. He knew that Jesus could do it. He’d heard so many stories of Jesus healing people, and had complete faith. Even when people in the crowd with Jesus told him to shut up, he carried on, even louder. He desperately wanted to see. Jesus, being the compassionate chap that he was, called for Bartimaeus to come to him, which he did. Jesus then proceeded to heal him. I can imagine Bartimaeus was rather happy at that point, at being able to take his first ever look at the world. It would probably have been a little scary as well. But there and then, he decided to leave Jericho behind him, and to follow Jesus.

So how did Jesus heal Bartimaeus? Well, he’s the Son of God, so there’s nothing that he cannot do. But this wasn’t a one way transaction. Bartimaeus needed to have faith in Jesus. Jesus tells him, as he told so many of the people he healed, “your faith has healed you.” If Bartimaeus had casually thought, “oh yeah, this Jesus bloke, I’ll believe it when I see it,” would he have been healed? I personally do not think so. I’m more inclined to think that it was only because of his total, unquestioning faith, that Jesus rewarded him with his sight.

I think that there’s a very important lesson for us in this story. Just how much are we prepared to put our trust in God? Are we half-heartedly going to hedge our bets and say “yes, sure, God exists,” and then choose to do nothing about it, as seems to be the current trend in Britain, or are we going to put our complete trust in him, ask him into our lives, and follow His example? It is this process, I think, that leads us from a position of merely believing, to one of actually being able to say we have complete faith in Him.

Whilst making a conscious decision to do just this is by no means easy, I believe that we often make it harder than it really is. If we invite God into our lives, He will accept us; we really don’t have to struggle, and continually question whether we are really Christians or not. If we accept God into our lives and follow his word, that is enough for God. Jesus’ death on the cross means that no matter what we have done, no matter who we may have been, if we follow God, he will welcome us with open arms. This doubt that many of us continually face about whether our faith is real or not can be attributed to the Devil, and as such, we need to push it out of our minds, and ask God to help us to do this.

So, to conclude, what have we found out about belief and faith, and how can we put what we have learnt into practice? We’ve seen that a belief in God is easy to admit to, but is not enough. It is faith that makes the difference. It is faith that cements our belief, and enables us to put our complete trust in God. It is faith that spurs us on to do as Jesus told us – to follow His example. To be compassionate to our friends and enemies. To love our neighbours as ourselves. It is faith that gives us the confidence to know that when Jesus spoke about people being able to achieve anything through faith, that He was speaking to us. It is faith that tells us that when we pray, God is listening. It is faith that makes the difference. If you believe that God exists but have found it hard to accept him into your life, why not ask God into your life and ask him to make a difference to you? Why not turn this simple belief into something more – a genuine faith? And if you have already asked God into your life, why not just take time in the next couple of days to reflect how much faith you really have in him, and how much trust you place in him. Do you want to be a half-hearted Christian, or do you want to place complete trust in God, as Bartimaeus did?

Who Do You Say I Am?

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22 They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. 23He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, ‘Can you see anything?’ 24And the man looked up and said, ‘I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.’ 25Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26Then he sent him away to his home, saying, ‘Do not even go into the village.’

27 Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ 28And they answered him, ‘John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’ 29He asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered him, ‘You are the Messiah.’ 30And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’

Mark 8:22-33

Mark’s Gospel is the shortest of the four gospels, and this is one of the main reasons that it is often the first book that many people read after becoming a Christian. The excerpt above is one of the most crucial in the book, and acts as a turning point for the followers of Jesus, since it is the first time that they are challenged as to the identity of Jesus. But this applies just as much to us today as it did to the apostles. Who do we say Jesus is?

Before Jesus challenged the apostles in this way, he had done some pretty remarkable things which must have got them wondering who he was – in addition to telling some pretty clever parables, he’d also healed several people, including a blind man, he’d raised a girl from the dead, he’d fed five thousand people with only five loaves of bread and two fish, and had even walked on water to name just a few of his staggering feats. This must have got the disciples wondering who this guy was, because his was certainly not normal behaviour!

The answer the disciples gave to Jesus first question, “who do people say I am?” was pretty much the expected response, and showed that despite the miracles that Jesus had been conducting, the views of most people towards him had not changed – they still viewed him as a prophet, and not the Messiah, or the Christ. But Peter, in his answer, has almost understood who Jesus is – he believes that Jesus is the Christ. This must have been quite a moment for Peter, voicing his theory that Jesus, the man whom he had spent a great deal of time with recently, was the one promised by God throughout the Old Testament, the one who would save Israel.

It is here that the healing of the blind man at the beginning of this extract slots in. The question as to why Jesus had to heal him twice is often asked, but the most usual answer is that it is representative of Peter’s understanding of who Jesus is. Despite having proclaimed that Jesus is the Christ, Peter still does not fully understand what this means – he is still in the half-blind stage. This becomes clear in the final part of the above extract when Peter rebukes Jesus for saying that he would be killed; Jesus, in answer, rebukes Peter back with an important phrase, “you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

What does Jesus mean here? I believe he is addressing Peter’s misunderstanding of who the Messiah would be – a misunderstanding shared by most of the Jews at the time (and arguably since, too). The commonly held view was that the Messiah would be a strong and confident leader, who would liberate God’s chosen people (the Jews) from the Roman regime they found themselves under, who would not die. This, I believe, is what Jesus was referring to when he stated that Peter had “the things of men” in his mind. Jesus, as the Messiah, was not there to liberate Israel – he had a different plan – “the things of God.” In this plan, Jesus, as the Messiah, would die on a cross, saving mankind from their sins. If Peter had been right in his ideas concerning the Messiah, it is highly unlikely that we would still be discussing Jesus today – after all, a guy who liberated Israel from the Romans 2,000 years ago would hardly be newsworthy now. But, as has been proved, Jesus’ real mission has certainly stood the test of time.

In the same way that Jesus challenged Peter and his other apostles in this passage, he challenges us today to make up our mind who he is. Was he just a good teacher, a kind man or a confused carpenter? Billions of people in the 2,000 years since Jesus’ birth have decided that Jesus is more than that – that he is the Son of God, the Messiah. I think that everyone needs to ask who Jesus was – if his claims are true, and I believe they are, the promise he makes us is too great to ignore. It really is a matter of life and death.