Lead, Laugh, Love

Wine for the Soul

This is Part 3 of a three part series on Jesus and Wine: See Part 1, Part 2

The gospel tastes so much better than Chicken Soup, it is actually Wine for the Soul. For his first miracle, Moses turned water into blood, the curse of the law turning common comforts into bitterness and terror (Exodus 7:14-25). But Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into the most delicious wine , the blessing of the gospel bringing delight, comfort and happiness to those who believe (John 2:1-11). The gospel of Jesus Christ is wine for the soul that lifts the countenance and brings good cheer to the heart. The gospel call has always been, “Come, all you who are thirsty, …Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost… Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.” (Isaiah 55:1-2) The Goodness of God is poured out on us abundantly in Christ, who holds all the treasures of the grace of God (Col. 2:3) and from His fullness we have received, grace upon grace (John 1:16). And in Him our souls can feast on the the milk, wine and bread of the gospel.

Jesus Makes the Best Wine (johnestorge.com)

Jesus Makes the Best Wine

I have always been impressed that the coming out party of the Son of God was during a wedding reception where He transformed water into the best tasting wine imaginable. The narrative of the wedding miracle is recorded in John 2:1-11 where Jesus Christ showed Himself publicly to be the God of all Creation who makes the earth to bring forth wine. Psalm 104:14-15 reminds us that “He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart.” He is the God who made vegetables to farm for food, wine to make your heart happy, oil to give you a glowing complexion and bread to give you strength for work. And His presence at a wedding reception and His provision of wine bearing the Master’s seal of approval shows that we have a Savior who wants to make our hearts happy.

To bring the miracle into perspective, I did some research regarding how to plan a wedding reception and found a website which ironically stated Rule #1 in planning your Wedding Reception as, “Make sure you always have enough drinks on-hand for your guests.” The recommendation went on to inform that “The majority of parties and receptions run from 2 to 4 hours and you will need to plan on an average of 3 drinks per person for the first 2 hours.”

200 guests will drink 600 drinks in 2 hours = 120 bottles of wine

But Jesus goes overboard with his provision toward the end of the reception in Cana taking six water pots holding thirty gallons each and filling them to the brim with water before perfecting His wine.

6 waterpots x 30 gallons =180 gallons = over 908 bottles of wine

When it comes to meeting this need, Jesus gives more than enough which reminds me of the immortal words of Matthew Henry, “His Supply is often better than His Word, but never worse.” Christ wonderfully supplies an abundance of the very best wine at the party’s end while the common practice would have been to bring out the good wine at the beginning of a feast, when the guests have their heads clear and their appetites fresh, and can enjoy it, and will commend it; but after they have had much to drink, when their heads are confused, and their stomachs are full, they don’t notice if it is good wine or cheap wine. With wine and with other substances there is a law of diminishing returns so that the first glass tastes wonderful but after a while you can hardly taste it. Certainly this is one of the reasons why Jesus models for us a moderate partaking of his gifts because He wants us to enjoy them as He designed them to be enjoyed. For when we drink a glass or two of wine we enjoy an unparalleled taste sensation which is accompanied by a happy heart but when we drink a lot of wine we only get drunk.

And certainly it was His intention that there would be some wine left over at the end of the banquet to attest to the miracle so that others would believe. I can imagine people coming for weeks on end to the reception hall to see and perhaps tasted the miraculous 180 gallons of wine which was perfectly balanced, crafted with a pleasing bouquet, rich tannins and a delightful finish. Moreover, if you had just witnessed the abundant and delightful miracle, you wouldn’t desire to drink to excess, you would anxiously taste and spend the remainder of your time praising the One who crafted it. Jesus saved the best for last, as He will when He brings the fullness of his Best Provision at the Final Wedding Feast where His betrothed bride, the church will be fully united to Him in the consummation of his Kingdom. For it is a trustworthy saying that, Those that follow Christ will feast with Him!

An Eating and Drinking Savior

What are we to think about our Lord Jesus Christ attending a wedding reception, an event where excesses are common and at different times in history, clergy had even been forbidden to attend? Some are uncomfortable with such a scene and salve their consciences by fabricating a history of an early weakened fermentation. Even if there were grains of truth in the claims, drunkenness still existed and Christians were exhorted not to be drunk with wine and qualified elders were not to be drunkards (Cf. Eph. 5:18; 1 Tim. 3:1:3). It was later said of Jesus, “For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!‘ (Luke 7:33-34). At least during his public ministry as an adult, Jesus lived like the average person and did things according to the customs of his day. The custom of his day was that people commonly drank wine, so He drank wine and ate the foods he was offered. John the Baptist by contrast confined himself to a peculiar diet, and even abstained from ordinary food.

Calvin comments, “Those who think that the highest perfection consists in outward austerity (strictness) of life, and who pronounce it to be an angelical life …when a person will drink no wine ought to attend to this passage.” He argues that if the highest level of holiness is wrapped up in abstaining from wine, then principally, John the Baptist would have to rank higher than the Son of God. Of course, Jesus by His example gives us no license to indulge in luxuries nor does He grant permission to those who have been under the dominion of strong drink. While Christ accommodated himself to the usages of ordinary life, he always maintained a sobriety truly divine and He did not encourage excesses or unlawful behavior.

Christ was never interested in an outward form of spirituality and was insistent that it’s not what a person takes into his mouth that defiles him but what comes out of his heart (Cf. Matt. 15:11). The Apostle Paul exclaimed that his boast was the testimony of his conscience in that he behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity by the grace of God and that he was concerned that the some were being led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ (Cf. 2 Cor. 1:12 ; 11:2-4). In other words, neither Christ nor the Apostle Paul gave us any room to create a Christian spirituality that was defined by what we ate or drank but instead modeled a spirituality of love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith (1Tim. 1:5). Abstaining from one practice or another is not what counts, but instead what counts is faith working itself out through love (Cf. Gal. 5:6). When it came to drinking, Jesus encouraged a moderate and contextual use of his created gifts.

153 a symbolic number

Last Lord’s Day, I preached on the post-resurrection appearance of our Lord recorded in John 21:1-14, in which the gospel writer transcribes the precise number of fish miraculously caught by the disciples in the Sea of Tiberias. The strange number of 153 fish strikes both the casual bible reader and the scholar as peculiar and has caused some to wonder if there is some deeper significance to John’s use of the number. Because I didn’t take the time to double-click on the numerological significance of the number 153 in my message, I did promise a blog post to attempt to explain the possibilities.

Today, we don’t typically think about numbers having any meaning apart from their apparent arithmetic representation. But in pre-Christian antiquity going back to Pythagoras and his students, who were described by Aristotle as “the first to take up mathematics, not only advanced this subject, but saturated with it, they fancied that the principles of mathematics were the principles of all things,” numbers were widely believed to have deep symbolic meaning as the ground of everything and there was a great deal of interest in numerological speculation. During the time from the 500s BC through the 5th Century AD numbers carried deep symbolic meaning which would have influenced Jesus’ communication to the first century culture and certainly would have influenced the gospel writers. Because of this background, Jesus could have sought to communicate something in the specific number of fish in the miraculous catch or John could have used 153 as an approximate number to communicate a deeper symbolic meaning. Here are some possibilities for the symbolic meaning of the number 153:

1) Some have noted that the Hebrew name for God “YHWH” occurs 153 times in the book of Genesis.

2) In the fourth century, it was assumed that there were a grand total of 153 species of fish, so an early church father named Jerome saw that miraculous catch represented ALL fish so he interpreted the number symbolically as a reference to the universality and completeness of the church which embraces all kinds of people from every tongue, tribe and nation.

3) Augustine thought the number 153 was significant because it is the sum of the first 17 integers (1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+13+14+15+16+17=153). And this is only significant because the number 17 is the combination of God’s grace in the 7 gifts of the Spirit plus the law summarily comprehended in the 10 Commandments (7gifts +10 laws =17) Augustine wrote in Letter 55 to Januarius,

In the number of fish that after his resurrection our Lord orders to be caught on the right side of the boat, to show this new life, we find the number 50 multiplied by 3. If one adds 3 (the symbol of the Trinity) to that, the holy mystery is still more apparent. Then the new man, perfected and come to rest, purified in body and soul through the pure words of God, which are like refined silver that has been purified seven times, will receive his reward-the coin. With this reward the numbers seven and ten are met in Him. For in this number (17) we find- as in other numbers that represent a combination of symbols- a wondrous mystery….And when will his body finally be liberate from all its enemies? Will it not be when the last enemy, death, is annihilated? Until that time, therefore, the number of 153 fish will suffice. For if the number 17 is taken as the side of an equilateral triangle…the sum total of the units is 153.

4) Evagrius Ponticus, a very gifted 4th century Christian monk, likely had the most complex interpretation of the significant and unique mathematical properties of the number 153. His interpretation makes sense only in light of Pythagorean numerical symbolism which distinguishes between triangular, square, octagonal, hexagonal and circular numbers. He wrote in his introduction to his 153 chapter book on prayer that 153 is the sum of a square number (100) + a triangular number (28) + a circular number (25) . (153=100+28+25). The Triangular number symbolically represents the Trinity and the Hexagonal number symbolically represents the 6 days of Creation. Essentially the number 153 tells the story of the gospel of The Triune God of Heaven who has intervened in time coming down to His Created Earth to enact His plan of redemption. It is this very God who stands before the apostles on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias giving them a miraculous catch of exactly 153 fish. Evagrius Ponticus writes in the introduction to 153 Chapters on Prayer, a manual on contemplation,

I have divided this treatise on prayer into 153 chapters. With them I am sending you a tidbit of the Gospel, so that you can rejoice in a symbolic number that joins together a triangular and a hexagonal figure. The triangle stands symbolically for the Trinity, the hexagon for the orderly creation of the world in six days. The number 100 describes a square, the number 53 a triangle and at the same time a circle. Why? Because it is the sum of 25 and 28. 28 is the triangle and 25 the square, since 25 is five times five. Thus this sum represents a square figure since it represents the fourfold qualities of the (seven) virtues. Through its round form the circle expresses the river of time and is simultaneously an appropriate symbol for true knowledge of the world. In the river of time week follows week, month follows month, year follows year, and season follows season, as the movement of the sun and moon, spring and summer, etc., show. The triangle, which is expressed in the number 28, stands for knowledge of the Holy Trinity… So much on this number.

Triangular number are the sum of consecutive numbers beginning with 1 and Hexagonal numbers are the sum of numbers beginning with 1, from which three numbers have been left out. So the number 153 is, according to Pythagorean interpretation, “triangular” (1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+13+14+15+16+17=153) and at the same time hexagonal (1+5+9+13+17+21+25+29+33=153)

In Conclusion

I’m not sure what this says about you if you’ve made it this far in the blog post? What does it say about me that I am even writing about this? So is the number 153 arbitrary? Is it simple precision? Or is it symbolic? After my study, I think there might be something substantive to these numerological interpretations. However, I am very satisfied and have even taught that John gives the number 153 in order to accurately record the details of the encounter to give proof for the authenticity of the resurrection. He is very detailed, particularly in that passage because he has a theological point to prove: Christ is risen from the dead! There is no real need to look for mysteries in the bible codes and create exegetical fallacies via hyper-exegesis of greek or hebrew nouns, verb tenses and syntax when the scriptures are characterized by perspicuity (being clear and plain). A preacher said once, “If you want to know what the text means, ask a third grader.” I can go with that. But the third grader in me still wonders about the number 153.

(153 Chapters on Prayer, cited from a translation by Andreas Ebert in his co-authored book with Richard Rohr, The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective)

Midlife Crisis is a Midlife Opportunity

We may call it a crisis, but the Lord calls it an opportunity. From His perspective it is an opportunity to bring a deeper consolation to our souls so that we can find ourselves more satisfied in Him; so we can experience the God who is Enough for us! But we are only transformed to this deeper place of Christ as our sole satisfier if our false rests and pseudo-saviors breakdown. This is at the heart of the disorientation of midlife. Through our 20s and 30s our souls find temporary satisfaction in relationships, roles and results. But as we approach our 40s all the way through to almost our mid- 50s, those relationships, roles and results begin to disintegrate or drain of their power to fulfill. This becomes a catalyst to expose our exaggerated needs for security, control and affirmation creating anxiety, disorientation and anger. And though we search to resolve our new undefined feelings in many places sometimes creating even greater problems, the solution is a spiritual one.

Midlife reveals to many of us that we have not allowed our initial introduction to Jesus to deepen into a deep intimate knowing. We talk about having a personal relationship with God, but the reality is that many of us have less knowledge of God than we have of our casual acquaintances. J.I. Packer says, “a little knowledge of God is worth more than a great deal of knowledge about Him.” Too easily we have settled for knowing about God which is not a substitute for deep personal knowing. So midlife becomes the opportunity to step out into vulnerability and uncertainty and be met by the Lord who wants to satisfy your deepest needs and answer your most personal queries. So….

When We Ask: Who am I? “What’s wrong with me?” “Why am I feeling this way?” and “Why am I talking to myself?”
He Answers: “You’re my Child. You belong to me. I have taken away your shame and given you a new identity filled with eternal value and dignity! Talk to me.”

When We ask: “Where am I?” “Will I have to face the future alone?” “Will everyone abandon me?”
He Answers: “I have a plan for you, and I will go with you into a certain future to provide comfort and courage to you. You will never be alone! Just hang onto me and trust me.”

When We ask: How am I doing? Why aren’t my strategies to control working? Why do I feel so angry and resentful?
He Answers: Because I have conquered death and hell, life is no longer a struggle to be won. The battle has been won and the enemy has been defeated! So, do you really have any right to be angry? I’m in control, I’ve got this! Nothing in your life is wasted and all will be redeemed for your benefit.

Midlife Crisis: struggling in the middle

Why is it that the middle of everything is the most difficult? The beginning is usually filled with excitement, anticipation and expectation and the adrenaline usually carries you for a while. While the end has its own celebration of patience, endurance and perseverance and the satisfaction of a job well done! It is the middle where all of the battles are fought, all of the decisions are made and challenges, obstacles and hurdles are faced. And some of these take us off guard, surprising even the most prepared among us.

The middle presents us with questions we were never forced to entertain before. Questions like “Now what?” and “What does all of this mean?” In the beginning we entered with certainty and confidence, but the middle throws us for a loop and we experience uncertainty, fear, frustration, disappointment anger, shame, and doubt. From the initial perspective in the beginning, the future was always bright, but the middle is ruled by the dankness of the mundane and ordinary. This sometimes produces disorientation in identity and direction and we wonder internally, “Is this all there is?” or “Has my life been a waste?” In the middle, we interact with our own thoughts asking deeper questions about ourselves and our lives while rarely admitting them aloud:

Who am I?
In the beginning, I thought I knew who I was. I was able to define myself based on the job I performed, the important role I played, or the special relationship I had. But in the middle, I don’t feel as valuable and worthwhile as I once did by defining myself as I did. Things have changed. Now I wonder, “What’s wrong with me?” “Why am I feeling this way?” and “Why am I talking to myself?”

Where am I?
In the beginning, the future seemed clear, secure and filled with exciting probabilities. But in the middle, the support system that once provided security hasn’t proven reliable. Now I’m left to find a safe way forward to a uncertain future. As I try to figure things out in my head thinking up strategies to be safe, I’m filled with anxiety and dread. Now I wonder, “Will I have to face the future alone?” “Will everyone abandon me?”

How am I doing?
In the beginning, life felt like a struggle to be won and my efforts to control relationships and circumstances through my own strategies helped me to stay on top. Fixating on my assessment and judgment of things has helped me to prevent being dominated, tainted or upset. But in the middle I’ve exhausted my abilities to be able to control everything and everyone in my life and now I’m just resentful or angry. At who? At everybody!

The Middle is part of a Divine Conspiracy
In the middle, all of our exaggerated needs are exposed, the sinful passions that have always ruled our lives fail us and our shallow heart commitment to the Lord is exposed. But the middle sets us up for a deeper encounter with Christ to have our deeper personal questions of identity, significance and direction answered and to experience God’s goodness and favor at a level never before grasped. The middle is the opportunity for the Lord to impart hope to our souls as we learn to be satisfied in Him. In the middle we learn that God is Enough!

MORE TOMORROW

What does it mean to be a Christian?

What is being a Christian all about? Sometimes even Christians imagine that being a Christian means to have a certain ideology which contains a political or social agenda that would solve the country’s problems. Others consider Christianity the best way to attain Your Best Life Now as if believing certain Christian-like truths will make them more successful, more popular and give them more control over their lives. Some think that being a Christian gives them an intellectual upper-hand that they can enjoy because it makes them feel smarter than everyone else. While others find Christianity as the pathway to financial independence and wealth so that they don’t have to ever rely on anyone else.

But the Scriptures teach a different substance and meaning of the Christian Life that does not consist in a political agenda, an economic solution, nor does it impart a pathway to success, popularity or financial independence. And it certainly is not the way to put you more in control of your life or to give you power over others. So then what does it mean to be a Christian? Being a Christian is about an ongoing intimate encounter with The Risen Savior who will progressively intertwine your heart with His so that you love what He Loves and grieve over what grieves Him. Jesus Christ is about making “little Christs” (Christians) whose hearts are so captured by the grace of the gospel that Christ becomes their who? what? where? when? and why? For Jesus the meaning of being a Christian is that He would become your identity, significance, destination, direction, and motivation. He becomes your Everything.

So if you’re looking for Peace with the Righteous Judge of the Universe, if you want to be washed of your guilt, and given a new identity to replace your shame, if you’re willing to live dependently passing the control of your life to another, and if you want to live forever in the full enjoyment of God for all eternity, then Christianity is for you!

Is there Life after Death?

Divine presence — Image by Dario Φ ipofisi via Flickr

Is there an afterlife? What happens when we die?

At death, the souls of Christian believers are made perfect by the power of God and immediately pass into heaven while their bodies rest in the grave awaiting the resurrection on the earth’s last day. When Christians die their soul immediately enters into the presence of God experiencing great comfort, rest, celebration and worship of God. During the resurrection at the last day, all Christian believers are raised up by the power of Christ and He will openly acknowledge that they belong to Him and that they are to be relieved from all charges of fault and sin because of His payment of their debts then they will be made perfectly happy in the total enjoyment of God throughout eternity.

Breaking News: Jesus is back from the Dead

It was the Breaking News that turned the world upside down. As the news headline spread, everyone in the region and eventually in the world would have heard the claims of hundreds of eye witnesses. A following would develop that would become the preeminent movement in the world based only on this news. This historical event would be the most discussed and most transcribed event of its era yet many would deny its authenticity. Skeptics would challenge the historicity of the event years later claiming that it couldn’t be proven scientifically. This headline would have all of the same limitations for scientific proof of other historical events because categorically, it’s very difficult to scientifically prove historical events. Sir Karl Popper, perhaps the greatest philosopher who ever lived would later say, “You cannot prove history scientifically.” Taken to its logical conclusion, if one refuses to accept the historicity of a past event based on its lack of scientific evidence then all of history comes into serious doubt. Necessarily we’re led to doubt everything that happened before the invention of YouTube.

The truthfulness of History is most often proven by the eyewitness accounts of people who have observed and documented it. The Gospel Writers: Matthew (aka Levi), John Mark, Luke the Scientist and John the Apostle either witnessed or interviewed witnesses of the bodily resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was not a secret event with limited publicity. Instead news would have spread to everyone in the region even during the 40 days between his resurrection and ascension into heaven. Saul of Tarsus, Simon Peter son of John and James the Just would also write about their first hand encounters with the Risen Christ. Very few doubt the main events in the lives of historical men like Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great, yet many doubt the most important event in the life of Jesus Christ. Yet the resurrection of Jesus Christ has greater textual attestation than any event in antiquity.

Christianity is not a political ideology or moral code

It is interesting that first century Christians were consumed with two things: (1) A man, Jesus Christ who claimed to be God and (2) An event when this same man was resurrected from the dead. But did Jesus exist? It is a fact that Jesus Christ is the most documented historical character before the age of printing. “No serious scholar has ventured to postulate the non-historicity of Jesus.” (Otto Betz – What Do We Know about Jesus? SCM Press, 1968.) Historically we know that He did exist. The bigger question is the historicity of the resurrection.

When people today think about Christianity, they speak of it as an ideological entity with a political agenda. Others might hold that Christianity is a body of teachings from the greatest Teacher ever, Jesus who taught us an original moral code. But this was not how Christianity was defined in the first century A.D.. Early Christians were known more for their testimony to the historical event of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

“At no point within the New Testament is there any evidence that the Christians stood for any original philosophy of life or an original ethic. Their sole function is to bear witness to what they claim as an event– the raising of Jesus from among the dead… the one really distinctive thing which the Christians stood was their declaration that Jesus had been raised from the dead…” (J.N.D. Anderson, citing Cambridge professor C.F.D. Moule)

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In Conclusion