Josh Benner

Category: Faith

  • Apple juice for communion? Why we can’t do communion our own way

    Apple juice for communion? Why we can’t do communion our own way

    27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 
    1 Corinthians 11:27-29

    I saw quite a few responses on Twitter this evening when the rapper Lecrae mentioned taking communion at home with wheat bread and apple juice and saying “I hope this still counts.”

    It doesn’t.

    Communion is a sacred remembrance of the gospel which was instituted by Christ himself with the commandment “do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19).

    There are lots of different views of communion within Christendom. Even though I pastor an independent Bible church, my view of communion aligns pretty well with Presbyterianism where I believe that communion is to be administered to a congregation by the pastor, overseen by elders, and served by deacons. It stands to reason that those people would oversee and serve communion since they’re charged with overseeing and serving the church. Last year, when churches were shut down during Covid, I saw some people partaking of communion at home. While everyone won’t agree with me, that’s not communion. Communion is mean to be COMMUNal. Virtual communion is not communion.

    Again, there are varying opinions about communion in different branches of Christendom. (Even what it should be called, such as communion, eucharist, Lord’s Supper). The Catholic view is not the same as the Presbyterian view which is not the same as the Lutheran view which is not the same as the Orthodox view.

    But they all would agree that just taking it upon yourself to have wheat bread and apple juice and to call that communion is not communion. There ought to be fidelity to Jesus and how he instituted communion, not just doing whatever you feel like.

    Thinking you can just make communion whatever you want it to be comes from a shallow theology. Any church with history would consider ad hoc communion to be sacrilegious. It comes form the modern age that makes Christianity existential, where everyone does what is right in their own eyes, and where we do whatever we want and justify it as long as it’s sincere or “from the heart.”

    Jeremiah 17:9 says: the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

    There are some things where there are prescribed ways to do them and communion is one of those things.

    My point isn’t just to criticize Lecrae. Too often we try to take the sacred and just make it whatever we want it to be.

    Communion is communal. Communion is given by Christ as a sign of the new covenant. As a covenantal sign, and as such, it is meant for the church during worship. It can’t just be you taking something you’re eating and calling it communion. Even if you’re with your family, that doesn’t make it communion. There’s a Congregational aspect to it. There’s a sacred and set apart aspect to it.

    What about home churches? I can appreciate home churches. I would also hope that home churches would still handle communion in an appropriate Biblical manner and not just arbitrarily create elements.

    You can have a fellowship meal. You can thank God while you’re eating a meal. But that doesn’t make those things communion anymore than dunking yourself in a swimming pool or bath tub doesn’t mean you just baptized yourself.

    Thanks for reading!

  • Genesis 1 and John 1: the new creation Jesus brings

    Genesis 1 and John 1: the new creation Jesus brings

    Jesus brings a new creation into the world and into the lives of those who believe in his gospel.  

    I want to highlight a few words and phrases in this opening prologue to John:

    In the beginning. Word. Life. Light. Darkness. 

    Just to name a few.  

    These are all found both in John 1, but also in Genesis 1. So let’s touch on some of these ideas. My goal is really to show this creation theme in John.  

    Opening phrase of the Gospel of John: In the beginning was the Word.  

    It’s interesting in comparing the beginning of John’s gospel to the beginnings of the other three. Mark’s gospel begins with the ministry of John the Baptist as the one who points to Christ. Luke’s gospel goes back further with the birth of John the Baptist and the birth of Jesus. Matthew’s gospel goes back further still to the family line of Jesus and takes us back to Abraham, back to the beginning of God’s covenant with his people. John’s gospel goes back even further, back to the very beginning, back to eternity.  

    It’s the same way in which the Bible opens up, the first words in Genesis are: in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  (Genesis 1:1)

    John starts with: in the beginning was the Word.  

    Now, it’s interesting that John says “the word.” He doesn’t say “in the beginning was Jesus” or “in the beginning was the Christ” or “in the beginning was the Lord” but “in the beginning was the Word.”  

    But, in the beginning was the Word. Why use the word Word? Borrowing an idea from D.A. Carson in his commentary on John. From the beginning of the Bible, we see references to God’s word. God is a talking God. He speaks in Genesis. “Let there be light,” and the text says “and it was so.” God calls things into being by the power of his word, and what he calls into existence exists.  

    In the Old Testament, God’s word is tied to creation, salvation, healing, and deliverance. With the incarnation of Jesus, we see God’s greatest and most spectacular form of expression to the world. The Word is an appropriate title for Jesus because it is through this Word that we have ultimate truth, eternal life, future hope, assurance of God’s promises, and God’s greatest revelation of himself to the world.  

    This Word is not some abstract idea or force. This Word exists. “And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” 

    But just to sum up what verse 1 is saying is that Jesus is eternal, he has always existed in fellowship with God, and that he himself IS God. That’s really the major theme of John’s Gospel. Jesus is the Lord.  

    Verse 3, we see Jesus’ involvement in creation. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 

    Again it takes us again to creation. When you read Genesis 1, John 1 plugs right into those events. He wasn’t just hanging out while God the Father did all of the creating, rather nothing exists without Jesus.  

    Verse 4. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

    Two more ideas that are found in creation. Life and light. Both of these ideas will also be significant themes in John’s gospel. Let’s start with life. Nearly half of the New Testament usages of the word life come from John’s writings. In Genesis, life is created. The animals that walk the earth, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, culminating in God’s creation of man in his own image. All life is created in Genesis. And here, in referring to Jesus, it says that life itself is found in him.  

    John 10:10, Jesus says that he has come so that his people can have life and have it abundantly. And it’s the life that can only come through Jesus. John 14:6, he says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the father except through me.”  

    And he has authority to say these things.  

    Because. In the beginning was the Word. And in him was life. And he made everything. And he’s God.  

    So John begins his gospel by talking of the God of creation entering into creation to make his new creation.  

    Next theme of creation that’s found in John. Light.  

    Quoting again from our passage: In him was life and that life was the light of men.

    In Genesis, the first thing that God calls into being is light. 

    Genesis 1:3-4: And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good 

    Light is a symbol for life, salvation, and the presence of God.  

    Yet John takes it to a fuller meaning.  In John 8:12, Jesus will say: I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life

    Light is contrasted by darkness. Darkness in John refers to evil and sin. Darkness is the opposite of light both metaphorically and literally.  

    In Genesis 1:4, we’re told that God separated the light from darkness. John chapter 1 says that “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”  

    Jesus will talk at greater length of light in darkness in John 3, when he says: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” 

    In that, we see why Jesus came. Because the world is sinful. People love their sin. People oppose the light, but Jesus came to bring light and life.  Again, John keeps pointing back to creation to show us a new creation that Jesus is bringing into the world.  

    Perhaps the climax of this entire introductory prologue of John’s gospel is found in verse 14:  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

    The language returns to using the word Word. And it says that this Word, Jesus, became flesh and dwelt among us. The God who created the world entered his creation. What a profound reality that is. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  

    In creation, before the fall, there was fellowship with God. It was paradise. And yet Adam and Eve sinned. Cast out of the garden. But here in John, we see that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus came into our fallen world. Because he loved us. Because he’s gracious. Because he’s good.  

    He is the eternal God of creation. And he came to bring a new creation. In the opening of John, we see the groundwork being laid for that which was lost in the fall to be regained through the gospel.

    Paradise was lost due to sin, but in the beginning of John, we see that the word became flesh and dwelt among us. Darkness came into the world because of sin, but we see that Jesus is the true light. Death came into the world because of sin, but in Jesus, there was life. Not just anyone is capable of doing that. But Jesus isn’t just anyone. He was in the beginning. Jesus is the eternal God of creation who brings a new creation. He’s here to give you a new life. He overcame the darkness by living a sinless life. He brought life through his own death. He restored the relationship by being forsaken.  

    All of it was his work. He invites you into a new life, a new covenant. He gives you a new heart.  

    The Apostle Paul said that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation.  (2 Cor. 5:17) 

    In John 3, a man named Nicodemus. He’s intrigued by this teacher and ministry and he wants to learn more. Jesus says that we must be born again. On the night before he was crucified, he told his disciples to love one another, and he called it a new commandment. In the closing sections of the Book of Revelation, John talks of seeing a new heaven and a new earth. He records Jesus saying that he’s making all things new. (Rev. 21:5). When we trust in Jesus and are born again, Jesus does bring a new creation. He does make something new. He makes a new person. Jesus is the Lord of creation and new creation.

    Have you trusted in Jesus? Is he your Lord and savior?  

    There is no other way to God, there is no other way to life, there is no other way to forgiveness, there is no other way to heaven than through Jesus. 

    Thanks for reading! If you liked, please comment and share :)

    Based on a sermon I preached called “The Word.”

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  • Meaning of the bronze serpent in the Bible

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    In Numbers 21, the Israelites experience victory over the Canaanites but soon fall back into grumbling and complaining. God brings a plague of snakes upon the people. It’s a divine judgment. Their grumbling against God was to their downfall. But the people beg for mercy.

    And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. 
    -Numbers 21:8-9

    Moses prays. God tells Moses to make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole. So God doesn’t simply take the snakes away. He also doesn’t prevent people from continuing to get bitten by the snakes. But once bitten, a person could respond by faith in the Lord by looking to the serpent on the pole.It’s an odd story. A number of questions might come to mind. Isn’t that idolatry? Making this bronze serpent?

    In the Golden Calf episode of Exodus 32, Moses is on the mountain receiving instruction from the Lord. He’s there for 40 days and the Israelites get restless. They take their gold and melt it into the image of a cow. Why is it ok with the bronze serpent? It’s a totally different situation. Most importantly, because God told them to do it this time. Secondly, this wasn’t idol worship because they weren’t worshiping the serpent. The serpent didn’t represent God to the people.

    There are many wonderful gospel themes in this scene. The Israelites sin against the Lord. And so God brings a plague of snakes upon the people as divine judgment. And yet, once the people repent and the bronze snake is made, it is in looking to that by which people are healed.

    A symbol of death becomes a symbol of life 

    Snakes were bringing death, but looking to this particular snake brought the promise of healing. A symbol of judgment the Lord then uses as a symbol of victory. The cross was the greatest symbol of judgment and condemnation in the Roman world. A brutal punishment. And yet, it is to the cross that we see Christ’s victory over sin. Perhaps you look at the story and think “but why a snake? Aren’t snakes bad in the Bible?” Yeah, so are people, but it is through a man that we are saved. The Lord Jesus, both God and man.

    The gospel 

    In a person being healed because of looking to the snake, it took what they were doing out of their hands. It was entirely the work of God. So too we see this in the gospel. It is not based on us, or how good we are. We are totally helpless to heal ourselves from the disease of sin. It is looking to the cross, to looking at what Jesus has done, to trusting Jesus by faith that we can have salvation.

    It’s foolishness 

    The serpent doesn’t make sense. The world is confounded by the gospel and the message of grace, the idea that we can be freely forgiven based on what someone else has done. The world is offended by the message of salvation by grace. Paul says in 1 Corinthians that the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).

    We want to save ourselves. We want to see how we measure up and to feel good about how good we are. The gospel is that you cannot earn it. You look to what Jesus has done.

    Salvation for the undeserving 

    The Israelites were grumbling and complaining and blaspheming against God, and yet God saves them. Jesus came into a world where people condemned him, polluted against him, betrayed him, and killed him. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). In both looking to the serpent and the death and resurrection of Jesus, what people needed was faith.

    In the Gospel of John, Jesus will make specific reference to this event in Numbers. John chapter 3, Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, the Pharisee.Jesus says “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” (John 3:14) Moses literally lifted up the bronze serpent on a pole. And Jesus was literally lifted up on the cross. There, Jesus compares himself being lifted up to the bronze serpent. For the Israelites who were afflicted by the serpent’s bite, life was found by looking to the bronze serpent. For us today, eternal life is found by looking to Jesus.

    The main idea of our passage this evening is that: Opposing God brings death but true life is fond by faith. Are you trusting in Jesus? We’re infected with the venom of sin. And it’s a killer. There is nothing we can do on our own to take out that poison. The only antidote is found in looking to Jesus.Look to him. Love him. Live for him.

    Originally published August 1, 2018.

    Thanks for reading! If you liked, please comment and share :)

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  • Whoever wins this election is not a savior

    The political division is incredible. The name calling. The condescension. The assumptions we make about the people who support the other candidate. It’s unfortunate.

    We have so many news sources, websites, social media platforms, and “fact” checking websites, all to backup one’s adopted views. For many, more and more time is invested, which raises the level of interest (because you have to psychologically justify the amount of time spent following politics). It becomes a vicious cycle and fosters an environment of perpetual debate. It’s the most popular reality show in the world.

    Because we are more constantly needing to defend our views, in arguments, we dig our heels in and we make these things out to be much bigger issues than they oftentimes are. We tie our happiness and joy to whether or not our person wins. We tie our hope for the future prosperity and potential of our society into whether or not our person wins.

    And because people get so invested, it means million are going to become obnoxious and have a false sense of hope in the Messianic figure they’ve made their candidate to be. And millions more will think we’re doomed as a society, that our last hope is gone, that we’ve elected a dictator-to-be.


    I think far too many people, on both sides of the political aisle, look at our politicians as saviors. We place too much hope in imperfect people. If your life is going great, it’s not because of the president. And if your life is terrible, it’s not because of the president.

    I also see this within Christianity. Too many people of faith fall into the same traps that many in our society do. Of putting too much stock into politics. Of focusing too much on things that are far away and distant than things that are right within our own communities and neighborhoods. Christians need to understand that, regardless of which candidate you support – and I know many who support both major candidates – that if your candidate loses, there’s no reason to lose hope, because there’s no reason to place hope in any person.

    That’s not to say we should be apathetic or oblivious to what’s going on in our world. But to remember that God is God, he is good, he is sovereign. Regardless of what happens in Washington, that everyday is an opportunity to know God and serve him. That regardless of if a politician we don’t like is in power, that this doesn’t hinder our knowledge of God. I’m not saying we should lie down and give up our rights, but to keep perspective.

    I see stories of the oppression of people throughout the history of the world, and the oppression that many still face. Even in those times, God’s Church has grown. We put our comfort on a pedestal. The Bible continually talks of tests and trials. They’re part of life. It’s not that these things are good in themselves but that they don’t hinder our opportunity to know God and have faith in him. Again, that’s not to say anyone should have the desire to be oppressed, but I also feel like the things that Christians face in America pale in comparison to the things that God’s people face in other places and at other times.

    There are many things that influence our lives. And Christians have a daily opportunity to live lives of faith, to model the love of Christ, and to tell people a message that transforms a soul for eternity (rather than a country for 4 years). There might be issues where we think a president will have great influence (and sometimes they undoubtedly do), but even when our candidate isn’t in power, it’s not a reason to give up. It’s a reason to get involved.

    An updated version of “the next president is not a savior” from November 7, 2016.

    Thanks for reading. If you liked, please share :)

  • Sermon – Still: Psalm 46

    2020 has been a year of tumultuous situations. Psalm 46 calls us to trust in God, regardless of what we face. God is depicted as a refuge and a warrior going before his people into battle, before reminding us of God’s greatest promise: the he will be with us.