The Joshua Victor Theory

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. As we’ve been reading through the book of 1 John these past weeks in church, the themes of faith and love have echoed again and again. Last week it was about hearing God’s Word of Truth and believing and confessing Jesus in the flesh. It was about God’s first-love coming to us, and producing love in us in return. Building on that same thought, that faith and love are inseparable, today we hear in 1 John 5:1: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of Him.” This is family-talk. It’s saying that we are children of God, born of God because we’re believers in Jesus Christ. As part of God’s family we love both our heavenly Father and other believers born of Him as well. Church, your fellow Christians, is your family. Even if your natural family is no longer living or is far from you, your fellow believers are God’s famil...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. He came to Jesus at night; undoubtedly to hide his meeting with the famous teacher. It’s not hard to figure out why. He was a Pharisee, prominent Jewish religious leaders and constant rivals of Jesus, who frequently challenged His authority and teachings. Not only this, but he was one of the Sanhedrin, a ruling council of 70 influential men in Jerusalem. His secrecy was easy to understand at a human level, but his curiosity and his questions drove him to this nighttime meeting with Jesus. If there was something to what Jesus had to say after all, Nicodemus had to find out. If there wasn’t, no one would need to know about this late night interview. Nicodemus opens the conversation with an honorable and respectful greeting, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” While this was still far short of recognizing that Jesus was God’s own Son, t...