- The work of Muhammad is based on being honored and the work of Christ is based on being insulted. This produces two very different reactions to mockery.
If Christ had not been insulted, there would be no salvation. This was his saving work: to be insulted and die to rescue sinners from the wrath of God. Already in the Psalms the path of mockery was promised: “All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads” (Psalm 22:7). “He was despised and rejected by men ... as one from whom men hide their faces ... and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3). ...
... When Muhammad was portrayed in twelve cartoons in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, the uproar across the Muslim world was intense and sometimes violent. Flags were burned, embassies were torched, and at least one Christian church was stoned. The cartoonists went into hiding in fear for their lives, like Salman Rushdie before them. What does this mean?
It means that a religion with no insulted Savior will not endure insults to win the scoffers. It means that this religion is destined to bear the impossible load of upholding the honor of one who did not die and rise again to make that possible. It means that Jesus Christ is still the only hope of peace with God and peace with man. And it means that his followers must be willing to “share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Philippians 3:10).
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3 comments:
Amen!
Thank you for this thought provoking and mind sobering post.
Blessings,
Michael
Very True - as Christians we should expect to be mocked and ridiculed for our belief. It is foolishness to Gentiles after all isnt it?
BTW - love those "This week in Calvinism" posts. I read them anytime I want a good laugh at the bad theology out there on the net. Keep up the good work.
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