I’m not an artist, but I know a few…

Playing with Revelation 1 and some watercolors. Consider it a game like the one in the Sunday Funnies, where you find diffrerences between the two pictures, in this case between Revelation 1:12-16 (NIV84)

¹² I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. ¹⁴ His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. ¹⁵ His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

and this:

From Jesus to Christ? – Luke 24

          There is a TV documentary called “From Jesus to Christ.”  The idea of this PBS series is that Jesus was really a simple teacher, a rabbi who preached a simple spirituality.  Then along came Paul, and Paul changed Jesus into the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer.

The assumptions of the scholars that think this way is that there can be no miracles.  All that exists comes about by the natural process of evolution.  We can explain mountains, stars, and duck-billed platypuses all by the gradual change in things over time.  So then, that is how Jesus a man became Jesus the Son of God.

There is another way to explain these things.  It does involve a miracle.  Probably we have to say it involves a history of Miracles.  And the one who took the idea of Jesus the man and showed him to be Jesus the son of God is in fact Jesus.  This is what we learn from Luke 24.     Luke does not tell us what it was that Jesus told the 2 on the Road to Emmaus – but he does tell us that Jesus told them, and later the groups of disciples a new way to read the bible and a new way to Know Jesus.

Luke 24:25-27   “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” 

This is repeated with the 2 plus the 11 Apostles (minus Judas)

While these two were telling the 11 what had happened, and they were talking about it. Jesus appeared with them.  They were talking about Jesus, and then they were with Jesus.  They at first thought they saw a ghost.

So Jesus gave them some concrete evidence.  Look at my hands and feet.  The marks of his crucifixion remained as testament to what had happened.  Then he asked for some food.  They gave him fish.

The Point? Ghosts do not have bodies and they do not eat fish.

Now came the bible study again:

                ⁴⁴ He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

 ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

Again he shows them from the Law, the Prophets and the Writings – which are headed by the Psalms, all that was said about him. Then he sent them to tell the story.

Where did Jesus go from Jesus to Christ, the son of God?  It happened on Easter Sunday.  It happened long before Paul came along.  Paul did preach Jesus as the Christ – everyone knows this as it is a matter of historical record.

But years before Paul, starting on Easter, the Disciples began to preach Jesus and the Savior and the Son of God.

Prophet, Priest, King & Sage – Study #2

here is the worksheet for this week’s class - 2.JesusSermons

Great Book – because it is a Fresh Read

I am reading Tim Keller’s book, Generous Justice.  After living through a lot of decades where the question of spiritual life and social change, or the gospel and justice or words and works or orthodoxy and orthopraxy or about a dozen other contrasting concepts have come and gone, this book is a fresh look at the place of justice in the scripture.

What we usually end up with are arguments that are the same as the political debate of the day (with some “Jesus words” thrown in).  What we don’t often get is Christian Thinking.  I have grown tired of repackaged political rhetoric passing for bible study.  I am no longer interested in counting the number of times the word “saved” is in the bible in comparison to “the poor.”

Keller has thought about these things from a deeply biblical framework.  His discussion of the place of justice, and the place in particular of justice for the poor, the widows, the immigrant and the orphan is refreshing.  He draws on everything from Job to Proverbs and Deuteronomy to Isaiah in the Old Testament.  Then he turns his eye to the teaching fo Jesus.

The most profound insight is that biblical justice demands a personal commitment to raise the afflicted to a place of well being.  ”When every one beneath his (or her) vine and fig tree shall live in peace and unafraid” (Micah 4:4) is not just for me, but for Larry who has been knocking at my door looking for a few bucks for 15 years now.  What will elevate Larry to that place?

I am still reading and will write a more complete review when I am done.  I also plan to post a few personal reactions as well.

“Jesus the Sage” by Ben Witherington III

I just purchased this book, used, and am looking forward to it.  Ben Witherington III (Asbury Seminary) published this work in 1994.  It traces out the trajectory of Wisdom Literature from the Ancient Near East, the Old Testament up to Jesus, ending with discussion of Jesus in Matthew and John.  I am looking forward to this study and will post a few notes as I go.  This is for a short sermon series “Jesus: Prophet, Priest, King and Sage” in September.

Jesus the Sage: The Pilgrimage of Wisdom, Ben Witherington III, 1994, Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis.

Zechariah 9:9 – Peacefully

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!

Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

righteous and having salvation,

gentle and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

             Scholars say that the section of Zechariah where this verse is found describes the future conquests of Alexander the Great.  But when the King whom God sends comes, he will not come with a war-horse, but he will come on a donkey.  He will remove the instruments of war and proclaim peace to the nations and he will establish a kingdom of peace over the world.

             Compare Jesus with Alexander the Great, or with Herod the Great or with Caesar. What do you see?  Alexander conquered the world with bold and brilliant strategy, with the power of the sword.  Herod the Great ruled by keeping the Romans happy with his way of keeping peace and collecting taxes.  Caesar, well he told the world that he was a God to be worshipped.

            What did Jesus do?  He arrived without arms – no swords and no soldiers.  He had no friends in high places, because he told the truth.  And he did not demand worship at the point of the sword, but accepted it from the hearts of the people.  He did not overwhelmed, but he rode into the city in humility.

            How does Jesus enter our lives?  With humility.

John 17 – Glory re-imagined

Glory is a fairly clear concept in the bible.  In the Hebrew the root word means “weight”.  So we think of the immensity of God, of his power, and of his love.  Moses had to be hidden in a crevice as the Glory of God passed by him and God declared his name – see Exodus 33:12 to Exodus 34:9.  Isaiah collapsed with an awareness of his sinfulness in the presence of the Almighty – see Isaiah 6.

In John 13-17, called the Upper Room Discourse, which contains his last evening together with the 12, ‘glory’ is uniquely defined. 

When Judas had just left to betray him, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified.”  This is not a future event, but a completed event.  At the moment of betrayal Jesus is glorified.

At the start of John 17, he prays for his ministry and for his followers.  the first verses use the words glory or glorify five times – starting with “Father, the hour has come to glorify your Son…”  Later in the prayer he says that the glory has been given to the disciples (v. 22), and still later he speaks of his eternal glory (v. 24).

At the outset of John’s Gospel we read, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father full of grace and truth.”  John 1:14.

So this glory was seen by John.  Some say at the Transfiguration event.  That was when Jesus was temporarily glorified in their sight.  But we think, in light of John 13-17, that the glory is broader.  It includes his pre-existence, but also the crucifixion – consider this passage

John 12:23-26  ESV
    And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. [24] Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. [25] Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. [26] If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

   So it seems to us that Glory includes what we see as being majestic, but it also includes what we see as humiliating – the long drawn out death of Christ that we summarize with the word crucifixion. 

  Is it that Glory refers to love?

If Jesus came to Church – John 14:15-21

What do you think would happen if we told people that Jesus would come to  your church next week?

If they believed us, then we would have a lot more people in church.  Maybe the people who see cold weather and feel warm in bed would come.  Maybe some curious people would come

 There was a crowd of 100s of TV reporters at the Super Bowl this week – that was just to talk to football players.  If Jesus came, we might see even more people than the Super Bowl.  We would have to give out tickets  by lottery because there would not be enough seats.

 The truth is Jesus comes to church every week.  Every time Christians get together he is with us.   Today the Holy Spirit is at your church, but he is also with all the other gatherings of Christians.  If there are 2 meeting in China at home, and 150 in Laos in the open air, and 5,000 at a mega-church in America, and 100os meeting in house churches in India – Jesus claims to be with each of those groups. 

John 14:15-21 ESV
    “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. [16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, [17] even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
    [18] “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. [19] Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. [20] In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. [21] Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

 There are six things that the Holy Spirit does today, that Jesus did when he lived on the earth. 

1.  He is “another Helper”. 

2.  He is sent by God. 

3.  He will be with you forever. 

4.  He will bring the Truth

5.  He will give Life. 

6.  He will bring Unity 

I have been thinking about these things all week.  I wondered why it is that we do not experience these things in our lives all the time.  Why is the work of the Spirit not more powerful in our lives?

 This passage is like a sandwich.  A sandwich is usually something delicious between two pieces of bread.

 The Something Delicious is the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  Do you see all that he does:  He is a helper, sent by God to be with us forever, to bring us the truth, and to give us Life and unity.

 What is the bread?  Look at verse 15 and 21.

 ¹⁵“If you love me, you will obey what I command. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—

²¹Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

 The Bread is obedience to Jesus commands.  These two verses say that we need to obey.  What has he commanded?

John 13:34
    A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

About Matthew 15:24

What does Matthew 15:24 mean?

 Matthew 15:24

    He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

The question we received was why was the seeker turned away (temporarily) and why did Jesus say he was “only” seeking the “lost sheep of Israel.”  Did he not care for the others?  There is an earlier related passage. 

   Matthew 10:5-6

    These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, [6] but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

 I.   R. T. France, Matthew, P. 177,178

            Re: Mt 10:5,6:

            “This startling restriction of the disciples’ mission to Israel is found only in Matthew, where it is matched by an equally restricted statement of Jesus’ own mission (15:24).  Yet this same Gospel not only recognizes a deliberate mission to Gentiles at a later period, after the resurrection (28:19-10; 24:14), but also includes sayings of Jesus which include other nations in God’s plan of salvation (8:11,2; 21:43; 25:32), and we have seen in the early chapters a clear interest in the significance of Jesus for the Gentiles (2:1-12; 4:14-16, 24-25).  Matthew cannot then be accused of anti-Gentile bias.  Rather this saying reflects the historic fact that with very few exceptions (8:5-13 deals with a Gentile in Jewish territory; 15:21-28 is clearly presented as exceptional) the mission of both Jesus and his disciples before the resurrection was in fact limited to Israel;  the time for the Gentile mission was later.  The emphasis of the saying lies not primarily in the prohibition of a wider mission, but on the primary focus of Jesus’ ministry; the call was urgent and demanded total concentration (cf. 10:23).  They were lost sheep, a common Old Testament metaphor (Jer 50:6; Ezk 34:1-16; Is 53:6)…”  

 II. Other notes.

The original Greek reads something like

“I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”

 “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  King James Version

             That puts the emphasis on Jesus following his calling to Israel.  See Mark 1:35-39 for the sense that Jesus ministry was directed by the Father; John 2:4 for the importance of timing, and John 17:4 for the importance of Jesus doing what the Father directed.