The Joshua Victor Theory

Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia ! Amen. The beloved old Lenten hymn, “Go to Dark Gethsemane” shifts from the darkness of the crucifixion of Jesus, to His Easter resurrection in the final verse: “ Early hasten to the tomb where they lay His breathless clay; all is solitude and gloom. Who has taken Him away? Christ is ris’n! He meets our eyes. Savior teach us so to rise.” That poetic phrase, “ His breathless clay” refers to the dead, lifeless body of Jesus, buried in the tomb. But it also reminds us of God creating Adam from the “breathless clay” of the earth, when God created the body of Adam from the dust of the earth, and then breathed into Adam the “breath” or spirit of life (Genesis 2:7). Adam, the valley of dry bones, and Jesus’ resurrection all in turn show who is the God of the Living. Who has power to make breathless clay breathe life again. Death could not hold Jesus any more. The breath or spirit of life returned to Him, and He rose, never to die again! Ezek...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Today we are going to dive into probably the most interesting chapter in the whole book of Proverbs, both in this sermon and also in the Bible study hour. You’ve heard that Jesus teaches that all of the Bible points to Him (John 5, Luke 24). But what that means or how certain books point to Jesus is not always so easy to figure out. Proverbs appears at first to be a long list of mostly disconnected wisdom sayings. As we’re learning in our Bible study on Proverbs, that’s a major over-simplification. But you’ll have to join us for study to see why! But Proverbs 8 is so important, because early Christians immediately recognized that it was pointing to Jesus. The connection comes out rather clearly when you’ve read the whole New Testament carefully. An extensive web of Bible verses join the idea of Wisdom to Christ—including things Jesus Himself said. The connection from Wisdom personified in Proverbs 8, to Jesus C...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The Parable of the Sower that Jesus tells today is the first of a great series of parables in the Gospel of Luke, and describes two basic reactions to His parables. He says in verse 10, before explaining the parable, “ To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. ’” You see, believers will hear and understand the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for unbelievers, they will actually confound them and they won’t understand. This is not just a matter of whether you “get it” or not right away—the disciples didn’t get the parable—but they asked questions to learn more. They were hearing the Word with “honest and good hearts”. Others tuned out or ignored the Word. This parable shows us why sometimes the Word of God is sown like a seed, and it grows and bears ...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Today is the 10 th day of Christmas! Counting from Christmas Day till today, it’s still the 10 th day that we celebrate and remember Jesus’ birth. And today we also remember Jesus’ childhood, from the only episode of His young life that we have written down—from the time in between His infancy and His adult ministry. Ever since the first few centuries, Christians have been really curious about what happened in those middle years—and even speculated with tall tales about it—but when we accept what the Scripture plainly does tell us, we don’t have to speculate. John 2 tells us that Jesus first miracle was at the wedding in Cana—so we know He wasn’t doing miracles as a child. Luke 3 tells us that Jesus began His public ministry (i.e. teaching) about age 30. And our single story from Jesus’ middle years, you hear today—shows the godly Holy Family, of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, faithfu...