Theological Term of the Week

baptism of Jesus
John the Baptist’s baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River at the beginning of his ministry.

• From scripture:

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:13-17 ESV).

• From ESV Bible study notes on Matthew 3:15:

Jesus’ baptism inaugurates his ministry and fulfills God’s saving activity prophesied throughout the OT, culminating with his death on the cross (cf. John 1:31–34). In so doing, Jesus also endorses John’s ministry and message and links his mission to John’s. Although he needed no repentance or cleansing, Jesus identifies with the sinful people he came to save through his substitutionary life and death (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21).

• From The Gospel According to Luke by Leon Morris:

It is at first sight puzzling that Jesus should have accepted baptism at the hands of John, for this baptism was ‘a baptism of repentance’. Since Luke depicts Jesus as without sin it is not obvious why he tells us He was baptized in this way. But Jesus saw sinners flocking to John’s baptism. Clearly He decided to take His place with them. At the outset of His ministry He publicly identified Himself with the sinners He came to save.

Learn more:

1. From Scripture: In addition to Matthew 3:13-17 quoted above, see Mark 1:9-11 and Luke 3:21-22.
2. GotQuestions.org: Why was Jesus baptized?
3. Allen Ross: The Baptism of Jesus
4. Brian Borgman: The Baptism of Jesus (audio)
5. John MacArthur: Why Was Jesus Baptized? and The Significance of Jesus’s Baptism (video)

Related terms:

• crucifixion (of Christ)
• temptation of Jesus 
• Transfiguration, the
• virgin birth

Filed under Person, Work and Teachings of Christ

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Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Theological Term of the Week

cultural mandate
God’s command for the human race to fill the earth and rule over it; also called creation mandate, dominion mandate, or stewardship mandate.

• From scripture:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:26-28, ESV)

• From ESV Bible study notes on Genesis 1:26-28:

[T]he idea is that the man and woman are to make the earth’s resources beneficial for themselves, which implies that they would investigate and develop the earth’s resources to make them useful for human beings generally. This command provides a foundation for wise scientific and technological development; the evil uses to which people have put their dominion come as a result of Genesis 3. … As God’s representatives, human beings are to rule over every living thing on the earth. These commands are not, however, a mandate to exploit the earth and its creatures to satisfy human greed, for the fact that Adam and Eve were “in the image of God” implies God’s expectation that human beings will use the earth wisely and govern it with the same sense of responsibility and care that God has toward the whole of his creation. 

• From The Christian Faith by Michael Horton:

All human beings, even as fallen, remain God’s image-bearers—with the original commission to rule, guard, and keep, and to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it,” extending God’s reign with Eden as the capital (Ge 1:26-28, cf. 2:15). Often referred to as the cultural mandate, this original vocation given to humanity remains the source of that indefatigable impulse to build cities and civilizations, farms and vineyards, houses and empires. Every person, believer and unbeliever alike, receives a distinct vocation for his or her calling in the world, and the Spirit equips each person for these distinct callings in common grace. However, God’s Word in the cultural mandate is “law”: the command to subdue, rule, fill, and expand.

Learn more:

1. 9Marks: What is the cultural mandate? Who is it given to?
2. Cornerstone Presbyterian Church: What is the Cultural Mandate? and How the Cultural Mandate and the Great Commission Complement Each Other
3. Greg Johnson: Why the Mona Lisa is going to Heaven
4. John MacArthur: We Must Rightly Understand the Creation Mandate

Related terms:

• creation ex nihilo
• Great Commission
• image of God
• vocation

Filed under Anthropology

Do you have a term you would like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Theological Term of the Week

temptation of Jesus
Satan’s temptation of Jesus in the wilderness the beginning of his ministry.

• From scripture:

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,

 

“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”




Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

• From Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem:

These temptations were really a culmination of a lifelong process of moral strengthening and maturing that occurred throughout Jesus’ childhood and early adulthood, as he “increased in wisdom  . . and in fear with God” (Luke 2:52 and as he “learned obedience through what he suffered” (Heb. 5:8). In these temptations in the wilderness and in the various temptations that faced him through the thirty-three years of hislife, Christ obeyed God in our place and as our representative, thus succeeding where Adam had failed, where the people of Israel in the wilderness had failed, and where we had failed (see Rom. 5:18-19). 

As difficult as it may be for us to comprehend, Scripture affirms that in these temptations Jesus gained an ability to understand and help us in our temptations, “Because he himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted” (Heb. 2:18). 

Learn more:

1. In the Bible: Matthew 4:1-11, see also Luke 4:1-13, Mark 1:12-13.
2. Got Questions.org: What is the meaning and purpose of Jesus’ temptations?
3. Bob Deffinbaugh: The Temptation of Jesus, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
4. D. A. Carson: The Temptation of Jesus (audio)

Related terms:

• active obedience of Christ
• federal head
• humanity of Christ
• impeccability
• incarnation

Filed under Person, Work, and Teaching of Christ

Do you have a term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Theological Term of the Week

Great Commission
Christ’s command to “Go … and make disciples of all nations,” given to the apostles after his resurrection, summarizing what his followers are commissioned to do from the time of his ascension until he comes again.

• From scripture:

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20, ESV)

• From D. A. Carson’s Matthew Commentary (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary), on Christ’s command to “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you”:

1. The focus is on Jesus’ commands, not OT law. Jesus’ words, like the words of Scripture, are more enduring than heaven and earth (24:35); and the peculiar expression “everything I have commanded you” is … reminiscent of the authority of Yahweh (Exod. 29:35; Deut 1:3, 41; 7:11; 12:11, 14)… . The revelation of Jesus Messiah at this Scriptures pointed and constitutes their valid continuity; but this means that the focus is necessarily on Jesus.
2. Remarkably, Jesus does not foresee a time when any part of his teaching will be rightly judged needless, outmoded, superseded, or untrue: everything he has commanded must be passed on “to the very end of the age.”
3. What the disciples teach is not mere dogma stepped in abstract theorizing but content to be obeyed.
4. It then follows that by carefully passing on everything Jesus taught, the first disciples—themselves eyewitnesses—call into being new generations of “earwitnesses”. These in turn pass on the truth they received. So a means is provided for successive generations to remain in contact with Jesus’ teachings (cf. 2 Tim. 2:2).
5. Christianity must spread by an internal necessity or it has already decayed; for one of Jesus’ commands is to teach all that he commands. Failure to disciple, baptize and teach the peoples of the world is already itself one of the failures or our own discipleship.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions.org: What is the Great Commission?
2. Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology: Great Commission 
3. 9Marks: Who is responsible to fulfill the Great Commission?; What does the Great Commission require of local churches?
4. Thabiti Anyabwile: 7 Reasons to Care About the Great Commission 
5. J. Ligon Duncan:  The Great Commission (audio)

Related terms:

• ascension of Jesus
• believer’s baptism
• gospel

Filed under Person, Work, and Teaching of Christ

Do you have a term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Theological Term of the Week

Beatitudes
The “blessed are” pronouncements made by Jesus at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount.

• From scripture:

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, fortheirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:2-12, ESV)

• From the MacArthur Study Bible notes on Matthew 5:3:

The word [blessed] lit., means “happy, fortunate, blissful.” Here it speaks of more than a surface emotion. Jesus was describing the divinely bestowed well-being that belongs only to the faithful. The Beatitudes demonstrate that the way to heavenly blessedness is antithetical to the worldly path normally followed in pursuit of happiness. The worldly idea is that happiness is found in riches, merriment, abundance, leisure, and such things. The real truth is the very opposite. The Beatitudes give Jesus’ description of the character of true faith.

• From The Good News in Jesus’s Beatitudes (R. W. Glenn):

The context makes it clear that Jesus is describing what happens in a person’s life when they come to understand God’s grace in the gospel (see Matthew 4:23).

• God’s grace in the gospel shows you your moral and spiritual bankruptcy. You must be spirit-poor if the cross is what it took to rescue you.
• God’s grace in the gospel makes you mourn. To know that your sin nailed Jesus to the cross breaks your heart.
• God’s grace in the gospel makes you meek. How can you be touchy and defensive now that you’ve seen Jesus dying for you? There’s nothing in you worth defending.
• God’s grace in the gospel lets you see how hungry and thirsty you are for a righteousness that will open the door to God’s acceptance. Jesus is that righteousness given to you freely as a gift.
• God’s grace in the gospel makes you merciful. How can you choke your neighbor over what they owe you when both hands are already occupied receiving the mercy of Jesus Christ?
• God’s grace in the gospel makes you pure in heart. Knowing that God has accepted you on the basis of Jesus’s blood and righteousness frees you to live honestly before God and people, admitting who you really are and how desperate you are for Christ.
• God’s grace in the gospel leads you to be a peacemaker. Your experience of God’s grace puts so much joy in your heart that you cannot help but tell others how they can be at peace with God.
• And finally, your experience of God’s grace in the gospel will get you persecuted. There is something simultaneously beautiful and repulsive about a gospel-centered life. In the fallen human heart, there is a deep aversion to salvation not based on our own resume — if we didn’t have to earn a seat at the table, it’s not worth much. So when non-Christians hear that all their efforts to make themselves acceptable to God are a galactic waste of time, they’re going to get angry, and we will be the object of that anger.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions.org: What are the Beatitudes?
2. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: Beatitudes
3. Arthur W. Pink: The Beatitudes
4. John MacArthur: The Beatitudes (audio series)
5. R. W. Glenn: The Beatitudes (audio)

Related term:

• Sermon on the Mount
• Great Commission

Filed under Person, Work, and Teaching of Christ

Do you have a term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Theological Term of the Week

Sermon on the Mount
The title given to Jesus’ sermon recorded in Matthew 5-7.

• From scripture:

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying … . (Matthew 5:1-2 ESV)

(Read the whole sermon.)

• From ESV Study Bible notes on Matthew 5-7:

This is the first of five major discourses in Matthew (chs. 5–7; 10; 13; 18–20; 24–25). Speaking to his disciples (5:1), Jesus expounds the reality of discipleship lived in the presence and power of the kingdom of God but within the everyday world. Some interpreters have thought the purpose of this sermon was to describe a moral standard so impossibly high that it is relevant only for a future millennial kingdom. Others have thought its primary purpose was to portray the absoluteness of God’s moral perfection and thereby to drive people to despair of their own righteousness, so they will trust in the imputed righteousness of Christ. Both views fail to recognize that these teachings, rightly understood, form a challenging but practical ethic that Jesus expects his followers to live by in this present age. The sermon, commonly called the “Sermon on the Mount,” is probably a summary of a longer message, but the structure is a unified whole. 

Learn more:

1. The Bible: Matthew 5-7
2. Got Questions.org: What is the Sermon on the Mount?
3. Greg Herrick: A Summary of Understanding of the Sermon on the Mount
4. Bob Deffinbaugh: The Sermon on the Mount
5. R. W. Glenn: A Sermon on the Sermon on the Mount (audio)

Related term:

• Beatitudes
• Great Commission

Filed under Person and Work of Christ

Do you have a term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Theological Term of the Week

Pentecost
The day on which Jesus poured out the Spirit on his people gathered in Jerusalem, fifty days after the Passover on which he was crucified.

• From scripture:

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes andElamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” (Acts 2:1-13, ESV)

• From Christian Faith by Michael Horton:

Acts 1 marks the transition from the ascension to Pentecost. Jesus ordered the disciples to remain in Jerusalem “for the promise of the Father”: the baptism with the Holy Spirit” not many days from now” (Ac 1:1-5). About 120 people were gathered in the upper room, near the temple, where pilgrims had gathered for the feast from far-flung regions.

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Astonished that uneducated Galileans were proclaiming the gospel in their own languages, the visitors were provoked to reactions ranging from “amazed and perplexed” to outright incredulity: “They are filled with new wine” (vv. 12-13). 




Just as the Spirit’s presence in Christ’s ministry was identified with his proclamation of the gospel (Isa 61:1-2; Lk 4:18-21), the consequence of the Spirit’s descent at Pentecost was not unrestrained pandemonium but the public proclamation of the gospel by Peter, with the other apostles standing at his side (Ac 2:14-36). The one who had cowardly denied Christ three times was now risking his life for the message that the one who had been crucified a short distance from there had been raised, was at God’s right hand, and would return to judge the earth. Stringing together a series of citations from the prophets and the Psalter, Peter proclaimed Christ and this remarkable descent of the Spirit as the fulfillment of everything the Scriptures had foretold. “Cut to the heart,” three thousand people embraced Peter’s message and were baptized (vv. 37-41). 

Learn more:

1. The Bible: Acts 2:1-41
2. Got Questions.org: What is the day of Pentecost?
3. Blue Letter Bible: What Happened on the Day of Pentecost?
4. George Knight III: Pentecost
5. Ligonier Ministries Blog: Babel Reversed
6. Bob Deffinbaugh: Putting Pentecost in Perspective, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
7. R. C. Sproul: Pentecost (video)
8. D. A. Carson: Pentecost (audio)

Related term:

• ascension of Jesus
• Holy Spirit
• resurrecton of Jesus

Filed under Work of the Holy Spirit

Do you have a term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Theological Term of the Week

The Transfiguration
A mysterious transformation in the appearance of Jesus that occured on a mountain in the presence of Peter, James, and John.

• From scripture:

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. (Matthew 17:1-8, ESV)

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts … . (2 Peter 1:16-19, ESV)

• From D. A. Carson, commenting on Matthew 17:1-8 in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary:

The effect of the Transfiguration on the disciples reminds us of Daniel (Dan 10:7-9 … .). The visible glory of the Deity brings terror, but Jesus calms his disciples fears… . Matthew alone tells us that the divine splendor the disciples “fell facedown to the ground” (v.6), a prelude to their seeing no one “except Jesus” (v.8). These words are pregnant with meaning. Compared with God’s revelation through him, all other revelations pale. Supporting, pointing, prophetic roles such revelation may enjoy; but that Jesus is God’s Son is primary. Therefore, all must “listen to him” (v. 7.) 




The Transfiguration was largely for the disciples (Jesus brought the inner three to it; he was transfigured before “them”; the Voice spoke to “them” … . ) This does not mean that they understood it fully; but it was a crucial step in the symbol-charged self-disclosure of Jesus that would be much better understood (2 Peter 1:16-19) following the Resurrection. For the present, it indelibly confirmed the disciples’ conviction that Jesus was the Messiah.

Learn more:

1. The Bible: Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36
2. Holman Bible Dictionary: The Transfiguration
3. Christian Apologetics and Research Ministy: What is the transfiguration?
4. Ligonier Ministries Blog: The Transfiguration
5. Blue Letter Bible: What Was the Significance of Jesus’ Transfiguration?
6. Bob Deffinbaugh: The Transfiguration
7. J. Ligon Duncan: The Glory of Christ: The Transfiguration (audio download)

Related term:

• ascension of Jesus
• triumphal entry
• priest (as an office of Christ)
• resurrecton of Jesus

Filed under Person and Work of Christ

Do you have a term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Theological Term of the Week

crucifixion (of Christ)
The execution of Jesus Christ by nailing him to a cross.

• From scripture:

As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. (Matthew 27:32-50, ESV)

• From the Belgic Confession, Article 21:

Of the satisfaction of Christ, our only High Priest, for us.

We believe that Jesus Christ is ordained with an oath to be an everlasting High Priest, after the order of Melchisedec; and that he hath presented himself in our behalf before the Father, to appease his wrath by his full satisfaction, by offering himself on the tree of the cross, and pouring out his precious blood to purge away our sins; as the prophets had foretold. For it is written: He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and numbered with the transgressors, and condemned by Pontius Pilate as a malefactor, though he had first declared him innocent. Therefore: he restored that which he took not away, and suffered, the just for the unjust, as well in his body as in his soul, feeling the terrible punishment which our sins had merited; insomuch that his sweat became like unto drops of blood falling on the ground. He called out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? and hath suffered all this for the remission of our sins. Wherefore we justly say with the apostle Paul: that we know nothing, but Jesus Christ, and him crucified; we count all things but loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord, in whose wounds we find all manner of consolation. Neither is it necessary to seek or invent any other means of being reconciled to God, than this only sacrifice, once offered, by which believers are made perfect forever. This is also the reason why he was called by the angel of God, Jesus, that is to say, Savior, because he should save his people from their sins.

Learn more:

1. The Bible: Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19
2. Theopedia: Crucifixion
3. Holman Bible Dictionary: Cross, Crucifixion
4. Christian Apologetics and Research Ministy: The Crucifixion of Jesus
5. Bob Deffinbaugh: The Crucifixion
6. Dr. Steven J. Lawson: The Crucifixion of Jesus (audio download)
7. R. C. Sproul: The Crucifixion (audio download)

Related term:

• ascension of Jesus
• triumphal entry
• priest (as an office of Christ)
• resurrecton of Jesus

Filed under Person and Work of Christ

Do you have a term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Theological Term of the Week

triumphal entry
Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem riding on a colt prior to his crucifixion, when crowds welcomed him waving palm branches and shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord … . ”1

• From scripture:

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, [2] saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. [3] If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” [4] This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

[5] “Say to the daughter of Zion,

‘Behold, your king is coming to you,

humble, and mounted on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

[6] The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. [7] They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. [8] Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. [9] And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” [10] And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” [11] And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21:1-11 ESV)

• From ESV Study Bible:

Jesus’ triumphal entry, with people waving palm branches to greet him, is celebrated in Christian tradition as “Palm Sunday.” His riding into Jerusalem mounted on a donkey fulfills OT Scripture (Zech. 9:9; see also Ps. 118:25–26). The waving of palm branches, which symbolically conveyed the notion of victory over one’s enemy, probably indicates that the people (mistakenly) thought that Jesus would then and there bring national deliverance from Israel’s political enemies, the Romans. Yet Jesus’ popular acclaim would not last; within a mere five days, the shouts of praise would turn to angry calls for his crucifixion.

Learn more:

1. The Bible: Matthew 21:1-12, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-40, John 12:12-19
2. GotQuestions.org: What is the significance of the triumphal entry?
3. Holman Bible Dictionary: Triumphal Entry
4. Ligonier Ministries: The Triumphal Entry
5. S. Lewis Johnson: The Triumphal Entry
6. Dr. Steven J. Lawson: The Triumphal Entry (audio)

Related term:

• ascension of Jesus
• crucifixion
• king (as an office of Christ)
• resurrecton of Jesus

1John 12:13 (ESV)

Filed under Person and Work of Christ

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