//This verse is about the birth of Jesus, of course. The story in Luke is that Jesus had to be born in the manger, because there was no room in the inn. There was no room because a decree from Caesar required all Jews to return to the city of their lineage for a tax census. Joseph, Jesus’ father, had to go to Bethlehem because he was of the lineage of David, who was a Bethlehemite.

Ever wonder how many Jews had to go to Bethlehem for this census? How many descendants of David would be alive after fifty generations? If they all lived, of course, it would number in the billions. But they didn’t; Wikipedia tells us that there were about 3.5 million Jews at the time of Jesus.

//Answer to today’s question: yes. Christianity was merely an offshoot of Judaism. It essentially was Judaism with one important claim: that the Messiah had arrived.

So long as there was a Temple in Jerusalem, Christians continued to visit there. It was at least a decade after the Temple was destroyed, and many decades after Jesus died, before the rift between Christians and Jews became severe enough for Jews to put the Christians out of the Synagogue. That is when writings began to crop up in the Bible that appear anti-Semitic.

Here are a few more verses that verify that the earliest Christians continued Temple worship:

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. –Acts 3:1

The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. –Acts 5:12 (Solomon’s porch is part of the Temple)

But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.” –Acts 5:21

Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah. –Acts 5:42

★★★★★

//Ever wonder about this verse? What is it saying? That the fiery armies of the underworld cannot overcome the church?

Not likely. It’s actually sort of the opposite.

The word “hell” is a translation of the Greek word Hades, which in New Testament writings replaced the Hebrew concept of Sheol, so “hell”, here, should be understood as the realm of the dead. But the important thing to grasp is that, with very few exceptions, everybody went to Sheol/Hades/hell in the Old Testament! It was a holding place where you awaited resurrection; or, if you don’t believe in resurrection, it was where you slowly faded away into forgottenness.

Today’s verse is not saying that evil beings down in hell cannot prove victorious over the church, because in Hebrew thinking, there were no evil beings governing the underworld. Just dead people. Rather, it is saying something extraordinary, making a bold claim: that the gates of hell cannot keep the souls of believers from escaping back to the realm of the living … being resurrected again!

//Hades is the Greek word for the underworld, named after the god of the same name. It describes a dark, dreary, misty existence after death, down under the earth. Compare the above verse to this one:

What we see is that the Old Testament concept of Sheol, a dark void where the dead slowly faded away, has morphed under the influence of Hellenism into Hades, a  dwelling place ruled by the gods of the underworld. Here is a more poignant example, first from the Old Testament:

For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. –Psalm 16:10

And then from the New Testament:

For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. –Acts 2:27

Both of these words, of course, we think of today as hell. I’ve read several books about the evolution of ideas regarding hell, but the most fascinating for me is when I can trace the way ideas came about in the Bible itself.

Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

//These three verses have long been the topic of speculation among Bible readers. What is the “weakness” which torments Paul? There have been many speculations, and one that seems common among other Liberal Christians, is the idea that Paul was a repressed gay. But that simply makes no sense to me. Whatever the weakness was, it was presented as a qualification for apostleship, a weakness to boast about. He doesn’t say what it is, but he clearly expects his audience to know what he’s talking about. It doesn’t sound like he repressed anything.

Instead, probably the most common assumption among Bible scholars is merely that Paul’s eyes were failing. This is not wild speculation; this guess is supported by a couple things Paul writes to the Galatians:

Paul presents big letters as sort of his “signature style,” as if to say, “see, this is how you know it is really me writing, because I have to write very large.” In another place, he writes:

Where, then, is your blessing of me now? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. –Galatians 4:15

//Readers of my book about John’s Gospel are aware of the many parallels between the opening story, of Jesus turning water into wine, and the ending story, Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. But I was recently made aware of another simple parallel … one of theological importance that I can’t believe I missed! It is these two words: I thirst.

At the marriage, Jesus is somewhat pressured into providing wine before his “hour came,” but nevertheless, the dialogue surrounding the first miracle in John sets the stage for the coming hour. This “hour,” repeated over and over in John’s Gospel, would arrive when Jesus rose into the air on the cross.

So, now, at the end of the Gospel story we finally come to Jesus’ “hour,” and what happens? Still, he hasn’t provided wine in abundance as promised by the prophets. Still, he hasn’t met the need of the thirsty. In fact, Jesus himself admits his thirst! The very last words of Jesus according to John’s Gospel, are an admission that he still thirsts! Did the prophecies fail?

I don’t think so. This verse follows quickly after Jesus’ death:

But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. –John 19:34

Thus appears, finally, the fountain of wine promised by the prophets, and Jesus’ “hour” finally arrives in its fullness. A spring of abundance and hope opens from Jesus side and pours forth the saving blood of Jesus … the wine of the new era.

And the devil said unto [Jesus], All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

//In this verse, Satan makes a bold claim: that he has dominion over all the nations, and has the power to grant that position to Jesus. However, Matthew claims just the opposite in his gospel:

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth –Matthew 28:18

So who is the big boss? Satan or Jesus?

It’s a trick question. The verse in Luke is at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry; the verse in Matthew is at the very end, after Jesus has been resurrected. The Gospel message is that Jesus overcame the world; Jesus proved victorious over evil, and over Satan.

Therefore, what used to belong to Satan now belongs to Jesus.