Wednesday, April 20, 2011

“Jesus lost control of bodily functions” and other unhelpful statements

Offensive/graphic for the sake of being offensive/graphic. I've heard Driscoll say this type of thing. Do we need to go into great graphic detail about the act of crucifixion? “Jesus lost control of bodily functions” and other unhelpful statements « Expository Thoughts:
Whatever the reasons there is something troubling about these sort of statements when interjected into a sermon. They have no support in Scripture! Could this have happened? Well, sure, a lot could have happened but the Spirit of God decided that it was not necessary to know such details. Furthermore, such details add nothing to the meaning of the text nor do they clarify any background information to the scene. How we think about such things says a lot about our hermeneutic and whether we believe the meaning of the text is rooted in authorial intent or in our cleverness. Does stating that Jesus lost control of His bodily functions make Him appear more human? His cross more shocking? His death more real? If not, then how is this helpful?

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