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Bible Tuesday for Trinity Sunday, 2017

Bible Tuesday for Holy Trinity Sunday, 2017

Genesis 1:1 – 2:4

In the beginning when God created* the heavens and the earth, 2the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God* swept over the face of the waters. 3Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

6 And God said, ‘Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’ 7So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. 8God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

9 And God said, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. 10God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11Then God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.’ And it was so. 12The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good.13And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

14 And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.’ And it was so. 16God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth,18to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

20 And God said, ‘Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.’ 21So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. 22God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.’ 23And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

24 And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.’ And it was so. 25God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind* in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth,* and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’
27 So God created humankind* in his image,
in the image of God he created them;*
male and female he created them.
28God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’ 29God said, ‘See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. 31God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

2Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude.2And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. 3So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.

4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

Surely whole volumes have been written about this text over the course of Israel’s entire history. For me to attempt to cover the entirety of this text in this space with my level of training is an impossible task. So please accept the comments below as seeds for thought.

This text begins with the state of things before God began creating. The Hebrew words here translated as “the deep” and “formless void” are meant to describe chaos. The breath of God, Ruach, broods over complete and utter chaos as God prepares to act.

Throughout Jewish and Christian history, God’s ability to speak all creation into existence has been a wonder too great to truly fathom. First comes light. This is one of the titles that God proclaims for himself throughout the Hebrew scriptures and the New Testament. The scriptures go so far as to call God light. Throughout their history, the Israelites were surrounded, and held in bondage to, cultures that believed the sun was a god, whom they worshiped. How marvelous that in the first words of the sacred text of Israel that God is not the sun, but the creator of ALL LIGHT!

The sun and moon are referred to as the greater light and the lesser light, not because Israel didn’t have names for the sun and moon, but rather that they would not dignify those “beings” with names and titles of divinity, as the surrounding cultures gave them. By not giving the greater and lesser lights names, the writer is making clear that the sun and moon are not only not divine, but not even persons worthy of mention.

This story of creation describes God making a habitation for earth and its creatures in the midst of the chaos. Waters are separated from waters by making a flat plain and covering it with a dome shaped lid. The waters are now below the plain and entirely on top of the domed lid, but inside the lid, on the plain, is earth and all its inhabitants. When describing the flood that covers the earth in the time of Noah and his family and the famous arc, the Hebrew says that God opened holes in the dome and in the plain and the waters rushed in until all the plain was flooded.

In this story, humans are created in the same method as all the rest of creation: God speaks and it occurs. This version of creation does not say that there is only one man and one woman at beginning, just that God created them male and female. Also, men and women are created at the same time and both in the image of God. “In the image of God” is a mysterious phrase not used anywhere else in Hebrew Scriptures, and not understood. Scholars opinions vary widely on that to which “imago dei” refers.

While Christians tend to read this text and marvel that God created humanity and said, “That is very good,” Jews tend to focus on the seventh day of creation. The Sabbath is a great gift from God, 1/7th of the week in which to rest with God and celebrate life. For farming, herding, migrating ancient peoples, a day of rest every week mandated by religious law must have been a true gift. For contemporary peoples with devices that make us accessible 24/7 and clutter our lives with ever increasing “information”, a day of rest with God and each other is something to which we should committedly avail ourselves.

Psalm 8

To the leader: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals* that you care for them?

5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God,*
and crowned them with glory and honour.
6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

This beautiful psalm sings praise to God through honoring creation and marveling at humanity’s place in it. Verse five has been traditionally translated “little lower than the angels” by Christians and Jews alike. However, such translating has more to do with discomfort with the psalmist’s intent than with accurate translating. “Little lower than God” is an accurate translation, and reflects Genesis 1’s place of honor that God gives humanity.

2 Corinthians 13:11-13

11 Finally, brothers and sisters,* farewell.* Put things in order, listen to my appeal,* agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.

13 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of* the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

Many scholars believe that the books of 1 and 2 Corinthians are a compilation of several letters Paul wrote through dictation to the congregation in Corinth. The above passage is taken from the end of the last letter in that compilation.

There are a few challenges to translation in this text. “Farewell” can also be translated, “rejoice!” “Put things in order” can also be translated “be restored to order.” “Listen to my appeal” may be translated “encourage one another.” Those do put quite a different spin on Paul’s last exhortations to the Corinthian congregation. However, they do emphasize Paul’s teaching in the entire last chapter of 2 Corinthians that God desires to make peace and harmony between God’s self and all humanity, and to make peace between all humans. Paul states that God does this through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the work of God’s spirit in all creation.

Matthew 28:16-20

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’*

Here we are, at the final moment of Jesus’ life on earth according to the gospel of Matthew. The eleven remaining apostles are with Jesus outside Jerusalem. These eleven, the key to spreading the good news of Jesus to all the earth, have mixed reactions to the about-to-ascend Jesus. Some believe “but some doubted”, yet they go on to spread the gospel! Pure, nary a doubt, faith is not present even in the apostles but flip-flopping faith does not preclude them from being Jesus’ disciples nor does it bar them from eternal life with God.

Jesus spoke to believers and doubters alike saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” This is a key point in the gospel of Matthew since the gospel writer has been trying to convince his readers/hearers that Jesus is God and has been given God’s authority because of Jesus’ faithfulness through life and even execution. Now that Jesus has God’s authority, Jesus now gives his first imperial command, “Go make disciples of ALL NATIONS.” Jesus is truly the Lord and Savior that the Hebrew prophets foretold. And just as said, this one from God is for the healing of all the nations, and all the nations will come to him and pay tribute to him.

Jesus foreshadows the extreme difficulty that the disciples will experience in sharing this gospel. It is not enough that they knew Jesus face to face in the flesh. No, memory alone will not see them through the trails evangelism will bring. That need what Jesus promises, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the ends of the age.”