Welcome, winter is trying to come back but I hope summer wins. This springtime tug of war can be trying at best. Our text for Sunday is chapters 26 and 27 of the Gospel of Matthew. While I could go through the whole thing, it would be a very long read for you and consume a lot of time for me so I am going to focus on a few things. This Sunday we celebrate Palm Sunday; when Jesus road over the Mount of Olives, paused and viewed the city of Jerusalem that had rejected him and wept while the people waved palm branches and placed their cloaks on the ground for him to travel over. He is deliberately entering from the east, as they thought the Messiah would, on a donkey, to fulfill the prophet Zechariahs words. He is demonstrating with his actions that he is the Messiah and the people understand this, hence they go wild with joy. Finally God will visit his Temple, the Messiah will take over the Temple and establish correct worship and over throw the oppressive Roman yoke. All of this happened but not in the way they were expecting. In the God-man, Jesus, God visited his temple and attacked it deeming it too corrupt to repair; Jesus became the cornerstone of the new temple with each of us as living stones to be used in a new “building”. God’s location wasn’t confined to one place anymore. Correct worship was established in faith and truth, not empty ritual, although we turn it back into that at times. The oppressive Roman yoke wasn’t thrown off but the evil behind it was defeated on the cross. Jesus does what we want him to do just not in the way we expect him to do it.
What I want to focus on is a festival ritual that Jesus reinterpreted for his new community. Jesus chose the festival of Passover to come to Jerusalem for his last days. Passover celebrated the exodus from Egypt, when God rescued his people and made them into a nation with the covenant at Mount Sinai. Note in the book of Exodus, first God rescued and saved a motley band of people then made a covenant with them, not the other way around. They didn’t have to do anything first, except cry out to him, to be made his own. (We have switched that around and expect people to change before we accept them.) When the Jewish people eat the Passover they not only celebrate their rescue but actually place themselves into the story. They are a part of the group leaving Egypt, they are a part of the group at Mount Sinai and they have been rescued; they join themselves to their ancestors such as it happened to them it is happening now. So it wasn’t only a celebration but a rejoining to their people, an identification of themselves in the story too, not just an observance.
At the foot of Mount Sinai, God made a covenant with this group. A covenant was a solemn thing to enter in to. In this case, it was an agreement between a more powerful party, God, and a weaker party, the people. The powerful party set the terms of the agreement and the lesser party agreed to abide by them. These had been used for years throughout the ancient Near East by powerful Kings conquering weaker Kings and their subjects. There have been copies found of Hittite and Assyrian covenants in the ruins of these once great societies. God used this type of known agreement with his people so they would be able to understand what they were doing.
When they finally reached Mount Sinai and God presented them with the covenant, they accepted its’ terms, they said “yes we will enter into a covenant relationship with you” Exodus 24:3. Moses then sacrificed a bull, collected its blood in a basin and preformed a covenant ratification ceremony to seal the covenant. Half of the blood he threw against an alter he had built and the other half was sprinkled on the people while he said “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” Exodus 24: 4-8. Unfortunately the people went on to break the covenant and were exiled in Assyria and Babylon.
Passover was celebrated by a special meal. There were specific foods to be eaten in a specific order with a liturgy recited during the meal. We have experience this at our church by participating in the Seder meal. Each of the foods eaten has a specific purpose and memory to accompany it. It commemorates the final night in Egypt when a lamb was slain and its’ blood was placed on the door of the home so the angel of death, who was sent to kill the firstborn of everything, would pass over that household and that family would be spared this horrible happening. It involved unleavened bread (bread with no yeast for there wasn’t time to let the bread rise) because when told to leave by God they had to leave fast. They were to be dressed and ready to go, alert and awake, waiting for the signal. This is what Jesus is celebrating in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 26 verses 17 through 29. They were eating a Passover meal.
V 17-19 Jesus had prearranged a room for him and his disciples to eat the Passover. A few of them went ahead to find the room, buy the food and prepare it for the meal later. After sundown Jesus and the rest of the disciples came.
V 20-22 When it was evening Jesus took his place at the table with the twelve. They would have been reclining on their left side around a u-shaped low table. They ate with their right hand while using their left elbow to support themselves. They would have looked at the back of the person in front of them. To speak to the person behind them they would roll back resting on the chest of that person. Jesus as the host would have been reclining at one leg of the table not in the middle of the u-shaped table. He comments that one of the twelve will betray him. The disciples become concerned as to whom it will be and began to question him and each other.
V23 The one who has dipped his hand into the common bowl of food with him will be the one to betray him.
V24-25 It would have been better for the one whom is to betray him to have never been born. Judas said “surely not I Rabbi”? All in the room at this point had dipped their hand into the common bowl of sauce so it could have been anyone. To share a meal in this culture conveyed many things. It meant you were family and would protect each other with your lives. You were a community; you had each other’s backs in times of trouble. To share a meal with someone and them betray them was the height of disloyalty. The words “as it is written” refer back to the suffering servant songs in Isaiah (42-53). Jesus will be that suffering servant spoken of so long ago.
V26 Up until this point the meal and its liturgy have been progressing as always. These men know it by heart; they have participated in it since birth. Now suddenly Jesus picks up the bread but says different words. All ears would have perked up, what is he doing? He isn’t saying the prescribed liturgy. He is telling them to eat it but it represents his body not the haste of leaving Egypt. So they do but are confused. He then picked up the third cup of wine, the cup that stood for redemption which corresponded to Gods third promise in Ex. 6:6: “I will redeem you (from Egypt) with an outstretched arm (my power) and with great acts of judgment. He gave thanks and told them to drink of it as it was “my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”. What in the world was he doing! This wasn’t the correct liturgy. The key is the “covenant”. Jesus, as God, is enacting a new covenant with his people. The covenant is in Jeremiah 31: 31-34. God states that he will do a new thing, make a new covenant with his people, not one written on tablets like the one they broke but one written on their hearts. They will know God and be his people and he will remember their sin no more. Go back to the covenant ratification ceremony above where Moses sprinkles the blood of the bull over the people and says “the blood of the covenant” now Jesus is saying “my blood of the covenant”, what is going on? To ratify this covenant something will have to be sacrificed and its blood shed for the people. Moses used a bull; Jesus is using himself as the sacrifice in place of the bull. He will be the servant whose blood is shed, this time it isn’t an animal. This time it is God, in the humanity of Jesus, as the sacrifice. God will use himself to ratify the covenant. Jesus is performing a covenant ratification ceremony but using symbolic actions from the first rescue of God’s people to perform another rescue of God’s people. This time they aren’t being rescued from an evil pagan nation but from the evil that lies behind it, from the evil that lies behind the people’s sin, from themselves. We sin and we can’t fix it, only shed blood can restore the relationship and Jesus did that for us. We are to eat the bread and drink from the cup to enter into a new covenant with God and remember what it cost God to ratify that covenant, his Son hanging on a cross outside of His city; Jerusalem. Each time we partake of communion we ratify and remember this covenant. This is a solemn commitment; we have been forgiven at the price of Jesus broken body and shed blood. This is also joy and celebration; we can enter into the presence of God by ourselves, we have been forgiven! We place ourselves into the story when we commune. We are a part of that first group but we also look forward to something.
V29 Jesus said he wouldn’t drink wine again until he drank it with them in his Fathers Kingdom. The rabbis taught that at the end of the present evil age when the kingdom of God came there would be a Messianic banquet where God would provide the finest of food and wine and the people would be invited to sit at his table and eat this fantastic food and drink. This is what Jesus is referring to; the Messianic Banquet. We are invited to this meal with Jesus and God. When we share in communion this is a foretaste of that banquet. We are preparing ourselves to sit at God’s table and share a meal, to be members of his family with Jesus as our brother. To protect each other and accept each other, to become what we eat and be a light for God in this world.
Do you accept the covenant and all the sacrifice that it cost? Do you look forward to a day when you will sit at the table of God, with your brothers and sisters, and eat the finest food in his kingdom? All are invited; will all accept?
This is my last blog for awhile. It is being retired for the summer and may reinvent itself in the fall. Pastor Matt and I have talked and may use it in a different format or alongside something else. Thank you to all that have taken the time to read and engage with the text. Thank you for the comments you have taken the time to make. Have a great summer and even though the blog is going away for a while I am not so if you have questions just ask and I will try to get you the answer. Next fall may be new and exciting in our walk together.
Shalom Kim
Friday, April 15, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Sunday April 10, 2010 John 11:1-45
Greetings, the last few Sundays our texts have been long ones and this Sunday’s is no different. We are still in the Gospel of John. The scholars of the Jews believed that when the Messiah came he would appear on the Mount of Olives and raise the dead. The Mount of Olives is on the east side of Jerusalem and today many Jews are buried on the east side of the city to be the first to rise when the Messiah comes. They thought all Jews would be raised to new life when the Messianic age broke in.
John’s themes are included in this text too. This is the seventh sign and the fifth “I am” statement.
Bethany is on the Mount of Olives about 2 miles from Jerusalem. From Bethany one would have to travel up and over the Mount of Olives to arrive at Jerusalem, which Jesus does for his Triumphal Entry.
In the Synoptic Gospels the final act that gets Jesus killed is the attack on the Temple. In the Gospel of John it is the raising of Lazarus that leads the Sanhedrin to kill Jesus. Why? Because if the Messiah is to stand on the Mount of Olives and raise the dead and Jesus stands on the Mount of Olives and raises a dead man doesn’t that indicate he is the Messiah? And if he is the Messiah he isn’t acting like they had thought he would. If he is the Messiah the people will start to follow him, leaving the leadership behind and Rome will intervene in this divisional crises destroying their Temple.
V1-6 Jesus has left the area of Jerusalem because the people had attempted to stone him the last time he was there (Chapter 10). He was out by the Jordan River somewhere. He was close to a family in Bethany; Mary, Martha and Lazarus. He would stay at their house while traveling. Lazarus became so sick that he died. The sisters sent a message to Jesus that Lazarus is ill. Jesus comments to his disciples that this illness won’t lead to death but it is for the glory of God. It sounds odd to us but Jesus didn’t leave immediately, even though he loved them, he stayed where he was for two more days. Charles Swindoll has noted “that if the hypothetical timeline Swindoll proposes is close to accurate, Lazarus was dead by the time the messenger reached Jesus”.
V7-16 After two days Jesus said to his disciples “Let us go to Judea again”. The disciples are surprised. The people in Judea have tried to kill Jesus, why does he want to go back? Jesus replies with a statement that has a double meaning. Work can be done during the twelve hours of daylight but at night no one can work and all travel would stop. Another meaning underlying this is that Jesus is the light of the world and he has work to do while he is in the world. Those who don’t walk in his light will stumble and it may be too late. We each have our working “day” from God and we are to use it wisely before “night” falls and we can work no more. Jesus says Lazarus has fallen asleep and the disciples misunderstand. If he is just sleeping, Jesus doesn’t need to risk his own life and theirs to go wake him up but Jesus then clarifies by saying “Lazarus is dead. But let us go to him.” The disciples are probably wondering “why go now, there is nothing we can do” but Thomas bravely says “Let us also go so that we may die with him.” Do they know that Jesus is going to raise Lazarus; no but Jesus knows that when he does their faith in him will be strengthened.
V17-27 By the time Jesus and his disciples arrived Lazarus had been dead and in the tomb for four days. The day he died he was wrapped in linens soaked with spices, to cover the smell, and put in the tomb. Jewish literature taught that the soul of the dead person remained by the body for three days hoping to reenter. When it saw the decay of the body by the fourth day it departed. In other words Lazarus is completely dead and smells. The sisters would have been in the house in deep mourning for seven days. The house would have been ritually unclean due to having a dead body in it and the sisters would have been ritually unclean because they had touched the dead body to prepare it for burial. When Martha hears that Jesus is finally coming she leaves the house to meet him. She should have stayed in the house. In agony she says to Jesus “if you had been here my brother would have not died”. She had witnessed Jesus heal people and she knew he could have healed her brother but she isn’t angry. I think I may have shown some anger towards Jesus, after all he is healing others and he loves us so why didn’t he heal my brother? Are we not good enough? Why do they get healed and we don’t? She continues to say that she knows God will give Jesus whatever he asks of him. Not that he will bring her brother back to life but that she believes and trusts Jesus. Jesus replies that Lazarus will rise again. Martha says that she knows he will rise in the resurrection on the last day. (When the Messiah comes and raises all the dead from the Mount of Olives) Jesus then says “I am the resurrection and the life”. In me the Messianic age has broken in. He is the Messiah and the resurrection which Martha thought was in the future is here now. Their hopes concerning death and resurrection have been transformed and fulfilled now. It is not a future event anymore but a present reality. Those who trust in Jesus as the Messiah will never die. Death has now become a door to walk through, it is not the end. Martha makes a profound statement “Yes Lord, I believe that you are the (expected, true) Messiah, the Son of God (God’s anointed one) the (expected) one coming into the world. She made this confession on the Mount of Olives. This is more than the disciples had understood.
V28-37 Martha returned to let Mary know that Jesus was asking for her. Mary got up to go meet privately with Jesus but the house full of mourners followed her thinking she was going to the tomb to weep. When Mary got to Jesus she too said “if you had been here my brother would not have died.” Mary did not rebuke Jesus either but spoke with agony at her loss. In a patriarchal society the women had just lost their means of support and economic protection. Jesus, seeing the people weeping, was deeply moved. There are differing views on the translation of deeply moved but nonetheless Jesus empathizes and mourns with us. When we see a tragedy most of us wonder why God allowed this to happen. The answers are varied depending on the historical views you believe (i.e. Calvinism ect.) but know that God mourns with us. God cries with us, as Jesus weeps with us. We are not left alone in our sorrow. When the pastor father of the women murdered through a craigslist add was interviewed on national T.V. he was asked where was God in all of this? He replied that God was all around them, he brought them food when they couldn’t think of cooking, he visited them at home and allowed them to cry on his shoulder, he sat in silence with them for hours sharing their pain, he came to the funeral to support them in their sorrow, he sent them cards and flowers; we are the presence of God for people who mourn. Some however looked at this and wondered why Jesus didn’t keep Lazarus alive, he had after all opened the eyes of a man born blind which had never been done before.
V38-44 Jesus has Mary and Martha take him to the tomb. Jesus says “take away the stone” but Martha reminds him that Lazarus has been four days and stench will come from the tomb. Jesus reminds her of their earlier conversation that if she believed she would see the glory of God. Jesus looks to God and prays, not for his own success but so the people would understand that the miracle came from God. He shouted for Lazarus to “come out”. In the first chapter of John the Word was in the beginning with God and in him was life and light. The Word becomes a person. In Genesis God speaks words and everything is created. Here the word of God is spoken by the Word that became flesh and it gives new life. Lazarus lives! God’s glory is revealed. Death is conquered. It isn’t final anymore. It doesn’t bind us anymore. “Unbind him and let him go.”
V45-51 Many of the Jews that witnessed this event believed Jesus. He was the Messiah. But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Did they go in anger, probably not, they may have gone in awe to let the Pharisees, who believed in the resurrection, know that a wondrous thing had happened on the Mount of Olives. The leaders call a meeting to figure out what they are going to do with this man. This is getting dangerous, more and more are believing him and following him. We need to get rid of him. The irony is that Jesus is raising the dead and the living are plotting his death. The Messianic age has broken in, which they were waiting for, and they are trying to stop it. Why? Because it didn’t look like they thought it would so they didn’t believe it.
That is what we, as humans, do. If something doesn’t look like we thought it would, we dismiss it. We try to stop it. Unknown is uncomfortable. It’s heresy. We need familiar even though it may be wrong. But is it really or is it that we are fearful of losing the status and power we have with the familiar so we refuse to consider the new. The Jewish leaders knew the Messiah would raise the dead on the Mount of Olives. Jesus raises a dead man on the Mount of Olives. Therefore he is the Messiah. However, he doesn’t act like the Messiah the Jews wanted and envisioned so he is crucified.
I wonder what I miss of the new because I am too comfortable with the familiar and unwilling to see.
John’s themes are included in this text too. This is the seventh sign and the fifth “I am” statement.
Bethany is on the Mount of Olives about 2 miles from Jerusalem. From Bethany one would have to travel up and over the Mount of Olives to arrive at Jerusalem, which Jesus does for his Triumphal Entry.
In the Synoptic Gospels the final act that gets Jesus killed is the attack on the Temple. In the Gospel of John it is the raising of Lazarus that leads the Sanhedrin to kill Jesus. Why? Because if the Messiah is to stand on the Mount of Olives and raise the dead and Jesus stands on the Mount of Olives and raises a dead man doesn’t that indicate he is the Messiah? And if he is the Messiah he isn’t acting like they had thought he would. If he is the Messiah the people will start to follow him, leaving the leadership behind and Rome will intervene in this divisional crises destroying their Temple.
V1-6 Jesus has left the area of Jerusalem because the people had attempted to stone him the last time he was there (Chapter 10). He was out by the Jordan River somewhere. He was close to a family in Bethany; Mary, Martha and Lazarus. He would stay at their house while traveling. Lazarus became so sick that he died. The sisters sent a message to Jesus that Lazarus is ill. Jesus comments to his disciples that this illness won’t lead to death but it is for the glory of God. It sounds odd to us but Jesus didn’t leave immediately, even though he loved them, he stayed where he was for two more days. Charles Swindoll has noted “that if the hypothetical timeline Swindoll proposes is close to accurate, Lazarus was dead by the time the messenger reached Jesus”.
V7-16 After two days Jesus said to his disciples “Let us go to Judea again”. The disciples are surprised. The people in Judea have tried to kill Jesus, why does he want to go back? Jesus replies with a statement that has a double meaning. Work can be done during the twelve hours of daylight but at night no one can work and all travel would stop. Another meaning underlying this is that Jesus is the light of the world and he has work to do while he is in the world. Those who don’t walk in his light will stumble and it may be too late. We each have our working “day” from God and we are to use it wisely before “night” falls and we can work no more. Jesus says Lazarus has fallen asleep and the disciples misunderstand. If he is just sleeping, Jesus doesn’t need to risk his own life and theirs to go wake him up but Jesus then clarifies by saying “Lazarus is dead. But let us go to him.” The disciples are probably wondering “why go now, there is nothing we can do” but Thomas bravely says “Let us also go so that we may die with him.” Do they know that Jesus is going to raise Lazarus; no but Jesus knows that when he does their faith in him will be strengthened.
V17-27 By the time Jesus and his disciples arrived Lazarus had been dead and in the tomb for four days. The day he died he was wrapped in linens soaked with spices, to cover the smell, and put in the tomb. Jewish literature taught that the soul of the dead person remained by the body for three days hoping to reenter. When it saw the decay of the body by the fourth day it departed. In other words Lazarus is completely dead and smells. The sisters would have been in the house in deep mourning for seven days. The house would have been ritually unclean due to having a dead body in it and the sisters would have been ritually unclean because they had touched the dead body to prepare it for burial. When Martha hears that Jesus is finally coming she leaves the house to meet him. She should have stayed in the house. In agony she says to Jesus “if you had been here my brother would have not died”. She had witnessed Jesus heal people and she knew he could have healed her brother but she isn’t angry. I think I may have shown some anger towards Jesus, after all he is healing others and he loves us so why didn’t he heal my brother? Are we not good enough? Why do they get healed and we don’t? She continues to say that she knows God will give Jesus whatever he asks of him. Not that he will bring her brother back to life but that she believes and trusts Jesus. Jesus replies that Lazarus will rise again. Martha says that she knows he will rise in the resurrection on the last day. (When the Messiah comes and raises all the dead from the Mount of Olives) Jesus then says “I am the resurrection and the life”. In me the Messianic age has broken in. He is the Messiah and the resurrection which Martha thought was in the future is here now. Their hopes concerning death and resurrection have been transformed and fulfilled now. It is not a future event anymore but a present reality. Those who trust in Jesus as the Messiah will never die. Death has now become a door to walk through, it is not the end. Martha makes a profound statement “Yes Lord, I believe that you are the (expected, true) Messiah, the Son of God (God’s anointed one) the (expected) one coming into the world. She made this confession on the Mount of Olives. This is more than the disciples had understood.
V28-37 Martha returned to let Mary know that Jesus was asking for her. Mary got up to go meet privately with Jesus but the house full of mourners followed her thinking she was going to the tomb to weep. When Mary got to Jesus she too said “if you had been here my brother would not have died.” Mary did not rebuke Jesus either but spoke with agony at her loss. In a patriarchal society the women had just lost their means of support and economic protection. Jesus, seeing the people weeping, was deeply moved. There are differing views on the translation of deeply moved but nonetheless Jesus empathizes and mourns with us. When we see a tragedy most of us wonder why God allowed this to happen. The answers are varied depending on the historical views you believe (i.e. Calvinism ect.) but know that God mourns with us. God cries with us, as Jesus weeps with us. We are not left alone in our sorrow. When the pastor father of the women murdered through a craigslist add was interviewed on national T.V. he was asked where was God in all of this? He replied that God was all around them, he brought them food when they couldn’t think of cooking, he visited them at home and allowed them to cry on his shoulder, he sat in silence with them for hours sharing their pain, he came to the funeral to support them in their sorrow, he sent them cards and flowers; we are the presence of God for people who mourn. Some however looked at this and wondered why Jesus didn’t keep Lazarus alive, he had after all opened the eyes of a man born blind which had never been done before.
V38-44 Jesus has Mary and Martha take him to the tomb. Jesus says “take away the stone” but Martha reminds him that Lazarus has been four days and stench will come from the tomb. Jesus reminds her of their earlier conversation that if she believed she would see the glory of God. Jesus looks to God and prays, not for his own success but so the people would understand that the miracle came from God. He shouted for Lazarus to “come out”. In the first chapter of John the Word was in the beginning with God and in him was life and light. The Word becomes a person. In Genesis God speaks words and everything is created. Here the word of God is spoken by the Word that became flesh and it gives new life. Lazarus lives! God’s glory is revealed. Death is conquered. It isn’t final anymore. It doesn’t bind us anymore. “Unbind him and let him go.”
V45-51 Many of the Jews that witnessed this event believed Jesus. He was the Messiah. But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Did they go in anger, probably not, they may have gone in awe to let the Pharisees, who believed in the resurrection, know that a wondrous thing had happened on the Mount of Olives. The leaders call a meeting to figure out what they are going to do with this man. This is getting dangerous, more and more are believing him and following him. We need to get rid of him. The irony is that Jesus is raising the dead and the living are plotting his death. The Messianic age has broken in, which they were waiting for, and they are trying to stop it. Why? Because it didn’t look like they thought it would so they didn’t believe it.
That is what we, as humans, do. If something doesn’t look like we thought it would, we dismiss it. We try to stop it. Unknown is uncomfortable. It’s heresy. We need familiar even though it may be wrong. But is it really or is it that we are fearful of losing the status and power we have with the familiar so we refuse to consider the new. The Jewish leaders knew the Messiah would raise the dead on the Mount of Olives. Jesus raises a dead man on the Mount of Olives. Therefore he is the Messiah. However, he doesn’t act like the Messiah the Jews wanted and envisioned so he is crucified.
I wonder what I miss of the new because I am too comfortable with the familiar and unwilling to see.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Sunday April 3, 2010 John 9:1-41
Welcome Pastor Matt. I just had a nice walk in the warm sun with the dogs. Maybe Spring will come after all. In last week’s sermon Pastor Matt stated a good point about the women at the well. She had been rejected by five families and the man she was living with now didn’t seem in a hurry to marry her. In that day divorce was instigated by the husband. When the couple married they lived with the husband’s family so five husbands and their families had rejected her and she was probably living with a man now because the alternative would have been prostitution. Jesus doesn’t rebuke her because he knows this; he elevates her. He accepts her which changes her life. Interesting enough we expect people to change their life and then accept them.
Our text for this Sunday is still in John. We have read some of the themes of John and in this text there is a new one. John uses the number 7 throughout his gospel. It first appears in chapter one when John echo’s the seven days of creation. Our story for Sunday has seven scenes and this is the sixth miracle, out of seven, in John.
Scene 1 (9:1-7) Jesus is in the vicinity of the Temple. In chapter eight Jesus states “I am the light of the world”. The Pharisees then refute this and question where he gets his authority from to make this statement. After a dialogue back and forth the Pharisees and Jews accuse Jesus of having a demon and attempt to stone him but he left the Temple. He is walking along and sees a man blind from birth. The Jews though to have a defect or illness was a result of sin so the disciples want to know who had sinned; the man or his parents. Jesus replies that the man’s blindness isn’t connected to a sin by anyone but God will use it to reveal his glory. While Jesus is alive it is his working day, he is the light of the world but night will be coming. Jesus then spit on the ground, made mud and rubbed it on the man’s eyes telling him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. This takes place on the Sabbath when no work was to be done. Jesus is healing, doing work, on the Sabbath. The man is blind, in darkness. Jesus is the light of the world. Jesus will bring light into the man’s darkness by curing him. The outward physical cure is a sign of the inward healing taking place in the man. With this inward healing comes restoration to God, community, family and forgiveness. If in the Jews mind affliction was caused by sin, curing the man would indicate that he had been forgiven by God.
Scene 2 (9:8-12) The people notice that the blind beggar can see and they try to figure out if it is truly the beggar or a different man. He then replies that the man called Jesus healed him.
Scene 3 (9:13-17) The people bring the man to the Pharisees and they began to question him as to who had healed him. The Pharisees comment that Jesus isn’t from God because he doesn’t observe the Sabbath; he is a sinner. The people are confused because if this man, Jesus, is a sinner how can he heal? The audience becomes divided. They again ask the man about Jesus and the man says Jesus is a prophet.
Scene 4 (9:18-23) Since there is so much confusion over the healing the Pharisees call the man’s parents to get their comments. They want the parents to explain how he was healed. The parents are evasive in their answer and direct the Pharisees back to their son. The parents are afraid of being kicked out of the synagogue if they are associated with Jesus. To be removed from the synagogue was to lose all connections and associations to the community.
Scene 5 (9:24-34) For a second time the Pharisees call the man and question him. Again they call Jesus a sinner (relating back to Jesus being called a demon in the previous chapter). Again they press the man for the “real” story, maybe he will recant it. They want him to give God the Glory. Again the man repeats his original version but he asks sarcastically if the Pharisees are questioning him because they want to become Jesus’ disciples. The Pharisees explode and claim that the man is Jesus’ disciple (from the demonic) but they are disciples of Moses. The man answers them in surprise, they don’t know where Jesus is from yet Jesus has healed him? They know God works through those whom he chooses and not sinners (demons). Never before has anyone been healed of blindness. Only God could have healed this man. If Jesus was from the demonic he wouldn’t have been able to heal the man from blindness, but he has Divine power to heal so God must have given him that Divine authority. The Pharisees have no reply so in desperation to show their authority they abuse him, insult him and drive the man out. They imply his blindness was a curse from God. He is excommunicated from everything (community, economics, family) and alone. Israel was to be the light of the world drawing everyone to God. Instead, as in this story, they are excluding people and driving them from the community of God. They have confused their mission; they are denying the people a relationship with God. They are ignoring what God is doing through Jesus by healing a blind man and clinging to their own authority desperately. Ritual has trumped human need.
Scene 6 (9:35-39) Jesus heard that the Pharisees had driven the man out so he found him and asked him if he believed in the Son of Man (from Dan 7:13, the true representative of Israel)? The man asks who that is. Tell me. Jesus replies that the man is looking at the Son of Man. The man then calls him Lord and worships him. His eyes have been truly opened. He is seeing the light of the world. Jesus is including him in the new Israel, community, around himself. He has been removed from one community but accepted into another.
Scene 7 (9:40, 41) The Pharisees question Jesus on his statement that they are blind. They refuse to Jesus for who he is so they remain blind, spiritually blind, in darkness. Jesus is the light of the world, drawing people to God and helping people to “see”.
The Pharisees are so intent on keeping ritual that they ignore a rare healing in their midst. In order to suppress the event they insult and humiliate the man; they insult and deny Jesus. They should have been rejoicing with him. The blind man however has made a progression in his healing. First he is physically cured (an outward sign of an inward change) then the healing begins; in verse 11 he calls Jesus the man, in verse 17 he calls him a prophet and in verse 38 he calls him Lord and worships him. The man can answer who Jesus is by this progression and he can answer who a sinner is by their refusal to accept Jesus.
Do we rejoice at the miracle or complain about the rituals broken? Do we see or are we blind? Do we bring people to God or leave people out? If changes happen in our church will we accept them or will we bristle at them? If we, as a church, can change and draw more people to God; will we?
Our text for this Sunday is still in John. We have read some of the themes of John and in this text there is a new one. John uses the number 7 throughout his gospel. It first appears in chapter one when John echo’s the seven days of creation. Our story for Sunday has seven scenes and this is the sixth miracle, out of seven, in John.
Scene 1 (9:1-7) Jesus is in the vicinity of the Temple. In chapter eight Jesus states “I am the light of the world”. The Pharisees then refute this and question where he gets his authority from to make this statement. After a dialogue back and forth the Pharisees and Jews accuse Jesus of having a demon and attempt to stone him but he left the Temple. He is walking along and sees a man blind from birth. The Jews though to have a defect or illness was a result of sin so the disciples want to know who had sinned; the man or his parents. Jesus replies that the man’s blindness isn’t connected to a sin by anyone but God will use it to reveal his glory. While Jesus is alive it is his working day, he is the light of the world but night will be coming. Jesus then spit on the ground, made mud and rubbed it on the man’s eyes telling him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. This takes place on the Sabbath when no work was to be done. Jesus is healing, doing work, on the Sabbath. The man is blind, in darkness. Jesus is the light of the world. Jesus will bring light into the man’s darkness by curing him. The outward physical cure is a sign of the inward healing taking place in the man. With this inward healing comes restoration to God, community, family and forgiveness. If in the Jews mind affliction was caused by sin, curing the man would indicate that he had been forgiven by God.
Scene 2 (9:8-12) The people notice that the blind beggar can see and they try to figure out if it is truly the beggar or a different man. He then replies that the man called Jesus healed him.
Scene 3 (9:13-17) The people bring the man to the Pharisees and they began to question him as to who had healed him. The Pharisees comment that Jesus isn’t from God because he doesn’t observe the Sabbath; he is a sinner. The people are confused because if this man, Jesus, is a sinner how can he heal? The audience becomes divided. They again ask the man about Jesus and the man says Jesus is a prophet.
Scene 4 (9:18-23) Since there is so much confusion over the healing the Pharisees call the man’s parents to get their comments. They want the parents to explain how he was healed. The parents are evasive in their answer and direct the Pharisees back to their son. The parents are afraid of being kicked out of the synagogue if they are associated with Jesus. To be removed from the synagogue was to lose all connections and associations to the community.
Scene 5 (9:24-34) For a second time the Pharisees call the man and question him. Again they call Jesus a sinner (relating back to Jesus being called a demon in the previous chapter). Again they press the man for the “real” story, maybe he will recant it. They want him to give God the Glory. Again the man repeats his original version but he asks sarcastically if the Pharisees are questioning him because they want to become Jesus’ disciples. The Pharisees explode and claim that the man is Jesus’ disciple (from the demonic) but they are disciples of Moses. The man answers them in surprise, they don’t know where Jesus is from yet Jesus has healed him? They know God works through those whom he chooses and not sinners (demons). Never before has anyone been healed of blindness. Only God could have healed this man. If Jesus was from the demonic he wouldn’t have been able to heal the man from blindness, but he has Divine power to heal so God must have given him that Divine authority. The Pharisees have no reply so in desperation to show their authority they abuse him, insult him and drive the man out. They imply his blindness was a curse from God. He is excommunicated from everything (community, economics, family) and alone. Israel was to be the light of the world drawing everyone to God. Instead, as in this story, they are excluding people and driving them from the community of God. They have confused their mission; they are denying the people a relationship with God. They are ignoring what God is doing through Jesus by healing a blind man and clinging to their own authority desperately. Ritual has trumped human need.
Scene 6 (9:35-39) Jesus heard that the Pharisees had driven the man out so he found him and asked him if he believed in the Son of Man (from Dan 7:13, the true representative of Israel)? The man asks who that is. Tell me. Jesus replies that the man is looking at the Son of Man. The man then calls him Lord and worships him. His eyes have been truly opened. He is seeing the light of the world. Jesus is including him in the new Israel, community, around himself. He has been removed from one community but accepted into another.
Scene 7 (9:40, 41) The Pharisees question Jesus on his statement that they are blind. They refuse to Jesus for who he is so they remain blind, spiritually blind, in darkness. Jesus is the light of the world, drawing people to God and helping people to “see”.
The Pharisees are so intent on keeping ritual that they ignore a rare healing in their midst. In order to suppress the event they insult and humiliate the man; they insult and deny Jesus. They should have been rejoicing with him. The blind man however has made a progression in his healing. First he is physically cured (an outward sign of an inward change) then the healing begins; in verse 11 he calls Jesus the man, in verse 17 he calls him a prophet and in verse 38 he calls him Lord and worships him. The man can answer who Jesus is by this progression and he can answer who a sinner is by their refusal to accept Jesus.
Do we rejoice at the miracle or complain about the rituals broken? Do we see or are we blind? Do we bring people to God or leave people out? If changes happen in our church will we accept them or will we bristle at them? If we, as a church, can change and draw more people to God; will we?
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Sunday March 27, 2010 John 4:5-42
Shalom, what a cruel turn of events. Last week we got to sample 50 degrees outside and today we wake up to snow and wind. The poor neighborhood ducks are huddled in a little pool of water in the corn field and probably wondering why they returned so early from the warmth. Our text for Sunday is still in the Gospel of John. Last week we learned of a great teacher in Israel who was having a difficult time understanding what Jesus was saying. This week we have the opposite, a Samaritan woman that Jesus encounters at a well during his travels. Remember the themes in John we had last week? There is another to be added to the list. Dr. Wendt has pointed out that another theme exists in John, that of replacement. “In John 2:1-11 Jesus replaces the purification rites, in 3:1-17 with Nicodemus Jesus replaces the mode of entry into God’s people and in our text for Sunday he replaces the cult of Samaria that had to do with worship on Mt. Gerizim with himself.” In fact, in the Gospel of John, Jesus is replacing most everything with himself. To understand the story we need some background information. When traveling the Jewish people didn’t like to go through Samaria and the Samaritans didn’t want them to, they hated each other. The two groups had an age old fight about the proper location for worship. The Jews considered the Samaritans to be half-breeds because after the Assyrian invasion the remaining Jews had intermarried with the Assyrian settlers, they weren’t a pure race anymore. The Samaritans only thought the first five books of the bible were authoritative and they believed that their father Jacob, who had dug a well in their land, had authorized worship to be on Mt. Gerizim. The Jews were a pure race and they contended that Worship was to be in Jerusalem on Mt. Zion where the Temple was located. So the two groups of people were quarreling over who the “true” people of God were and where the correct location to worship God was. The problem would arise when Jews wanted to travel between Galilee, in the north, to Jerusalem, in the south. Would the Samaritans allow them to travel through their territory or would they have to go east and travel along the Jordan River which added more time onto the journey.
V5-6 Jesus is traveling north to Galilee from the place where his disciples and John had been baptizing people. The Pharisees were trying to stir up trouble for them by keeping track of how many each party was baptizing and who was the most successful. They were attempting to pit Jesus’ group against Johns’. If they could instigate infighting perhaps the whole movement would crumble. Jesus and his disciples leave to make Johns’ ministry less difficult. They travel through Samaria. There wasn’t much water in Samaria, not many rivers at all, only wells dug by their ancestors with which to get water. After traveling in the heat of the day they come to the well dug by Jacob, later named Israel. The well is by Sychar, possibly the Shechem of the Old Testament. Jesus, tired by the journey, is sitting on the well while his disciples went into the town to get food as it is noon (full daylight). This location would have been at the foot of Mt. Gerizim and the Samaritan Temple.
V7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus should have moved 20ft. away indicating it was safe and culturally appropriate for her to approach. He didn’t. Instead he asks her for a drink. As Kenneth Bailey has pointed out Jesus does four things; 1. A Rabbi was not to be in the presence of a woman by himself let alone talk with her-he breaks a social taboo possibly damaging his reputation, 2. He ignores the hostility between the two groups, 3. He humbles himself and needs her services-he will drink from her ritually unclean bucket and 4. He elevates her self worth. But why is she there drawing water at noon when the time to draw water was in the morning and evening? She is avoiding the women of the community because she is in shame.
V9 She is confused; he isn’t following the cultural norms. She asks him how he a Jew can drink from the unclean bucket of a Samaritan woman. The unsaid question is; why are you talking to me?
V10 Jesus diverts her question to a deeper understanding of himself and who he is. She sees a Jewish man breaking cultural norms. Jesus says if you really knew who was talking to you and asking for a drink you would ask me, Jesus, for living water. The gift of God for the Samaritans was the Torah, for the Jews it was the Torah and the Prophets both saw it as the gift of a book but Isaiah 42:6 states the gift of God is a person-JESUS. The living water was the revelation that Jesus brings; new life in an arid area. They are physically in an arid area with a well of water-a metaphor for what Jesus was teaching. Jesus is breaking the division between Jews and Samaritans.
V11-12 She is literal. You don’t have a bucket, the well is deep. Living water was the description for moving water-a river-not cistern water. Where is this river you are talking about? Jacob dug and used this well for water, are you greater than him? This is a challenge to Jesus, (both Jews and Samaritans claimed Jacob as their father) how can you be greater than Jacob. She is totally confused; there isn’t a river nearby just arid countryside.
V13-14 Jesus responds that this physical water from the well will not satisfy her, she will have to drink again but the living water he offers,himself, will quench her spiritual thirst. In Isaiah 44:1-5 God links the pouring out of water with the pouring out of the Spirit, knowledge of himself. Jesus’ living water from God will give eternal life. Jesus is the living water, the gift from God. In other words, if you knew who I was and that I was sent from God to reveal who he is you wouldn’t be concerned about this physical water in this well you would thirst for the knowledge about God.
V15 She wants the water but is she still thinking physical water that is fresher than that in the well or is she thinking Jesus? She is thinking literal water so she doesn’t have to keep returning to the well. Maybe Jesus has secret knowledge of a good fresh water supply. She is unsure and jesting.
V16 Jesus issues a command to her, go call your husband and come back.
V17-18 She denies that she has a husband but she doesn’t admit that she is living with a man and by law should be stoned. Jesus agrees with her statement. He doesn’t condemn her. Jesus then continues to describe her living situation to her. He confronts her with herself. This is always an uncomfortable spot to be in when someone sees through you to the person you really are. We don’t want to be faced with who we really are, we like the facade we put up for others, the mask we wear.
V19-24 When confronted with herself she changes the topic to the correct location for worship. They are at the foot of Mt. Gerizim. Jesus is kind to her and doesn’t rebuke her change. From Jesus’ description of her living arrangements she knows he is a prophet, so if a prophet has come would he settle this worship site argument. She is deflecting his attention from her to a more general argument. Isn’t that human nature? When being confronted, deflect attention from ourselves to another hot button issue so we don’t have to feel uncomfortable? He doesn’t debate her but describes a time coming when location of worship won’t matter. The time is coming when the location won’t be important but the object of worship will be the focus. Worship won’t be external formalities but focus on God in spirit and truth.
V25 Again she evades the issue. If this prophet won’t answer my question maybe the expected Messiah will answer it when he arrives.
V26 Jesus declares I Am, the Old Testament term for God. I am the Messiah you are waiting for. By using the Old Testament name for God, Jesus is saying the Messiah is also God. God, in the person of the Messiah, has come and is talking with you now.
V27 The disciples return from town. They see he is breaking taboos by speaking with this woman but no one asks.
V28-29 The woman leaves her water jar and returns to the city. She says to people they need to come and see a man who knew her entire past. Is he the Messiah? The people leave to go out to the well and see Jesus. This is an amazing turn of events for this woman. Initially she avoids people out of shame and now she is talking to anyone who will listen; compelling them they need to go to the well. She, a woman, is witnessing for Jesus. Women weren’t allowed to be witnesses in a court of law so who will listen to her?
V30, 39 The people leave the city and go out to him. They did accept her witness.
V31-34 In the mean time the disciples are urging Jesus to eat. He replies that he has food they don’t know about. So the disciples think maybe Jesus got food from someone else. They are confused. Jesus responds that the food that really matters is to do the will of his father. It is more important and urgent that he teach about his father than eat physical food. It is more important that this woman realize who he is and what he is doing than eat.
V35 He then looks out over the fields of grain growing around them and comments on the coming harvest. He turns his attention to the coming crowd from town and compares them to that harvest. The people coming are ripe for harvesting, learning. Some have planted the seed while others get to harvest the grain and so it is with people. Some have done the initial teaching and others get to see people accept Jesus. The disciples will reap a crop they didn’t produce.
V40-42 The fellow towns people ask him to stay with them and he does for two days. Many come to belief and the realization that he is the Savior of the World.
As Kenneth Bailey has points out “Jesus reveals himself in progression to her: a thirsty man, a Jew, a Rabbi, a Prophet and finally a divine Messiah”. He didn’t condemn her or rebuke her; he just brought her along in her understanding of who he was by using images that were around them. This is different from his meeting with Nicodemus. Jesus did rebuke him but still revealed a progression of what he was teaching. A teacher of Israel should have more understanding. This is a contrast. Nicodemus, one who knew all the correct scriptures, was in the dark about who Jesus was. An unlearned Samaritan woman who lived in shame saw the noonday light revealing the identity of Jesus as the Messiah, the Savior of the world. Nicodemus questioned, she accepted.
Are you Nicodemus or the Samaritan woman? Are you in the dark or the light?
V5-6 Jesus is traveling north to Galilee from the place where his disciples and John had been baptizing people. The Pharisees were trying to stir up trouble for them by keeping track of how many each party was baptizing and who was the most successful. They were attempting to pit Jesus’ group against Johns’. If they could instigate infighting perhaps the whole movement would crumble. Jesus and his disciples leave to make Johns’ ministry less difficult. They travel through Samaria. There wasn’t much water in Samaria, not many rivers at all, only wells dug by their ancestors with which to get water. After traveling in the heat of the day they come to the well dug by Jacob, later named Israel. The well is by Sychar, possibly the Shechem of the Old Testament. Jesus, tired by the journey, is sitting on the well while his disciples went into the town to get food as it is noon (full daylight). This location would have been at the foot of Mt. Gerizim and the Samaritan Temple.
V7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus should have moved 20ft. away indicating it was safe and culturally appropriate for her to approach. He didn’t. Instead he asks her for a drink. As Kenneth Bailey has pointed out Jesus does four things; 1. A Rabbi was not to be in the presence of a woman by himself let alone talk with her-he breaks a social taboo possibly damaging his reputation, 2. He ignores the hostility between the two groups, 3. He humbles himself and needs her services-he will drink from her ritually unclean bucket and 4. He elevates her self worth. But why is she there drawing water at noon when the time to draw water was in the morning and evening? She is avoiding the women of the community because she is in shame.
V9 She is confused; he isn’t following the cultural norms. She asks him how he a Jew can drink from the unclean bucket of a Samaritan woman. The unsaid question is; why are you talking to me?
V10 Jesus diverts her question to a deeper understanding of himself and who he is. She sees a Jewish man breaking cultural norms. Jesus says if you really knew who was talking to you and asking for a drink you would ask me, Jesus, for living water. The gift of God for the Samaritans was the Torah, for the Jews it was the Torah and the Prophets both saw it as the gift of a book but Isaiah 42:6 states the gift of God is a person-JESUS. The living water was the revelation that Jesus brings; new life in an arid area. They are physically in an arid area with a well of water-a metaphor for what Jesus was teaching. Jesus is breaking the division between Jews and Samaritans.
V11-12 She is literal. You don’t have a bucket, the well is deep. Living water was the description for moving water-a river-not cistern water. Where is this river you are talking about? Jacob dug and used this well for water, are you greater than him? This is a challenge to Jesus, (both Jews and Samaritans claimed Jacob as their father) how can you be greater than Jacob. She is totally confused; there isn’t a river nearby just arid countryside.
V13-14 Jesus responds that this physical water from the well will not satisfy her, she will have to drink again but the living water he offers,himself, will quench her spiritual thirst. In Isaiah 44:1-5 God links the pouring out of water with the pouring out of the Spirit, knowledge of himself. Jesus’ living water from God will give eternal life. Jesus is the living water, the gift from God. In other words, if you knew who I was and that I was sent from God to reveal who he is you wouldn’t be concerned about this physical water in this well you would thirst for the knowledge about God.
V15 She wants the water but is she still thinking physical water that is fresher than that in the well or is she thinking Jesus? She is thinking literal water so she doesn’t have to keep returning to the well. Maybe Jesus has secret knowledge of a good fresh water supply. She is unsure and jesting.
V16 Jesus issues a command to her, go call your husband and come back.
V17-18 She denies that she has a husband but she doesn’t admit that she is living with a man and by law should be stoned. Jesus agrees with her statement. He doesn’t condemn her. Jesus then continues to describe her living situation to her. He confronts her with herself. This is always an uncomfortable spot to be in when someone sees through you to the person you really are. We don’t want to be faced with who we really are, we like the facade we put up for others, the mask we wear.
V19-24 When confronted with herself she changes the topic to the correct location for worship. They are at the foot of Mt. Gerizim. Jesus is kind to her and doesn’t rebuke her change. From Jesus’ description of her living arrangements she knows he is a prophet, so if a prophet has come would he settle this worship site argument. She is deflecting his attention from her to a more general argument. Isn’t that human nature? When being confronted, deflect attention from ourselves to another hot button issue so we don’t have to feel uncomfortable? He doesn’t debate her but describes a time coming when location of worship won’t matter. The time is coming when the location won’t be important but the object of worship will be the focus. Worship won’t be external formalities but focus on God in spirit and truth.
V25 Again she evades the issue. If this prophet won’t answer my question maybe the expected Messiah will answer it when he arrives.
V26 Jesus declares I Am, the Old Testament term for God. I am the Messiah you are waiting for. By using the Old Testament name for God, Jesus is saying the Messiah is also God. God, in the person of the Messiah, has come and is talking with you now.
V27 The disciples return from town. They see he is breaking taboos by speaking with this woman but no one asks.
V28-29 The woman leaves her water jar and returns to the city. She says to people they need to come and see a man who knew her entire past. Is he the Messiah? The people leave to go out to the well and see Jesus. This is an amazing turn of events for this woman. Initially she avoids people out of shame and now she is talking to anyone who will listen; compelling them they need to go to the well. She, a woman, is witnessing for Jesus. Women weren’t allowed to be witnesses in a court of law so who will listen to her?
V30, 39 The people leave the city and go out to him. They did accept her witness.
V31-34 In the mean time the disciples are urging Jesus to eat. He replies that he has food they don’t know about. So the disciples think maybe Jesus got food from someone else. They are confused. Jesus responds that the food that really matters is to do the will of his father. It is more important and urgent that he teach about his father than eat physical food. It is more important that this woman realize who he is and what he is doing than eat.
V35 He then looks out over the fields of grain growing around them and comments on the coming harvest. He turns his attention to the coming crowd from town and compares them to that harvest. The people coming are ripe for harvesting, learning. Some have planted the seed while others get to harvest the grain and so it is with people. Some have done the initial teaching and others get to see people accept Jesus. The disciples will reap a crop they didn’t produce.
V40-42 The fellow towns people ask him to stay with them and he does for two days. Many come to belief and the realization that he is the Savior of the World.
As Kenneth Bailey has points out “Jesus reveals himself in progression to her: a thirsty man, a Jew, a Rabbi, a Prophet and finally a divine Messiah”. He didn’t condemn her or rebuke her; he just brought her along in her understanding of who he was by using images that were around them. This is different from his meeting with Nicodemus. Jesus did rebuke him but still revealed a progression of what he was teaching. A teacher of Israel should have more understanding. This is a contrast. Nicodemus, one who knew all the correct scriptures, was in the dark about who Jesus was. An unlearned Samaritan woman who lived in shame saw the noonday light revealing the identity of Jesus as the Messiah, the Savior of the world. Nicodemus questioned, she accepted.
Are you Nicodemus or the Samaritan woman? Are you in the dark or the light?
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Sunday March 20, 2010 John 3:1-17
Greetings, spring is here! It is so nice that it is light longer even if we have to manipulate time. Light in the evenings is a mood lifter for me. Our text for this week switches to John. A little background in some themes of John may be helpful. Starting with his opening chapter John establishes an ongoing theme of light and dark. John the Baptist came to witness to the light (Jesus) coming into the world that is in darkness. As one reads John it can be seen that people in general are in darkness until their faith in Jesus brings them into the light. John also uses the theme of “signs” that point to Jesus doing God’s redemptive work in the world. Some of the signs are the healings Jesus does; others are the feeding of the 5000 and the raising of Lazarus, while still others are the claims that Jesus makes of himself-the seven “I am” statements”. All throughout the Gospel of John Jesus is using signs and coded language to define himself and what he is doing. With this in mind let’s turn to the text for this Sunday.
V1 There is a man named Nicodemus who is a Pharisee and leader of the Jews. To be a Pharisee was to follow the Torah (law) and make sure the Jews did the same. They were the keepers of the Law. What had started as a good thing after the exile in Babylon, the study of the Torah by a select group of people so as to never go into exile again, morphed silently into a legalistic practice. He is also a leader which indicates that he may be a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling religious group that controlled the Temple. In any case he is a very learned man, knowing the scriptures inside out and has memorized all of them.
V2 He came to Jesus by night. Night equals darkness in John’s gospel. Nicodemus is in the “dark” concerning what God is doing in the world even though he knows the scriptures. Some have said that he came at night so the others wouldn’t see him talking with an unlearned rabbi who was becoming popular which is also true. There are many meanings to his coming under the cover of darkness. He compliments Jesus by calling him Rabbi which is strange considering he probably quietly questions Jesus’ status as a real Rabbi. He then gives a kind of compliment to Jesus by saying Jesus has come from God which is shown in the signs he is performing. The irony is that Nicodemus, being a leader of the Jewish religious community, can’t understand the meaning of the signs even though he compliments them. Jesus is revealing God but the great teacher doesn’t “see” this. In fairness to Nicodemus it must have taken a lot of contemplation and humbleness for him to come to Jesus, a Rabbi that hadn’t been to an official rabbinic school, to seek to understand what Jesus was doing. He is the only leader that did attempt to understand Jesus which would have been a very compromising step for him.
V3 Without waiting for Nicodemus’ question Jesus makes the statement about not being included in the Kingdom of God without being born from above. Nicodemus has believed that to belong to the Kingdom of God is to be born of a Jewish mother; genetics are what make them children of God. The Greek word “from above” can mean both from above and again. Jesus means “from above”. This is a confusing statement to Nicodemus.
V4 How can this be? We can’t crawl back into our mother’s womb? Nicodemus is still thinking Jewish family linage. We can’t go through the birth process again.
V5 Jesus replies that to be born from above is to be born of water and Spirit. This isn’t a physical event but a Spiritual one. People need a Spiritual birth to enter the Kingdom of God symbolized by a cleansing of water. The outward demonstration of a water cleansing indicates an inner Spiritual birth, a divine rebirth, a radical change.
V6 Flesh gives birth to flesh. Human beings by themselves cannot give birth to Spirit. The Spirit is powerful and unpredictable and gives new birth to those who have faith but accepting this faith isn’t a onetime event and then we are finished, it is a continued action by the believer.
V7 Jesus tells Nicodemus to not be surprised at the things he is telling him, that he must be born from above.
V8 Here Jesus uses the many definitions of the word Spirit to make an illustration. The word in Hebrew is ruach, in Greek it is pneumo. In each case it can be defined as wind, breath or Spirit. Jesus is using a play on the definition to explain it. We can’t actually see the wind we can only see the effects of the wind by looking at the leaves and branches of a tree. If the tree is swaying and the leaves are fluttering we “know” the wind is blowing. We can feel the effects of the wind on our skin but we can’t actually “feel” the wind (Try catching the wind sometime). Jesus is saying that it is the same with the Spirit. We can’t “see" the Spirit itself but we can see the effects of the Spirit (the fruit of the Spirit) in the actions of people whose lives he is at work in.
V9-10 Again Nicodemus is confused. Jesus then confronts him by pointing out that Nicodemus is a teacher of Israel. He should have some understanding of these things. In addition Nicodemus needs to grasp who Jesus is, not just a Rabbi with a new interpretation but the One who has come from God, the One who is bringing the Spirit.
V11-12 Jesus goes on to instruct Nicodemus that his testimony is accurate. Jesus knows that of which he testifies too. He has come from God. Three times in these last few verses Jesus makes statements about Israel as a whole and Nicodemus personally, verse 10 “you do not understand”, verse 11 “you do not receive” (choose not to accept) and verse 12 “you do not believe”. If Nicodemus doesn’t believe what Jesus is telling him now how will he believe or understand or accept when Jesus speaks of things in God’s Kingdom (heavenly)? It is assumed that Nicodemus came to Jesus to find out how to get into the Kingdom of God. He must have seen in Jesus a new way of being in God’s Kingdom by the signs that Jesus was doing and the teachings that Jesus was proclaiming so he came to Jesus to get clarification, just how was Jesus integrating the scriptures with Jesus’ own beliefs. To Nicodemus’ astonishment Jesus was radically reinterpreting the meaning of the scriptures.
V13 Jesus continues on to call himself the Son of Man (Dan 7:13-the true Israel reduced to one but building a new Israel around himself) and to claim that he had descended from God. This is the beginning of Jesus teaching about the meaning of his coming resurrection and ascension.
V14-15 He continues, “Just as Moses had made a bronze serpent, as instructed by God, and lifted it up so the Israelites bitten by snakes could look upon it and be healed so will Jesus be lifted up.” The word used for pole in the Old Testament has the same root as the word for sign. Just as the lifted serpent was a sign of healing in Numbers 21:9, if the people would just look at it, so will the lifting up of Jesus be a sign of God’s redemptive work and a completion of Jesus’ mission, if the people will just look to him in faith. Whoever believes in and receives Jesus will have eternal life in the Kingdom of God which had broken in with the coming of Jesus- Mark 1:15. In other words the Kingdom is present and active through the work of Jesus. Eternal life begins now; not after our death. We are to live now as we will then, the kind of life God lives.
V16 One of the most famous verses of all time. As David Lose of Luther Seminary points out the word for world is cosmos in the Bible and is that which is hostile to God. (John 16:33, 17:9-19). The verse could be translated “For God so loved the God-hating world that he gave his only Son…! The world is in rebellion towards God and yet God gave us his only Son. This is how much God loves the world.
V17 God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn it but to save it. Jesus came to reestablish a broken relationship between God and us. If God chose he could have destroyed the world just as he had created it in Genesis but he loves the world even though the world rebels against him. Jesus’ actions on the cross were saving actions for us, we only need to look to him on that sign; understand him, accept him and believe him to have life in the Kingdom of God.
I had an interesting thought come into my head as I was first studying this, the things Jesus didn’t say. For example, do we find in John 3:16 the exceptions Jesus made such as “God loved the whole world except for…you name it-drunks, prostitutes, drug addicts and yes I am going to say it- homosexuals, anyone who isn’t like me and I will never be like”. God didn’t say that he loved only Christians and only those others who were willing to convert. Jesus didn’t say from the cross “Father forgive them (except those that I will now list including all those that are undesirable) for they know not what they do”. We are the ones who add those exceptions; not God. God loved the whole world that hated him; we love our fellow Christians (neighbors) and condemn everyone else. When will we understand (verse 10), accept (verse 11) and believe (verse12) that God so loved the whole world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
V1 There is a man named Nicodemus who is a Pharisee and leader of the Jews. To be a Pharisee was to follow the Torah (law) and make sure the Jews did the same. They were the keepers of the Law. What had started as a good thing after the exile in Babylon, the study of the Torah by a select group of people so as to never go into exile again, morphed silently into a legalistic practice. He is also a leader which indicates that he may be a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling religious group that controlled the Temple. In any case he is a very learned man, knowing the scriptures inside out and has memorized all of them.
V2 He came to Jesus by night. Night equals darkness in John’s gospel. Nicodemus is in the “dark” concerning what God is doing in the world even though he knows the scriptures. Some have said that he came at night so the others wouldn’t see him talking with an unlearned rabbi who was becoming popular which is also true. There are many meanings to his coming under the cover of darkness. He compliments Jesus by calling him Rabbi which is strange considering he probably quietly questions Jesus’ status as a real Rabbi. He then gives a kind of compliment to Jesus by saying Jesus has come from God which is shown in the signs he is performing. The irony is that Nicodemus, being a leader of the Jewish religious community, can’t understand the meaning of the signs even though he compliments them. Jesus is revealing God but the great teacher doesn’t “see” this. In fairness to Nicodemus it must have taken a lot of contemplation and humbleness for him to come to Jesus, a Rabbi that hadn’t been to an official rabbinic school, to seek to understand what Jesus was doing. He is the only leader that did attempt to understand Jesus which would have been a very compromising step for him.
V3 Without waiting for Nicodemus’ question Jesus makes the statement about not being included in the Kingdom of God without being born from above. Nicodemus has believed that to belong to the Kingdom of God is to be born of a Jewish mother; genetics are what make them children of God. The Greek word “from above” can mean both from above and again. Jesus means “from above”. This is a confusing statement to Nicodemus.
V4 How can this be? We can’t crawl back into our mother’s womb? Nicodemus is still thinking Jewish family linage. We can’t go through the birth process again.
V5 Jesus replies that to be born from above is to be born of water and Spirit. This isn’t a physical event but a Spiritual one. People need a Spiritual birth to enter the Kingdom of God symbolized by a cleansing of water. The outward demonstration of a water cleansing indicates an inner Spiritual birth, a divine rebirth, a radical change.
V6 Flesh gives birth to flesh. Human beings by themselves cannot give birth to Spirit. The Spirit is powerful and unpredictable and gives new birth to those who have faith but accepting this faith isn’t a onetime event and then we are finished, it is a continued action by the believer.
V7 Jesus tells Nicodemus to not be surprised at the things he is telling him, that he must be born from above.
V8 Here Jesus uses the many definitions of the word Spirit to make an illustration. The word in Hebrew is ruach, in Greek it is pneumo. In each case it can be defined as wind, breath or Spirit. Jesus is using a play on the definition to explain it. We can’t actually see the wind we can only see the effects of the wind by looking at the leaves and branches of a tree. If the tree is swaying and the leaves are fluttering we “know” the wind is blowing. We can feel the effects of the wind on our skin but we can’t actually “feel” the wind (Try catching the wind sometime). Jesus is saying that it is the same with the Spirit. We can’t “see" the Spirit itself but we can see the effects of the Spirit (the fruit of the Spirit) in the actions of people whose lives he is at work in.
V9-10 Again Nicodemus is confused. Jesus then confronts him by pointing out that Nicodemus is a teacher of Israel. He should have some understanding of these things. In addition Nicodemus needs to grasp who Jesus is, not just a Rabbi with a new interpretation but the One who has come from God, the One who is bringing the Spirit.
V11-12 Jesus goes on to instruct Nicodemus that his testimony is accurate. Jesus knows that of which he testifies too. He has come from God. Three times in these last few verses Jesus makes statements about Israel as a whole and Nicodemus personally, verse 10 “you do not understand”, verse 11 “you do not receive” (choose not to accept) and verse 12 “you do not believe”. If Nicodemus doesn’t believe what Jesus is telling him now how will he believe or understand or accept when Jesus speaks of things in God’s Kingdom (heavenly)? It is assumed that Nicodemus came to Jesus to find out how to get into the Kingdom of God. He must have seen in Jesus a new way of being in God’s Kingdom by the signs that Jesus was doing and the teachings that Jesus was proclaiming so he came to Jesus to get clarification, just how was Jesus integrating the scriptures with Jesus’ own beliefs. To Nicodemus’ astonishment Jesus was radically reinterpreting the meaning of the scriptures.
V13 Jesus continues on to call himself the Son of Man (Dan 7:13-the true Israel reduced to one but building a new Israel around himself) and to claim that he had descended from God. This is the beginning of Jesus teaching about the meaning of his coming resurrection and ascension.
V14-15 He continues, “Just as Moses had made a bronze serpent, as instructed by God, and lifted it up so the Israelites bitten by snakes could look upon it and be healed so will Jesus be lifted up.” The word used for pole in the Old Testament has the same root as the word for sign. Just as the lifted serpent was a sign of healing in Numbers 21:9, if the people would just look at it, so will the lifting up of Jesus be a sign of God’s redemptive work and a completion of Jesus’ mission, if the people will just look to him in faith. Whoever believes in and receives Jesus will have eternal life in the Kingdom of God which had broken in with the coming of Jesus- Mark 1:15. In other words the Kingdom is present and active through the work of Jesus. Eternal life begins now; not after our death. We are to live now as we will then, the kind of life God lives.
V16 One of the most famous verses of all time. As David Lose of Luther Seminary points out the word for world is cosmos in the Bible and is that which is hostile to God. (John 16:33, 17:9-19). The verse could be translated “For God so loved the God-hating world that he gave his only Son…! The world is in rebellion towards God and yet God gave us his only Son. This is how much God loves the world.
V17 God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn it but to save it. Jesus came to reestablish a broken relationship between God and us. If God chose he could have destroyed the world just as he had created it in Genesis but he loves the world even though the world rebels against him. Jesus’ actions on the cross were saving actions for us, we only need to look to him on that sign; understand him, accept him and believe him to have life in the Kingdom of God.
I had an interesting thought come into my head as I was first studying this, the things Jesus didn’t say. For example, do we find in John 3:16 the exceptions Jesus made such as “God loved the whole world except for…you name it-drunks, prostitutes, drug addicts and yes I am going to say it- homosexuals, anyone who isn’t like me and I will never be like”. God didn’t say that he loved only Christians and only those others who were willing to convert. Jesus didn’t say from the cross “Father forgive them (except those that I will now list including all those that are undesirable) for they know not what they do”. We are the ones who add those exceptions; not God. God loved the whole world that hated him; we love our fellow Christians (neighbors) and condemn everyone else. When will we understand (verse 10), accept (verse 11) and believe (verse12) that God so loved the whole world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Sunday March 13, 2010 Matthew 4:1-11
Greetings, Ash Wednesday is here and spring can’t be far behind even though we still have snow in the forecast. The home and garden show at least gives us a glimpse of coming warm weather and this weekend is daylight savings time so we will have light into the evenings again. We need to keep in mind some Old Testament background for our text this Sunday. The Hebrew’s were enslaved in Egypt. Moses is sent by God to lead them out of their bondage and to a land God has promised them. This is what we call the Exodus or the second book of the Bible. In Exodus 4:22 God instructs Moses to tell Pharaoh “Israel is my firstborn son.” God and Pharaoh then engage in a back and forth of plagues and words that culminates in the killing of Egypt’s firstborn sons, the Pharaoh allowing the Israelites to leave and then pursuing them to the Red (reed?) Sea. God parts the waters and the people cross on dry ground. The Egyptian army is destroyed and the people are led to Mount Sinai where they are given the Torah. Because of their later refusal to believe they can gain control of the land of Canaan they are banished to wander in the wilderness for forty years. During those wilderness wanderings they are tempted and fail. Now come forward to Matthew. Jesus has come from the Galilee to be baptized by John. All that John is doing and proclaiming indicates that a new exodus is about to begin. Jesus is baptized in the Jordan, his water crossing, as Israel had done in Exodus. God declares Jesus to be his Son, just as God had declared Israel to be his son in Exodus.
V1-2 Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. Just as Israel had wandered in the wilderness for forty years so will Jesus be in the wilderness for forty days and nights. After he has fasted the tempter came and starts to dialogue with him.
V3-4 The first thing said by the tempter is “if you are the Son of God” to introduce doubt into the mind of Jesus. Remember God has just declared that Jesus is his son. So, if you are the Son of God turn these stones to bread. Jesus, we know is very hungry, who wouldn’t want to eat. But Jesus instead quotes Deut. 8:3. He will not use his power to benefit himself or supply his own needs but will trust God to provide them. Remember in the Exodus the people complained about the manna they were given. God had wanted Israel to rely on him alone and they failed by hungering for food not God.
V5-7 Jesus is then taken to the pinnacle of the Temple and again the tempter tries to introduce doubt. Again “if you are the Son of God” is said with the thought of Jesus showing off a miracle. He is to toss himself off the pinnacle and angels will catch him. Jesus again replies with a quote from Deut. 6:16. He will not test his father by a public display of power. It is interesting to note that here the tempter quotes scripture (Ps. 91:11-12) himself but slightly twists it for his own purposes. Just because someone can quote scripture doesn’t mean they are using it for its intended purpose. Sometimes they are quoting to promote their own purposes, using the scripture for the illusion of authority. This is an excellent reason for each of us to study the bible and know for ourselves what it says and means.
V8-10 A third time Jesus is tempted by being taken to a high mountain and told if he will worship the tempter all of what he sees will be given him. The irony is that it is already Jesus’. Jesus, however, remains quiet on this and again uses scripture to reply using Deut. 6:13. Jesus will serve God only. During the wilderness wanderings the people had made a golden calf and worshiped it. Jesus knows that even though he is to be the ruler of the world he will first have to suffer. He will take the path laid out by his father and not the quick way to power offered by the tempter. Another interesting insight is that Jesus doesn’t refute the tempter that the world isn’t his to give, it is God’s. An idea that I take away from this is why encourage a dialogue with someone you know isn’t right? To dialogue just encourages them to keep contradicting you. Silence is sometimes the best argument. A quote that I like is from St. Francis of Assisi. “Preach the gospel where ever you go and if need be use words.” Our actions speak louder than words.
V11 The devil left him and the angels waited on him. Is the tempter finished? No, he will reappear throughout the gospels again and again waiting with doubts and insecurities. He appears in Gethsemane when Jesus is trying to discern if the path really includes the cross. He appears in our lives when we wonder if we are on God’s chosen path for us.
Jesus has been successful where Israel failed. He has relied on God instead of himself. Jesus is the new Israel, the new son of God. He will go forth and become what Israel couldn’t or wouldn’t. He will be a light to the nations. He will build the new Israel around himself. He will show the people what God is like. He will teach the people about God, their father, as they are his son. Their faith and belief in Jesus will be the basis of the new Israel. The only shows of power will be used to point to God. This begs the question, how do we handle things that tempt us? Do we give in to elevate our self worth or do we hold fast to God’s promises? Usually the temptation begins with doubt just as it did with Jesus. Do we really think this? Do we really believe that? Are you sure you are correct? What if you are wrong? Doubt cracks open the door. When doubt begins to creep in temptation isn’t far behind. We begin to think “well I could be mistaken” and we begin to look for ways to save face. No one wants to cling to a bad conviction and look like a fool. Our example to follow is Jesus. He was tempted just as we are and he survived. We will never face the same temptations as he did but we can be successful when faced with our temptations.
V1-2 Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. Just as Israel had wandered in the wilderness for forty years so will Jesus be in the wilderness for forty days and nights. After he has fasted the tempter came and starts to dialogue with him.
V3-4 The first thing said by the tempter is “if you are the Son of God” to introduce doubt into the mind of Jesus. Remember God has just declared that Jesus is his son. So, if you are the Son of God turn these stones to bread. Jesus, we know is very hungry, who wouldn’t want to eat. But Jesus instead quotes Deut. 8:3. He will not use his power to benefit himself or supply his own needs but will trust God to provide them. Remember in the Exodus the people complained about the manna they were given. God had wanted Israel to rely on him alone and they failed by hungering for food not God.
V5-7 Jesus is then taken to the pinnacle of the Temple and again the tempter tries to introduce doubt. Again “if you are the Son of God” is said with the thought of Jesus showing off a miracle. He is to toss himself off the pinnacle and angels will catch him. Jesus again replies with a quote from Deut. 6:16. He will not test his father by a public display of power. It is interesting to note that here the tempter quotes scripture (Ps. 91:11-12) himself but slightly twists it for his own purposes. Just because someone can quote scripture doesn’t mean they are using it for its intended purpose. Sometimes they are quoting to promote their own purposes, using the scripture for the illusion of authority. This is an excellent reason for each of us to study the bible and know for ourselves what it says and means.
V8-10 A third time Jesus is tempted by being taken to a high mountain and told if he will worship the tempter all of what he sees will be given him. The irony is that it is already Jesus’. Jesus, however, remains quiet on this and again uses scripture to reply using Deut. 6:13. Jesus will serve God only. During the wilderness wanderings the people had made a golden calf and worshiped it. Jesus knows that even though he is to be the ruler of the world he will first have to suffer. He will take the path laid out by his father and not the quick way to power offered by the tempter. Another interesting insight is that Jesus doesn’t refute the tempter that the world isn’t his to give, it is God’s. An idea that I take away from this is why encourage a dialogue with someone you know isn’t right? To dialogue just encourages them to keep contradicting you. Silence is sometimes the best argument. A quote that I like is from St. Francis of Assisi. “Preach the gospel where ever you go and if need be use words.” Our actions speak louder than words.
V11 The devil left him and the angels waited on him. Is the tempter finished? No, he will reappear throughout the gospels again and again waiting with doubts and insecurities. He appears in Gethsemane when Jesus is trying to discern if the path really includes the cross. He appears in our lives when we wonder if we are on God’s chosen path for us.
Jesus has been successful where Israel failed. He has relied on God instead of himself. Jesus is the new Israel, the new son of God. He will go forth and become what Israel couldn’t or wouldn’t. He will be a light to the nations. He will build the new Israel around himself. He will show the people what God is like. He will teach the people about God, their father, as they are his son. Their faith and belief in Jesus will be the basis of the new Israel. The only shows of power will be used to point to God. This begs the question, how do we handle things that tempt us? Do we give in to elevate our self worth or do we hold fast to God’s promises? Usually the temptation begins with doubt just as it did with Jesus. Do we really think this? Do we really believe that? Are you sure you are correct? What if you are wrong? Doubt cracks open the door. When doubt begins to creep in temptation isn’t far behind. We begin to think “well I could be mistaken” and we begin to look for ways to save face. No one wants to cling to a bad conviction and look like a fool. Our example to follow is Jesus. He was tempted just as we are and he survived. We will never face the same temptations as he did but we can be successful when faced with our temptations.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Sunday March 6, 2010 Matthew 17:1-9
Welcome, it’s hard to believe that Ash Wednesday is next week already. I’m waiting for spring and that is just another sign. Our text for this Sunday is in Matthew on the Transfiguration. Just prior to this event Jesus and his disciples were discussing who did they think that he was. They told him that the people thought that he was a prophet. He then asked “who do you think I am” and Peter answered the Messiah. Jesus confirms Peter’s announcement but he told them to keep it to themselves. Why? Why not shout it out loud. It is what Israel had been waiting for. The reason, I think, Jesus wanted it quiet was that Israel wanted a Messiah who was going to start the revolution against Rome. If they were God’s chosen people why did Rome, a pagan nation, rule them. They looked back to the glory days of their nation when their own King David had ruled. He had subdued the surrounding pagan nations while increasing his territory and that was their dream now. Jesus wasn’t going to be that kind of Messiah, sure he would fight the battle against evil but it wouldn’t be against Rome. Jesus would fight the evil behind Rome and all other worldly kingdoms. The issue wasn’t necessarily Rome but the dark powers in the world that prompted evil. The indication of this type of Messiahship was his next statement that he must go to Jerusalem and die. A true Jewish Messiah went to Jerusalem to fight with Rome and take control of the Temple, not die on a Roman cross. Peter however, as with the others, didn’t understand. If Jesus was the Messiah, to Jerusalem they would go but for Jesus to die would indicated he was a failed Messiah not a victorious one. They must not understand clearly enough Jesus’ plan of the revolution and that is part of the irony.
V1 Six days later Jesus went up a mountain. Remember when Moses went up Mt Sinai and after six days God started to speak to him? Do we have a new Moses? He had only taken three of the disciples to witness this.
V2 Jesus became transfigured before them. He shone brightly, with his face like the sun. Remember when Moses had come down from Sinai and his face shone so brightly that it scared the people and he had to wear a veil? In the Old Testament the glory of God, the Shekinah (God’s presence), shone so brightly in Solomon’s Temple that no one could enter. When Jesus was born the angels and the glory of God, the Shekinah, shone around them as they announced the birth to the shepherds in the fields. Now the Shekinah is in Jesus transforming his appearance. God is with and within Jesus.
V3 Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus. In the Old Testament Moses and Elijah, a great prophet, had both talked with God on Mt. Sinai. Now they are again on a mountain talking with the presence of God and Jesus who contains that presence. They are discussing the upcoming exodus or rescue event that Jesus will complete in Jerusalem. Remember back a few verses when Peter didn’t think Jesus should go to Jerusalem to die and told him so? This is an affirmation of that prediction. This is the kind of Messiah Jesus must be. Moses had led the first rescue event (exodus) from Egypt (evil) and now Jesus would complete this one.
V4 Peter, probably in shock at what he is seeing, starts to blurt out that he would make three dwellings. The word for dwellings here is tents. This harkens back to the exodus from Egypt when the people lived in tents in the wilderness. God, or his Shekinah, had lived in the tabernacle, a tent with the people. Now Peter would make new tents for them to live in again so God’s presence would be among them.
V5 Interestingly God cuts off Peters babbling by speaking. Can you imagine being interrupted by the voice of God? A bright cloud, in the Old Testament the presence of God, overshadowed them and a voice says “This is my Son the Beloved (from Psalm 2 a coronation of a Davidic King Psalm), with him I am well pleased (from Isaiah 42:1-2 the first servant song in Isaiah) listen to him! (from Deuteronomy 18:15 when Moses told the people a prophet better than him would one day come) So in Gods proclamation we have Jesus as a Davidic King, a servant and a new Moses. The disciples are to forgo their own agendas for this battle and listen to Jesus.
V6-8 At hearing God’s voice the disciples fell to the ground in fear. Jesus came and touched them saying “Get up and do not be afraid”. When people saw God they thought they would die. The disciples probably thought they were going to die. Jesus comforts them. They look up at him and he is standing there looking fine and alone.
V9 As they come off the mountain Jesus orders them to tell no one what they have seen until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead. Jesus throughout the Gospels calls himself the Son of Man. This comes from Daniel 7:13 where the Son of Man, the Jewish people in Daniel, defeat the pagan nations and rule with God seated at his right hand. Jesus is stating that he is the true Israel, not the Jewish nation, and will be the one vindicated by God when God raises him from the dead. This would have really confused the disciples as they thought the resurrection would happen to all people at the end of time. How could they explain the events they had just witnessed when they had no understanding of their meaning? After Jesus’ resurrection as they reflected on these happenings the meaning would be clearer. They would understand the message he was showing them.
How often do we try to make sense out of something that is confusing to us? Maybe we need the perspective of time to understand God’s messages to us. After the resurrection the disciples started to put the pieces together. Jesus entered Jerusalem as a Messiah would. He did take control of the Temple but his message was that the Temple system was dead; it had served its time, it was full of corruption. The presence of God did not reside in the Temple but in Jesus. He was engaging in a battle, not with one pagan nation but with the evil behind all nations. His coronation ceremony consisted of him carrying a crossbeam to his death and his throne was a cross. This is not the revolution the disciples had in mind when Peter declared Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
V1 Six days later Jesus went up a mountain. Remember when Moses went up Mt Sinai and after six days God started to speak to him? Do we have a new Moses? He had only taken three of the disciples to witness this.
V2 Jesus became transfigured before them. He shone brightly, with his face like the sun. Remember when Moses had come down from Sinai and his face shone so brightly that it scared the people and he had to wear a veil? In the Old Testament the glory of God, the Shekinah (God’s presence), shone so brightly in Solomon’s Temple that no one could enter. When Jesus was born the angels and the glory of God, the Shekinah, shone around them as they announced the birth to the shepherds in the fields. Now the Shekinah is in Jesus transforming his appearance. God is with and within Jesus.
V3 Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus. In the Old Testament Moses and Elijah, a great prophet, had both talked with God on Mt. Sinai. Now they are again on a mountain talking with the presence of God and Jesus who contains that presence. They are discussing the upcoming exodus or rescue event that Jesus will complete in Jerusalem. Remember back a few verses when Peter didn’t think Jesus should go to Jerusalem to die and told him so? This is an affirmation of that prediction. This is the kind of Messiah Jesus must be. Moses had led the first rescue event (exodus) from Egypt (evil) and now Jesus would complete this one.
V4 Peter, probably in shock at what he is seeing, starts to blurt out that he would make three dwellings. The word for dwellings here is tents. This harkens back to the exodus from Egypt when the people lived in tents in the wilderness. God, or his Shekinah, had lived in the tabernacle, a tent with the people. Now Peter would make new tents for them to live in again so God’s presence would be among them.
V5 Interestingly God cuts off Peters babbling by speaking. Can you imagine being interrupted by the voice of God? A bright cloud, in the Old Testament the presence of God, overshadowed them and a voice says “This is my Son the Beloved (from Psalm 2 a coronation of a Davidic King Psalm), with him I am well pleased (from Isaiah 42:1-2 the first servant song in Isaiah) listen to him! (from Deuteronomy 18:15 when Moses told the people a prophet better than him would one day come) So in Gods proclamation we have Jesus as a Davidic King, a servant and a new Moses. The disciples are to forgo their own agendas for this battle and listen to Jesus.
V6-8 At hearing God’s voice the disciples fell to the ground in fear. Jesus came and touched them saying “Get up and do not be afraid”. When people saw God they thought they would die. The disciples probably thought they were going to die. Jesus comforts them. They look up at him and he is standing there looking fine and alone.
V9 As they come off the mountain Jesus orders them to tell no one what they have seen until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead. Jesus throughout the Gospels calls himself the Son of Man. This comes from Daniel 7:13 where the Son of Man, the Jewish people in Daniel, defeat the pagan nations and rule with God seated at his right hand. Jesus is stating that he is the true Israel, not the Jewish nation, and will be the one vindicated by God when God raises him from the dead. This would have really confused the disciples as they thought the resurrection would happen to all people at the end of time. How could they explain the events they had just witnessed when they had no understanding of their meaning? After Jesus’ resurrection as they reflected on these happenings the meaning would be clearer. They would understand the message he was showing them.
How often do we try to make sense out of something that is confusing to us? Maybe we need the perspective of time to understand God’s messages to us. After the resurrection the disciples started to put the pieces together. Jesus entered Jerusalem as a Messiah would. He did take control of the Temple but his message was that the Temple system was dead; it had served its time, it was full of corruption. The presence of God did not reside in the Temple but in Jesus. He was engaging in a battle, not with one pagan nation but with the evil behind all nations. His coronation ceremony consisted of him carrying a crossbeam to his death and his throne was a cross. This is not the revolution the disciples had in mind when Peter declared Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
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