Bible Tuesday for Lent V, 2015

Jeremiah 31:31-34

See, a time is coming—declares the Lord—when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers, when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, a covenant which they broke, though I espoused them—declares the Lord. But such is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after these days—declares the Lord: I will put My teaching into the inmost being and inscribe it upon their hearts. Then I will be their God and they shall be My people. No longer will they need to teach one another and say to one another, “Heed the Lord”; for all of them, from the least of them to the greatest, shall need Me—declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquities, and remember their sins no more.

If it seems to you like we had this text recently, you are correct. This is the first lesson for Reformation Sunday every year. This translation is from the Jewish Study Bible and does give a slightly different flavor to the text. The New Revised Standard Version, favored by the ELCA, translates “though I espoused them” as “though I was their husband”. “I will put my law within them” is translated “I will put my teaching into their inmost being”. Both of these translational differences soften the NRSV. “Law” implies much more codification and punishment for violation than “teachings”. But the Jewish Study Bible translated NRSV’s “Know the Lord” as “Heed the Lord.” “Know” in the Old Testament implies intimacy as in the best marital relationships. “’Though I was their husband,’ says the Lord.” “Heed” implies attention is to be paid and obedience is expected. No intimacy is necessary.

Psalm 51:1-12

A psalm of David, when Nathan, the prophet, came to him after he had called Bathsheba to himself.

Have mercy upon me, O God, as befits Your faithfulness; in keeping with Your abundant compassion, blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly of my iniquity, and purify me of my sin; for I recognize my transgressions, and am ever conscious of my sin.

Against You alone have I sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight; and so You are just in Your sentence, and right in Your judgment.

Indeed I was born with iniquity; with sin my mother conceived.

Indeed You desire truth about that which is hidden; teach me wisdom about secret things.

Purge me with hyssop till I am pure; wash me till I am whiter than snow. Hide Your face from my sins; blot out all my iniquities.

Fashion a pure heart for me, O God; create in me a steadfast spirit.

“Indeed, I was born with iniquity; with sin my mother conceived.” Jewish Study Bible translation. The notes from this translation are as follows: “So extreme are the psalmist’s guilt feelings that he sees himself as sinful even before birth; in other words, he is, by nature, a sinful being. The idea of the inherent sinfulness of humans is rarely expressed in the Hebrew Scriptures except for Genesis 8:21.” However, as I read this translation, King David’s mom was somehow sinning as she conceived him, a concept completely avoided by the NRSV translation.

“Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.” NRSV

The New Interpreter’s Bible comments on the NRSV translation as follows: “The climactic v. 5 has traditionally been cited in discussion of “original sin,” and rightfully so. It is not intended to suggest that sin is transmitted biologically or that sexuality is sinful by definition. Rather, it conveys the inevitability of human fallibility. In each human life, in the human situation, sin is pervasive. We are born into it, and we cannot escape it. While sin is a matter of individual decision, it also has a corporate dimension that affects us, despite our best intentions and decisions.”

Hebrews 5:5-10

So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him,
‘You are my Son,
today I have begotten you’;
as he says also in another place,
‘You are a priest for ever,
according to the order of Melchizedek.’

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Here, as well as in other places in the New Testament Epistles, a doctrine is discussed which was very important to the early church but is mostly ignored by Christians today: Jesus as High Priest. We talk about Jesus being king, Lord, Savior, sacrificial lamb, rabbi, shepherd, etc., but not high priest. But for Jewish Christians of Jesus’ day, Jesus was to be the anointed one/king (Messiah/Christ), and high priest.

An important tenet of the Christian faith is “atonement”, that is, how does Jesus’ life, death, resurrection save creation from total separation from God? Christian doctrine says: Jesus died for “our sins”, “by his stripes are we healed”. There is the substitution theory: that Jesus took our place on the cross, paying our debt with his own punishment despite his sinlessness. Also, the reparation theory: sin forever separates humanity from God but God does not accept that separation so God came to earth and fulfilled all the human ends of the covenants Himself. Now that the covenants are filled, humanity is able to live as if in harmony with God and God accepts humanity as such.

For Jews of Jesus’ day, the longed for savior would be an anointed prophet/military hero/king like David. Also, the longed for savior would make right the relationship between God and Israel through prayer and sacrifice as the High Priest does in the Temple. The first priest, that is, religious ritual leader, mentioned in the Bible is Melchizedek in Genesis 14. He is a “priest of the Most High God” who comes out to Abraham and Sarah on their travels and blesses them. It is strange that up to that point in the Bible, God has only talked with Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Noah and his family, and then Abram. One does not get the impression that anyone else outside of those folks and their progeny worship Yahweh. Yet, here is Melchizedek serving the Most High God as a priest, leading folks who are not descendants of Abraham in worship of God. Somehow the writer of Hebrews teaches that Jesus is the new and permanent High Priest and that, while he is not a descendant of the high priestly families, he is of the order of Melchizedek, the oldest of Yahweh’s priestly orders.

John 12:20-33

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—“Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people* to myself.’ He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, as Jesus heals people and raises people from the dead, he admonishes the crowds to keep silent about what he has done. This continues throughout the gospels until the disciples acknowledge who Jesus is. Once they “get it”, Jesus “turns his face to Jerusalem.” It is as if Jesus is doing ministry, and biding time until the disciples comprehend who Jesus truly is. The fullness of knowledge and faith of the disciples does not come about until after Pentecost, but when it is planted firmly enough that Peter declares, “You are the Christ, the son of the Living God!” then Jesus appears free to complete the mission for which he came: crucifixion in Jerusalem at the hands of the High Priest and the Romans.

In the gospel of John, this turning point does not come with Peter’s declaration, but rather with non-Jews coming to Jesus. In this passage, it is that Greeks are not only fertile for evangelism but actually come looking for Jesus that is the sign. Upon the arrival of the Greeks, Jesus says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

The gospel of John does not have Jesus suffer, or rather, Jesus never appears out of control or victimized. Jesus does not “set his face” to march toward his doom, but rather looks forward to his glorification. Jesus explains his lack of fear or struggle by saying, “those who love their lives will lose them…”