What happens when you ask a relatively obvious question in a room where everyone is under a false assumption? Well, usually not what one would expect. Consider the scenario, a crowded room, many tables and chairs with not one available. Other people milling around, standing, leaning on the wall or room pillars, while there is a gentle haze above their heads from the exhaust of their breath. Throughout the crowd, uniformed attendees pass seeking to provide service in exchange for payment. From outside one single word is heard, "FIRE."
What happens next? That depends on whether you the reader assumes that the crowd hears a noun or a verb. If a noun, the room will empty as people rush madly for the exits. If a verb, the room will be a mad rush of falling bodies trying to get on the floor as quickly as possible. The assumption predicates the response.
In class this week the question was asked, How did Jesus know that the man had been lying there a long time? The first voiced response was the typical Sunday School answer that originates in a semi-gnostic view of Jesus, "Because He was God." While that may be part of the response, there are other possibilities if the respondent will only change their assumptions.
First Assumption: Jesus had never been to Jerusalem before. With this assumption in mind, it is only possible for Jesus to know this fact from divine knowledge.
Second Assumption: Jesus was a law practicing Jew who went to Jerusalem throughout his lifetime in accordance with the customs of the festival celebrations. With this in mind, it is entirely possible that Jesus had encountered the man before this time.
Third Assumption: The accounts of the miracles are only there to provide reports of actual, historical events. With this assumption in mind, the reader misses the entire message of John 5, that Jesus is not threatened by external factors that could affect his ritual purity through association with pollutants. Nor is Jesus limited by the restrictions of the cultural practices of Sabbath. Instead, Jesus enters the Temple compound in complete control of his surroundings, his actions, and his behaviors, so that those who are limited by cultural restrictions are unable to recognize what they have encountered.
SO then, what assumptions of cultural restrictions are preventing you from the encountering the Jesus of the Gospels?
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
Connections in John
This week I had the pleasure of slowly working through some of the themes located in John 4 that are often overlooked by the modern reader. After starting the class off with the 6th hour (only in 4:6 and 19:14) and Jesus' declaration of thirst (4:13-15 and 19:28), we got to the discussion of worship in 4:21-24. The focus on the spirit brought back to mind the preparatory staging of chapter 3, especially 3:31-36, to prepare the reader for the dialogue of chapter 4.
If one is to worship God in spirit and truth, then understanding the source of spirit is critical. That brings me back to John 3.5-6 as a launching point. "I tell you the truth, unless one is born of the water and the spirit it is not possible to enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the spirit is spirit." Transposing this on John 4.24, one could say, "God is spirit and only those who are born of the spirit can worship him." In between these two passages rests John 3.31-36, where it could be said, "the one who comes from heaven speaks of the things of heaven, which are the words of God, because God does not limit the outpouring of his spirit."
Thus the answer to the question, "who can worship in spirit?" is answered before the question is asked. "The ones on whom God has poured out his spirit because they receive the words of the one God sent." This worship is synonymous with eternal life, the reason the Son came (3.16).
If one is to worship God in spirit and truth, then understanding the source of spirit is critical. That brings me back to John 3.5-6 as a launching point. "I tell you the truth, unless one is born of the water and the spirit it is not possible to enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the spirit is spirit." Transposing this on John 4.24, one could say, "God is spirit and only those who are born of the spirit can worship him." In between these two passages rests John 3.31-36, where it could be said, "the one who comes from heaven speaks of the things of heaven, which are the words of God, because God does not limit the outpouring of his spirit."
Thus the answer to the question, "who can worship in spirit?" is answered before the question is asked. "The ones on whom God has poured out his spirit because they receive the words of the one God sent." This worship is synonymous with eternal life, the reason the Son came (3.16).
Monday, January 16, 2012
Another word on Justice
On this the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. I ran across the text of his "I have a dream" speech at the Jesus Creed blog, http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/ and glanced through it. I was struck by the passion, the intricacy, the biblical imagery and references. But I was also struck by the call to excellence. To quote MLK, Jr.
"We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone."
If there is any trait that is necessary in the pursuit of justice in the sense of the Minor Prophets, it is this understanding that what I do must be pursued on the "high plane". To paraphrase MLK, 'the end does not justify the means.' It is the loss of excellence that concerns me in this new decade of pursuing justice. Too many people buy into the opposite philosophy, "the end justifies the means,' and as a result are changed objects rather than being objects of change.
If Jesus, Paul, the prophets and countless other saints of the Christian tradition are to be our example, then it is our transformed character that produces change in the world around us, not our creative solutions to the problem.
"We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone."
If there is any trait that is necessary in the pursuit of justice in the sense of the Minor Prophets, it is this understanding that what I do must be pursued on the "high plane". To paraphrase MLK, 'the end does not justify the means.' It is the loss of excellence that concerns me in this new decade of pursuing justice. Too many people buy into the opposite philosophy, "the end justifies the means,' and as a result are changed objects rather than being objects of change.
If Jesus, Paul, the prophets and countless other saints of the Christian tradition are to be our example, then it is our transformed character that produces change in the world around us, not our creative solutions to the problem.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Christmas Musings 2011
It's been a wonderful week for thinking about Christmas. Isn't it amazing that our first question is "what did you get" instead of "what did you give" for Christmas? Christmas is about giving, indeed it is a celebration about giving. I've been fortunate to be reminded of that on several occasions this week.
Most of you aren't familiar with Wichita radio stations on Sunday morning, but I was asked to be a guest of Steve McIntosh for a Christmas morning broadcast. I can't count how many times he said, "that's amazing" as we talked about the first Christmas, what we know, what we don't know and other options about the birth of this one later named Jesus. You can catch the podcast at http://audio.knssradio.com/a/49962759/issues-2011-12-25-11.htm?
So what should I say about Christmas morning, our celebration and the Minor prophets? It may be a stretch, but we should focus more on giving to the poor and needy and focus less on getting more toys that we call 'necessary.' We should probably look to the widows and orphans, or in modern language those who don't have any one to care and protect them in times of crisis. We should also look to meeting the needs of the suffering, those who are ill, aged, unemployed, and even those who have been abused by the powers of the world we live in. I will be the first to admit that I don't frequently visit those corridors. I am thankful that many of my students are wanting to visit those corridors and make them home!
Christmas is a holiday when we can be around family, enjoy one another's company, and realize our blessings. Too often it becomes a time for old feelings to be trampled upon, for complaints to be voiced, once again, for what someone else has not done in the past, and a time to fulfill our own selfish gratifications.
I hope that you and yours have a very, merry Christmas. I hope that as you reflect on the year gone by that you will focus on the blessings received through your acts of kindness and generosity and not focus on the ways in which you may have been wronged. I also hope that you will take time to reflect on what you have been given, and what you give in turn to others.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Most of you aren't familiar with Wichita radio stations on Sunday morning, but I was asked to be a guest of Steve McIntosh for a Christmas morning broadcast. I can't count how many times he said, "that's amazing" as we talked about the first Christmas, what we know, what we don't know and other options about the birth of this one later named Jesus. You can catch the podcast at http://audio.knssradio.com/a/49962759/issues-2011-12-25-11.htm?
So what should I say about Christmas morning, our celebration and the Minor prophets? It may be a stretch, but we should focus more on giving to the poor and needy and focus less on getting more toys that we call 'necessary.' We should probably look to the widows and orphans, or in modern language those who don't have any one to care and protect them in times of crisis. We should also look to meeting the needs of the suffering, those who are ill, aged, unemployed, and even those who have been abused by the powers of the world we live in. I will be the first to admit that I don't frequently visit those corridors. I am thankful that many of my students are wanting to visit those corridors and make them home!
Christmas is a holiday when we can be around family, enjoy one another's company, and realize our blessings. Too often it becomes a time for old feelings to be trampled upon, for complaints to be voiced, once again, for what someone else has not done in the past, and a time to fulfill our own selfish gratifications.
I hope that you and yours have a very, merry Christmas. I hope that as you reflect on the year gone by that you will focus on the blessings received through your acts of kindness and generosity and not focus on the ways in which you may have been wronged. I also hope that you will take time to reflect on what you have been given, and what you give in turn to others.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
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