Apr 24 2014
Salvation – Noah’s Ark and Christ’s Cross
Genesis 6:11-17, 7:21-8:1, 9:1-11 Death & Resurrection in the Ark and Cross
The new NOAH film starring Russell Crowe has come at a good time. Although it doesn’t represent the Bible account very well, it is at least a reminder of the basic story and Noah’s story is full of things we should be thinking about at Easter. Oh, some may say, what could the flood story have in common with Easter? Quite a lot actually, but especially the idea of death and resurrection. In the flood story we see how sin is judged so a new creation can follow; and these are the main elements we see in the cross of Christ. In fact the author of Genesis composed the flood story in what is known as a ‘chiasm’ (a cross X pattern) to emphasize God’s judgement of the old creation and his raising up of a new one. More
May 2 2014
Jesus in Joseph
Genesis 45:1-10, Luke 24:36-44
‘God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.’ Do you know who said this? It sounds like the kind of thing Jesus would say, but it wasn’t him. It was Joseph. He said it to his brothers when they discovered he was alive and had become ruler of Egypt (Gen 45:7). But it’s not the only statement made by Joseph that resembles Jesus. In fact the whole pattern of Joseph’s life had strong similarities to Jesus. As a result some Bible scholars even consider Joseph to be a kind of ‘Jesus’ of the Old Testament.
In this post I will highlight a number of parallels between Jesus and Joseph, but I will focus on one specific one; the moment that Joseph revealed himself to his brothers after his promotion and how it compares with the moment that Jesus revealed himself to his disciples after his resurrection. More