Josephus does not tell us that Christianity is true, and Christians do not need Josephus to tell them that Christ is risen. But Christianity makes claims about things that happened in public history under identifiable rulers, priests, and governors. For that reason, testimony from outside the church matters.
Today, the longing for cultural Christianity on both the left and the right hearkens back to an older version of Christendom that was a mixed blessing for the church in the western world. The cultural mediation of Christian views on created order has certainly benefitted the civilization we’ve inherited. But the gospel itself isn’t something that can be reduced to cultural mediation either. Instead, the gospel as a message stands apart from all human accomplishments and achievements, no matter how beneficial they might be.
The student of Scripture should always have a map open next to their Bible as they read. If possible, they should also travel to Israel, not to make a pilgrimage, but to see the context of the land in which these stories took place. These are not fairy tales made up about fictional fantasy lands; these are stories about real people in real places interacting with a real God.

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Cliché preaching may be symptomatic of shallow, consumerist culture, perpetuating a problem rather than the solution.
This pericope is not merely for the anxious, the persecuted, and the humbled. It is also for the self-reliant, confident and accomplished because at one time or another, they too will be anxious, persecuted, and humbled.
Jesus suffered for our sins. He died for us. This is the supreme example of the principle our text has been unfolding. It is all about meeting wrong with right, rendering good for evil, and answering malice with love.
The temple Christ inhabits is His own body and His body has been expanded, as it were, to include both Jew and Gentile in the Church.
You have been chosen to come out of the darkness and into this marvelous light, the light of the Resurrection. You are a people who constitute an exodus from racism, sexism, elitism, classism and now participate in a new race of human beings who are, through baptism, the foundational cure for the evils of these things in human society.
The life of holiness will overtake the world on the last day. Practice living in the coming world now.
Nor can we see how God’s hand will guide us through every challenge of this life, we have to believe it. Afterwards, we see how it happened, but in the midst of challenges and trials, we walk by faith and not by sight.
The only point in being a Christian at all is if this message of the resurrected Jesus continues to be the solid ground on which you stand.
.A prayerful and meditative vigil in expectation of Christ’s return at Easter became a common feature of the celebration of His crucifixion and resurrection.
Grace is about God’s choice when we cannot by our own reason or strength choose Christ or come to Him.
Look to the crucifix. There you see God as God is, in Himself. You see God in action for you.
There has been a blood atonement for sin. Jesus is our propitiation. Jesus has expiated sin. Lent climaxes with this expectation.