Raised voices

Reflections are everywhere - in crystal blue lakes and shining, marble surfaces, in the glass of towering skyscrapers and the concave lenses of ever-present cameras. They capture my thinking and mesmerize me, enticing me to look again because there's more in the picture!

 Nobody really likes for the government to give deadlines and force people to conform.  Not now and not in the Roman Empire of old. The story found in Luke 2.1-20 starts with the oppressive Romans forcing their will once again on their provinces.  It began with a royal decree and with two people in a difficult situation that no one in the world had ever really heard of.  Mary and Joseph were married, yes, but they shared no intimacy until the child was born that Mary was pregnant with.  She was about to deliver that child, so the decree to register at a designated census center was awful timing.  It meant traveling about 3 days on foot, disastrous for a woman ready to deliver a child.  And for what?  Just to register for a census?  The world power Romans were demanding a count of people in its provinces.  Ridiculous!  But the two obeyed the decree.

Joseph and Mary both knew the child would be special.  They had had visitations and dreams that God himself was coming to be with his people through their child.  So far, Joseph and Mary and Mary's cousin Elizabeth had shared this secret.  But, the circle was about to widen.  It would start with this census although Mary and Joseph didn't know that.  Once in Bethlehem, Joseph tried to stay at the local inn, but it had no vacancy.  The innkeeper offered them the stables where the donkeys, sheep, and goats were being kept for his tenants.  Since they didn't have a choice, they took the stable.

It doesn't take much imagination to know what a long journey can do to hasten a pregnant woman's delivery.  Joseph set up an area in the stable for sleeping.  But as he was about to settle in, he heard Mary's cry.

"What is it?" he said, turning to look at Mary as she cried in pain.

"He's coming.  I'm having the baby!"  She could barely draw breath to talk because of the contraction seizing her.

He swung into action.  He ran to get a large bowl of water and a number of cloths for both baby and Mary.  Then he delivered Jesus, their baby boy.  After several trips for water, Joseph had both wife and baby washed and clean.  He wrapped the little baby in a cloth.  Mary and he took turns holding their newborn, gazing lovingly into his face.  After a long while, they all needed rest, so they laid him in the trough filled with hay where usually the animals ate.  He settled down next to Mary to admire the new life that had just come to them and to wonder what might lie in store.  It crossed his mind how much less than ordinary this birth was.  This special child was born away from its home, so no relatives were there celebrating his birth.  He lay in a feed trough in a town not his own where nobody knew of his coming into the world.  After all the messages from God to prepare him and Mary for this birth, surely God from his highest place in the heavens hadn't let this birth slip his notice.

In front of the inn, a group of men were running to its entrance demanding to know if a child had been born to anyone that night.  The innkeeper didn't know, so he said, "No!  Everyone with a room was sleeping."

But, the men were insistent.  "No?" they shouted questioningly.  "The answer cannot be no.  We have just experienced something extraordinary.  There has to be a child here.  The rest of the town is silent.  There would be families together in the houses if one of the women of the town had had a baby.  Someone must be here who has had a baby."

Joseph heard the rising tone of voices in front of the inn.  He roused himself from his and Mary's make-shift bed to see if the excitement was a danger to them.  As he rounded the corner, one of the men ran over to him, "Do you know of anyone who has had a baby tonight?"

"Why?  Who are you?" Joseph asked.

"We are local shepherds.  We were watching a flock just on the other side of this hill."  The man's voice betrayed his uncontained excitement.

"Tell me what you experienced that was so extraordinary?" Joseph asked.

Then Joseph heard the astounding sequence of events that had just occurred outside of town.

Verse 9

καὶ ἄγγελος κυρίου ἐπέστη αὐτοῖς καὶ δόξα κυρίου περιέλαμψεν αὐτούς, καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν φόβον μέγαν

(An angel from the Lord stood beside them and the brilliance of the Lord lit up the countryside around them.  They were seized with terror.)

Verse 10

καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὁ ἄγγελος· μὴ φοβεῖσθε, ἰδοὺ γὰρ εὐαγγελίζομαι ὑμῖν χαρὰν μεγάλην ἥτις ἔσται παντὶ τῷ λαῷ

(And the angel said to them.  "Don't be afraid!  I am here to deliver news to you that will bring tremendous happiness to everyone.")

Joseph recognized immediately that  God was now starting to announce the special nature of this child to a broader circle.  Mary lay completely exhausted in the stable trying to sleep, but Joseph knew she would want to hear this story, so he brought the shepherds to her for her to hear.  The shepherds repeated their experience to Mary, then continued telling why the angel said they had appeared to them.

Verse 11

ὅτι ἐτέχθη ὑμῖν σήμερον σωτὴρ ὅς ἐστιν χριστὸς κύριος ἐν πόλει Δαυίδ

(because on this day a savior has been born, who is messiah, Lord, in the city of David )

Verse 12

καὶ τοῦτο ὑμῖν τὸ σημεῖον, εὑρήσετε βρέφος ἐσπαργανωμένον καὶ κείμενον ἐν φάτνῃ

(And here's a sign for you - you will find a baby just born, wrapped and lying in his baby bed)

I would imagine Joseph and Mary were brought to tears recognizing the magnitude of what had happened.  God was starting to make others aware of his plan to be among them in this child.  They had to have been ecstatic.  But, the shepherds were not finished.  "That's not all," they spoke with heightened speech.  "Right after the angel told us about a savior being born..."

Verse 13

καὶ ἐξαίφνης ἐγένετο σὺν τῷ ἀγγέλῳ πλῆθος στρατιᾶς οὐρανίου αἰνούντων τὸν θεὸν καὶ λεγόντων

(Suddenly, with the angel, a crowd of many more angels appeared from the sky with these words: )

Verse 14

δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις θεῷ 
καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς εἰρήνη
ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκίας

(Great honor to God in the highest heavens!  
And on Earth, peace.
From its inhabitants, their highest praise!)

"That's why we're here.  We had to come see the new baby boy who deserves our highest praise!"

And people everywhere through all generations since that time continue to come see.  That's because we, as did the shepherds, feel the awe and splendor of someone in the highest heavens announcing to us on Earth - peace.  I, for one, am here with my highest praise to tell the story's beginning again... again... again... again...



[Introductory photo of reflection by David Kingham retrieved from https://www.borrowlenses.com/blog/best-seasons-and-locations-for-night-sky-photography/]
[The first song is Oh, Holy Night by Josh Groban.  The middle song is Let the Heavens Open by Kari Jobe.  The last song is I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day by Casting Crowns]
[The Greek text used is the Nestle Aland 28th edition]
[Translations from Greek are my own.]

So like me

Reflections are everywhere - in crystal blue lakes and shining, marble surfaces, in the glass of towering skyscrapers and the concave lenses of ever-present cameras. They capture my thinking and mesmerize me, enticing me to look again because there's more in the picture!

It was near Caesarea Philippi that Jesus tested the waters with the question of who he was (Matthew 16.13-20).  Peter reacted as Jesus had hoped, so he knew that Peter was representative of those who had followed his teachings.  His time of teaching and healing was to the point he could leave.  From then on, Jesus pressed to go to Jerusalem.  He had to be face to face with the Jewish leaders, the scholars and groups of Jews who were regarded as the keepers of the Law by the rest of the Jewish nation, to get them to give him due consideration.  Several days later, his meeting and conversation with Moses and Elijah again spurred him to turn his attention to Jerusalem (Matthew 17.1-13).  The stage had been set.

The Twelve followed Jesus into Jerusalem, not realizing that the end was imminent for him.  Matthew presented the public conversation between Jesus and those who represented the only true God on the Earth.  It was clear from the time Jesus entered Jerusalem that the Jewish establishment wasn't going to give him due consideration.  The hours were disappearing.  Jesus was on his collision course with crucifixion.  He knew he had only a moment in time to point out what was happening on Earth here in the heart of the Jewish nation.  He had distinctly different impressions of the Jewish leaders than they did of themselves.  His portrayal of them in Matthew 23 was a clear, unmitigated peeling back the layers of behavior the Jewish leaders had hidden behind for hundreds of years.  He wanted the people to know that they were being misled, misguided, and mistaught.  Jesus began by saying not to imitate the scholars and Pharisaical leaders, and then he exposed their layers one comparison at a time.  His last comparison is recorded in verses 27 and 28.

Verse 27

Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι παρομοιάζετε τάφοις κεκονιαμένοις, οἵτινες ἔξωθεν μὲν φαίνονται ὡραῖοι, ἔσωθεν δὲ γέμουσιν ὀστέων νεκρῶν καὶ πάσης ἀκαθαρσίας

(Oh-h-h you actors and interpreters - scholars of the Talmud and Pharisees - how disgusting!  You are like tombs that have been whitewashed on the outside, making it clear that dead men's bones and all that is unclean lie behind the rock.)

A tradition had grown up over a couple hundred years with whitewashing tombs.  The stone to the cave of the tomb was painted white as a sign to all that the cave was a tomb so that  people could be warned that this was an unclean place.  The comparison was obvious to Jesus.  The scholars and Pharisees had painted themselves white with all of their demands on those who were giving their best to follow the law.  But everyone could see through their pious facades to the lifeless motions behind.

Jesus was adamant.  The people supposed to be representing God weren't.  Not even a little. They should have been understanding of the human condition.  But no.  They didn't have the desire to accept those who had gone on long journeys with their inheritances, hit bottom in pig sties, and returned to the one who loved them.  They should have helped each other stand against lures that pulled them from the straight and narrow.  But no.  They didn't have the commitment to those succumbing to temptation to stoop and write in the sand to stave off accusers.  They should have turned a listening ear to those who had had life throw them curves.  But no.  They didn't have the compassion for their fellow Jews who had been beat up by life, passing by, instead, with turned heads, leaving someone that they disapproved of to show kindness.

They ignored completely incidents like men getting together to bring a lame friend to Jesus for healing.  And when they found it impossible to get their friend in front of Jesus because of the crowds, they jostled him to the roof, sawed a hole in it, tied ropes to the four corners of his crudely fashioned mat frame, and lowered him to Jesus' feet.  They failed to stand with reckless abandon in the presence of the Almighty, calling out his name, acknowledging that he was all around them in the many and monumental acts of acceptance, kindness, compassion, patience, and mercy of Jesus.  Even dead children and adults were raised to life as they watched.  How could they not look to the skies, then fall to their knees with the name of Yahweh on their lips?!!

Jesus often used puns and he did so here, too, with a metaphor. The words φαίνονται ὡραῖοι, translated "making it clear," has a remote meaning on occasion of "making it beautiful."  Whitewashing was a way to dress up the tombs, making them as attractive as possible, distracting onlookers from knowing the uncleanness inside.  Such were the leaders of the Jewish nation.

Verse 28

οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς ἔξωθεν μὲν φαίνεσθε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις δίκαιοι, ἔσωθεν δέ ἐστε μεστοὶ ὑποκρίσεως καὶ ἀνομίας

(This is so like you.  Outwardly you want it to be clear that you are doing all the right things, but inwardly you are actually acting a part, delivering a good speech, and bending rules.)

On the surface, these piercing words against the scholars and Pharisees seem uncharacteristic of Jesus' acceptance of others and his willingness to give people second chances.  On the other hand, the timing of his words make them particularly astute.  In about 48 hours, he would sit around a table to observe the Passover meal, take bread and wine, pass them to each of his Twelve, and announce to them a new covenant that he wanted to make with them.  Very noticeably, Jesus wanted to make this new covenant a time to remember him, his ways, and his teachings - teachings distinctly different from the Jerusalem crowd's "acting, interpreting, and bending rules."  He was replacing the Jewish established leaders as God's representatives on Earth.  He, the Son of Man, the Messiah, the Son of God was offering life and a genuine way of following God to those who would remember him till he came again.  The inner and outward values would be the same genuine article, not arbitrary or merely oratorical.

Something I cannot ignore powerfully draws my attention to these two sayings.  Jesus used the word ὑποκριταί  to refer to the leaders in Jerusalem.  The word was used in a couple of ways.  First, it was used to mean an actor in a play.  Second, it was used of an orator delivering his promises or of an interpreter of what was being said.  Used in Jesus' context, the terms showed how poor an interpreter the leaders had become and how memorized their lines were.  They were lame actors, languid interpreters.  The second, saying uses a different form of the noun, ὑποκρίσεως, meaning the part of an actor, the delivery of the speech, or the manner in which something was translated.  The meanings applied not to the people themselves, but to their actions.  All the Jewish leaders had to do was to look back on their actions... and there were many because their lives were full of them.  On top of that, Jesus framed both sayings in a μὲν ...  δὲ sentence structure.  This structure is perfect for showing absolute contrasts in meaning.  The first statement shows one reality, the second an opposite but equally true reality.  It was one of the Greek ways of showing a particularly poignant paradox.  The leaders themselves could not miss the starkness of how Jesus was portraying them.  Over the next two days they would not rest until they had captured him in the dead of night, accused him of blasphemy against God, and delivered him to the Roman governor who would execute him by morning.

Jesus' words here speak to me deep in my heart.  My tendency to judge others' actions while seeing my own actions without judgment cuts me.  That tendency should have been overridden years ago. All humans are hypocritical in one way or another.  So, who really can cast the first stone?  And Jesus is right.  The judgment I project on others is really just a sign of the rottenness I hide.  My judgment of others boomerangs to judgment on myself, creating a cycle.  The cycle forms a chain, one round link inside another round link, inside another round link, chaining me to acting, pleasing words, and poor translations of God's principles for my life.  But, I hear Jesus' words and realize I need to stop the rattle of those chains because there's a better life, an authentic life.

[Introductory photo of reflection retrieved from http://penniur.upenn.edu/publications, taken by Jason Mirachina]
[The first song is At Your Name by Phil Wickham.  The last song is Chain Breaker by Zach Williams]
[The Greek text used is the Nestle Aland 28th edition]
[Translations from Greek are my own.]

Two copper coins, almost nothing

Reflections are everywhere - in crystal blue lakes and shining, marble surfaces, in the glass of towering skyscrapers and the concave lenses of ever-present cameras. They capture my thinking and mesmerize me, enticing me to look again because there's more in the picture!

Mark 12

Verse 41

Καὶ καθίσας κατέναντι τοῦ γαζοφυλακίου ἐθεώρει πῶς ὁ ὄχλος βάλλει χαλκὸν εἰς τὸ γαζοφυλάκιον. καὶ πολλοὶ πλούσιοι ἔβαλλον πολλά

(He took a seat facing the collection box and watched how the crowd tossed their copper coins into the collection box.  The wealthy people were tossing in a lot.)

I'm not sure what the point of the story is here.  Jesus, at the end of his last week on Earth, sat across from the box that people put money in.  Why was he there watching that?  He had already cleaned house in the temple courts to say that all the money changing that was going on wasn't what God was about (previous chapter, Mark 11).  He had answered questions of the Jerusalem religious leaders targeting the blasphemous tenants of his teaching in their opinion.  They had tried to trap him all week in saying something that would be against their law.  So, what was his strategy in sitting down to watch people put in money?  The prophet Malachi had made it clear God expected his people to bring their money to him.

Verse 42

καὶ ἐλθοῦσα μία χήρα πτωχὴ ἔβαλεν λεπτὰ δύο, ὅ ἐστιν κοδράντης

(A widow who begged tossed in two of the lowest denomination coins.)

It was just another Passover for this lady.  Passovers were particular grueling for  her.  She had had to figure out how to make ends meet for a while now.  Her husband had been able to do that previously for the two of them, but he had met his end before his wife.  She had been reduced to eeking out a living these days.  During this week, people from all around the whole region were coming to the city.  She didn't have anything to give, but these travelers had good hearts.  They were coming to celebrate with relatives the goodness God had shown them.  By asking them for a little help, she could at least ask for a couple of coins to drop into the collection box at the Temple courtyard to show God that she still placed her trust in him.

When she received this from a generous visitor, she made her way to the Temple courtyard.  She was unashamed.  She had to show appreciation to God for taking care of her these days and for his good care of her husband and her when he had live.  She walked right up to the box and tossed in her coins like any other person even though she knew the coins were a very small amount of money.  She quickly walked away for the next person to come to the box.

Yeah, Jesus noticed.  Immediately, she was the center of his focus.  Although his followers were with him, he didn't know if they had seen just what had happened.  He reigned in their attention.

Verse 43

καὶ προσκαλεσάμενος τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι ἡ χήρα αὕτη ἡ πτωχὴ πλεῖον πάντων ἔβαλεν τῶν βαλλόντων εἰς τὸ γαζοφυλάκιον

(He called his followers around him and spoke to them, "Honestly, of all those who have tossed into the collection box, this widow who begs has tossed in the most of anybody!")

The Twelve were used to Jesus giving contrasts about what people thought was good and what God thought was good.  They had heard it many times.  Jesus didn't speak about money much, though, so he had their attention.  They might have expected him to comment on the "one-tenth" giving that good Jews were supposed to give or on giving from the great wealth above and beyond the tenth that these Jerusalem wealthy elite were capable of giving.  No.  He said the beggar widow gave more than any other person.  They knew to wait.  Jesus would explain what he meant to them.

Verse 44

πάντες γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ περισσεύοντος αὐτοῖς ἔβαλον, αὕτη δὲ ἐκ τῆς ὑστερήσεως αὐτῆς πάντα ὅσα εἶχεν ἔβαλεν ὅλον τὸν βίον αὐτῆς

("They all tossed in from their great wealth, but she from her abject poverty tossed in as much as she had, everything, from her means of living.")

So, why is his last direct teaching lesson before death done at the giving box at the temple?  Because it was the universal setting to acknowledge appreciation AND trust in God's care of his people.  In the capital city of the Jews, appreciation and trust were doled out in limited measures because of the wealth of the party leaders, their dependence on a written code rather than a living God, and their "place" for God since they had to work most of their daily living with the Roman governors and military commanders to control their own population.  They trusted a great deal in their own wisdom.

Likely Jesus had a day left to live on the Earth.  He had accomplished his teaching mission.  He had come to Jerusalem and tangled with the scholars of the Talmud and the party elites.  He had made a huge statement in cleansing the temple in order to show how far off-base the establishment was in conducting God's business - the temple needed to return to being a house of prayer for the nations, not to continue being a money collection location for God.  He had one last lesson to give to his Twelve.  This was it.   Now he could rest.  The end would unravel over the next several hours.

I don't know that the lady's income was replenished, but if she was like every other person, she had a means or a hope that the little that she put in the box would be replenished.  It was her trust that God would replenish that supply that Jesus complimented.  His last lesson would be about trust.  God gives us what we need.  We simply honor and trust.

The widow woman has a lot to teach me.  Jesus was right to focus my attention on her.  I usually exhibit a lot of pride.  I seem to have a surplus of it.  My years are supposed to have taught me to trust God and honor what he has done.  I'm a slow learner.  So, God draws me again to something his son did.  The lesson he taught before undergoing his last hours on Earth.  I am grateful to have in my mind the picture of the woman who begged giving her two coins amounting to almost nothing.  If only I could have that amount of trust in my God who gives me everything I need and so much more.



[The song is Sovreign by Chris Tomlin]
[Introductory artwork retrieved from http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/267625/la-palabra-del-dia-liso]

[The Greek text used is the Nestle Aland 28th edition]
[Translations from Greek are my own.]

Break-out

Reflections everywhere capture my thinking - in crystal blue lakes and shining, marble surfaces, in the glass of towering skyscrapers and the concave lenses of ever-present cameras - and mesmerize me, enticing me to look again because there's more in the picture!

It was the end of his life on Earth.  He knew it.  He had deliberately come to Jerusalem in order to encounter the Jewish leaders in the heart of the teaching center of Judaism.  Jesus knew they wouldn't tolerate him any longer, brand him as a heretic, and kill him.  The time in Jerusalem had gone exactly as he had thought it would (or exactly as was planned).

But, his Twelve didn't know this was the end of his life on Earth.  He had to make certain that they understood the unfolding events to the fullest extent possible.  In John 16, Jesus begins by telling the Twelve about events that would happen after he left, such as being ostracized from synagogues, and being martyred.  The purpose was to reveal ahead of time some events so that they would not lose their faith.

He also had a second purpose.  Jesus needed to let them know about someone else - someone who would follow him.  His end was the beginning of the time when another would come to stand beside each of them.  In all their endeavors, they would come to count on this third person to be by their sides.  The Twelve had to be introduced.  And this was the time.

Verse 7

ἀλλ’ ἐγὼ τὴν ἀλήθειαν λέγω ὑμῖν, συμφέρει ὑμῖν ἵνα ἐγὼ ἀπέλθω. ἐὰν γὰρ μὴ ἀπέλθω, ὁ παράκλητος οὐκ ἐλεύσεται πρὸς ὑμᾶς· ἐὰν δὲ πορευθῶ, πέμψω αὐτὸν πρὸς ὑμᾶς

(Truthfully, it is better for you that I leave this world.  If I don't leave, the one who will stand beside you and help you cannot come to you.  If I leave, I can send him to you.)

Jesus answered what the obvious questions would have been if he had stopped talking.  The questions on the table would have been, "When he comes, what exactly will he say or do?  How will he help us?"  But the Twelve didn't have a chance to ask; Jesus knew they needed to know because they lived in a world at large that didn't have a clue what was happening in Judea, nor did they care, and because they lived in a land where people of their own kind would represent God differently than the way Jesus had represented him.  Both groups of people had "worldly notions."

Verse 8

Καὶ ἐλθὼν ἐκεῖνος ἐλέγξει τὸν κόσμον περὶ ἁμαρτίας καὶ περὶ δικαιοσύνης καὶ περὶ κρίσεως

(When he comes, he will refute worldly notions about failure and guilt, about decent living, and about sitting in judgment of others.)

That probably was enough information to answer the obvious question the Twelve would have had.  But, Jesus took it a step farther.  He gave the reasons for his answer.  The Greek word μέν is a word used to show that what followed would be connected to the statement that went before it, usually by way of explanation.  The Greek word δέ following the clause with μέν created a series of parallel phrases that explain.  In this case there were two additional parallel phrases.  This rhetorical formula was perfect for Jesus to succinctly clarify his answer.

Verse 9

περὶ ἁμαρτίας μέν, ὅτι οὐ πιστεύουσιν εἰς ἐμέ

(He will verify what I said about failure and guilt by showing what happens when people don't believe me.)

Verse 10

περὶ δικαιοσύνης δέ, ὅτι πρὸς τὸν πατέρα ὑπάγω καὶ οὐκέτι θεωρεῖτέ με

(He will verify what I said about decent living by showing that I did go back to the father after you didn't see me anymore.)

Verse 11

περὶ δὲ κρίσεως, ὅτι ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ κόσμου τούτου κέκριται

(And he will verify what I have said about sitting in judgment by showing that the ruler of this world has been tried and condemned.)

When a person works with an artist, all the artist needs is the idea, then we can appreciate the idea through the artist's representation of this idea.  People can do this for themselves with the website fotosearch.com by typing in a word in the search bar and then scrolling through the 25,000 photos of the idea.  If I type in summer, I am returned thousands of images of summer, all different, all representations of the season.  In such a way, a linguist can take the words on the surface of an utterance and peer into the mind of a person as to the meanings being represented by words.

One can hear some deafening sounds coming from the words being used here.  The three ideas of failure and guilt, decent living, and sitting in judgment are what the Jews specialized in when it came to representing their law.  They had a narrow view of creating their system of justice for not living what they considered to be a decent life, ostracism and negative critique being a part of it.  The world beyond the Jews was no better.  Their idea of justice, might makes right, made for a harsh and brutal society.  I am deafened by the ideas of bound, break out, and freedom.  The Jews seem to have set themselves up for failure since they expected human beings to miraculously perform to the letter of their law, which was layered with traditions and well-intended rabbis' applications.  Honor, too, was in the world at large, but it was a table set for family members and strong men mostly.  Others were just miserable failures.  I can't help but hear the idea that those outside the ring of honor could not be helped and never would amount to much in life.  And, the idea of judgment came in many forms, but one of the most prevalent was the prestige games of trying to be better than or keep up with the Joneses.  Most people couldn't be better, allowing the ones who were, to condescend to them and judge them as worthless.

Jesus had taught about all three of those ideas.  Now he was turning his teaching over to someone else, someone who couldn't come until he departed.  The Twelve had to know so that they could tell others.  There is another person coming after Jesus leaves.  He will refute the deafening noises of the worldly notions about decent living, failure and guilt, and judgment.  He will verify what Jesus had taught.  He will stand beside them to help them break free of ostracism, low self esteem, and low caste in society.

The Twelve were faithful to tell Christians who followed their generation, and they to the generation after them, and they....  Even today, one of the main differences between my world view and many of the acquaintances I have, is my honor, contentment, and guilt-free mode of operation because of the verification of the appropriateness of Jesus' teachings against their belief of ostracism, prestige, and condemnation of others.  I am free of their view, not bound by it in any way.  People, of course, can't see Jesus anymore, but they see me and the reflection of the one that stands beside me helping me break out.  Yes, that's right.



[The beginning song is Does anybody hear her by Casting Crowns, the second song is Broken Girl by Matthew West, the ending song is Grace Wins by Matthew West]
[Introductory artwork retrieved from http://www.fotosearch.com/CSP859/k8597169/]

[The Greek text used is the Nestle Aland 28th edition]
[Translations from Greek are my own.]

News on developing faith

Morsels of food are delicious because of the little things, the subtle seasonings, the dash of salt, the sprinkle of garlic, the garnish of parsley, the touch of glaze, or the hint of lemon.  Ahhhh - so delicious!

At the beginning of Matthew 18, Jesus is dealing with the idea of "greatness" because his twelve still had the value system of the society around them.  Jesus would change that idea for them over time.  But, on this occasion, he called a child over to the group of men to begin his reconditioning of their thinking.

He began by saying some easy things like become as a little child to enter his kingdom and accept and welcome a little child and in so doing welcome Jesus himself.  He went on to some ideas harder to put into practice such as the verses listed below.  Perhaps Jesus' comments were literal, perhaps metaphorical, but they are hard to achieve.

Verse 6

Ὃς δ’ ἂν σκανδαλίσῃ ἕνα τῶν μικρῶν τούτων τῶν πιστευόντων εἰς ἐμέ, συμφέρει αὐτῷ ἵνα κρεμασθῇ μύλος ὀνικὸς περὶ τὸν τράχηλον αὐτοῦ καὶ καταποντισθῇ ἐν τῷ πελάγει τῆς θαλάσσης

(The ones who would put an obstacle in the way of little ones who trust me, would be better off hanging a grinding stone for grain around their necks and drowning themselves out in the open sea.)

Verse 7

Οὐαὶ τῷ κόσμῳ ἀπὸ τῶν σκανδάλων· ἀνάγκη γὰρ ἐλθεῖν τὰ σκάνδαλα, πλὴν οὐαὶ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ δι’ οὗ τὸ σκάνδαλον ἔρχεται

(How terribly bad it will be for the world because their obstacles inevitably come, but it will be especially terrible for the person responsible for the obstacle.)

Verse 8

Εἰ δὲ ἡ χείρ σου ἢ ὁ πούς σου σκανδαλίζει σε, ἔκκοψον αὐτὸν καὶ βάλε ἀπὸ σοῦ· καλόν σοί ἐστιν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ζωὴν κυλλὸν ἢ χωλὸν ἢ δύο χεῖρας ἢ δύο πόδας ἔχοντα βληθῆναι εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον

(If your hand or foot gets in the way of having a good life, remove it.  It is better for you to participate fully in life crippled than to participate with two hands and feet and wind up being thrown into the eternal fire.)

Verse 9

καὶ εἰ ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου σκανδαλίζει σε, ἔξελε αὐτὸν καὶ βάλε ἀπὸ σοῦ· καλόν σοί ἐστιν μονόφθαλμον εἰς τὴν ζωὴν εἰσελθεῖν ἢ δύο ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντα βληθῆναι εἰς τὴν γέενναν τοῦ πυρός

(And if your eye is an obstacle to good living, take it out and throw it away.  It is better for you to participate fully in life with one eye than to participate with two eyes and wind up being thrown into the despicable fires of the Valley of Hinnom.)

Two ideas stand out in these verses that make Jesus' point.  Each one of the 4 verses uses either the noun form or verb form of σκανδαλίζει (to put an obstacle in the way).  After telling the Twelve that they should become like children, he next had a message for those practicing Judaism.  Don't change the trust factor that little children had in their Heavenly father.  The literal interpretation is daunting.  As children become adults in the world, there are many, many opportunities for them to dump trust in God and direct their trust elsewhere.  That's why he made the statement about "the world's" obstacles that appear for everyone.  The Romans and every other nation under the sun had their own beliefs about gods and lifestyles.  Jesus told them that it would not go well for them ultimately.  

But, he also personalized the statement to responsible parties who make life rough enough on children to make them switch loyalties from God to something else.  As a parent, I know how easy it is to get in the way of a teenager's developing faith.  Intentions to take soft or hard lines can have backlashes on faith that redirect a teen's fragile faith.  Guiding one from child to adult required me to be the responsible party.  In light of Jesus' words that task was daunting because I was not a perfect, responsible party.  At some point the child is responsible for his or her own faith, but parents standing in that gap between childhood and adulthood as a guide know the perilous nature of that decade's journey from 10 to 20.

If the words are more figurative in nature, then the peril doesn't disappear from the situation.  We all go through different stages of faith.  We can look back to a time when our faith was developing.  What kind of voice did we listen to?  Whose choices of what was important for lifestyle habits did we look around to adopt from?  Which books did we read to develop faith.  And when we were more mature, if I was one of the voices someone listened to, then what did that person younger in faith hear me say?  If my lifestyle was under scrutiny from someone who respected me, then what in it was worth adopting?  And, if someone heard my teaching, from a book, class, counsel, or casual conversation, then did it further develop trust in God or deflect that trust to another place or entity?

The other idea in the passage is that of how a person's life ends.  Jesus used his typical reference to a terrible end, the Valley of Hinnom.  The reference is to the days of King Ahaz of Judea.  He built an idol to Ba'al there for people to worship, even sacrificed his own sons there to the God Molech as did others.  The story is carried in 2 Kings 23.10, 2 Chronicles 8.3, and Jeremiah 32.35.  The fires that burned in the valley were kept going for a long period of time.  The Jews eventually had a change of heart.  The fires of Hinnom became the place to burn animal carcasses in order to show their disgust for what previously had happened there.  Eventually, all kinds of garbage was incinerated there, so the fires never went out.  The connotation of the place was one of "despicable" fires in this valley.  Because the Jews kept the fires going over such a long period of time, they were also referred to as the eternal fire.

Some say the first is referring to not misleading literal children and the second is the figurative rendering of Valley of Hinnom's fire as hell's fire.  Others say that the first is meant as a figure of speech not to lead people who have young faith astray and the second is the literal rendering of the image of the despicable fires of Hinnom.

Either way, I know that during the many years of my Christian journey I have violated the principle involved .  I have pushed ideas that others were not ready to accept.  I argued for ideas that worked for me at my various stages of understanding, but that didn't benefit others at their stages of understanding.  For my lack of insight, I depend on God's forgiveness, his grace.  I try much harder these days to understand the principles at work in Jesus' teachings.  This determination is at the heart of the blogs I write.

[The beginning song is Never Too Late by Three Days Grace, the ending song is Handprints on the Wall by Kenny Rogers]
[Introductory artwork retrieved from
http://images.clipartpanda.com/pal-clipart-pal-clipart-of-a-digital-collage-of-couples-of-black-silhouetted-children-playing-together-by-dero-329.jpg]

[The Greek text used is the Nestle Aland 28th edition]
[Translations from Greek are my own.]

Grainfield innuendos

Morsels of food are delicious because of the little things, the subtle seasonings, the dash of salt, the sprinkle of garlic, the garnish of parsley, the touch of glaze, or the hint of lemon.  Ahhhh - so delicious!

It was an old law.  It dated way back.  Its origins could have dated back to the time when the original group of Hebrews left Egypt.  Since it comes to us from Deuteronomy, which means second law, the date could also be a little less ancient by about 400 years, but either way, the law was very, very old.  It was found among several laws that told the people of Israel how to live as brothers and sisters with each other.  It stated that if you were walking along the road and were hungry, you could pick the heads of grain in the field.  There was the restriction not to bring a container to load up on grain.  That would be theft.  But, to satisfy one's hunger, by all means the field's owner would want to help a brother or sister in time of need.  Deuteronomy 23.25 contains the exact law.

A sister law, also ancient, required bread to be baked for God and put on a table in the Holy Place.  When the priests ate a loaf of this bread, they were to put incense in its place as a place holder offering until the bread could be replaced.  Since the bread was presented to God, then eaten by those serving God directly for the people, it was considered to be sacred.  Priests had kept the tradition alive for a few hundred years.  Leviticus 24.9 contains the instructions for this tradition.

So, one day Jesus was walking down a road with his Twelve.  They were hungry and partook of some heads of grain from a grain field.  That was a perfectly legitimate thing to do.  They must have partaken of the grain close to a village because the group had onlookers who saw them eating.  The whole scene should have come under the category of No Harm Done, EXCEPT that the day Jesus and his Twelve were walking together was the Sabbath.  Matthew 12.1-8 carries the story.

Sabbath rules had been around at least as long as the other two laws above, and Sabbath rules had had a huge oral tradition in the Talmud to accompany the Old Testament reminder to keep the Sabbath holy.  Every Jew was well versed in what the Sabbath meant and how it was to be observed.  Of all the laws, this law and all its accompanying comments by various popular and esteemed rabbis, appears to have been the one most strictly followed.

According to Matthew 12, several villagers from the Pharisaical group saw Jesus and his party picking the grain and eating it from the field, evidently near the village.  They felt compelled to approach Jesus to contest his terrible example in front of his followers.  Jesus had a really surprising answer for them using the episode from David's life in 1 Samuel 21.1-6.

Matthew 12

Verse 3

ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· οὐκ ἀνέγνωτε τί ἐποίησεν Δαυὶδ ὅτε ἐπείνασεν καὶ οἱ μετ’ αὐτοῦ

(He asked them, "Haven't you read what David and those with him did when they were hungry?)

Verse 4

πῶς εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τοὺς ἄρτους τῆς προθέσεως ἔφαγον, ὃ οὐκ ἐξὸν ἦν αὐτῷ φαγεῖν οὐδὲ τοῖς μετ’ αὐτοῦ εἰ μὴ τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν μόνοις

(That he went into God's house and ate the bread put out for God.  It was permissible for the priests only to eat, not for David and those with him.)

And Jesus wasn't quite finished.  Priests actually had to offer a meat sacrifice with grain and wine, thus breaking, technically, the prohibitions of working on the Sabbath.  The sacrifice of lamb, grain, and wine can be read in Numbers 28.9-10.

Verse 5

ἢ οὐκ ἀνέγνωτε ἐν τῷ νόμῳ ὅτι τοῖς σάββασιν οἱ ἱερεῖς ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τὸ σάββατον βεβηλοῦσιν καὶ ἀναίτιοί εἰσιν

(Or haven't you read in the law that on the Sabbath, the priests in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and are not considered at fault for doing so?)

I'm sure that the Pharisees felt like Jesus had just aligned a few of the sacred writings in really creative, but unwarranted ways.  It sounded like rationalization to the max.  A person can tell this by the number of times Pharisees approached Jesus about his Sabbath practices.  His "malpractice" of the Sabbath became a real issue between Jesus' teachings and the Talmud traditions as taught by the Pharisees.

Ironically, the Jews' view of the Sabbath slid into the background given what Jesus said after he had gotten the Pharisees' attention with his application of Old Testament laws to his current activity.  Jesus' next statement was beyond bold because it made a matter of supreme importance, the observance of Sabbath rules, invisible to this conversation.

Verse 6

λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ὅτι τοῦ ἱεροῦ μεῖζόν ἐστιν ὧδε.

(I tell you that someone greater than the temple is here.)

A person can see the sequence of thought here for the Pharisees keeping up with Jesus' words as they were being spoken.  They were thinking He just justified breaking the law in this modern society by quoting from our scriptures.  Absurd!  He took a really unorthodox view of the priests eating the bread presented to God to justify his own actions.  Unthinkable!  But putting his teachings higher than temple teachings is a level above arrogance!  It had their heads reeling. However, Jesus had one more statement to make that the Pharisees could never acknowledge.

Verse 8

κύριος γάρ ἐστιν τοῦ σαββάτου ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου

(for the Lord of the Sabbath is the Son of Man!")

Jesus didn't have time to spare.  He was on a mission.  He had a message to deliver.  He delivered it quickly, precisely, and succinctly.  Jesus had three years. He had to get the word out that he was the Messiah.  He did so through direct statement occasionally, but through innuendo a lot. And the innuendo part is the delicious morsel in this passage because it is through the innuendo that the Pharisees thought Jesus' teachings were heretical.

Messiah in the Outer Court
Bill Stephens

Verse 8 is many times translated "for the Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath."  In this way of thinking Jesus uses the name he has assigned himself, the Son of Man, to refer to himself as being Lord of the Sabbath, and above the rules that deal with the Sabbath.  The words in Greek have a different order, however.  They translate as "The Lord of the Sabbath is the Son of Man."  At first glance this translation merely seems like a reverse version of the first translation used.  Since the copula (is) is used, some say that there is no difference in meaning.  The Lord is the son, the son is the Lord.  One nominative phrase reidentifies the other, and the phrases are of equal importance.  There is no difference in meaning.

A linguist would say that order does matter because the semantics are different.  The subject of the sentence has primary emphasis and the predicate nominative has secondary significance.  If this is true, the second way of translating the order of the Greek means that the Lord of the Sabbath is emphasized and the Son of Man is further identification.  The phrase of primary importance in this case changes the meaning of Jesus' words.  Jesus wasn't saying that he was the Lord of the Sabbath and, therefore, above the rules.  There was only one Lord of the Sabbath, and that was God.  Jesus was saying that God was the Son of Man.  Jesus was claiming that he was God.  The Jews didn't miss the implication.  And that implication began causing a great rift between Jesus' teaching and their own.

Jesus was also the master of the pun.  He made many a statement with double-intended meanings.  This could easily be one of those statements.  He was God.  He was Lord of the Sabbath, above the man-made rules for any day of the week.  He was the Son of Man, the Jews' term for the messiah.  He was and is all of the above.  And even though he created a chasm between him and the Pharisees, he confounded them at the same time.  They didn't exactly know what their next move should be nor could they predict well what Jesus would say.  His teachings were not rote.  They were spontaneous, yet deeply rooted in scripture and history, and sometimes, first-hand sounding knowledge.

I strive harder at times to rid myself of useless traditions of religion than at other times.  But, in the last decade, I have been better able to shake off the dust of the man-made rules of the image that Christians are expected to maintain.  I need to do even more dusting off.  I need to merely be able to see God clearly enough to act immediately and effectively without running the appropriate response through a filter of any expectations other than God's.  I think this episode from Jesus' life is not so much about the relative nature of truth as it is about immediately reacting to situations that face us with what is good, right, and true to God's nature.  Make me that way, please God.



[The beginning song is Yahweh by Elevation Worship, the ending song is Say the Word by Hillsong United]
[Artwork is Messiah in the Outer Court by Bill Stephens retrieved from
http://www.art.com/gallery/id--b12115/Christianity-posters.htm?RFID=054402&domain=com&KWID=892929202&VTP=Start&NetWorkType=g&PAdCopyId=7603601950&ClickPos=1t2&GeolociId=9027304&IntLocId=&AudId=kwd-17171282&Device=c&VTP=End&gclid=CPjYw8z0nM4CFcKGaQod5HYHkA&pe=true]

[The Greek text used is the Nestle 28th edition]
[Translations from Greek are my own.]

A joint way of life

Morsels of food are delicious because of the little things, the subtle seasonings, the dash of salt, the sprinkle of garlic, the garnish of parsley, the touch of glaze, or the hint of lemon.  Ahhhh - so delicious!

At the outset of Jesus' public teaching, people probably thought that it was a bit unusual.  But then, people come along from time to time who present the unusual to us.  We recognize it and take it in stride.  Jesus' teaching was unusual, but it very quickly hit a different level.  Changing water to wine was a benevolent thing to do as a first miracle.  But Jesus' response to John the Baptist in the early part of Matthew 11 shows a broader scope.  Jesus had made the lame walk, the deaf hear, the lepers whole, and the blind see.  Those who had had the life seep out of them, had had that life returned to them.  That was far  more than a bit unusual.  It was over the top, extreme, unimaginable, and inimitable.  And his teachings were every bit the same way.  They were distinct, easy to implement, sensible, and irreplicable.

From the beginning of the time Jesus had appeared in public, he had referred to his father.  As the Jews listened, they knew he wasn't speaking of Joseph.  In fact, he claimed not just to be a child of God like everyone else, he claimed to be the personal child of God whose origin was in a different realm.  In the closing part of Matthew 11, the clarity of his words about God cannot be missed.

Verse 25

Ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ καιρῷ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν· ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι, πάτερ, κύριε τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅτι ἔκρυψας ταῦτα ἀπὸ σοφῶν καὶ συνετῶν καὶ ἀπεκάλυψας αὐτὰ νηπίοις

(At that time Jesus began speaking, "I agree with you, Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth to have hidden these things from the clever and educated and disclosed them to those with childlike understanding.)

Verse 26

ναὶ ὁ πατήρ, ὅτι οὕτως εὐδοκία ἐγένετο ἔμπροσθέν σου

(Yes, Father, it was pleasing in your eyes for it to happen this way.)

Verse 27

Πάντα μοι παρεδόθη ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός μου, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐπιγινώσκει τὸν υἱὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ πατήρ, οὐδὲ τὸν πατέρα τις ἐπιγινώσκει εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱὸς καὶ ᾧ ἐὰν βούληται ὁ υἱὸς ἀποκαλύψαι

(Everything has been given to me by my father.  No one understands everything about a son except a father, nor about a father by anyone except a son and others the son wishes to disclose him to.)

This, of course, set the stage for his teachings.  After giving teachings about having God's favor and shouting sounds of pain (Luke 6.20-26), slightly earlier in his public teaching, Jesus wanted to further distance God's way from the teachings so prevalent in the current instruction of the Talmud.  Topics in the Talmud were tedious, long, easy to forget, and applied to selective areas of life.  Although there were many topics in the Talmud, the sabbath topic was a long-standing one, and one surely Jesus heard often as a child.  It serves as an example to illustrate the laborious nature of an expounded topic.  Below is a sampling of this teaching from the Babylonian Talmud.
_______________________________

Mishna II - The principal acts of labor (prohibited on the Sabbath) are forty less one: sowing, plowing, reaping, binding into sheaves, threshing, winnowing, fruit-cleaning, grinding, sifting, kneading, baking, wool-shearing, bleaching, combing, dyeing, spinning, warping, making two-spindle-trees, weaving two threads, separating two threads (in the warp), tying a knot, untying a knot, sewing on with two stitches, tearing in order to sew together with two stitches, hunting deer, slaughtering the same, skinning them, salting them, preparing the hide, scraping the hair off, cutting it, writing two single letter characters, erasing in order to write two letters, building, demolishing (in order to rebuild), kindling, extinguishing (fire), hammering, transferring from one place to another.  These are the principal acts of labor - forty less one.

Gemara - For what purpose is the number (so distinctly) given?  (They are enumerated.)  Said R. Johanan: if one labored through total ignorance of the (laws governing the) Sabbath, he must bring a sin-offering for every act of labor performed...

... Said R. Aha in the name of R. Hyya b. Ashi quoting R. Ami "One who prunes is guilty of planting, and one who plants, transplants, or grafts, is guilty of sowing."  Of sowing and not of planting?  I mean to say of planting also...

... "Binding into sheaves."  Rabha said: One who gathers salt from salt works is guilty of the act of binding into sheaves.  Abayi, however, said that binding into sheaves applies only to produce of the soil.

[For the complete Chapter VII on Acts of Labor on the Sabbath containing the complete Mishnah II and four other Mishnahs concerning the Sabbath, click or press here.]
______________________________________

One of the groups the gospels refer to as trying to trap Jesus in his words is the "scribes" as they have been called for many years.  The word is γραμματεῖς (scholars of the law).  These were the people who studied the Law and Talmud and could cite them by heart. They were scholars and treated Jesus as an upstart who didn't know the depth of God's law as they did.  Thus, it became important to Jesus that he show his connection to God as his son in order to demonstrate that he was every bit as knowledgeable as the γραμματεῖς, and more so.

Guardian Angel
by Danny Hahlbohm

Jesus set his words against such teachings as those above.  His sayings were original.  They may at times have contained echoes of others' teachings to reference his breadth of knowledge, but they would have an original twist.  Matthew 11 illustrates this well.  Jesus echoes The Wisdom of Sirach.  In Sirach 6.21, 23, the author spoke of those to whom Wisdom revealed herself as being the unwise, the unlearned.  Likewise, Jesus thanks God in Matthew 11.25-27 for showing his teaching to the unwise and unlearned as well as God revealing himself to the son and those whom the son reveals himself.  In Sirach 6.24-30, readers were encouraged to put themselves under Wisdom's yoke and in her fetters, and they would find rest and joy.  Sirach 51.26 suggests putting the yoke of Wisdom on one's neck and receiving her instruction.  Changing it from from a personification about wisdom to a metaphor about himself, Jesus takes the idea of finding rest and putting on his yoke and makes it original about following his teachings.  In addition, Jesus hints that he is Wisdom, thus, his hearers should accept his instruction.  But, even though Jesus refers to his teachings as a yoke, showing a knowledge of Sirach, one has to think that Jesus' main purpose was to take full aim at teachings like the sabbath topic above (and representative of all the others found in the Talmud) which turned the ways of God into something laborious and odious.  The Talmud's yoke was tedious, heavy-handed, and hard.  In contrast, Jesus said his yoke was light and easy.

Verses 28

Δεῦτε πρός με πάντες οἱ κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι, κἀγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς

(Everyone who is tired and carrying a heavy load - come to me.  I will allow you to rest.)

Verse 29

ἄρατε τὸν ζυγόν μου ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς καὶ μάθετε ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ, ὅτι πραΰς εἰμι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ

(Put on my yoke and learn from me because I am gentle and unpretentious.)

Verse 30

ὁ γὰρ ζυγός μου χρηστὸς καὶ τὸ φορτίον μου ἐλαφρόν ἐστιν

(My yoke fits you exactly and my load is light. )

A couple of the subtle seasonings used in these last two verses are the puns that Jesus uses.  Since people translate this verse one way, that is, using the yoke and the heavy load, the value of the pun is lost in the translation.  By using the other meanings of the double entendre, the yoke becomes a symbol for shouldering a load together and light burden becomes a contrasting idea to the extensive rules of the Talmud about certain topics.  The following translation can be made.

Put on the bar that joins us together and acquire my habits because I am easy to work with and don't mind joining you.  The bar that joins us benefits you, my load isn't tedious, long, and odious.

The word ζυγός (yoke) can at times refer to a balance beam or just a balance.  So, really, yoke is a triple entendre.  The scholars of the law would not have missed this intended meaning.   It meant,

Take on my teachings because they are balanced.  My teachings are not rigid and don't make you high and mighty.  The balance makes you good and keeps you steady.

That's my goal - to put on Jesus' yoke and learn from him.  It's a beneficial way of life.  It's a fluid way of life because his teachings apply to every situation, at least that I have ever encountered.  It's a steady way of life that people learn to count on you for.  It's a joint way of life.

[The beginning and ending songs are different versions of Prince of Peace by Hillsong United]
[Artwork is Guardian Angel by Danny Hohlbohm retrieved from
http://www.fulcrumgallery.com/Danny-Hahlbohm/Guardian-Angel_69658.htm]
[For a suggested text of the Wisdom of Sirach click here.]
[For a suggested text for the Babylonian Talmud of the Mishnah used above click here.]

[The Greek text used is the Nestle 28th edition]
[Translations from Greek are my own.]

Take the reins

Morsels of food are delicious because of the little things, the subtle seasonings, the dash of salt, the sprinkle of garlic, the garnish of parsley, the touch of glaze, or the hint of lemon.  Ahhhh - so delicious!

There was a time in Jewish history when things were worse than they ever had been since leaving the province of Goshen centuries before.  Jerusalem was sacked by Nebuchanezzar's army and many Jews were deported to his capital city of Babylon.  That was a terrible, terrible part of the Jew's story.  The prophets had given oracles from God that this would happen if the Jews didn't change from their outrageous habits of indecently representing God on the Earth.  The prophets warned and warned, still nothing changed.  So, God visited their nation with captivity.

Its scars filled their literature for hundreds of years thereafter.  Stories, memoirs, and songs contained the people's hopes of returning to Judah and reestablishing Jerusalem as their capital and rebuilding their temple to God.  The literature contained oracles from more prophets not to fall into the same pitfalls that the people before the captivity had fallen into.  It contained historical accounts of the Law of God being reinstituted in Jerusalem when a number of captives were allowed to return there almost a century after they had been deported.  And, it contained stories of Jewish people who still served God in the empires where the Jews had been scattered after deportation.

The prophets that still actively delivered their oracles from God after the Jews' return to Jerusalem seemed to say the same thing.  The oracles of God's prophets before the captivity had talked about restoration after captivity in very glowing terms.  Isaiah 9. 2-17 shows some of the first seeds of this thinking.  After the return, Joel 2 is representative of the developed line of reasoning from the post-exilic prophets as the Jews contemplated their captivity experience.  And added to the oracle is the hope of Israel for God to chastise the nations for enslaving his people again.  Joel 3. 1-3 portrays this condemnation of non-Jewish nations.  Malachi, one of the last prophets, if not the last, represents a well developed philosophy of the Jews' rationale about 435 BCE.  Its four small chapters contain a cohesive, sequential unit of thought of the reason for the captivity, the aftermath of judgment against those who opposed God and his people, and the promise of  bringing all his people back together.  This became the blueprint for the literature that followed during the first, second, and third centuries BCE.

Although different types of literature came out of the post-exilic centuries, such as the story of Esther, a really different form of expression developed in order to propagate the blueprint found in Malachi.  It was called apocalyptic literature.  The form became very popular and had predictable features.  The principal traits were to have a main character, a human messenger to relay heavenly secrets to through visions, and an angel from Heaven to reveal the meanings of the visions.  God's people would be reminded to live a clean life and to repent if they hadn't.  Then, God would promise destruction in order to save his people from a relentless empire making them suffer.  They nearly all talked about God's people being brought together for a last age with God in a restored blissful state with him.  A good number of these apocalypses were produced by Jewish authors, but some by Christian writers.  The tradition using the apocalypse lasted about 400 years, 200 years before and after Jesus' life.  Some of the most common revelations were The Book of Enoch, 2 Esdras, Daniel, a portion of the War Scroll from Qumran, Testament of Levi, Apocalypse of John, Apocalypse of Peter, and a portion of the Shepherd of Hermas.

The Apocalypse, or Revelation, of John is squarely in the center of this tradition and contains the features mentioned above.  The seventh trumpet of Revelation 11 serves as a good example of the last feature, that of God bringing his people into a kingdom just for them at the end of the age.  It is very reminiscent of Second Esdras chapter 6. 11-34 and chapter 13.25-38, and Daniel 7, all three of which were written in the two hundred years before Jesus.  They dealt with interpretations of a vision that introduced the beginning of a dominion or realm in which God took over from the powers of the Earth.  All three deal with God judging a terrible empire who had oppressed his people and whose power he is taking from them and establishing his own realm.  In Revelation 11, the last 5 verses containing the 7th trumpet, the trumpet signals a time people have been waiting for and comes after warning all of the Christians' enemies that their oppression and persecution would be repaid.

Doomsday Earth on Fire

Verse 13

Καὶ ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ ἐγένετο σεισμὸς μέγας καὶ τὸ δέκατον τῆς πόλεως ἔπεσεν καὶ ἀπεκτάνθησαν ἐν τῷ σεισμῷ ὀνόματα ἀνθρώπων χιλιάδες ἑπτὰ καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἔμφοβοι ἐγένοντο καὶ ἔδωκαν δόξαν τῷ θεῷ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ

(And in that hour, a great earthquake caused a tenth of the city to crumble.  7000 names of men were extinguished in the earthquake.  Fear gripped the rest of the city and they honored the God of Heaven. )

Verse 15

Καὶ ὁ ἕβδομος ἄγγελος ἐσάλπισεν· καὶ ἐγένοντο φωναὶ μεγάλαι ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ λέγοντες· 
ἐγένετο ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ κόσμου τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν 
καὶ τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ,
καὶ βασιλεύσει εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων

(The seventh angel sounded his trumpet.  Loud voices in Heaven shouted, "The realm of the world has become the realm of our Lord and his Chosen One, and he will be its ruler forever.")

Second Esdras 6.23 and 13.25-38 in particular contain the exact idea of Revelation 11.13b, 15 in a vision given to Ezra about judgment on those who have humiliated Jerusalem's inhabitants.  Daniel 7.13-14 also express the idea of the Son of Man joining the Ancient of Days and establish his rule.

Second Esdras 6.23

Then the trumpet will sound, and sudden terror will grip the heart of everyone when they hear it. 
Second Esdras 13. 25, 26
The man you saw coming out of the sea, represents the one whom God Most High has kept ready for many ages. He will free the world he created and establish the new order for those who survive.
[Good News Translation] 

Daniel 7

Verse 13

חָזֵ֤ה הֲוֵית֙ בְּחֶזְוֵ֣י לֵֽילְיָ֔א וַאֲרוּ֙ עִם־עֲנָנֵ֣י שְׁמַיָּ֔א כְּבַ֥ר אֱנָ֖שׁ אָתֵ֣ה הֲוָ֑ה וְעַד־עַתִּ֤יק יֹֽומַיָּא֙מְטָ֔ה וּקְדָמֹ֖והִי הַקְרְבֽוּהִי׃

(In night visions, I saw the Son of Man in the sky meeting the one who is without time, the Ancient of Days.  As he approached,)

Verse 14

לֵ֨הּ יְהִ֤יב שָׁלְטָן֙ וִיקָ֣ר וּמַלְכ֔וּ וְכֹ֣ל עַֽמְמַיָּ֗א אֻמַיָּ֛א וְלִשָּׁנַיָּ֖א לֵ֣הּ יִפְלְח֑וּן שָׁלְטָנֵ֞הּ שָׁלְטָ֤ן עָלַם֙דִּֽי־לָ֣א יֶעְדֵּ֔ה וּמַלְכוּתֵ֖הּ דִּי־לָ֥א תִתְחַבַּֽל׃ פ

(he was given the power to rule, and all the honor that comes with it.  Many people, nations, and languages would worship him.  His realm would not end and could not be destroyed.)

There are a lot of things I cannot imagine - hiking the mountains in winter without a coat, visiting other countries without reading about their cultures first, and diving into the ocean without knowing how to swim.   Likewise, I cannot imagine anyone taking on the task of interpreting Revelation without knowledge of the literature of the apocalyptic movement among the Jews.  Each work individually would trigger a hope for the end of the world and the saints of God joining him in his realm.  But, taken all together, it is easy to see that the hope of Israel was given an expression for what they thought God had promised.  Shortly before the time of Jesus, the Qumran sect of Jews, in their War Scroll, definitely had linked the Messiah to the last age when God would come and set up a kingdom for the Messiah to reign with God's saints.  Second Esdras as well mentions the Son of Man.  So, as Christianity began to take hold in Asia Minor, it is no wonder that John would turn to the apocalypse to express to Christians to hold on through persecution and oppression because God would stand up for his people, come for them, and embarrass the nations that had treated them harshly.

The visions of Revelation that began with the seven seals show clearly the blueprint used in nearly all apocalypses.  The visions built on each other.  One led to another, so that seals number 5 and 6 set up the vision of the trumpets.  The Christian martyrs asked God how long their suffering would last and received an answer through the imagery of a Day of the Lord happening.  As each trumpet sounded, the events that took place showed more in detail the cause for the Day of the Lord and the events that drove God to cleanse the Earth as he had done in the past.  This time Roman leaders and military forces were persecuting his people.  God told his people in symbols that the root of the problem was that the the Romans had taken on God’s role, thinking they were the controllers of destiny on Earth.  They weren't, so they would be eradicated along with the other main source of their suffering, the Parthians.  The Jews, also, would see that God's saints were those following Christ, God's chosen, the Messiah.  Seal 7 (Revelation 11.15) opened to the announcement that the realm of God with Christ, the Messiah, was starting - the last age when God would restore his people and establish his realm.

The response in Heaven to this news was acknowledgment of by the twenty-four elders around the throne.  They appeared before the seals (Revelation 5) with praise for God before knowing what was going to happen.  Here they appeared again, doing the same thing at the end of the trumpets after knowing what was going to happen.

Verse 16

Καὶ οἱ εἴκοσι τέσσαρες πρεσβύτεροι [οἱ] ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ καθήμενοι ἐπὶ τοὺς θρόνους αὐτῶν ἔπεσαν ἐπὶ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν καὶ προσεκύνησαν τῷ θεῷ


(The twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones in God's presence fell on their faces and worshiped God)

Verse 17

λέγοντες· 
εὐχαριστοῦμέν σοι, κύριε ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ, 
ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν, 
ὅτι εἴληφας τὴν δύναμίν σου τὴν μεγάλην
καὶ ἐβασίλευσας

(saying, 
We thank you Lord God Almighty
The one who is and who was,
Because you have taken the reins of your great power,
And started your rule.)

Very predictably, and according to the apocalyptic blueprint, after announcing the end of the age, God was next going to destroy the nations and reward his people (verse 18).  Then, the scene introducing the trumpets, the temple in Heaven, opens again.  This time it is not the altar that is seen, but the ark, or chest, containing the covenant .  God would keep his promise.  The scene that had started with God hearing the prayers of his people ended with a sign that he would powerfully show his glory for those who had reverenced him!

Verse 19

Καὶ ἠνοίγη ὁ ναὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ καὶ ὤφθη ἡ κιβωτὸς τῆς διαθήκης αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ ναῷ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐγένοντο ἀστραπαὶ καὶ φωναὶ καὶ βρονταὶ καὶ σεισμὸς καὶ χάλαζα μεγάλη


(God's temple in Heaven opened up and the chest containing his covenant could be seen it.  This was accompanied by lightning and thunder, an earthquake and rumbles.)

There is this bit of garnish around the morsel as the chapter closes.  It's God's trademark, his signature.  All of the apocalypses didn't fail to use God's signature move in showing his glory.  The signature started with his people at Mt. Sinai, it was used with every Day of the Lord oracle through his servants the prophets, and it continued into the expressions of hope of restoration in the apocalypses.  John uses it here in Revelation as God promises to visit the nations with destruction on behalf of the ones who sing his hallelujah in the name of his son.  When God moves, the earth and sky quake and rumble and flash.

, 

[Songs used are I Am by David Crowder Band, Majesty and Our God Reigns by Delirious, and Forever by Kari Jobe]
[Artwork Doomsday Earth on Fire, retrieved from http://www.fotosearch.com/CSP953/k9531862/]

[The Greek text used is the Nestle-Aland 28th edition]
[The Hebrew text used is the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 1967/77.]
[Second Esdras 6:23 and 13.25, 26 used The Good News Translation (US Version), American Bible Society, 1976]
[Translations from Greek and Hebrew are my own.]