Fear of man and cowardice

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The Book of Revelation depicts the grand finale of human history. The last thing that will happen before our Savior establishes His kingdom on earth is the final judgment, where we will all be held accountable for how we have lived our lives. After that, heavenly existence enters, with the wonderful promise from the Lord Himself: “He who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son” (Rev. 21:7).

But there is also something very encouraging in the Bible texts regarding this. To “overcome” is not just about having faith deep in your heart. As crucial as faith in the heart is, it is meant to go hand in hand with confession in the mouth: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

Jesus is actually even more pointed when he speaks about this. “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,” he says. “But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32–33). And in another place: “Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and in the glory of his Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26).

Throughout the Bible, one could say, there is a call for God’s people to be bold. “Do not throw away your boldness, which has great reward,” says Hebrews 10:35. It is therefore telling that when Revelation lists those who will not be part of God’s heavenly fellowship, the first ones mentioned are not murderers or idolaters or occultists​—although they are also on the list. Instead, they are “the cowards” (see Rev. 21:8). Those who have not stood up for Jesus and his word.

The call to boldness rests especially heavily on Christian leadership. “Not many of you should become teachers, for you know that we will receive a stricter judgment,” writes Jesus’ brother James (James 3:1). And in the epistle of the Book of Revelation, Jesus repeatedly points out what the churches and their leadership tolerate. So it is not just the ungodly actions of God’s people that are condemned, but their unwillingness to act against groups and individuals who are misleading the church (see Revelation 2:14–16, 20).  In other words: It is the fear of man and cowardice of believers that Jesus addresses.

In Acts 15, we read how the apostle Peter goes against the people to defend Paul and Barnabas in their controversial work among the Gentiles.

One possible background to Peter’s courage is that Paul had previously publicly confronted him when he acted submissively and cowardly in relation to his Jewish Christian brothers in Antioch (see Gal. 2:11–14). Paul’s courage in relation to Peter thus contributed to Peter’s daring to go against the stream a few years later at the apostolic council in Jerusalem.

These are lessons that we in Swedish Christianity and elsewhere need to take very seriously. More than many other countries, we are characterized by a culture of consensus. We do not like to go against the grain, and even in the congregations we are plagued by the curse of the law of janten (don’t think you are more special than others). The basic reflex is to keep our heads down, not to stand out, not to be too … bold.

At the same time, in retrospect, we can see that Christianity’s best moments have been when we have had the courage to go against our cultural norm of caution. When we have boldly stood up for Jesus and his words. When we have broken with fear and timidity. When, like Paul and (later) Peter, we have been clear in our confession, even in the face of pressure from our surroundings.

Let us therefore, in the light of the Bible’s exhortations, come to terms with our own cowardice. Let us stand up for all of God’s counsel. And let us spur each other on to a culture of true, norm-breaking boldness in our congregations!

Good Friday – Jesus is crucified

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Before the Passover feast, and in the darkness of the night, Jesus is captured by the Pharisees (the priests). They want Him crucified and put to death. The reasons are many; they don’t believe in everything that Jesus says, and Jesus is confronting and questioning their character. There is also the jealousy of the Pharisees, who were looking for a another kind of savior, a Messiah, and Jesus proclaimation of the Kingdom of God wasn’t well received at all.

Jesus is sent to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, who has the authority to put Jesus to death, the Jews don’t have that legal right. When Pilate questions Jesus, he finds the accusations harmless and believes there should be no charges against him. But the Pharisees are determined to put Jesus to death, so Pilate are pressured to avoid an uprising and therefore agrees to punish Jesus with 39 lashes and torture. After Jesus is severely beaten, he is shown again to the Pharisees and a crowd of people. Pilate who has sympathy for Jesus, wants to release him and tells the people that they can choose to free Jesus or a captured murderer called Barabbas. The Pharisees shout; Jesus, crucify Jesus! So Pilate is forced to decide that Jesus should be sentenced to death when the Pharisees incite the crowd to demand Jesus be crucified. Then Jesus carries the cross to Golgotha, the place where he is crucified next to two thieves.

The thieves who are crucified next to Jesus, together with the spectators, mock Jesus and ask him to help himself and them, if he is the Son of God. But then one of the thieves asks Jesus to remember him when Jesus comes in the kingdom of God. Jesus replies that he will be with him in paradise.

When Jesus hangs on the cross, darkness falls over the earth and Jesus prays to God with the words from Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And later he says “It is finished” and ask God to receive his spirit.

Jesus gives up his spirit and dies, and the earth shakes and a soldier pierces Jesus’ side with his spear to confirm that he is dead. Another soldier guarding the cross says: “Surely this man was the Son of God. One of the disciples then takes down Jesus’ body, wraps it in linen cloths and spices, and lays it in a tomb near the place where he was crucified. After three days, Jesus rises from the dead and appears to his diciples again.

Short clip how Jesus was crucified on the cross at Golgata. From the move Gospel of John.

What is the Gospel?

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The gospel means good news.

The good news is that fallen man, who is an enemy of God, has an advocate with God.

The good news is that God sent his son to die in the place of sinners so that God might be both Just in punishing sin, but also be the Justifier who saves those who place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The good news is that sin has been dealt with on the cross.

The good news is that we have Hope of eternal life because of Christ who died for sin and who was raised again on the third day.

The gospel is good news that only has meaning when we recognize the bad news; that we are sinners who are separated from God because of our sins.