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April 25th, 2020

4/25/2020

For the entire season of Easter, with the three-year series, the first reading is from the book of Acts, instead of the Old Testament. That is not a bad idea, since it makes for a good transition to the season of Pentecost, when the main text for that festival is from Acts 2.

As was mentioned last week, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus certainly changed things. The early Christians started meeting on Sunday instead of Saturday. And there were starting to be some even more significant differences between the Jews of Jesus’ day and the followers of Jesus.

Jesus is certainly the focus in Acts 2, but it will take a little before you hear a phrase like ‘we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus’. When they finally get to Acts 15, you hear that ‘we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved (verse 11).’ That will certainly be a time to rejoice. But there are some significant joyful moments in the first fourteen chapters as well.

This Sunday is the Third Sunday of Easter, but with both the third and the fourth Sundays, the first reading is from Acts 2. (This Sunday, the text is verses 14a and 36-41.) It is obviously an important chapter.

It is not a bad thing to see the bigger picture of the text, especially since we will be in this book for a few weeks. Can you imagine the decisions that Luke had to make when writing this account, what to include and what to leave out? Lots of things happened after the death and resurrection of Jesus. It was about twenty years between the death of Jesus and the Apostolic Council of Acts 15. What would you include?

Speeches especially took a lot of space, but they also had an important purpose. The story is not about information, but SALVATION. Why are some speeches included and some left out? They slow things down so that we can enjoy the moment, and they help to put us look at some of the important details. Below are all the speeches in Acts that are ten verses long or more (and are without interruption; I also have included the speeches after the Apostolic Council, so that you could have a kind of comparison of what happened before and after that ‘central’ event; the number of verses after each description is the length of that speech):

Acts 2              Peter Addresses the Crowd on Pentecost     23 vs
Acts 3              Peter Speaks to the Temple Onlookers     15 vs
Acts 7              Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin                52 vs
Acts 10            Peter Speaks to Gentiles in Caesarea    10 vs
Acts 13            Paul Speaks a Message of Encouragement    25 vs
[The Apostolic Council … a half-way point]
Acts 17            Paul’s Speech on the Areopagus                    10 vs
Acts 20            Paul’s Farewell to the Ephesian Elders           18 vs
Acts 22            Paul Speaks to the Crowd in Jerusalem     19 vs
Acts 24            The Trial Before Governor Felix                      12 vs
Acts 26            The Trial Before King Agrippa                         22 vs

The first five speeches have an interesting progression, and hopefully you can see a pattern emerging. Below is a partial description of the audience (A:) for each of the first five, as well as some of the response (R:).

Acts 2
A: ‘God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven (verse 5).’
R: They were ‘stung to the heart’ (verse 37)… three thousand were baptized.
Acts 3
A: ‘All the people’ (verse 11) ran together at the temple porch called Solomon
R: The priests, the commandant of the temple, and the Sadducees interrupted them and ‘laid their hands on them’ (chapter 4, verse 3) and put them away … many of the ones hearing the word believed, and the number of men was now about five thousand.
Acts 7
A: People were ‘stirred up’ (chapter 6, verse 12), and they seized Stephen and led him to the Sanhedrin.
R: They were ‘cut to the heart’ and stoned Stephen, but he ‘fell asleep’ (verses 54-60).
Acts 10
A: Cornelius was expecting Peter and called together his friends and relatives.
R: The Holy Spirit interrupted and came upon all who heard the message.
Acts 13
A: Paul and his companions are at the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch.
R: They are invited to speak again. When the crowds became big, the Jews became jealous, and Paul says that the Gentiles may also hear the good news. ‘As many who were appointed for eternal life believed (verse 48)’.

This is just a quick summary of just some of the details, but hopefully you can see what is going on. There is a positive outcome in all the speeches except the middle one (although the text does not specifically say that the stoning killed Stephen). The first two speeches were primarily toward the Jews. Then there is the turning point with the middle speech, and the last two speeches ultimately focus more on the Gentiles. The first and the fourth speeches are normally connected to a Jewish and a Gentile ‘Pentecost’ respectively. It is also interesting that the second speech to the Jews has an interruption, and the first speech to the Gentiles has an interruption—and both interruptions are significantly different.

For a bible study idea, you might want to look more closely at these five chapters. I left out some of the descriptions of both audience and response that you might find helpful. I also left out some of the verse references, to help simplify things. Hopefully you will enjoy this larger view.

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April 18th, 2020

4/18/2020

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This Sunday is NOT called the First Sunday after Easter. It is called the Second Sunday OF Easter. And this will be something like the fifth Sunday after the coronavirus changed our worship life. Things have been different and will continue to be so.

Things have also been different since the resurrection of our Lord. Christians started meeting on Sundays rather than the Sabbath day (Saturday). Imagine meeting on a different day of the week after meeting for thousands of years on another day! The early Christians also wanted to hear more of Jesus’ words. They wanted to break bread with him, as the obscure Emmaus disciples did (see Luke 24:30; this will be part of next week’s gospel text).

These differences caused some difficulties between the early Christians and the Jews of that time, and some of those difficulties continue to the present. The Christian Church has been going in a different direction since it started that first Easter Sunday, and looking at some of their early difficulties may be helpful during these unusual times.

The First Reading for this Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter, is Acts 5:29-42. (A good ‘bible study’ at home may include a closer look at the first part of that chapter, to understand the context.) That text starts with a famous and oft-repeated phrase, ‘We must obey God rather than men (ESV).’ In a time when tensions are high, and also when there are a lot of non-denominational congregations that, by definition, go in their own direction, there can be a lot of ‘push-back’ when it comes to orders from the government to ‘stay-at-home’, so that the hospitals are not overwhelmed with large numbers of the sick.

Some churches still meet and come together rather closely. And, because of that, some more people are exposed to the virus. By coming together, some Christians are saying that they are obeying God rather than men. A closer look at that text may be helpful.
What follows is a very literal translation of the text, and, with this translation, I was free to translate one word in Greek into more than one word in English. This is what was done in The Amplified Bible, but that is only done in a limited number of places—and not at all with this text.

‘to obey a superior, it is necessary, God rather than men.’

Since the words in Greek do not need to be in a specific order in which to be understood, the order in which they appear in the text can be helpful to show which words are most important. The first word, which is usually translated as ‘obey’, has an interesting history. The word is relatively rare; there are several other ways to say ‘obey’. This word is made up of two words, the first one having to do with persuasion, and the second, having to do with a superior, literally someone who is first. In other words, a person who is first has some influence and should be obeyed. Of the two parts of the word, the second, being superior, is more important, and it is somewhat unique among the ways in which to say ‘obey’. One of the uses of this word is that of the ‘obedience’ of the moon and the stars to their Creator. The relationship in that circumstance is a bit more than persuasive. (For more detail, see the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, published by Eerdmans in 1968, volume 6, pages 9-10.)

With just this verse, it would be easy to say that we should only obey God and not men. But, in Titus 3:1, the text says to ‘Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work.’ The word ‘obedient’ here is the same rare word as before! When people are given authority by God, the One who is first in all things that matter, then those people are to be obeyed as well. We obey the One, in whatever way he has chosen to rule over us.

When men are saying the complete opposite of God, yes, it is necessary to be obedient to God rather than men. But those who are in authority may have something godly and important to say as well, and, with a little effort, there can be some situations when Christians are obedient to BOTH God and men.

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April 11th, 2020

4/11/2020

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Like every other Sunday to some extent, on this Sunday we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. It other words, it is Easter.

With the coronavirus still a very hot topic, there is a lot of other news that is being spread around the world. But this is nothing new, as we shall see from the perspective of the Gospel according to Matthew.

The text for Easter Sunday for this year is from Matthew 28:1-10. And this year’s text for Holy Trinity Sunday is Matthew 28:16-20. Other than those two Sundays, there is no other time when a part of Matthew 28 is spoken as a gospel reading. The bible study idea for this week is therefore to look at the entire text of Matthew 28 as a whole and to read the notes about it in a Lutheran study bible (if you have one). You may also want to look at the various cross-references that are given to these twenty verses—they can be helpful in a ‘dictionary’ sort of way, since they may show how a similar word or phrase is used elsewhere. And it may be especially helpful to look at Matthew 28:11-15, since that section is never in a gospel reading (and what follows is a somewhat literal translation of those five verses):

[Jesus had just appeared to the women who were at the tomb, he had told them not to fear, he had just called the disciples his brothers(!) and he said that they would
see him in Galilee.] And as the women were going, behold, some of the
guard, coming into the city, announced to the chief priests all the things
that had happened. And being assembled with the elders, and taking counsel,
they gave enough silver to the soldiers, saying, ‘Say that his disciples,
coming by night, stole him while we slept. And if this is heard before the
governor, we ourselves will persuade, and we will make you free from
anxiety.’ And they, taking the silver, did as they were taught. And
this word was spread about by the Jews until today.

I cannot help but see the writer making a comparison between the word which was given to the disciples and the word which was given to the soldiers. The word to the soldiers was to make them free from anxiety. The word to the disciples was designed to do SO much more.

Sometimes we forget how wonderful that word is. Sometimes we forget how many blessings we have already received. In many ways, we can sometimes be like spoiled children. The coronavirus can be a reminder that we have sinful bodies which may be susceptible to deadly attacks. But we have from our resurrected Lord a life-giving word in which to trust. We have a word with not only a happy ending, but with a happy beginning and a happy middle.

And speaking of middle, in the middle of this last narrative section of the Gospel according to Matthew, chapters 26 through 28, there is the depressing account of Judas’ suicide. And this piece of information is also included in that story regarding the place where Judas chose to kill himself:

‘Therefore, that field was called ‘The Field of Blood’ until today (Matthew 27:8).’

Did you notice the connection between this text and the end of the previous text? Some very negative things are being passed on … until today. Bad news can be passed on like a virus. And it can also grow and become more dreaded like a virus. That is what happens with sin; it also causes death. But there is so much more life in the gospel of Jesus Christ—his life, his death, and his resurrection, all for you and for your benefit.

It is interesting to compare this gospel account with the Gospel according to John, the one with the living creature of the eagle. The Gospel according to Matthew’s living creature is a man, and a man tells stories and teaches others some significant things. But an eagle, since it flies so high, has a much broader perspective. The word in Greek which means ‘today’ is nowhere in the Gospel according to John, but the writer gives an even better and larger perspective in these words (in another somewhat literal translation):

‘But these things have been written so that YOU may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that, by believing, you may have life in his name (John 20:31).’
In other words, these things were written so that wonderful things would happen
on THIS day, today, right now, and TO YOU.

Particularly on Easter Sunday, but every other Sunday is a reminder of Jesus’ response to sin, death, and the devil. His cross and his empty tomb speak VOLUMES. The coronavirus is just speaking one page.

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April 04th, 2020

4/4/2020

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This Sunday is called the Sunday of the Passion, and it is also another Sunday with the coronavirus still rearing its ugly head. You can almost expect every headline of every type of news to focus on that topic.

There is an event within the Gospel according to Matthew that, according to our modern perspective, should have been mentioned in every gospel account—if the accounts were just telling the facts. You would certainly call this event ‘newsworthy’.

At this point, if you would like to guess the event I am referring to, please read through the shorter Passion account in the Gospel according to Matthew [27:11-66]. This would be a good thing to do as the start of a ‘bible study’—since you would be studying the bible. What do you consider as the most unusual thing to happen in this part of the text, the one most worthy of a newspaper headline?

The following verses are a literal translation of what I would consider to be the most ‘newsworthy’ part of the text. This is the part that I think would get the headline. Jesus had just cried out with a loud voice and released his spirit. And then the following things happen:

And, behold, the veil of the temple was split into two, from above to below, and the earth was shaken, and the rocks were split. And the tombs were opened, and the bodies of many holy ones who, having fallen asleep, were raised. And, coming forth out of the tombs after his rising, they entered into the holy city and appeared to many (27:51-53).

Hopefully you would agree that all those events are significant. And they all seem to be rolled up into one massive event that happened at the same time—although the text is clear that the holy people became visible to others only AFTER Jesus rose from the dead. The next question to ask is regarding their specific significance. In other words, ‘What does this mean?’

There have been other ‘shakings’ before this. In fact, in Matthew 8:24, instead of a great storm on the Sea of Galilee, there is a great ‘shaking’. And when Jesus entered Jerusalem in Matthew 21:10, the whole city was 'shaking', and the people were saying, ‘Who is this?’ And there WILL be another shaking—this time a great (‘mega’) one—on Easter morning (see Matthew 28:2).

But that is not all; earthquakes have happened before, and they will happen again. The Gospel according to Matthew is the only account that records the bodies of some special people coming back to life. Can you imagine the headline, ‘Zombies in Jerusalem’? But the text does not say that they appeared to all. Just like Jesus did after his resurrection, after these people come back to life, they appeared to many, but not to all. There was a special purpose in this, but it was not to be the important thing.

The earthquake, the rocks being split, special people coming back to life—these are all signs of the end. And for these things to happen at the point of Jesus’ death makes him a very important person when it comes to the end. It is like he should be the center of attention when it comes to talking about the end.

Now when it comes to talking about the end, it is hard for me not to think about the book of Revelation. Did you know that the four gospel accounts are mentioned in Revelation? At least their four living creatures are mentioned there. In that book, they are mentioned in the following order: First, by secretaries, and then, by authors. (This may be a sort of ‘authorization order’, an order that gives the assurance that they were ‘okayed’ by the apostles—at least by those who were left.) So, the order of the accounts is Mark, Luke, Matthew, John. And the order of the living creatures is lion, ox, man, and eagle (see Revelation 4:7; actually, there is a ‘calf’ instead of an ox, but it is still the same type of animal). And in Revelation, chapter 6, each of the living creatures calls out a particular horseman. Each one says, ‘Come’, because the type of authority that is emphasized in each gospel account can ‘handle’ the evil attacks that come from a particular horseman who attacks the earth in a particular way.

The third living creature is a man, and a man has authority as a judge. And Jesus has the authority of the most important judge within the Gospel according to Matthew. The third living creature calls out a horseman, and this horseman has a pair of scales. The statement was made that a quart of wheat was selling for a day’s wage, and three quarts of barley was selling for a day’s wage. This was just a little food for an awful lot of money. But the oil and the wine, some of the expensive things, were not to be damaged.

This action suggests that there will be a misuse of authority by those who have authority, basically from the time of Jesus’ ascension to the last day. Throughout that time, people who have some power will be greedy for more. And many powerful people will use their power to do evil things. But I am not telling you anything new.
Here is a quote from the Concordia Commentary Series on Revelation (by Louis A. Brighton, from Concordia Publishing House, page 168; the italics are original):

Whatever the details may be, the overall picture presented in [Revelation] 6:5-6 is a condition of both scarcity and plenty, that is, an economic imbalance in the supply of food and the daily necessities of life. And despite human attempts to adjust this imbalance economically, the end result, from place to place, will be hunger and even at times starvation. In such situations famine begins to stalk large portions of the human population.

This is also true during the time of the coronavirus. Some cheap things are being hoarded. This should not surprise anyone who is familiar with the bible and what we say about the sinful nature that we are all born with (except for Jesus of course).

We have, though, a wonderful authority in this God-man, Jesus Christ. By shaking the world, his special authority shows its importance. But bringing people back from the dead, a life-giving authority shows the extent of its effects. And it is not an authority of power; this authority was shown at the DEATH of Jesus. How much weaker can you get? Yet that point in time makes it clear that this is an action of LOVE. It is good to remember that we have an authority based on God’s love, and this authority started at the beginning, and it will last until the very end. These are NOT 'just the facts’ but ‘the justification of the sinner’—you and me.

Another ‘bible-study type’ suggestion would be to read again the Passion account, but this time, have a larger perspective and read from the end of the last sermon of Jesus, all the way to his death and burial (Matthew 26:1-27:66). That will put you in a position to rejoice in the Easter celebration of Matthew 28:1-10. Our Lenten journey is almost over. We have a wonderful resurrection ahead of us.

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A Sabbath Day's Journey

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