Bible Tuesday for Lent II, 2018

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. 2And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.” 3Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him,

4“As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 5No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 6I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.

7I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.” 9God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. 13Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

15God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”

Abram is an old man, 99 to be exact. He and Sarai have had no children together over their 50+ years of marriage. Ishmael was born to Abram through Sarai’s servant, Haggar, but they have no natural children together. Yet, in this passage, God comes to Abram and changes his name to Abraham which means “father of multitudes” as a sign of what is to come. God changes Sarai’s name to Sarah which means “princess”, an indication of the royal status she will have as she bears her own child. This what God promises to Abraham and Sarah: a child of their own through whom will come a whole, multitudinous nation. In modern covenant language, this miracle is stated under “The party in the first part” and God is the “first party.” This section of the covenant is introduced by the words, “As for me,” in verse 4.

The second party is Abraham and his offspring after him for all time. Their part of the covenant is introduced by the words, “As for you” in verse 9. Abraham and his male offspring for all time are to be circumcised. (There is absolutely NO female circumcision in the Bible.) Abraham, and all the males of his household, relatives, servants, and slaves, are now to be circumcised, and going forward, this is done to male infants 8 days old.

Why does God make circumcision the sign of the covenant? In Abraham’s time, fertility was thought to come from the male, and infertility from the female. Male offspring carried on your name, your family, brought you honor, and gave you security in your old age, as your male children were to provide for you. Circumcision was believed to expose the male member to all manner of illnesses and curses that could prevent semen flow. Therefore, circumcision was an act of trust on the part of Jewish males that God would make them potent, and give them children, especially sons.

Notice, God is doing all the talking. If Abraham is not pleased with this covenant, he can either argue with God, or not keep his terms of the agreement, but then God can take Abraham to court, as God does the whole nation of Israel in the prophecy of Isaiah.

This is the third iteration of the covenant between God and Abraham, the first in Genesis 12 and the second in Genesis 15. Some biblical scholars ascribe the first two to the Yahweh-ist writer (so named because God is always referred to as Yahweh in those sections of the first five books of the Bible) whereas the above covenant account is ascribed to the Priestly writer (so named because religious rituals and duties of the priest which are included).

Psalm 22:23-31

23You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

24For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.

25From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him.

26The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever!

27All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.

28For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.

29To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.

30Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord,

31and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.

We know the first half of this psalm, as we recite it on Maundy Thursday. Jesus utters the first words from the cross, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?!” “My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?!” But this second half of the psalm sounds VERY different from the first!

In typical psalm fashion, this psalm starts out with pleas to God and ends with praises to God, indicating trust by the believer that the pleas will be answered. This second section of the psalm, starts with a call to praise from the faithful alive now and ends with a statement that those not yet born will also praise God.

In verse 24, the psalmist states that God did not abhor those suffering affliction, but rather heard them and tended to them. This seems obvious to modern believers, God tends to those who suffer! But the term “afflicted” indicates that a force outside a person is causing suffering. In ancient times, suffering was thought to be affliction from the gods, or God, which was punishment for bad deeds. So, if you were sick, you brought this on yourself by sinning. Who would have sympathy on you for getting what you deserved? But in this verse, the psalmist states that God ignored this widely held belief, and tended to the afflicted one! Yahweh is merciful!

“sleep in the earth” “go down to the dust” – these are euphemisms for the dead and dying.

Romans 4:13-25

For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. 16For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us,

17as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) —in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” 19He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.”

23Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, 24but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.

In this section of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, Paul is discussing the difference between keeping all the commandments so God is happy with you and saves you, verses believing that God already saved you through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. It is Jesus who makes God happy, and by virtue of faith in Jesus, we make God happy also. Whereas, trying to keep the law perfectly only points out all the places where we fail to keep the law.

To make this point, Paul uses Abraham. It was not Abraham’s perfect keeping of the law, (the Law which had not been given at Mount Sinai to Moses yet, so merely consisted of believing that God would do what God said, the sign of believing being circumcision) but rather his trust in God who promised him a son, and through that son, countless offspring, in their own land. Abraham’s faith in God was seen by God as righteousness, that is, all things were seen by God as right between Him and Abraham.

Paul argues that it is this righteousness between God and Abraham brought about by faith in God’s promise, that applies to Christians. When people believe that righteousness between themselves and God comes from faith in Christ Jesus, then God sees that belief as righteousness, itself. No acts of worship described by the Law are more effective than faith in Jesus.

Mark 8:31-38

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

34He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

“Son of Man” – this was a commonly used term referring to The Son of God among Jews of Jesus’ day.

“The elders, the chief priests, and the scribes” – all the powers that be in Jewish Temple governance. The only one not mentioned is the King.

Jesus describes the death that awaits him to his disciples. It is personal and political suicide! It also makes no sense to the disciples, and Peter tells Jesus so.

“Get behind me, Satan!” – In Hebrew Scriptures, Satan is the accuser, the tempter, the prosecuting attorney in the heavenly court. In this case, Peter is tempting Jesus to take an easier way, a temptation which Jesus rejects flatly.

“divine things verses human things” – God’s way is so antithetical to us, that it seems preposterous and senseless when laid out in logical form, as Jesus lays it out for his disciples. Fear, apprehension, and profound disappointment blind Peter and the disciples to the love and victory Jesus describes to them.

“take up their cross” – As I have stated in the past, the appears to be an idiom in common parlance at the time of the Jesus. Here Jesus describes to the crowds and the disciples that each person has suffering to bear in order to be the blessing to all humanity that we are baptized to be. If we duck and cover in self protection, we miss the beauty and profound grace that God will work through us and for us.

Bible Tuesday for Lent I, 2018

Genesis 9:8-17

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9‘As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.* 11I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’ 12God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’ 17God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.’

Noah and Mrs. Noah, and Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Mrs. Shem, and Mrs. Ham, and Mrs. Japheth all stumbled out of the ark after one heck of a cruise! They still stank of animal manure and sea sickness when God called to Noah and stated the above covenant.

When Christians think of the covenant God made, they tend to think only of the covenant God made with Abram (Abraham) in Genesis 12. However, the book of Genesis is full of covenants, with a few more in the remainder of the Hebrew Scriptures. What makes this covenant unique is that God maked it with all creation, and there is nothing that creation must do to “keep up their end of the bargain.”

When the Noah family disembarked from the ark, God spoke to all of them and renewed the covenant God made with the first humans, back in Genesis 1: “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth.” But now there is more, animals will fear humans, and humans are allowed to eat animals (heretofore, humans have all been vegetarians!) with no distinction between clean and unclean foods. However, animals must be gutted and cleaned before eating. AND, “whoever sheds the blood of a human, by humans shall his blood be shed; for in His image did God make humans.” Genesis 9:6. Ancient Jews understood this covenant to mean that humans were required by God to establish a justice system, refrain from blaspheming Yahweh, refrain from idolatry, refrain from sexual perversion, refrain from bloodshed, and refrain from eating anything that was cut from a living animal. Jews believe that this is God’s law for all humanity, and that God’s Law given to Moses is specifically for Jews.

The covenant God makes with Abraham and his descendants is marked by a sign upon male humans, circumcision. However, the above covenant is marked by a sign meant to remind God of this covenant, the rainbow.

Psalm 25:1-10

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust;
do not let me be put to shame;
do not let my enemies exult over me.
3 Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;
let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long.

6 Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!

8 Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

This psalm is an acrostic. The above pericope is only one third of the way through the alphabet. In form, every other line is one of petition with the next being one of praise or sworn fealty.

“Life up my soul” – This is a way in Hebrew poetic style to saw that the believer places one’s whole being into God’s presence.

“Shame” – Hebrew society is one of honor and shame, like much of the rest of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Social position was based on the amount of honor or shame ascribed to one’s family. The currency of life which determined career and career advancement, whom you married, how your children were received and treated, where you are buried, how the graves of your dead relatives were treated, what food you were allowed to buy in the market and at what price, where you sat in any public place, and oh so much more, was honor. As can been seen in this psalm, it was completely normal to ask God to bless you with honor, but to shame your enemies. How offensive it must have been for those with much honor to see Jesus treat EVERYONE with the same amount of honor. How wonderful and attractive that must have been for those societally kicked to the curb!

One of the strains of thought common in the Hebrew Scriptures is that of “the right path.” It is the thought that God has determined a narrow way of proper life and that all the faithful have to do is get on it and stay on it and they will be good to go with God. That same strain is very common among Evangelical Christians in the US and around the world. Luther did not agree with that understanding of the teaching of Jesus.

1 Peter 3:18-22

For Christ also suffered* for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you* to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, 19in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight people, were saved through water.21And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for* a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

The verses of Peter’s letter to the churches which immediately precedes this passage are ones in which the author tries to explain why faithful Christians still suffer. There is a bit of “Jesus suffered so why shouldn’t you?!” in the answer as well as “When you are faithful to God, you can rest assured that your suffering is not God’s punishment.”

Verses 21-22 of the above passage read as familiar teaching to most of us, good doctrine explaining what happens to us and for us in Christian baptism.

The part of the above passage that is really puzzling is 19-20. This passage sounds like something right out of the Book of Mormon and most Christians, when reading these verses quickly skim over them and quickly forget them. We think, “Jesus was a spirit and went to speak to spirits who were in prison and had been there since the time of Noah? What?! Man! The Bible is hard to understand sometimes!”

There is an even more puzzling passage in Genesis 6:1-4 which raised a whole bunch of eyebrows and all kinds of speculation as to its meaning in Jesus’ day.

Genesis 6:1-4 “When men began to increase on earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of gods (also translated “divine beings”) saw how beautiful the daughters of men were and took wives from among those that pleased them. The Lord said, “My breath shall not abide in man forever, since he too is flesh; let the days allowed him be one hundred and twenty years.” It was then and later too, that the Nephilim appeared on earth, when the sons of gods cohabited with the daughters of men, and offspring were born to them. They (the Nephilim) were the heroes of old, the men of renown.”

The speculation in Jesus’ day was about what happened to these divine/mortal cross breeds? There was all kinds of folk lore and literature on the matter, some of which survived long enough to be written about. Some Bible scholars think the author of 1 Peter is referring to these beings or the Nephilim somehow being imprisoned for thousands of years to which Jesus preached. Tradition had it, for those who believed in resurrection (as not all Jews did), that earth dwellers who were evil in life would be imprisoned upon their death, until the final judgment. Other scholars believe that those in prison to which this 1 Peter passage refers are those who drown in the flood waters that lifted Noah’s ark. The disagreement comes from the way in which one interprets the first several chapters of Genesis. Some scholars read in Genesis that these elicit relationships between the “sons of gods” and the “daughters of men” began a course of perversion among humans that brought about God’s decision to flood the earth. Genesis 6 relates that some angels were also involved in this perversion.

At any rate, Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection was not only for those alive at the time of Jesus all the way up through present, but even for those in bondage to sin from the very beginnings of oral history. “If the son makes you free, then you are free indeed!”

Mark 1:9-15

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.11And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved;* with you I am well pleased.’

12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news* of God,* 15and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near;* repent, and believe in the good news.’*

The second Sunday of January I wrote extensively about why Jesus would condescend to be baptized and what that baptism symbolized, both to Jews at the time of Jesus, and to Christians. Let us now focus on the remaining four verses of this passage.

Wilderness – (eremia in Greek) means “place without words” or “place that defies language”. Due to “Bible Movies”, we tend to think of New Mexico landscape minus cacti, but biblically, wilderness is anywhere that you find yourself completely alone, out of sight or hearing of anyone. The gospel of Mark illustrates how far away from human contact Jesus really was with the phrase, “he was with the wild beasts”, the opposite of being among civilization.

“Drove” – The gospel of Mark is the first gospel to be written. Much of Mark’s strong language is softened in subsequent gospels. Both Matthew and Luke say that Jesus was “led” out into the wilderness. However, who would voluntarily go there? Jesus was completely human.

Notice that while in Matthew and Luke, much is made about Jesus fasting for 40 days and nights while in the wilderness, in Mark, there is no fasting. However, whereas in Matthew and Mark, Jesus is tempted by Satan for one interrogation, in Mark, Satan is tempting Jesus the whole 40 days.

“The angels waited on him.” – While the English translation does not make it clear, the Greek intimates that at the end of the 40 days, the angels wait upon Jesus. Do not fill your mind with winged human like creatures bringing platters of food to a famished Jesus. “Angel” simply means “messenger” and could just as easily have been some travelers with food to share as nativity scene angels flying down from heaven.

“After John was arrested” – John the Baptist was held by one of the Herods in his palace in either Jerusalem or Philippi or a few other ancient cities. To get away from the potential witch hunt for those thought to follow John the Baptist, Jesus went to the “hinterlands” of Israel, to Galilee where Roman presence was less felt.

What was the gospel which Jesus, himself preached? “No more waiting! God is here now! Turn away from your doubt and your

Bible Tuesdays for Transfiguration Sunday, 2018

2 Kings 2:1-12

Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent.” 4Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here; for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. 5The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; be silent.” 6Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. 7Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. 8Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.

9When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” 10He responded, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” 11As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. 12Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

This is an amazing story of transfer of power. A few chapters earlier in Kings, Elijah cries out to God that he is sick to death of his job, proclaiming God’s will/love through word and deed to a people who don’t want to hear it…who actually thumb their noses at it. The Israelites’ disdain for God and God’s prophet is so great that the king and queen of Israel put a price on Elijah’s head. He flees across the Jordan to Horeb (Hebrew word for “chaos”) and waits to either die or hear from God. God does appear in sheer silence from which he speaks to Elijah. God send Elijah back to Israel with a few final tasks, including to find his successor.

Elijah identifies Elisha as his successor and then tries to slip away back to Horeb and wait to die. However, Elisha will not leave him. In the above passage, each group of prophets whom Elijah and Elisha encounter symbolize the mundane, day to day life Jews. At each encounter, the prophets stay while Elijah and Elisha journey on toward a divine meeting. When Elijah is taken up, Elisha rends his clothes out of grief, but also removes them to assume Elijah’s mantle. Elisha then shows his true succession to Elijah’s place by using the mantle to part the Jordan River in the verses after the above pericope.

Because Elijah was such a great prophet, actually having conversations with God, and because he was taken to heaven without dying, it was Jewish tradition that Elijah would come back to earth as the herald of the Messiah.

Psalm 50:1-6

The mighty one, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.

2Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.

3Our God comes and does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, and a mighty tempest all around him.

4He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people:

5“Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”

6The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge. Selah

This is a psalm that sings of God’s supremacy over all creation and the favored relationship the Israelites have with God. The first line is a reference to God’s reign all day long, everywhere that the sun shines. The second line speaks of God as if He were the sun. From where does God’s light emanate? Zion, the hill in the city of Jerusalem on which the Temple was built. Verse 3 references the pillar of fire by night and cloud by day with which God led Israel in the wilderness. As God created all, God commands all places to spit out for God the Jewish diaspora, scattered to the ends of the earth. God identifies Israel as the people with whom He is in covenant, and whom He will judge in righteousness.

2 Corinthians 4:3-6

3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.4In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. 6For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

In Paul’s second letter to the congregation in Corinth, he addresses the question of, “If God is all loving and Jesus came to save the world, then why are there some, frankly most, who don’t believe in Jesus?”

Paul talks about the gospel being veiled so that only some people can see it. Paul states that careers, influence, clout, big houses, trophy spouses, perfect kids, can all be idols that blind us to the real God, a plain ol’ guy, a great guy, who was publicly tortured and executed, and raised to life again. If people claim to be teaching about this Jesus guy, but in fact they want you to give them adulation, then those are false prophets. Paul says real evangelists (Greek for “those who spread good news”) are actually slaves to Jesus and to all whom Jesus loves (everyone!).

Mark 9:2-9

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. 4And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” 8Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus.

9As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

“Six days later…” Six days after what? In the end of chapter 8, Jesus tells the disciples that it is now time for him to head to Jerusalem. Peter says, “No way! They’ll kill you there!” Jesus responds with, “If any would be my disciples, they must deny themselves, take up their crosses, and follow me, for those who love their lives will lose their lives for my sake and for the sake of the gospel will save them.”

So then, the transfiguration is the first step on the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Jesus and all who follow him. Jesus’ trip to the top of the mountain with his closest disciples recalls Moses’ trip up Mt. Horeb with Joshua and the chief elders of Israel, complete with thick cloud out of which God speaks. Moses went up Horeb to talk with God and receive the Law. But Jesus goes up that hill for very different reasons.

First, the gospel of Mark tells us how completely clueless the disciples were, sometimes laughably so. It almost seems like this trip up the mountain is to give respite to Jesus who craves adult conversation with two people who can truly relate. But maybe those are my stay-at-home-mom years talking. Second, Jesus is dazzling white, but Moses and Elijah are not, and Moses and Elijah come and go, but Jesus is there throughout the event. Mark is showing us that the Law and the Prophets are fulfilled and surpassed by Jesus. To confirm this heresy, God says, “This is my son! The Beloved! LISTEN TO HIM!” Jesus’s teachings, actions, death, resurrection, and ascension fulfill, and embody the Law as God intended it. The faithful are to lift up their eyes from the Law to gaze upon and follow Jesus.

Bible Tuesday for Epiphany 5, 2018

Isaiah 40:21-31

Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in; who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows upon them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing.

Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

We hear parts of Psalm 40 throughout the church year, from “Comfort, comfort ye my people”, “O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion”, and “and He shall feed his flock like a shepherd” of Handel’s Messiah in Advent and Pentecost, to “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength…” now in Epiphany.

The “Messiah” passages that come earlier in the chapter proclaim the mercy and love that God will show the captive Israelites as they return from exile in Babylonia. The middle passage of the psalm, between the Messiah passages and this week’s pericope, are reminiscent of the final chapters of Job. Many questions such as, “Who measured the waters the with hollow of His hand?” are asked and followed by many statements of the inconsequential and incredibly short lives of people and nations, compared with the eternity of God. This is the setting for today’s pericope. It is a response to all of those questions of Theodicy.

One of the main issues addressed in the prophecy of Isaiah is the complaint of the Israelites that God has abandoned them to captivity and turned His back on them. In this pericope’s verses, God once again establishes supremacy over all that exists (as opposed to the idols that Israel had turned to), and God proclaims that all who wait for God’s actions will be renewed.

“wings like eagles” – might better be translated “Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, just like eagles who grow new feathers…” This is an idiom based on the belief that birds lose their strength when they go into molt but regain it when they grow new feathers.

Psalm 147:1-11

Praise the Lord! How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.

The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel.

He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.

He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.

Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

The Lord lifts up the downtrodden; he casts the wicked to the ground.

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre.

He covers the heavens with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, makes grass grow on the hills.

He gives to the animals their food, and to the young ravens when they cry.

His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;

but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. Praise the Lord!

This psalm praises God for bringing the exiles home from Babylonia and rebuilding Jerusalem and Israel.

God’s might is illustrated in numbering and naming the stars. In many ancient cultures, to name something is to have power over it and intimate knowledge of it. Thus, for God to name the stars suggests that God created the stars and knows them as individuals.

While we might read the various attributes of God tending to weather events, crops, and animals as quaint, the author lists these things specifically. Each of these various attributes was given to a different god in both Cannanite and Babylonian religions, but the psalmist reminds Israel that Yahweh/God is God of everything because God made everything and knows every piece of creation intimately.

God does not take delight in who rides the fastest racehorse or who wins the Olympic track events, but rather who looks to God in awe, trust, and love.

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel.

For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

Although the apostle, Paul, starts out this passage by saying that preaching the gospel is not something to boast about, he does a fair amount of boasting, nonetheless. Despite the boasting, there is plenty of meat to feed upon in this passage.

First, we are to follow Paul’s example and proclaim the gospel, which Paul defines as “Christ crucified and risen for the sake of all.”

Second, Paul explains that he become a Jew among the Jews in order to have them hear the gospel. Paul becomes a Gentile among the Gentiles (those outside the Law) in order that they might heard the gospel. Paul becomes weak (as explained last week, that in part means not eating meat offered to idols) in order that the weak might hear the gospel. If we walk around in white, goin’ to meetin’, clothes, knocking on doors with Bibles tucked under our arms and proclaim to whoever answers the door that God will judge them according to their deeds and they best drop on their knees and confess their sins right now before the world comes to an end, do we actually think people will hear Christ crucified and risen for them? Is this, “The Kingdom of Heaven is drawing near. Repent and believe in the good news” the gospel Jesus himself preached?

Paul sets forth a great idea for evangelizing: get to know the people to whom you hope to proclaim the gospel. When Paul found a receptive audience, he stayed with them for many days or weeks or months. Sharing the gospel takes time, trust, love, and mutual respect.

Mark 1:29-39

As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Two weeks ago, we read in the gospel of Mark that Jesus called Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Nathanael as disciples. Last week they all went into the synagogue on the sabbath where Jesus preached “as someone having authority, not like the scribes” and healed a man of an unclean spirit.

In this text, it is still the sabbath but the worship service is ended so Jesus is invited by Simon and Andrew to their house. Notice that the brothers live together with their wives and at least one mother-in-law. Let’s just contemplate how well that living arrangement might work in modern American society.

Peter’s mother-in-law is ill with a fever. The family is worried about her (as there are no medicines for infections so fevers can mean imminent death) so they tell Jesus about her. “If he can heal the guy in church, maybe he can help Mom.” Jesus responds and violating social custom, “takes her by the hand”, which may mean, “helps her up off her bed.” She is restored to health so resumes her household tasks, waiting on the family and guest.

News of free healthcare, especially of the miraculous type, spreads like wildfire. Once the sun was down, signifying that the sabbath was over, the people came to Simon Peter and Andrew’s house in droves. There were other itinerate healers in that time, but they charged money, and, of course, their “cures” were merely placebos, or worse. Jesus was very different in that he didn’t seem to be about this for the attention, as evidenced by Jesus repeatedly telling everyone he healed to keep quiet about it. Also, Jesus heals for free.

It is exhausting, though, spending so much time with clamoring, pleading people, and dense disciples. So much so that Jesus wanders out into the dark and silence of the wee hours of the morning to pray. Of the many times the gospels tell us Jesus went off alone to pray, the only recording of these prayers is in the Garden of Gethsemane. We don’t know what Jesus prayed, or if he used words at all.

The Greek is a unique language in that words have both tense and “mood”. The word “searching” for Jesus has a negative and somewhat ominous mood to it which we miss in English translations. Taking that mood into consideration, Jesus’ reaction to Peter’s words makes sense; Jesus wants to keep moving. Jesus goes throughout the rural region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and healing all comers.

Bible Tuesday for Epiphany 4, 2018

Deuteronomy 18:15-20

15The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. 16This is what you requested of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said: “If I hear the voice of the Lord my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die.” 17Then the Lord replied to me: “They are right in what they have said. 18I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command.19Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. 20But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die.”

A challenge that we, modern Americans, have in interpreting the Bible is that we do not understand the role of prophets or the definition of prophecy. We tend to equate prophecy with future telling, even fortune telling. Ancient Israelites held our same understanding. However, the 18th chapter of Deuteronomy makes a clear distinction between the Word of the Lord as delivered by the prophets and future telling.

In the first verses of chapter 18, God condemns future telling and all manner of divination as “abhorrent to the Lord, your God.” So, if the Israelites cannot consult mediums, witches, or diviners to determine where the best place is to plant crops and when the rains will come and where they should graze their flocks and when they should breed them, to whom should they go for this information?

The answer is Torah, God’s Law/God’s Word. Well, the Israelites answered, that is all fine and good but we don’t understand most of the blither blather that Moses brought down the mountain which was summarized on those stone tablets. AND, to go to God directly is terrifying! HIS fire column and smoke columns are outside camp every day and night and all we do is irritate HIM once and he has us being bitten by snakes or eating so much quail we vomit it out our noses! Someone needs to be a buffer between God and us! Moses has done an okay job at that so far but he is really old. When he dies, what then?!

The above passage addresses the Israelite concerns. God will find and appoint God’s own prophets through whom God will speak to the Israelites, and the rest of the peoples of the world. When those prophets speak the true word of God, the people had damned well better listen! If the prophet lies and speaks “words of honey” to gain popularity or graft, God will deal with them harshly.

Psalm 111

1Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.

2Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.

3Full of honor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.

4He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds; the Lord is gracious and merciful.

5He provides food for those who fear him; he is ever mindful of his covenant.

6He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the heritage of the nations.

7The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.

8They are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.

9He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name.

10The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever.

This psalm is an acrostic, though it begins with the word, “Hallelujah” which is curiously translated in the NRSV. It is correctly translated as “Praise the Lord!” but I find the translation curious since the Hebrew “Hallelujah” and the Greek “Alleluia” have both made it into the American and British English lexicons. We use them and we know what they mean, or at least we are accustomed to them in “church talk” so there is no need to translate them.

This psalm is comprised of popular wisdom sayings, each of which starts with a subsequent letter of the Hebrew alphabet. As a result, the psalm is rather disjointed and reads like a Hebrew “Poor Richard’s Almanac”.

Note that “Wisdom” is defined as beginning with a healthy respect and awe of God. Wisdom comes from relationship with God, and is different from knowledge or intelligence.

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; 3but anyone who loves God is known by him.

4Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— 6yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

7It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8“Food will not bring us close to God.” We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? 11So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. 12But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.

In the cities of Rome, the meat for sale in the markets had all been sacrificed to the gods of the Romans when it was slaughtered. Then it was butchered and made its way to the markets for general purchase and consumption. One can imagine how this might be a problem for city dwelling Jews. It is against the Torah to eat meat of animals slaughtered and butchered improperly, much less offered to any god except Yahweh/God.

Paul writes to the Christian congregation in Corinth about this issue. Some of the congregants were Jews who believed Jesus was the long awaited Messiah. Other congregants were converts from various Roman cults. Some of them refused to eat meat since the only meat in town was idol sacrifice. Others said that since idols aren’t real, what difference does it make if the meat were sacrificed or not, and lord their seemingly informed attitude over those who refused the meat.

What is the point of a Christian Community if not to worship God/Jesus/Holy Spirit, and build up each other as the body of Christ? Paul asks. Okay, so if it is destructive to the faith of some to see you eat meat from the markets, don’t eat it in front of them, maybe don’t eat it at all. It is not the eating or not eating of meat that is important, it is mutual conversation and consolation of sisters and brothers in Christ, all done in the name of Jesus. If meat eating is getting in the way of that, then don’t eat meat! “If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out! It is better for you to enter the Kingdom of Heaven blind in one eye than not at all,” says Jesus.

Mark 1:21-28

1They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. 22They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” 25But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.27They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

Mark, the gospel writer, is introducing Jesus to his hearers/readers. We are only 21 verses into Mark’s gospel. We know that Jesus went to John the Baptist to be baptized and saw the heavens ripped open and heard God choose him as God’s son. We know that Jesus acted like a traditional itinerate rabbi, gathering disciples to himself, those Jesus’ take on the metaphor of “fishing for people” was different than it has been used in the Hebrew Scriptures. In the above passage, we get some new, and alarming, information about Jesus.

Jesus seems to be acting normally enough, entering the nearest synagogue on the sabbath where he was invited to give the sermon. But his sermon isn’t just about the finer points of perfectly following Jewish Law and tradition. No, Jesus taught as if he had some authority, like to forgive sin, or to declare the definitive meaning of Holy Scriptures. Jesus really does have authority, not from rabbinical schools, but from GOD! Remember, God said that Jesus is His son, therefore, Jesus has complete authority to act as God’s agent, as per the rights of firstborn adult sons ascribed to them in the Torah/God’s Law.

How strange it is that the Jews in the synagogue don’t recognize Jesus as Messiah, but the evil spirits tormenting a worshiper do. By casting the evil spirits out of the tormented man, Jesus proves what the worshipers suspect, Jesus does have authority, not only to teach and preach, but over the powers of evil.

Bible Tuesday for Epiphany 3, 2018

Jonah 3:1-10

The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2“Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” 3So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. 4Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

5And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. 6When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. 8Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. 9Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.” 10When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

Nineveh was the capital of ancient Assyria. The Assyrians attacks the Israelites/Northern Kingdom regularly, and finally defeated them in 722 BCE. Yet, God sends an Israelite prophet, Jonah, to the Ninevites to get them to repent.

When God calls Jonah the first time, Jonah refuses to go to Nineveh and prophesy. (Jonah feels like a Jew who survived Buchenwald being sent to Hitler and henchmen to prophesy God’s mercy!) Jonah tells God that he wants God to punish Nineveh for all they have done to Israel, but Jonah knows that God will relent and not punish Nineveh whether they repent or not. So, Jonah runs from God. He gets on a merchant vessel, not caring where it is headed. The vessel is swamped by a storm and Jonah confesses the storm is God forcing Jonah to prophesy. Jonah gets thrown overboard and a whale swallows him. He is “in the belly of the whale three days.” (Three, the Biblical Three, God’s number symbolizing God’s activity. Jonah is in the dark, with the dead, for three days, all caused by God.) At the end of the third day, the whale barfs Jonah up onto the land and Jonah screams at God. God responds with the above text, a second invitation to Jonah to “do what I tell you! If you just did it the first time, it wouldn’t be so bad!”

So, what happened?! The Ninevites repented heartily with sack cloth and ashes for all the people and the animals! (I can just imagine a chicken in a gunny sack rolling in ashes!) And, God relented from the punishment God had threatened, just as Jonah feared God would!

Jonah’s proclamation: “What Jonah means and what he is saying are not exactly the same. Jonah means to say, ‘Forty days more, and Nineveh is undone,’ but the readers notice that he is actually saying, ‘Forty days more, and Nineveh is overturned.’ Jonah chooses language that is reminiscent of God’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. But the careful readers of the book notice the irony of the situation. Jonah’s words potentially carry two, opposite meanings. (a) ‘Nineveh is undone,’ and (b) ‘Nineveh turns over (reforms itself)’. “ The Jewish Study Bible

Psalm 62:5-12

For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him.

6He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

7On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.

8Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah

9Those of low estate are but a breath, those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath.

10Put no confidence in extortion, and set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

11Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God,

12and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord. For you repay to all according to their work.

This is a psalm of exhortation, the psalmist to himself and the psalmist to the whole people of God.

“Once God has spoken, twice I have heard this…” Ancient Israelite scholars believe this to mean that while God speaks only once, humans over time interpret God’s word in many ways. This is used to account for the differences in God’s word, for example in the Ten Commandments given in both Exodus and Deuteronomy. While God gave the Ten Commandments only once (and then reiterated them to Moses when Moses threw down the commandments at the people during the golden calf episode), they are written down in two slightly different ways.

“Lighter than a breath” – the idea of weighing souls appears to have been introduced into Israelite thought by the Egyptians, who weighed souls to determine the meaning of one’s life and the reward of one’s afterlife. The Israelite psalmist is stating that no Israelite weighs anything on their own merit.

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

9I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none,30and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, 31and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.

“The appointed time has grown short” – Here is one of many statements Paul made to let the reader/hearer know that he believed Jesus would “come back to judge the living and the dead” any second. Paul, being single, owning no house or any possessions to speak of, under house arrest while awaiting trail in Rome, can completely devote his life to God. Paul does not here teach that service to God can be faithful parenting, faithful marriage, faithful work for an employer.

Paul is trying to describe life “in the world but not of the world”.

“For the present form of this world is passing away” – The word “form” is a translation of the Greek “schema” which could also be translated “structure”, “bureaucracy”, “world order”. God breaking into the world and living on it as the person of Jesus, is a complete game changer which is the initiator of the Kingdom of God on earth.

Mark 1:14-20

4Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” 16As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 17And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” 18And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

In the gospel of Mark, these verses occur immediately after the temptation in the wilderness. John the Baptist’s arrest is illustrative of danger for Jesus, himself, danger from both the Jewish and Roman authorities in Jerusalem. Galilee is the hill country north of Jerusalem, by and large rural land of fishermen, farmers, and tradesmen, land left to the Jews by the Romans. Jesus will be safe from the Jewish Temple authorities and the Romans there.

Jesus is proclaiming the good news of God in Galilee. What is the good news Jesus proclaims? “Your long anticipation is now fulfilled. The Kingdom of God is within your grasp. Turn away from what distracts and blinds you to the Kingdom’s presence, and believe this marvelous news!” What does the Kingdom of God look like? Those ostracized because of disease, like the blind, the leprous, the hemorrhaging, the barren, will be healed and restored to their places in society. The poor and the sick will be treated just as the same by God as the rich and powerful. The last will be next and the first will be next. The reward from God will be the same for all. And the king, the KING will rule from a wooden thrown with spikes pounded through his wrists and his feet, and his court will consist of criminals hanging with him.

What is the deal with all these fishermen? Why is Jesus “calling” them and why do they drop what they are doing and follow him? Last week I wrote about the tradition of the rabbis who gathered students unto themselves, and that Jesus was acting within that culturally accepted, even expected, tradition. In the gospel of Mark, Jesus lives in Capernaum, where he is in this text walking and calling disciples to himself. Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John answer Jesus’ call so abruptly in part, because the guy lives in town. It is not as if they just walk away from their wives, children, in-laws, and all responsibilities to follow Jesus. Would it not be sinful to so capriciously leave wives and children with no means of feeding themselves in order to be the disciple of a rabbi? In fact, when the disciples traveled for longer than day trips, their families likely traveled with them!

The irony of calling fishermen – In Jeremiah 16:16, Ezekiel 29:4-5, and Amos 4:2, Israelites are described as evil or stupid, with fishermen using nets and grappling hooks to catch the evil ones and pull them from the schools of Israelites. In Habakkuk 1:14-17, the evil one is ravaging the schools of fish, the Israelites, and worships the nets and hooks he uses to feed upon the Israelites. When Jesus calls these fishermen, and future disciples, he is calling them to fish for people in a new way, luring them with shalom: love, peace, contentment, compassion, wholeness, life in the presence and light of God.

Bible Tuesday for Epiphany II, 2018

1 Samuel 3:1-20

Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. 2At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 3the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 4Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” 5and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. 6The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 8The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy.9Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

11Then the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. 12On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. 14Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever.” 15Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” 17Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” 18So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.”

19As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord.

Eli is both priest of Israel and judge, as this text takes place before Israel has its first king. Eli is quite old and blind. His sons, Hophni and Phineas, do most of the priestly duties for Eli, but they do not love God, and use their positions for graft.

This text begins by telling the hearer/reader that “the Word of the Lord was rare in those days.” In other words, Eli did not hear words from God as other judges and prophets did, despite being both High Priest and Judge. Instead, the word of the Lord comes to a little kid who serves as Eli’s go-fer from the time he was 4 years old, when his mom and dad brought him to the Tent of Meeting (precursor to the Temple) as a thank offering to God.

While Eli is blind, in the dark, both to the word of the Lord and to what his sons are up to, Eli does recognize that God might be up to something when little Samuel twice runs to his cot, insisting that someone called him. Eli knows the Hebrew tradition that the number symbolizing God is 3 so, if this voice called to Samuel a third time, it is likely God, and Samuel should just answer, “I am listening.”

God’s message to Samuel is actually God’s message to Eli, but Eli is blind physically, parentally, and seemingly spiritually, so God has to speak to Eli through someone else. This is the beginning of the end of Eli and the beginning of the great and faithful service of Samuel as God’s prophet and final Judge of Israel.

Psalm 139:1-18

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.

2You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away.

3You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.

4Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely.

5You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.

6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.

7Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?

8If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

9If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,

10even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.

11If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,”

12even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.

13For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.

15My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed.

17How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

18I try to count them—they are more than the sand; I come to the end—I am still with you.

I do not share Martin Luther’s great love of the book of Psalms, but I do LOVE this one! I regularly use it as one of the funeral texts. I am especially fond of the section the Revised Common Lectionary skips, verses 7-12 which state in prose what St. Paul writes in Romans 8, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This psalm is “an exquisitely detailed and poetic description of divine omniscience,” says The Jewish Study Bible. God knows everything about each person in all creation. Despite fully knowledge of each of us, God loves us unwaveringly.

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.13“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.” 17But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. 19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?20For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

“’All things are lawful for me’ but not all things are beneficial.” – The Law that God gave the Israelites prohibited all kinds of things, from eating shell fish and carrion eaters, to the cost of restoration if your bull gores your neighbor’s child. There was debate among the first Jews who followed Jesus as to whether or not the Law was in effect despite Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection having fulfilled it. Peter taught the early disciples that they must continue to life under the Law and that baptized Gentiles had to also be circumcised and live under the Law. Paul taught that the Law was merely meant to be a guide to relationship with God, and that once one is in relationship with God in the person of Jesus, the Law is no longer useful. Therefore, those baptized into Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit, are not bound to the restrictions under the Law. This is what Paul means by “’All things are lawful for me’.

In the above passage, Paul is addressing the congregation in Corinth which went off the deep end. Yes, they were free to live life out from under the Law, but there were wealthy folks in the congregation who used this as an excuse to live debaucherously. Paul teaches that, while the baptized Christian is not bound to the Law, he/she is bound through baptism to Christ, himself. Therefore, whatever we do, we should do to honor Christ, not get away with murder because we are already forgiven through Jesus.

John 1:43-51

3The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” 48Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” 51And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

It is of paramount importance whenever studying Scriptures (or any quote) to learn the context of the passage one is studying. It is especially important when the passage to be examine begins with, “The next day…” or “Immediately…” or “And then…”. So much poor Bible commentary is done by first lifting a quote from Jesus or Paul or Peter right out of context and errantly applying it to a situation it was never meant to address.

We are studying the first chapter of the gospel of John, specifically a passage that begins with “The next day…” What came before this? The first 18 verses of John 1 are the prolegomena, which we covered in Advent. Verses 19 through 28 describe John the Baptist and his ministry at the Jordan. Verses 29 – 34 cover John pointing out Jesus to John’s disciples, and describing to them what John witnessed when Jesus was the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus. Verses 35-42 occur the following day, and describe John the Baptist pointing out Jesus to two of John’s disciples, Andrew, and another, and how they followed Jesus. Then, Andrew went and told his brother, Simon, that he and the other disciple of John’s had found the Messiah/Christ. When Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus, Jesus all knowingly identified Simon by name before any introductions were made, and then said, “You will be Cephas, aka, Petros, or Peter in English.”

This catches us up to the above pericope. Jesus already has three disciples, Andrew and the other from John the Baptist, and Simon Peter. They accompany Jesus north to Galilee where they find a likely acquaintance of Andrew and Simon Peter’s, a guy named Philip. Once called, Philip finds his buddy, Nathanael, who is not so willing to ascribe the Messianic title as Andrew, Simon, and Philip. Jesus all knowingly addresses Nathanael by name before introductions and also indicates and intimate knowledge of Nathanael: “Here is a man who is completely void of deceit.” Nathanael is impressed by this display of seeming mind reading. Jesus scoffs at this reaction knowing that there is oh so much more to come in these last several months of his life.

Why does Jesus go around calling disciples? First, it is rabbinic tradition. This is a time of education without universities so once teachers were acclaimed by authorities, they would go about, collecting students to further their particular teaching. In the gospel of John, Jesus is acclaimed by a recognized authority, John the Baptist. Therefore, in order for Jesus to be a proper rabbi, he now must go find students who will carry on his teaching. Second, Jesus is God on earth and wants to spread God’s relationship with humanity in the most relational way possible: one on one. As the Eucharistic Prayer for Christmas says, “in loving the God made visible, we may love the God whom we cannot see.” God already tried codifying relationship with God in the Law given to Moses. Instead of serving God’s intent, being a framework within which God and humans love and relate, the Law became an idol, the god of proving one’s superior holiness. Jesus sets about allowing people to get to know him in order to start the ripple effect of one on one relationship with God and one on one relationships with fellow believers.

FIRST READING: Zechariah 9:9–12

⁹Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. ¹⁰He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war-horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. ¹¹As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. ¹²Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.

 

The is the second major prophecy from God to the prophet, Zechariah, in this book.  The prophecy begins with a description of the ideal king, a concept very important to both Jews, and those Jews who came to follow Jesus and recognized him as fitting this description.   All four gospel writers cite this passage as they relay the events of Palm Sunday.  It is this passage that the gospel writer of Matthew misquotes, saying that the king will come “humble and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey,” which leads him to describe Jesus as straddling both mother and colt simultaneously for the Palm Sunday procession.

 

In Hebrew, both Mt. Zion and Jerusalem are feminine names.  To capture that aspect of the language, English translations add “daughter” to these verses and throughout the Old Testament.

 

The references to the king cutting off the chariots and war horses from Ephraim and Jerusalem are an indication of the king riding out against enemies to the north of Israel and Judah.  The “waterless pit” was a place to keep prisoners of war during and after battle.  God remembers his covenant with Israel and Judah and will restore Israel to its position of greatness before being conquered by all of the armies of Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt, and Philistia.

 

Psalm 145:8–14

⁸The LORD is gracious and full ^| of compassion,

slow to anger and abounding in ^| steadfast love.

⁹LORD, you are ^| good to all,

and your compassion is over ^| all your works. R

¹⁰All your works shall praise ^| you, O LORD,

and your faithful ^| ones shall bless you.

¹¹They shall tell of the glory ^| of your kingdom

and speak ^| of your power,

¹²that all people may know ^| of your power

and the glorious splendor ^| of your kingdom.

¹³Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;

your dominion endures through- ^| out all ages.

You, LORD, are faithful in all your words,

and loving in ^| all your works.

¹⁴The Lord upholds all ^| those who fall

and lifts up those who ^| are bowed down. R

 

In the Hebrew understanding of God, God is bound to the Israelites, not out of affection but under a legal contract, a covenant.  The covenant is described in a variety of ways in the Hebrew scriptures, one of allies, one of king to subjects, one of husband to wife, etc.  This psalm sings God’s praises due to God’s faithfulness to this covenant, and the ways in which God fulfills the obligations.  God is compassionate, patient, and thorough.  The things which God brings about for Israel and all humanity are so beautiful and well done, that they stand as testimony to what kind of being God is.  And, no one escapes God’s attention, even the poor and heavy burdened.

 

SECOND READING: Romans 7:15–25a

¹⁵I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. ¹⁹For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. ²¹So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. ²²For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, ²³but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

 

This is the apostle, Paul’s, eloquent description of the human condition.  We know how things should be.  We may even have some ideas of how to get things to where they should be, but when we, humans, touch them, our selfishness and pride get in our way.  “We are a fallen humanity.”

 

GOSPEL: Matthew 11:16–19, 25–30

[Jesus spoke to the crowd saying:] ¹⁶“But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, ¹⁷‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’ ¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; ¹⁹the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” ²⁵At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; ²⁶yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. ²⁷All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ²⁸Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

 

Jesus is comparing the crowds to 2 year olds.  I am sure you have seen two year olds act like this.  “What would you like on your sandwich, meat or cheese?”  “Cheese.”  “Okay, here is your sandwich with cheese.”  But the two year old whines, “I want meat!”

 

God sends to Israel prophets about whom they whine.  Then Jesus comes, as the bridegroom, the son of man, dining and celebrating with people, healing and serving,  and the Israelite leaders whine about him too.  Jesus thanks God that while the leaders of Israel completely miss the pint of his coming, the common folk, those in desperate need of mercy, grace, food, purpose, and hope, are responding favorably to Jesus’ ministry.

 

“Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden…my burden is light.”  This is one of the most beloved quotes of Jesus.  Jesus speaks such words of compassion and hope.  Yet, it is paradoxical, at least in our application of what Jesus says.  As I knelt before Bishop Gary Wollersheim, with former Bishop Gregory Villalon behind me, for ordination, their hands were laid on me and this passage was quoted.  It is part of the ELCA rite of ordination.  I suppose it was quoted as comfort to me for this calling before which I knelt.  It was also quoted as an example of what I was to do for others; embody Jesus’ easy yoke and light burden for others.  I have always understood that to mean that my burden was going to be heavy and my yoke hard.

 

No, that is not what Jesus is saying to me or any of us, but the yoke of his teaching is a call to selflessness, to shouldering one’s own cross, to empowering others with the mercy and love of God.  Is that a light burden?  To what are we comparing it?