God Answers Socrates
Easter
Socrates pondered on how it could be possible for sinful mankind to be saved from an angry God: "It may be that the Deity can forgive sins, but I do not see how" he opined to Plato, in the 5th century B.C.
In celebrating Easter, we remember that God provided the greatest gift for mankind, access to eternal life, through the sacrifice of His Son. He provided the solution to Socrates’ problem:
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3v16
Psalm 22 was written 500 years before Socrates’ frustrated pondering, and gives a first-hand description of the suffering of Jesus on the cross - a prophecy of crucifixion 700 years before the Persians invented this method of execution. If the great philosopher had read this work of the Holy Spirit through the hand of King David, and the many other prophesies about Jesus contained in the Old Testament, he would have been able to answer his own question.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted within me.
15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.
One thousand years before Christ’s crucifixion, a detailed, accurate foretelling of the act from a first-hand perspective was penned by Israel’s greatest earthly king, writing about the Saviour the Jewish authorities of circa 30 A.D. could not recognise and would not tolerate, because they no longer believed that the Christ was coming, and they thought Jesus represented a threat to their worldly authority and power.
They had given up on the Saviour appearing, because scripture told them that He would come before they lost the power to wield the death sentence over their own citizens – The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him the gathering of the people be. Genesis 49v10.
In 7 A.D. the Romans took away their “sceptre”. By that decree the Sanhedrin lost their power of adjudication of capital offenses. The Jews went into mourning because they thought the Word of God had failed: “Woe unto us for the sceptre has departed from Judah and the Messiah has not come!” Babylonian Talmud, chapter 4, folio 37.
They lost faith and started to set their own rules and interpretations of their books of scripture to suit their new situation. They did not know that there was already a young lad in Galilee, helping in His father’s carpentry business, who was their Lord and Saviour.
So
So rejected,
So denied;
So lonely and betrayed,
So bloodied and chastised;
So lovingly nailed
onto the cross
to die.
But many did recognise Him. Not just His group of followers and disciples. When He rode into Jerusalem on the donkey, the people sang in reverence and laid out palm leaves before Him. The timing of this ride was foretold to the exact day in chapter 9 of the book of Daniel, hundreds of years before it took place, as explained in Sir Robert Anderson’s book The Coming Prince.
Psalm 2 reads like a conversation between God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus. They ponder and deride the foolishness of man, and set the stage of the coming judgement of that portion of mankind that rejects God and sets itself against Jesus and His believers.
4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
10 Therefore, you kings, be wise;
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear
and celebrate his rule with trembling.
12 Kiss his son, or he will be angry
and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
To pour scorn on and reject the Bible and God’s offer of salvation is part and parcel of the way the rulers of this age try to dismantle the biggest threat to their schemes. They do their best to discourage belief, and impose their world view on us all. Ultimately, we are in a battle of truth against lies, light against darkness, good against evil. But if we take on the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 4v8-9 we can have the courage to continue to stand against the efforts of those who threaten and attack us, and would drive us to silence when we need to continue to voice truth: We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.
We who are Christians and express our faith through words and actions will always have our beliefs attacked, our actions harassed, our words of faith derided, and see laws implemented that increasingly oppress and persecute us. But truth is on our side. Which is why Christians are the most persecuted group of people on the Earth.
The final words should be those of Jesus:
In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. John 16v33b