The Joshua Victor Theory

P: The Savior is Born! C: He is born in a manger! Several weeks ago, my children and I had a very interesting conversation, about how confusing it is that God reveals Himself as the Trinity—3 in 1. Their little minds were grappling with the cosmic mystery of how 1 God can be 3 persons, and not 3 gods. How Father, Son, and Holy Spirit relate to each other, and are One God. How Jesus can pray to the Father—isn’t that God praying to Himself? God made a mathematical universe, but Math cannot explain it. God has ordered His creation according to relentlessly predictable laws; but the laws of nature cannot explain it either. God has created us with our reason and all our senses—but even these cannot explain the eternal, unfathomable mystery of the Godhead—the Three in One. I related to my children the analogy of trying to empty out the ocean, or to scoop up the whole ocean in our beach buckets. Impossible! The ocean seems infinite compared to our buckets. And many have compared God’s...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. This vineyard parable is complex in many ways, but today we’ll focus on why God became vulnerable? The vineyard owner in the story takes a gamble in sending his son. Not a gamble we’d be willing to take. We’d expect him to opt instead for violence or retribution, seeking justice. Kenneth Bailey tells the remarkable story of King Hussein bin Talal of Jordan: learned from security police that 75 Jordanian army officers were plotting against him that night. Military overthrow. The police wanted to storm the building and arrest the conspirators. Instead, the king had a helicopter pilot fly him to the building, gave instructions that he should fly away immediately without the king if he heard gunshots. Entered the building unarmed, calmly told them he learned of the conspiracy, warned of the devastation to the country, the civil war, the thousands of innocent deaths at stake, offered th...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. The 6th and final part of our sermon series on “Questions about Jesus they don’t want answered” is really as much a demand as it is a question. The high priest Caiaphas says, “I adjure you by the Living God, tells us if you are the Christ, the Son of God!” A man appointed to be the mediator between the people of Israel and God, used his office of high priest to thunder against the very Son of God. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Under the cover of darkness, the ruling council of the Sanhedrin convened, as Jesus had been betrayed and arrested at night. With unmasked intentions they pursue a way to put Him to death. The frustrating part was how to condemn an innocent man. There were no charges that could stick—so they gathered false witnesses that broke the 8th commandment to slander Him. Twisting His words, they claimed He was going to destroy the...