Credible Bible #5

Our Credible Bible (Lesson 5)

What Scripture Says, God Says

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

            One way to undermine the significance of any teaching is to say it is unimportant. This is how some skeptics try to undercut the doctrine of inerrancy. They say, since we do not have the original manuscripts, the doctrine itself is superfluous. This is the equivalent of saying God Himself evidently did not think the written Scriptures were very important.

 

This doctrine matters. It is essential to the life and success of Christianity. In all of redemption history, Holy Writ has been deemed vital. For 40 years, Levites carried in the Wilderness the tablets God wrote. What Old Testament prophets wrote was often a product of "Thus saith the Lord".

 

In the early church, "Scripture says" and "God says" were one and the same thing. Luther, on trial at Worms, declared, "My conscience is captive to the Word of God." John Wesley said, "At any price give me the book of God!" My Grandpa Marshall called it "The Book", as if no other books were worth comparing to it.

 

No questioning of the authority of Scripture has ever had a positive impact on God's people. Whenever Israel strayed from God, they always strayed first from His word. Whenever they returned to God, they first returned to His Word.

 

I rejoice at calls to prayer for revival I hear in our day, but am appalled at the dearth of preaching I hear about the six great Old Testament revivals. This troubles me because by ignoring them we miss a deep truth; all six were begun, not primarily in prayer, but in response to rediscovering God's written Word.

 

Revivals under Joshua (JS 8:32), Asa (2 CH 14:4), Jehoshaphat (2 CH 17:9), Hezekiah (2 K 18:6), Josiah (2 K 22:8), and Ezra (EZ 7:10) were "Bible revivals". God convicted people by a re-discovery of Scripture.

 

If revival comes in our nation and churches, it will descend on the wings of prayer and ascend from the pages of the written Word. Revival hinges on both/and not either/or. Keep praying hard about revival. At the same time, let's ratchet up a notch our talking about the Bible.

 

Anyone who wavers on Bible-authority eventually fades off into trivial oblivion. Spiritual disaster looms at the end of this skepticism, as is being proved in Western Europe, and in High Protestantism in the USA.

 

The Trinity believed the holy writings were important. God the Father wrote the Ten Commandments with His own finger. God the Son said Scripture cannot be broken, that is, annulled; its authority cannot be denied (John 10:35). The Son began His post-baptism ministry with thrice saying "It is written" (MT 4:1-11). Near its end, close to Emmaus, He said, "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!" (LK 24:25). "Beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures" (Luke 24:27).

 

God the Holy Spirit guided the authors themselves. "No prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God" (2 Peter 1:20b-21). They wrote for God because they were borne along by the Holy Spirit. They did not do this writing on their own initiative.

 

As a result, we have something better than if an eyewitness were giving testimony of something he or she saw firsthand. We have a Holy-Spirit-moved prophetic word. Scripture is more reliable than any eyewitness' testimony, for the latter is a matter of private interpretation. Scripture, though, is not a result of human investigation, or the production of the writer's thinking.

 

This role of the writers of Holy Writ in the moment they were writing Scripture is a study worth investigating. Paul dealt with this issue in his last epistle. After mentioning "the sacred writings" (2 TM 3:15b) Timothy grew up on, Paul gave us an analysis of their "sacred" nature, saying, "All Scripture is inspired by God" (2 TM 3:16a).

 

The word "inspiration" implies an influence from outside producing results inside. Inspiration means a supernatural impelling and directing of the words that were written. To say the Bible is inspired is to say its words are a divinely determined product given through the men Peter said were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 P 1:20b-21).

 

Literally interpreted, 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed". God breathed out the very words. Thus the words themselves have divine authority. The Bible not only contains the words of God, as if some of its words may not be God's words. It is the words of God. In Scripture the breath of God was often mentioned to picture the irresistible outflow of His power. The breath of His mouth made all the stars (PS 33:6b). God breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living soul (GN 2:7). The "breath of the Almighty hath given (us) life" (Job 33:4b). If God withdrew His breath from us, we would perish (Job 34:14-15); therefore you and I are divine creations. So is the Bible, for it was birthed and lives on the breath of God.

 

The Trinity invested in the Bible. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit all focused attention on Holy Writ. This is why no one has ever been able to silence the Bible, and no one ever will. It is the God-book.

 

Just as we believe God directly intervened in human history to bring us redemption through the blood of Jesus, we also believe He intervened in human history to give us a guide whereby we could confidently know of His redemptive works among us. God did things in the incarnation no one can undo. God wrote things in the Bible no one can erase. God did not leave us ignorant of Himself. We are not adrift, totally clueless as to God's dealings among us.

 

Before ending these lessons on the credibility of the Bible, I want to allude to a matter Warfield called attention to in his classic book. He gave instances of where "God says" and "Scripture says" were used interchangeably in New Testament passages referring to Old Testament passages. In Matthew 19:4 Jesus stated that God was the One who said in Genesis 2:24, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife." But the Genesis passage does not mention God as the speaker. It is merely a statement of Scripture. Jesus was saying the verse can be assumed to have been a declaration of God solely because it was a saying of Scripture. Paul followed the Lord's lead in this, and handled the Gensis 2:24 passage in the same way in 1 Corinthians 6:16.

 

In Romans 9:17 Paul wrote, "The Scripture says to Pharaoh, For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you." But in the original text (Exodus 9:16) God, not Scripture, is speaking. Paul referenced this again in Galatians 3:8, where he wrote the Scripture says Abraham will be blessed. However, Genesis 12:1-3 records God said this.

 

When referencing Holy Writ, "God" and "Scripture" were, for Jesus and Paul, interchangeable. "Scripture" and "God" lay so close together in the minds of the writers of the New Testament that they could naturally speak of "Scripture" doing what Scripture records God as doing" (Warfield), and vice versa. In other words, what Scripture says, God says.

 

Other examples help reinforce this. Luke recorded the sermon of Peter, which stated the words of David were the words of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:16). Peter's thoughts on this matter were echoed by the congregation at large (Acts 4:25). Matthew (2:15) claimed the Lord spoke through the prophet Hosea (11:1). Paul believed God had promised good news through His prophets in the Old Testament (Romans 1:2).

 

A final addendum: we long felt the bulk of Jesus' teachings were passed down orally. Recent research indicates the early followers of rabbis in first century Palestine used wax tablets to write down the comments of their leaders. If the disciples did make private notes, it would help explain the recording of long speeches made by Jesus. Either way, the oral had to be made into the written fairly soon because of the demand for Scriptures to be read in church services.

 

 

Credible Bible #4

Our Credible Bible (Lesson 4)

Perceived Bible Problems

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

The Bible is by far the most reliable book ever produced in the ancient world. Manuscript evidence supporting its trustworthiness is overwhelming. The abundance of manuscripts available to us has let us determine with reasonable certainty what the original autographs said. Very few passages are left in doubt as to what the writer wrote. Thus the question: why is this fact not enough to convince most unbelievers to become Christ-followers?

 

One, some refuse to take time to investigate the evidence. Rather than do research, they often make a prejudgment based on hearing arguments against us that are one-sided and distorted. In some public settings, nothing bars attacks against Christianity. Other religions are off-limits, negativism toward them is deemed politically incorrect, but brutalizing Christianity is fair game. People often hear this onslaught against us, but ignore thousands of articles, books, blogs, etc., that present cogent arguments defending us.

 

Two, some say they cannot understand the Bible. This is not true. The Bible is noted for what theologians call perspicuity; it is understandable. It is the world's #1 best selling book in all of history because people can read and understand it. Parts of it are difficult to read, but any person can take a Bible, read it from cover to cover, and walk away understanding what the Bible is all about. "The unfolding of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple" (PS 119:130 NAS). The Bible's main truths can be grasped.

 

Often the problem is not misunderstanding, but understanding, the Bible, and not liking what it says. Mark Twain said, "It ain't those parts of the Bible I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts I do understand."

 

Three, some reject the Bible not based on whether or not we have a reliable transmission of original writings, but due to what they consider to be culturally offensive messages in it. For instance, does the Bible promote slavery, or relegate women to a secondary role; did the Old Testament prescribe genocide? These attacks are specifically refutable with Apologetic rebuttals, but for our purposes we'll take an overarching look at the issues.

 

We err in interpreting any writings if we fail to enter into the worldview of the writers when we try to judge their beliefs. We have to understand their setting in life. For instance, it would be easy for me to condemn my great-great-grandfather for supporting slavery and fighting for the Confederacy in the Civil War. To do so, though, would make me an elitist--as if to say I would have been above such behavior. Humility is a winsome virtue, even when exhibited across the ages. Was my ancestor wrong? Yes. Do I thus write him off as a terrible man? No. In fact, he became the spiritual patriarch of our family. He lived till 1924, and had a profound spiritual impact on my Grandpa Marshall, who in turn heavily influenced my spiritual formation. Perfection is not required for us to be effective, and it should not be required for us to think kindly of others.

 

Four, some reject the Bible because they feel the original writers were not trustworthy men. The manuscript evidence doesn't matter because we can't be sure the writers wrote the truth. The answer to this objection lies in whether or not Jesus rose from the dead. If Christ rose from death, all of Christianity is true. If Jesus did not rise, none of our faith is valid. Paul bluntly said, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep (died) in Christ have perished" (1 Cor. 15:17-18 NAS). I believe we can confidently say the original followers of Jesus, including the writers of the New Testament, were credible, believable, trustworthy eyewitnesses of His resurrection.

 

When in college, I met an older student who was an ex-priest. He had renounced his vows, Roman Catholicism, and Christianity as a whole. We were one day discussing our lives. He had left behind the ministry and faith. I was in the beginning stages of ministry. I asked why he had renounced the faith. He answered, and asked why I believed. No one had ever confronted me with the question. My spontaneous answer to him then remains my more developed answer today. I believe primarily because the original followers of Jesus were willing to die for what they claimed about His resurrection.

 

Five, some reject the Bible because they believe it contradicts what they deem obvious teachings of science. Did creation take only six 24-hour days? What about evolution, geological dating, dinosaurs, the fossil record; was Noah's flood worldwide? What about those miracles (BL 11)? This kind of questioning especially matters because many of our young adults who grew up in church are forsaking the faith, often due to these very issues. The arguments against our beliefs are often expressed in settings hostile to our faith. Our kids can find themselves bombarded with pressures of unbelief, and are in danger of ridicule or worse if they opt to believe and vocalize it.

 

Our churches and families need to do a better job of providing credible evidence to our youth to help them refute our critics. We are not doing well in preparing our own for the cultural wars they are entering. Sometimes the problem is not so much knowing a precise answer, but rather finding somewhere in our churches a safe place to ask and debate the tough questions. We would hope those who grow up in church could find there places of gentle Christian understanding, but many times they are inculcated with a sense of a harsh all-or-nothing choice from their childhood.

 

            We in the church too often come across as being impatient with any who disagree with us, including our own children. We must be careful. Our Master said, "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matthew 18:6 NAS).

 

An atheist, Loftus, wrote in "Why I became an Atheist" that for many who leave the faith, there are three factors often involved (p. 24). One of the three relates to this very point. He says many leave the faith due to an initial serious investigation of a different worldview they had never examined in any detail previously. One problem is; young adults who ask questions are cut off quickly by their family and friends because they don't know the answers; the questioner is thus treated like their having questions is wrong in and of itself. There is nothing wrong with questioning and debating issues. Many of us are too embarrassed to admit we do not know the answer, and rather than admit our weakness, and offer to take time to do some research, we cut off the questioner, which in essence usually drives them farther away.

 

Six, some reject the Bible due to a failure to understand how a good God can allow suffering. Surveys say the problem of suffering is the main reason people who seriously consider the faith refuse to accept Christianity. The atheist Loftus says one reason people leave the faith is a personal crisis of some kind that forces one to struggle with why God allows suffering.

 

Would a kind loving omnipotent God allow suffering among the innocent, or send people to an everlasting lake of fire? These question marks turn like fishhooks in many people's hearts.

 

The 9/11 attacks, done in the name of religion, are seen by some as the event that spawned our modern day attacks from attacking atheists. These attacks are more and more aimed at Christianity. "How could a good God let this happen? Religion seems more bad than good."

 

Seven, a sensed lack of love and support from believers at a critical crossroad in life. This is the third reason the atheist Loftus gives for why people forsake the faith. Many who adopt a sinful lifestyle sense the absence of love and care from the Christian community they were depending on; there is no place in the Christian community where they can be enfolded, accepted for what they are; not told their sin is okay, but where they know they are loved; only in a loving community like this can people who made wrong choices find a runway greased to make their return to the faith easier.

 

Eight, some reject the Bible because they think if it is the powerful Word of God we say it is, there shouldn't be as many hypocrites as there are. Our detractors say many who say they believe the Bible don't live the Bible.

Christianity groans under the burden of heavy baggage, sinful lives lived by people claiming to be Christians. We bear the burden of bad history, including the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Salem witch trials, racism, anti-Semitism, ethnocentricism, being perceived as cultural hit-men who disrespect the views of unbelievers we disagree with. If reminded of these past failures, rather than becoming defensive, we must reply with humility.

 

This is a complex issue requiring long answers, but one thing I would like to interject here is; it is wrong to always equate failure with hypocrisy. A hypocrite is a fake, a person who knowingly pretends. Many sincere believers fail often. Their shortcoming is not hypocrisy, but rather frailty. We believers are not perfect.

 

We also need to distinguish between cultural Christians and committed Christians. Not all who claim to be Christians actually are.

 

Jesus spoke bluntly to this truth. "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven: but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). Many were baptized as infants, or as adults merely went through the formality of becoming members of a church, and yet never entered into a personal relationship with Jesus.

 

 

The Way, The Truth, The Life

John 14:1-6

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Sir Walter Scott, when dying, said to his son-in-law, "Lockhart, read to me." Lockhart asked, "What book?" "Why do you ask? There is but one book, the Bible." Scott then asked his son-in-law to read from John 14, the comfort chapter, the Psalm 23 of the New Testament. From its first words, John 14 speaks peace.

 

John 14:1-2 (Holman) "Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you."

 

Jesus wanted the disciples to enjoy peace, to not dwell on things that would disturb them emotionally, especially regarding their everlasting destiny.

By calling Heaven "My Father's House," Jesus added to it a lovely, gentle touch. We often think of Heaven primarily as golden streets, beautiful buildings, pearly gates, etc. To Jesus it was home, the place lit by the light of Dad's smile.

 

"My Father's House" softened for us the blow of death. This phrase let our race for the first time in recorded history dare to think of death as a homecoming.

 

Death is no more an ending than a beginning; no more a leaving than a coming home. We will feel at home in Heaven, and be able to relax. Bad tempers, crabby dispositions, tensions, fears of disappointing Jesus--all gone.

 

"My Father's House" blesses us by also teaching us Heaven is a real place. It is not a make-believe realm of disembodied spirits, but a bustling city where God's children love, celebrate, and live actively in strong indestructible forms. Heaven is a real place, an actual location. When Jesus left here, He went somewhere.

 

Jesus presented Himself unapologetically as the reliable Revealer of what Heaven is like. He spoke of it with authority, not speculation. He spoke as One who had lived in Heaven, not as one having second-hand information. He was like one who had stood on a mountain, and later told His valley friends what he saw.

 

What Jesus said of Heaven was not poetic language or philosophical conjecture. He was speaking to be understood literally. Jesus was too knowledgeable to be mistaken, too honest to misrepresent, and too kind to mislead.

 

John 14:3 "If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also."

 

Jesus was leaving Earth to make it possible for believers to enter Heaven. His Father's house will someday be our house because Jesus prepared it for us.

 

The love that sent Jesus away to prepare us a place will also bring Him back someday for everyone. Till then, He comes to each of us at our death to guide us home.

 

Why does He do this? He wants us to be with Him—a precious thought. He wants us near Him. It feels good to feel wanted. It means we are special. 

We may feel we know little about Heaven, but we know what we need to know to set our minds at ease. Jesus is there, and wants us to come live with Him.

 

John 14:4-5 "You know the way to where I am going." "Lord," Thomas said, "we don't know where You're going. How can we know the way?"

 

Thomas didn't know he knew. He knew Jesus; without realizing it, this was all he needed to know. Thomas did not yet appreciate all he had in Jesus. We often underestimate the value of what is ours in Christ. He's the beauty our hearts desire.

 

Everything we need, and deep-down want, we find in Jesus, yet we meander far afield, seeking our heart's desires elsewhere. We are like people searching everywhere for keys we previously put in our pocket, and for a diamond we already locked in our own safety deposit box.

 

John 14:6 "Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

 

Jesus is the way to God. Christ presented Himself as the link between God and people. The two farthest apart objects in the Universe are pure God, who dwells in resplendent light, and sinners, who roam aimlessly in darkness. Jesus closes the gap, retrieving us from godless wanderings, from being spiritually lost.

 

 Jesus not only made the way; He walks it with us. Sinners need more than to have the way to God pointed out. A person who tells us to go one block north, three blocks west, and turn right after the third house makes us feel more lost.

 

We need someone to say, "Follow me; I will show you the way." By doing this, a person not only points out the way, but also becomes the way for us.

Jesus does this for us. He not only told us how to find God. He died in the past to prepare the way for us, comes in the present to take us by the hand to walk the way with us, and in the future will personally lead us home. Jesus is the way.

 

"Truth" refers to reality, to what is reliable. In our text, it highlights the complete dependability of Jesus in revealing to us the Father as He really is.

Jesus' whole life, character, and personality depicted the one and only true living God. Jesus is "the image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15). In Christ we no longer see God with blurred vision at a distance, but as Immanuel, God with us. An incarnation, an enfleshment, of Himself was the only possible form in which God, who is spirit, could adequately show Himself to a world of sinners. Intellectual concepts, words, and deeds could not by themselves teach us of God. For us to grasp what He is really like, Jesus had to come live among us as one of us.

 

Jesus brings to us truth, reliable information, about God. We were created to receive from Jesus dependable assessments of God. Aristotle said the eye was made for light, the ear was made for sound, and the mind was made to receive truth. We agree. The only qualifier is to know what truth really is. Human restlessness results when a mind does not receive the specific truth for which it was made. Augustine said we were made for God, and are restless till we rest in Him.

 

C.S. Lewis felt this inner restlessness evidenced God's existence. "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing."

 

These longings for something beyond this world can be fulfilled in only one place, in what Jesus taught about Himself. His words spoke truth.

It is no coincidence Eden's first temptation was a lie about God. Ever since, people have been deceived about God, erring often in their thoughts of Him.

Jesus is the ultimate test, the final appeals court to which all considerations about God must be referred. People who understand Christ's teaching about God grasp divine reality. Jesus is the final, ultimate word, the reliable word, the truth.

 

Jesus is "the life." Not only does He have to lead us to the Father as the way, and reveal the Father to us as the truth; Jesus also has to make us alive to the Father, because we are by nature spiritually dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1).

 

People spiritually dead cannot walk a way or understand a revealed truth, nor can they have a relationship. We have to be born again. Jesus has to give us spiritual life. By means of a new birth, He gives us the kind of life that can enter into a personal relationship with God, one that can grow, blossom, and flourish.

 

Mere physical existence is not the best life. The only life worthy of being called life is the one Jesus brings. All other kinds of life disintegrate and decay.

This ever improving type of life happens when Jesus Himself is planted in a person's heart by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the life, the best life, the God life.

Don't miss the somber truth in our text. If words have meaning, and are meant to be understood, Jesus' statement here can mean only one thing.

 

There is no salvation apart from Jesus. Without Jesus the way, there is no going to God; without Jesus the truth, no knowing God; without Jesus the life, no growing in God. With Jesus the way, we go to God; with Jesus the truth, we know God; with Jesus the life, we grow in God. Through Jesus our Savior, we can have salvation.

 

 

 

Credible Bible Lesson 3

Our Credible Bible (Lesson 3)

Inerrancy and Textual Variants

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Throughout church history, believers have considered the Scriptures to be accurate and reliable, both historically and theologically. Many words have been used to try to express this belief in concise, precise form. The two most common terms of late have been "infallible" and "inerrant".

 

Infallible refers to the unfailing nature of Scripture. It will not let us down. If we are sad, it comforts us. When tempted, it strengthens us. When lost, it saves us. If doubting, it assures us. When we stray, it rebukes us. When discouraged, it encourages us. When worried, it brings us peace.

 

The Bible is a reliable, sufficient, trustworthy guide for us in our daily lives. It will never misdirect us. It will accomplish the purposes God meant for it to achieve; it won't return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11).

 

"Inerrant" means without error, wholly true. The Bible verses being considered are deemed to be true, not false. We will never be led into error by anything it teaches. Baptist confessions have often conveyed this concept by saying the Bible has "truth for its matter, with no mixture of error."

 

The word inerrant refers only to the original documents, never to copies. Since we do not, as best we know, have originals, some people do not like the term inerrant, but belief in inerrancy of the autographs is what fuels our drive to find ever-older manuscripts. As more manuscripts are found, we feel confident we are getting ever closer to what the originals said.

 

We want to know what the originals said, for we believe they contain the very words of God. Our embracing inerrancy means we believe the authors gave a true and accurate statement regarding what God wanted said.

 

Some people are very uncomfortable with inerrancy. When they see in their versions of the Bible footnotes that point out variants, discrepancies, and seeming contradictions, they cannot understand how there can be any inerrant originals if there are so many differing interpretation-alternatives. I personally think much of this discomfort today stems from the fact the KJV had no footnotes. I think this may have left the impression with most readers that there were no issues regarding the actual wording of any texts.

 

The variants should not crush our faith. The Bible is a God-book; it is also a man-book. God condescended to use human beings to write, preserve, and transmit Scripture. Thus we should expect to see human touches in it.

 

Also, is there any other Christian doctrine that we require all difficulties to be resolved before we believe it? What about the Trinity, the Incarnation, Predestination, Creation, etc.? Do we feel we must have 100% understanding of these doctrines in order to believe them? Questions about Bible doctrines often perplex us, but we usually let this drive us to adoration, not skepticism. To resolve all difficulties, we would have to be living by sight, rather than by faith. Do not be surprised if belief in inerrancy leaves us with unresolved questions. We are not going to understand it totally.

 

All Bible doctrines have to end in some measure of mystery because they are dealing with God, whose innermost being and unfathomable ways are beyond our full comprehension. In this life, we see in a mirror dimly, and know in part (1 C 13:12). Therefore, we will never have all the answers regarding any Bible doctrine, including the inerrancy of Scripture.

 

When we come to textual variations, what we cannot fully explain, we leave unresolved, believing the problem is our limited knowledge, not the Bible. If there are seeming discrepancies we cannot solve, we leave it with the Lord. He knows all. Fortunately, we do not have to know everything.

 

Having said this, we still have to face the pesky question, what about all those textual variants? Skeptics smugly use this to ridicule our claim the Bible is the Word of God, and believers are sometimes aghast at their own inability to answer these cynicisms. Fortunately, the issue becomes less disheartening when we are willing to ask the pertinent questions, and to take time to delve into what the variants actually entail.

 

We have 25,000 partial and/or complete New Testament manuscripts from Greek and other languages, containing about 400,000 or so textual variants. This means we have an average of only 16 variants per manuscript. The United Bible Society fourth edition of the Greek New Testament contains 1,438 of the most significant variations in its footnotes and presents manuscript info for them. Less than one percent of variants are significant enough to make it into the footnotes of our English translations.

 

The evidence for a trustworthy transmission of what the Bible originally said is overwhelming. Our manuscript evidence holds up well against other writings of antiquity (See Blomberg, p. 35). In addition to the manuscripts, we have over 30,000 scriptural quotations in sermons and commentaries of early church fathers. Even with no manuscripts, the latter would reconstruct the vast majority of the New Testament.

 

Our earliest manuscripts offer convincing help for us. We have 12 manuscripts from the 100s, 64 from the 200s, 48 from the 300s. By the way, each of these early manuscripts is written with the careful handwriting of an experienced scribe. None of them is "scrawled".

 

Most of these early manuscripts are fragmentary, but taken together, the entire New Testament is found in them multiple times. Later manuscripts add less than 2% more material to the text--that's 2% over 1600 years. This indicates a very stable transmission history. We have so many manuscripts that few new variants will ever be found. We can safely assume the first writing of any given text is in one of the variations.

 

Studies of ancient libraries of antiquity have shown that manuscripts were used anywhere from 150 to 500 years before being discarded. For instance, the fourth-century Codex Vaticanus was read and used for at least 600 years after it was produced. Facts like this show there may not have been various time-gapped generations of texts between the originals and the earliest manuscripts we now have.

 

Greek is not the only language we draw confidence from. In the 100s the New Testament was translated into several languages, including Latin, Coptic, Syriac, Georgian, Gothic, Ethiopic, and Armenian.

 

Having many manuscripts with variations actually helps textual analysts. Varying streams of thought from different languages can provide confirming evidence of what the original said. For instance, 20 manuscripts would be more helpful than one in trying to find precise original wording. Thus, thousands of manuscripts is better than having few. A preponderance of similar texts helps confirm what the original said, and in the New Testament manuscripts there is almost always overwhelming agreement.

 

For one thing, a proliferation of manuscripts proves no one tried to manipulate the text. No hierarchy was trying to promote their own agenda.

 

The variant problem diminishes substantially if we look at it closely. For starters, 70% of all variations are spelling variants. Ancient scribes had no standardized spelling guidelines. Thus, in the 25,000 manuscripts with 400,000 variants, 280,000 of the latter are spelling variations. This means we have 120,000 other types of variations spread across 25,000 manuscripts, which reduces the number of variants per manuscript from 16 down to 5.

 

Other variants involved confusing similar letters, substituting similar sounding letters or words, omitting a letter or word, writing a letter or word twice, reversing order of two letters or words, incorrect word division, changes in spelling due to archaic language or grammar, and replacing rare words. Today's textual critic has to work as a private detective in trying to find original words (For types of errors, see Cowan and Wilder, pp.127ff).

 

Of these variants, only two disputed passages in the United Bible Society Greek text are longer than two verses: the end of Mark (16:9-20), and the woman taken in adultery (John 7:53-8:11). In over 25,000 manuscripts, no other passages are anywhere nearly as long as these two.

 

When considering the variations, our chief concern should be, do they affect any major Bible doctrines? The answer is no. Let's consider a few samples (For more cases, see Blomberg, pp. 21ff, or footnotes in a Bible).

 

Should Matthew 5:22 contain "without a cause"? Does the Doxology belong at the end of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:13? Does Mark 1:41 say compassionate or indignant? Many manuscripts omit Luke 22:43-44 and Acts 8:37. Does Romans 5:1 say we have peace, or let us have peace? Is 1 Corinthians 13:3 saying burn or boast? In Philippians 1:14 is the message "of God"? The three testifying in 1 John 5:7-8 is hard to unravel.

 

An interesting footnote: The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (www.csntm.org) seeks to preserve Scripture by taking digital photos of all known Greek New Testament manuscripts. 5800 documents are known to exist (about 5000 after AD 1000; about 800 before). Some are fragments, especially older ones, but the average Greek NT manuscript is over 450 pages long. There are a total of 2.6 million pages of text.

 

 

Jesus is the Servant Leader

John 13:10-16

Jesus is the Servant Leader

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

Peter, seeing a slave's task as beneath the dignity of Messiah, was horrified at seeing Jesus wash feet. Once convinced otherwise, Peter was not content doing it halfway, and impulsively said, "Also my hands and my head" (John 13:9).

 

A first mark of discipleship is humble self-surrender. We must let God do to us what He deems best. We must trust He knows and does what is good for us. Always believe, if we knew what God knows we would gladly do what God does.

 

Jesus said Peter, though he did not understand now, later would (John 13:7b). Trust the Lord. Flavel said, "God's providences, like the Hebrew letters, are often to be read backwards." If we submit to God's will, we shall in due time know the "why" of His dealings. It may not come in this life, but will someday.

 

When Peter reversed himself, and asked Jesus to wash his hands and head in addition to his feet, Jesus returned to using this foot-washing as a teaching event.

 

John 13:10a (Holman) "One who has bathed," Jesus told him, "doesn't need to wash anything except his feet, but he is completely clean."

 

This foot-washing pictured the need for spiritual cleansing. To illustrate this, Jesus used an event of everyday life. After a person bathed their whole body, they for a while only needed to wash off dust that collected on their feet from walking.

 

This physical image pointed to a vital spiritual truth. Being born again is the bath that washes sinners thoroughly. Sins committed by a believer after conversion are like dust that sticks to a traveler's feet. Judas and Peter perfectly portray both of the needed cleansings. Judas needed a full bath; Peter needed only a washing.

 

Sins committed after conversion can't undo the eternal effect of our spiritual bath, but do need to be removed. We need daily cleansing from sins we commit.

 

At conversion we receive legal forgiveness. We are justified. There is no condemnation to all who are in Jesus (Romans 8:1). We are everlastingly covered.

 

Day to day we need personal forgiveness. We seek forgiveness because we want to make sure our one on one daily walk with the Lord is unhindered.

 

Any who have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus are eternally secure. They need only to wash off by confession and repentance sins they daily commit.

 

We must make sure we are, first of all, spiritually bathed, legally forgiven. This has to come first. Daily washing helps no one who has not been born again.

 

Once we are spiritually bathed, don't forget to daily ask for cleansing, for personal forgiveness. Constant confession of sin is important. If we do not sense a need for this daily cleansing, we are overly proud, not understanding ourselves.

For many unbelievers, it is difficult to come to Christ the first time. For many believers, it is difficult to come to Jesus continually, but we must do so.

 

John 13:10b-11 "You are clean, but not all of you." For He knew who would betray Him. This is why He said, "You are not all clean."

 

The fact a Judas was among the Twelve reminds us; when hypocrites are discovered among us, it should be neither a surprise nor a stumbling block to us.

 

Judas' sin should also make us ponder our own spiritual condition. Always be on guard, asking, "Is it I? Am I an unclean one among the clean?"

 

John 13:12-14 When Jesus had washed their feet and put on His robe, He reclined again and said to them, "Do you know what I have done for you? You call Me Teacher and Lord. This is well said, for I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet."

 

Some take Jesus' words about foot-washing literally, but I feel He was dramatically urging us to be willing to humbly serve others in whatever ways we can. This event pictured at least three ways we can wash one another's feet.

 

One, promote purity. Foot-washing pictured what Jesus would accomplish at the cross. He washed feet to symbolize the fact He came to wash away the sins of the world. People have the awful freedom to refuse the benefit of Jesus' washing. For instance, Judas did this. Christ came to promote purity. We too must strive by word and deed to help each other be spiritually clean. Set an example of holiness.

 

John 13:15 "For I have given you an example that you also should do just as I have done for you."

 

Two, follow Jesus' example. Don't put too much faith in anyone else as a role model for Christian behavior. Even the best saints are imperfect. Don't blindly follow them. Keep our eyes on Jesus. Let Him be the image we want to model. One example He for sure set this night that we are to imitate was; He loved the disciples, though they had failures aplenty.

 

The disciples were wrong in their thinking. After the resurrection, they still thought Jesus would establish a physical earthly kingdom immediately. They were slow learners, but Jesus left them to be His witnesses to the world, and blessed them. We too need to minister to people who are mistaken about spiritual matters.

 

The disciples had weak faith. This night Philip, who had walked three years with Jesus, demanded more evidence, "Lord, show us the Father, and that's enough for us" (John 14:8). Do we know people we think could never have enough faith to believe? Don't let their little faith keep us from loving, and trying to win, them.

 

The disciples were unkind. James and John once wanted to call fire out of Heaven to destroy a whole city. Jesus rebuked them, but retained them as dear friends. Even Judas could not escape his love. Jesus made Him treasurer, gave him a seat of honor at the Last Supper, and called him "friend" (Matthew 26:50) at the betrayal. However harsh, cruel, mean, or caustic people are, we are to love them.

 

The disciples sinned. Peter rebuked Jesus, who responded by calling him "Satan" (Matthew 16:21-23). Peter also denied the Lord openly, and cursed, but when Jesus left the tomb, He commanded the angel to mention Peter by name. The angel told the ladies, "Tell Peter Jesus wants to see him in Galilee" (Mark 16:7).

 

Jesus later chose Peter to preach the sermon at Pentecost. Do you know a "huge sinner", one who is vulgar, evil, yea blasphemous? Love them anyway.

 

Our Lord was the essence of constant love; He embodied unchanging love, and refused to cease blessing the undeserving. We also must never give up.

 

John 13:16 "I assure you: A slave is not greater than his master, and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent Him."

 

Three, be a servant. When Christ humbled Himself, He dignified humility, and honored it. Our Lord washed feet; we should be willing to do the same, to be ready to perform for others undignified service—yea even a slave's task.

 

Learn to highly value Christlike servanthood. Be a servant, willing to perform any act of service for believers, however lowly it be. If a church position requires hard work, and offers little reward and praise, take it. Be glad to have a job few want.

 

In local churches, there is no rush after belittling jobs. But by taking one, we hurt no one's feelings, escape the envy of others, gain a conscience at peace, and defeat the pharisaic spirit that craves the applause of people. If we do menial tasks, don't forget to let the receivers of our service know they are of utmost importance.

 

Be a servant, quickly forgiving others. Often the least provocation causes a church member to explode with anger or sink into sulking. A true servant refuses to respond this way.

 

We hear many messages on not offending others. These are worthwhile. We also need more sermons on servants being willing to not get easily offended. Yes, it is wrong to offend; it is also wrong to carry a chip on our shoulder all the time.

The same Lord who said, "Woe to them from whom offenses come," also said, when offended, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Our Master was a servant in deed as well as in word. May we go and do likewise.

 

 

 

Lazarus, Come Out!

John 11:25,33-44

Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life

Prepared by Dr. John E. Marshall

 

John 11:25 (Holman)  Jesus said to her (Martha), "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live."

 

As His friend, Lazarus, lay a corpse in a nearby tomb, Jesus made one of His boldest claims ever. It is significant that He mentioned resurrection before life.

 

We humans are by nature spiritually dead. None of us can have God-life unless we are first raised from death. Jesus claimed He is the One who resurrects life out of death. He also claimed He is the life; He sustains life once it is given.

 

We are physical, as well as spiritual, beings. God provided for both. Our bodies will die due to sin, but shall live again through resurrection. Physical death is not the end. After it happens, life goes on. All who do not believe in Jesus shall be forever separated from Him. All who believe in Him will forever live with Him.

 

Here in verse 25, we heard the claim Jesus made. To see evidence that validated and proved His claim, we turn our attention to verse 33.

 

John 11:33-37 When Jesus saw her (Mary) crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, He was angry in His spirit and deeply moved. "Where have you put him?" He asked. "Lord," they told Him, "come and see." Jesus wept. So the Jews said, "See how He loved him!" But some of them said, "Couldn't He who opened the blind man's eyes also have kept this man from dying?"

 

This scene vividly brought home to Jesus the iron grip we humans are held in by death. In His friends, Jesus saw in microcosm the pain death causes for all people. It is the ultimate divider.

 

Jesus, broken over Mary and Martha's grieving, was not only sad at the devastating pain He was seeing. He was also inwardly angry at its cause, indignant that His adversary, the Devil, had brought sin and death into the world.

 

A storm of aggravation and sorrow was brewing within Him. Finally, a lightning bolt of anger was followed by a rain of sadness.

The onlookers were touched by Jesus' outpouring of emotion, but misinterpreted His tears. They thought He was sad at His own personal failure to help Lazarus. The crowd felt Jesus' tears showed much love, but a love powerless to help. Unknown to them was the fact Jesus was not coming to the grave as a spectator. He was a wrestler preparing for battle against a tyrannical foe who had to be defeated.

 

John 11:38-39 Then Jesus, angry in Himself again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. "Remove the stone," Jesus said. Martha, the dead man's sister, told Him, "Lord, he already stinks. It's been four days."

 

Martha was horrified at the thought of anyone seeing the repulsive sight of her brother's putrefying corpse. Family tenderness naturally shrank from disclosing the ravages of death on her beloved. Exposing the remains would show disrespect for Lazarus.

 

John 11:40-42 Jesus said to her, "Didn't I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You heard Me. I know that You always hear Me, but because of the crowd standing here I said this, so they may believe You sent Me."

 

Jesus, wanting to make sure His Father would receive praise and honor, thanked God before the miracle occurred. He knew that after Lazarus was raised from the dead, pandemonium would make it difficult to give His Father appropriate honor.

 

John 11:43-44 After He said this, He shouted with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him and let him go."

 

Without our Master, this grave and all others have to be named Hopeless Despair. Every example of human power stands helpless here. Musicians, try your songs. Educators, teach. Preachers, preach. Physicians, bring your strongest medicine. Generals, rally the troops. Kings, issue edicts.

 

All of these were useless at Lazarus' tomb. They were all useless here. Death sat smugly on a corpse, laughing at them all. But somewhere in Jesus' stroll to the grave, death's grim grin became a frightened frown. Arrogance panicked.

 

Jesus had arrived at the tomb and was commanding the stone be removed. Satan knew the power of this foe. Jesus had already cheated death twice by retrieving at Nain a widow's only son (Luke 7:15), and later the daughter of Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue (Luke 8:55).

 

While Jesus thanked the Father, death clutched its prey and screamed to demons of Hell to help keep Lazarus' spirit from re-entering his body. This corpse had to be kept in the realm of death. But it was all in vain.

 

The Champion had arrived. This was open warfare. As Jesus assaulted death, He yelled like a soldier launching an attack.

This is the only place where Jesus is said to have shouted. The volume in His voice bespoke urgency and kingly authority.

 

The shout contained three words, translated here as "Lazarus, come out!" The two words of command are adverbs of place used here as imperatives. Jesus did not offer a request. He issued an order that could be rendered "Here! Outside!"

 

The result was a fourfold miracle. One, Lazarus' spirit was retrieved from another world. Lazarus was already far away from this rock cave, but even Heaven itself was subject to Jesus' command. Jesus' voice penetrated the unseen world and reached Lazarus from a long distance.

 

Even in Heaven, Lazarus realized his name was being called. He heard, recognized, and obeyed the voice. When Jesus cried "Here!" Lazarus came.

 

A relationship unbreakable even by death and distance existed between Lazarus and Jesus. The same is true for all believers. Not even the grave can sever the bond between Jesus and us. We will be forever His; He will be forever ours.

 

Two, life was restored to the decomposing body. Satan had clutched the lifeless corpse in his fangs and had surrounded it with his accomplices. But when Jesus spoke, the devil had to retreat. He was forced to drop his prey, and slither away in disgrace.

 

Three, corruption was reversed. Natural laws of decomposition were overturned. Raising Lazarus publically after four days of decay displayed Jesus' power over every aspect of death.

 

No one ever died in the presence of the Prince of Life. No dead body stayed dead when He approached it. Death and Jesus cannot be in the same room long.

 

Four, the body was lifted outside the tomb. "Outside!" He commanded, and outside Lazarus came. The law of gravity bowed to Jesus' will. "Bound hand and foot" meant the grave clothes were preventing all natural motion. The command "Loose him, and let him go" implied Lazarus could not free himself or walk away on his own.

 

The voice heard at Lazarus' tomb will be even louder on the last day. His call will be heard in every tomb on this planet. Until then His voice is heard in softer tones in our hearts through the wooing of the Holy Spirit.

 

This physical miracle demonstrated what Jesus wants to do for us spiritually. He wants to resurrect us, to give us the life of Heaven.