Three Voices

KC asked about credentials. They are important. I mean, you want to know that someone has some education and experience in what they are teaching, right? Online, I've read some odd thoughts on scripture, and my initial reaction is to look to see what's that person's job. Clergy, seminary student - I might take it a little more seriously. Tax collector - not so much (and before you say anything, look at my profile!).

Yet, don't you still get a million different opinions of scripture from learned men and women? And they always seem to edge in and try convince you they are right. Ah, what good would they be if they had no conviction? :)

But, the ones who tell me I'm not listening to the spirit, or worse, that I can't hear the spirit, because I do not agree with their opinion - they scare me.

Jesus' teaching was practical - what He did was practical. It's fun to get ethereal and consider some weird stuff about the cosmos and angels, but it's not what Jesus was about. Sure, the inner workings of what Christ accomplishes are spiritual, ethereal, mysterious - but are they important for me to know? Is it important that I know "why" and "how" it works - or that I just trust it does?

If a teaching leads me away from God and deeper into my own mind, where only one voice exists, I'm not sure that's a safe place for me to be. A singular voice is never a good thing. A chorus makes sure the path. Maybe that's why God has three voices. {c;


There is no reason to listen if I cannot hear.
Just Another Voice,

Did God Abandon Jesus?

(It's still a lot of questions, but a little more focused than the previous post - one thing at a time!)


According to Matthew (27:46) and Mark (15:34), when Jesus was dying on the cross, he said these words:

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Did God leave him alone? If he did, why?

The teaching that this was the point at which Christ took on Sin and was separated from God has never settled well with my soul. God abandons us when we sin. That's what this teaching implies. Does that sound right to you?

Why does the more detailed account of Christ's last words in Luke (Ch. 23) not include this outcry?

Is Mankind depraved - or is it just me?

According to Matthew (27:46) and Mark (15:34), when Jesus was dying on the cross, he said these words:

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Did God leave him alone? If he did, why?

The teaching that this was the point at which Christ took on Sin and was separated from God has never settled well with my soul. God abandons us when we sin. That's what this teaching implies. Does that sound right to you?

Why does the more detailed account of Luke not include this outcry, but instead several other words from the Savior?

I keep coming back to this when I consider what it was exactly that Christ was asking God to forgive "them" of in Luke 23:34.

"Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing"

Was it gambling for His garments because the Roman guards were only doing what had been prophesied? Was it for the Jews who had condemned Him? Was it for His disciples who had gone into hiding and were denying Him? Was it for you and I, the world, for every sin we had/are/would commit?

These words of forgiveness seemed to be spoken very soon after Christ was nailed to the Cross, while the guards and the crowds that had demanded His death were still there. Wouldn't they too feel guilt very soon, when they KNEW? Didn't you feel guilt when you KNEW?

What also comes with guilt?

Godly sorrow; self-pity?

When you are innocent, or not, does a guilty verdict make it seem as though you have been abandoned, too?

And what was the punishment He endured? It was not death - death was the result; the consequence - the punishment was the crucifixion. By refusing to defend Himself, Christ accepted the verdict of guilt laid upon Him by man. By accepting that guilt, He knew death that would come with it.

Jesus perfectly illustrates that guilt does not equal abandonment and that death is overcome.

Satan would have us think otherwise.

So would some Christians.



There is no reason to listen if I cannot hear.
Just Another Voice,