My Thoughts

dvd_holc · #81 1st March 2007, 10:38 AM

As Jesus was advancing His movement (the Kingdom of Heaven), He was foremost attacking role, the system of authority, and political control of the Pharisees. Now, there are parallels of Jesus to Pharisiac beliefs and practices; however, Jesus’ kingdom message subverted the nationalistic symbols of the cultural Jewish people: Temple, Land, Torah, and Ethnic Purity. When Jesus forgave sins, the Pharisees understood that Jesus was circumventing the temple system. Even the Pharisees had open debates with the authorities of the temple (Sadducees), they do not step away from temple but attempt to bring the temple more complete to where they were. Likewise from earlier, when the Pharisees saw corruption within the established authority (remembering the Hasmoneans) they appealed to the established authority to restore the same temple system but with different leadership. Also, the Pharisees knew that the forgiveness of sins of the community is attached to marks of restoration from exile.

However, Jesus was not intresested in re-establishing the authorities and structures. Jesus was creating a new community, the restored Israel. If I told you a coach went onto a playground and grabbed 5 kids. Then, he began to teach them how to play a sport. If I ask you what ball did give them you would say, “He he gave them a basketball.” If I told you he called 9 players, and gave them equipment…you would say “They are playing baseball”…if it was 11 players you would say “football”. Jesus called 12 among His (many) disciples to be His restored Israel who will be His sent out ones (Apostles [angels]). Remember, Jesus is a eastern rabbi with eastern mindsets who understood numbers as symbols. 12 to the Hebrew was always the 12 tribes of Israel.

But what is this new Israel centered on? It is centered around the Messiah Jesus who is the King and Teacher of the Yahweh. The restored community is built around the rabbi/disciple relationship so that the world would become rabbis (parallels Pharisees). And Jesus reveales His initiates for His community to go out throughout Israel (at first) and the nations (after Jesus had accomplished all of what He was going to accomplish). But Jesus did not leave the teachings of God but He took the teachings and commandments deeper into meaning and obiedence to fulfill and maintain the justice of the Creator God.

And then in Luke , Jesus turned to Israel and gave the covenant blessing and cureses which appear to similar to Deut. 27-28 or at least run hand and hand with it. To those who are waiting and thrusting after the restoration and consulation of God the complete blessings of the covenant. To those who reject the restored Kingdom of God will receive the covenant curses. The number four is a symbol of completion or wholeness; as there is four seasons in a year and four letters in the YHWH. Yet, Jesus does not give fully the covenant curses; rather, He gives covenant woes or warnings which are assoicated with the curses but does not bestow curses on others. This in fact runs parallel to Deut 8. The blessings are poured out on those to whom walk through the desert of life with God. The woes are given to those who get to the land which gave to them and think they run their lives and have the blessing through their strength rather than the favor of God. I had quoted you part of chapter 8 before and so I will quote you about those to whom Jesus was giving warning of the curses:

Deut. 8:10When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
19If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God.

Jesus does not express the blessing into being fruitful through the land that God will give them (see Deut. 28) but Jesus took the blessings into being fruitful in the Kingdom of God detached from the Land. It should be understood that Jesus intended that the blessing of covenant is in the relationships/fellowship of the community with others as a present reality. But to those who think that they fruit serves their comforts and stomach, your thirst will never be filled because your thirst created by God to be filled within your relationship Him.

dvd_holc · #82 8th March 2007, 09:43 AM

Luke 6:27-49

So now Jesus with all His authority interprets the commands of God and teaches Israel how to obey and fulfill the very words of God. The whole work of God hinges around the building up of life through love. Love was known from the beginning, but it developed from do not harm another to be sacrificially devoted to those who mistreat you.

Every sin that ever occurs requires the full measure to be given back to the offender (eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth). However, God, the ultimate Judge of the world, did not create a world that instantaneously returned a destructive measure for the same measure. Likewise, our desire to judge others is rooted in being image bearers of God. However, God withheld a measure of wrath for the sake of mercy in the instant of offense for the repentance of the world. As a reflection of this, Jesus did not bring judgment to the world, but He brought mercy and forgiveness that no one would receive the appointed wrath if they walked in faithful to Him. Our obedience to having received mercy is not requiring present judgment on those who harm us but our obedience becomes a manifestation of the image of God and Jesus in that we continuously give out cheerful mercy.

Likewise, we accept guilt and equality with the worst sinners in the eyes of God. Therefore, we awaken from our sleep and blindness into a world that sees the divine presence in others so that we manifest love, forgiveness, and mercy to those who are blind. Because our dependence on His generosity, we point our lives toward God’s mercy.

Subsequently, we have confidence and boldness on the day of wrath because of our faithfulness of becoming merciful with others on individual, political, and spiritual levels which is our commitment to God and Jesus. This is summed up in the golden rule, “Do to others as you would have them do to you” even when it is not convenient for you which is Jesus’ halakha interpretation of the teaching of God.

Now, the golden rule was not something that was created out of thin air. It is very similar to Hillel’s golden rule, “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and study it.” Now I say, Jesus’ midrash (interpretation) halakha (application; the way to walk) summation focuses upon a positive viewpoint of what is edifying, merciful, and loving for yourself that is what you should to all others (even those who mistreat you) whereas Hillel’s first focus was refraining from doing hateful things. Hillel’s does imply to do good things to other, but it is secondary. Jesus’ golden rule is proactive in the pursuit of God.

And so, Jesus began to give parables to instruct about all this. The word "parable" comes from the Greek "παραβολή" (parabolē), “refers to what is cast alongside. The dramatic image of a story illustration is thrown out as a comparison of the reality of the source with its fictional representation in words.” It is the name given by Greek rhetoricians to any fictive illustration in the form of a brief narrative. Later it came to mean a fictitious narrative, generally referring to something that might naturally occur, by which spiritual and moral matters might be conveyed. Yet, Jesus was not a Greek.

The Hebrew designation for "parable" is "mashal". The mashal is the main teaching tool of the rabbis to the common person. This teaching technique takes complex scriptural faith and reality and conveys them into contemporary language that people can easily identify with. “Mashal has a wide range of meanings. The word is stretched from its basic meaning of similarity or resemblance to cover any type of illustration, from proverbial saying to a fictitious story. It may refer to a proverb, riddle, anecdote, fable, or allegory.” The objective is not to fool people, but to build them up relationally with God and others; that they may learn and obey. And nearly all of Jesus’ mashal (parables) are identical in structure with the rabbis and the concepts that are conveyed have rabbinical parallels.

Generally, the teachers would introduce a parable by saying, “What can we compare this to?” or something similar. However, in the earlier passages, Jesus gives a commandment and teaches how to obey it in concrete ways in their lives.

In Jesus’ parables, He uses a wide range of characters and things to bridge social, political, and ethnic boundary lines; likewise, many times He gives two parables to drill home a point while bridging that gap. Essentially with His parables, Jesus taught people about their relationship with God and how to live in the Kingdom of God.

It is important to note Jesus’ ministry messages similarities with John the Baptist. John said those who have two cloaks give one to your neighbor who does not have one. But it appears by the time in which Jesus said this teaching the culture had not changed. Jesus turned from John’s addressing the fortunate (the one who had two cloaks) to addressing the one who is going into debt because he has needs to provide for. Jesus instructs people to give the debtor the rest of their cloths. Now in that day, nakedness was not truly shame on the person who is naked, but it was shameful by the viewer. By the person giving out the rest of his closes, it pointed out the shame on the person who is taking debt is not tending to the need of others.

Likewise, when a person is slapped, turn the other cheek. The slap (even in our contemporary culture) is a social insult that says you are not my equal with me. Also in Matthew 5:39, Jesus identifies that it is the right cheek that was slapped. When the right cheek was slapped it would have meant that the offender slapped with his unclean left hand. This would have been terribly offensive. But by Jesus saying turn the other cheek, it no longer allows the person who is hitting to slap again. The only alternative if they were to hit them again is to punch them. The person who was harmed is reclaiming his dignity and placing shame on the other equal. This kind of social protest challenged many of the prevailing views of the day.

There is another dimension of giving the cloak and the rest of your cloths. The act of providing for the needs for others has always been highly regarded loving act. Generally, the generosity of a man would in his abundance of blessings; however, Jesus turns it from not just when you have abundance but rather being a self-sacrificial devotion to others. Jesus took the culture one step deeper into their commitment in love to others.

These teachings of Jesus (the giving of your under cloak with your out cloak, turn the other cheek, and from Matthew the walk the extra mile) were meant to change culture. Each of them would have had a bit of shock factor. At a certain, point these illustrates got old. So then, it takes a new vision to change things. There is a challenge in our lives for someone to get a new vision to lead culture toward God. When need leaders to step forward and instruct others how to do something afresh.

Do we follow an un-righteous man? Do we follow a man who will kill you? A righteous man was understood to have right standing before God, but an un-righteous man was a blind man who had to bend over to walk. As a consequence, the blind man walks right into death.

Jesus is the chief representative of being a righteous man which no other man can better than. None of His disciples will be greater than Jesus, but it is appropriate for the disciples to become every way possible similar to or in the image of who is He. A rabbi is said to be the father of his disciples. As fathers, we teach our kids to be just like us. Likewise, the path of discipleship is not head strong blind path. Rather, Jesus expects His disciples to be constantly evaluating themselves on how they living out His teachings and commandments. The teacher never teaches anything that they do not observe from their rabbi. Jesus questioned Himself and listened to were God was leading Him through pray and the Spirit.

Likewise, we were made by God to live for approval. But whose approval do we seek after? Our righteousness is not for the praise from others, but it is a total commitment toward becoming faithful to God that may live in harmony with Him and His name does not become blasphemy to others because of the way we live out our obedience. When we seek after the righteousness of Jesus, we have the true approval that we seek.

And then Jesus said, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord…Where does “Lord, Lord” come from? It came from the exodus story. The LORD took Israel out of slavery to Pharaoh. The LORD brought them to the reed sea. Pharaoh came to conquer them and bring them back into captivity. The LORD led the people through the midst of chaos on drive land. The LORD then crushed Pharaoh with the chaos of the sea. The people sang a song to the LORD with “The LORD reigns forever” as the chorus. Then, they got to the Mount Sinai, and what happen? They left the LORD and worshiped the golden calf. Why did you say the LORD reigns when you did not obey Him?

First, Jesus’ ministry follows the story of exodus. Jesus healed the poor from the bondage to sin. Jesus commanded and taught the kingdom of God. After this it is important that people to obey Him. But how will we respond? Will we respond like those who bowed the knee to the golden calf or like Joshua?

Psalm 9:7 The LORD reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment. 8 He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity. 9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

Jesus has become the living stone of God to be rock of witness of what has been done for His people, Son of God who is the stronghold of the kingdom of God, and the capstone of the House of God.

dvd_holc · #83 14th March 2007, 12:08 PM

Luke 7:1-35

My purpose in the lesson is to teach you to look at all of scripture with eyes reflecting on other scriptures. Jesus and the rabbis were master teachers that did not waste words and time. With the rabbinical teaching tool of remez, they would jump past many details to get to a specific point. But the remez was not used by the rabbis to give a straight answer. Rather, they are beating around the bush so that the listener would work through the information to get to the answer. The end result is that answer is not just the speakers answer but also the one who listens. The remez can only be used if the person using it and the person listening have a firm grasp on the scripture. For example: If we were in a room and we were lounging on a couch with our feet propped on a table then I said, something stinks and it is on the table. You would put two and two together and say that it is the feet that stink. Likewise, if I entered a class room with some unruly kids, and then I said, “I need you to settle down because I have some pearls to cast.” Then those who know scripture would know that I called the kids pigs, but only those who work through the scripture would have known that.

The writers of the bible recorded conversations between Jesus and other bible scholars. Likewise, a lot of what Jesus says in the gospels where written to people who were acquainted with scripture. The authors of the gospels did not spell out all of what Jesus said and implied which put on each of us the burden of working through the scriptures and the context to understand what is said.

Now, in beginning in Luke 7 in continuous of chapter 6, the restored Israel is a light to Gentiles. Isaiah 42:6…I will keep you (the anointed servant) and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles,

The story of the raising of the centurion’s servant parallels the story of Naaman and Elisha in 2 Kings 5. Naaman was an army commander for the region of Aram (Damascus). The King of Aram sent a letter with riches to Israel to heal his servant Naaman. Naaman was a leper. Out of love for God and Israel, the centurion had funded the construction of synagogue in Capernaum. His servant became sick and was near death. The centurion looked to God to heal the servant.

It should be noted that only a few miles from Capernaum was the Zealot town of Gamla who would have rejoiced at the death of the servant. More than that, if Jesus had shown to having fellowship with a roman centurion, a Zealot or two would have marked Jesus for death. The Zealots were known to kill Sadducees for less. Among the other political issues, Jesus had to deal with the purity views of the Pharisees. Would Jesus entry a Gentile’s household? Likewise, would He have a table fellowship with him?

Sensing this issue, the centurion clung to the God Almighty who is Lord over all. In doing so, the centurion did not look to a formulaic ritual for the healing, but rather clung to the authority of God that was entrusted to Jesus. Now, Naaman the Leper had this problem. He was a mighty man of war who expected a big spiritual ritual that would cure him. Elisha turned Naaman from looking to the markers of religious rituals and formulas to a God who crossed boundary lines of ethnic and nationalistic pride. Naaman protested to not having the ritual and to Elisha’s refusal to even meet Naaman, yet Naaman obeyed. God cured Naaman, and Naaman was awakened to the God Almighty Ruler of the whole Universe.

There are other stories in the history of Israel with similar distant healings. After Jesus came, Hanina ben Dosa from the lower part of Galilee cured from distance and it was thought that Hanina would master over the daughter of the queen or the queen of the demons. Hanina was known have to healed a relative of Johanan ben Zakkai. Likewise, Gamaliel II sent messengers to Hanina to solicite to cure his son. Hanina ben Dosa cured people through pray even at a distance. Likewise, when Johanan ben Zakkai’s relative was cured, Johanan praised Hanina for his service. Later on, a Jew known as Eleazar cured people possessed by demons in the presence of Vespasian and his sons and captains and the whole of his soldiers (Antiq. viii, ii5) through the use a formulaic ritual. Jesus shows his superiority to each by not relaying on pray or ritual but rather a demonstration of true authority.

Similar to how Johanan ben Zakkai, Jesus was taken aback by faith. He was literally stopped in His tracks to the understanding and belief of this man in relationship with God and the entrustment to Jesus because of it. Jesus does a typical thing by teaching the audience by both making a statement about what is going on and taking them deeper into God is doing through Him. The praise of the centurion took the audience deeper into understanding to accept that Jesus is like Elisha and the centurion is like Naaman (but better) because of His empathize on the outside of Israel which makes His hears look scripturally toward a gentile of faith that God worked a wonder on.

And what does Jesus do from there? Jesus and His disciples went 20 miles from Capernaum to Nain within view of Nazareth to cure a dead son of a woman. Nain was located only a short distance from Shunem, a few miles around the western end of the Hill of Moreh. Elisha was meet at Mount Carmel by a widow who lost her son. They went 20 miles to Shunem. At Shunem, Elisha had raised the son (2 King 4:8-37). At Nain, the people responded the same way to Jesus as they did to Elisha at Shunem.

More strongly, Jesus wants you to know that He is Elisha the one to follow Elijah, John. In the story of John the Baptist’s imprisonment and soon to be death, many people want to make John doubt Jesus. This was never the case. John is using cryptic language to ask Jesus what is going to happen.

Now, ever surly John was discouraged as Elijah was discouraged. Elijah (which mean God is LORD) pour His heart out to God and the people; longing that the people would repent. Elijah wanted nothing more than turn the hearts of the people. Elijah prayed His heart out to given the strongest proof that he could think of. His proof was destructive in that it placed a curse on the land which affect everyone’s life and killed many false prophets. But the heart of the King and people did not change. Likewise, John took the message of repentance to all the people including the King Antipas. John’s upfront boldness is what landed him into jail because the heart of the Antipas did not change. This Elijah did not make it out of the clutches of unrepentive king. So the discouraged John looked for his vindication and guidance.

Where does the phrase “Coming one” come from?

Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Now, John did not intend for Jesus to stop there…

10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. 11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.

John asked Jesus, am I getting out of prison? Since you were anointed, where are the prisoners?

Now when Elijah encountered God, God took care of Elijah needs in bread and water. Likewise, in the cave, God retold the story of the exodus and how God preformed mighty signs for the people vindicating who are His chosen leaders. But God was not in the signs but in the Spirit who gently whispered to Elijah. Jesus spins on a dime and does a more cryptic communication about this exodus and establishment of the Kingdom.

Therefore, where does the blind see, lame walk, a leper is cured, deaf hear, and the good news is preached to the poor come from?

Continuing from my first quote…Isaiah 42:7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

Isaiah 35:5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. 7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

Here is Isaiah 35, Jesus is saying that John has accomplished what he was to accomplish because out of the desert where John went living water is flowing. Remember from earlier, John was making way for the Messiah. Likewise, Elijah was to anoint the King of Israel, Gentiles, and Prophet who would follow him. This occurred at the baptism of Jesus.

A Naaman the Leper was cured by Elisha, 2 Kings 5.

In Ezekiel 37, the picture of the dry bones coming to life is a story of resurrection and restoration which was the donning of the Messianic age. Also, all of the promises to all of the saints are that in the life to come there would be resurrection.

What is the good news? Isaiah 40:9You who bring good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”
Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,

The Kingdom has burst onto the scene, and God is becoming King. Then Jesus said to John, my dear friend, do not despair because of my hard words. Which hard words? He did not mention the prisoners. Jesus told John, ‘my beloved, you will die in prison.’

Now, Jesus has reinforced that John is Elijah and shown He is the one to come after, the Anointed King of Israel and Gentiles and the Prophet of YHWH. But what does your King look like? Is He a reed sway in the wind? The reed swaying in the wind comes from Jewish folklore, but Jesus was not pointing at folklore. Instead, Jesus pointed at Herod Antipas the Tetrarch of Galilee who minted coins with a reed swaying in the wind. Again, He asked do you look for another Herod who wears purple and such and lives in palaces. Here is a double question to point back directly at scripture and what will the King look like. There was much debate about what He will look like…but Jesus interprets as John is the prophet Elijah to whom you went to see and I am the King to follow with the donning of the Messianic age.

dvd_holc · #84 14th March 2007, 12:09 PM

At this point, Matthew adds from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. (Matt 11:12, RSV)

This passage has confused translators and interpreters for many years. As it was translated, it sounds as if Jesus was talking about the kingdom “suffering violence” in terms of the persecution that both He and John faced. Some have also thought that Jesus was advocating a kind of violence in order to be a part of it. But the word “violence,” biazo in Greek, also can mean “forceful,” “bursting out,” or even “exlosive,” which in Hebrew is poretz. Translators now believe that instead of the kingdom being victim of violence, Jesus was describing the explosive force of the kingdom! In the NIV, this verse is now translated:

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. (Mat 11:12) So what is Jesus interpreting?

Micah 2:12 “I will surely gather all of you, Jacob; I will surely bring together the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in its pasture; the place will throng with people. 13 One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their King will pass through before them, the LORD at their head.”

One who breaks open the way (ha-poretz) will go up before them; they will break (poretz) through the gate and go out. Their King will pass through before them, the LORD at their head. (Micah 2:12-13)

The people understood that the “one who breaks open the way” (ha-poretz) was the messenger who would cause people to repent and be ready. This is a picture of John the Baptist. Then sheep would explode out of follow the Shepherd King, the Messiah – God Himself!

The passage is much more meaningful if we understand the imagery behind it. After grazing all day a shepherd would usually enclose his sheep in a pen made out of boulders near a cave. In the morning, the sheep would be hungry and bursting with energy, eager to get out to pasture. Suddenly, one of his men would “break open the way” by pushing aside a boulder, and the sheep would burst out of in a stampede! The shepherd would then follow them out to pasture.

This really a picture of the joy people had at coming of their Messiah. Like sheep that are stampeding out of their pen, the “sheep” of the messianic Shepherd will be exuberant at his coming. Their Shepherd, the Lord Himself, had come to save them now and forever, and walk among them as His own.

So then, who is the least in the Kingdom? Some teachers now believe that this is to be encourage you and me presently about each of are in mind. From the context of what will the King look like, Jesus is making a strong portrait that He is the least in the Kingdom. How can the King be the least?

John 13:4so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

12When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16Very truly I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.

Philippians 2:6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a human being, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus is the least in the Kingdom because He serves all of humanity to be exalted by God as King of creation. John’s vindication is in Jesus because that is to whom he pointed to, gave his life for, and whom God lifted up. It is important that you learn how to recognize and work through the remez. Jesus uses it often.

dvd_holc · #85 22nd March 2007, 11:00 AM

Luke 7:36-8:1-21

(Verses end of Luke 7) To me, the very first thing that should be said is that this Pharisee is genuinely wondering about Jesus being a prophet or the Prophet even though he has presumptions about what that would look like. Simon honored Jesus by inviting Him to recline at the table with him, but for a reason not disclosed the foot washer for Simon’s household was not able to do his job. I could only image that this would have been an embarrassment on the household, and I don’t know how the tradition would have worked out at this point…it is clear that Simon was not going to take a servants role; rather, Simon took the stance of being a host to Jesus. Likewise, it is important to note that as Jesus taught Simon, Simon became a student which led to the vindication of Jesus.

Now, we should ask the question of how and when did this arrangement of Jesus coming to Simon’s house and the woman enter the house/meal came to be. This question is not out of bounds though the scripture does not specifically point to a direction. What scripture does say is that Jesus was a traveling rabbi who made a habit of teaching in varies synagogues. The meeting at synagogues was traditionally done on Monday, Thursday, and Sabbath (Saturday). Particularly on Sabbath, it was considered meritious or maintaining proper justice to invite the poor, a traveler, or say a traveling rabbi to dine with you. Therefore, it may have been that Jesus taught in a synagogue which intrigued Simon to invite Jesus to table fellowship. Likewise on this same occasion, the woman who had been impacted by Jesus’ message followed Jesus and Simon from a distance to Simon’s house after the service and to honor Jesus. This kind of event does pull all the events together. Also just guessing, the reclining as apposed to sitting at the table would point to a festive occasion or table fellowship on Sabbath, new moon, etc.

Further, the social impact of what the woman did is huge. First, women did not dine with men during their fellowship. If a woman did do this it would have treated the woman as a sinner. Second, the gospels might be interpreted to have a stern rebuke toward the host…but because Jesus did not receive the customary cleanings of the feet and so on, it moved the understanding of shock of this woman doing these things from possible propositioning Jesus to an extremely grateful woman who changed her life due to the teachings of Jesus and was willing to embarrass herself to express her overwhelming gratefulness. The woman had some chutzpah (translated faith) to break social norms to express her love.

Sensing what the accusations, Jesus’ parable was short and sweet. Through this parable, Jesus taught to be extremely grateful for the pardoning of sins and overwhelming joy in the freedom from bonds of slavery to sin. This parable should not be understood that Simon was a Pharisee who had only a few sins resulting in almost compliancy toward forgiveness; rather, all of the grace that the LORD poured out of the sheep provokes an overwhelming gratefulness that transcends cultural honor and social hierarchy systems.

The vindicated Prophet again announces the forgiveness of sins which is announcement from God to Israel who was stuck in its debts of sins. Some of the table fellowship did not receive this, but there is no reason to think that Simon did accept Jesus as the Prophet. Likewise, Jesus provided shalom to this woman.

(Verses Luke 8:1-18) Discipleship:

Now, the center of education of the scripture was in the synagogue. However, a rabbi with disciples did not primarily teach his disciples in a synagogue; rather, the rabbi taught his disciples out in the midst of life. Lets say they were in the market place then maybe they saw a thief getting caught and so a rabbi would teach about not stealing…or if they came across an adulteress woman then the rabbi would teach about not having an affair…and so on. In the doing this, the rabbi would teach in real life examples rather than leaving learning to just a text book understanding.

Getting out into the world, the rabbi would demonstrate faithfulness to God by living out God’s teachings and commandments. The disciples would be exposed to difficults of life and look to see how the rabbi handled the circumstances. The disciple would observe and repeat exactly what the rabbi did. The goal of a rabbi disciple relationship is to produce a disciples that embodied and represented what the rabbi is in order that the disciple will be equipped and built up to obey God the way the rabbi does. It was thought a rabbi would learn the Text, walk the Text, pray the Text, teach the Text, and die the Text. There is nothing that the rabbi would teach that he would not demonstrate.

Subsequently, the rabbi would lead and the disciples would follow every where the rabbi would go. The most passionate disciples would get as close as he could to his rabbi. They observed that as the rabbi walked he would kick up dust from the road. The dust would get all over the disciple’s cloths. Consequently, you could tell how good of a disciple was by the amount of the dust on his cloths.

Therefore, the rabbis develop terminology reflected this. “To follow” the rabbi denotes discipleship. Likewise, the rabbis would bless disciples by saying “May you be covered with the dust of your rabbi.” Another, technical phrase would be “set at the feet” of your rabbi. Here we find in Luke 8, Jesus had a group of woman who followed Him. This means that Jesus had woman as disciples. This was revolutionary to the first century.

Now, in the first century, the primary role of a woman was pointed toward the household and children. Likewise, it was thought the fruit of the labor of the wife is in the children. However, the education of a young girl was not gear the same way as a boy. About the age of 12 when the boys where moving from Torah and Oral traditions to Prophets and education outside the synagogue, girls would have their first period and became age of betrothal which ended their daily education as youths. Women were not taught the whole bible. This is a little hard to say because the documents are a little obscure, but the girls were focused on memorizing Deuteronomy, Psalms, Proverbs, and maybe parts of Leviticus. This was because women where the worship leaders in the home and that worship was center in the home.

Jesus was the one of only two rabbis for centuries to ever have women as disciples. I will remind you from earlier weeks that to be a disciple of a rabbi meant that The Rabbi had confidence that you could be everything the rabbi is. Therefore in their historical context, the gospels records Jesus ever strongly teaching to His community the equality of woman in every respect because He believes that they too will become His full stature, empowered by the Spirit and dedicated at heart.

To which soil will you receive this? Will this teaching be thrown on the path for thieves to steal from you? Will it fall on rocks that it never take root? Will it be chocked by divisions and sin? Or will it be received and bear fruit of the Spirit?

The parable of the Sower (or 4 types of soil/disciples) is rich in biblical imagery. For instance, the thorns were always symbolized sin seen in Genesis, repeated in Isaiah, and so on. Also, the imagery used of hundredfold is in Genesis 12:26 as God was with Isaac, blessed him a hundredfold, and God’s name was magnified. Likewise, the parable is rooted in the daily life of the common people who were mostly farmers or day labors for farms. Primarily the parable is rooted in Isaiah 55:9-13:

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.”

Now, the mystery of this parable does not have an unknowable complexity that could not be understood by people. Similarly, there were other famous rabbis who taught in parables with 4 different types of disciples. However, the parable itself is a cryptic teaching that requires the listen to work through the parable and make a decision to follow the teaching. Like Isaiah, Jesus was announcing the call for action, but who will listen, repent, and seek God’s justice? It was the disciples that listened and implemented the teaching of Jesus. To the disciples, the mysteries of the Kingdom were revealed so that we shine light stars in the darkness.

We aren’t meant to keep the secrets for Kingdom for ourselves, but in the midst of the wicked and sinful people we demonstrate the love and mercy of God in the way we lie in our relationship with the wicked and sinful. I have heard some very good preachers shirk away from getting around sinner because they might change the habits of the preacher. An example that was given by a preacher was that the preacher liked to go to baseball games. In the stands, he would hear guys cussing and they would also be drinking. He choose not to get in the middle of them because they might lay seeds of sin that produce sin in him. He might feel the urge to cuss. So he choose to sit far enough away not to hear them. Listen, we have grace to for our failures, but the light has to be sat in the midst of darkness that the sinner might follow the light. If we don’t get in the middle of those guys how will they change? If no one demonstrates love in the midst of their anger how then will they turn from it? How are we as Christians reflecting the Physician who had table fellowship with sinners?

(Verses 19-21) Finally, what is in a family? It is said that blood is thicker than water. Likewise, we believe even after a lot of troubles within the family if someone outside the family attacks the family the family rallies together against that threat. Family responsibilities and duties in the Jewish world where increasing more important that the American dysfunctional family. In the first century, shema had become bi-daily requirement, but even importance of remaking your commitment to God was set aside to bury your father or mother. The responsibilities flow down from Israel to tribe to family to individual. In the western culture, we think in the opposite direction.

In this passage, Mary and Jesus’ brothers were coming to stop Jesus and bring Him back to His senses which would have been their responsibility. Jesus does not renounce His responsibilities to family or community, but expands family and tribal commitments of the Torah to include equally all who are in Kingdom of God. Now, honoring father and mother and all the other subpart of the Torah was expanded from one set to many more. Likewise, those who are elder are to be treated as fathers and mothers and whatever is done should be done to the increase ability of the Kingdom.

dvd_holc · #86 29th March 2007, 09:21 AM

Luke 8:22-56

Prelude
Remember now that to the Jews, they looked for concrete things in their life to embody, symbolize, or represent theology realities. The teacher taught in concrete deeds and word-pictures rather than specifically discussing things in abstract intelligential truths. The text does not spell out where I want to go with this, but I hope that I can draw out some lines of thought that could show more depth to this than normally spoken of. That being said, I believe Jesus would not want to miss this great opportunity to teach his disciples (talmidim) and the people who He was and what He was doing in their midst.

(Starting at verse 22) After all this, Jesus says lets go over there to those gentiles. The Jesus was confronting the forces of darkness in His world, and the Jews knew that farther you went from the holy land the more chaotic the world got and the forces of darkness will confront you. The symbols of the Kingdom of Sin were understood in all things chaotic. The large moving water was a symbol of chaos (observe Genesis 1). When you get out past the shore, the abyss musters all its energy to destroy you. Here in this passage we find Jesus perfectly at peace and even at rest within might of chaos, but what happen to His disciples? The chaos cut them to the heart and fear set in. So, is there something wrong with this picture? They don’t look like their rabbi.

Jesus vary clearly brings order (provides shalom) to the chaos through an authoritative word. This parallels the creation story where chaos covered the earth and the word of God brought order and life. Jesus is shown here to have chutzpah to confront evil, and wants desperately for His disciples to develop chutzpah. Remember, chutzpah has been translated into English as faith. Chutzpah is like a stubborn dog who wants his master to give him some food off the table, so he barks and wines until the master gives him some food.

But the forces of darkness have more weapons. The strongest weapon that the world knew was the Roman Legions. When Jesus get to the shore a legion of demons meet Jesus there. In this man, who had a serious identity issue, somewhat embodies a Hercules type of strength. No man could subdue him and he was driven from society because of the chaotic life. He also hangs around tombs. In fact, thousands minds are in his head. He is altogether nuts. God had a great plan for him. As a symbolic restoration to Genesis 2, this man was healed and brought into proper relationship.

Now, Jesus had authority over the demons to release this man, but something happen…Jesus commanded them come out but they did not…So Jesus paused and reflected on this to wait to see what God might have in mind. The demons made a request to Jesus similar to the way demons made requests in Job, 1 Kings 22:20-23…, etc. Jesus looked at the symbols associated with pigs and the pigs importance to the gentiles in that area then unbound the power of the chaos. I put to you that Jesus would have expected a reaction by the populist. (As a side note, in the first revolt, Titus killed 3000 Jews in this same area.)

When I was growing up, there was a homeless man that occasionally came by my bus stop. His name was crazy Larry. He was a once great architect, but he had a serious problem, drugs. He lost all of his possessions for his addition. Now, he spent his time riding a rusty old bike carrying a brown paper bag. In the brown paper bag, he would spray paint into it then inhale the fumes.

His face was nasty with paint on it. He had not combed his hair in a long time. He probably only had a bath when it rained. He smelled, and everyone made fun of him. Some kids would freak out when he would get to close to him. There was some name calling involved. He was not wanted around.

This demon possessed man probably had a similar life in that people made fun of him, did not want him around, and worse…the kids mostly likely almost vicious with him. You can probably picture it. One kid says I have heard of this guy…another says lets go seem him…Most likely groups of boys would try to prove their bravery and hatred of him by making sport of him. This guy just did not have a life that anyone wanted.

Now, it is important to note the Gentile shepherds and the Hebrew shepherds had different practices. The Gentiles preferred to walk behind the herd and push them forward; whereas, the Hebrews walked in front calling to the flock to follow. The shepherds who watched this horrific event went back to the people terrified. They may have been aware they were getting to close to where this crazy guy dwells. They might have been aware of him and come to make fun of him. But it is clear on their way back they got enough help to finally do away his menace to society before the anger of the gods fell upon the people being that the pig had a significant role in their sacrifices to the gods.

The crowd was coming for some good old vigilante justice. But what they found shock and stopped them in their tracks.

They found a Jew with younger disciples talking to the crazy guy. But the crazy guy was actually clothed, well kept, and appears to be in right mind…but something else was triggered…as reaction they want to send Jesus away, why?

Let me back now…Jesus after exorcized the demons from this guy had another great teaching opportunity. Remember that a rabbi would teach by demonstration and there is nothing a Jesus would not teach that He would not demonstrate. So here we are in front of a man with many needs.

So I image Jesus saying, “Hear you of Israel, YHWH our God, YHWH is one. Love YHWH our God with all your heart, soul, and might, and love your neighbor as yourself. Love your enemies.” Then, Jesus took His cloths off and put them on the man. “If he has a naked, take your cloak and under shirt off to cloth him.”

Then, Jesus began to take care of his physical appearance. “If he has dirt on his face, clean it. Comb his hair. In doing so, you heaps of fiery coals on his head.”

Then He says: Joel 2:25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm— my great army that I sent among you. 26You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.
27 Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.
28 “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
32 And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.

Mark 4:30Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

My kingdom will grow up in you who demonstrate to the world what it means to love God and follow Me. You will be lights for the world. Through your faithfulness, the world will know the manifold wisdom of God. You are the mustard seed that will mature into a tree as you become teachers. Those who follow you will be the seeds that are produced from you. The seeds that you produce will become trees that will produce seeds. The Kingdom of God will grow this way.

From here Jesus began to explain out the rest of the teachings of God. Likewise, at some point this guy would have asked how do I follow you? Jesus would have sent him to the water to be baptized, and not circumcised as what He commanded in the great commission Jesus demonstrates.

Then, the crowd emerged to kill the guy. But Jesus did not take away the gentile’s identity. The guy was forced to deal with his identity problem. All the moments that the demons controlled his life are flashing before him. He must have believed they are here to kill him and he is force to recount for all his sins. Who took their wrath? Jesus.

But what did the crowd see? Was Jesus still naked and this guy clothed?

The central institution for the education for the Greeks was the gymnasium. In the gymnasium the body and the mind is conditioned. Gymnasium in the Greek means in the nude. Likewise in the Greek world, the human body was the ultimate in beauty. This kind of behavior got most Jews, in particular Pharisees, cranked up against. Further, their gods and goddess were always taking off their cloths. I am not even sure they have a picture of a Greek god that does not show a little bit of skin…

So how do you translate your Jewish message to a Greek audience? You turn the symbols of their life into symbols pointing to God, another example of this is in the story of Caesar Philippi. I think that by Jesus standing their naked as they approached Jesus would have been demonstrating to His audience who He is and what He is doing. Remember, a rabbi taught his disciples to train their minds and bodies to obey God.

But what did they see? They somehow believed whatever was wrong with the gentile has now been transferred to this Jew. You could just see the fright go over their faces as they thought, “I don’t want to end up like that.” And ideas start floating around of what they should do. So the reacted the same way they first reacted to the possessed man, “Get out of here!”

Jesus almost in tears crying out to these people to repent was not seen and heard. Jesus went back to the boat. But what of the new convert? My first impulse would be to take him with you. However, Jesus sent him back to his people. “Tell them your story and what God has done for you.” The man does not ask what should I do or what should I say. Jesus has already demonstrated that to him, and he has become a disciple (“seating at Jesus feet”).

Boy, this guy’s identity problem was not something he could escape. Jesus intended that the guy would go back to where he was mistreated by people and he had mistreated others and make a mends. This guy went back impassioned to do what Jesus said. He was the first disciple to be sent out to the gentile world.

I picture Jesus crying with the disciples on the boat. The emotions must have been high for Jesus with the calming of the lake, the healing of the man, and deep desire to be the light to the gentiles then they all showing up there. Jesus must have had great intentions for that boat ride, but His intentions were turned upside down. Jesus did not fail in His mission that day, but he laid a mustard seed in this cured man.

dvd_holc · #87 29th March 2007, 09:21 AM

(verses 40-42) It must have been really encouraging see the huge crowd of people waiting for Jesus. Two vital characters are introduced here, a 12 year old girl and a woman who had a bleeding problem for 12 years. It is should not assumed that this information was placed here just to help identity their persons. Rather, each of these numbers had a symbolic representation about what God was trying to accomplish through Jesus for the 12 tribes.

The 12 year old girl symbolized Israel who is on the verge of maturing to being of marriage age but is about to die and in process of the Messiah arriving she falls into a state of depth waiting for the healing words to be spoken. Likewise, the other woman is render ritually unclean because of her continuous bleeding. She symbolized Israel who has been in a state of exile for its sin. It is amazing how God is at work in people to give symbolic representation to what He is doing. On the route to the little girl, chaos ensues…the kingdom of sin is working to prevent Jesus from reaching His goals.

Now, we can say more about the woman with the bleeding problem. Because she is rendered unclean, she could no longer touch anyone and by touched by anyone. She was alienated from the community for 12 years. Mark adds the commit that she spent her whole money on being cured. Luke the physician leaves that detail out…Luke must have belong to another healthcare plan. Anyway; this woman conceals her identity and fights her way to Jesus specifically to touch the hem of His garment. Why? 1) if anyone knew what she was doing being unclean they would not have allowed her to get near. 2) She knows her scripture and clings to the word of God.

(NASB)Malachi 4:2 "But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings;

The Jews understood this passage to be prophetic about the Messiah. The Hebrew for wings is tzitzit. Tzitzit is also translated as corner. In Numbers 15, God commanded Israel to wear tzitzit on the four corners of your garments to help you obey the commandments of God. It was a visual aid to remind Israel God gave you 613 commandments to obey. There was much debate about tzitzit. First, how can you have corners on a round robe? I don’t want to get into all of that, but what they developed was a very interesting. They took seven regular strings with one blue string at the ends of their garment. They said there are five books of Torah so they tied five knots. Eight plus five is 13. The word tzitzit has the numerical value of 600, so this gave a total of 613 to represent God’s commandments. Now, in 613 commandments in the 8 strings in the 5 knots where 4 spaces which represent the four letters of God’s name, YHWH. So then, through the way they lived out the commandments you could see God through them. Which rabbi had his yoke (own interpretations of how to live it; halaka interpretations), she was rendered clean by holding onto Jesus’ yoke.

Now, the Jews believed that when the Messiah came he would have healing in his tzitzit based on the Malachi. What happen on that day meant that 1) Jesus is the Messiah and 2) that this woman believed that Jesus was the Messiah 3) she had fear of the Name of God (presence) demonstrated to Jesus. She had the chutzpah to fight through the crowd to grab a hold of a tzitzit, and God healed her with Jesus even commanding it. It must have been a great shock to first be touching all those people and incredible to feel God comfort her through the Messiah.

To the Jairus what happen next must have devastated his heart. Your daughter has died, but death is not the end of the story because Jesus has power over life and death. Jesus reassured Jairus, and they set out for his house. Likewise, when they got there the funeral moaners and entertains have began to morn for the lose of the child.

Jesus said that this girl is asleep. “Sleep” symbolized death. Nearly all the Jews believed in an eschatology bodily resurrection, so they attached the waiting period between death and new life as falling “asleep.” The people really knew that people stayed dead until then…but Jesus held true that they girl was sleeping. Likewise, “spirit” is also a symbol for breath. Spirit and wind are synonymous. As the wind enters the body the person breaths. When Jesus healed her, she began to breathe again.

So now, you who look to Jesus as your Teacher develop a fire in your soul to be what Jesus is, cling to His tzitzit, and give yourselves no excuse to the flesh that you demonstrate to the world the Teacher and you will become teachers to others.

dvd_holc · #88 5th April 2007, 09:25 AM

We skipped ahead to the resurrection this weak because of Easter.

What happen on the dead Jesus was raised from the grave? First, we are jumping into the deep end without fully getting through the proceeding days. But nonetheless there we stand. It should be understood this day was the third major day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The Festival of Unleavened Bread had there parts, 1) Passover on Nissan 14 with the lamb selection on 10th 2) Unleavened bread began Nissan 15 3) First Fruits which is the first day of the new week. Jesus died as the Passover Lamb. He was buried for Unleavened Bread for a Sabbath rest. Also, Jesus was raised on First Fruits. On that day Jesus was raised from the garden grave. But no one was interpreting the vocation of the Messiah was to die.

The whole world knows that a crucified messiah was a failed messiah. In the past, no person claiming to be the messiah believed his vocation lead to death which was his enthronement. No follower of a killed messiah every continued to stay a follower of a crucified messiah. With death Judah Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) the movement found another relative to lead the movement. Likewise, with the death of Judas the Galilean the movement looked to his sons who were instrumental in the first revolt. Of Judas' three sons, Jacob and Simon fell as martyrs to their cause in opposing the Roman rule under Tiberius Alexander; his other son, Menahem, was the chief leader of the revolt in 66, and was slain on account of his tyranny by rivals in his own party when, surrounded with royal pomp, he went up to the Temple to be crowned (website: Jewish encyclopedia). The general set belief is that a dead messiah is a failed messiah, until Jesus. There is a couple text that put toward a suffering Messiah who will be vindicated, but until after Jesus no one was seriously interpreting those text that way…and even to this day many people don’t. However, Jesus believed it was His vocation to die for Israel and God would vindicate Him through resurrection.

The early church did not treat Jesus as a failed messiah in spite of the crucifixion. If the early church wanted to go the regular way of going the closest relative, they had an obvious choose, James the brother of Jesus. James was instrumental in the church in Jerusalem. But at no point did the church claim James to be the messiah. Josephus records that James is the brother of the so-called Messiah, repeating what the people must have thought. Jesus died on Passover for the Nation and was resurrected on First Fruits.

So where did this belief of resurrection come from? The pagan world did not believe in resurrection. They believed in a disembodied exist after death, but never a bodily resurrection. Now, they did not myths about people returning to life. For instance, there was a myth that you could go down to the underworld and search out for your loved one. When you found that person, you began a journey back to physical world. But they put a stipulation about the journey back…if the person leading the soul back looked back at the soul, the soul disappear to never return. They had language and stories to say, “Yeah it would be nice to have your loved ones return but that does not actual happen.” Now, the pagan world had lots of literature on ghost and spirits, that is not what bodily resurrection means.

What of the Jews? Some Jews, mainly the Sadducees, did not belief in an afterlife, certainly not a bodily life. Other Hellenized Jews, like Philo, believed in a glorious disembodied soul. But most Jews believed in a bodily resurrection at the renewal and judgment of all things which is a reflection of the present life.

The Jewish afterlife belief that is repeated in Christianity is a two stage event: 1) the soul goes into a temporary holding place 2) a bodily resurrection at the renewal of all of creation. But there are seven modifications to this because of Jesus:

1) Within early Christianity there is not a spectrum of beliefs about life after death and it is similar to Pharisaic Judaism. There is a virtual unanimity among early Christians. 2) During 2nd temple period, resurrection is important but it is that important. There is lots of Jewish literature among that time period and bodily resurrection is not central to it. But in early Christianity, bodily resurrection is the central their thoughts and beliefs. 3) The third modification is meaning of the bodily resurrection. Their some speculation what the body will be like in Jewish beliefs, but in Christianity the new body is a transformed body with new properties. It can be physically touched. It can eat. But it will be incapable of corruption or dieing and it can go as it pleases. 4) Resurrection has split into two. It was believed in one event for all. However, Christians said it happened in advance in the middle of time with one person namely Jesus. 5) Because of the resurrection of Jesus, they believed that God has called us to work with God to implement the resurrection of Jesus and thereby to anticipate the final resurrection in all our aspects of life. 6) The different uses of the symbol of resurrection. As in Ezekiel 37, resurrection meant the symbolic restoration of Israel after exile. But the symbols where turned from Kingdom of Israel that was implemented the Moses’ exodus to a that of baptism and new ethical behavior in the Kingdom of Heaven. Some reflected at what the symbols meant turned them to what they must now have to do. 7) Association to the Messiah. No one expect that the Messiah would die so no one thought He would be resurrected. There was a lot of scripture that the Christians appealed but no one was interpreting the scripture that way until after Jesus was resurrected. So the Messiahship was rethought around the resurrection because the resurrection constituted Jesus as the Messiah.

Jesus is the Lord of the Earth. Death was the final weapon of the tyrant, and Jesus conquered it. Resurrection is the achievement of Jesus to overthrow the powers and principalities of the world. Resurrection was not the thing that specifically implied ethnical behavior which the church has made resurrection into. It was the thing that landed people into jail and death through cruel means. Likewise, resurrection was always that trumpeted in spite of cruelty.

All of this supports and builds up the historical event in Jesus on that first Easter day. Since that first day, there is a huge range of winds of human trickery contesting the historical validate of this day. However, the gospel records a strange occurrence in items that were unexpected:

1) There is a strange silence of the gospels. The four gospels quote, allude, and symbolic represent a wide range of scriptures up until the point of resurrection. There is a bite of silence toward what happen. Yes, the epistles appeal that it was according to scriptures, but the gospel narratives record a strange silence of the people. This calls out to an early development of the story before a series scripture study and the astonishment of the disciples.

2) Women as the first witnesses of tombs. Women are not credible witness in the first century. Also, by the time Paul is telling the story 1 Corit. he appeals to men. But the gospels record women as the ones who first found the empty tomb.

3) Jesus, Himself, is not what the people expected. It would have been expected that Jesus would have been shining like the transfiguration, Moses, and Daniel says He would shine. However, Jesus looks quite normal. He eats and such…Also, He can be mistaken by a gardener or a guy on the road. However, very clearly the body is a transformed body. There is no biblical text to appeal to.

4) The gospels never talk about the future hope. In the epistles and many sermons, people make the resurrection into a future hope for us. However, the gospels do not handle the resurrection this way. Rather, they handled the resurrection as the vindication of Jesus as the Lord of the Earth, we are living in the new creation, and we have a job to do.

Now, it is the combined facts of the physical embodiment of Jesus and the empty tomb that bear witness to the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Many people have had strange experiences after with people who died. Each culture had language to describe this which was not resurrection. But if people wondered if a person was resurrected or not they would simply go to the tomb to see the body or the bones. The burial of the Jewish person was always a two phase burial. First stage is the placement of the body with spice to kill the smell and the second is the burning of the body and arrangement of the bones. People going to tombs were a common thing, especially those who martyred for God. Likewise, tomb robbery is a common thing. If the body or bones were missing it did not constitute resurrection, but it is the combined understand of both the accounts of the disciples interacting with the physical Jesus that acted in the physical world and the empty tomb that bear witness to the resurrection because Jesus is the First Fruit of New Creation.

The harvest season of Israel is begins with Passover with the redemption of the first born sons and end of slavery. This harvest is barley harvest which is the lesser harvest for the poor. During this harvest, the tribes presented a tithe to God as heave offering.

A heave offering (Hebrew: terumah), is a type of Korban (Biblical sacrifice), specifically a sacrifice which was a tithe. The term heave offering refers to the fact that such offerings were heaved (lifted) above the altar, as opposed to being waved around it, during their ritual. Heave offerings were the possession of the priests, and, if edible, could be eaten by their families, as well as the priests themselves if they were ritually pure. Apart of the heave offerings was the sacrifice/redemption of the firstborn male child.

Now, there is important text to appeal to for the resurrection and vindication of Jesus…as I have spoken to you earlier in the weeks. The anointed Servant, Messiah, would:

2 Samuel 7:8“Now then, tell my servant David, ‘…11 (conti.)“ ‘The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: 12When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. 14I will be his father, and he will be my son.

“ ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 24 The LORD has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.

The Builder of the House of God, the One to whom the new covenant come through, the One who would end the exile, and establish of the Kingdom in the new creation is the Son of Man whom God lifted up. And Jesus was vindicated on the day which God choose to lift up the firstborn sons of Israel of the beginning of the harvest of Israel.

dvd_holc · #89 5th April 2007, 09:26 AM

Luke 9:23-26Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for you to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit your very self? If any of you are ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Luke 10:2-3Jesus says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.

Matt 28:18-20…“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus died and was raised up on the harvest of the poor, and Jesus has given the honor and privilege to each of us of participating in the harvest of the rich. To many Christians make the time between Pentecost and Festival of Trumpets into God not at work or some delayed implantation of the Kingdom of God…Jesus said, “I am the King of creation. I have implanted My Age which is the redemption of creation. You are humans in My creation if you obey my commands by taking up your sacrificial cross in your daily life and participate in the working of the field. Go out to all My vineyards and work the field to produce fruit worth of the harvest.”

Paul says in Romans 1:13, “I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.”

Numbers 13:21So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin as far as Rehob, toward Lebo Hamath. 22They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
23When they reached the Valley of Eshkol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs. 24That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. 25At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.
26They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.

Reference:
NT Wright “Did Jesus Raise from the Dead?”
Ray Vander Laan, “When the River Flows…There is Life.”
Ray Vander Laan, “Scapegoat”
Ray Vander Laan, “Passover part 1”
Ray Vander Laan, “Passover part 2”
Ray Vander Laan, “Shavuot”

dvd_holc · #90 12th April 2007, 10:23 AM

Sending out the twelve.
Jesus mission was not just to die for our sins, but also as the Rabbi to make other rabbis. Every soon after becoming disciples, the disciples were expected to demonstrate by deed and word what the Teacher is that they might become teachers. So Jesus said, “Ok guys, you have seen me in action…and you have been growing in faith to be like Me…Now, you go out and demonstrate everything I am to others.” The disciples were maturing to full stature of Jesus and Jesus was confident that they could demonstrate the Kingdom of God. Likewise, Jesus was giving authority and power to the restored Israel to participate in the restoration of humanity which was what the covenants where designed to achieve, light to the world.

Herod the tetrarch
The Herod of this passage is Antipas. But all Herod stories begin with Herod the Great. Herod the Great was the second son of Antipater the Idumaean. Idumea is in southern Judea which is formerly known as Edom. When his father was appointed Procurator over Judea in 47 BC, then he appointed Herod governor of Galilee at the age of 25. Herod was very ambitious. He wanted to be King and he set out to achieve this and legitimate his kingship.

After his father was poisoned in 43 BC, allegedly by a tax collector, Herod had the murderer executed. After returning from a campaign, he was offered the betrothal to the teenage princess Mariamne (sometimes spelled Mariamme) from the former Hasmonean dynasty who were the titular rulers of Judaea. Although he was legally permitted to have more than one wife, he banished his first wife Doris and her 3-year-old son, also named Antipater, and married Mariamne (known as Mariamne I). His marriage to Mariamme I was an attempt to legitimate his kingship by combining the last Hasmonean. In 40 BC Antigonos and the Parthians invaded Judea, and Herod fled Jerusalem to Rome for the first time. There he was elected "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate through the extremely rare combined support of Mark Antony and Octavian (later be known as Augustus).

However, Herod did not fully conquer Judea until 37 BC with the conquering of Jerusalem. When Herod conquer Jerusalem with his infantry and 6000 cavalry, the fighting became a massacre in that Herod’s army continued to kill those who were not in the fight.

Herod, although claiming to be a legitimate Jew, lived a Hellenistic lifestyle that alienated him from many Jews. Herod’s trips to Rome left a lasting impression on Herod in that besides the lifestyle he took back with him he took with him the architecture of Rome. Herod began numerous building project dedicated to Rome and Caesar. He rebuilt and founded many Greek style cities and named them after the Romans. He built in Jerusalem a theater, amphitheater, a fortress name after Mark Antony, and expansion of the 2nd temple. Even once, he moved a mountain from some unknown place and built a fortress on top of it. Likewise, he built many more places outside of Judea, but where ever Herod built he built in the name of Rome. Herod even reconstructed the landscapes. In Caesarea, he rebuilt the ocean to create a harbor. Though I can’t my finger on it right now…Herod rebuilt a wilderness to collect the rain water for one of his palaces. Herod is an incredible builder.

Herod’s building projects where all built upon the back of the Jewish people. He taxed them to near poverty which did not win him any points with the Jews. Much of what Herod did was to secure his own power. He built for Rome to appease the Caesar and Rome that he might stay king. He rebuilt the temple to appease the Jews because central to being king was the building of the Temple. (David was defeated the enemy and planned to build the temple. Solomon built the temple.) Herod was always concerned that someone was trying to take his throne away. He with as much military might he could muster relentlessly attack any resistance fighters in Judea. He was concerned that his own sons might steal his throne, so he killed some of them. He strangled his own wife, Mariamne I. Herod would dress up as common men and go through the streets to see if anyone was speaking ill of him. When he found someone, he sent guards to kill that person. When the wise men came looking for the king who will rule, Herod was extremely concerned about this new king that he killed any possible child living in that area. Herod killed high priests. Once, Herod killed nearly all of the Sanhedrin, except for Shammai (founder of the House of Shammai). Another time, Herod got all the influential leaders of Jerusalem into his theater and locked it with the order to kill all of them when he dies so that their might be a true wailing for his death.

This became the picture of the Herods who followed. Herod ruled for 34 years. At the end of his life, Herod did two things that would propagate the picture of Judea for the next century. 1) Herod’s wills did not leave a successor to his whole kingdom. So Herod’s kingdom was broken up by Augustus. Archelaus was given the ethnarchof Judea, Samaria, and Idumea. Antipas was given the tetrarch of Galilee and Perea. Phillip I was given the tetrarch Ituraea and Trachonitis. 2) Herod put a golden eagle above the main gate for the beautiful gate in the Temple.

Now, the social problems of the Jews by the forced taxes were bad, but Herod mocked their God it was too much. Some zealous Jews instructed by their Pharisee rabbi tore down the eagle. Herod upon hearing this got up from what seemed to be his death bed and executed them and spoke to Israel against the zealous Jews. What happen to those martyred Jews left a resounding call in Israel that eventually grew.

Upon Herod’s death, the Jews dispatch a delegation to Caesar asking to not allow Archelaus to rule Judea fearing his cruelty. Archelaus set a trap for Judea. Out of fear for Herod the Great, the public was restrained from to morning for the martyred Jews who died on account of the eagle. However, with the death of Herod, the public began to morn and to have an unrest and be resentful toward Archelaus. Archelaus let this continue until his first Passover where he (similar to his father) conquered Jerusalem by slaughter 3000 Jews in the temple. Later this same movement in the people grew becoming the zealots with the guidance of Judas the Galilean (from Gamla) and Zadok the Pharisee (Josephus: Anti. 18). Archelaus was not able to keep the people in line. After the tax revolt lead by Judas from Gamla, Caesar took Archelaus’ throne away and gave his territories over to Roman procurators.

Now in Galilee, Antipas was Herod’s son and followed in Herod’s steps of being a builder and trying to legitimate his kingship. Antipas was given the same area that Herod started with Galilee. He rebuilt Sepphoris in Galilee and Livia in Perea, but his most noted accomplishment was the construction of Tiberias as his capital on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in AD 17. The city was named to honor his patron, Emperor Tiberius.

He married Phasaelis, who was the daughter of Aretas IV Philopatris, king in Arabia Petrea Nabatea. He divorced her and married Herodias, the wife of his half-brother Herod Philip II (not to be confused with yet another brother, the tetrarch Herod Philip I) and daughter of his half-brother Aristobulus; for which he and Herodias were condemned by John the Baptist. Herodias is the granddaughter of Mariamne, (the last Hasmonean). The marriage to Herodias was another attempt to legitimate his kingship.

The union with Herodias brought him to ruin, for it involved him in war with his original father-in-law, in which he lost an army. Josephus moralizes the calamity in his Antiquities: "as a punishment for what he did against John that was called the Baptist; for Herod slew him, who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God, and so to come to baptism" (Antiquities, 18, v, 2). Herod was incited to behead John by Herodias his wife and her daughter, Salome, Matthew 14. The account in Matthew is similar to how the Moabite women lead men of Israel astray in Numbers 25.

It has to be understood that John the Baptist was annoyance to Antipas because of his call of the Kingdom of God in the repentance which confronted the marriage of his half-sister and wife to another, and it should also be understood that John was primarily functioning in Antipas’ territory. Because John presented the Kingdom of God John challenged Antipas’ kingship. It was the final dance of Salome who hasted the death of John, but it was certainly John’s kingdom message that landed him in Herod’s jail.

It was a custom of Romans to keep captured threats to the empire for a period of time (months, years, so on…) to a suitable time to make an example of the prisoner. Antipas Archelaus, and Herod Philip I were educated in Rome, as a kind of friendly hostage situation in order to maintain Herod the Great's compliance with Augustus.

Antipas desire to meet Jesus might have been due to some confusion about Jesus being John but defiantly there was a trap similar to that of his father was laid with the wise men.

Return of Apostles
In Mark’s account of the return of the Apostles, the disciples had been so busy with what God was accomplishing through them that they did not get the chance to eat. There many times in my life that I get so busy with what God is accomplishing through me that I neglect my body and relationship with God absent of my giving to Him. Jesus took His disciples to a place where they could be rooted back in their relationship with God and tend to their needs.
In that solitary place, the disciples began to learn more fully why Jesus routinely went to solitary places to reengage in God’s love for Him outside of achievement. Jesus reminded them that this work is great but don’t forget your health and relationship with God which is not dependant on your achievements but His love and grace. And I have to learn to take time to be in awe of God and focus on His picture rather than mine.