Jacob Howard Salvation, Shadows of Christ

No Broken Bones

sheeptiedThe Bible seems to go through great lengths to document that none of Jesus’ bones were broken when He was murdered. For me, that has always been interesting but I’ve always wondered why it is so important! What is so special about it?

Another interesting thing about the prophecies related to this topic is that I have, for some reason, always been focused on them. It seemed, whenever reading, watching or hearing about the crucifixion I would remember that Jesus’ bones were not broken. This topic has been a “staple” in my questions about the Bible but I just never made a move on it, until now.

Now, since I have been studying some specific, amazing passages of Scripture, I have found that there was a great explanation to the importance of His bones never being broken. But, first, the prophecies.

Psalms 22:17:

I may tell all my bones . . .

Psalms 34:20:

He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

The first theory claims that God was making Jesus’ body a perfect Passover sacrifice (paschal lamb). In Exodus 12:46, the Israelites are commanded not to break any of the bones on the lamb. Some claim that the prophecies and fulfillment mean that Jesus was the perfect Passover sacrifice. A very interesting theory . . . that makes plenty of sense.

However, one problem with this theory is that John, when writing the Gospel, in verse 36, quoted a verse from the Old Testament. The closest verse that comes to his quotation is Psalms 34:20 and that verse does not refer to the paschal lamb.

But, when you really look into the prophecies and the fulfillment you can only help to see something slightly deeper.

In Leviticus 1 it talks about sacrificing to the LORD. Actually, a majority of the first five books of the Bible talk about sacrificing to the LORD. But, Leviticus 1 is a good place to start.

When God asked for a sacrifice from people He asked that it be without blemish. It could not be spotted, streaked, have a wrinkled nose, have no tail, etc. Basically it had to be perfect! One of the things that were not acceptable for a sacrifice were . . . broken bones.

If a sacrifice had broken bones it was an abomination to God. Imagine if the only way to wash away your sins had broken legs? Imagine the disdain you would be throwing at God if you gave Him a sacrifice with broken bones!

I believe it is the same way with Christ. He could not be blemished. He had to be perfect and having broken bones was not perfect. So, that is the ultimate reason Jesus’ bones could not be broken. The Sacrifice had to be perfect so the bones could not be broken.

Oh, interesting fact (in case someone says that His bones could be broken after His death): when sacrifices were made in the Old Testament, never were their legs broken before, during or after the sacrifice. So, not only did Jesus’ have to be perfect before and during His sacrifice, He had to be perfect afterward. Besides, did the disciples see Jesus risen . . . with crutches under His arms?

Jacob Howard Salvation, Shadows of Christ

Water and Blood

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In John 19:34 it says:

But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water

This verse was been the source of controversy based on many different variables. Although it would seem that this meant that Jesus had died of a broken heart (quite literally), there are many who say that is not possible.

They say: how can it be possible for Jesus to die from a natural cause (burst/broken heart) while saving the world from sin? In other words, how can something spiritual be caused by something natural. I’ll tell you how, right after I explain the importance of the burst heart.

In Psalm 22 it says that “. . . my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.” If you doubt that this is a prophecy then you will have to wait for tomorrow’s article which will explain a whole lot of things about this chapter.

The People’s New Testament Commentary said of the verse:

The water, with clots of blood, can be accounted for only the previous rupture of the heart and the flow of blood into the pericardium, or outer sack of the heart, where it would separate very rapidly into water and clots of blood. Hence, it seems certain that the immediate physical cause of the death of Christ was rupture of the heart.

In case you do not know, a rupture heart is a serious thing. Other people say that Jesus could not have died because of a ruptured heart so they propose the following, as seen in Albert Barnes’ New Testament Commentary.

The heart is surrounded by a membrane called the pericardium. This membrane contains a serous matter or liquor resembling water, which prevents the surface of the heart from becoming dry by its continual motion (Webster). It was this which was pierced and from which the water flowed.

This seems to make sense but when the look at the Greek word for water in the Gospel of John you find that it is a very literal word meaning exactly what it says, “water”. There is little, if any, room to interpret it as anything even close to water.

Other people also say that the water (as it being water for real) and blood is a supernatural mystery meant to symbolize the washing of sins with Jesus’ blood and then baptism with water. It makes perfect sense that they could represent that and there seems to be little evidence directly against this theory.

But, once again, we have come around to the prophecy in Psalms 22 that says “.  . . my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.” The Hebrew words seem to suggest that the “melting” would be predicting a ruptured heart but it is hard to tell.

The biggest argument for it all is that the prophecy needed fulfillment and God made sure John recorded the incident with the spear so all would know that He fulfilled the prophecy in Christ.

As far as the whole “Jesus couldn’t have died from a ruptured heart because it would be a natural death that killed Him and the natural cannot cause the supernatural.” Oh really?

Can you explain the Red Sea then in a purely spiritual way? Can water stand up like walls purely spiritually or naturally? What about Noah’s ark? Can the whole earth flood just spiritually or naturally? No, for both these miracles you need the spiritual as well as the natural. God could have used the natural to make His perfect Sacrifice (which is a spiritual saving).

Jacob Howard Salvation, Worldview

The True Repentant Heart

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For about 40 years Living Waters has been preaching the Gospel from a new, “lost” perspective. Their perspective comes from multiple areas of the Bible that use God’s law to bring guilt and recognition of their sin to the human conscience. They apply these verses to live and witness in that manner.

Once the conscience has been plowed, Living Waters places the seed of truth (of a Savior that can save them from their sin) in the heart and nourish it by telling people that they need to repent of their sins and accept Jesus Christ as their Salvation. Many people object to this method by saying . . .

1. We are told not to judge and this method of preaching judges people

2. We are supposed to love the sinners up, not knock them down

In response to these un-based claims I have done the following:

1. We are told not to judge and this method of preaching judges people

Biblically this statement is true (Matthew 7:1) but it does not apply to the ministry of Living Waters since this is not what they do. Let me explain.

A judge is someone who declares a sentence to someone. In the case of Living Waters’ way of witnessing they are acting more like the man who tells the sentence to the one being sentenced. They do not give the decree or sentence and they do not judge; they let God do that.

It is not unbiblical to tell mankind about what they will face when they die. In fact, Jesus commands us too (Acts 1:8)!

2. We are supposed to love the sinners up, not knock them down

First off, sin is the conscious act of disobedience against God, by a human. And, since murder and gay marriages are clearly spoken against in the Bible, we can definitely say they are a sin. And, since sin is disobedience against a perfect God, we could assume that God would have a righteous anger against the disobedience.

But, don’t just take my word for it, read what God has said Himself:

Numbers 11:1:

And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and His anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.

Numbers 32:13:

And the LORD’S anger was kindled against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed.

If God has that kind of righteous anger against complaining, imagine His perfect anger against other sin.

So, should we say, “hate the sin, not the sinner.”? No, we shouldn’t say it but the leading point behind this saying is, “love the person for who they are and just don’t do what they do.” This is not what God acts like.

Christians should have a righteous anger for sin, just like God does. But, because of this flesh-soaked world, we have grown soft on that. We seem to forget, or force from our minds, the fact that God hates sin!

We need to speak against such things as gay marriages and abortion, with the righteous anger against sin! So, “hate the sin, teach the sinner the same.”

Also, last time I checked, telling a sinner about God and how they will go to hell without divine intervention is not unbiblical; actually it is one of the most biblical things you can say!

Living Waters has been preaching the Gospel for awhile and I feel that their method of preaching not only brings a true, repentant heart but also a soul for God!

Jacob Howard Salvation

Lest Any Man

Penguins

I know I probably should have saved this stunning photo for an article about penguins but . . . when I saw those three penguins with chests out, showing off to each other, I got to thinking about my three big brothers and the rest just sort of clicked into place. Of course I had to write a post about bragging! And what better way to advertise it then three penguins with a lot of hot air?

Although the Bible doesn’t have a lot of verses and such on bragging, it does have a few verses packed with a lot of meaning on bragging. But first, we have to define why people brag at all and what kind of meaning it takes for the unsaved.

As far as I can tell, most bragging is done to make oneself appear better or equal to another human being. And just where have we discussed “better” people before? Maybe it had something to do with salvation . . .

See, when people brag it is kind of a way of saying they think they can accomplish things by being “better”. I mean, if you were like Mother Teresa or something wouldn’t you, in the belief of this world, technically, be closer to heaven? How could heaven reject someone who did so much for humans?

Galatians 2:16:

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Do you see a thread coming on here? People brag to lift themselves up. When people lift themselves up they usually think that they are pretty great. And when people think they are pretty great, they think they can make it out alright when they die. Well, they are dead wrong, no pun intended.

I believe the above paragraph is the reason God tells us not to boast in ourselves, but in Christ:

Galatians 6:14:

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

Bragging is a pride issue. I know how it goes. Something subtle happens and you just can’t keep it inside. For some reason, maybe call it ‘flesh’, you have to open your mouth and make some comment about yourself. It is the way we live.

Let all the Christians in the world stop bragging. We can only stop through the power of God though, lest any man should boast!