Can I read the Bible to my kids?

Reading through the whole bible does not allow one to skip around to the nice passages.  I expected folks to have trouble with geneologies and chronologies because they are boring to read casually.  However, the bigger impression is that some find all the violence and the sinfulness of leaders to be disturbing.  The questions that came to us had to with why King so and so had someone killed (it was for treason), and why someones whole family was cursed by their unfaithfulness. 

One case was in I Kings 2.  Why did Solomon execute Adonijah?  Well, if you read the context, Adonijah had himself set up to be the next king.  When Solomon was elevated to the throne, he pleaded for mercy (for his previous treasonous act).  Solomon said, “OK, but watch yourself.”  Then Adonijah asked for one of David’s wives to be his.  This was, culturally speaking, a back door way to claim the kingship again.  So he disregarded the mercy shown and sought to regain the crown.  What might he have done to Solomon and his family?  At any rate, that was the end of Adonijah.  So answering the question requires both a careful reading and some cultural background.

We often refer to such works as “the encyclopedia of biblical difficutlies” or “Hard Passages of the Bible” for at least an initial survey of these sorts of issues.

Finally, all this illustrates is that sin is deeply corrupting, prevalent, and evil. 

FR

Gone Fishin’

Well, camping really.  Off with the people half of the age of FR into the woods this weekend.  It will be a chance to study the other book - which other book?  Read Psalm 19

Psalm 19:1 
        The heavens declare the glory of God,
        and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

   

 

Cornelius Crossing - Acts 10

We have been reading about biblical narrative.  in  Preaching with Variety, by Jeffery Arthurs, is a discussion about the movement in narrative.  He set ito ut in this way:

Conflict – Background – Rising Action– Climax– and Resolution.

The shape would be a graph rising gradually to the climax and falling back at Resolution.

The tension in the story is what drives the drama.

We applied this to Acts 10

Act 1 - from v. 1-16 the parallel stories of Cornelius and Peter and their visions are told

• God reaches out to Cornelius
• God reaches in to Peter

Acts 2 - from v. 17-33 the conflict rises as the delegation arrives in Joppa and as Peter arrives 2 days later in Caesarea.  

• Cornelius to Peter
• Peter to Cornelius
• (both scenes showing them working across cultural and religious awkwardness)

Acts 3 — v. 34-48  Preaching and Including the outsider

• Peter preaches the gospel, slightly tweaked for outsiders
• the Outsiders eagerly receive the word and the Spirit.

The tension is - will the gospel break out of it’s circle around Jerusalem to the world at large?  Will the insiders welcome the outsiders?  Will both groups manage to overcome the awkwardness of this reach?

Fresh Read preaches here -corneliuscrossing061508

Fresh Read - 2008 Mid Term Exam

A Mid Term Exam will occur at Bethany Church on June 29.  Submit your questions regarding the scripture readings you have covered this year and the Pastor will construct a sermon with the Questions and Answers.

E-questions are welcome!

John 21 - Freshly Read

John 21 is a good case in point for taking a fresh look at the text.  Here are some things to ponder over against what you might have heard.

• Was Peter avoiding his mission by going fishing?  Often this is preached.  However, is that the case?  There is no reprimand in the text.  Jesus invited them to add their fish to his.  And clearly Jesus and Peter had some unfinished work to do.
• Often changes in the Greek between two words for Love (agape, phileo) are made an integral part of the message.  However, it is good Greek style, also typical of John to vary language with synonyms.  F. F. Bruce notes that the words for “flock”, “tend” and “know” are also varied. 
• On the question of whether John is written with the knowledge of the other gospels, or of their sources, compare the fishing here with that in Luke 5.
• Is there any meaning to 153 fish?  Augustine and other church fathers developed fanciful symbolic meanings of the number.  Another favorite idea was that ancient scholars thought that there were 153 species of fish (more or less),  thus it become a story of the universal appeal of the Gospel.  We prefer the view that 153 means “lots of” and it ring true to the fishermen we know who will count their catch and talk about it later.  Two commentators (Milne, Witherington) suggest that it has to do with the abundance of the response to the gospel (these men were elsewhere told to be fishers of men), and that the nets not bursting suggests that the Lord can accommodate the number that will come.
• Why do we move from fish to sheep?  the Shepherd theme for leadership goes back to Moses and David, and was a significant emphasis in John 10.  David and Jn 10 speak of the good shepherd not running from danger, very pertinant to Peter, who had denied the Lord 3 times.
• Is this a second ending (see 20:30-31), an epilogue or a free tradition that was attached.  There is no textual evidence that chapter 21 was separately circulated.
• Finally, one commentator suggests John serves as a manual for outreach and for leadership for the church.  This chapter has some things to say about spiritual leadership.  (Success comes at the Lord’s direction; Restoration of the minister precedes ministry; Don’t compare your calling to others; Love and Service are linked, etc)

Living as an Alien

click, print, and you have three book marks!

advice-for-aliens

Library Day

Well, Fresh Read has a library card at the local state university.  It is a very good investment of $30 per year.  For there are lots of resources there for biblical study.  Not all books help us read the text, in that they are so clouded with their own theories of meaning or origin that they never bother to read, listen and ponder.  However, there is nothing quite  like a library browse to stimulate the grey cells.  Even if we don’t buy the ideas presented, they can jump start the cerebellum into action.

So in reading about 6 commentaries on John 15 - the vine and branches image - we were looking for insight into what “abiding” or “remaining” means.  It is clear enough how a branch remains in the vine, but how does that translate. 

We discovered that most commentators punt and say that “abide” means something like “commune” or “fellowship”.   Ok, but are we talking about dim lights, candles and liver-shivers?

Two (i only picked out 5, so there are others out there) helped.  One “The Message of John” by Bruce Milne, IVP, 1993, gave a nice pastoral sort of application of how that meant 1. being pruned = cleansed 2. dependence with obedience 3. fruitful is evangelism, justice (Isaiah 5:7) and character (Gal 5). 4. prayer that is built on his teaching and 4. love of fellow believers on Christ’s model.  Well, that is something to hang your hat on - or since Fresh Read preaches, there is a 4 point sermon.

The other surprise is a commentary by Ben Witherington III, of Asbury Seminary, “John’s Wisdom: A Commentary on the Fourth gospel” , Westminster, 1995.   Now BWIII (who blogs  http://benwitherington.blogspot.com/ ) opens a new door, and connects John with another FRESH READ passion - Wisdom Literature.   The book suggests that John is written as an ancient biography (distinct from the modern genre) and that “The Beloved Disciple” is the primary source for eyewitness accounts of Jesus expressed through the wisdom literature’s mood (hmmm, kind of like “muse”).  Wow, I’d never thought of that.  WL has an interest in Wisdom (Logos - word - Jesus), in beautiful language (how we enjoy John’s elevated style), is international (Samaritan woman), and more than we were able to digest in one sitting.  the Synoptics, because of the use of parables seems a more obvious wisdom literature connection, but BWIII seemed to make his point.  Watch the Wisdom Lit tag line for more on this in the future.

Our Point?  Even though the goal ought to be a Fresh (uncluttered by dulled expectations and dogmatic presuppositions) Read, a trip to the library can be an aid.

FR

Pattern of the Gospel - John 13, Philipians 2

There are patterns in nature - the same spiral is found in sunflowers, galaxies and sea shells. 

 

The pattern of the foot washing in John is the same as the pattern of the Gospel itself -

He Knew where he was from and where he was going

He Removed his garment

He put on a Towel to serve

He washed

He Returned

Compare this to the Christ Hymn of Philippians 2, to the 1st chapter of John, to the stories of Jesus’ ministry in the Gospels and you see the same pattern.

The pattern in nature suggests a designer.  The Pattern in the Gospel does more than suggest, but is a pattern that Jesus Followers should repeat in their lives.

 

John 13:1-17

Often biblical history becomes a lesson.  Philippians 2 contains a theological hymn that describes the servant ministry of Jesus -

Philippians 2:5-11 ESV
    Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, [8] he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Now John 13 is a story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples.  Yet this washing becomes a picture of something more.  It shows a model of service that both captures the gospel of Christ coming to humanity to serve, and serves as a model for Christ followers.

He took off (clothing/glory), became a servant, washed (feet/sinfulness), returned (to seat/heaven) and instruction (disciples/us) to do the same.

 

 

John 10 - The Good Shepherd

John calls the saying in v. 1-6 a “proverb” (paroimian) rather than a parable.  Generally parables seem to have one main point and should not be alegorized (i.e. making every part of the story represent something in the world).  However the Parable of the Sower is one of several exceptions.  However this saying seems to be something in between. 

The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, IVP, 1998 - says this:  “Here we have more than a parable, though less than an allegory: it is an ‘image field’ full of rich figurative possibilities.”

So don’t get hung up on Jesus being both the door and the shepherd who goes through the door.  And don’t look for a linear progression.  Trying to outline this passage is difficult.  It seems to us to be more like a weaving of threads, than anything like an outline.

The story before, with the blind man healed and accepted by Jesus, and rejected by the religious leaders, and the verses after this passage about some rejecting and some being intrigued, serve to illustrate points within.   They are responding to the shepherds voice, or running from it. 

Who is in and out of the flock?  the flock within might be the people of Israel (but is that allegorizing too much?).  Or perhaps it is a standing image of those who are “inside” in some way already.  Those outside are the Gentiles.   However in our day, if the image can traverse time in this way, those inside are those in the church, and those outside are those yet to hear.  This could be a “missional” saying - let’s get outside of the walls.

How do we hear the Lord’s voice?  It would seem that the Lord authenticates himself - we know his voice when we hear it.

We end with this quote from F. F. Bruce:

 

“What was to hold this enlarged flock together and supply the necessary protection from external enemies?  Not enclosing walls but the person and power of the shepherd.  The unity and safety of the people of Christ depend on their proximity to him.  When they have forgotten this and tried to secure unity or safety by building walls round themselves, the results have not been encouraging.  The walls have either been so comprehensive as to enclose a number of wolves along with the sheep with disastrous consequences for the sheep), or they have been so restrictive as to exclude more sheep than they enclose.”   The Gospel of John, p. 228