Dan's Marinations

With the memory's of last weekend's Holy Week services fresh in our minds, I'd like to take the next several marinations to reflect on atonement.  That Jesus' death atones for human sins is a fundamental part of our faith.  All of us fall short of the glory that was intended for us.  All of us stumble far too frequently.  None of us is worthy of the blessings God offers.  None of us, on our own merit can have any sort of meaningful relationship with God.  If that is the human problem, Jesus death is the solution.  It atones for our sins.  By it we are freed from the penalty of our sins, and to a certain extent are freed from the presence of sin.  The New Testament uses language such as "redemption," "propitiation," "ransom," and "sacrifice" in referring to Jesus' death.  All these loaded theological terms carry a lot of freight, and serve to convey the point that Jesus does make us right with God. If it is clear that Jesus d...

It is Good Friday as I write this.  This is perhaps the darkest, yet most triumphant day in our calendar as Christians.  It is dark, for on this day our Lord suffered public humiliation, torture, and execution for a whole lot of poor sinners like me.  It is triumphant because in a way only God can arrange, this death led to life.  The suffering was the way to victory.  As a minister of the Gospel Holy Week is the highlight of the year for me.  The procession of services from Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and finally the worship on Easter morning are the services I look forward to most.  I relish this time of the year because it is absolutely the core of our faith.  Apart from the events of this weekend the church is little more than a social organization clothed in fancy, churchy language.  Now for the confession, I have a love/hate relationship with actually preaching during this season.  Yes, I would rather preach Maundy Thursday and...