Tag: Jesus

John’s Unique Perspective of Jesus

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date June 4, 2015

Each of the four biographies of Jesus in the Bible reflect the perspective of its author. While Matthew, Mark, and Luke contain many similarities, John’s account is the most different.

He offers a unique perspective on the life and teaching of Jesus.

Some refer to the book of John as the gospel of love because he mentions the word twenty times, more than Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

In considering variations of the word, the total is thirty-nine times, more than the other three combined.

In his much shorter letter, called 1 John, love and its variations occur twenty-seven times. John, it seems, is all about love.

However, other keywords are even more prevalent in the book of John. The word know appears sixty-six times in this book, while believe occurs fifty-three times.

It would seem that John’s chief desire is for us to know and believe in Jesus.

That would be a great reason for him to write an account of Jesus’ life.

We can also understand John’s unique perspective by looking at words he uses infrequently. For example, angel only appears three times in John, far less than Matthew’s nineteen times and Luke’s twenty-four times (Mark, five times).

The book of John contains only a few of Jesus’ parables. In fact, the word parable is not found at all in John, compared to sixty-six times in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

So John’s purpose in writing his biography of Jesus is so that we would know and believe in Jesus and to then live a life of love.

Angels and parables are not so important to these central themes of knowing, believing, and loving.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

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Tags Apostle John, gospel, Jesus, love

Bible Insights

Did Jesus Have Second Thoughts?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 28, 2015

Before Jesus is captured and executed, he spends some time praying. At one point in his prayer, Jesus asks God for a reprieve—that he won’t have to die—even though that was the plan all along.

But he’s quick to add an addendum, confirming he’ll do whatever his papa wants.

I wonder if Jesus is thinking about the test God gave Abraham, commanding the patriarch to kill his son Isaac. Just as Abraham is preparing to plunge the knife into his son in total obedience, God says, “Wait.”

Then he provides a different sacrifice, a substitute. Isaac is spared.

I wonder if Jesus pauses, hoping that God will again say, “Wait” and provide a substitute sacrifice or a different solution.

But this time God the Father doesn’t, and Jesus willingly dies as a once-and-for-all way to reunite us with Father God.

When it comes to Jesus dying instead of us and taking our punishment on himself, he doesn’t have second thoughts, but he is open to alternatives.

When John writes about Jesus, he records a different prayer. In this prayer, Jesus admits his anguish about dying, but he knows he can’t ask God to intervene. He acknowledges that dying is why he came to earth.

He will do it—and he does. Jesus dies to make us right with the Father. Though our wrongs separate us from him, Jesus takes our punishment upon himself, thereby making us right with the Father.

[Matthew 26:39-42, Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42, Genesis 22:1-19, John 12:23-29]

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Tags Apostle John, death, Heavenly Father, Jesus, sacrifice

Christian Living

Who Prays For You?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date May 24, 2015

Are there people who pray for you? Family members, such as parents or spouse often intercede for those dearest to them.

Your best friend, boyfriend, or girlfriend may seek God on your behalf. Maybe members of your church, your small group, or your pastors pray for you. If you’re fortunate, it may be your boss, coworkers, neighbors, or the clerks where you shop.

Sometimes these folks pray for you when you ask them to, when they see a need in your life, or when the Holy Spirit prompts them. Or praying for you may be a daily habit of theirs and you are the benefactor.

As you read these possibilities, the list of people who pray for you may be overwhelming. Or you may be dismayed that no one (that you know of) prays for you.

Regardless of how long or short your list, there are two names we can add to it—important names, the most significant we can find, the best of the best. Did you know that Jesus prays for us? And not just Jesus but the Holy Spirit, too.

Imagine that, Jesus prays to the Father for us. The Holy Spirit prays to the Father for us.

Though the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one, this is kind of like God praying to God, but they are also three parts of the godhead, imploring each other on our behalf, as though urging themselves to give us their best.

Jesus advocates for us; the Holy Spirit advocates for us. And I see God the Father nodding in agreement. It’s like a heavenly pep-rally—at least that’s how I imagine it.

Though this is hard to grasp, the essential point is that God wants the best for us and one way he shows this is by interceding for us.

Know that others, including Jesus and the Holy Spirit, are praying for us.

[Romans 8:34, Romans 8:27]

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Tags Holy Spirit, Jesus, prayer, small group

Christian Living

What Do We Do To Dishonor God?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 26, 2015

Look for Ways to Honor God

In his letter to the Christians living in Rome, Paul talks about people who attempt to live life according to a bunch of religious rules, that is, the law.

The result is that God is disrespected, not so much by the people themselves, but by those on the outside looking in.

In short, others harbor contempt for God based on how his follower’s act.

However, this isn’t the first time this happens. Paul is actually quoting from the book of Isaiah. What Isaiah writes is not his words, but God’s. God complains that because of his people’s failures, he doesn’t receive respect from others.

In both cases, the word the Bible uses to describe this is blaspheme. Others blaspheme God because of the behavior of those who claim to follow him.

To blaspheme is to speak of God in an irreverent, impious manner; to disrespect, show contempt, dishonor, slander, or abuse him.

I fear we have learned nothing from Isaiah or from Paul. Today we still do the same thing. We claim to love God, yet too often our words or our actions cause those outside of our faith to shake their heads in derision.

They mock us and they disrespect God; he is blasphemed—because of us.

How do we do this?

We hate when we should love.
We act with malice to those deserving compassion.
We judge others even though we aren’t supposed to.
We reject people on the fringes of society, the very people Jesus embraces.
We are exclusive, even though God is inclusive.

Forgive us God, for our blasphemy. You deserve better.

[Romans 2:24, Isaiah 52:5]

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Tags Jesus, love, Moses, Paul

Bible Insights

What is the Origin of Baptism?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 16, 2015

The word baptize is only found in the New Testament of the Bible. Prior to John the Baptist preforming this water ceremony, it is never mentioned. John, by the way, baptizes Jesus.

The Old Testament doesn’t mention baptism and there is no biblical account of its origin. It seems to have just started on its own, beginning with John the Baptist.

Did John invent it? Perhaps God told John to do this new thing, pointing people to a new way—Jesus.

I don’t know the answers to these questions, even though I ponder them a lot. And I can’t find much of a clue in the Bible.

Though some people attempt to connect New Testament baptism with Old Testament uses of water in religious ceremonies and rituals, I think any correlation is weak.

The dictionary describes baptism using the words cleanse, purify, and initiate. This helps some, since the first few books of the Old Testament talk a lot about cleansing and purification.

Yet pulling the ceremony of baptism from them seems a stretch.

However, in a curious passage in Corinthians, Paul talks about the Old Testament Israelites being “baptized into Moses.” Since I can’t find an actual Old Testament account of this happening, I assume it is a figurative baptism, not actual.

None of this, however, gets me any closer to learning the basis for baptism. But what’s important to know is that Jesus tells us to do it.

[Luke 3:21, 1 Corinthians 10:2, Matthew 28:19]

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Tags Jesus, John the Baptist

Christian Living

What’s the True Meaning of Easter?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 5, 2015

Happy Easter!

Easter is a celebration, not of chocolate eggs and fluffy bunnies, but of the greatest event in history. Christians everywhere know what this is, and we use big words and confusing terms to explain it.

Most people outside our circles don’t have a clue what we’re saying. Sometimes we don’t either.

On Good Friday, Jesus dies. On Easter, he is alive. But why? What does it mean?

Stripping away all the Christian jargon and inaccessible theology, here is how I see it:

We’ve all do things we shouldn’t; we’ve all make mistakes.

We deserve to be punished.

Our punishment isn’t a slap on the wrist or a timeout. Regardless of what we have done or will do, there’s only one thing on the books: death. It’s mandatory sentencing.

At our trial, Jesus stands up for us. “Oh, no, you don’t!” Murmurs go through the courtroom. “I won’t let you hurt them. Take me instead.” It is a shocking move. “Kill me; just let them go.” Wow, that’s real love.

And that’s just what happens. Jesus is executed instead of us. We get off scot-free.

This is his gift to us, the ultimate act of love, dying in place of another. As with any gift, all we need to do is reach out and take it.

But the story isn’t over. Death is not the end for Jesus. Jesus’ body doesn’t rot away in his tomb. To show the world how great he is, he comes back to life in an awesome display of power.

Now we can be together; now we can hang out.

How cool is that? Thank you Jesus!

That’s why I follow Jesus.

That’s what Easter means to me.

Celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and his return to heaven in The Victory of Jesus. The Victory of Jesus is another book in Peter DeHaan’s beloved Holiday Celebration Bible Study Series. Get your copy today.

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Tags awesome, death, Easter, Jesus

Christian Living

The Importance of Being in Community

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 15, 2015

The Myth of Self-Sufficiency

The ideal in the United States is personal self-sufficiency. But this is a myth, an unattainable pursuit that will eventually leave us broken or alone—or both.

John Donne understood this. He said “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.” We need others; we need community.

God knows this, too.

God Lives in Community

The Father with the Son, the Son with the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit with the Father. We call this the Trinity, God as three in one. Though we don’t fully understand how one entity can be three, we accept it. It is community at its finest.

God Created Us to Be in Community

In community with him and in community with others.

One of the descriptions of community from the Bible tells us to encourage each other to love and help people and “not give up meeting together.”

While a quick reaction to the phrase “meeting together” implies going to church, this is an oversimplification.

Although meeting together can happen at church (though it’s not guaranteed), these times of meeting together can also happen in homes, at work, in coffee shops and restaurants, and even when we play.

When done with purpose, our meeting together can produce meaningful community, the community God created us for, the community we need to thrive and be complete.

May we pursue community with great intention; may we embrace it as God’s plan for us.

[Hebrews 10:24-25]

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Tags church attendance, community, Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit, Jesus

Christian Living

Is Church When Two or Three Are Gathered?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date February 15, 2015
2 Comments on Is Church When Two or Three Are Gathered?

Meeting in Jesus’s Name

Jesus says that whenever a few people get together in his name, he will be there. Isn’t this what church is? Jesus shows up when we collectively meet and treat him as the main attraction; this is the church at its most basic and purest level.

Though we typically think of this as involving hundreds of people, Jesus says it only takes a few. And he says nothing about it being at 10 a.m. on a Sunday or requiring music and a message—just people.

So can church occur with a friend at a coffee shop? I say yes!

How about in a park, at a museum, or on a nature walk? Yes!

Can church happen during dinner at a friend’s house? Yes!

How about watching TV, playing a game, or just hanging out? Yes, yes, and yes!

Does any gathering that fosters community, constitute a church? As long as Jesus is the intention, the answer is yes.

Two or three gathered in his name. That’s what we did last Sunday at a friend’s house; it was church; and it was better than most any Sunday service.

Church can occur anytime a handful of people get together. All we need to do is make Jesus the focus. Shouldn’t we be doing that anyway?

[Matthew 18:19-20]

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Tags church, Jesus

Christian Living

Are You a Christian Pharisee?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date January 22, 2015
2 Comments on Are You a Christian Pharisee?

Whenever I come across the word Pharisee in the Bible, my first thought is, I’m glad I’m not a Pharisee. Then I rush on to read the next verse.

Pharisees comprised a sect of Judaism. A religious bunch, they received the bulk of Jesus’ criticism over their conceited behavior and self-righteous attitudes.

Though Jesus accepted most people as they were, loving them in spite of themselves, he was quick to censure the Pharisees for their legalistic approach to living life. They were the bad guys of the New Testament. I’m glad I’m not a Pharisee.

However, when I come across the word Pharisee in the Bible, I now no longer breeze past it with smug self-assurance. I now substitute the word Christian for it, which gives me the opportunity to consider if I do, at times, act like a Pharisee.

Though this switch obscures the original meaning, it also makes it more personal, allowing for better self-examination.

There are, of course, other words that might work even better for some people, such as Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox. Perhaps using evangelical or charismatic might make these verses more personal.

Or insert your particular denomination, such as Baptist, Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist, Pentecostal, and so forth. Pick the term you most identify with, use it to replace Pharisee, and let God speak to you. Then be sure to listen.

Though it’s an uncomfortable thought, I wonder if we Christians are more like Pharisees then we care to admit.

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Tags Christian Pharisee, evangelical, Jesus, read the Bible

Bible Insights

Linus Reminds Us What Christmas is All About

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date December 25, 2014

Of the four biographies of Jesus in the Bible, my favorite is Luke’s. Luke also contains the best-known account of Jesus’ birth, made popular by the Peanut’s character Linus.

Watch Linus explain what Christmas is all about.

This well-known clip is from the 1965 TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas. Debuting over fifty years ago, the show addressed the secularization and commercialization of Christmas.

In the past five decades, the situation has grown much worse.

Let’s reclaim what Christmas is all about, starting with today—whether it’s Christmas or not.

May you and your family celebrate Jesus throughout the year.

[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Luke 1-3, and today’s post is on Luke 2:8-14.]

Read more about the book of Luke in That You May Know: A 40-Day Devotional Exploring the Life of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

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Tags holiday, Jesus