“A place to Stand, a Place to Run To: in search of Paul’s Gospel” (Grace Montreal Church: Sunday, July 22nd, 2018: Romans 1.1-17; Philippians 3.4-14)
AUDIO SEEKING THE MEANING OF THE CROSS OF JESUS Is there a meaning on this hill? Almost 2,000 years ago, on a hill outside of the capital city of the Roman province of Judaea, a blue-collar worker from the tetrarchy of Galilee (i.e. a nobody ) was crucified – along with two other brigands – on a charge of political sedition (i.e. defying the empire). In the eyes of the world at that moment, what happened that day was a non-event – it definitely wasn’t “gospel” . The word “gospel” was actually a common word in the world of the New Testament; it was not invented by Christians (from a pagan background; Jews had a biblical concept of “gospel”: Is. 52.7). “Gospel” meant “good news”, “ worthy of the front page ”. Even the close friends of the executed man were so scared of sharing his fate that they were holed up in a locked apartment. Fortunately, a sympathetic member of the Jewish Supreme Court took it upon himself to give the condemned m...