During our readings this week, we are well over halfway through the Book of Job and about halfway through the Gospel according to Matthew.
During the past week we have read what must be one of the most wonderful moments of light in the whole dark experience that was Job's life. In chapter 19, verses 23 through 27, we read:
Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
Oh that with an iron pen and lead
they were engraved in the rock forever!
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh shall I see God,
whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
Job's ringing expression of hope and confidence in God comes in the middle of the second cycle of interrogations from his three friends: Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. With friends like this, we might think, who needs enemies! Job cries aloud as if to reject their misguided attempts to explain the reasons for Job's misfortune - and to illustrate the righteous man's response to God in the midst of things he cannot understand.
Job's proclamation is reasonably understood by Christians to be a fore-shadowing of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ - and the future hope of all faithful people to be raised from the corruption of death just as the LORD himself was on the third day.
Jesus, in Matthew's gospel this week, having concluded the first major discourse of his ministry (the Sermon on the Mount) by articulating the nature of kingdom life (blessed are the meek, etc.), has called the Twelve to follow and sent them out as emissaries of the Kingdom (Chapter 10). The Lord begins to face opposition from the religious establishment, characterized by his confrontations with and challenges from the Pharisees.
Matthew presents a series of teachings by Jesus in the form of parables. A parable is a narrative analogy meant to convey a moral or spiritual lesson, and the lesson(s) are often noticeably missed by the hearers - even occasionally by the disciples. Beginning as he does with the Parable of the Sower (Chapter 13), Jesus points out the reality that not everyone who hears the Truth of the Gospel will take it to heart. Nonetheless, the challenge is to become Kingdom people.
Jesus speaks in challenging ways here - using language of good/bad, in/out. These "exclusive" declarations may not sit well in our modern and "enlightened" ears, but they are words of the Lord which we must consider well. Becoming trees which bear good fruit is the principal goal of the lives of disciples who follows Jesus Christ.
As you read this week, consider the question: How should I pray for the Holy Spirit to conform me more and more into the likeness of a Kingdom citizen, that I may bear fruit pleasing to God?
Taking comfort with Job in the confidence of knowing our Redeemer lives, we stay faithful in His Word.
Darin+
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Reading the Bible in 2010 - Week 2
The second week of reading the Bible through in 2010 presents a diversion from the canonical ordering. As the plan we are reading is intended to be a "chronological" reading, at least in one possible ordering, the Book of Job interrupts the readings from Genesis. This presents a couple of points that need to be made.
First, the canonical ordering of the Bible is not precisely chronological. Certainly, Genesis is where it is because it speaks of beginnings, and from the earliest collections of the Hebrew scriptures, Genesis took its place at the opening of the Five Books of Moses. The Old Testament as presented in Christian Bibles roughly (but not exactly) follows the order of the Tanakh, the Hebrew Scripture, which collects the sacred writings in three major groups: Law, Prophets, Writings. This is a collection according to type, not timeline (although there is a certain sense of order within each grouping, especially among those books which are overtly historical in nature).
Second, the chronological placement of many of the books that fall in the third category (Writings) is difficult. Many of these books (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs) were apparently composed during the inter-testamental period (in the context of Second Temple Judaism), yet have application and authorship that refers to earlier times (e.g., the authorship of the Psalms by David, other Wisdom literature attributed to Solomon). Job is one of those which is difficult to place chronologically.
Job appears where it does in this reading plan to reflect the view of some scholars that the setting is Patriarchal - during the time of Abraham and the early fathers of the faith. While the book may have been composed at a later date, because of some textual references, the setting does seem to match with the earliest stories of the Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy).
Job is a difficult and profound story. We associate Job with the suffering of innocents - a timeless and troubling topic. Why do bad things happen to good people? This is a question that Job screams to be answered, yet after centuries of reflection there is probably no answer which will satisfy the question of the human heart in the face of tragedy. In the past few days, people of good will and faith have struggled with the pictures and stories coming out of Haiti. Where was God in all this? Job 9.4-6 presented a troubling image for those of us reading along:
He is wise in heart and mighty in strength...who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble.
As Job's entire story struggles with the issue of God's sovereignty and humanity's finitude, so this verse presents in the face of present reality the timelessness of the book's relevance. If you are hoping for the answer here - sorry to disappoint! In any case, we will be reading Job for another week or so, and more can be said about his story.
It's interesting that just about the same time we read this passage of Job referring to God's hand in natural events, we also read from Matthew's gospel about the calming of the storm on the sea (Matthew 8.23-27). The word used for "storm" is seismos. This is the word also used in the scriptures for earthquake (seismic...). Interesting that in Matthew's account, as in the several other parallel passages (Mark 4.35-41, Luke 8.22-25, John 6.16-21) Jesus stays with the disciples in the boat in the midst of the storm. He does not abandon them, but calms the storm in their presence.
Taken alongside other clear teachings of Jesus (specially Luke 13.1-5), we ought to be careful in examining the meaning of such disasters as those we have witnessed this week. Job certainly struggled with anger toward God, based on very real human emotion and an admittedly limited view of creation and the purposes of seemingly random events. And the story of Jesus also plays out to show us that the chosen ones of God, even the Beloved, are not given escape from suffering in human life. Yet, at the same time, suffering and death is not seen as the final outcome or goal of human existence (the Resurrection tells us otherwise!).
One of the challenges of faith is to stay in the boat with Jesus during the midst of things we cannot understand. In times such as these, whether personal or communal, we must hold several truths in difficult tension. God loves us - this is certain. God has suffered for us in the person of Jesus Christ - this is certain. Human life and our world is fallen and deformed from the original purposes and perfection that God created - this is certain. God will restore and redeem creation and all those who put their trust in Him through Jesus the Son - this is certain.
In these certainties, a question to consider is this: Where in the midst of the questions do you find the certainty of God in Jesus Christ?
Stay in the Word - and you will find assurance and comfort.
In Christ,
Darin+
First, the canonical ordering of the Bible is not precisely chronological. Certainly, Genesis is where it is because it speaks of beginnings, and from the earliest collections of the Hebrew scriptures, Genesis took its place at the opening of the Five Books of Moses. The Old Testament as presented in Christian Bibles roughly (but not exactly) follows the order of the Tanakh, the Hebrew Scripture, which collects the sacred writings in three major groups: Law, Prophets, Writings. This is a collection according to type, not timeline (although there is a certain sense of order within each grouping, especially among those books which are overtly historical in nature).
Second, the chronological placement of many of the books that fall in the third category (Writings) is difficult. Many of these books (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs) were apparently composed during the inter-testamental period (in the context of Second Temple Judaism), yet have application and authorship that refers to earlier times (e.g., the authorship of the Psalms by David, other Wisdom literature attributed to Solomon). Job is one of those which is difficult to place chronologically.
Job appears where it does in this reading plan to reflect the view of some scholars that the setting is Patriarchal - during the time of Abraham and the early fathers of the faith. While the book may have been composed at a later date, because of some textual references, the setting does seem to match with the earliest stories of the Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy).
Job is a difficult and profound story. We associate Job with the suffering of innocents - a timeless and troubling topic. Why do bad things happen to good people? This is a question that Job screams to be answered, yet after centuries of reflection there is probably no answer which will satisfy the question of the human heart in the face of tragedy. In the past few days, people of good will and faith have struggled with the pictures and stories coming out of Haiti. Where was God in all this? Job 9.4-6 presented a troubling image for those of us reading along:
He is wise in heart and mighty in strength...who shakes the earth out of its place, and its pillars tremble.
As Job's entire story struggles with the issue of God's sovereignty and humanity's finitude, so this verse presents in the face of present reality the timelessness of the book's relevance. If you are hoping for the answer here - sorry to disappoint! In any case, we will be reading Job for another week or so, and more can be said about his story.
It's interesting that just about the same time we read this passage of Job referring to God's hand in natural events, we also read from Matthew's gospel about the calming of the storm on the sea (Matthew 8.23-27). The word used for "storm" is seismos. This is the word also used in the scriptures for earthquake (seismic...). Interesting that in Matthew's account, as in the several other parallel passages (Mark 4.35-41, Luke 8.22-25, John 6.16-21) Jesus stays with the disciples in the boat in the midst of the storm. He does not abandon them, but calms the storm in their presence.
Taken alongside other clear teachings of Jesus (specially Luke 13.1-5), we ought to be careful in examining the meaning of such disasters as those we have witnessed this week. Job certainly struggled with anger toward God, based on very real human emotion and an admittedly limited view of creation and the purposes of seemingly random events. And the story of Jesus also plays out to show us that the chosen ones of God, even the Beloved, are not given escape from suffering in human life. Yet, at the same time, suffering and death is not seen as the final outcome or goal of human existence (the Resurrection tells us otherwise!).
One of the challenges of faith is to stay in the boat with Jesus during the midst of things we cannot understand. In times such as these, whether personal or communal, we must hold several truths in difficult tension. God loves us - this is certain. God has suffered for us in the person of Jesus Christ - this is certain. Human life and our world is fallen and deformed from the original purposes and perfection that God created - this is certain. God will restore and redeem creation and all those who put their trust in Him through Jesus the Son - this is certain.
In these certainties, a question to consider is this: Where in the midst of the questions do you find the certainty of God in Jesus Christ?
Stay in the Word - and you will find assurance and comfort.
In Christ,
Darin+
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Reading the Bible in 2010 - Week 1
Greetings from Park City! After a long hiatus, the blog is up and running again. Each week, I hope to post a reflection on the readings St. John's family and friends are working on together as a plan to read the Bible through in 2010. We have chosen a plan from the website www.bibleplan.org - "Reading the Bible Chronologically - Number 2". This plan reads through the entire Old and New Testaments (one reading from each testament each day) in more or less the historical order of events (at least in one interpretation...).
If you want to join us, follow this link:
http://www.bibleplan.org/#cn
And you can have someone read it to you by visiting this link and selecting the passage for the day:
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/audio/
AND - don't fret if you miss a day. Remember it's always better to read God's Word than not to - just pick up on the day you decide to start (or re-start!).
Now - reflections for Week 1.
During this week, we've been reading from Genesis and Matthew. The beginnings of both Testaments put us in a place of awe and worship, I think.
Genesis tells us that it's all been God from the start. God is in control, and - at least for awhile - it was all as God planned. Then humankind, having been given a place of stewardship over Creation and complete fellowship with God chose to disobey. The Fall as recorded in Genesis 3 explains the human condition that we see all around us even today. Although God created all and found it very good, the stain of human sin has distorted Creation every since. Sickness, war, broken-ness in relationships, all are a consequence of things out-of-sorts and out-of-place. So it's no surprise that God is led to start over fresh (the Flood), having found one righteous man and family (Noah). leading to the first of several Covenants God makes with humanity. The Tower of Babel incident is followed quickly by the faithful response of Abram (later Abraham) to go where God asks him to go. So begins the accounts of the Patriarchs, which will dominate the readings for several weeks.
Matthew's Gospel begins to tell of Jesus, and of how he fulfills God's plan to bring a Messiah to the people of Israel, and to bring the kingdom of God to all the earth - Jew and Gentile alike. Matthew gives us the Magi (note that the number of Magi is not specified, although by tradition there is one for each gift: gold, frankincense, and myrrh) scene of the Christmas story. Fast forward to Jesus' temptation in the desert, and the beginnings of his ministry as teacher (this is big in Matthew), almost a parallel in structure to the five books of Moses can be found in the teaching sections of Jesus' ministry as Matthew records.
One question to ponder this week: in what ways do we who follow Jesus still try to exercise our own autonomy (like Adam/Eve, and the people of Babel, and even the "heroes" of the faith like Abram, Jacob, etc.) when what we ought to do is obey God?
"When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." Genesis 9.16
"You therefore must be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5.48
If you want to join us, follow this link:
http://www.bibleplan.org/#cn
And you can have someone read it to you by visiting this link and selecting the passage for the day:
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/audio/
AND - don't fret if you miss a day. Remember it's always better to read God's Word than not to - just pick up on the day you decide to start (or re-start!).
Now - reflections for Week 1.
During this week, we've been reading from Genesis and Matthew. The beginnings of both Testaments put us in a place of awe and worship, I think.
Genesis tells us that it's all been God from the start. God is in control, and - at least for awhile - it was all as God planned. Then humankind, having been given a place of stewardship over Creation and complete fellowship with God chose to disobey. The Fall as recorded in Genesis 3 explains the human condition that we see all around us even today. Although God created all and found it very good, the stain of human sin has distorted Creation every since. Sickness, war, broken-ness in relationships, all are a consequence of things out-of-sorts and out-of-place. So it's no surprise that God is led to start over fresh (the Flood), having found one righteous man and family (Noah). leading to the first of several Covenants God makes with humanity. The Tower of Babel incident is followed quickly by the faithful response of Abram (later Abraham) to go where God asks him to go. So begins the accounts of the Patriarchs, which will dominate the readings for several weeks.
Matthew's Gospel begins to tell of Jesus, and of how he fulfills God's plan to bring a Messiah to the people of Israel, and to bring the kingdom of God to all the earth - Jew and Gentile alike. Matthew gives us the Magi (note that the number of Magi is not specified, although by tradition there is one for each gift: gold, frankincense, and myrrh) scene of the Christmas story. Fast forward to Jesus' temptation in the desert, and the beginnings of his ministry as teacher (this is big in Matthew), almost a parallel in structure to the five books of Moses can be found in the teaching sections of Jesus' ministry as Matthew records.
One question to ponder this week: in what ways do we who follow Jesus still try to exercise our own autonomy (like Adam/Eve, and the people of Babel, and even the "heroes" of the faith like Abram, Jacob, etc.) when what we ought to do is obey God?
"When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." Genesis 9.16
"You therefore must be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5.48
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