Josh Benner

Tag: gospel

  • The gospel in Les Miserables

    Caught.

    Jean Valjean had stolen silver from the Bishop and the local authorities had caught him red handed. On his own merits, there was nothing Valjean could do to rectify the situation. He didn’t have the money to pay for it. He was guilty. But then something amazing happened. The Bishop tells the officers that the silver was a gift. He reminds Valjean that the ex-convict had even forgotten to take two silver candlesticks with him. The sacrifice for Valjean was not made by himself but by the Bishop .

    He let him go.

    Once the officers leave, it would be completely reasonable for the Bishop to say, “Ok, I got you off the hook. Now give me my stuff back.” But he doesn’t. He gives it to Valjean but with the expectation that he use those stolen items to restart his life as an honest man.

    This is a life changing event for Valjean. And it’s a great metaphor for grace. Merely canceling the debt of the condemned man would have been mercy. But the bishop rewards him. That is grace.

    In the book, over 70 pages are spent developing the Bishop’s character and describing his devotion and piety. In film and musical adaptations, he is always portrayed as a minor character but he profoundly impacts the life of the book’s protagonist. For Valjean, there is his life before encountgering the and everything changes after he experiences true love and grace. In the musical, with limited time, I feel that they do the best job they can to show the Bishop’s grace but it is tough to truly capture the full weight of the transformation that the encounter has on Valjean.

    There are so many great themes in Les Miserables which have led to the popularity of this story over the past 150 years. And the Bishop’s grace to Valjean is not the only example of sacrificial love we see in this story. It’s seen in how Fantine desperately tries to do everything she can to support Cosette. It’s seen in how Eponine helps Marius find Cosette despite the fact that Eponine is in love with Marius and she’s sacrificing her own joy (it’s not exactly the same in the book).

    But the most moving example of sacrifice is seen in the Bishop. I feel that part of the appeal to this story is the way in which it depicts the gospel. Because we are all condemned with a debt that we cannot possibly pay. While we deserve exile and punishment, a priest has personally sacrificed and taken are debt for us. And for people who know this truth, just as it is with the Bishop and Valjean, this grace is meant to transform our lives. It’s not the end in itself. There is a reason behind it.

    But remember this, my brother, see in this some higher plan. You must use this precious silver to become an honest man. By the witness of the martyrs, by the Passion and the Blood, God has raised you out of darkness; I have bought your soul for God!

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    Originally published December 24, 2014.

  • Why was the cross necessary? Couldn’t God just forgive?

    Why was the cross necessary? Couldn’t God just forgive?

    A person might look at the crucifixion, look at what the Lord did on the cross, and wonder “Why was that the only way? Why was that necessary? Couldn’t God simply forgive us?”

    No.

    This is an idea I’ve heard from Tim Keller before, and it’s an important idea on having a theology of forgiveness.

    In any meaningful way a person has ever wronged you and you’ve forgiven them, when you forgive, you then bear a burden. You bear a burden for the way they originally sinned against you, and whatever you lost in the process: opportunity, time, happiness, money. Whatever it was. You were wronged and lost something. And when you forgive, you bear a cost a second time because you are relinquishing an opportunity to get even, to inflict vengeance upon them.

    And the worse the wrong is, the harder it is to forgive. The more costly the forgiveness, because it’s a greater debt that you’re forgiving. Not to say that people shouldn’t have consequences when they’ve committed crimes or acted violently. But even in those situations, we are called to be forgiving.

    But forgiveness is not as simple as just ignoring a wrong done.

    If someone destroys something you own, you can make them pay for it. That’s often what happens. Or perhaps you and the person can both pay for part of what was destroyed. Or you can personally pay for it. You can bear that cost yourself.

    My point is that in either event, someone has to pay. Forgiveness is not a write-off that where the wrong disappears and is forgotten about. Someone has to pay the price for what was broken.

    So with our sin against God, how does God approach forgiveness? All of the wrongs and injustices in the world. All of the wrongs and sins in our own lives, in our hearts, our actions.

    We could have never paid that price. We could never have done enough to earn our forgiveness. There was no hope.

    But on the cross, we see that Jesus himself bore the cost for us.

    That was the cost of forgiveness. The horrible death he died, the injustice that he faced. All of that shows us the cost of our sin.

    At the cross, we see the love of God.

    God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
    -Romans 5:8-10

    Because Jesus bore infinite wrath for sin. There is infinite grace when we turn to him. There is no sin he is unable to forgive. It’s not that he died and can forgive every sin, but he can’t forgive that one, or this one, or what you did, or what you’re struggling with.

    Infinite wrath because of our sin. But infinite mercy on the cross because of his grace.

    If you’re not a Christian, you need to know that Jesus paid for sins on the cross. Jesus showed that he is the way to God. Jesus died so that we could have a relationships with him. He promises eternal life for everyone who comes to him.

    All you have to do is believe in that. The Bible says that faith is credited to you as righteousness.

    “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

    The Bible teaches that “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12).

    And the proof of that is on the cross. Many other places where people look for salvation, where people look for life.  None of those things will give you life. On the cross, Jesus died so that you could have life.

    You can’t earn God. The cross shows us that. If we could earn it, we wouldn’t have needed Jesus to die.

    1Timothy 2:5-6 says:
    5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

    Jesus said “I am the way and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the father except through me (John 14:6).

    The validation for these things, what testifies to the salvation and ope that is found in Jesus…is the cross.

    Because he died on the first Good Friday. But he rose on Sunday. God has authority over life and death. God has authority over how to be made right with him.

    And while we didn’t deserve it, the good news of the gospel is that he made a way.

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    Originally published April 2, 2018

  • Sermon: Holy Interruption – Matthew 9:18-26

    In a dramatic story, Jesus raises a young girl from the dead, but it’s a passage where there’s more than meets the eye. It’s ultimately a story about two miracles, not just one. And we see Jesus as the giver of life but also pointing to a restoration that only he can bring.

    Sermon transcript

  • Sermon: The history of salvation – Galatians 3:6-9

    As Paul continues to unpack the doctrine of justification by faith by its many facets, he points back to the great patriarch of the faith: Abraham, the man who was declared righteous because of his faith before the law had ever given. In that, we see that there has always been one way by which the Lord counts people righteous.

    Sermon manuscript

  • Sermon: A dining controversy – Galatians 2:11-14

    Peter had withdrawn from fellowship with gentile Christians because they had not followed the law of the Old Testament. This was an affront to the gospel as Peter was guilty of adding requirements onto the gospel. It wasn’t because of a change of heart from Peter but it was because others had pressured him and he backed down in fear.

    Sermon manuscript