The Joshua Victor Theory

            Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The heart and center of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, is the Passion of Jesus Christ. His trial, suffering, death, and resurrection. Yet each Gospel also sees the cross of Jesus from a slightly different camera angle, if you will. A unique perspective. At the cross, Matthew only records one of the seven last “words” or phrases that Jesus spoke: “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” The rest of the account focuses largely on His silence and the actions of those around the cross. But the attention of the crowd is continually riveted on Jesus and the strangest way in which He dies. It wasn’t the type of death itself that was strange. Crucifixion was common, in a horrible sort of way, and nothing new to the Jewish crowds or Roman soldiers. But what was so remarkable was the manner in which Jesus died, and the events t...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Each of the readings today share a strong theme. The difficulty of holding firm to God’s Word and to Christ’s cross in the face of persecution, difficulty, and opposition. Moses provides a positive example of holding firm in faith against trying circumstances. It says in Hebrews 11, “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.” Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Anyone who leads you to believe that being a Christian, a believer in God, is an easy life, free from trouble has plainly misled you, as the readings today show. Being a follower of Christ, and holding to God’s Word in the Bible—not j...