OUTLINE of a Scriptural path toward Christ’s walk to Gethsemane, Calvary, beyond Bethany and anticipating the Lord’s return in glory in these last days.
The liturgical season of Lent although having no Biblical requirement has always been a reflective time for me. I have provided some glances back for any who have not followed Talk of JESUS in previous Lenten seasons.
This YEAR – A.D. 2025 to most of you (2025 C.E. to most of our unbelieving world) – I wanted to lead you through some Old Testament Scriptures looking through Jewish eyes (yes JESUS and EVERY Apostle was Jewish). You may glance at a HEBREW organization of the BIBLE below which orders and groups our O.T. Books differently.
G_d only knows how many of the 40 days of Lent I will publish, but each will likely be briefer than my usual 5-minute READ.
Finally, beloved brother or sister in Christ,
IF you look for a connecting thread between these O.T. Scriptures and Christ you may discover a faithful Jewish thread of contrition not seen in the Gospels except in the Person of Jesus. (Think of Gethsemane, now.. and follow Him along the narrow path.)
Won’t you pray for me and comment here encouraging all?
Roger Harned – Author and Site administrator, Talk of JESUS .com
a picture of LENT from AD 2014
Introduction to the Hebrew Bible
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
This phrase refers to the entirety of the Hebrew Scriptures, known as the Tanakh, which is divided into the Torah (Law), Nevi’im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings).
In the context of Matthew 22:40, “the Law and the Prophets” is a shorthand for the Old Testament.
Or should I say, Love, love, love, love perhaps four times?
(As just a bit earlier than the Beatles another Englishman, Clive Staples, pointed out 4 loves — each at least somewhat different from the others?)
Christians throw around the LOVE jargon rather vaguely and with much overlap (as does the world).
For God so loved the world.. John 3:16
The word, “Love” occurs over 500 times in the Bible
translated more than 200 times from New Testament Greek into the English Standard Version
Let’s have some Biblical intercourse about the real definitions of the Biblical loves to which C.S. Lewis referred.
The Four Loves
Love, of course, is quite popular now (February), as it is every year.
C.S. Lewis, born just a couple of years before my grandfathers, capitalized on this in his popular RADIO program and published a book called THE FOUR LOVES in A..D. 1960 (when I was only ten and John Lennon was just twenty).
To outline Lewis’ approach briefly:
The Four Loves was Lewis’ look at some of the different loves described in Greek thought: familial or affectionate love (storge); friendship (philia); romantic love (eros); and spiritual love (agape) in the light of Christian commentary on ordinate loves.
The New Testament was written in Greek, which is why we will apply some New Testament Scripture using these words based on Lewis' outline for the same 'four loves.'
Although in A.D. 1960 Lewis began elsewhere, today let’s start with the world’s contemporary favorite:
Eros – ἔρως
Eros is the Greek term for romantic or passionate love. While the word itself is not used in the New Testament, the concept is present in the biblical understanding of marriage and the intimate relationship between husband and wife. Eros is seen as a gift from God, intended to be expressed within the covenant of marriage.
The Song of Solomon [O.T.] is often cited as a biblical celebration of eros, highlighting the beauty and intensity of romantic love.
Affection covers an array of loves. Like animals, the care of mother to babe is a picture of affection. It relies on the expected and the familiar. Lewis describes it as humble.
It’s the familiarity of, “the people with whom you are thrown together in the family, the college, the mess, the ship, the religious house,” says Lewis.
I do not mean affection literally (in English), but a Greek word for affection, STORGE.
God blessed me with an additional embrace of His Personal and mysterious, complex love for us through searching aimlessly for love in the Bible. Only after researching further in other commentaries did I connect this word of affection with the Lord’s additional loves we experience so personally.
God’s affection in the Person of His only Son JESUS was there all along and I had missed it.
..says Lewis. The affection for the people always around us, in the normal day-to-day of life, is the majority of the love we experience, even if we don’t label it.
‘Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.’ had jumped out to me in the NIV
But in addition to our affection meaning devoted, when Paul writes to the Romans, the word the Apostle uses here for love obviously applies to brotherly love – philadelphia.
I also liked his mention to ‘honor‘ each other above your SELF.
Seems familiar to JESUS’ second summary point from the Commandments. LOVE actually appears in BOTH of these commandments cited by our Lord:
Jesus said to him,
“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
We'll get to what it is in a moment, but for now note that here in relation to PERSONS we seem have a better chance for AFFECTION as I noted in Paul's verse from Romans.
Storge – Other Loves plusDevotion
Although the specific term storge is not used in the New Testament, the concept is evident in passages that emphasize family relationships and responsibilities. Romans 12:10
a verb with similar meaning that we won’t want to miss
to love
to approve of
to like
sanction
to treat affectionately or kindly, to welcome, befriend
to show signs of love
to kiss
to be fond of doing
be wont [an accustomed familiarity], use to do
Perhaps the most convicting encounter with JESUS using this word phileōfor LOVE occurs in His most personal encounter with the Apostle Peter after our Lord’s resurrection.
Here’s an excerpt:
“Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?”
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love G5368 You.”
“Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love G5368 You.”
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love G5368 Me?”
IF you don't already know what word JESUS used for LOVE in His first two questions I'll bet you can guess - Jesus asks Simon Peter if he agapaos Him; yet this third time the Lord uses Peter's word for friendship - φιλέω phileō, which Peter again confirms.
Now returning to our compound Greek word for Philadelphia we must consider one additional connection of LOVE:
I asked you in the first ADVENT post of this calendar year: ‘Have you considered that in the time of Noah and Before Christ GOD cleansed the earth of all but eight?’
Then we looked at the concept of ADVENT as a time of preparation for celebrating the coming of GOD as a man, even as a child born before the witnesses of the A.D. first century.
We considered prophesy as a type of advent with certain prediction of that which was to come.
When at certain times God speaks to men such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah and others, the LORD warns of times ahead, as well as the consequences of rejection of His Law, commandments and His grace.
A visible advent of our disobedience to God is documented in Scripture and warns of God’s wrath against sin in more times ahead.
What must we do?
Take for instance the LORD’s negotiation with Abraham about Sodom. AND considering the destroyed city ponder this 21st century dilemma:
HOW are we so different than those who perished in Sodom for their sin?
Should the Lord spare US for only breaking our marriage covenants with impugnity?
Are we less sinless than those who created gods of stone from hearts of stone, proclaiming our own self as the god we worship?
Does this Common Era world not appropriate signs of the LORD’s covenant with mankind for sins offensive to God and creation?
And YES, do some so-called churches culturally encourage an all-inclusive sin of Sodom?
Have some churches missed an advent of the judgement to come by fire?
Are our sins of selfishness any less offensive to the LORD than those of ALL HE destroyed from the earth by the flood?
A righteous man such as Noah or Job would appeal to the LORD for mercy.
Do YOU and do I?
‘Remember now, that You have made me as clay; And would You turn me into dust again?
a son of man: son of Mary and Son of God – a redeemer for the sins of mankind.
Perpetuityafter Time
perpetuity, n. The quality or state of being perpetual; an instance of this, an endless or indefinite duration or existence; permanence, endlessness.
Oxford English Dictionary
A line, even a timeline representing lifetimes of days and centuries of history extends beyond our sight before its beginning and from its END into measureless eternity.
“Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall behold God, Whom I myself shall behold..
“If you say,
‘How shall we persecute him?’ ‘And the root of the matter is found in him?’ “Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves,
Take a look at the link above for a more complete understanding of changes in the Jewish Calendar during the centuries Before the Messiah of Israel.
Bible TimeLine
Timelines, like calendars and cultural customs must have a point of reference. The intersection of measured history and timeless truth becomes central to conflicting narratives of a fallen created peoples of the world.
At the ever-present center of time history records the birth of Jesus Christ.
Calendars of the Common Era
Lines in the shiftingsands of time:
B.C. OR BCE? A.D. OR CE?
Let's start from the present and find our center of history and timelines by looking back.
Anno Domini
noun a Latin phrase meaning
“in the year of the Lord”, the full form of the abbreviation AD, which is used when referring to a year after Jesus Christ was born
The B.C./A.D. calendar system was not established until around 500 A.D., well after the books of the Bible were written.
BCE and CE.
CE stands for “Common Era” BCE is “Before Common Era”
CE and BCE dates are identical with A.D. and B.C. dates
(for example, 2000 CE is the same as 2000 A.D.). This is a thinly veiled attempt by atheists and religious people other than Christians to remove Christian religious references from our culture.
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