Bible Tuesday for Epiphany 2, 2017

Isaiah 49:1-7

Listen, O coastlands, to me, and give heed, O nations afar. The Lord appointed me before I was born; He named me while I was in my mother’s womb. He made my mouth like a sharpened blade. He hid me in the shadow of His hand, and He made me like a polished arrow. He concealed me in His quiver. And He said to me, “You are My servant, Israel in whom I glory.” I thought, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for empty breath.” But my case rested with the Lord. My recompense was in the hands of my God. And now the Lo9rd has resolved—He formed me in the womb to be His servant—to bring back Jacob of Himself, that Israel may be restored to Him. And I have been honored in the sight of the Lord, for He has said: “It is too little that you should be My servant and restore the survivors of Israel: I will also make you a light of nations, that My salvation may reach the ends of the earth.” Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to the despised one, to the abhorred nations, to the slave of rulers: Kings shall see and stand up; Nobles, and they shall prostrate themselves—to the honor of the Lord, who is faithful, to the Holy One of Israel who chose you.

Here are the first verses of the prophet addressing Israel after Babylonian captivity is over. Cyrus of Persia has defeated Babylonia and is encouraging all captives to return to their lands of origin. This is a controversial thing among Jews. First, what will Israel look like when they return? Who will be in their houses? Who will have taken over their farm lands in their absence? Will they be able to get them back? Second, Jews were encouraged to intermarry with Babylonians and other captives. Jewish women were taken as slaves/concubines/wives of Babylonians. Those who were allowed to leave may not have wanted to leave family members behind.

For those Israelites who did return to Jerusalem, life was rather bleak. Jerusalem, the city, and the Temple in the city, were decimated during the Babylonian defeat. Houses were looted and farm lands ravaged. The job of rebuilding was emotionally, physically, and spiritually exhausting.

To these people, the prophet speaks the above words. About whom are the opening words spoken? Scholars do not agree. Some think the passage refers to all Israel while others think it is truly the prophet/writer speaking about him/her self.

“I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength for empty breath.” – The writer speaks regret. Whether referring to self or to all Israel, God has obviously saved this one for a very special mission. Yet, the words of God have not been heeded. The writer fears the sheltered, saved arrow has been wasted on an unsuccessful mission. But, God is the judge of this. The writer has been faithful to his/her call.

“A light to the nations” Over and over throughout the entire Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament, God tells the Israelites that they are to be His messengers, his bearers of good news, to all the peoples of the world. Never were the Israelites to secret themselves away from the bad influences of the world and be a private enclave unto the Lord. God wanted Israel to be faithful to Him and to evangelize to all the world the wonderful things God does for all creation.

Psalm 40:1-11

For the leader, a psalm of David.

I put my hope in the Lord; he inclined toward me, and heeded my cry. He lifted me out of the miry pit, the slimy clay, and set my feet on a rock, steadied my legs. He put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God. May many see it and stand in awe, and trust in the Lord. Happy is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who turns not to the arrogant or to followers of falsehood. You, O Lord my God, have done many things; the wonders You have devised for us cannot be set out before You; I would rehearse the tale of them, but they are more than can be told. You gave me to understand that You do not desire sacrifice and meal offering; You do not ask for burnt offering and sin offering. Then I said, “See I will bring a scroll recounting what befell me.” To do what pleases You, my God, is my desire; I proclaimed Your righteousness in a great congregation; see, I did not withhold my words, O Lord,. You must know it. I did not keep Your beneficence to myself; I declared Your faithful deliverance. I did not fail to speak of Your steadfast love in a great congregation.

Here is a perfect example of the gospel which Israel was/is to share with all the world. What God wants is for Israel to love God so contagiously that all the world know and love God through Israel.

“You do not desire sacrifice and meal offering. You do not ask for burnt offering and sin offering.” These were offerings made to God in the Temple, among all the other worshiping Israelites. God does not need these gifts or adoration. What God wants is relationship with the Israelites and all the people of the world through the Israelites. God says that He does not want offerings in this psalm because God does not want the Israelites cloistered, murmuring their praise privately. Rather, God wants the praise and gratitude of the Israelites to be voiced to others as a sales pitch of sorts.

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord* and ours:

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I give thanks to my* God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, 5for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— 6just as the testimony of* Christ has been strengthened among you— 7so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

The apostle, Paul, had much correspondence with the church in Corinth. At the time Paul was writing, the city of Corinth was a mecca of religious practices. The town was filled with temples to various gods. The people who made up the Christian congregation in Corinth were a blend of Jews who believed in Jesus, Greeks and Romans who converted from paganism to following Jesus, and others. There were great challenges in gathering these people from disparate backgrounds into one intimate faith community. There was a lot of correspondence between this congregation and Paul.

Here is the beginning of the first of a few letters we have from Paul to this congregation in Corinth, and none from the congregation to Paul. The salutation is traditional but noteworthy. Paul doesn’t just write on his own behalf. He writes with Sosthenes. And, not only Sosthenes, but also God. Paul identifies himself as “an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God”. Paul presents himself as speaking for God to these folks and to all with whom they share this letter.

“Grace and peace from God, our father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” – This is so common place to our Lutheran ears that it is easy to skip right over it as we read Paul’s letters, but let’s look at it a bit. True grace, that is, God’s unearned and unconditional love and forgiveness, is a gift with which God surrounds us every moment of our lives. When we trust this love like no other, we can really settle into ourselves, love ourselves, and love all others through God’s love for them. That is peace. Paul’s blessing in salutation, God’s grace and peace, are the only thing which give us ears of compassion and hearts of empathy.

John 1:29-42

The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” 31I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ 32And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” 34And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’*

35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ 37The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.38When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ 39He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. 40One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.41He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed*). 42He brought Simon* to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter*).

The gospel of John is unique in that it does not tell the story of Jesus being baptized, but instead records the passage above. Note that John the Baptist does not say, “When I baptized him, I saw…” but merely “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove…”

In the whole of the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament, the Holy Spirit is sent to folks and then removed from folks. In the story of Jesus’ baptism, all four gospels tell that the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus, in some form like a dove. In this gospel, John says that the Holy Spirit “remained” on Jesus. This is unique to all biblical writing heretofore, which is strange to us. In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is never removed from anyone. As a matter of doctrine, we believe that the Holy Spirit somehow comes to live in us through baptism and stays with us always, perhaps even beyond death!!!! That permanent dwelling of the Holy Spirit starts with Jesus, as told in the gospel of John.

John the Baptist is a historical figure, actually mentioned in Roman records found in archeological digs. Josephus, a Jew turned Roman soldier and historian at the time of the Jewish revolt 68-71AD also mentions John the Baptist. John the Baptist was a really popular guy with a strong following. Many folks did not believe Jesus was the messiah John was preparing for, and did not follow Jesus when John was imprisoned and later beheaded. There are, to this day, disciples of John the Baptist, mostly in the Middle East but even in the US who do not believe in Jesus but who do follow the teaching of John the Baptist. John the Baptist was a powerhouse in his day, so it is very important that the gospel of John has John the Baptist say “After me comes one who ranks before me…I myself have seen and have testified that this is the son of God.”

This little passage of the gospel of John contains examples of two major themes of this gospel. The first is, “Come and see.” This simple phrase is repeated several times in the gospel, most especially here, in the beginning, and at the end, when the women invite the disciples to “come and see” the empty tomb. This gospel is written so that the hearers/readers may “Come and see” for themselves, and know that Jesus Christ is the son of God and Lord of all, and that “you might believe into his name.”

The second is that Jesus is always in control. Of the four gospels, John tells of a Jesus who is least human and most godly. Jesus merely walks by John, but that inspires John to proclaim him the son of God. Jesus merely sees Peter (but is not introduced to him) yet Jesus not only knows Peter’s name, but knows all about him and gives him a new name, Cephas, Aramaic for Petros, or Peter, which means “rock” because “on this rock I will build my church.”