Bible Tuesday for Easter 7, 2017

Acts 1:6-14

So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ 7He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ 9When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.10While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. 13When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of* James. 14All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

Jesus and the disciples and apostles are gathered on a hill better than a month after Easter and still the disciples do not understand Jesus. “Are you going to raise your army and march on Jerusalem now?!” ask the disciples. I can almost hear Jesus’ exasperated sigh as he says, “No. I don’t know when or how God will do that. So, instead let’s focus on what we do know. You all have a job to do and I need to return to heaven so the Holy Spirit can come. Let’s focus on that, shall we?”

A Sabbath Day journey is two miles. It was against Jewish law to work on the sabbath and walking more than two miles was considered working so one was limited to a two mile radius from ones home on the sabbath, sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.

“mount of Olivet” is synonymous with the Mount of Olives, which is an old olive tree grove outside the city wall of Jerusalem. It was also known as the Garden of Gethsemane as a gethsemane is an olive press which was in amongst the grove of trees.

Take note of who all is in this upper room. This descriptive couple of verses immediately precedes the selecting of a disciple who would replace Judas Iscariot as an apostle, and then the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. This list of Apostles, disciples, including Jesus’ family members is, therefore, the list of all upon whom the Holy Spirit falls.

Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm. A Song.
1 Let God rise up, let his enemies be scattered;
let those who hate him flee before him.
2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;
as wax melts before the fire,
let the wicked perish before God.
3 But let the righteous be joyful;
let them exult before God;
let them be jubilant with joy.

4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds*—
his name is the Lord—
be exultant before him.

5 Father of orphans and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
6 God gives the desolate a home to live in;
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
but the rebellious live in a parched land.

7 O God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness,
Selah
8 the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain
at the presence of God, the God of Sinai,
at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9 Rain in abundance, O God, you showered abroad;
you restored your heritage when it languished;
10 your flock found a dwelling in it;
in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

32 Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth;
sing praises to the Lord,
Selah
33 O rider in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
listen, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
34 Ascribe power to God,
whose majesty is over Israel;
and whose power is in the skies.
35 Awesome is God in his* sanctuary,
the God of Israel;
he gives power and strength to his people.

The psalmist follows the usual formula of calling on God for help, then singing praise of God’s activity, and ending in admonition to all Israel to praise God. Unique to this psalm is the way it begins, “Let God rise up, let God’s enemies be scattered.” As opposed to pleading with God, the psalmist calls for the cosmos to allow for God’s activity. A common theme in the Hebrew Scriptures is that God’s voice is the energizing force of God’s action, as in Genesis 1 and verse 33 of this psalm. Another common theme is the view of the forces of nature as being “Acts of God”, as in verses 8 – 9.

Notice the prosperity gospel in verse 6. Those who are suffering in prison will be brought out by God, but those who are living in a parched land are viewed as wicked by God. Therefore, if folks are forced onto parched lands by an occupying force, they could be viewed as earning their suffering since God would give them better if they earned it, right? So teaches the prosperity gospel.

1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11

12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice in so far as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. 14If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory,* which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 8Discipline yourselves; keep alert.* Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters*throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. 10And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. 11To him be the power for ever and ever.

Peter is writing as a pastor to this beleaguered, suffering congregation, potentially tortured as Roman sport victims, as in fed to the lions, set on fire as human torches to illumine Nero’s “candle light” suppers, etc. Some scholars think that early Christian and Jewish torture was not as widespread as earlier thought, but it is well known and accepted that first, second, and third century Jews and Christians under Roman occupation were an oppressed people. They were heavily taxed, regularly conscripted into temporary slavery for Roman soldiers, had their family lands conscripted, relegated to poor housing, and lived in the very bottom of society. Romans thought of Jews as genital mutilating atheists, due to their strict adherence to monotheism and circumcision, and saw Christians as a sect within Judaism, which it was in some areas.

The writer of 1 Peter echoes the words of Jesus in beatitudes, “10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely[a] on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5)

John 17:1-11

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2since you have given him authority over all people,* to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

6 ‘I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 8for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

This is part of Jesus’ final prayer for the disciples on Maundy Thursday. It is unique to the gospel of John and has language very different than the other gospels. It reads rather stilted and quizzically in English but the gospel of John is written in very simple, basic Greek, with sentence structure rather like young children would speak.

While all the “glorify” language can border on convoluted, the gospel of John does make Jesus’ purpose plain, “…to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.” John also defines such nebulous words as “eternal life”: “…3And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” While other gospels use terms like “paradise” and “heaven”, here John uses “eternal life” which he defines as truly knowing God and Jesus. In this way, the gospel of John proclaims that eternal life begins in knowing God, even while alive in this world. This concept is found elsewhere John, indicated by phrases like “The time is coming and is now…”

The gospel of John is frequently referred to as the gnostic gospel because of its style and content. Gnosticism is the belief that fulfillment personally and religiously is found in knowledge, frequently secret knowledge. One could say that Scientology is a gnostic religion as it has basic tenets built on knowing secrets of the world. Masons, with their secret meetings and rituals also have hues of Gnosticism. When the gospel of John says things like, “I have made your name known to those…Now they know everything…”, the writer is writing in the style of Gnosticism. However, the gospel does still focus on God as trinity and salvation only through Jesus. As such, the gospel is not truly Gnostic, but rather written in that language and style.

In the gospel of John, when Jesus speaks of “glory”, he means things like reputation, honor, to be known, as in “what is he known for?” For this reason, I have found it helpful to replace the word “glorify” with the word “define”. “Father, define me in your own presence with the definition that I had in your presence before the world existed.” This word exchange does not give crystal clarity to what Jesus is asking of God, but, Jesus is asking for mysterious things which, I think, are rather beyond comprehension. Replacing “glory” with “define” merely makes the passage a little more understandable.