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May 27th, 2023

5/27/2023

This Sunday is the Day of Pentecost. And the rest of the church year is basically the Sundays after Pentecost. You might see this Sunday as a type of midpoint in the church year. And as we have been going through the Gospel according to Matthew as it is laid out from beginning to end, we are not yet at the midpoint of this entire gospel account (and his big move toward the cross and his tomb), but we have seen some ‘secondary’ midpoints within the chapters (which also point to that cross and the empty tomb), and we are certainly very close to the midpoint of looking at the third of the five sermons within this gospel account.

We are about to approach the third sermon of this gospel account. Between the second and third sermon there are basically three times that the word ‘then’ comes up, and then some significant action follows. The first one was given in the last section of the text and dealt with some unrepentant people. And Jesus has some harsh words for them. In the text that follows, there are two more times that the word comes up. It is interesting that, with this first ‘then’, Jesus does a miracle that some misinterpret as showing that he is in league with Satan, but Jesus points out how illogical that accusation is. And with the second ‘then’, some leaders ask him for a sign, and Jesus points them to his death and resurrection—with a great amount of similarity to the prophet Jonah. The ramifications of that cross and empty tomb are already becoming somewhat clear.

It is also interesting that, at the first non-sermon section, there was an interruption that pointed to Jesus’ resurrection (by a miracle of raising someone back to life; see Matthew 9:18ff). And there is also an interruption in the text below, and this one leads to a different type of ‘resurrection’, that of being in a new family, one with God as Father and Jesus as a brother. This is certainly another miracle, although it is certainly very hidden.

Here is a somewhat-literal translation of that next section [Matthew 12:22-50]:

Then he was brought to him, a demon-possessed man, blind and mute, and he healed him, so as the mute to speak and to see. And they were beside themselves, all the crowds, and they said, “This is not the Son of David, is it?”

Now the Pharisees, hearing, said, “This man does not throw out the demons except in the Beelzebub, ruler of the demons.”

Now, knowing the thoughts of them, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself not it will stand. And if the Satan, the Satan, he throws out, against himself he was divided. Therefore, how will it stand, the kingdom of him? And if I, in Beelzebub, I throw out the demons, the sons of you, in what do they throw out?”

“On account of this, they, judges, they shall be of you. Now if in Spirit of God I myself throw out the demons, then it came upon you, the kingdom of the God. Or how he can, anyone, to enter into the house of the strong man and the vessels of him to seize, if not, first, he binds the strong man? And then the house of him he will plunder. The one not being with me, against me he is, and the one not gathering with me, he scatters.”

“On account of this I am saying to you, all sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to the men, now the of-the-Spirit blasphemy, not it will be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of the Man, it will be forgiven to him; now whoever speaks against the Spirit, the Holy, not it will be forgiven to him, neither in this, the age, nor in the coming. Either make the tree good and the fruit of it good, or make the tree corrupt and the fruit of it corrupt; for out of the fruit, the tree is known. Offspring of vipers, how can you, good things, to speak, evil being? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good man, out of the good treasure, he throws out good things, and the evil man, out of the evil treasure, he throws out evil things.”

“Now I am saying to you that every word, idle, which they will speak, the men, they will render concerning it a word in a day of judgment; for from the words of you, you will be justified, and from the words of you, you will be condemned.”

Then they answered him, some of the scribes and Pharisees, saying, “Teacher, we wish, from you, a sign to see.”

Now he, answering, said to them, “A generation, evil and adulterous, a sign it seeks, and a sign not will be given to it, except the sign of Jonah, the prophet. For as he was, Jonah, in the belly of the sea monster three days and three nights, so he will be, the Son of the Man, in the heart of the earth, three days and three nights. Men, Ninevites, will stand up in the judgment with the generation, this, and they will condemn it, because they repented into the proclamation of Jonah, and, behold, a greater thing of Jonah, here. A queen of the south will be raised in the judgment with the generation, this, and they will condemn it, because she came out of the limits of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and, behold, a great thing of Solomon, here.”

“Now when the unclean spirit goes out from the man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and not he finds. Then he says, ‘Into the house of me I will return from where I came out.’ And, coming, he finds, standing empty, having been swept and having been furnished. Then he goes and he takes with himself, seven other spirits, more evil of himself, and entering, he dwells there. And it becomes, the last things of the man, that, worse of the first. Thus it will be also, the generation, this, the evil.”

Still he, speaking to the crowds, behold, the mother and the brothers of him stood outside, seeking to him to speak. Now he said, someone, to him, “Behold, the mother of you and the brothers of you, outside, they are standing, seeking to you to speak.”

Now he, answering, said to the saying to him, “Who is the mother of me, and who are the brothers of me?” And stretching out the hand of him upon the disciples of him, he said, “Behold, the mother of me and the brothers of me. For whoever does the will of the Father of me, in the heavens, he, of me, brother and sister and mother, he is.”

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May 20th, 2023

5/20/2023

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This Sunday is ‘The Seventh Sunday of Easter’, the last Sunday of the Easter season. But worship still continues on the day that Jesus rose from the dead. And with these writings we continue to make our way through the Gospel according to Matthew.

We are going through a non-sermon section of that gospel account, what are typically considered chapters eleven and twelve, and in the last writing we came upon the first ‘then’ of this section, and the point was made that that ‘then’ could be considered a midpoint. But we are going to be coming up other words that are considered time references at the beginning of the next sections as well, and this will eventually include two more ‘then’ statements. How do they connect?

Much could be said, but what should probably be said first is that our current, twenty-first century culture is very much based on time. And we are used to things happening so quickly, and when that does not happen, it is so easy to lose one’s patience.

When we hear the word ‘then’, we might think that something happened immediately after the previous things. (We will direct our attention to the word ‘immediately’ when we deal with the Gospel according to Mark.) For now, the word ‘then’ helps to give some order to things. But things do not have to happen immediately in close succession.

A good example of this slower pace in the Gospel according to Matthew could be found in the beginning of chapter three. At the end of chapter two, Joseph and Mary, with the baby Jesus, start dwelling in Nazareth, and the prophecy came true that he will be called a Nazarene. Then the next chapter starts out by saying: ‘Now in those days, John the Baptist arrives, proclaiming in the wilderness of Judea.’ Jesus is much older at that point. There is an awful LOT in ‘those days’.

After the first ‘then’, there will be two time-related phrases of an ‘appointed time’. These seem to connect to the ‘then’, and then we get to a significant high point in this non-sermon section, that of a low point when it comes to what Jesus’ enemies think of him, and when we come to what the Old Testament has said of him. There will be two more times that the word ‘then’ comes up within this non-sermon section, and this section of translation will come up right before the next ‘then’. These time references seem to connect one another and give a wide range of reactions to Jesus and the path toward which he moves, that of his death and resurrection.

We will also come to the only historical present of this entire non-sermon section, the point when he heals the man with a withered hand. And the result of this is huge, that the Pharisees want to destroy him. This may be considered a low point—or a high point when we eventually come to the cross—and eventually the empty tomb.
Here is a somewhat-literal translation of that section [Matthew 11:25-12:21]:

In that, the appointed time, answering, the Jesus said: “I confess to you, Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth, because you hid these things from wise and cunning, and you revealed them to infants; yes, the Father, because thus, well-pleasing it was before you. All things to me were delivered by the Father of me, and no one fully knows the Son except the Father, neither the Father anyone fully knows except the Son and to whom if he wills, the Son, to reveal. Come toward me, all the laboring and being burdened, and I will give rest to you. Take the yoke of me upon you, and learn from me, because meek I am and lowly in the heart, and you will find rest to the souls of you, for the yoke of me, gentle, and the burden of me, light, it is.”

In that, the appointed time, he went, the Jesus, on the Sabbath through the grainfields; now the disciples of him hungered, and they began to pluck heads and to eat. Now the Pharisees, seeing, said to him, “Behold, the disciples of you are doing what not it is lawful to do in a Sabbath.”

Now he said to them, “Not did you read what he did, David, when he hungered and the with him, how he entered into the house of the God and the Loaves of the Presentation he ate, which not lawful it was for him to eat, neither those with him, except for the priests only? Or not did you read in the Law that on the Sabbaths the priests in the temple, the Sabbath they profane, and guiltless they are? Now I am saying to you that, than the temple, a greater, it is here. Now if you had known what it is: Mercy I desire and not sacrifice, not you would condemn the guiltless. For Lord, he is, of the Sabbath, the Son of the Man.”

And departing from there, he came into the synagogue of them. And behold, a man, a hand having withered, and they questioned him saying, if it is lawful on the Sabbaths to heal, in order that they might accuse him.

Now he said to them, “What will there be of you, a man, who he will have sheep, one, and if it falls, this, on the Sabbath, into a ditch, not he will lay hold of it and raise? Therefore, how much surpasses a man than a sheep. So that, it is lawful on the Sabbaths, good to do.

Then he says to the man, “Stretch out of you the hand.” And he stretched out, and it was restored, healthy, as the other. Now going out, the Pharisees, a counsel, they took, against him, thus him, they might destroy. Now the Jesus, knowing, departed from there.

And they followed him, crowds, many, and he healed them all, and he warned them that not manifest, him, they should make; that might be fulfilled, the spoken through Isaiah, the prophet, saying, “Behold, the servant of me whom I chose, the beloved of me, into whom it was delighted, the soul of me. I will put the spirit of me upon him, and judgment to the nations he will announce. Not he will quarrel, nor he will shout, nor he will hear, anyone, in the streets, the voice of him. A reed, having been bruised, not he will break, and flax, smoking, not he will quench, until he throws out into victory the judgment. And in the name of him, nations will hope.”

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May 13th, 2023

5/13/2023

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This Sunday is named ‘The Sixth Sunday of Easter’, and with that name you probably can tell that we are nearing the end of the Easter season. The Gospel reading for this Sunday [John 14:15-21] continues right after the previous week’s text, and in much the same way, our study continues in the Gospel according to Matthew, right after the previous text.

Last week’s writing ended the second of the five sermons within this account. The point was brought up that there is a structure to the sermons of Jesus that helps us to focus on the oft-overlooked midpoint of a text. This may help us to see a beautifully intricate message within the text.

As the previous non-sermon section of this gospel account put some emphasis on a ‘then’ section of the text—which, by the way, may also function as a type of midpoint—that introductory word may also be found in this section, but this time in more than one place. The following, somewhat-literal translation will go until after the first ‘then’ [Matthew 11:1-24]:

And it happened when he ended, the Jesus, directing to the twelve disciples of him, he removed from there to teach and to proclaim in the cities of them.
Now the John, hearing in the prison the works of the Christ, sending through the disciples of him, he said to him, ‘You, yourself, are the coming one, or another may we expect?’

And, answering, the Jesus said to them, ‘Going, report to John the things which you hear and you see. Blind men see again, and lame men walk, lepers are cleansed, and deaf men hear, and dead men are raised, and poor men are evangelized. And blessed is whoever is not scandalized in me.’

Now these, going, he began, the Jesus, to say to the crowds about John, ‘What you went out into the wilderness to behold, a reed by wind being shaken? But on the contrary, what you went out to see, a man in soft material having been clothed? Behold, the ones, the soft material wearing, in the houses of the kings, they are. But on the contrary, what you went out to see, a prophet? Yes, I am saying to you, and more of a prophet. This is he about whom it has been written: Behold, I myself am sending out the messenger of me before face of you, who will prepare the way of you before you.’

‘Amen, I am saying to you, not has arisen in those born of women, a greater of John the Baptist. Now the lesser in the kingdom of the heavens, greater of he is he. Now from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of the heavens is violently treated, and violent men seize it. For all the prophets and the law until John, they prophesied. And if you are willing to receive, he himself is Elias, the one about to come. The one having ears, let him hear.’

‘Now to what will I compare the generation, this? Like it is to children, sitting in the marketplaces who, calling to the others, they say, “We piped to you and not you danced; we lamented and not you mourned.” For he came, John, neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “A demon he has.” He came, the Son of the Man, eating and drinking, and they say, “Behold, a man, gluttonous and a wine drinker, of tax collectors a friend and of sinners.” And it was justified, the wisdom, by the works of her.’

Then he began to reproach the cities in which it happened, the very many powerful things of him, because not they repented: ‘Woe to you, Chorazin; woe to you, Bethsaida, because if in Tyre and Sidon they happened, the powerful things, the having happened in you, long ago in sackcloth and ashes they would have repented. However, I am saying to you, for Tyre and Sidon more tolerable it will be in day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, not until heaven were you exalted? As far as hades you shall descend; because if in Sodom they happened, the powerful things, the having happened in you, it would have remained until the today. However, I am saying to you that in land of Sodom more tolerable it will be in day of judgment than for you.’

The important events that were brought up from the last non-sermon section were a somewhat-oblique reference to Jesus’ death and resurrection. What helped to get the attention of those two things was an historical present, and there has been no historical present in this chapter so far.

At the very beginning of this text, there is a somewhat hidden reference to Jesus’ death and resurrection in the very beginning of this section, that Jesus went out to teach and proclaim. Note that the text does NOT say that Jesus went out and did lots of miracles.
We can see this emphasis on the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection a bit more clearly on with his ‘to do’ list of things that he gives to the disciples of John, with the last thing on that list is that he evangelizes the poor. Note that the item immediately before that is that he raises the dead. What could be better than that? Something that gives ETERNAL life.

This is connected to what Jesus was ‘anointed’ to do. Note also near the beginning of the text above that John hears about the works of the ‘Christ’. Perhaps he was hoping for a miracle that would allow him to get out of prison.

At the beginning of the last paragraph above is the first ‘then’ of the text. How is this first ‘then’ a midpoint? It will be clearer in the weeks to come, but this may be considered a type of reaction to the death and resurrection of Jesus. There are some who are unrepentant. They have chosen to place their trust in their own ‘miracles’. (This is not a great point on which to end, but if you would like to go farther into the biblical text, there is some definitely good news ahead.)

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May 6th, 2023

5/6/2023

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This Sunday continues our celebration of Easter, and it is called ‘The Fifth Sunday of Easter’, and we will continue to enjoy the broader perspective that usually comes with the Gospel according to John. The Gospel Reading is John 14:1-14, and at the start of it there is a small glimpse into what the Father’s house will be like.

As that gospel text is not too far from the literary middle of that gospel account, at the end of chapter twelve, last week’s weekly writing made the point that a midpoint may be a significant point within a sermon or a narrative. And since the midpoint is often overlooked in modern culture, with an emphasis at the beginning to catch the person’s attention or an emphasis at the end to make the whole thing memorable, midpoints can be extremely important for both the progression and the ultimate meaning of the work. The point was made last week that the middle and end of this sermon and other parts of this account may reflect the coming of Jesus, that one could say that he came at both the middle and end of time. But simply the middle may be an important point by itself.

As the middle and the end occurrence of the word ‘Father’ are important in the first sermon of Jesus, the middle word of the Lord’s Prayer, by itself, is significant. There is no history to this word, and it is usually translated as ‘daily’. All the other words are known. The very first and last words are especially familiar, being ‘Father’ and ‘evil’. But this middle word is, in a way, huge. What kind of bread will we receive from ‘Our Father’?

Jesus, in this second sermon, is clearly instructing his disciples. And he gave them a lot of commands. What is interesting about the commands within this sermon of Jesus is that the gentle commands, the third-person commands, are the middle commands. Commands are usually in the second person and a ‘you’ is understood (although not usually stated). In this case the middle command and the command immediately after it are the only gentle, the third-person commands.

Before that list of all the commands within this sermon can be given, it might be important to give the second half of the sermon. There are only a few commands within this part of the sermon, but there are still some important things to say within it. Here is the second half of the sermon, given in a somewhat-literal translation (Matthew 10:24-42):

“Not is a disciple above the teacher nor a slave above the lord of him. Enough for the disciple that he become as the teacher of him, and the slave as the lord of him. If the housemaster ‘Beelzebul’ they called, how much more the household members of him.”
“Therefore, do not fear them; for nothing is, having been veiled, which not, will be unveiled, and hidden which not, will be made known. What I am saying to you in the darkness, say in the light; and what into the ear you hear, proclaim on the housetops.”

“And do not fear from the ones killing the body, now the soul not having power to kill. Now fear, rather, the one having power both soul and body to destroy in Gehenna. Two sparrows of a farthing are sold, are they not? And one of them not will fall on the earth without the Father of you. Now of you, also the hairs of the head, all numbered, they are.”

“Therefore, do not fear; many sparrows you, yourself, excel. Therefore, all who will confess in me before the men, I myself also will confess in him before the Father of me, in the heavens; now whoever denies me before the men, I myself also will deny him before the Father of me, in the heavens.”

“Do not suppose that I came to throw peace upon the earth; I came not to throw peace, but on the contrary, a sword. For I came to divide a man against the father of him, and a daughter against the mother of her, and a bride against the mother-in-law of her. And enemies of the man, the household members of him.”

“The [brotherly] loving father or mother beyond me is not, of me, worthy. And the [brotherly] loving son or daughter beyond me is not, of me, worthy. And who takes not the cross of him and follows after me is not, of me, worthy. The finding the life of him will lose it, and the losing the life of him for the sake of me will find it. The receiving you, me receives, and the me receiving, receives the having sent me. The receiving a prophet into name of a prophet, reward of a prophet will receive, and the receiving a righteous man into the name of a righteous man, reward of a righteous man will receive. And whoever gives to drink one of the little, these, a cup of cold water, only into the name of a disciple, amen, I am saying to you, not at all will he lose the reward of him.”

What follows now are all the commands of the entire chapter-ten sermon, numbered (and versified) to be somewhat helpful. And they are also given in a somewhat-literal translation (and some of the words around them are also translated, to be helpful in finding them, especially near the end of the sermon when the commands are few and some of the same words are repeated). It is certainly okay for our loving Lord to give out his gentle commands in a hidden and gentle way.

1. do not go (v. 5), 2. do not enter (v. 5), 3. go (v. 6), 4. proclaim (v. 7), 5. heal (v. 8), 6. raise (v. 8), 7. cleanse (v. 8), 8. throw out (v. 8), 9. freely give (v. 8), 10. do not provide (v. 9), 11. search out (v. 11), 12. remain (v. 11), 13. greet (v. 12), 14. let it come (v. 13), 15. let it return (v. 13), 16. shake off (v. 14), 17. therefore, be wise (v. 16), 18. Now beware (v. 17), 19. do not be anxious (v. 19), 20. flee (v. 23), 21. Therefore, do not fear (v. 26), 22. say in the light (v. 27), 23. proclaim on the housetops (v. 27), 24. do not fear from the ones killing the body (v. 28), 25. fear, rather, the one having power (v. 28), 26. Therefore, do not fear; many sparrows (v. 31), 27. Do not suppose that I came (v. 34).

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