Matthew 24:34, The Liberal’s Bible

Tuesday, November 11, 2014 in Bible Commentary | 0 comments

Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

//What does this verse mean to you? Should it be read literally–as a promise that Jesus would arrive in power within the lives of those he spoke to–or should we interpret the word “generation” to mean something other than the obvious?

I have a friend on a forum I frequent that often accuses me of hating the Bible. To him, much of what I say about the Bible is a loose interpretation–what he calls a liberal interpretation–and he feels I need to “read the Bible more closely.” Of course, it seems to me that he needs to do the same. To me, his beliefs about Jesus simply don’t match what the Bible says at all.

A while back I finished Richard Gist’s new book, and it was a fascinating read from cover to cover. He definitely reads the Bible differently than his conservative friends. But he reaches this unexpected conclusion about who reads the bible “liberally” and who does not:

“I slowly realized that, often, the more conservative the preacher, the more liberally was the Bible used. Such preachers created a Bible that did not exist to preach messages they wanted to convey. On the other hand, the more liberal the preacher, the more conservatively was the Scripture applied to preaching. In other words, people in the religious community misunderstood and misapplied the labels of conservative and liberal.”

I guess that means I’m really a conservative and my friend is a liberal? Uh-oh.

Mark 1:1 The Messianic Secret

Monday, November 10, 2014 in Bible Commentary | 0 comments

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

//Mark’s Gospel is known for many peculiarities, and one of them is this matter of the Messianic Secret. Mark begins his gospel with this verse, introducing Jesus. Then, throughout the story of Jesus, he portrays the disciples as dim-witted, unable to grasp that their master is the Messiah. The Son of God.

Everybody else knows Jesus is the Son of God. Demons knew. Evil spirits would shout, “You are the Son of God.” The madman of Gadara figured it out. The Centurion (Roman soldier) knew it. Heck, God said it twice, quite loudly I bet.

But the disciples never do reach this conclusion, even after Jesus died. This Gospel ends with three women coming to the grave and finding it empty, then running away and telling no one. *

* The original gospel ends with verse 15:8.

Mark 3:32-33, The House Church

Saturday, November 8, 2014 in Bible Commentary | 0 comments

And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.” But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?”

//The early Church met in homes, before the emerging Church structure, size, and political acceptance began to make dedicated church buildings practical. So here we find Jesus and his followers sitting together in a home (3:19). Mark 3:20 indicates that it was a “multitude” who met that day, so many that they could not share bread as was the custom.

To this home came Jesus’ mother and brothers. But they came not to join in fellowship, but to take Jesus home, because they felt he was “out of his mind.” They were not inside the home, and made no effort to be inside. So Jesus is told that they were waiting outside to see him, and here is his reaction:

And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”

There is no hint that Jesus ever goes outside to meet his blood family. He prefers his new family, in the exclusive house church.

Did this really happen this way? What happened to the idea of an angel appearing to Mary, telling her she would give birth to the Messiah?

Scholars continue to disagree on just how estranged Jesus was from his family.

Acts 14:14, Paul the Apostle

Friday, November 7, 2014 in Bible Commentary | 1 comment

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out…

//I just read in Richard Gist’s new book that there are twenty two places in the New Testament where Paul is referred to as an apostle. Two of those places are in the book of Acts, written by Paul’s friend Luke.

I found one of the two. It’s today’s verse. Can somebody find the other one for me?

The other twenty verses? They’re all written by Paul, claiming the honor for himself.

The Weight of a Feather: and Other Stories

Thursday, November 6, 2014 in Book Reviews | 0 comments

by Judy Croome

★★★★★

I’ve been a sucker for short stories ever since I discovered Edgar Allen Poe as a young teenager, so when Judy Croome offered to share a collection of her stories, I couldn’t resist. It isn’t really an appropriate choice for my blog, but it was an enjoyable break, definitely worth sharing in a casual review.

Leslie (my blog partner) asked me as I was reading what the book was about. I said it was about life, and that seemed to satisfy her. But the question remained with me: What is your book about, Judy? My mind wandered back to another book I reviewed of Croome’s, a haunting spiritual journey titled Dancing in the Shadows of Love. It, too, was about life, and I found myself captivated by Croome’s short story collection in the same way.

Croome is a very good writer. Her stories are imaginative and engaging, they play heavily on the element of surprise, but more than that, they leave you full of feelings. Icky feelings, happy feelings, sad feelings, nervous feelings. Her characters–all of them–are simultaneously common and peculiar, a little like peeking into the closet of your smiling next door neighbor. A little like if you were to peek into your own heart. It’s scary stuff.

Some stories appear to have been published before, and some appear to be originals, but they’re all great reads. Highly recommended!

Aztar Press, © 2013, 193 pages

ISBN: 978-0-987047-3-0

Matthew 3:2, Was Jesus a Disciple of John the Baptist?

Wednesday, November 5, 2014 in Bible Commentary | 0 comments

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

//Many scholars suggest that before Jesus went out on his own he was a follower of John the Baptist. While there are many reasons for this conjecture, the most obvious is the way that Jesus adopted the language of John. Today’s verse was spoken by John, and then repeated by Jesus:

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” –Matthew 4:17

Following are are some more examples:

John: Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? –Luke 3:7

Jesus: Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? –Matthew 23:33

John: And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. –Luke 3:9

Jesus: Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. –Matthew 7:19

Unapologetic: Why, Despite Everything, Christianity Can Still Make Surprising Emotional Sense

Monday, November 3, 2014 in Book Reviews | 0 comments

by Francis Spufford

★★★★★

British Christianity just isn’t the same as our American brand. It’s funnier, raunchier, and more real … that is, if Spufford, a self-proclaimed Christian, is a legitimate example.

We’re not likely to hear Spufford’s take on Christianity from the pulpit, but I wish we could. I really do. This book is a must-read. This is Christ and Christianity down off its pedestal, down in the mud and the blood. This is Jesus the way he really lived and died. It is Christians today, with our human doubts and fears and needs, the way we live and die in the real world. This is life; therefore, this is God.

The kicker? Despite everything, despite the HPtFtU (Human propensity to f— things up) Christianity does still make surprising emotional sense.

Francis Spufford is first and foremost a writer, as becomes evident in the opening paragraph, which is a good thing. Set aside a few hours for a captivating, picturesque read.

Harper One, © 2013, 213 pages

ISBN: 978-0-06-230046-1

John 13:4-5, The Suffering Servant

Saturday, November 1, 2014 in Bible Commentary | 0 comments

So [Jesus] got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

//This image of Jesus, kneeling, washing the dusty feet of his disciples, has haunted me a bit today. The Gospel of Luke tells us that at the last supper an argument arose between the disciples about who would be the greatest. John’s Gospel does not mention this discussion. It mentions only how Jesus resolved it.

Dinner had already been served, and the foot washing should have been completed long ago, but there were apparently no slaves to attend to the detail. The disciples had plenty of opportunity to humble themselves and perform the task, but they did not; loyal disciples would do for their teachers almost anything a slave would do except wash their feet, which was far too demeaning.

So Jesus took on the servant duties himself. He waited until Judas had left the room and then, knowing his fate was sealed, his execution was in motion, he nevertheless remained with his disciples.

Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. –John 13:1

Instead of fleeing, Jesus donned the uniform of a house slave: the towel. He was not only performing a service, he was making an identification. He was identifying with the image known from the prophet Isaiah.

The suffering servant.

Deuteronomy 18:21, How To Know When God Is Speaking

Thursday, October 30, 2014 in Bible Commentary | 0 comments

You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?”

//Here’s a practical concern. If someone claims to speak for God, how do we know whether or not to pay attention? Suppose a man of God tells you the world will end tomorrow? Do you put things in order, lock yourself in your closet and wait?

The answer given may be a little more practical than you wish. The verse continues:

If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.

So the answer is, you don’t know. You can’t know. The only way to know whether it’s God speaking is to wait and see whether it comes true.

If it comes true, God said it. If it doesn’t, the man of God spoke out of turn.

Book Excerpt: The River of Life

Wednesday, October 29, 2014 in Book Excerpt | 0 comments

Some Christians today imagine the Kingdom of Heaven as a place that exists up above the clouds, but it is not. Only in the gospel of Matthew will you see this phrase used. Out of respect for the name of God this one Bible writer merely substituted the phrase “Kingdom of Heaven” for “Kingdom of God.” But in every reference in the Bible, the Kingdom of God exists not up in the sky, but down here on earth. It refers to the age of God’s rule on earth—an age promised by the prophets of old, that was to be inaugurated by the arrival of the Messiah.

Christians in the first century believed that this Messiah was Jesus. Indeed, the most pointed difference between Christianity and other Judaic sects was merely this: Christians claimed the Messiah had come. Christians were Messianists. They were perceived as a messianic sect, venerating a messianic figure. You can see why the title “Christian” was at first considered derogatory; how laughable to think that the failed coup Jesus attempted could earn him the status of the Jewish Messiah!

But that is precisely what Christians were saying. Somehow, they insisted, in a manner quite unlike what traditional Judaism thought their Messiah would do, Jesus did set the world on the right course. The age of God’s rule did begin. Jesus, they insisted, began the transformation of the world from disorder and chaos into righteousness and justice.

Jesus taught his disciples to pray not that they would go to heaven, but that the Kingdom of God would come down from heaven and infiltrate the earth. The Kingdom of Heaven refers to the Kingdom of God from heaven. “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” Jesus instructed them to pray.

–The River of Life, Energion Publications, 2014 by Lee Harmon