Josephus does not tell us that Christianity is true, and Christians do not need Josephus to tell them that Christ is risen. But Christianity makes claims about things that happened in public history under identifiable rulers, priests, and governors. For that reason, testimony from outside the church matters.
Today, the longing for cultural Christianity on both the left and the right hearkens back to an older version of Christendom that was a mixed blessing for the church in the western world. The cultural mediation of Christian views on created order has certainly benefitted the civilization we’ve inherited. But the gospel itself isn’t something that can be reduced to cultural mediation either. Instead, the gospel as a message stands apart from all human accomplishments and achievements, no matter how beneficial they might be.
The student of Scripture should always have a map open next to their Bible as they read. If possible, they should also travel to Israel, not to make a pilgrimage, but to see the context of the land in which these stories took place. These are not fairy tales made up about fictional fantasy lands; these are stories about real people in real places interacting with a real God.

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I hope your people expect and even demand this of you. But how we proclaim the central message, that can (and probably should) vary.
Though it may feel to us like the darkness is winning, God’s Word reveals the darkness is waning. The Light of the world has come.
When all the people had been baptized, when all the people had washed the filth of their sins into the water, Jesus went into the water to draw their sins unto Himself.
Because we could never intuitively figure it out, God reveals Christ to us.
He is given His name so you could call on it. He is called Jesus, so you can call on Jesus and be saved.
To preach Christ and Him crucified is to reveal again the revealed God who saves.
This parable does its surprising work of turning everything upside-down, as Christ’s Kingdom always does.
The Kingdom will be manifest when the King wills it, and rest assured, He is a good King.
Jesus cares about the daily details of ordinary bodies and creaturely comforts, just as He cares about the eternal well-being of our souls.
On the one hand, forgiving as Jesus commands us feels impossible. But on the other hand, forgiving as we have been forgiven is the most natural thing in the world
What Jesus promises is better than justice. Jesus promises grace.
This is not just a pericope about hereditary sin and actual sins, nor is it providing a pattern for prayer. It is fundamentally about God our gracious Father and His promise to hear us, answer us, and provide for us.