The centrality of the passion in the early church

The portions of the four Gospels dealing with the life and teachings of Jesus were divided into short, discrete units (pericopes) suitable for reading and exposition in the context of worship in the early church. Once the Last Supper begins, however, the method changes. The portions describing the arrest, trial, suffering, and execution of Jesus are quite unlike the rest of the Gospels. These sequences are staged as long dramatic narratives, differing noticeably from the division of the earlier material into brief pericopes. The passion stories take up one-fourth to one-third of the total length of the four Gospels, and biblical interpreters generally agree that the material was shaped by the church’s oral traditions prior to being put into written form, in a way that forever indicates the surpassing importance of the suffering of Christ for the life of the earliest Christian communities.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 42

Praise the Savior, Ye Who Know Him

362 Praise the Savior, Ye Who Know Him

1 Praise the Savior, ye who know Him!
   Who can tell how much we owe Him?
   Gladly let us render to Him
   all we are and have.

2 Jesus is the name that charms us;
   He for conflict fits and arms us;
   nothing moves and nothing harms us
   while we trust in Him.

3 Trust in Him, ye saints, forever;
   He is faithful, changing never;
   neither force nor guile can sever
   those He loves from Him.

4 Keep us, Lord, O keep us cleaving
   to Thyself, and still believing,
   till the hour of our receiving
   promised joys with Thee.
                         Thomas Kelly
                         Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
Hymnary.org adds a fifth verse:

5 Then we shall be where we would be,
   then we shall be what we should be;
   things that are not now, nor could be,
   soon shall be our own.

</idle musing>

I Will Praise Him!

359 I Will Praise Him!

1 When I saw the cleansing fountain,
   Open wide for all my sin,
   I obeyed the Spirit’s wooing
   When He said, Wilt thou be clean?

Chorus:
   I will praise Him! I will praise Him!
   Praise the Lamb for sinners slain;
   Give Him glory, all ye people,
   For His blood can wash away each stain.

2 Tho' the way seems straight and narrow,
   All I claimed was swept away;
   My ambitions, plans, and wishes,
   At my feet in ashes lay. (Chorus)

3 Then God’s fire upon the altar
   Of my heart was set aflame;
   I shall never cease to praise Him,
   Glory, glory to His name! (Chorus)

4 Blessed be the name of Jesus!
   I’m so glad He took me in;
   He’s forgiven my transgressions,
   He has cleansed my heart from sin. (Chorus)

5 Glory, glory to the Father!
   Glory, glory to the Son!
   Glory, glory to the Spirit!
   Glory to the Three in One! (Chorus)
                         Hymns for the Family of God
                         Margaret J. Harris

O Could I Speak the Matchless Worth

344 O Could I Speak the Matchless Worth

1 O could I speak the matchless worth,
   O could I sound the glories forth
   Which in my Savior shine,
   I'd soar and touch the heavenly strings,
   And vie with Gabriel while he sings
   In notes almost divine,
   In notes almost divine.

2 I'd sing the precious blood He spilt,
   My ransom from the dreadful guilt
   Of sin and wrath divine!
   I'd sing His glorious righteousness,
   In which all perfect heavenly dress
   My soul shall ever shine,
   My soul shall ever shine.

3 I'd sing the characters He bears,
   And all the forms of love He wears,
   Exalted on His throne.
   In loftiest songs of sweetest praise,
   I would to everlasting days
   Make all His glories known,
   Make all His glories known.

4 Soon, the delightful day will come
   When my dear Lord will bring me home,
   And I shall see His face;
   Then with my Savior, Brother, Friend,
   A blest eternity I’ll spend,
   Triumphant in His grace,
   Triumphant in His grace.
                         Samuel Medley
                         Hymns for the Family of God

The importance of the incarnation

The incarnation is the other essential pole of the Christian confession. God’s own self is totally, unreservedly, unconditionally invested in the self-offering “even to death on a cross” of the man Jesus. If God is not truly incarnate in Jesus as he accomplishes his work on the cross, then nothing has really happened from God’s side and we are thrown back on ourselves. If there is no incarnation of the Godhead in Jesus’ sacrifice, then there is no salvation apart from what human nature can contribute.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 32

Come, Christians, Join to Sing

342 Come, Christians, Join to Sing

1. Come, Christians, join to sing
   Alleluia! Amen!
   Loud praise to Christ our King;
   Alleluia! Amen!
   Let all, with heart and voice,
   Before His throne rejoice;
   Praise is His gracious choice:
   Alleluia! Amen!

2. Come, lift your hearts on high;
   Alleluia! Amen!
   Let praises fill the sky;
   Alleluia! Amen!
   He is our guide and friend;
   To us He'll condescend;
   His love shall never end:
   Alleluia! Amen!

3. Praise yet our Christ again;
   Alleluia! Amen!
   Life shall not end the strain;
   Alleluia! Amen!
   On heaven's blissful shore
   His goodness we'll adore,
   Singing forevermore,
   "Alleluia! Amen!"
                         Christian Henry Bateman
                         Hymns for the Family of God

Why the weak church?

The drift away from the Bible has weakened the church. Many people are ready to believe but have been intimidated into thinking that no educated person with any pretense to cultural sophistication could actually take the testimony of the Bible seriously. The one antidote to this is a robust exposition of the apostolic gospel.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 30

We Praise Thee, O God, Our Redeemer

334 We Praise Thee, O God, Our Redeemer

1. We praise You, O God, our Redeemer, Creator,
   In grateful devotion our tribute we bring.
   We lay it before You, we kneel and adore You,
   We bless Your holy name, glad praises we sing.

2. We worship You, God of our fathers, we bless You;
   Thro' life's storm and tempest our Guide You have been.
   When perils o'er-take us You will not forsake us,
   And with Your help, O Lord, our battles we win.

3. With voices united our praises we offer,
   And gladly our songs of thanksgiving we raise.
   With You, Lord, beside us, Your strong arm will guide us.
   To You, our great Redeemer, forever be praise.
                         Julia C. Cory
                         Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
Not a terribly popular hymn, only occurring in abour 175 hymnals. Cyberhymnal notes that she later added a fourth verse for Christmas:

Thy love Thou didst show us, Thine only Son sending,
   Who came as a babe and whose bed was a stall,
   His blest life He gave us and then died to save us;
   We praise Thee, O Lord, for Thy gift to us all.

</idle musing>

Jesus of History?

The key to Jesus is now, as it has always been, his crucifixion and resurrection. Nothing whatever is known from first-century extrabiblical sources about Jesus as a historical figure. The New Testament is the only witness we have. Any modern reconstruction of the “historical Jesus,” therefore, is certain to be a product of the cultural environment that produced it, whereas the Jesus proclaimed as Lord in the New Testament comes closer than any other figure known to human history to being universal, transcending time and historical location, belonging to all cultures and all people everywhere and forever.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 29

Psalm 92 (hymn version)

330 It Is Good to Sing Thy Praises

1 It is good to sing Your praises
   and to thank You, O Most High,
   showing forth Your lovingkindness
   when the morning lights the sky.
   It is good when night is falling,
   of Your faithfulness to tell,
   while with sweet, melodious praises
   songs of adoration swell.

2 You have filled our hearts with gladness
   at the works Your hands have wrought;
   You have made our lives victorious;
   great Your works and deep Your thought.
   You, O LORD, on high exalted,
   reign forevermore in might;
   all Your enemies shall perish,
   sin be banished from Your sight.

3 But the good shall live before You,
   planted in Your dwelling place,
   fruitful trees and ever verdant,
   nourished by Your boundless grace.
   In His goodness to the righteous,
   God His righteousness displays;
   God, my Rock, my Strength and Refuge,
   just and true are all Your ways.
                         Psalm 92
                         Hymns for the Family of God

It's still a skandalon

The case of Jesus is in a class by itself. We can study the historical facts, ponder the motives of Pilate, debate the role of “the Jews,” and propose alternative interpretations until the fourth millennium, and we will be no closer to the reasons for the utter uniqueness of this death. Paul writes in Romans 1:17 that the gospel is “revealed through faith for faith.” This has never been an easy presupposition to defend. Like the “word of the cross” itself, the uncompromising nature of the Scriptures is a roadblock, a skandalon (I Cor. 1:23). Yet we cannot allow ourselves to be reduced to mumbling, “Well, you just have to take it on faith.” We have evidence from within Scripture itself that scholarship, reflection, and wrestling with the text are part of our calling as God’s people; the profound engagement of the Evangelists and apostles with their own received Hebrew Scriptures bears witness to this.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 21

Tozer for Tuesday

Our worship services should be so holy and so filled with a sense of God’s presence that unholy men will be very uncomfortable. Now we have done it the other way around. The most unholy person in town can come into the church and feel quite comfortable. People should come to a church worship service not anticipating entertainment but expecting the high and holy manifestation of God’s presence.—A.W. Tozer, Experiencing the Presence of God, 134

Begin, My Tongue, Some Heavenly Theme

328 Begin, My Tongue, Some Heavenly Theme

1 Begin, my tongue, some heavenly theme,
   And speak some boundless thing;
   The mighty works, or mightier name,
   Of our eternal King.

2 Tell of his wondrous faithfulness,
   And sound his power abroad;
   Sing the sweet promise of his grace,
   And the performing God.

3 His very word of grace is strong
   As that which built the skies;
   The voice that rolls the stars along
   Speaks all the promises.

4 O might I hear the heav’nly tongue
   But whisper, Thou art Mine!
   Those gentle words shall raise my song
   To notes almost divine.
                         Isaac Watts
                         Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
I wasn't familiar with this Isaac Watts hymn, which occurs in about 300 hymnals. And, oh my!, the variations. As usual, Cyberhymnal has the fullest listing of verses:

3. Proclaim salvation from the Lord
   For wretched, dying men;
   His hand has writ the sacred Word
   With an immortal pen.

4. Engraved as in eternal brass
   The mighty promise shines;
   Nor can the powers of darkness rase
   Those everlasting lines.

5. He that can dash whole worlds to death,
   And make them when He please,
   He speaks, and that almighty breath
   Fulfils His great decrees.

7. He said, Let the wide heav’n be spread,
   And heav’n was stretched abroad:
   Abram, I’ll be thy God, He said,
   And He was Abram’s God.

9. How would my leaping heart rejoice,
   And think my heav’n secure!
   I trust the all-creating voice,
   And faith desires no more.

</idle musing>