Nothing Left to Hide: An Easter Poem
And so he swept away sin’s tide; / Demons, death denied; / Came back to win his bride.
And so he swept away sin’s tide; / Demons, death denied; / Came back to win his bride.
Fifteen years ago I met a man who claimed that penal substitutionary atonement was just an invention of the apostle Paul. He challenged me to find just one example in the gospels where Jesus himself spoke of his death in that way. At the time I was stumped! I wish I could have that conversation again: I would point him to Jesus’ Last Supper.
Though all accounts agree that his death was sudden and unexpected, each offers different and irreconcilable accounts of when, where and by whom Odaenathus died.
What did Christ achieve on the cross and how did he do it? Answers to such questions have often been complicated by terminological confusion—particularly the distinction between substitution, representation and incorporation. Did Jesus atone for our sins by dying instead of us or by representing us? Was his death something we did along with him or something he did for us and without us? In what sense did we die with him? As we come to this Easter weekend, particularly in the midst of the Coronavirus crisis, it will be good for our souls to give our attention to such...
I’m not preaching resurrection this Easter. It’s not that I won’t be preaching. I am grateful that even in this strange season the pastors at my church have still invited me to preach. So, I will be preaching (Lord willing), but not on resurrection. Our lives, our nation and world are experiencing death. More than ever in my life we can commiserate with Israel in Ezekiel 37: “Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off” (Ezek 37:11). Death has cast its pall with new power around the globe. Every news bulletin carries shots of...