You Can Kill My Body, But You Can't Kill Me!

Today we are taking a further look at how the Bible describes a human being. So far we have looked at the Hebrew O.T. and the Greek translation of the O.T., the Septuagint (LXX). Now we move directly into the New Testament, using both the original Greek and the English translations.

Soul (psyche) and Spirit (pneuma) in the New Testament


Everything noted about the Hebrew word nephesh may generally be applied to the Greek psyche in the N.T. This is a man's life, living, thinking and acting. For instance, Jesus says,

"Whoever would save his life (psyche) will lose it, but whoever loses his life (psyche) for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul (psyche, so could be translated life)? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul (psyche)? - Matthew 16:25

"Whoever finds his life (psyche) will lose it, and whoever loses his life (psyche) for my sake will find it." - Matthew 10:39

In both instances Jesus is emphasizing that a man must decide to put his life in Jesus' hands. He is the Savior and Lord of all. To commit your life to anyone or anything else is to lose it. Earlier in Matthew 10:28 Jesus says,

"And do not fear those who will kill the body (soma) but cannot kill the soul (psyche). Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (gehenna)."

This is a very revealing passage. Obviously a man is able to kill the body of another man. The Greek word for kill is apokteino. So the tenants in Jesus' parable killed the son, hoping to gain his inheritance (Matthew 21:33-41). By this story Jesus predicted the Jewish leaders would kill Him. And so they did, by turning Him over to Pilate to be crucified. Jesus died, he ceased to breathe. Joseph of Arimathea placed Jesus' body in his own new tomb (Matthew 27:57-60). Just before He died Jesus cried out with a loud voice and yielded or gave up His spirit (pneuma) into the hands of His heavenly Father  (Matthew 27:50, John 19:30, Luke 23:46). The man Jesus did not cease to exist, however. They could kill His  body, but they could not kill His soul or life (psyche).

What does this mean for us believers? It means exactly what Jesus said. Men cannot kill us. They can only kill the bodily side of who we are. So when Stephen was stoned he taught us how to pray in the face of the death of our bodies. He prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit (pneuma)." - Acts 7:59. Death for the believer has lost its sting, its power, as also the Apostle Paul taught us when he wrote, "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" (I Corinthians 15:55, cf. Hosea 13:14).

When Jesus raised the child of the ruler from death, Luke writes that her spirit (pneuma) returned (to her body). Those attending her knew she was dead. Jesus, however, said, "She is not dead, but sleeping" (Luke 8:52-55). Thus Jesus comforts us by reminding us that death is but a sleep and that on the last day He will restore us to full and complete life as He returns our spirits to a renewed and eternal bodily existence in the new creation (1 Corinthians 15:51).

Returning to the Matthew 10:28 passage about not being able to kill the soul, note that Jesus says that God can destroy (appolimi) both body and soul in hell. On the final Day Jesus will raise all to bodily life (Matthew 25:31-46). However, the unbeliever will face a bodily existence in hell, alone, separated from the joy of life in the presence of God, lost in pain, suffering, sorrow and grief (cf. the parable of Lazarus and the rich man in Hades, Luke 16:19-31; 2 Thessalonians. 1:7-9; Revelation 20:11-15).

To find life (psyche) is to lose one's life for the sake of Jesus. This life begins when the Holy Spirit (Hagios Pneuma) grants us new birth and gives us new life (John 3:5-6; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 12:3). Full and complete life is always the life of body, mind and spirit in full communion with one's Creator. Jesus came to give us this life (Greek zoe) and give it abundantly (John 5:21-24; 6:27-63; 10:10, etc.). Believers will share in this life in the new heavens and earth (Romans 8:11-23). More on this next time.

How To Seek The Lord's Will

After Jesus ascended to His throne in heaven the Apostles were left with a dilemma. Judas had betrayed the LORD and their numbers were reduced to eleven rather than the required twelve. So they had to find a way to replace Judas. A decision had to be made. The question, however, was how this should be done. Here's what Luke reports Peter said.

For it is written in the Book of Psalms (Psalms 69:25 and 109:15),

    "'May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it';
   and
    "'Let another take his office.' 

 ²¹So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, ²² beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection." ²³And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. ²⁴And they prayed and said, "You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen ²⁵to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place." ²⁶And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles (Acts 1).

 My concern is how they chose Matthias: "and they cast lots for them . . . and he was numbered with the eleven apostles." Is this indeed the preferred manner for choosing leaders in the church? Is this the correct way for any Christian or group of Christians to make a decision?

Let's start by asking what it means to "cast lots." There are many examples in the Bible. For instance the High Priest cast lots over the two goats in the ritual for the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:8). In dividing up the land Joshua cast lots before the LORD in Shiloh (Joshua 18:10). When the Israelites returned to Jerusalem after the 70 years of captivity in Babylon the people cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in the holy city (Nehemiah 11:1). Altogether the practice of “casting lots” is mentioned 70 times in the Old Testament and 7 times in the New Testament.

Exactly how the lots were cast may not be the critical concern. It could have been something like rolling the dice, pulling the short straw or putting your hand in a basket to pick out a black or white stone. Regardless of how it was done, the question remains, Should Christians still make decisions by casting lots?

Say, for instance, that you have a job offer and you can't seem to make up your mind whether to take it or not. Should you prayerfully come before the Lord Jesus to ask Him what to do? Should you grab a couple dice and say, "If You want me to take this job, then show me a number below six." And so you roll your dice and up comes three on one dice and two on the other. So do you now know it is His will for you to take the job? Has He made your decision? Be very wary of demanding such things from the LORD without a clear command to do so.

Many comment that it is no longer necessary for New Testament believers to cast lots. After the choosing of Matthias, we see no more attempts to discover the LORD's will in this manner.

We do indeed have  God's revelation made complete in Christ and we have the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on His people, beginning with Pentecost. Consider, for instance, God's clear command forbidding the murder of another. Yet He has indicated that the "sword" is given to certain ones to carry out His justice (Romans 13:1-5). We have the responsibility to obey that commandment. We are not permitted to murder. Yet those who bear the "sword" (e.g. magistrates, police, soldiers) have the responsibility to wield the sword that can and does result in another's death. All this involves decision making.

The point is this. In making decisions let yourself be guided by God's revelation in the Scriptures, by prayer and by the counsel of brothers and sisters in the faith. When believers gather together in prayer, the Spirit of Christ is present among us, as He promises (Matthew 18:19-20). And then commit your decisions into the hands of your living and loving Lord. He will open some paths and close others. This was the experience of the early Church (Acts 16:7; Philippians 1:19). It is still so today.

Make your decisions in the light of God's revelation and guided by His Spirit. Trust in His guidance and all will be well. Seldom, if ever, is it wise to seek the Lord's will by casting lots. Much more could be said, but let this be enough for today.

Worship In Spirit And In Truth

On Sept. 21, 1956 Navy test pilot Tom Attridge was flying Grumman’s new F-11F-1 Tiger. He fired a burst from his 20mm cannon while diving and accelerating and ran into his own shells. He had to crash land, because he had shot his own fighter down. When that happened I had completed my vicarage-internship and returned to Concordia Seminary, St. Louis for my final year. I was looking forward to beginning work in the pastoral ministry and getting married to my wife. My life was full of activity and moving fast. 

Sometimes life can be going too fast, so fast that we have no time for Bible reading, meditation and prayer. When that happens we are in grave danger of shooting ourselves down. We no longer hear the warnings from our God in His Word. We are in danger of crashing. 

The Gospel lesson for the second Sunday in Lent is from John 4, the story of Jesus meeting the woman at a well in Samaria. In that conversation Jesus touched upon the critical issue of worship. True worship, he points out, must happen in spirit and in truth. Those are the only worshipers the Father seeks. 

Samaria was the place name of a mountain, a city and a region. The word means "mountain of watching." Forty-two miles north of Jerusalem a hill protrudes from a broad valley that cuts across the central highlands of Israel. The city of Samaria in O.T. times had been the capital, residence and burial place of the kings of the northern kingdom of Israel. Following that kingdom's fall to Assyria in 721 B.C. exiles from many nations settled in Samaria. At the time of Jesus' earthly ministry people from many places still lived there. There had been much intermarriage between former Jews and the Gentiles that moved into the Samaritan area. This led to the widespread worship of strange gods. As you can imagine, there was much unresolved tension between the Samaritans and the orthodox Jews of Judea. 

Instead of going around, as was customary for Jews of his day, the Lord led his disciples straight through Samaria. The story picks up around noon as Jesus and his disciples paused at a well for a rest. While the disciples went on into town to buy some lunch, Jesus engaged a woman who had come to the well in a conversation. He immediately made it clear that he knew who she was, that she had failed in five marriages, been frequently abused and was even then living with a man to whom she was not married. In other words, her life was a mess and she undoubtedly carried shame, failure and guilt in her heart. The fact that she came out to draw water at noon further indicated that she was trying to avoid the other women of the village who would come in the morning. 

I've known many who avoid gathering with others in public, especially in public worship. They don't want to face the truth about themselves and about God. Some, like the Samaritan woman feel they've made a mess of their lives and will never measure up to the standards God has set. I've often heard them say that the church is all a bunch of hypocrites. Church people talk about religion and pretend to pray, but lead lives as flawed and sinful as everyone else. I've heard others say that the whole religion thing bores them. Their boredom is really a cry for people who will reach out to accept and care about them as they are. Of course, it is true that there are 'religious' people who worship with their mouths, but not in their hearts. They boast of being orthodox and pure and look down with loathing upon the Samaritans of our day. 

What kind of person was this man who asked the Samaritan woman for a drink? She knew he was a Jew by his dress and his accent. Since the Jews normally avoided the Samaritans she was surprised that he even talked with her. This led into a conversation about the living water that Jesus said he could give her. She thought he was talking about some kind of artesian well. That, in turn, is what led Jesus to confront her about her failed marriages and the abuse, shame and guilt she carried in her heart. 

The amazing thing is that Jesus did not shun her, even though he knew all about her. He continued to reach out to her. Shook up by such loving attention, the woman tried to change the direction of the conversation. He must be a Rabbi so maybe they might get into a conversation about the usual conflicts between Samaritans and Jews and avoid dealing with those most uncomfortable personal issues. So she asked his opinion about the correct place to worship. 

Samaritans identified Mt. Gerizim as the place God had chosen rather than the Judean King David's Jerusalem. They called Gerizim the "navel of the earth," because in their tradition Adam had sacrificed there. Further, they limited the Bible to the five books of Moses, the Pentateuch, and taught that 6,000 years after creation, a Restorer or Messiah would arise to live on earth for 110 years. At the end of that period would come Judgment Day when the righteous were to be resurrected and the wicked roasted in eternal hell fire. 

Her attempts at redirection didn't work. Jesus turned the conversation back upon her, emphasizing that God looks not at where people worship. What He really seeks are those who worship Him in spirit and in truth, honestly and without lies and pretense. And since she asked about the Messiah he said right out that he was the Messiah, the Restorer. This changed everything for her. The Messiah had come, had known her and still accepted her. Without pausing further, she raced back into town to spread the good news. 

Here's the good news for us all. Regardless of our failures and sins the Messiah has indeed come and come for us personally. When you realize that Jesus is the One promised and that in him there is true mercy and forgiveness, fresh water does flow back into your life. That water is God's Spirit, His power and mercy flowing into all the dark corners to bring forgiveness and renewal. 

There are many places for worship. There are many styles of worship that reflect the many cultures and languages of people around the globe. But true worship is ever inward, spiritual. True worshipers hear Jesus speak to their hearts his blessed words of forgiveness and they respond with joy and thanks. Above everything, remember Jesus' words: "God is spirit and his worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth." 

What Is The Spirit Of Christmas?

For so very many Christmas is not a happy time at all. It is a deeply painful, scary and lonely time. All around them are silver bells, silver bells singing, "It's Christmas time in the city. Children laughing, people passing, meeting smile after smile and on every street corner you'll hear silver bells, silver bells." No, I'm not trying to be Mr. Bah, Humbug. Nor am I planning to be the Grinch that stole Christmas.  I'm simply stating a fact and not one very difficult to grasp either. The so-called spirit of Christmas is a demon that dangles a candy cane before their eyes, but pulls it away every time they reach for it.

I got into this mood by meditating upon Romans 15:1-13, the Epistle reading for this second week of Advent, another week of preparing our hearts for the true celebration of Christmas. The apostle writes,

"We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me" (Psalm 69:9). 

The Apostle is telling us that the true spirit of Christmas is the Spirit of the Christ who was born in a stable and who emptied Himself for all of us weak, helpless, hopeless and lonely sinners. By quoting the ancient Psalm, the Apostle is saying that those words of Scripture were fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. In his adult life he was rejected by his family, particularly by his brothers, cousins, aunts and uncles (Mark 6:1-6). The government and the religious leaders plotted to kill him and succeeded. He died alone on the cross of his enemies.

Psalm 69 gives us insight into Jesus' feelings throughout those days, weeks and years of rejection and hatred. We are with him in those many lonely nights of prayer and most especially in the Garden of Gethsemane as we read,

"I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold. . . I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. . . I am in distress. . . Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. . . I am afflicted and in pain. . ." 

He knows how we feel. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows (Isaiah 53:4-6).

If the spirit of Christmas is indeed the Spirit of Christ, then we who have his life within our hearts, we who are strong in him have no choice but to reach out in accord with him to the weak around us. I am thinking particularly about the millions—yes millions—who try every day to mask their inner crying, despair and pain with alcohol, sex, food or any other drug of choice available. We who are strong have an obligation, writes the Apostle. It is an obligation imposed upon us by the Spirit of Christ. We are obliged to take up, to bear and to carry the burdens of those imprisoned by their despair and hopelessness. Those folks are not hard to find. They work next to us. They live across the street. They go to school with us. They are our relatives, sometimes even our best friends. Every day they reach for the candy cane and every day the demon pulls it away.

If indeed the spirit of Christmas is the Spirit of Jesus Christ, then we can find the true meaning of peace and joy by reaching out to those near to us in Jesus' name.