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August 28th, 2021

8/28/2021

This week, for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, the Gospel text continues in Mark 7, and the Old Testament text for this Sunday [Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9] connects to that text by mentioning some important ‘decrees’ and ‘judgments’.

Jesus is talking about what defiles a person and what cleanses him. Jesus ultimately says that what comes OUT of a person is what defiles him and NOT what goes IN. And, at the end of Mark 7:19, the writer makes this parenthetical comment that says, in these few words (and in a somewhat-literal translation) that Jesus, with the words that came before, was ‘cleansing all the foods.’

To make it even more clear, the Amplified Bible does a good job in connecting this statement to the laws of the Old Testament in this ‘translation’ of that text: ‘Thus He was making and declaring all foods (ceremonially) clean [that is, abolishing the ceremonial distinctions of the Levitical Law]).’ [The Amplified Bible; Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA: Zondervan Publishing, 1965; page 59.]

The Law in the Old Testament is a big topic, you might say that this is an especially important topic for the early Christian Church. How would they deal with all these laws within the especially important books such as Leviticus and Deuteronomy? That is also an important question for the Christian Church today.

It may be helpful to see how the word ‘cleansed’ is used in other places in the Gospel according to Mark. In this gospel account, the majority of uses are when Jesus was cleansing people from leprosy. (The verb is mentioned three times in Mark 1:40-42, and is mentioned nowhere else in this account besides here in chapter seven.) But the word is also mentioned three times within the book of Acts, and it may be helpful to see those uses.

In Acts 10, Peter—who is the writer behind the secretary, Mark—is having his vision while in Joppa. That town is on the coast of the Mediterranean and is perhaps one of the world’s oldest cities. He has a vision of many different types of animals, and God says to him, ‘Rise up, Peter, kill and eat,’ but Peter does not want to, since some of those animals are considered unclean by Old Testament standards. And then God says this (again, in a somewhat-literal translation): ‘What things God cleansed, you do not make common [Acts 10:15 & 11:9].’

Peter also has the ‘final say’, as it were, regarding the last use of this verb, ‘to cleanse’, in the Acts of the Apostles. Here is the famous Jerusalem Council, in Acts 15, where they are wrestling with the issue of whether or not Christians should be circumcised—another law that could be fulfilled.

Peter is the first one to stand up and permit his words to be recorded (although others have said much before this, and these words from Peter sound a lot like Paul says elsewhere):

Men, brothers, you (yourselves) understand that from ancient days among you, God chose through my mouth the nations to hear the word of the gospel and to believe. And the heart-knowing God testified to them, giving them the Spirit, the Holy One, just as also to us, and nothing distinguished between both us and them, by faith having cleansed the hearts of them [a somewhat-literal translation; Acts 15:7b-9].

There is SO MUCH that could be said about these words. They are certainly significant, and they certainly point to the good news, the gospel, in a way that is seen more clearly in other parts of the New Testament. (By the way, this is the very first time in Luke-Acts that the word ‘gospel’ is in its noun form and not as a verb. If you would like to look at the word as a verb before its use here as a noun, here are those passages: Luke 1:19, 2:10, 3:18, 4:18, 4:23, 7:22, 8:1, 9:6, 16:16, 20:1, Acts 5:42, 8:4, 8:12, 8:25, 8:35, 8:40, 10:36, 11:20, 13:32, 14:7, 14:15, & 14:21; it is also used three times as a verb after, at Acts 15:35, 16:10, & 17:18.)

For the next few Sundays, the Epistle text will be from James, and it will certainly be a good ‘change of pace’ to look at how this gospel emphasis (as a noun) continues on in Acts 15, as well as in the book of James.

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August 21st, 2021

8/21/2021

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This week, for the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, the gospel text goes back to being somewhat normal. That text is Mark 7:1-13, and within that text, the prophet Isaiah is quoted, and it ‘fits’ that the words quoted are a part of the Old Testament text for this Sunday [Isaiah 29:11-19].

What does not ‘fit’, what does not seem normal, is this whole idea of an Old Testament quotation in the Gospel according to Mark. In the gospel text, at the start of the quotation, the prophet is named. And this mention of a prophet happens only in one other place, at the very beginning of the gospel account. Even though the words of Isaiah are used elsewhere by Jesus (see Mark 4:12 & 13:24-25), and even though the words of other prophets are quoted, Isaiah is the only prophet named in this account.

The first time this is done, at the very beginning of the account, is obviously an important position. Here is a somewhat-literal translation of those first words of this gospel account:

Beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, [Son of God,] as it has been written in Isaiah, the prophet, ‘Behold, I will send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way; a voice of one crying in the wilderness, “prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of him.”’

Another thing that does not ‘fit’ is that the first part of this quotation comes from Malachi 3:1 and not from Isaiah. What is going on here?

There seems to be an extremely strong emphasis on Isaiah in the Gospel according to Mark. As was mentioned above, other prophets are quoted in this gospel account—Zechariah is quoted in Mark 14:27, for example—but none of them are mentioned by name.

The beginning of the gospel account seems to be a good time to emphasize prophets, since there was both John the Baptist and Jesus coming on the scene. But Jesus seems to be taking on more of a role than just a prophet.

The next time someone is specifically quoted is when Jesus is talking about Moses. This also happens in the text from Mark 7. One might also say that it also happens at the beginning of chapter ten. At other times the parts of the Pentateuch are quoted, but, here again, the name of the writer is not given.

After Moses, the next time someone is specifically quoted is when Jesus is referring to King David [Mark 12:35-36]. Here, again, is a somewhat-literal translation:

And answering, Jesus said, teaching in the temple: ‘How the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? David himself said in the Spirit, the Holy: Lord said to the Lord of me, “Sit at the right hand of me, until I put the enemies of you under the feet of you.”’

To what do these quotations point? They point to some of the most important people in the entire Old Testament. Isaiah is certainly a major prophet. And both Moses and David were very important. And although Jesus has roles similar to these three Old Testament figures, he is, by far, more important than all of those three put together. He stands out within the text in more ways than one.

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August 14th, 2021

8/14/2021

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This week is the last Sunday for a text from the Gospel according to John [6:51-69] for a while. Next week we will be back to looking at the Gospel according to Mark—and various other Old Testament books which connect to that gospel account. But the Gospel according to John is certainly a special thing.

So, it would follow that this special account also has a special structure. A structure of a text is not an outline; that would be too-modern of a way to look at a too-ancient of a text. A structure of an ancient text is more like the map of a journey. A map gives, somewhat literally, a bigger picture. And the journey on that map offers comparisons to other things that are around and to other parts of the journey that are similar.

The last two blogs have proposed the use of a modified ‘word of exhortation/encouragement’ within this structure, and the primary focus has been those first four chapters. This final blog will deal primarily with the remaining chapters, but what would probably be helpful would be to look at the entire account. This will be done, but only in a very limited fashion, to save on space. And the emphasis in those remaining chapters will be their connections to the Jewish festivals that are mentioned within those chapters.

Many have brought up the importance of the Jewish festivals in the Gospel according to John; this is nothing new. One relatively intimidating and recent work could be recommended here for more detail if this is an interest; it happens to be in German though: Dorit Felsch, Die Feste im Johannesevangelium: Jüdische Tradition und christologische Deutung [Mohr Siebeck, 2011].

Looking at the entire gospel account, and taking into account what has been discussed the last two weeks, here is one possible ‘structure’ for this entire gospel account—and, therefore, a way to look at it that may help to understand it.

Many of the words below are simply phrases taken from various parts of the text, usually the beginning—translated somewhat literally. If the words are a summary of the text; it is usually in italics; words in capital letters are meant to draw your attention to see their connections elsewhere; they may be added or may be in the text. Some summaries and biblical references will be left out, to keep things from being too cluttered. Again, what follows is simply one suggestion to see the text’s bigger picture (and this is already a BIG text):

The Introduction [1:1-18]

            And this is the WITNESS of John… [1:19]
            The next day… [1:29]
            The next day… [1:35]
            The next day… [1:43]

And on the THIRD day … the FIRST SIGN [2:1, 11], and the Passover … [2:23]
Nicodemus comes … to the LORD [4:1] … and the Samaritan woman comes.

The SECOND SIGN [4:54]

‘After these things there was a Feast of the Jews [5:1]’ … and Jesus heals on the Sabbath … and there is talk of the Jews killing him [5:18].

SPRING:
After these things … the Passover was near [6:1,4].
            The LORD gives thanks…. [6:23; cf. v. 11]

FALL:
After these things … the Feast of Tabernacles was near [7:1-2]. At this feast Jesus makes an appearance halfway and at the end [7:14 & 37].
And, passing along …[9:1] Jesus again heals on the Sabbath—but there is a bit more trouble for the one who is healed than the trouble Jesus has.

WINTER:
Then it happened, the [Feast of] Dedication … [10:22].
Mary was the one anointing the LORD … [11:2].

SPRING:
The Passover was near [11:55].
Six days before the Passover [12:1] Jesus came to Bethany. The next day … [12:12]. Before the Passover … [13:1].

JOHN 13-20: THE ARREST, CRUCIFIXION, AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS
            Jesus’ first appearance to the disciples [John 20:19ff]
            Jesus’ second appearance to the disciples [John 20:26ff]
            This, the THIRD time Jesus was manifested to the disciples… [John 21:14].
            This is the disciple, the one WITNESSING concerning these things… [John 21:24].

Much could be written about just these few things. As I mentioned above, much HAS been written about these things. Like many other structures, the beginning has some similarities to the end. And hopefully you see a point to the two signs near the beginning of the account. And then, after a ‘generic’ feast—where Jesus begins to head toward his death, a year goes by from one Passover to the next.

Why mention two Passovers, one at the beginning and one at the end? Here is a similar question: Why do the Jews make the eighth day important? (See John 21:26a.) If you count something twice, it is definitely important. Mentioning the two Passovers takes the reader/listener from talk of killing Jesus to the accomplishment of that talk.

I am not implying that there was some early liturgical calendar for the four gospel accounts to be read. But there is an importance to these words in the church—or any place where Christians GATHER TOGETHER—after all, that is basically what the word synagogue means.

The added use of the word ‘Lord’ by the writer points to liturgical actions as well. After the beginning of the first Passover of the main section, there is the reference to the Lord giving thanks, as in the ‘Eucharist’ (the Lord’s Supper). And before the second Passover is mentioned, there is the anointing of the ‘Lord’, and that is also a liturgical action. The liturgy is where the Lord really comes alive.

The liturgical year, whether it is Jewish or Christian, helps to bring what is in the past to the present. And this fourth gospel account is EXTREMELY good at that point. When Jesus says, ‘I AM…’, this is ALWAYS true, even right NOW.

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August 7th, 2021

8/7/2021

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This week continues with a text from that very special Gospel according to John [6:35-51], and we continue to look at that special structure of that gospel account.

It may be helpful to remember that this special account is usually the last of four gospel accounts and, better yet, the end of a fourfold gospel. Within a context of proclamation, and also with some very broad literary strokes, the first three gospel accounts may be connected to the Trinity—the Gospel according to Matthew and the Father, the Gospel according to Mark and the Son, and the Gospel according to Luke and the Holy Spirit. With such a significant and strong beginning, the fourth gospel account may be seen as a good, meaningful conclusion, as a Jewish and very special type of word of exhortation/encouragement—but with more emphasis being on a ‘gospel’ word rather than on the ‘law’ of exhortation or encouragement.

One of the lesser-known characteristics of this word of exhortation/encouragement, as it occurs in Acts 13[:16], is the motion of one or two hands by the speaker. This motion of the hand occurs elsewhere in Acts. In one place [12:17] it is designed to quiet a loud crowd. Very literally, the verb means to ‘sway downward [See A Concise Lexicon to the Biblical Languages, Peabody, Massachusetts, USA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987; A Concise Lexicon to the Greek New Testament, page 69.]’. The picture may be one of an uplifted hand with a downward motion, and such a picture would fit with a gracious God who brings down his good gifts to a very sinful world.

In some languages, the singular of the word can sometimes indicate the plural. When a person makes the request in English, ‘Give me a hand’, they are usually hoping for more help than with just one hand. In the same way, when someone is given a round of applause, something that takes two hands, this is also called ‘giving someone a hand’.
So, at Acts 13:16, there is some type of motioning with either one hand or two. If this was meant to for two hands—and we may not know for sure—then there might be an even greater connection to the Gospel according to John in that the first two signs are specifically numbered within this gospel account.

It should be said that there are literally MANY other signs as well, and some count a total of seven signs, while others are counting eight. But they are not clearly numbered as these first two are.

The first sign is Jesus’ first miracle of turning water into wine. The second sign is Jesus healing the nobleman’s son. Here are the supporting texts, in a somewhat-literal translation:

This Jesus did, the first of the signs, in Cana of Galilee, and the glory of him manifested, and the disciples of him believed in him [2:11a].

And this again, a second sign Jesus did, having come out of Judea into Galilee [4:54].
As was mentioned above, there are many other signs mentioned. The most obvious proof for that is in the following well-known text, where the writer is speaking DIRECTLY to the reader or listener:

Many other signs Jesus did before his disciples which have not been written in this book. But these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that, believing, life you may have in his name [20:31].

The thought is that these first two signs MAY be compared to the motioning of two hands. And, as was said above, there are a lot of other signs, but they certainly and ultimately point to Jesus as the One with the authority to make a difference in a world that is filled with so many problems.

Another indicator that these first two signs are important may be that, in between them, there is a structure leading to a rare mention of Jesus as Lord. This mention of ‘Lord’ by the writer of the gospel account (and not someone else in the narrative) is certainly significant. It happens frequently after his resurrection, but it only happens very rarely BEFORE the resurrection when the writer himself uses it. And he chooses to use it in in John 4:1—although some manuscripts do NOT have this word—it does not appear in some; in others the name ‘Jesus’ is also left out and only ‘he’ is there. It appears in this way in the middle of this concentric structure; the appropriate, connecting phrases are translated somewhat literally here as well:

The disciples believed the scripture and the word which Jesus said [2:22b].
And when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover at the Feast, many believed in his name, beholding his signs which he was doing [2:23].
                        Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night—John 3.
‘…this one baptizes and all are coming to him [3:26b].’
‘When, therefore, the Lord knew….
…that the Pharisees heard that Jesus was making more disciples and was baptizing more than John—though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples—he left Judea and went away again into Galilee [4:1-3].’
                                    A Samaritan woman comes to Jesus at a well during the day—John 4.
‘And out of that city many believed in him because of the woman’s witnessing… [4:39a].’
            The man believed the word … and he and his whole household believed
            [4:50b & 53b].

There is a great contrast, of course, between the two large sections (shown in italics). You cannot get a greater contrast than a male ruler of the Jews and a Samaritan woman who was married five times and the one she was living with now was not her husband. There is also the contrast of night and day.

But we should not focus too much on the others. The ultimate focus should be Jesus, and, in this case, the ‘Lord’—although, as was said above, that word does not appear in some manuscripts.

A stronger case may be made by saying that the word ‘Lord’ is very numerically close to the middle of the two uses of the word ‘sign’ at 2:11 and 4:54. The addition of chapter and verse divisions do not help too much when looking at the various structures of a text. I had the time this week to number the words and it is quite close—I counted 925 words in the first half of the structure—from the word ‘sign’ to ‘Lord’—and 920 in the second half—from ‘Lord’ to ‘sign’. [I counted using the Novum Testamentum Graece, 27th revised edition, 1993.]

If that structure makes a difference, then the Lord, who literally (in a way) is in the middle of things, certainly makes a difference. With his two raised hands, rich blessings are given out.

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