Mary - blessed shame for better glory

(photo- screenshot from a Whatsapp status post)

The first Sunday of Advent has arrived….as we move into this week and think about the coming of our Saviour into the world as a humble baby, we also anticipate his return to this world as the reigning King of Kings.

The arrival of 'Advent' led me to think about the fact that this is less than one month out from Christmas. Although the time of our Saviour's birth was probably not December, Advent is still the time we mark in the weeks leading up to our Saviour's birth in Bethlehem. I began to also ponder that this point in the 'time line' is the time at which Jesus was not yet born, and the Shepherds and Wise Men were not yet alerted to his birth….but his birth was still anticipated by his parents, who were well aware of identity of the baby Mary was carrying.

As protestants I feel we can sometimes shy away from thinking too much about Mary, for fear of deifying or idolising her. However, Scripture tells us she is 'blessed among women' and the reality is that God chose her body to be the 'home' of God the Son from 'conception' till birth, and her life and testimony has much to teach us.

There is a modern song often sung at Christmas which asks the question: 'Mary did you know?' …if you don't know it,  The song poses various thoughts, phrased as questions you might want to ask Mary about various things we know now as we look back, but might wonder if she knew about at the time. The reality is that Mary did know some things about her special calling and mission. She was not totally walking 'blindly' unaware through her specially begun pregnancy and parenthood. The angel Gabriel had told her some facts about who this baby was going to be, and it's not something she could have just 'forgotten'. But she also didn't know all the details. Gabriel didn't tell her everything.

SO….As I ponder about this 'Advent' point in the lead-up to the birth which we remember at Christmas, 

I am reminded that Mary:

• would have been heavily pregnant and just a few weeks from the anticipated birth. Her days of waiting for this baby would soon be over and she would hold him in her arms. And maybe the census call had already gone out and she and her husband Joseph had to process the reluctance to travel at such a critical time, especially for her first pregnancy

• has had to move through the months of a pregnancy becoming evident, amidst the shame that she and Joseph had to bear from their entire community of 'becoming' pregnant before their full wedding had taken place. After all, how many people are going to believe some story of 'becoming pregnant by the Holy Spirit'?

• accepted a life-road of earthly shame by becoming the mother of Jesus. 

• gives me an example that what looks shameful to the world can be God working the glory of his purposes and plans.

• shows me if we are walking in God's will and calling, we will be misunderstood, mistreated, and maligned, as the world has no concept or category for God's work when it moves out of their sphere of understanding and experience.

• and her story highlights how a miracle (the virgin birth) in God's agenda can feel like a mystery or even a mire of false accusations and insults. Not only as we walk with God must we not rely on our own understanding (Prov 3:5-6) but we must also not gauge glory by whether other people understand or give glory or not. 

• had to trust God more than friends, family or community. 

• had to wait for the birth, and she would have had a mix of eager anticipation and anxious anticipation. She knew that her 'son' was going to be the Messiah, but she didn't know all that it would mean and she and Joseph would be entrusted with the immense responsibility of the earthly nurture and instruction of the Messiah as he grew.

• understood that God chooses the humble, lowly and unexpected, not the proud or elite. She understood that God's glory doesn't come the world's way.

•  sees herself as blessed and accepts the reality of the words that she is 'favoured'. 

• knew that to be 'favoured' by God can mean being shamed by the world.

• had to live in the experience of being shamed by the world in order to be favoured by God, but this prepared her for the unfolding of the story of the One she carried in her womb. Because... the Angel did not tell her every detail of what her baby's life would entail, or that her boy would have to die on a shameful cross. 

• also had to walk by faith. That which is recorded of what her cousin Elizabeth told her, and what the Shepherds and Wise Men told her, didn't mention the way he would be the Saviour and peace-bringer (Luke 1:41-45; 2:17-19; Matthew 2:11-12). Simeon however (Luke 2:45), told Mary when they took Jesus to present Him at the temple, that a sword would pierce her son's soul to accomplish something related to the needs of people's hearts. How much Mary understood, is not clear. But as much as Mary knew some things, there were other things that Mary didn't understand, at least at first. She, with Joseph, didn't understand what he was telling them when they couldn't find him one year on their trip to Jerusalem (Luke 2:50). She did know, however, that Jesus was the one to ask when shame of running out of wine at a wedding needed to be overcome and the host's loss of honour needed to be avoided (John 2). The Jews' understanding of the coming of the Messiah, the Christ, was to reign and rule in glory and release them from foreign rule. Mary seems to give no clear indication that she knew or understood about what was really coming for her son in relation to the cross. 

• stood at the foot of the cross looking up at her son when many others had fled and at least some of his earthly relatives had earlier thought him a mental health case (Mark 3:21). She was one of the few who were willing to stand in shame with the shamed one hanging on the cross. 

• was not just accepting shame in the eyes of the world as part of the 'package' of being Jesus' earthly mother, but she chose shame in the eyes of the world. She could have stayed away from the cross like so many others did. But she, with the other women (and John the disciple), willingly chose the associated public shame of being 'with' the shamed one being crucified. 

• knew that what seems like shame in the eyes of the world, may not be shame at all in God's eyes…it might be favour, it might be blessing, it might be glory. She knew that in God's plans, what earthly eyes see is never the whole story. Her song (Luke 1:46-55) tells us that she understood that God can turn the world's honour codes upside down. She would have had some idea that the shame of the cross might be God doing something else. And maybe it was her personal testimony story of assurance of God's blessing in the midst of the world's shame, that gave courage to a few other women and the one disciple John who stood with her at the foot of the cross watching in faith filled hope and trust, that even if it felt bad and others only accused or fled in fear, God was still doing something that they didn't understand. Mary Magdalene who was with her also certainly knew that Jesus could bring God's glory into situations of earthly shame.

• can teach me a great deal in regard to accepting, facing, enduring, and choosing shame and lack of honour in the eyes of this world, and trusting in God's better glory. In the light of the sure knowledge that as a servant of the living God and letting life be according to His word, we are given the gift of being able to look at circumstances with a different perspective. We can have the confidence that being divinely blessed can require being earthly shamed, and that's ok. It does not mean God has forsaken you, but rather in the midst of it all we can be assured that God is with us. We need to have eyes like Mary that weren't blind to God's favour just because of the appearance of earthly circumstances.

I am reminded that a few days after she stood at the foot of the cross, she would have given him honour and bowed down at his resurrected feet. She would have remembered once tiny feet that were now not just grown and road-worn, but permanently scarred and nail pierced. Her son had become her Saviour in a way she never dreamed of, and way beyond any thoughts she had pondered back when the angel visited her. 

I am reminded that one day those nail-pierced feet will return to earth again, and I with Mary and millions of others await His appearing.

I am reminded that in heaven I will get to meet Mary, the humble girl who willingly endured shame to be a blessed submissive obedient vessel, so that both she and I could receive the same salvation from the same Saviour, the gift of undeserved glory. 

I am reminded though that she will not want any glory for herself and will just point me and others to the Risen and glorified Christ, just as she did at the Cana wedding (John 2:5)

I am reminded as another Christmas nears to praise the Lord, that God by His grace, continues to grow my awareness of His grace more and more and little by little expand my understanding of the what the glory of Christmas really means.

What is the gospel? - a little look at the Apostle Paul's definitions in 2 Corinthians and 1 Timothy

What is the gospel?

We talk a lot about the importance of the gospel. But what exactly is the gospel?  

I am not trying to pose a trick question, and others before me have sensed a need to define what we are talking about when we use the word 'gospel'. Some have been book-length answers such as 'What is the Gospel' by Greg Gilbert.

The simplest answer to that simple question is that, it is the 'good news' ….as that literally translates the meaning of the actual word 'gospel'.

But in Scriptural context, what is this good news about?  What is this news which we are told is good? 

How would you describe the 'good news' of the gospel?

In this 21st century when you want an answer to a question, (and in particular what people might give as a definition of the 'gospel')…what do we do?

… a 'google' search of course!

So I typed in 'What is the gospel' to Google, and here are some examples of short answers that came up:

GotQuestions

The gospel is, broadly speaking, the whole of Scripture; more narrowly, the gospel is the good news concerning Christ and the way of salvation.

Desiring God

The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for our sins and rose again, eternally triumphant over his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation for those who believe, but only everlasting joy. That's the gospel.

RC Sproul

In New Testament terms, the gospel is the proclamation of the person and work of Jesus Christ plus how the benefits of that work can be appropriated to us by faith and by faith alone.

So the gospel has a narrow definition: it's the message about Jesus. Now, there are other good tidings: the kingdom of God, all of that. But, specifically, if you look at what we call in the New Testament the kerygma, the apostolic proclamation of the gospel, it focuses on Christ: who He is, what He did, and how we receive His benefits.

Sinclair Ferguson

If a student asked me that question I would say, "Paul has told us in the first few verses of 1 Corinthians 15." He says, "These are the things that are of first importance." And he states facts with an interpretation: "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; the third day He rose again" (1 Cor. 15:3-4). And that is, in the New Testament, or at least in Paul's letters, the simplest foundation.

Evangelism group CRU 

It is the news about who Jesus Christ is, what He has done, and how that changes everything for all of us.

Greg Gilbert - author of the book 'What is the Gospel?'

It's a message from God saying, "Good news! Here is how you can be saved from my judgment!"

Answers in Genesis

The word 'gospel' means 'good news.' When Christians talk about the gospel, they are presenting the good news of Christ's death and resurrection.

9Marks

The gospel is the good news about what Jesus Christ has done to reconcile sinners to God.

Most of the above answers are essentially fairly similar, and most went on to explain it further after their initial short answers. And, these short answers are all excellent succinct answers and definitions. 

However, these answers all may nicely agree, and give us a neat 'spear-head' kind of consolidated and sharp definition. But do they clearly help us see what the real 'point' of the gospel spear-head is?

The gospel in 2 Corinthians 4

Recently I read 2 Corinthians 4 in the course of once again working through the Bible in a year, and one particular verse 'jumped' out at me, in a way I guess I hadn't 'seen' quite so clearly before.

Maybe 2 Corinthians 4:4 gives us the simplest and most profound answer to the 'gospel' question…and one we might easily overlook in weight and meaning…

It says:

'In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, 

to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.'

So, if we ask re the gospel, 'it is the good news of what?' ….the answer from this verse is: 'the glory of Christ'.

Now this might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about what could be a definition of the gospel….it certainly wasn't the way any of the above Christian leaders or groups defined it. At least not in those specific terms.

Maybe as you are reading you are grabbing your bible to check out that verse in 2 Corinthians which I just quoted, and your bible says it a bit differently:

The NIV says the 'gospel that displays the glory of God'

The NLT says 'the glorious light of the good news'

The KJV and NET say ' the glorious gospel of Christ' (although the NKJV changes it to 'the gospel of the glory of Christ')

The CEV says 'the good news about our glorious Christ'

So some translations of this verse adjust it slightly and turn the noun 'glory' into an adjective. But this seems to lessen its impact and importance.

Here is what a couple of commentators say as they pick up on  these words and the way some translations switch a noun for an adjective (emphases mine):

Ellicotts

Lest the light of the glorious gospel.—…. The English version "glorious," though a partial equivalent for the Greek idiom of the genitive of a characteristic attribute, lacks the vigour and emphasis of the original, which expresses the thought that the gospel is not only glorious itself, but shares in the glory of Christ, and has that for its theme and object.

Jamison-Faucet-Brown

light of the glorious gospel of Christ—Translate, "The illumination (enlightening: the propagation from those already enlightened, to others of the light) of the Gospel of the glory of Christ." "The glory of Christ" is not a mere quality (as "glorious" would express) of the Gospel; it is its very essence and subject matter.

The gospel is not just something glorious in that it is wonderful news, but it is news about glory that has come, like bringing light into darkness.

So here we have a definition of what the gospel good news is….in three words….'glory of Christ'. 

Now, let's look at another passage to see a bit more about this gospel of glory.

The Gospel in 1 Timothy 1

Some years after Paul the Apostle wrote the words to the Corinthian church and further toward the end of his life, he once again wrote a similar explanation and definition again to Timothy, his son in the faith. His understanding of the core essence of the gospel had not changed. Paul, in verse 1 of this passage is in the midst of warning about false teaching, and reiterates to Timothy that sound doctrine has to be:

in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

So this way of describing the gospel, was no 'accident' or insignificant definition, but obviously one that Paul felt was important and was in the forefront of his mind when he thought about the core essence of the gospel he proclaimed.

He knew it was the good news about a glory that was supreme of which he did not need to be ashamed of (Romans 1:16).

This verse is also 'adjusted' in some translations to turn a noun into an adjective (glorious gospel) and I once again feel that slightly conceals the weight of the word and context of glory and honour.

But once again the Commentators explain that the turning of 'glory' into an adjective is not the intent of the text.

MacLaren's Expositions

the proper rendering is that which is given in the Revised Version--'the gospel of the glory,' not the 'glorious gospel.' The Apostle is not telling us what kind of thing the Gospel is, but what it is about. He is dealing not with its quality, but with its contents. It is a Gospel which reveals, has to do with, is the manifestation of, the glory of God.

Vincent's Word Studies

The glorious gospel of the blessed God (τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς δόξης τοῦ μακαρίου θεοῦ). More correctly, the gospel of the glory, etc.

The Gospel of Glory

The 'gospel of glory' almost seems too simple a way to describe the gospel….and yet it is maybe the most weighty and clear definition we have, and maybe we don't recognise its significance and importance because we have 'missed' the core of the gospel, because we have missed the core of Scripture being a story about glory - glory present, glory given, glory lost, glory won, and glory re-given.

Greg Gilbert's book above talks about how that to understand the gospel we have to understand the reality of sin, since the gospel is the good news coming to address the bad news about sin. Yet it is remarkably easy for us to miss the true nature or identity of sin…and thus miss the true nature of the gospel.

Remember Romans 3:23….'all have sinned', and what does it say next?….and 'come short of the glory of God'. In other words our sin is a 'lack of glory' problem. Therefore it makes perfect sense that the gospel is then the 'gift of glory' solution.

And what does Paul say in Colossians 1:27 about the mystery finally being revealed?

…'Christ in you the hope of glory'. 

If 'lack of glory' is the sin problem, then to be given the opportunity to have 'the glory restored' is the needed answer. 

How does that happen?  Christ.  He bears our 'lack of glory', ie shame, and if we repent of our own self-efforts of glory (our prideful seeking and desire for significance, acknowledgement, importance, value, worth, status, honour, acceptance, approval) for ourselves from others and our own efforts, and believe in Christ's provision of glory, God gives us the favour of the undeserved gift of His glory…and that's called grace. The chasm and separation between us and God is bridged and our relationship with Him is restored, and through His gift of glory He brings peace. Both the turmoil in our own hearts and the enmity with our Creator is resolved. The King of glory becomes to us, the Prince of Peace.

This is also thus a message to overcome shame - that sense at many levels that we feel we are not enough or accepted, or feel excluded or rejected in some way, or feel we are in 'imposter' in our success, or fear exposure of past or present sin and failures, or have been violated by the abuse of another and so feel worthless. All of these are just windows into awakening our awareness of the issue of shame, and then recognising the reality of our greater shame before a holy God. But the gospel is the good news because the whole of Scripture is about God making a way to bring us out of shame and estrangement that began in Genesis 3, and into glory and peace through Jesus.

In our 21st century world which is drowning in shame and desperately seeking honour and wanting to escape shame…and discovering that options to find true peace on the banquet table of the world are empty…the gospel truly is the best 'good news of glory' there could ever be both for now and eternity!

In this Christmas season, let's not forget this is the good news

 which begins with a baby entering the world in Bethlehem about 2000 years ago, 

when God became flesh

 in order to become our shame-bearing Saviour, 

so as to be the 'gift of glory' solution to our 'short of glory' problem.