THE MOST EMBARRISSING VERSE IN THE BIBLE

THE MOST EMBARRISSING VERSE IN THE BIBLE

MIKE CUNNINGHAM

OCTOBER 4, 2007

“...in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, 1 Peter 3:15 (ESV).

This morning I would like to ask those of you who have been a Christian for some time whether or not you are prepared to make a believable scriptural defense for the hope that is in you? For instance, how would you respond to someone with similar views as those of the following three men? On March 6, 1927, world renowned Nobel Laurite, Bertrand Russell delivered a lecture to the South London Branch of the National Secular Society. Russell had read the Gospels and came to a conclusion about our Lord which is the exact opposite of mine and I hope yours. After making a handful of complementary observations about Jesus, Russell went on to say,

“I come to certain points in which I do not believe that one can grant either the superlative wisdom or the superlative goodness of Christ as depicted in the Gospels;” “I am concerned with Christ as He appears in the Gospels, taking the Gospel narrative as it stands, and there one does find some things that do not seem to be very wise. For one thing, he certainly thought that His second coming would occur in clouds of glory before the death of all the people who were living at that time, (Mark 14:62). There are a great many texts that prove that. He says, for instance, “When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes,” Matthew 10:23 (ESV). Then he says, "For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. ²⁸Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom," Matthew 16:27-28 (ESV) and there are a lot of places where it is quite clear that He believed that His Second Coming would happen during the lifetime of many then living. That was the belief of His earlier followers, and it was the basis of a good deal of His moral teaching. When He said, "...do not be anxious about tomorrow,” Matthew 6:34 (ESV) and things of that sort, it was very largely because He thought that the Second Coming was going to be very soon, and that all ordinary mundane affairs did not count.” “. ... clearly He was not as wise as some other people have been, and He was certainly not superlatively wise.” (A) As I have been pointing out in my recent sermons, whether or not Christ knew what He was talking about concerning His return in judgment is a major hindrance to evangelism. Russell who was an atheist wasn’t alone in his conclusions. Allow me to share another one.

“...it seems to me impossible to retain in any recognizable form our belief in the Divinity of Christ and the truth of the Christian revelation while abandoning, or even persistently neglecting, the promised, and threatened, Return. “He shall come again to judge the living and the dead,” says the Apostles’ Creed. “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven," Acts 1:11 (ESV). “Hereafter,” said our Lord himself (by those words inviting [His] crucifixion), “...you will see the Son of Man ...coming with the clouds of heaven," Mark 14:62 (ESV).

“I make no claim to speak as an expert in any of the studies involved, and merely put forward the reflections which have arisen in my own mind and have seemed to me (perhaps wrongly) to be helpful. They are all submitted to the correction of wiser heads.” (This man sounds somewhat like someone we know who is constantly reminding folks to search the scriptures to determine whether or not what he is teaching is indeed true.) “Say what you like, ‘...the apocalyptic beliefs of the first Christians have been proven to be false. It is clear from the New Testament that they all expected the Second Coming in their own lifetime. And, worse still, they had a reason, and one which you will find very embarrassing. Their Master had told them so. He [Christ] shared, and indeed created, their delusion. He said in so many words, ‘...this generation will not pass away until all these things take place,” Matthew 24:34 (ESV). And He was wrong. He clearly knew no more about the end of the world than anyone else.” It is certainly the most embarrassing verse in the Bible.” (B) By the grace of God, C. S. Lewis knows better today. And so does “The great preacher, Charles H. Spurgeon, [who once] said, “If a child were to read this passage I know what he would think it meant: he would suppose Jesus Christ was going to come, and there were some standing there who would not taste death until [He]really and literally did come [again]. This I believe is the plain meaning.” (C) But then Spurgeon went on to dismiss the plain meaning and offered a lame excuse such as the vast majority of the so called Biblical prophecy experts do.

The fact is that any mentally unimpaired person reading those verses for the very first time will arrive at the same conclusion as even a child. Why do you suppose Russell believed the obvious meaning of these verses and rejected Christ, but Lewis and Spurgeon accepted Him but rejected the plain meaning of them? Better yet, why do unbelievers who are aware of these verses and millions of today’s Christians dismiss the obvious meaning and instead resort to all sorts of bizarre explanations? What is the one belief they each have in common? The son of my fictional character Charlie came to same conclusion as these three men and declared, “Everyone knows Jesus didn’t come back like He promised and rapture His followers before He cleaned house and destroyed the world as those first century Jews knew it.” That’s the presupposition most of today’s Christians start with whenever they read the Bible. Christ didn’t return! Allow me to refresh your memory about what the boy had to say at one of the Bible studies where he read the following scriptures.

“Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: " 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? ⁴³Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. ⁴⁴And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him." ⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. Matthew 21:42-45 (ESV).” “You see! They even knew He was talking to them about them and not to and about some guys who would be born thousands of years later. No way!”

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! ³⁸See, your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord," Matthew 23:37-39 (ESV).

“Jesus sure ain’t expecting the city to say ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ He has to mean those bad guys, teacher. Do you want to know something else? Listen to this.”

“For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. ²⁸Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." Matthew 16:27-28 (ESV) also Mark 9:1

“Do you see what I’m getting at, teacher? Jesus is really ticked off by those guys and He tells them about the punishment that’s in store for them. If they don’t kick the bucket first; those guys will still be around when He comes back. Now look at the stuff Jesus told His disciples they were going to see, and what He was going to do for them.”

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matthew 24:29-31 (ESV)

“Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place, Matthew 24:34 (ESV).

The boy went on to say, “I can’t believe that back then Jesus wasn’t talking to those people about a lot of bad things that would happen to them, but don’t give up because He’s coming back to settle the score before all of them died?” Now let’s pretend we are eavesdropping on the latest Bible study the boy and his parents attended. In addition to his Bible, the boy brought along a rather large hard covered book called a concordance which he had received as a gift from his friend Rick’s parents to help him with his Bible studies. After getting permission from the old teacher, the boy quoted the following.

“Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ²And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. ³And Moses said, "I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." ⁴When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." ⁵Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." ⁶And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. ⁷Then the Lord said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, ⁸and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Periz-zites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites,” Exodus 3:1-8 (ESV).

“All those other times in the Old Testament, and there were a lot of them, teacher, when God came down in judgment, even though they didn’t actually see Him, the Israelites knew He had come down by all the bad stuff that happened just like He promised. Now listen to this everybody,” the boy continued.

“Does anyone see the difference between God coming down in judgment between the Old and New Testament times?” “Why don’t you tell us, young man,” the teacher responded. “Cool! I was hoping you would say that, teacher. Here goes.”

“It was Jesus the Son of man who came down to clean house in the New Testament. Does anyone want to know why?” “I do,” the boy’s parents replied in unison. “I’m rather curious to learn what you’re getting at, young man,” the teacher added.” “Great! Listen to what I found in my new concordance.

“So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. ²⁰For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. ²¹For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. ²²The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,” John 5:19-22 (ESV).

“The authority to judge had been changed and was given to Jesus. Now listen to this everybody,” the boy said.

“But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." Then all the disciples left him and fled. ⁵⁷Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. ⁵⁸And Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end. ⁵⁹Now the chief priests and the whole Council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, ⁶⁰but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward ⁶¹and said, "This man said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.' "⁶²And the high priest stood up and said, "Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?" ⁶³But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." ⁶⁴Jesus said to him, "You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven," Matthew 26:56-64 (ESV).

“It’s like Jesus said, ‘you just wait and see all the miraculous stuff that’s going to happen after you kill me, Caiaphas. You and the rest of them are in for a mega surprise. ’ Now listen to this everyone.”

“Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. ⁴⁶And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" ⁴⁷And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, "This man is calling Elijah." ⁴⁸And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. ⁴⁹But the others said, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him." ⁵⁰And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. ⁵¹And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. ⁵²The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, ⁵³and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city [Jerusalem] and appeared to many. ⁵⁴When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!" Matthew 27:45-54 (ESV).

“Now let’s go back and look at some of the stuff Jesus said to His disciples on the Mount of Olives, everyone. After He finished telling them about all the really bad things that were going to happen, Jesus added:

“Can you see what happened?” the boy asked the group. “Caiaphas and the other Jews alive at the time saw with their very own eyes all these things happen. But they didn’t actually see Jesus in person anymore than the Old Testament Jews saw God when He came down to clean house just like He had promised to do back then.” “If they didn’t, then those idiot’s are still alive and roaming around the Planet somewhere keeping out of sight, ha, ha,” said Charlie. “No way Jose,” he added.

Other than those in the enormously lucrative End Times industry who know a “cash cow” when they see one, millions of Christians resort to all sorts of scripture twisting and double talk about these and many other verses to justify their continued belief in Him. There is a term which is used to describe such people.

“Cognitive dissonance is a term used by scholars for the phenomenon of when a person knows that their belief system has been proven wrong, but, they continue to defend it anyway. The term is commonly used to describe the later generations of Christians who supposedly know, down deep, that Jesus’ promises to return in the first century failed, but they keep believing in Him anyway. To be honest about it, those who maintain a literalist view of Christ’s coming in light of the multitudinous statements that He was to return in the first century, are forced into accepting cognitive dissonance to maintain faith. Modern examples of date setting groups who clearly have adopted cognitive dissonance are the Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Adventists, etc. all of whom set dates for the end of the world. All of the dates undeniably failed, but the adherents of those groups continue to cling to those failed systems!” (D) That’s certainly a label we couldn’t pin on Charlie’s son, can we?

“Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for the hope that is in you,” (1Peter 3:15).

The stakes are enormous. The wages of sin is eternal death, (Romans 6:23) but everyone who believes in Jesus will receive the gift of eternal life, (John 3:16). Can we Christians honestly say that we truly care about poor lost sinners and that we are doing our utmost to become able to make a believable scriptural defense to someone who is seriously searching the Bible in hope of finding the meaning of life, but is hung up on what C. S. Lewis believed was THE MOST EMBARRASSING VERSE IN THE BIBLE? Lord willing, next week...

(A) It was [published as a pamphlet that year and achieved new fame with the 1957 edition of his book, Why I Am Not a Christian, Edited by Paul Edwards.

(B) http://www.worldwithoutend.info/bbc/books/articles/cslewis.htm

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