This passage occurs in the Advent season of the Revised Common Lectionary (Year A), most recently November 2016.
Big Picture: This is an awesome passage to reflect on the mission and purpose of the church. God is on a mission to heal and save the world. He gathers a group of people to study his word. As they gather more people, they are all transformed as agents of his love in this world.
*Note. While this blog overwhelmingly looks at the New Testament passages from the weekly lectionary, this week the Hebrew Bible text is so compelling, that it deserves some closer examination. For those of you that like Greek better (like me!), don't worry, there will also be some tie-ins to Greek, LXX style! (no, not XXX style. LXX style).
There are only five verses, so I want to add a few comments on each verse:
2:1 The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
"son of Amoz" Isaiah is identified here by his father (and ultimately city and tribe). Why? Because identity in this culture is bound up with family and tribe.
"The Word..." The word for "word" here is דבר, davar. Translated as "logos" in the New Testament, this word appears time and time again in the Bible. The Word of The Lord speaks to and through the Prophets. The Word of the Lord is said to be rare in the childhood days of Samuel (1 Sam 3:1) a sign of bad times. Also, the construction of the sentence in Hebrew draws attention to the word, "The Word." Typically a verb starts a sentence, but in this case, it is the noun, the Word.
"saw concerning" This word,
חזה
, (khazah), means behold or see. Normally the Word of the Lord comes to people, but in Isaiah's case, he beholds the Word. The word becomes visible!
2:2 In days to come the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it.
"In the days to come...": This specific phrase in the Bible, "In the after/end of the days" is often used in the prophets to connote the end times. In this light, the NIV "In the last days" may be closer. On other hand, the phrase may also simply mean the future. I think the best word that provides this ambiguity is: "ultimate." In the ultimate days; ultimately we hope, pray and strive that we can experience such days in our lifetime. Linguistically, it is worth noting that the verb here (to become/to come to pass/to be) is in the imperfect tense, connoting that it is on-going and incomplete.
"The Lord's House": The specific phrase used by Isaiah, "Bet-YHWH" does mean House of the Lord literally, however, it refers to the temple in Jerusalem. Tricky to translate. Do you take the historically and linguistically accurate translation of "The temple" or do you leave it as "House of the Lord." I like the idea of House of the Lord because it gives the sense that the temple is not a place of human hands or even of human worship, but the place of God's dwelling.
LXX (Greek) Note: The LXX translates the word as οικος του θεου (house of God). Interestingly, YHWH is almost always translated as κυριος (kyrios), however, not in this case. This anomaly is perhaps explained by the insertion that it is the mountain of the "kyrios," leaving the sentence with at least one incidence of "kyrios."
Technical grammar note: The preposition in the phrase, "as the highest of the mountains" is one of those strange ב or "bet"s that would have certainly found its way onto a Hebrew exam...let's not get bogged down there, but if you have a bunch of spare time, have fun categorizing that particular preposition.
"All nations" (goyim) Once, while working at my firm in New York, I was called a goyim. This is, in modern Jewish slang, often a derogatory term for non-Jews. However, in the Bible, it simply refers to the nations -- the εθνε (ethne) in Greek.
"Shall stream to it" Interestingly, another translation is "it shall shine forth to the nations." The Tanakh translation picks up this possible meaning of the word "stream." This would be interesting to insert the idea of God's people serving as example to the rest of the world.
2:3 Many peoples shall come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
"For out of Zion shall go forth instruction" The word for instruction here is "Torah" which can mean many things, including Law. The LXX will actually translate this as νομος (nomos). More broadly, Torah can also include, not simply the laws, but also the story that involves the instruction. This is probably too technical a point for a sermon, but the point that people could understand is that in the Bible, instruction never drops from the sky, but always comes to the people in a relationship and for their good.
What is also interesting is that the word for "Torah" is a cognate of "Y-R-H." This word (according to BDB) means 1) to cast; 2) to lay a foundation 3) to shoot an arrow 4) to teach (in the hiphil). There is a huge debate about how the words "teach" and "cast" became related, with theories that speculate this relates to the priestly function of "casting" omens. Another common theory is that when one casts, one points. Teaching is often a matter of pointing. I prefer the idea of teaching as laying a foundation for someone.
"the word of the LORD" Here again we have the word "Devar" (translated as logos by LXX).
"Walk in his paths". The word for walk, (הלכ) halak, (apologies on not being able to get an ending Kapf there) is used four times in this section. People walk to the mounting, the walk in his paths and twice they walk in the light. This transformation of the people is not simply about intellectual insight, it is about embodied living.
"from Jerusalem." Before, people were streaming to (אל) the city ..but now the word is going out from
מן) Jerusalem. This is a reminder that God's vision is greater than the ancient people of Israel. Likewise, the vision of God is bigger than the church.
2:4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
No language comment, but a point: Good laws (justice) leads to peace
2:5 O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD!
"Let us walk" This phrases echoes the previous verse: "They will say...come, let us..." This is why the translation, "In the last days," is not as helpful because 2:5 invites us to participate in that vision here and now.
"Light of the Lord" This is the only time that this expression appears in the Bible.
Monday, November 21, 2016
Sunday, October 16, 2016
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
This passage occurs in the Revised Common Lectionary, Year C, most recently October 2016.
Summary: I doubt many of us will preach on this passage, but I wanted to offer a look at a few quick things. Ministry is hard. But Christ is faithful.
Three words
αναλυσις (literally analysis, meaning "death", 4:6) I find it telling that analysis literally means death in Greek. Ultimately to analyze something is to break it down...to the point where it may or not be living! This is not a note suggesting that analysis is bad (this blog is devoted to analysis!), but it is reminder of how analysis can destroy the goodness, if not even life of something.
αγωνα (literally agona, meaning "struggle", 4:7) I have fought the good fight sometimes makes it sound almost romantically Olympic. The word for fight here comes into English as agony. Throughout his letters, but certainly in this chapter, Paul points toward the loneliness and even persecution that comes from serving Christ. This truly is a pastoral epistle, encouraging Timothy (and all of us) not to lose hope, even in the most difficult of times.
αγαπαω (agape, meaning "love", 4:8) This is really fascinating -- Almost every translation uses the phrase - "those who have longed for his appearing." Paul literally writes, "those who have loved his appearing." The first question is -- which appearing is Paul referring to? His first (incarnation) or his second (paraousia)? The bulk of the time Paul uses this word, it refers to the 2nd coming. However, in 2 Timothy 1:10 Paul uses this word (appearing -- επιφανεια) to refer to the 1st coming. What is also interesting is that Paul uses the perfect tense here, suggesting a state of affairs created in the past that still is in effect to the present. In that light, it seems that Paul is referring to a love that began in this first appearing and still maintains itself as a love for the 2nd appearing. I'm not sure we could easily capture this sense in English: "those who loved and continue to long for his appearing."
A Greek concept: Perfect tense
Just about every verb in this section is in the perfect tense. The perfect tense in Greek is fairly easy to identify because the Greek verb adds a repeated sound to the beginning of the verb and the endings usually have "k." Hence: τελεω becomes τετελεκα.
They are really cool because we do not have the same concept in English. The perfect suggests a completed action (like in English) but one that still has a present state of affairs.
For example, in Greek, the stone at the tomb has been rolled away . All four of those words are in the one verb in Greek, parsed in the perfect tense!! The point is that at some point, the stone was rolled away (past completed action) that still has a present impact -- the stone is not there! In the case of Paul's letter, Paul has kept (perfect) the faith. Paul did this in the past, but it has a present implication -- he still has faith! The perfect tense in English draws attention to when the action happened (completed in the past). The perfect tense in Greek draws attention to the connection between the past action and present state (like in the example above regarding love.)
Summary: I doubt many of us will preach on this passage, but I wanted to offer a look at a few quick things. Ministry is hard. But Christ is faithful.
Three words
αναλυσις (literally analysis, meaning "death", 4:6) I find it telling that analysis literally means death in Greek. Ultimately to analyze something is to break it down...to the point where it may or not be living! This is not a note suggesting that analysis is bad (this blog is devoted to analysis!), but it is reminder of how analysis can destroy the goodness, if not even life of something.
αγωνα (literally agona, meaning "struggle", 4:7) I have fought the good fight sometimes makes it sound almost romantically Olympic. The word for fight here comes into English as agony. Throughout his letters, but certainly in this chapter, Paul points toward the loneliness and even persecution that comes from serving Christ. This truly is a pastoral epistle, encouraging Timothy (and all of us) not to lose hope, even in the most difficult of times.
αγαπαω (agape, meaning "love", 4:8) This is really fascinating -- Almost every translation uses the phrase - "those who have longed for his appearing." Paul literally writes, "those who have loved his appearing." The first question is -- which appearing is Paul referring to? His first (incarnation) or his second (paraousia)? The bulk of the time Paul uses this word, it refers to the 2nd coming. However, in 2 Timothy 1:10 Paul uses this word (appearing -- επιφανεια) to refer to the 1st coming. What is also interesting is that Paul uses the perfect tense here, suggesting a state of affairs created in the past that still is in effect to the present. In that light, it seems that Paul is referring to a love that began in this first appearing and still maintains itself as a love for the 2nd appearing. I'm not sure we could easily capture this sense in English: "those who loved and continue to long for his appearing."
A Greek concept: Perfect tense
Just about every verb in this section is in the perfect tense. The perfect tense in Greek is fairly easy to identify because the Greek verb adds a repeated sound to the beginning of the verb and the endings usually have "k." Hence: τελεω becomes τετελεκα.
They are really cool because we do not have the same concept in English. The perfect suggests a completed action (like in English) but one that still has a present state of affairs.
For example, in Greek, the stone at the tomb has been rolled away . All four of those words are in the one verb in Greek, parsed in the perfect tense!! The point is that at some point, the stone was rolled away (past completed action) that still has a present impact -- the stone is not there! In the case of Paul's letter, Paul has kept (perfect) the faith. Paul did this in the past, but it has a present implication -- he still has faith! The perfect tense in English draws attention to when the action happened (completed in the past). The perfect tense in Greek draws attention to the connection between the past action and present state (like in the example above regarding love.)
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
This passage appears in the Revised Common Lectionary, Year C (most recently August 2016)
Summary: The writer of Hebrews focuses on the reality of trials and tribulations of a faithful life here on earth. The Christian life is not one of avoiding suffering, but embracing it as Christ embraced his own suffering. We follow Christ who suffered before entering glory. Along the way we have our faithful brothers and sisters to inspire us.
Key words:
πιστει (pistei, dative of πιστος , meaning "faith", throughout chapter 11). I discuss this word and its use in my last week's post for Hebrews 11.
μαρτυρων (genitive form of μαρτυς, martys, meaning "testimony"; 12:1) As I've written about 100 times before the word μαρτυς simply meant witness in a legal sense. However, so many Christians died giving their witness, that the meaning of the word changed. Here in Hebrews 12 we already see the shift in the meaning of this word, in that suffering is clearly connected with witnessing. While we may not have modern martyrs in the same sense of direct persecution for faith, most of us have received a powerful witness from someone whose faith endured suffering and obstacles.
αγωνα (agona, meaning "race" or "struggle"; 12:1) The word is essentially agony! We are invited into agony for Christ. This word appears in another verse in relationship to witness:
1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight (αγωνα) of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Translating it as race makes sense given the verb "run" used in 12:1. However, this may seem like a competition against others. The focus here is on the struggle against sin.
This word can also mean "heat" like run a "heat." Or life on earth is like a heat!
αρχηγον (archegon, meaning "pioneer"; 12:2) The word comes from two basic Greek words: αρχη meaning first or primary; ηγον a derivative of αγω meaning lead. Jesus is the first leader! Moving beyond word games, this word appears twice in the letter to the Hebrews. In 12:2 but also 2:10
Hebrews 2:10 It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer (αρχηγον) of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Hebrews 12:2 looking to Jesus the pioneer (αρχηγον) and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
Both verses speak of Christ attaining perfection and pioneering our faith. But both also clearly go via the way of the cross. Christ leads the way, but it is always through Calvary.
Some fancy word play:
The writer of Hebrews plays on some words here in a way impossible to detect in English.
περικειμενον vs ευπεριστατον: In 12:1 the writer says that we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses; sin is clinging to us. Both words have a similar root: περι (peri, around). The cloud of witnesses is abiding around us; sin is also standing around us. The word describing sin is quite interesting: ευπεριστατον which breaks down into ευ-περι-στατον: Pleased-around-standing. Sin is happy to stand around us!
Sermon connection: How we can be reminded of the cloud of witnesses, that they may be ever before us as much as sin is?
περικειμονον vs προκειμενον. Both words have at their root: κειμον from κειμαι meaning "lie around." περι (peri) means around vs προ (pro) means before. The cloud of witnesses surrounds us for what lay head of us. And what does lay ahead of us? Agony here but glory later.
Sermon connection: What challenges do you have before you?
Summary: The writer of Hebrews focuses on the reality of trials and tribulations of a faithful life here on earth. The Christian life is not one of avoiding suffering, but embracing it as Christ embraced his own suffering. We follow Christ who suffered before entering glory. Along the way we have our faithful brothers and sisters to inspire us.
Key words:
πιστει (pistei, dative of πιστος , meaning "faith", throughout chapter 11). I discuss this word and its use in my last week's post for Hebrews 11.
μαρτυρων (genitive form of μαρτυς, martys, meaning "testimony"; 12:1) As I've written about 100 times before the word μαρτυς simply meant witness in a legal sense. However, so many Christians died giving their witness, that the meaning of the word changed. Here in Hebrews 12 we already see the shift in the meaning of this word, in that suffering is clearly connected with witnessing. While we may not have modern martyrs in the same sense of direct persecution for faith, most of us have received a powerful witness from someone whose faith endured suffering and obstacles.
αγωνα (agona, meaning "race" or "struggle"; 12:1) The word is essentially agony! We are invited into agony for Christ. This word appears in another verse in relationship to witness:
1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight (αγωνα) of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Translating it as race makes sense given the verb "run" used in 12:1. However, this may seem like a competition against others. The focus here is on the struggle against sin.
This word can also mean "heat" like run a "heat." Or life on earth is like a heat!
αρχηγον (archegon, meaning "pioneer"; 12:2) The word comes from two basic Greek words: αρχη meaning first or primary; ηγον a derivative of αγω meaning lead. Jesus is the first leader! Moving beyond word games, this word appears twice in the letter to the Hebrews. In 12:2 but also 2:10
Hebrews 2:10 It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer (αρχηγον) of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Hebrews 12:2 looking to Jesus the pioneer (αρχηγον) and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
Both verses speak of Christ attaining perfection and pioneering our faith. But both also clearly go via the way of the cross. Christ leads the way, but it is always through Calvary.
Some fancy word play:
The writer of Hebrews plays on some words here in a way impossible to detect in English.
περικειμενον vs ευπεριστατον: In 12:1 the writer says that we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses; sin is clinging to us. Both words have a similar root: περι (peri, around). The cloud of witnesses is abiding around us; sin is also standing around us. The word describing sin is quite interesting: ευπεριστατον which breaks down into ευ-περι-στατον: Pleased-around-standing. Sin is happy to stand around us!
Sermon connection: How we can be reminded of the cloud of witnesses, that they may be ever before us as much as sin is?
περικειμονον vs προκειμενον. Both words have at their root: κειμον from κειμαι meaning "lie around." περι (peri) means around vs προ (pro) means before. The cloud of witnesses surrounds us for what lay head of us. And what does lay ahead of us? Agony here but glory later.
Sermon connection: What challenges do you have before you?
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Hebrews 11:1-3;8-16
This reading occurs in the Revised Common Lectionary, Year C. The Roman Catholic church includes slightly different verses, including either Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 or Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-12.
Summary: The writer of Hebrews uses an advanced style of Greek that makes reading it more difficult. I have included a number more technical notes than usual if you want to dig in. The big picture is this: Faith is a mighty, hard and costly matter. A good preacher should be able to extol the power of faith. A better preacher should help the people see that their faith is not their own, but a gift from God, that comes to us by the Spirit and the Word. A great preacher, dare I say it, preaches in such a way that people hear the Word and by the Spirit have this faith. As Jesus says in the related Gospel passage: Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (12:32)."
Key words and grammar insights:
υποστασις (hypostasis, meaning "confidence"; 11:1) Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is the word from all of the Trinitarian debates: One ousia and three hypostases! First, let's break down this word: It comes from υπο- meaning "under" and -στασις meaning "a standing." The hypostasis is the thing that settles to the ground; the foundation. This becomes understood metaphorically then as the base of confidence. The thing upon which you can stand, not just literally, but emotionally.
This is an interesting way of looking at the Trinity -- we have one substance (God) but we have means of confidence, three bedrocks of our life: the creation, the cross and the community of faith. Okay, I got a little cute there...
ελεγχος (elegchos, meaning "testing; 11:1). Liddell-Scott defines this word as "a cross-examining, testing, for purposes of disproof or refutation." Three facts that seem useless:
- It is only used once in the New Testament;
- Old Testament it is found almost exclusively in translations of wisdom literature;
- It has a different meaning if it is declined as a neuter instead of masculine noun.
What is important here: It is really hard to figure out what this word actually means because you cannot get many similar uses as the one here. The other meaning of the word is "rebuke" which makes no sense in this context. If anything, faith is the rebuke of things seen!
ελπιζομενων (participle form of ελπιζω, meaning "hope"; 11:1) How to translate this participle? First, it does not have any article, which would seem to rule out a substantive or an adjective participle. Second, it is in the genitive case and there are no other nearby words in this case, making it difficult to translates as a circumstantial participle. The word that helps us know how to translate this participle is πραγματων. This word is also a genitive neuter plural word meaning "things." There is a parallel structure in the sentence now genitive plural object - nominative singular subject. I would argue to translate ελπιζομενων as a genitive substantive participle
ελπιζομενων υποστασις assurance of things hoped for
πραγματων ελεγχος: proof of things (unseen)
You could argue that ελπιζομενων modifies πραγματων; in this case the above translation (and how everyone translates it) does not change.
βλεπομεν (participle form of βλεπω, meaning "to see"; 11:1;3) This word appears in both verse 1 and 3 in different participle forms. The point is that faith and sight are often not connected. The other point is that God can bring about things that we cannot yet see. Who would have predicted that Africa would be the heart of Christianity over a century ago? Who would believe in life after death when sitting with someone as they die in suffering? Who would believe in forgiveness when they have seen the pain that people cause?
εμαρτυρηθσαν (from μαρτυρεω, martyreo, meaning "testify"; 11:2) As I written about before, Christians changed the meaning of this word. Because so many Christians were killed for their witness, the word martyr came to mean to die for one's witness! The sentence literally reads "the elders were martyred in this faith." In this case, the word means "be well spoken of", like a "we can say about them now" kind of thing. But the most literal translation should shake us up. Faith has a cost!
πρεσβυτεροι (presbyter(oi) meaning "elder"; 11:2) This word can mean ancestors but also simply elders. In the early church this became a position of leadership and is still used today in various churches to designate leadership.!
πιστει (dative form of πιστις, meaning "faith"; 11:3 and then throughout the passage). The writer of Hebrews will begin using the word πιστει repeatedly. It is the word for faith in the dative case. The dative case can have many meanings, most likely in this case the "instrumental" idea. (By means of faith...) In English, we almost always have to have words with prepositions to show how they fit together. Greek can simply "decline" them in cases so show their meanings.
κατηρτισθαι (form of καταρτιζω, meaning "restore", 11:3) This is fascinating. Typically translators understand 11:3 to refer to creation -- the old creation. This would make sense in that the writer of Hebrews is going to begin a retelling of the Old Testament. But the writer intentionally chooses restore (as in Galatians 6:1: If someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently). I wonder if the writer of Hebrews here is connecting the old and new creation: God is restoring the new creation -- at his word -- having made the seen from the unseen. My sense is that belief in God's work in making the new creation takes more faith than belief in God's work in making the old creation! I don't think translating this in terms of the old testament creation is wrong (in fact the verb tenses later in the verse suggest this as well as, again, the whole framework of the passage). I just think there might be a small note of the new creation joining the chorus here.
Little bonus: In verse 10 you find a curious word for builder: δημιουργος or demiurge of gnostic faith!
Summary: The writer of Hebrews uses an advanced style of Greek that makes reading it more difficult. I have included a number more technical notes than usual if you want to dig in. The big picture is this: Faith is a mighty, hard and costly matter. A good preacher should be able to extol the power of faith. A better preacher should help the people see that their faith is not their own, but a gift from God, that comes to us by the Spirit and the Word. A great preacher, dare I say it, preaches in such a way that people hear the Word and by the Spirit have this faith. As Jesus says in the related Gospel passage: Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (12:32)."
Key words and grammar insights:
υποστασις (hypostasis, meaning "confidence"; 11:1) Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is the word from all of the Trinitarian debates: One ousia and three hypostases! First, let's break down this word: It comes from υπο- meaning "under" and -στασις meaning "a standing." The hypostasis is the thing that settles to the ground; the foundation. This becomes understood metaphorically then as the base of confidence. The thing upon which you can stand, not just literally, but emotionally.
This is an interesting way of looking at the Trinity -- we have one substance (God) but we have means of confidence, three bedrocks of our life: the creation, the cross and the community of faith. Okay, I got a little cute there...
ελεγχος (elegchos, meaning "testing; 11:1). Liddell-Scott defines this word as "a cross-examining, testing, for purposes of disproof or refutation." Three facts that seem useless:
- It is only used once in the New Testament;
- Old Testament it is found almost exclusively in translations of wisdom literature;
- It has a different meaning if it is declined as a neuter instead of masculine noun.
What is important here: It is really hard to figure out what this word actually means because you cannot get many similar uses as the one here. The other meaning of the word is "rebuke" which makes no sense in this context. If anything, faith is the rebuke of things seen!
ελπιζομενων (participle form of ελπιζω, meaning "hope"; 11:1) How to translate this participle? First, it does not have any article, which would seem to rule out a substantive or an adjective participle. Second, it is in the genitive case and there are no other nearby words in this case, making it difficult to translates as a circumstantial participle. The word that helps us know how to translate this participle is πραγματων. This word is also a genitive neuter plural word meaning "things." There is a parallel structure in the sentence now genitive plural object - nominative singular subject. I would argue to translate ελπιζομενων as a genitive substantive participle
ελπιζομενων υποστασις assurance of things hoped for
πραγματων ελεγχος: proof of things (unseen)
You could argue that ελπιζομενων modifies πραγματων; in this case the above translation (and how everyone translates it) does not change.
βλεπομεν (participle form of βλεπω, meaning "to see"; 11:1;3) This word appears in both verse 1 and 3 in different participle forms. The point is that faith and sight are often not connected. The other point is that God can bring about things that we cannot yet see. Who would have predicted that Africa would be the heart of Christianity over a century ago? Who would believe in life after death when sitting with someone as they die in suffering? Who would believe in forgiveness when they have seen the pain that people cause?
εμαρτυρηθσαν (from μαρτυρεω, martyreo, meaning "testify"; 11:2) As I written about before, Christians changed the meaning of this word. Because so many Christians were killed for their witness, the word martyr came to mean to die for one's witness! The sentence literally reads "the elders were martyred in this faith." In this case, the word means "be well spoken of", like a "we can say about them now" kind of thing. But the most literal translation should shake us up. Faith has a cost!
πρεσβυτεροι (presbyter(oi) meaning "elder"; 11:2) This word can mean ancestors but also simply elders. In the early church this became a position of leadership and is still used today in various churches to designate leadership.!
πιστει (dative form of πιστις, meaning "faith"; 11:3 and then throughout the passage). The writer of Hebrews will begin using the word πιστει repeatedly. It is the word for faith in the dative case. The dative case can have many meanings, most likely in this case the "instrumental" idea. (By means of faith...) In English, we almost always have to have words with prepositions to show how they fit together. Greek can simply "decline" them in cases so show their meanings.
κατηρτισθαι (form of καταρτιζω, meaning "restore", 11:3) This is fascinating. Typically translators understand 11:3 to refer to creation -- the old creation. This would make sense in that the writer of Hebrews is going to begin a retelling of the Old Testament. But the writer intentionally chooses restore (as in Galatians 6:1: If someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently). I wonder if the writer of Hebrews here is connecting the old and new creation: God is restoring the new creation -- at his word -- having made the seen from the unseen. My sense is that belief in God's work in making the new creation takes more faith than belief in God's work in making the old creation! I don't think translating this in terms of the old testament creation is wrong (in fact the verb tenses later in the verse suggest this as well as, again, the whole framework of the passage). I just think there might be a small note of the new creation joining the chorus here.
Little bonus: In verse 10 you find a curious word for builder: δημιουργος or demiurge of gnostic faith!
Monday, July 11, 2016
Genesis 18:1-15 (Genesis 18:1-10a)
This passage is found in the RCL , Year C, most recently in the summer of 2016. In this case, it is Genesis 18:1-10a
This passage is found in the Narrative Lectionary Year 2 (Most recently: Sept 20, 2015).
Summary: Right after the beautiful image of Adam and Eve in the garden, we get a glimpse of real families and the problems: infertility, if not infidelity and all sorts of sibling rivalries. What is at stake? Can God be a faithful God over and against human sin and weakness? The answer here is clearly "yes."
איש ("ish", meaning "man", 18:2) The word here does not mean angels, dieties or anything else divine. It simply means man. Which raises all sorts of interesting questions. First, do the three men represent the Trinity? This seems unlikely. Why? First, the two men separate themselves from the "LORD" (18:22). This seems a strange behavior for the Trinity, supposedly united in an eternal dance of love. Second, the two men are referred to as "messengers" (or angels in 19:1). Even the New Testament refers to them as angels (Hebrews 13:2). It seems strange to refer to the second and third person of the trinity as messengers/angels!
Side note on ancient languages: In both Hebrew and Greek, the word for messenger (αγγελος or
מלאכים) is the same as the word for angel (think ev-angelical means good -message!).
Second, can God take a human form without the incarnation? This seems really intriguing. Was God merely appearing as a human...or was God actually taking human form...or is God always in human form? Well, for starters, food was consumed (18:8). Real food! Real stomachs! This was not just a ghost, but a living human being. It seems possible that God could, in fact, take a human form...but this makes a strange case for the significant of Christmas. The significance of Christmas is not that God became human but HOW God became human, namely as a virtual refugee born among animals and proclaimed to shepherds.
צחק ("saqaq", meaning "laugh", 18:12) Simply play on words: Sarah "laughs" (saqaq) and will name her child "he laughs" (Yitzhak, or anglicized, "Isaac")
היפלא ("hi-iphaleh" two words, meaning "if wonderful", 18:14) Some translations take this in a negative way, "Is anything too difficult or too hard." The root here is one of wonderful and miracle -- is anything too amazing, too miraculous for God.
TWOT offers a great insight into this word (really root word) about the fact that the miracle is not as important as the revealed fact that God is for (or against) us.
"Preponderantly both the verb and substantive refer to the acts of God, designating either cosmic wonders or historical achievements on behalf of Israel. that is, in the Bible the root pl° refers to things that are unusual, beyond human capabilities. As such, it awakens astonishment (pl°) in man. Thus, the "real importance of the miraculous for faith (is) -not in its material factuality, but in its evidential character... it is not, generally speaking, the especially abnormal character of the event which makes it a miracle; what strikes men forcibly is a clear impression of God's care or retribution within it" (Eichrodt). We may add that it is essential that the miracle is so abnormal as to be unexplainable except as showing God's care or retribution."
This passage is found in the Narrative Lectionary Year 2 (Most recently: Sept 20, 2015).
Summary: Right after the beautiful image of Adam and Eve in the garden, we get a glimpse of real families and the problems: infertility, if not infidelity and all sorts of sibling rivalries. What is at stake? Can God be a faithful God over and against human sin and weakness? The answer here is clearly "yes."
איש ("ish", meaning "man", 18:2) The word here does not mean angels, dieties or anything else divine. It simply means man. Which raises all sorts of interesting questions. First, do the three men represent the Trinity? This seems unlikely. Why? First, the two men separate themselves from the "LORD" (18:22). This seems a strange behavior for the Trinity, supposedly united in an eternal dance of love. Second, the two men are referred to as "messengers" (or angels in 19:1). Even the New Testament refers to them as angels (Hebrews 13:2). It seems strange to refer to the second and third person of the trinity as messengers/angels!
Side note on ancient languages: In both Hebrew and Greek, the word for messenger (αγγελος or
מלאכים) is the same as the word for angel (think ev-angelical means good -message!).
Second, can God take a human form without the incarnation? This seems really intriguing. Was God merely appearing as a human...or was God actually taking human form...or is God always in human form? Well, for starters, food was consumed (18:8). Real food! Real stomachs! This was not just a ghost, but a living human being. It seems possible that God could, in fact, take a human form...but this makes a strange case for the significant of Christmas. The significance of Christmas is not that God became human but HOW God became human, namely as a virtual refugee born among animals and proclaimed to shepherds.
צחק ("saqaq", meaning "laugh", 18:12) Simply play on words: Sarah "laughs" (saqaq) and will name her child "he laughs" (Yitzhak, or anglicized, "Isaac")
היפלא ("hi-iphaleh" two words, meaning "if wonderful", 18:14) Some translations take this in a negative way, "Is anything too difficult or too hard." The root here is one of wonderful and miracle -- is anything too amazing, too miraculous for God.
TWOT offers a great insight into this word (really root word) about the fact that the miracle is not as important as the revealed fact that God is for (or against) us.
"Preponderantly both the verb and substantive refer to the acts of God, designating either cosmic wonders or historical achievements on behalf of Israel. that is, in the Bible the root pl° refers to things that are unusual, beyond human capabilities. As such, it awakens astonishment (pl°) in man. Thus, the "real importance of the miraculous for faith (is) -not in its material factuality, but in its evidential character... it is not, generally speaking, the especially abnormal character of the event which makes it a miracle; what strikes men forcibly is a clear impression of God's care or retribution within it" (Eichrodt). We may add that it is essential that the miracle is so abnormal as to be unexplainable except as showing God's care or retribution."
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Colossians 1:1-14
This passage is found in the RCL year C, last appearing in Summer 2016.
Summary: This passage is unlikely see much preaching time because it is paired with the parable of the Good Samaritan! But there is some interesting stuff in here, especially as one considers the rest of the letter. Overall, Paul really expects the people who believe in Christ to live differently than the rest of society. Living as a follower of Christ never was, is or will be easy. But no fear, for Christ is the true hero, the one who has come to rescue us.
Key words:
αγιοις (hagios, meaning "saint", 1:2) This word is a tough one to translate. Literally it means "holy ones" or latinized, "saints." In the original church, the believers viewed each other as saints. Overtime, this term came to refer to a small number of Christians (the "marines" if you will). But in the original church it was everyone. So do we translate this as "saints" reminding people that they, as Christians, are saints, or do we avoid this word to avoid its every day meaning as a "1-in-1000 person who someone how rose above the rest of us."
ευχαριστουμεν (from ευχαριστω, "eucharistoo", meaning "thanksgiving", 1:3) Just a quick reminder that our fancy Holy Communion term "Eucharist" meanings "thanksgiving." It was used in the New Testament not simply to refer to the action of Jesus in Holy Communion (he gave thanks) but also to refer to any giving of thanks to God!
καρποφορουμενον (from "καρποφορεω", meaning "bear fruit", 1:6) This summer's Biblical theme ought to be fruit. Although we've left Galatians, Paul continues to talk about the idea of bearing fruit!
αξιος ("axios," meaning "worthy", 1:10) Some scholars consider Colossians deutero-Pauline, in that Paul did not write it. Typically such scholars really do not like the housevcodes at the end of the letter. I don't agree with this assessment; I think Colossians is very much like Paul; if not him, then someone who studied a great deal under Paul and who was him or herself brilliant and inspired wrote it. But lest we think that worthiness is not a Pauline concept:
Philippians 1:27 Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ
Romans 16:2 So that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well.
1 Thessalonians 2:12 Encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
See also Ephesians 4:1: I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.
Some words on atonement and the work of Christ
The letter to the Colossians quickly shifts away from prayers for the believers and moves into a hymn of Christ's praise. In this week's passage we read a few metaphors used to describe for the work of Christ:
- κληρου (from κληρος, "kleros" meaning "inheritance", 1:12)
We gain an inheritance in Christ.
- ερρυσατο (from ρυομαι, "hermai" meaning "rescue, 1:13)
Christ rescued us from darkness (literally the word is hero!)
- απολυτρωσιν (from απολυτρωσις, "apolytrosis" meaning "redemption, 1:14)
Christ redeemed us through forgiveness.
In some ways, these are all classic theological notions involve the Christ who suffers and then defeats death. What new insights or perspectives might Colossians offer us? It seems though that the redemption is not (or at least not primarily) from God's wrath, but rather the powers of sin. Sin has a really power to captivate us. This does put us before God's wrath (3:6), but this is not the real problem, rather sin is. To put it another way, Colossians is not describing substitutionary atonement (where Jesus takes our place on the cross and therefore the punishment of our sins) and more of a synthetic atonement where Christ's death and resurrection have cause in us the death of the old and the rising of the new.
We need a hero. Who has finally arrived!
Monday, July 4, 2016
Luke 10:25-37
This passage occurs in the RCL, Year C. Most recently Summer of 2016.
Summary: This is a classic passage that needs no complex exegesis to make it understandable. One can tell it as a morality tale (we should be the Good Samaritan); or one go a Lutheran route (Christ is the Good Samaritan). But if you want to try something else...A word I'd never caught before was the word for inn -- πανδοχειον -- literally all-are-welcome. I find this a comforting image of the church -- a place where anyone and everyone comes to receive mercy and healing on the road of life. (okay, okay, it is not a great image of repentance, but nonetheless, it is worth pondering: why do people find comfort at a local bar/inn and not the church).
Other words:
σπλαγχνιζομαι ("splagchnizoma", meaning "compassion", 10.33) This word means compassion in Greek; it comes from intestines. To have compassion meant your guts were turned over.
ζωην (from ζωη "zooe" meaning life, 10.25) In John's Gospel Jesus affirms that everlasting life is not something that begins after death, but begins here. You can really see this in the Greek in his Gospel, where many of the tenses regarding everlasting life are in the present: he who believes HAS everlasting life (John 3:36). In this passage from Luke, Jesus also connects everlasting life with earthly life. (Do this, Jesus says, and you will live.) Jesus denies a distinction between everlasting life (the lawyers' question) and life. To live with God is everlasting life, which begins here on earth. However, Luke here connects them with moral action. What does everlasting life look and feel like? Like showing mercy. I have no desire to drive a wedge between Luke and John or between faith and works here. Simply, the everlasting life is the life in the new creation, where our faith transforms us into God's instruments of mercy.
πως ("poos" meaning "how", 10.26) Jesus does not say, "What does the law say?" Rather he says, "How do you read the law?" A reminder that people can read the same laws in different ways!
Summary: This is a classic passage that needs no complex exegesis to make it understandable. One can tell it as a morality tale (we should be the Good Samaritan); or one go a Lutheran route (Christ is the Good Samaritan). But if you want to try something else...A word I'd never caught before was the word for inn -- πανδοχειον -- literally all-are-welcome. I find this a comforting image of the church -- a place where anyone and everyone comes to receive mercy and healing on the road of life. (okay, okay, it is not a great image of repentance, but nonetheless, it is worth pondering: why do people find comfort at a local bar/inn and not the church).
Other words:
σπλαγχνιζομαι ("splagchnizoma", meaning "compassion", 10.33) This word means compassion in Greek; it comes from intestines. To have compassion meant your guts were turned over.
ζωην (from ζωη "zooe" meaning life, 10.25) In John's Gospel Jesus affirms that everlasting life is not something that begins after death, but begins here. You can really see this in the Greek in his Gospel, where many of the tenses regarding everlasting life are in the present: he who believes HAS everlasting life (John 3:36). In this passage from Luke, Jesus also connects everlasting life with earthly life. (Do this, Jesus says, and you will live.) Jesus denies a distinction between everlasting life (the lawyers' question) and life. To live with God is everlasting life, which begins here on earth. However, Luke here connects them with moral action. What does everlasting life look and feel like? Like showing mercy. I have no desire to drive a wedge between Luke and John or between faith and works here. Simply, the everlasting life is the life in the new creation, where our faith transforms us into God's instruments of mercy.
πως ("poos" meaning "how", 10.26) Jesus does not say, "What does the law say?" Rather he says, "How do you read the law?" A reminder that people can read the same laws in different ways!
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Luke 7:36-8:3
This passage occurs in the RCL during year C, most recently June 2016.
This passage also occurs in the Narrative Lectionary, Year 3, most recently Feb. 2017.
Summary: A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. story. It is a beautiful story of what forgiveness looks and feels like.
It is profound that this passage is paired with the Galatians 2:15-21 reading. In that passage we hear about what the process of justification (forgiveness) and sanctification (Christian living) look like in propositional truth form. In this passage, we see what it looks like in narrative form. I love the Paul passage, but the Luke one may be easier to preach on. What does justification look like: The world's opinion of you has not changed, but you can worship the crucified savior. What does sanctification look like: The world's opinion of you has not changed, but you can go in peace. As either Paul or Luke portray it, sin does not go away, either inside or outside, but Christ's love, given to us in faith, gives peace and joy.
Key words:
ηλειφεν (from αλειφω, aleipho, meaning "anoint", 7:38) This word is interesting because of where it appears in the Old Testament (or the Old Testament translated into Greek, the Septuagint). Priests were anointed (Exodus 40:13; Numbers 3:3); those in grief mourn (2 Samuel 12:20; 14:2). Either of these offer great ways to think about Jesus: He is being anointed priest by a grand sinner; or the woman is in mourning over his death. I vote for the later because she uses μυρον (7:37) or myrrh, which is used for the burial of the dead.
Note: Although this word means anointed, it is not the same word as anoint like a king. That word in Greek is "Christ"!
αγαπη (agape, meaning "love", 7:42) The proper/necessary/automatic response to forgiveness is love. Duh. But...why is this not always the case for us when we experience forgiveness? Perhaps we do not believe we have sinned; perhaps we do not know what love is. The story suggests that the Pharisee, being unaware of his sins, did not appreciate his forgiveness and therefore did not love (or know how to love?). If this is the case, then good preaching should make us feel really bad (right!?) in order to make us realize how much Jesus loves us. I think this is somewhat true, but I wonder what else there might be.
Another take: the new creation loves and rejoices in forgiveness. But this is often hidden from us. We don't feel forgiveness and we don't feel love when we are in church and experience church. God preaching reminds us that even when we don't "feel" it, God is still present, forgiving us and renewing us, even amid death and sin, that are always present realities.
To put it another way -- how do I know I am forgiven? We have permission to worship the cruficified savior.
εχαρισατο (from χαριζομαι, charizomai, meaning "forgive" or "grace", 7:42) It is important, at least to me, to acknowledge that humans do not forgive each other. We can be gracious to each other and cancel debts, but forgiveness of sin belongs to God. This is why there is such consternation that Jesus actually forgives (αφιημι). Outside of commissioned priests, finding examples of humans forgiving each other is truly rare in Scripture, if arguably at all. We are called to be gracious to one another and forgive (if not bear) one another's burdens. But when it comes to a final reckoning, this belongs to God, and not my neighbor.
σεσωκεν (from σωζω, sozo, meaning "save", 7:50) Beautiful use of perfect tense in Greek. The faith saved her in the past but creates a future state of being saved.
ειρηνην (Irene (extra "n" is because its accusative case), meaning "peace" 7:50) This is a stark look at the peace of Christ. The community looks down on her, yet she has peace. Peace in Christ does not mean the external reality has changed. It means inside we know who Jesus is and that Jesus loves us.
αυτιας ("of theirs", 8:3) This feminine plural dative...means this: women were funding Jesus ministry. They were also commissioned.
This passage also occurs in the Narrative Lectionary, Year 3, most recently Feb. 2017.
Summary: A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. story. It is a beautiful story of what forgiveness looks and feels like.
It is profound that this passage is paired with the Galatians 2:15-21 reading. In that passage we hear about what the process of justification (forgiveness) and sanctification (Christian living) look like in propositional truth form. In this passage, we see what it looks like in narrative form. I love the Paul passage, but the Luke one may be easier to preach on. What does justification look like: The world's opinion of you has not changed, but you can worship the crucified savior. What does sanctification look like: The world's opinion of you has not changed, but you can go in peace. As either Paul or Luke portray it, sin does not go away, either inside or outside, but Christ's love, given to us in faith, gives peace and joy.
Key words:
ηλειφεν (from αλειφω, aleipho, meaning "anoint", 7:38) This word is interesting because of where it appears in the Old Testament (or the Old Testament translated into Greek, the Septuagint). Priests were anointed (Exodus 40:13; Numbers 3:3); those in grief mourn (2 Samuel 12:20; 14:2). Either of these offer great ways to think about Jesus: He is being anointed priest by a grand sinner; or the woman is in mourning over his death. I vote for the later because she uses μυρον (7:37) or myrrh, which is used for the burial of the dead.
Note: Although this word means anointed, it is not the same word as anoint like a king. That word in Greek is "Christ"!
αγαπη (agape, meaning "love", 7:42) The proper/necessary/automatic response to forgiveness is love. Duh. But...why is this not always the case for us when we experience forgiveness? Perhaps we do not believe we have sinned; perhaps we do not know what love is. The story suggests that the Pharisee, being unaware of his sins, did not appreciate his forgiveness and therefore did not love (or know how to love?). If this is the case, then good preaching should make us feel really bad (right!?) in order to make us realize how much Jesus loves us. I think this is somewhat true, but I wonder what else there might be.
Another take: the new creation loves and rejoices in forgiveness. But this is often hidden from us. We don't feel forgiveness and we don't feel love when we are in church and experience church. God preaching reminds us that even when we don't "feel" it, God is still present, forgiving us and renewing us, even amid death and sin, that are always present realities.
To put it another way -- how do I know I am forgiven? We have permission to worship the cruficified savior.
εχαρισατο (from χαριζομαι, charizomai, meaning "forgive" or "grace", 7:42) It is important, at least to me, to acknowledge that humans do not forgive each other. We can be gracious to each other and cancel debts, but forgiveness of sin belongs to God. This is why there is such consternation that Jesus actually forgives (αφιημι). Outside of commissioned priests, finding examples of humans forgiving each other is truly rare in Scripture, if arguably at all. We are called to be gracious to one another and forgive (if not bear) one another's burdens. But when it comes to a final reckoning, this belongs to God, and not my neighbor.
σεσωκεν (from σωζω, sozo, meaning "save", 7:50) Beautiful use of perfect tense in Greek. The faith saved her in the past but creates a future state of being saved.
ειρηνην (Irene (extra "n" is because its accusative case), meaning "peace" 7:50) This is a stark look at the peace of Christ. The community looks down on her, yet she has peace. Peace in Christ does not mean the external reality has changed. It means inside we know who Jesus is and that Jesus loves us.
αυτιας ("of theirs", 8:3) This feminine plural dative...means this: women were funding Jesus ministry. They were also commissioned.
Monday, June 6, 2016
Galatians 2:11-21
This passage occurs as the RCL New Testament lesson during year C, most recently June 2016. It sometimes appears as Galatians 2:15-21.
Summary: I feel like Paul's point is easier than to sing than to preach: We are saved by grace; we still sin; Christ dwells in us. The solution to sin is not a better you or me, but Christ dwelling in me and you.
Last lectionary cycle (2013) I played with the phrase "orthopedics" and walking with the Gospel. I wore two shoes. The first shoe was for the the law. In fact, I wore no show on one foot. I could only see my bear, stinky, calloused and splotchy haired feet: A reminder I am a mortal sinner who is not God. The other shoe was a work boot for the mission trip. Christ forgives us but also makes a home in us, so that, just like him, we might live for God, which of course, means a life of praise and service toward the neighbor.
Key words and concepts:
κατεγνωμενος ("condemned," καταγινωσκω, 2:11) Some translations stick in a "self-condemned" here because the verb is in the passive. (It literally reads "He was condemned".) Not sure if it is fair to read this as self-condemned or not. What I do know is that the NIV's "he was in the wrong" is about a sugar coated as a summer fair cotton candy stick...
αφοριζω ("set aside," 2:12) Being set aside is not always a bad thing. Paul says he is "set aside" to be an apostle (Rom 1:1) and Paul even addresses this fact in Gal 1:15!! For what are we as baptized Christians set-aside?
ορθοποδεω ("walk consistent with", 2:14). (Loan word in English: orthopedics!) Paul here talks about walking correctly toward/with the truth of the gospel! Great image. This is perhaps our goal as pastors, to give people the right shoe! Somehow walking with Christ includes being crucified with him and living to God (2:20).
Side note: This word is a only used once in the New Testament. Sometimes people use the frequency of infrequent words to justify Pauline authorship. Unfortunately, there are just as many single use words (technically: hapax legomenon) in Galatians as in Ephesians, a letter whose authorship is often debated; for a nice article on the difficulties of using hapax legomenon as evidence of authorship, see a good wikipedia article.
πιστεως χριστου ("faith of Christ", 2:16): This is a little phrase in a big theological debate: How to translate: Faith of Jesus Christ? There are two clear options:
A) Objective genitive: The genitive is the object; faith's object is Jesus Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ.
B) Subjective genitive: The genitive is the subject; Jesus Christ is the subject who has the faith. Jesus Christ's faith
If you push toward objective translation, you are basically saying we are justified by Christ's faith in God, which may mean our own faith is not necessary for salvation. I am comfortable leaving this translation ambiguity, because Galatians 2:19-20 argues that our and Christ's hearts became one in faith anyway!
For those curious, though, the NET Bible summarizes the challenge: A decision is difficult here. Though traditionally translated "faith in Jesus Christ," an increasing number of NT scholars are arguing that πιστεως χριστου and similar phrases in Paul (Rom 3:22, 26; Gal 2:16, 20; 3:22; Eph 3:12; Phil 3:9) involve a subjective genitive and mean "Christ's faith" or "Christ's faithfulness" (cf., e.g., G. Howard, "The 'Faith of Christ'," ExpTim 85 [1974]: 212-15; R. B. Hays, The Faith of Jesus Christ [SBLDS]; Morna D. Hooker, "πιστις χριστου," NTS 35 [1989]: 321-42). Noteworthy among the arguments for the subjective genitive view is that when πιστεως takes a personal genitive it is almost never an objective genitive (cf. Matt 9:2, 22, 29; Mark 2:5; 5:34; 10:52; Luke 5:20; 7:50; 8:25, 48; 17:19; 18:42; 22:32; Rom 1:8; 12; 3:3; 4:5, 12, 16; 1 Cor 2:5; 15:14, 17; 2 Cor 10:15; Phil 2:17; Col 1:4; 2:5; 1 Thess 1:8; 3:2, 5, 10; 2 Thess 1:3; Titus 1:1; Phlm 6; 1 Pet 1:9, 21; 2 Pet 1:5). On the other hand, the objective genitive view has its adherents: A. Hultgren, "The Pistis Christou Formulations in Paul," NovT 22 (1980): 248-63; J. D. G. Dunn, "Once More, PISTIS CRISTOU," SBL Seminar Papers, 1991, 730-44. Most commentaries on Romans and Galatians usually side with the objective view.
Some grammar odds and ends:
2:12 Lesson on infinitive phrases: The phrase "Before they came..." is in "articular infinitive with preposition" construct. Which basically means it reads like this: "Before the coming them" and should be translated, "Before they came." First translation help: The subject of any infinitive phrase in Greek is in the accusative. Second translation help. The verb here is in the aorist. Which suggests not as much past time but "point" or "event" time. Before the event of their coming...or even "Before their arrival."
2:14 Lesson on the subjunctive: Paul uses an "ei" clause; because the verb of the clause is in the indicative and not the subjunctive, you can (and should) translate the "ei" as "since" and not "if."
Summary: I feel like Paul's point is easier than to sing than to preach: We are saved by grace; we still sin; Christ dwells in us. The solution to sin is not a better you or me, but Christ dwelling in me and you.
Last lectionary cycle (2013) I played with the phrase "orthopedics" and walking with the Gospel. I wore two shoes. The first shoe was for the the law. In fact, I wore no show on one foot. I could only see my bear, stinky, calloused and splotchy haired feet: A reminder I am a mortal sinner who is not God. The other shoe was a work boot for the mission trip. Christ forgives us but also makes a home in us, so that, just like him, we might live for God, which of course, means a life of praise and service toward the neighbor.
Key words and concepts:
κατεγνωμενος ("condemned," καταγινωσκω, 2:11) Some translations stick in a "self-condemned" here because the verb is in the passive. (It literally reads "He was condemned".) Not sure if it is fair to read this as self-condemned or not. What I do know is that the NIV's "he was in the wrong" is about a sugar coated as a summer fair cotton candy stick...
αφοριζω ("set aside," 2:12) Being set aside is not always a bad thing. Paul says he is "set aside" to be an apostle (Rom 1:1) and Paul even addresses this fact in Gal 1:15!! For what are we as baptized Christians set-aside?
ορθοποδεω ("walk consistent with", 2:14). (Loan word in English: orthopedics!) Paul here talks about walking correctly toward/with the truth of the gospel! Great image. This is perhaps our goal as pastors, to give people the right shoe! Somehow walking with Christ includes being crucified with him and living to God (2:20).
Side note: This word is a only used once in the New Testament. Sometimes people use the frequency of infrequent words to justify Pauline authorship. Unfortunately, there are just as many single use words (technically: hapax legomenon) in Galatians as in Ephesians, a letter whose authorship is often debated; for a nice article on the difficulties of using hapax legomenon as evidence of authorship, see a good wikipedia article.
πιστεως χριστου ("faith of Christ", 2:16): This is a little phrase in a big theological debate: How to translate: Faith of Jesus Christ? There are two clear options:
A) Objective genitive: The genitive is the object; faith's object is Jesus Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ.
B) Subjective genitive: The genitive is the subject; Jesus Christ is the subject who has the faith. Jesus Christ's faith
If you push toward objective translation, you are basically saying we are justified by Christ's faith in God, which may mean our own faith is not necessary for salvation. I am comfortable leaving this translation ambiguity, because Galatians 2:19-20 argues that our and Christ's hearts became one in faith anyway!
For those curious, though, the NET Bible summarizes the challenge: A decision is difficult here. Though traditionally translated "faith in Jesus Christ," an increasing number of NT scholars are arguing that πιστεως χριστου and similar phrases in Paul (Rom 3:22, 26; Gal 2:16, 20; 3:22; Eph 3:12; Phil 3:9) involve a subjective genitive and mean "Christ's faith" or "Christ's faithfulness" (cf., e.g., G. Howard, "The 'Faith of Christ'," ExpTim 85 [1974]: 212-15; R. B. Hays, The Faith of Jesus Christ [SBLDS]; Morna D. Hooker, "πιστις χριστου," NTS 35 [1989]: 321-42). Noteworthy among the arguments for the subjective genitive view is that when πιστεως takes a personal genitive it is almost never an objective genitive (cf. Matt 9:2, 22, 29; Mark 2:5; 5:34; 10:52; Luke 5:20; 7:50; 8:25, 48; 17:19; 18:42; 22:32; Rom 1:8; 12; 3:3; 4:5, 12, 16; 1 Cor 2:5; 15:14, 17; 2 Cor 10:15; Phil 2:17; Col 1:4; 2:5; 1 Thess 1:8; 3:2, 5, 10; 2 Thess 1:3; Titus 1:1; Phlm 6; 1 Pet 1:9, 21; 2 Pet 1:5). On the other hand, the objective genitive view has its adherents: A. Hultgren, "The Pistis Christou Formulations in Paul," NovT 22 (1980): 248-63; J. D. G. Dunn, "Once More, PISTIS CRISTOU," SBL Seminar Papers, 1991, 730-44. Most commentaries on Romans and Galatians usually side with the objective view.
Some grammar odds and ends:
2:12 Lesson on infinitive phrases: The phrase "Before they came..." is in "articular infinitive with preposition" construct. Which basically means it reads like this: "Before the coming them" and should be translated, "Before they came." First translation help: The subject of any infinitive phrase in Greek is in the accusative. Second translation help. The verb here is in the aorist. Which suggests not as much past time but "point" or "event" time. Before the event of their coming...or even "Before their arrival."
2:14 Lesson on the subjunctive: Paul uses an "ei" clause; because the verb of the clause is in the indicative and not the subjunctive, you can (and should) translate the "ei" as "since" and not "if."
Monday, May 30, 2016
Luke 7:11-17
This passage occurs in the RCL, Year 3, most recently June 5, 2016.
Summary: Luke paints a vivid picture of a funeral here. I have two points I'd like to emphasize. First, that human grief over death is real. In our culture we expect people to move on so quickly. I think the church, even the church of the resurrection, should be a place where we have compassion on people as they grieve. Secondly, Jesus raises this child up. We often refer to Jesus "three fold messianic" prediction where he speaks of his death on the cross and resurrection. In Luke 7, 8 and 9 he raises up three only begotten children, perhaps also a place of foreshadowing his great work of resurrection.
Key Words:
First, a note. Luke paints a vivid picture of a funeral here in a just a few sentences.
Words related to death:
τεθνηκως 12: Particle form of "to die"
εκκομιζω 12: To carry out, often referring to act of carrying body for burial
σορος 14: coffin, bier
νεκρος 15: corpse (death in general)
κλαιε ("wail", 7:13) Some translations put this as weep. While it can mean weep, it signifies an intensity much more like "wail" than "weep." Like when Hagar is alone in the wilderness; or Joseph sees his brother; or when Mary is searching for the risen Christ.
χηρα ("widow"; 7:13) In this culture, a widow was not simply a marital status, but also a financial one. A widow would have lacked resources, likely. Her son was her social security. This detail can open up the door for a nice contrast between the story of the widow at Nain and the Centurion at Capernuam.
μονογενη ("only begotten", 7:13) Jesus heals three "only begotten" children in Luke 7, 8 and 9. While Jesus himself is never referred to as the only-begotten son in Luke, this three fold healing suggests foreshadowing for Jesus resurrection.
προφητης ("prophet", 7:16) The word prophet appears 24 times in Luke, often from Jesus' lips. Most often Jesus refers to prophets in two ways: Those who were killed or those who spoke of his (eventual) coming. To put it another way, people often associate being a prophet with the capacity to speak about the future (Harry Potter) or the audacity to speak about social justice. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus depicts the prophets as people who spoke of him and got killed for doing so.
For example:
Luke 13:34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! Luke 18:31 Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.
But more to the point, look at how Jesus describes the work of prophets on the road to Emmaus:
Luke 24:25 Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!
Luke 24:27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
Luke 24:44 Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you -- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled."
As a side note: Jesus does declare himself greater than a prophet (Luke 7:26 says that John was greater than a prophet; Luke 16:16 that the Good News, not the Law and Prophets, is proclaimed through him).
εσπλαγχνισθη ("compassion", from σπλαγχνιζομαι, 7:13) I've frequently mentioned this before but this verb comes from the noun for intestines. In his gut Jesus felt sorry for the woman.
Grammar point:
μη + present verb (as in "weep" in 7.13) means "no longer do such and such," implying the action was going on before this.
Summary: Luke paints a vivid picture of a funeral here. I have two points I'd like to emphasize. First, that human grief over death is real. In our culture we expect people to move on so quickly. I think the church, even the church of the resurrection, should be a place where we have compassion on people as they grieve. Secondly, Jesus raises this child up. We often refer to Jesus "three fold messianic" prediction where he speaks of his death on the cross and resurrection. In Luke 7, 8 and 9 he raises up three only begotten children, perhaps also a place of foreshadowing his great work of resurrection.
Key Words:
First, a note. Luke paints a vivid picture of a funeral here in a just a few sentences.
Words related to death:
τεθνηκως 12: Particle form of "to die"
εκκομιζω 12: To carry out, often referring to act of carrying body for burial
σορος 14: coffin, bier
νεκρος 15: corpse (death in general)
κλαιε ("wail", 7:13) Some translations put this as weep. While it can mean weep, it signifies an intensity much more like "wail" than "weep." Like when Hagar is alone in the wilderness; or Joseph sees his brother; or when Mary is searching for the risen Christ.
χηρα ("widow"; 7:13) In this culture, a widow was not simply a marital status, but also a financial one. A widow would have lacked resources, likely. Her son was her social security. This detail can open up the door for a nice contrast between the story of the widow at Nain and the Centurion at Capernuam.
μονογενη ("only begotten", 7:13) Jesus heals three "only begotten" children in Luke 7, 8 and 9. While Jesus himself is never referred to as the only-begotten son in Luke, this three fold healing suggests foreshadowing for Jesus resurrection.
προφητης ("prophet", 7:16) The word prophet appears 24 times in Luke, often from Jesus' lips. Most often Jesus refers to prophets in two ways: Those who were killed or those who spoke of his (eventual) coming. To put it another way, people often associate being a prophet with the capacity to speak about the future (Harry Potter) or the audacity to speak about social justice. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus depicts the prophets as people who spoke of him and got killed for doing so.
For example:
Luke 13:34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! Luke 18:31 Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.
But more to the point, look at how Jesus describes the work of prophets on the road to Emmaus:
Luke 24:25 Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!
Luke 24:27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
Luke 24:44 Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you -- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled."
As a side note: Jesus does declare himself greater than a prophet (Luke 7:26 says that John was greater than a prophet; Luke 16:16 that the Good News, not the Law and Prophets, is proclaimed through him).
εσπλαγχνισθη ("compassion", from σπλαγχνιζομαι, 7:13) I've frequently mentioned this before but this verb comes from the noun for intestines. In his gut Jesus felt sorry for the woman.
Grammar point:
μη + present verb (as in "weep" in 7.13) means "no longer do such and such," implying the action was going on before this.
Monday, May 23, 2016
Luke 7:1-10
This passage occurs in the RCL, Year C, most recently May 29, 2016
Summary: Like so many passages in Luke, there is layer of meaning regarding faith, healing and the Word of God; there is also another layer of complex social dynamics. Luke presents cultural rules and norms that are both being obeyed and broken. How to preach this?
One possibility is to ignore the social dynamics and focus on faith and healing (ie, preach as if you were preaching from Matthew's Gospel, in which the story is simpler!)
1) Jesus heals, even through the prayers of others;
2) Faith in Jesus changes everything; outsiders can have faith too.
Another way is to portray Jesus action over-and-against the social reality of his day. The world then and today is a messy, complex and broken place. The world is one of haves and have-nots; of powerful people with agendas (...in those days a decree went out from Emperor...) In spite of all of this, Jesus compassion and power triumph!
Key Words:
λαος ("people", 7:1). The word means "the people", as in the commoners. Luke pays careful attention to the λαος (36 references; Matthew 14; Mark 3 and John 2). This word sets up quite a contrast to Jesus interactions the rest of the pericope, where he is dealing with the leaders, religiously and politically. This reminds us that while Jesus cares for the commoners, he also cares about the leaders too. Compared to him, we are all chumps ;-)
δουλος ("servant" or "slave", 7:2) Because American history is defined by our freedom from England and then the freedom of slaves, we tend to value "freedom" greatly. Furthermore, we look with disgust on the entire concept of slavery. While I do not defend slavery, it is worth pointing out that within Greco-Roman culture slavery meant something different than American antebellum plantation-style slavery. At the very least, not all slaves were abused and many were considered part of the house. The centurion will even call the slave his "παις" or child; he considers the slave "εντιμος" or honored; so honored in fact, he seeks out Jesus' healing. This is a reminder that economic and social boundaries both then and today are often complex. More generally, the whole scene is one that really puts the preacher in a tough spot -- it is clearly a different world, one that we cannot imagine. An occupying army general asks the local Jewish healer for a favor regarding his boy-slave and then is found, bizarrely, to have more faith than anyone.
διασωζω ("save" or "heal"; 7:3) The root word here is σωζω, or save. It has dia- as a prefix. This prefix can intensify a verb, like adding the adverb "thoroughly." The point is that Jesus' salvation includes earthly healings.
αξιος ("worthy"; 7:4; appears later as a verb in 7:7) A reminder of the honor-shame dynamics in this culture (of which I know little). I do feel comfortable making two points though. First, it seems questionable whether Jesus should have been doing this healing for a non-Jew, especially a member of the opposing army. In fact, one must wonder about the relationship between the Centurion and Jewish leaders; could then even speak to each other directly? This is a difficult point for us to address or even consider as Americans. Second, Jesus power is overturning the cultural expectations of everyone.
πιστις ("faith"; 7:9) A reminder that faith is not a belief in a set of abstract principles, but trust in the divinity of Christ and the salvation he brings.
Two small notes on verb construction that point toward something deeper:
παρακαλεω ("encourage", 7:4). This verb is in the imperfect suggesting repeated action. It is unclear why they needed to repeat the request -- perhaps because they felt it important, or because Jesus didn't want to do it. But something about their continued urging moves Jesus.
μη σκυλλου ("no longer be troubled", 7:6) A reminder about the negative present imperative: μη + present imperative means "no longer" ie, you were doing this, but stop and continue to stop this. (Often used in the construction "No longer be afraid" when angels begin speaking to humans.)
Lastly, two words that come into English related to health
υγιαινω -- "hygiene" (the υ has a rough breathing mark)
ιαομαι -- "iatry" like "psychiatry"
Summary: Like so many passages in Luke, there is layer of meaning regarding faith, healing and the Word of God; there is also another layer of complex social dynamics. Luke presents cultural rules and norms that are both being obeyed and broken. How to preach this?
One possibility is to ignore the social dynamics and focus on faith and healing (ie, preach as if you were preaching from Matthew's Gospel, in which the story is simpler!)
1) Jesus heals, even through the prayers of others;
2) Faith in Jesus changes everything; outsiders can have faith too.
Another way is to portray Jesus action over-and-against the social reality of his day. The world then and today is a messy, complex and broken place. The world is one of haves and have-nots; of powerful people with agendas (...in those days a decree went out from Emperor...) In spite of all of this, Jesus compassion and power triumph!
Key Words:
λαος ("people", 7:1). The word means "the people", as in the commoners. Luke pays careful attention to the λαος (36 references; Matthew 14; Mark 3 and John 2). This word sets up quite a contrast to Jesus interactions the rest of the pericope, where he is dealing with the leaders, religiously and politically. This reminds us that while Jesus cares for the commoners, he also cares about the leaders too. Compared to him, we are all chumps ;-)
δουλος ("servant" or "slave", 7:2) Because American history is defined by our freedom from England and then the freedom of slaves, we tend to value "freedom" greatly. Furthermore, we look with disgust on the entire concept of slavery. While I do not defend slavery, it is worth pointing out that within Greco-Roman culture slavery meant something different than American antebellum plantation-style slavery. At the very least, not all slaves were abused and many were considered part of the house. The centurion will even call the slave his "παις" or child; he considers the slave "εντιμος" or honored; so honored in fact, he seeks out Jesus' healing. This is a reminder that economic and social boundaries both then and today are often complex. More generally, the whole scene is one that really puts the preacher in a tough spot -- it is clearly a different world, one that we cannot imagine. An occupying army general asks the local Jewish healer for a favor regarding his boy-slave and then is found, bizarrely, to have more faith than anyone.
διασωζω ("save" or "heal"; 7:3) The root word here is σωζω, or save. It has dia- as a prefix. This prefix can intensify a verb, like adding the adverb "thoroughly." The point is that Jesus' salvation includes earthly healings.
αξιος ("worthy"; 7:4; appears later as a verb in 7:7) A reminder of the honor-shame dynamics in this culture (of which I know little). I do feel comfortable making two points though. First, it seems questionable whether Jesus should have been doing this healing for a non-Jew, especially a member of the opposing army. In fact, one must wonder about the relationship between the Centurion and Jewish leaders; could then even speak to each other directly? This is a difficult point for us to address or even consider as Americans. Second, Jesus power is overturning the cultural expectations of everyone.
πιστις ("faith"; 7:9) A reminder that faith is not a belief in a set of abstract principles, but trust in the divinity of Christ and the salvation he brings.
Two small notes on verb construction that point toward something deeper:
παρακαλεω ("encourage", 7:4). This verb is in the imperfect suggesting repeated action. It is unclear why they needed to repeat the request -- perhaps because they felt it important, or because Jesus didn't want to do it. But something about their continued urging moves Jesus.
μη σκυλλου ("no longer be troubled", 7:6) A reminder about the negative present imperative: μη + present imperative means "no longer" ie, you were doing this, but stop and continue to stop this. (Often used in the construction "No longer be afraid" when angels begin speaking to humans.)
Lastly, two words that come into English related to health
υγιαινω -- "hygiene" (the υ has a rough breathing mark)
ιαομαι -- "iatry" like "psychiatry"
1 Kings 18:20-39
This passage occurs in the Narrative Lectionary Year 2 (most recently: Nov 8, 2015). This passage also occurs in year C of the RCL (most recently May 29, 2016)
Summary: The coolest thing in the Hebrew is reconstruction of the altar by Elijah. While Elijah is known in this passage for his courage, the Hebrew suggests he is also a healer. In fact, Elijah's work on the altar could really be seen as a model for understanding the necessary healing of the church today. First, it connects the people to God's work in the past; Second, it connects people to God in prayer. Third, it symbolizes the intended transformation of the people: a house of seeds, nourished by water and sent ablaze by fire. I don't want to miss the counter-cultural courage of Elijah; I just want to uplift Elijah's capacity to rebuild.
Key words:
פסחים (from "pesach", meaning "hobble?"; 18:21 and 18:26) This verb is crazy here. This word is likely a homograph, where two words are spelled the same, but have different meanings. (Like "bear" can have two meanings in English). The more common word with this spelling comes into English as "pass over", as "Passover." Elisha is playing on this here?
More likely, it means "be lame" or "hobble." In this sense you could translate this as "How long will you waffle between..."
The other possibility is "dance" The TWOT suggest,
"1Kings 18:21, "how long 'halt' ye (KJV) between two opinions?" Another suggested translation is, "how long will you 'hobble' on two crutches?" (i.e., Yahweh and Baal). (3) 1Kings 18:26, "and they (the priests of Baal) 'leaped' upon/'hobbled' upon the altar, " presumably a reference to some kind of pagan ritual dance. V.P.H."
-> How long will you dance between two gods?!
Either way, waffle or dance could be pretty powerful stuff (okay, both a bit poetic, but we are talking about Elijah here. Gird your loins and preach it.)
בשם ((really ב+שם), shem, meaning "name"; 18:24) What is at stake here is really the "name" of the LORD. The name of the LORD does not simply mean the pronunciation, but the reputation of the LORD. Is the God of Israel the faithful God, the living God, the true God...the answering God? Or not?
ענה (meaning "answer" or "respond"; appears 8 times in this passage). Baal does not answer. God does. This is the crux of the matter for ancient Israel as it is for us today. Does God respond to us?
רפה ("rapa", meaning "heal"; 18:30) This word is translated here as "repair." However, it is normally translated as healing. If we are to rebuild churches, we need to heal them. Heal them first with their sense of the past by reaffirming God's presence in their history; second, heal them with prayer. Third, heal them with water (Baptism); Fourth heal them with fire (Holy Spirit); heal them with hope -- expect the church to be the seeds of the future.
בית סאתים זרע (three words meaning "house of grain seeds"; 18:32) Elijah has the people built a moat around the alter big enough for two bags of seed. The Hebrew opens up another layer of interpretation. The literal Hebrew is this: "Make a healing (or trench) as a house of grain seed, two bags, circling the altar." The altar will be circled as by a house of grain. What a beautiful image of the church, an alter surrounded by a house of seed grain, nourished by water, by prayer and by the fire of God!
And yes, in 18:38 the actual Hebrew word does mean lick; the waters were licked!
Summary: The coolest thing in the Hebrew is reconstruction of the altar by Elijah. While Elijah is known in this passage for his courage, the Hebrew suggests he is also a healer. In fact, Elijah's work on the altar could really be seen as a model for understanding the necessary healing of the church today. First, it connects the people to God's work in the past; Second, it connects people to God in prayer. Third, it symbolizes the intended transformation of the people: a house of seeds, nourished by water and sent ablaze by fire. I don't want to miss the counter-cultural courage of Elijah; I just want to uplift Elijah's capacity to rebuild.
Key words:
פסחים (from "pesach", meaning "hobble?"; 18:21 and 18:26) This verb is crazy here. This word is likely a homograph, where two words are spelled the same, but have different meanings. (Like "bear" can have two meanings in English). The more common word with this spelling comes into English as "pass over", as "Passover." Elisha is playing on this here?
More likely, it means "be lame" or "hobble." In this sense you could translate this as "How long will you waffle between..."
The other possibility is "dance" The TWOT suggest,
"1Kings 18:21, "how long 'halt' ye (KJV) between two opinions?" Another suggested translation is, "how long will you 'hobble' on two crutches?" (i.e., Yahweh and Baal). (3) 1Kings 18:26, "and they (the priests of Baal) 'leaped' upon/'hobbled' upon the altar, " presumably a reference to some kind of pagan ritual dance. V.P.H."
-> How long will you dance between two gods?!
Either way, waffle or dance could be pretty powerful stuff (okay, both a bit poetic, but we are talking about Elijah here. Gird your loins and preach it.)
בשם ((really ב+שם), shem, meaning "name"; 18:24) What is at stake here is really the "name" of the LORD. The name of the LORD does not simply mean the pronunciation, but the reputation of the LORD. Is the God of Israel the faithful God, the living God, the true God...the answering God? Or not?
ענה (meaning "answer" or "respond"; appears 8 times in this passage). Baal does not answer. God does. This is the crux of the matter for ancient Israel as it is for us today. Does God respond to us?
רפה ("rapa", meaning "heal"; 18:30) This word is translated here as "repair." However, it is normally translated as healing. If we are to rebuild churches, we need to heal them. Heal them first with their sense of the past by reaffirming God's presence in their history; second, heal them with prayer. Third, heal them with water (Baptism); Fourth heal them with fire (Holy Spirit); heal them with hope -- expect the church to be the seeds of the future.
בית סאתים זרע (three words meaning "house of grain seeds"; 18:32) Elijah has the people built a moat around the alter big enough for two bags of seed. The Hebrew opens up another layer of interpretation. The literal Hebrew is this: "Make a healing (or trench) as a house of grain seed, two bags, circling the altar." The altar will be circled as by a house of grain. What a beautiful image of the church, an alter surrounded by a house of seed grain, nourished by water, by prayer and by the fire of God!
And yes, in 18:38 the actual Hebrew word does mean lick; the waters were licked!
Monday, May 16, 2016
John 16:12-15
This passage occurs in the RCL for Holy Trinity Sunday, Year C, most recently May 2016.
Summary: This is not my favorite Holy Trinity passage; in fact, I think one needs to be really careful not to use this passage counter-productively. The use of the word paraclete (παρακλητος), often translated as advocate, suggests our need for a lawyer before our heavenly judge. While a legal metaphor of salvation may make sense in other contexts, let us be perfectly clear: In John's Gospel Jesus is not describing the Holy Spirit as our defense attorney before God the Father as judge.
Rather, Jesus presents the Holy Spirit as the abiding and living presence of God for the believers, particularly the whole community as they encounter and are challenged by the world. The Holy Spirit will continue the work of Jesus through the disciples. To put it another way, the Holy Spirit will make us holy, making us alive in Jesus Christ, both individually but also collectively. This is the work of the third person of the Trinity: to bring us into the life of God.
Key Words:
παρακλητος (paraclete, 15.26 and throughout John 15 and 16) The word parakletos for the Holy Spirit is a tough one to crack! The noun literally means "one called along side of." Originally it meant a "legal assistant." Hence the affinity for the term advocate.
Yet, the whole field of words related to parakletos pushes against a cold, judicial term, especially in terms of our relationship with God.
14.16 The parakletos is a gift from God
14.17 The parakletos will be with us, even abide in us forever
14.26 The parakletos will teach you and cause you to remember the words of Jesus
15.26 The parakletos will witness about Jesus
16.8 The parakletos will prove the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment.
16.13 The parakletos will guide you on the way
16.13 The parakletos will listen to the Father and Son
16.14 The parakletos will glorify Jesus
16.14 The parakletos will make Jesus known
Interestingly, the Vulgate does not even use the term advocate to translate parakletos, instead transliterating the word "paracletus." In fact, the Latin does translate the word "parakletos" from the Greek into the Latin "advocatum" once, and this is from 1 John 2.1, where the sense is different. Indeed, here the idea is Jesus interceding for us against the judge of the Father concerning our sins; in John's Gospel the idea of the parakletos has nothing to do with a legal metaphor before God the Father, but the enabler of Christian before the world of unbelievers.
Furthermore, a look at the verb παρακαλεω, the related verb for the noun παρακλητος, really brings home that this word (really word field) is not primarily about legal matters:
Isaiah 40.1 "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God."
Psalm 23 "Your rod and staff, they comfort me."
Proverbs 8:4 "To you, O people, I call and my cry is to all that live."
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God."
αληθεια (truth, 16.13). The Gospel of John uses the word truth a number of times. Jesus is full of truth (1.14 and 1.17) and the truth shall set you free (8.32) but what is the truth? The best I can tell, John's Gospel asserts few things as "truth". In fact, little if anything is actually specifically stated as true, but if you do some work around times when "truth" is being debated, you can conclude a few things:
The truth is: The Word of God (1.14)
The truth is: Anyone who sins is a slave to sin (8.34); the consequence of sin is death (8.24)
The truth is: By believing in Jesus, we have life (8.24)
The truth is: Jesus and the Father are one (8.26)
The truth is: Followers of Jesus hear his voice (18.37) and walk in the light (8.12)
The truth is: Jesus is King (18.37)
To put it another way, it turns out that only some really essential things are declared/implied as truth in the Gospel of John.
οδηγεω (guide, 16.13) The verb here for "guide" is "hodege-oo" which means "hodos+ag-oo"=lead on the way; the verb is used in describing Philip's interaction with the Eunuch, where the Eunuch invites Phillip to show him the way of understanding Scripture.
Summary: This is not my favorite Holy Trinity passage; in fact, I think one needs to be really careful not to use this passage counter-productively. The use of the word paraclete (παρακλητος), often translated as advocate, suggests our need for a lawyer before our heavenly judge. While a legal metaphor of salvation may make sense in other contexts, let us be perfectly clear: In John's Gospel Jesus is not describing the Holy Spirit as our defense attorney before God the Father as judge.
Rather, Jesus presents the Holy Spirit as the abiding and living presence of God for the believers, particularly the whole community as they encounter and are challenged by the world. The Holy Spirit will continue the work of Jesus through the disciples. To put it another way, the Holy Spirit will make us holy, making us alive in Jesus Christ, both individually but also collectively. This is the work of the third person of the Trinity: to bring us into the life of God.
Key Words:
παρακλητος (paraclete, 15.26 and throughout John 15 and 16) The word parakletos for the Holy Spirit is a tough one to crack! The noun literally means "one called along side of." Originally it meant a "legal assistant." Hence the affinity for the term advocate.
Yet, the whole field of words related to parakletos pushes against a cold, judicial term, especially in terms of our relationship with God.
14.16 The parakletos is a gift from God
14.17 The parakletos will be with us, even abide in us forever
14.26 The parakletos will teach you and cause you to remember the words of Jesus
15.26 The parakletos will witness about Jesus
16.8 The parakletos will prove the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment.
16.13 The parakletos will guide you on the way
16.13 The parakletos will listen to the Father and Son
16.14 The parakletos will glorify Jesus
16.14 The parakletos will make Jesus known
Interestingly, the Vulgate does not even use the term advocate to translate parakletos, instead transliterating the word "paracletus." In fact, the Latin does translate the word "parakletos" from the Greek into the Latin "advocatum" once, and this is from 1 John 2.1, where the sense is different. Indeed, here the idea is Jesus interceding for us against the judge of the Father concerning our sins; in John's Gospel the idea of the parakletos has nothing to do with a legal metaphor before God the Father, but the enabler of Christian before the world of unbelievers.
Furthermore, a look at the verb παρακαλεω, the related verb for the noun παρακλητος, really brings home that this word (really word field) is not primarily about legal matters:
Isaiah 40.1 "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God."
Psalm 23 "Your rod and staff, they comfort me."
Proverbs 8:4 "To you, O people, I call and my cry is to all that live."
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God."
αληθεια (truth, 16.13). The Gospel of John uses the word truth a number of times. Jesus is full of truth (1.14 and 1.17) and the truth shall set you free (8.32) but what is the truth? The best I can tell, John's Gospel asserts few things as "truth". In fact, little if anything is actually specifically stated as true, but if you do some work around times when "truth" is being debated, you can conclude a few things:
The truth is: The Word of God (1.14)
The truth is: Anyone who sins is a slave to sin (8.34); the consequence of sin is death (8.24)
The truth is: By believing in Jesus, we have life (8.24)
The truth is: Jesus and the Father are one (8.26)
The truth is: Followers of Jesus hear his voice (18.37) and walk in the light (8.12)
The truth is: Jesus is King (18.37)
To put it another way, it turns out that only some really essential things are declared/implied as truth in the Gospel of John.
οδηγεω (guide, 16.13) The verb here for "guide" is "hodege-oo" which means "hodos+ag-oo"=lead on the way; the verb is used in describing Philip's interaction with the Eunuch, where the Eunuch invites Phillip to show him the way of understanding Scripture.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
This passage occurs in the RCL's year C passages; it also occurs as one of the last passages in the Narrative Lectionary's Year 2 cycle. In the Narrative Lectionary it is partitioned as 1 Corinthians 12:1-13
Summary
Much has been written about spiritual gifts. A few brief reflections/directions for preaching:
- Everyone has gifts. For those that think they have no spiritual gift, ask them if they can confess Jesus as Lord. If so, then they have spiritual gifts!
- Gifts are to work together. (The Greek suggests this in vs 1-11; the rest of chapter 12 makes this abundantly clear)
- Gifts are for others, although how far outside of the church spiritual gifts go is a long and complicated debate.
- Faith (and love) are gifts, nothing we can do to earn them.
Key Words and Grammar Items:
πνευματικος ("spiritual", 12:1) The first word here for "Spiritual Gifts" is "pneumatikos," an adjective that means spiritual. It is transformed into a noun here (technical note: by the placement of the definite article before it). But the word "gift" is not used. In fact, the word for gift later on is "charisma." So really, this should just read: "Concerning the spiritual things." If you translate this as spiritual gifts then, in some ways, you are suggesting that all things spiritual are gifts!
εθνη ("Gentiles", 12:2) The translators render "ethne" here as "pagans" instead of "gentiles." A reminder of the tension, inherent in 1st century Christianity, between Jews and Gentiles. To be non- Jewish was to be an "ethne" (and ethnic) and not part of God's family!
ειδωλα (plural form of "idols", 12:2) Although there are some examples of true worship to statues, generally idols function a bit different in our culture than in 1st century paganism. However, we still have idols! We may not have a temple with a large marble statue of Venus or Pluto in our towns, but definitely still worship the idols of beauty and money!
Grammatically, this sentence is really odd and I've even read that it is considered a manuscript error because it reads so strangely. The NRSV nicely puts it, "however you were led." Paul uses the "αν" marker to show contingency and then uses two verbs: you were led, leading away. A poetic way to say: Whatever the heck road they led you on.
διακονια ("ministry" or "service", 12:5) This word is becoming increasingly difficult to translate. It has a non-religious origin, deriving from a waiter who serves. More generally it can to mean service; the New Testament certainly uses it as a term for serving others. For the church over the centuries the word has been picked up by a whole group of people who have dedicated their life to service (Deacons and related terms). Part of the challenge in translating the word is inherent in the tensions around service (the concept and not the word). Service can mean formal providing but it can also mean outpouring of mercy; furthermore, how the service conveyed by this term in the New Testament connected to the Word, proclamation and the Church? In short, to translate διακονια as "ministry" makes it "churchy" something that it was not originally; to translate this as "service" derives it, perhaps, of the religious meaning Paul and others wish to imply.
This particular passage highlights the challenge of translating this word. Luther's German, Tyndale and the KJV translate this not as "service" but as "office" or "administration." While this translation seems to make service overly formal, it opens up the door for profound thinking about vocation -- each of our "offices" in life is an opportunity for serving others. With this translation of διακονια as "office" Luther captures Paul's dynamic and far-reaching sense of the breadth of God's gifts. Whether this is a fair translation is up for debate. But no doubt Luther clearly connects vocation, even secular vocation, to spiritual gifts and service to the Lord.
ενεργεω ("energιζε", 12:6) The translations move in all sorts of directions here, but the word underneath all the working/doing by God is "energy." This is perhaps a nice connection into people's lives -- from where does our energy come to survive the treadmill called life?
συμφερον ("good", 12:7) The English translators tend to add the word "common" before "good"; Paul's term "sympheron" is more neutral, as in "profitable" or "beneficial"; furthermore, it does not necessarily mean "common" and the word "common" is not in the Greek. When this word appears elsewhere in Scripture, including its almost identical usage in Hebrews 12:10, it is not translated as "common good." What then gives them permission to translate it as the "common good"?
Well...here is my conjecture. The word is a combination of two words συμ meaning "with" (the "n" in συν becomes an "μ") and φερον meaning "bear" as in bearing fruit (John 15). This word means then "bear together" or "produce together." These gifts were given for the mutual harvesting of gifts!
Lastly, a Trinitiarian argument:
I believe that 12:11 this is the strongest statement in the NT that God is Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit is said here to "ενεργεω" (energize) the activities, "διαιρεω" (distribute) the activities, which he "βουλεμαι" wills. Paul locates the will of God in the Holy Spirit! Moreover, in verse 7, the distributions are done by God who energies them. Same thing!
Summary
Much has been written about spiritual gifts. A few brief reflections/directions for preaching:
- Everyone has gifts. For those that think they have no spiritual gift, ask them if they can confess Jesus as Lord. If so, then they have spiritual gifts!
- Gifts are to work together. (The Greek suggests this in vs 1-11; the rest of chapter 12 makes this abundantly clear)
- Gifts are for others, although how far outside of the church spiritual gifts go is a long and complicated debate.
- Faith (and love) are gifts, nothing we can do to earn them.
Key Words and Grammar Items:
πνευματικος ("spiritual", 12:1) The first word here for "Spiritual Gifts" is "pneumatikos," an adjective that means spiritual. It is transformed into a noun here (technical note: by the placement of the definite article before it). But the word "gift" is not used. In fact, the word for gift later on is "charisma." So really, this should just read: "Concerning the spiritual things." If you translate this as spiritual gifts then, in some ways, you are suggesting that all things spiritual are gifts!
εθνη ("Gentiles", 12:2) The translators render "ethne" here as "pagans" instead of "gentiles." A reminder of the tension, inherent in 1st century Christianity, between Jews and Gentiles. To be non- Jewish was to be an "ethne" (and ethnic) and not part of God's family!
ειδωλα (plural form of "idols", 12:2) Although there are some examples of true worship to statues, generally idols function a bit different in our culture than in 1st century paganism. However, we still have idols! We may not have a temple with a large marble statue of Venus or Pluto in our towns, but definitely still worship the idols of beauty and money!
Grammatically, this sentence is really odd and I've even read that it is considered a manuscript error because it reads so strangely. The NRSV nicely puts it, "however you were led." Paul uses the "αν" marker to show contingency and then uses two verbs: you were led, leading away. A poetic way to say: Whatever the heck road they led you on.
διακονια ("ministry" or "service", 12:5) This word is becoming increasingly difficult to translate. It has a non-religious origin, deriving from a waiter who serves. More generally it can to mean service; the New Testament certainly uses it as a term for serving others. For the church over the centuries the word has been picked up by a whole group of people who have dedicated their life to service (Deacons and related terms). Part of the challenge in translating the word is inherent in the tensions around service (the concept and not the word). Service can mean formal providing but it can also mean outpouring of mercy; furthermore, how the service conveyed by this term in the New Testament connected to the Word, proclamation and the Church? In short, to translate διακονια as "ministry" makes it "churchy" something that it was not originally; to translate this as "service" derives it, perhaps, of the religious meaning Paul and others wish to imply.
This particular passage highlights the challenge of translating this word. Luther's German, Tyndale and the KJV translate this not as "service" but as "office" or "administration." While this translation seems to make service overly formal, it opens up the door for profound thinking about vocation -- each of our "offices" in life is an opportunity for serving others. With this translation of διακονια as "office" Luther captures Paul's dynamic and far-reaching sense of the breadth of God's gifts. Whether this is a fair translation is up for debate. But no doubt Luther clearly connects vocation, even secular vocation, to spiritual gifts and service to the Lord.
ενεργεω ("energιζε", 12:6) The translations move in all sorts of directions here, but the word underneath all the working/doing by God is "energy." This is perhaps a nice connection into people's lives -- from where does our energy come to survive the treadmill called life?
συμφερον ("good", 12:7) The English translators tend to add the word "common" before "good"; Paul's term "sympheron" is more neutral, as in "profitable" or "beneficial"; furthermore, it does not necessarily mean "common" and the word "common" is not in the Greek. When this word appears elsewhere in Scripture, including its almost identical usage in Hebrews 12:10, it is not translated as "common good." What then gives them permission to translate it as the "common good"?
Well...here is my conjecture. The word is a combination of two words συμ meaning "with" (the "n" in συν becomes an "μ") and φερον meaning "bear" as in bearing fruit (John 15). This word means then "bear together" or "produce together." These gifts were given for the mutual harvesting of gifts!
Lastly, a Trinitiarian argument:
I believe that 12:11 this is the strongest statement in the NT that God is Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit is said here to "ενεργεω" (energize) the activities, "διαιρεω" (distribute) the activities, which he "βουλεμαι" wills. Paul locates the will of God in the Holy Spirit! Moreover, in verse 7, the distributions are done by God who energies them. Same thing!
Monday, May 9, 2016
Pentecost (Acts 2:1-11)
Here is a re-direct to my updated post from 2013.
http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2013/05/acts-21-11.html
In a nut shell, I find the church of Acts 1 to be very common: A deeply loving and truly faithful community that doesn't outreach. How can the Spirit move us from Acts 1 to Acts 2? How can we as leaders be involved in this process?
http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2013/05/acts-21-11.html
In a nut shell, I find the church of Acts 1 to be very common: A deeply loving and truly faithful community that doesn't outreach. How can the Spirit move us from Acts 1 to Acts 2? How can we as leaders be involved in this process?
Monday, May 2, 2016
Links for Preaching May 5 - 8
This week there are a couple of options for preachers.
One can preach on the Ascension on Thursday or Sunday:
Luke 24:36-48 (Why Jesus Ascension was actually necessary for his ministry)
or
Acts 1:1-11 (First Lutheran Church of Jerusalem)
Then there are the regular lectionary passages for Sunday
John 17:20-26 (Jesus prayer for his disciples
I play around a bit with the idea of God's purposes for creation and humanity.
Acts 16:16-34 (Jailed in Philippi)
Simply a powerful story with great preaching potential.
For those working with the narrative lectionary I have, at best, some scratch notes on Corinthians 15 that need some serious updating!
One can preach on the Ascension on Thursday or Sunday:
Luke 24:36-48 (Why Jesus Ascension was actually necessary for his ministry)
or
Acts 1:1-11 (First Lutheran Church of Jerusalem)
Then there are the regular lectionary passages for Sunday
John 17:20-26 (Jesus prayer for his disciples
I play around a bit with the idea of God's purposes for creation and humanity.
Acts 16:16-34 (Jailed in Philippi)
Simply a powerful story with great preaching potential.
For those working with the narrative lectionary I have, at best, some scratch notes on Corinthians 15 that need some serious updating!
Acts 16:16-34
This passage occurs in both the Narrative Lectionary Year 4 cycle, but also the Revised Common Lectionary, Easter 7C
For the Acts 16 passage:
Any English translation conveys the powerful scene of the jailer, trembling, before the prisoners! This is not a passage where the Greek changes the meaning of everything -- the images intended by Luke are adequately translated! But the Greek this week sharpens the reality that all of us are servants of something. The question is not whether we serve, but which God we serve and the outcome of this service.
κυριοις ("lords", 16:16) The word for for "masters" or "owners" here is no other than κυριοι (like kyrie elesion) At the end of the passage, the jailer will be told to believe in κυριος (singular) Jesus. The point that in life we are always serving one master or another, as Luther points out so astutely in his commentary on the first article.
δουλοι ("slaves" or "servants", 16:17) To reaffirm the above point, the slave-girl calls Paul and Silas slaves of the most high God. The question isn't whether humans will serve a master, the question is what path does the master send them on.
οδον ("way", 16:17) Some translators leave this word, meaning "way", without an article - "a way of salvation." Others add in an article, "the way of salvation" based on Greek grammar. Its fair to say that the grammatical case isn't very strong either way here based on the construction. It doesn't matter -- Luke doesn't see another path to salvation, even if this particular girl would have. And fine, go universalist for a second. The point remains, Jesus is a path of salvation.
Ιουδαιοι ("Judeans", 16:20) The only charge needed was that they were Jews interrupting normal business. A sad reminder that antisemitism long preceded Christianity....and that early Christians were primarily Jews.
πλαγας ("wounds", 16:23) The word comes into English as plagues. Paul and Silas were given a plague for their faith!
θεμελια ("foundation", 16:26) Their foundation is rocked. This is a great sermon entry point -- the foundation of their world is rocked. This is when the person can finally hear the word of the Lord!
ελουσεν ("he washed", 16:33) Poetically, the jailer washes them and then they wash him (baptize). But notice that the verbs are different. Baptism and washing aren't one and the same!
For the Acts 16 passage:
Any English translation conveys the powerful scene of the jailer, trembling, before the prisoners! This is not a passage where the Greek changes the meaning of everything -- the images intended by Luke are adequately translated! But the Greek this week sharpens the reality that all of us are servants of something. The question is not whether we serve, but which God we serve and the outcome of this service.
κυριοις ("lords", 16:16) The word for for "masters" or "owners" here is no other than κυριοι (like kyrie elesion) At the end of the passage, the jailer will be told to believe in κυριος (singular) Jesus. The point that in life we are always serving one master or another, as Luther points out so astutely in his commentary on the first article.
δουλοι ("slaves" or "servants", 16:17) To reaffirm the above point, the slave-girl calls Paul and Silas slaves of the most high God. The question isn't whether humans will serve a master, the question is what path does the master send them on.
οδον ("way", 16:17) Some translators leave this word, meaning "way", without an article - "a way of salvation." Others add in an article, "the way of salvation" based on Greek grammar. Its fair to say that the grammatical case isn't very strong either way here based on the construction. It doesn't matter -- Luke doesn't see another path to salvation, even if this particular girl would have. And fine, go universalist for a second. The point remains, Jesus is a path of salvation.
Ιουδαιοι ("Judeans", 16:20) The only charge needed was that they were Jews interrupting normal business. A sad reminder that antisemitism long preceded Christianity....and that early Christians were primarily Jews.
πλαγας ("wounds", 16:23) The word comes into English as plagues. Paul and Silas were given a plague for their faith!
θεμελια ("foundation", 16:26) Their foundation is rocked. This is a great sermon entry point -- the foundation of their world is rocked. This is when the person can finally hear the word of the Lord!
ελουσεν ("he washed", 16:33) Poetically, the jailer washes them and then they wash him (baptize). But notice that the verbs are different. Baptism and washing aren't one and the same!
John 17:20-26
Summary: Don't miss the forest for the trees: Jesus is praying for his disciples! This fact alone is worth preaching on! One translation that perhaps opens up a door for preaching is found when Jesus speaks of the καταβολης of the world. This is often translated "creation", but could just as easily be translated "foundation." "Foundation" seems like a concept can be preached! Not simply does it provide an easy real world illustration (foundations of buildings are everywhere), but it speaks about God's creative intent for the world. The world was not complete in the beginning -- no foundation is complete! God intended and intends to see creation unfold. As humans we take our place on stage, unaware that it is an eternal stage with a clear destination -- union with Christ, in God's eternal love and joy.
Lastly, I hesitate to call this is a prayer for unity because that sounds too vague. Jesus does pray for unity, but he also prays for love, faith and the preaching of the Word. And moreover, this unity is set in the midst of humble servant-hood, betrayal, suffering, injustice, death and resurrection. If you decide to preach on unity, don't overlook the context of the passage.
Key Words and Concepts
λογος ("word"; 17:20) The Greek says here, "Those who are believing in me on account of their word." The word here for "word" is λογος (logos); NIV translates this as "message"; NET as "witness." This is a tricky matter of translation. Logos does not simply mean "words" but has a more lofty significance, both practically and theologically. It means more like "message" or "explanatory words" or "account" or "reason" or "communication." The NIV and NET are seeking here, by their translation, to capture this sense of the word as message/account/communication.
However, λογος is also crucial in John's theology (In the beginning was the λογος is how his Gospel starts out!). The λογος is the divine word of God that communicates God's love, both as it judges but also redeems. In this sense Jesus is saying, I would argue, that our preaching, our witness, our account becomes the living Word, the λογος. To translate it simply as "message" leaves out the explicit connection Jesus is asserting here between our words and the true divine word of God.
Side grammar note that is worth paying attention to: "Those who are believing" is a great and easy example of a substantive participle. However, the particular word order, I maintain, is of theological significance. The actual clause reads, "Those who are believing because of their word in me." This is quite clumsy in English but it drives home the point. In the middle of our believe in Jesus is the received and heard word.
παντες ("all", 17:21) The translation of 17:21 cannot be "They might be one." The subject of this sentence is not "they" but actually, "all." One could argue that "all" here refers to "all of the disciples." But it seems more natural, especially in light of the second half of the verse, that Jesus is not simply praying for unity among the disciples, but finally unity of all things (including the God-hating world) as he later attests in this verse.
τελειοω ("finish" or "complete," 17:23) The verb, "teleoi-oo" or its sibling, "tele-oo" mean "to finish, complete, or even make perfect." These are used throughout John as Jesus discusses his need to "telo-oo" his task; finally, the task is "telo"-ed on the cross (19:30). The construction of the participle here is rather strange here. It basically links being perfected with union into one. The goal of Jesus is ultimately to make us all one -- reconciled to the Father!
καταβολης ("foundation", 17:24) The word for creation/foundation is "καταβολης," literally meaning "thrown down." Two thoughts on this:
First, I like translating καταβολης as foundation because Jesus uses a more specific word than "create" here; he uses the word that means, "that which is thrown down." John is sophisticated of a writer if he wanted to use "creation" he would have.
Second, I think John - dare I say Jesus! - is making a point about how creation by using the word foundation. Foundations are built on. Creation is in itself incomplete, waiting for humanity to take their place in the story, finally in the consummation of all creation in union with Christ.
εν ("ιν", 17:26) The key word here is "εν" a basic preposition that can be translated a couple of ways. Jesus wants his love to be "en" them. If you translate this "in" then end up with a rather (American) looking individual understanding of Jesus -- in my heart. But if you translate this word, "among" then you get a more helpful understanding of Jesus intent: He wants to be among us to intimately that there is love in the community, a love that reveals something about the fundamental character of God to the world!
ινα ("in order", "that", 17:21) How to translate "ινα"? The question is -- does a "ινα" clause, which demands a subjunctive, actually signify purpose or result? This is a big grammar debate in which I have no skin. I offer it because it allows for an interesting theological possibility as I suggest later here:
a) Purpose (ie, translate this word as "in order that"):
-John 6:30 "What sign will you do (ινα) that we might believe"
-John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave...(ινα) that whoever believes in him, would have eternal life"
(These purpose clauses can be divided up into all sorts of levels of how hypothetical the condition is...)
b) Result (ie, translate the word as "that"):
-John 9:2 "Who sinned (ινα) that this man was born blind?
-John 9:22 "The Jews had agreed (ινα) that whoever believed would get kicked out of the church"
In fact, the second example here probably better belongs to an entirely different category where the word "ινα" almost has no real purpose at all other than to say, "expect another verb to complete the thought."
In other words, ινα doesn't necessary have much subjunctive function, as we as English speakers think about the subjunctive. So is Jesus praying with the purpose that we might be one or praying with the result that we are in fact, already one!
BDAG does solve our dilemma, "In many cases purpose and result cannot be clearly differentiated, and hence ινα is used for the result that follows according to the purpose of the subject or God. As in Semetic and Gr-Rom thought, purpose and result are identical in declarations of the divine will."
So the point here is that actually, if Jesus is praying then this is established. Jesus Word is active! (Going back to the word logos!)
Lastly, I hesitate to call this is a prayer for unity because that sounds too vague. Jesus does pray for unity, but he also prays for love, faith and the preaching of the Word. And moreover, this unity is set in the midst of humble servant-hood, betrayal, suffering, injustice, death and resurrection. If you decide to preach on unity, don't overlook the context of the passage.
Key Words and Concepts
λογος ("word"; 17:20) The Greek says here, "Those who are believing in me on account of their word." The word here for "word" is λογος (logos); NIV translates this as "message"; NET as "witness." This is a tricky matter of translation. Logos does not simply mean "words" but has a more lofty significance, both practically and theologically. It means more like "message" or "explanatory words" or "account" or "reason" or "communication." The NIV and NET are seeking here, by their translation, to capture this sense of the word as message/account/communication.
However, λογος is also crucial in John's theology (In the beginning was the λογος is how his Gospel starts out!). The λογος is the divine word of God that communicates God's love, both as it judges but also redeems. In this sense Jesus is saying, I would argue, that our preaching, our witness, our account becomes the living Word, the λογος. To translate it simply as "message" leaves out the explicit connection Jesus is asserting here between our words and the true divine word of God.
Side grammar note that is worth paying attention to: "Those who are believing" is a great and easy example of a substantive participle. However, the particular word order, I maintain, is of theological significance. The actual clause reads, "Those who are believing because of their word in me." This is quite clumsy in English but it drives home the point. In the middle of our believe in Jesus is the received and heard word.
παντες ("all", 17:21) The translation of 17:21 cannot be "They might be one." The subject of this sentence is not "they" but actually, "all." One could argue that "all" here refers to "all of the disciples." But it seems more natural, especially in light of the second half of the verse, that Jesus is not simply praying for unity among the disciples, but finally unity of all things (including the God-hating world) as he later attests in this verse.
τελειοω ("finish" or "complete," 17:23) The verb, "teleoi-oo" or its sibling, "tele-oo" mean "to finish, complete, or even make perfect." These are used throughout John as Jesus discusses his need to "telo-oo" his task; finally, the task is "telo"-ed on the cross (19:30). The construction of the participle here is rather strange here. It basically links being perfected with union into one. The goal of Jesus is ultimately to make us all one -- reconciled to the Father!
καταβολης ("foundation", 17:24) The word for creation/foundation is "καταβολης," literally meaning "thrown down." Two thoughts on this:
First, I like translating καταβολης as foundation because Jesus uses a more specific word than "create" here; he uses the word that means, "that which is thrown down." John is sophisticated of a writer if he wanted to use "creation" he would have.
Second, I think John - dare I say Jesus! - is making a point about how creation by using the word foundation. Foundations are built on. Creation is in itself incomplete, waiting for humanity to take their place in the story, finally in the consummation of all creation in union with Christ.
εν ("ιν", 17:26) The key word here is "εν" a basic preposition that can be translated a couple of ways. Jesus wants his love to be "en" them. If you translate this "in" then end up with a rather (American) looking individual understanding of Jesus -- in my heart. But if you translate this word, "among" then you get a more helpful understanding of Jesus intent: He wants to be among us to intimately that there is love in the community, a love that reveals something about the fundamental character of God to the world!
ινα ("in order", "that", 17:21) How to translate "ινα"? The question is -- does a "ινα" clause, which demands a subjunctive, actually signify purpose or result? This is a big grammar debate in which I have no skin. I offer it because it allows for an interesting theological possibility as I suggest later here:
a) Purpose (ie, translate this word as "in order that"):
-John 6:30 "What sign will you do (ινα) that we might believe"
-John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave...(ινα) that whoever believes in him, would have eternal life"
(These purpose clauses can be divided up into all sorts of levels of how hypothetical the condition is...)
b) Result (ie, translate the word as "that"):
-John 9:2 "Who sinned (ινα) that this man was born blind?
-John 9:22 "The Jews had agreed (ινα) that whoever believed would get kicked out of the church"
In fact, the second example here probably better belongs to an entirely different category where the word "ινα" almost has no real purpose at all other than to say, "expect another verb to complete the thought."
In other words, ινα doesn't necessary have much subjunctive function, as we as English speakers think about the subjunctive. So is Jesus praying with the purpose that we might be one or praying with the result that we are in fact, already one!
BDAG does solve our dilemma, "In many cases purpose and result cannot be clearly differentiated, and hence ινα is used for the result that follows according to the purpose of the subject or God. As in Semetic and Gr-Rom thought, purpose and result are identical in declarations of the divine will."
So the point here is that actually, if Jesus is praying then this is established. Jesus Word is active! (Going back to the word logos!)
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Mark 12:13-17
This passage is found in the Narrative Lectionary Year 2 (Most recently: Feb 28, 2016)
Summary: The basic sermon point is this: Everything belongs to God; taxes are for good or for bad, to be paid. I'd like to dwell a bit more on two other terms: image and inscription. These words unpack the tension of old and new creation.
Two Words:
εικων (icon/image): Humans are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26/27; even after the fall, humans are still in the image of God (Gen 9:6)). After these passages in Genesis, the idea of humanity in the image of God recedes into the background of the Old Testament. Most of the time, when there are divine images, they are graven images of other gods.
Two possible directions for a sermon:
- The image of Caesar is of a human. Any human is in the image of God, and therefore it is an image of God. Therefore the coin belongs to God, not just to Caesar. We live in a world that is God's, but somehow also of kings and emperors. Sometimes the image of God seems in the background against the world's chaos and injustice!
The New Testament makes scare reference to the idea of image of God, but when it does, it normally refers to Christ as the image of God:
- Romans 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family.
- 1 Corinthians 15:49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.
- 2 Corinthians 4:4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
- Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;
There is the thought that we will be transformed into this image (Romans 8:29) and also
- 2 Corinthians 3:18 And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.
- Colossians 3:10 and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator.
In fact, there is only one reference to image of God outside of the Gospel, Christ and the transformational power of the Holy Spirit:
1 Corinthians 11:7 For a man ought not to have his head veiled, since he is the image and reflection of God; but woman is the reflection of man.
Even with this passage, the overall New Testament emphasis on "image of God" is to the new creation's image of Christ, rather than the old creation's image.
This then is rather interesting: Is Caesar in the image of Christ? It pushes harder on what we mean by image of God; how creation and restoration relate to the image of God.
επιγραφη (inscription): This word comes into the Gospel's one other time: the inscription on the cross when Jesus has an "epigraph" or "inscription" King of the Jews. Does Caesar or Jesus deserve that title? (Clearly Jesus).
I am not sure if its great for a sermon, but this passage and the other passages these key words allude to suggest a real tension between the old and new creation as well as the "now and not yet" of Jesus' power in the world.
A reminder of translation difficulties:
The Pharisees try to "butter" Jesus up with praise. Their praise though is really tough to translate. Verse 14 literally reads:
And going they said to him, "Teacher we know that you are true/genuine and it is not a concern to you about anyone; for you do not look in to the face of people, but teach upon the truth the way of God."
They are trying to get across the point that Jesus is not superficial and does not try to please people with his teachings. This would be a very odd way to say it in modern English! In this case the literal translation almost certainly fails. One must message the translation to something like:
"Teacher, we know that you are a genuine person, who truly teaches the way of God, not concerned for what people might think of you or what their status is..." Or something like that.
Summary: The basic sermon point is this: Everything belongs to God; taxes are for good or for bad, to be paid. I'd like to dwell a bit more on two other terms: image and inscription. These words unpack the tension of old and new creation.
Two Words:
εικων (icon/image): Humans are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26/27; even after the fall, humans are still in the image of God (Gen 9:6)). After these passages in Genesis, the idea of humanity in the image of God recedes into the background of the Old Testament. Most of the time, when there are divine images, they are graven images of other gods.
Two possible directions for a sermon:
- The image of Caesar is of a human. Any human is in the image of God, and therefore it is an image of God. Therefore the coin belongs to God, not just to Caesar. We live in a world that is God's, but somehow also of kings and emperors. Sometimes the image of God seems in the background against the world's chaos and injustice!
The New Testament makes scare reference to the idea of image of God, but when it does, it normally refers to Christ as the image of God:
- Romans 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family.
- 1 Corinthians 15:49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.
- 2 Corinthians 4:4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
- Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;
There is the thought that we will be transformed into this image (Romans 8:29) and also
- 2 Corinthians 3:18 And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.
- Colossians 3:10 and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator.
In fact, there is only one reference to image of God outside of the Gospel, Christ and the transformational power of the Holy Spirit:
1 Corinthians 11:7 For a man ought not to have his head veiled, since he is the image and reflection of God; but woman is the reflection of man.
Even with this passage, the overall New Testament emphasis on "image of God" is to the new creation's image of Christ, rather than the old creation's image.
This then is rather interesting: Is Caesar in the image of Christ? It pushes harder on what we mean by image of God; how creation and restoration relate to the image of God.
επιγραφη (inscription): This word comes into the Gospel's one other time: the inscription on the cross when Jesus has an "epigraph" or "inscription" King of the Jews. Does Caesar or Jesus deserve that title? (Clearly Jesus).
I am not sure if its great for a sermon, but this passage and the other passages these key words allude to suggest a real tension between the old and new creation as well as the "now and not yet" of Jesus' power in the world.
A reminder of translation difficulties:
The Pharisees try to "butter" Jesus up with praise. Their praise though is really tough to translate. Verse 14 literally reads:
And going they said to him, "Teacher we know that you are true/genuine and it is not a concern to you about anyone; for you do not look in to the face of people, but teach upon the truth the way of God."
They are trying to get across the point that Jesus is not superficial and does not try to please people with his teachings. This would be a very odd way to say it in modern English! In this case the literal translation almost certainly fails. One must message the translation to something like:
"Teacher, we know that you are a genuine person, who truly teaches the way of God, not concerned for what people might think of you or what their status is..." Or something like that.
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Mark 8:27-9:8
Here is a look at the Mark passage for Feb 7 Narrative Lectionary selection: 8:27-9:8
The brilliance of Mark is how he weaves stories together. This is great gift but also challenge of preaching on Mark!
Mark 8:27-38: http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2012/09/mark-827-38-2012_11.html
Mark 9:2-10: http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2012/02/mark-92-10.html
The brilliance of Mark is how he weaves stories together. This is great gift but also challenge of preaching on Mark!
Mark 8:27-38: http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2012/09/mark-827-38-2012_11.html
Mark 9:2-10: http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2012/02/mark-92-10.html
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Mark 4:26-34
This passage is found in Narrative Lectionary, Epiphany Season, Year B (Most recently: January 17, 2016)
Here is my post for Mark 4:26-34
http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2012/06/mark-426-34.html
I suggest three possible directions for a sermon:
1) Reflection on church growth and how a congregation can open themselves to this
2) Reflection on daily dying and rising and what growth looks like in a Lutheran context
3) Reflection on Christ as the mustard seed
Also, for those doing the parable of the sower, here is my commentary on Matthew's version of this parable; while not the exact same, perhaps some helpful insights into the passage:
http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2011/07/matthew-1318-23.html
Here is my post for Mark 4:26-34
http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2012/06/mark-426-34.html
I suggest three possible directions for a sermon:
1) Reflection on church growth and how a congregation can open themselves to this
2) Reflection on daily dying and rising and what growth looks like in a Lutheran context
3) Reflection on Christ as the mustard seed
Also, for those doing the parable of the sower, here is my commentary on Matthew's version of this parable; while not the exact same, perhaps some helpful insights into the passage:
http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2011/07/matthew-1318-23.html
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