This passage is found in the RCL, Advent 3, Year C (Most recently Dec 15, 2024). Luke 3:16-17 and 21-22 also occur in the RCL, Baptism of our Lord, Year C.
Summary: It almost seems ironic to the Lutheran preacher that Luke refers to John "evangelizing"; here for it seems all law. However, this is a great Lutheran sermon. It fully offers the listener God's law, both instrumentally (vocation) but also theologically (terror that leads us to Christ). Furthermore, it defines the role of the church: God's gathering of baptized sinners, where God justifies them (cleanses) and sanctifies them (puts them to use). Basically, Martin Luther must have written this chapter. Haha!!
Okay, a more subtle commentary -- sanctification requires sifting. Does the church sift us or has life already sifted us?!
Key words:
προσδοκαω ("wait" or "expect"; 3:15) A great Advent words! Interestingly, Luke uses this word a whole bunch (6x in Luke; 4x in Acts), far more often than anyone else. In this case though, the people are not waiting for Jesus, per se, but rather the Messiah, and wondering whether John would be it. Perhaps a reminder and a challenge -- what are we waiting for?
καρδιας ("heart"; 3:15) The people wondered "in their hearts." In Luke's Gospel, the hearts is the place where thought occurs, much like Hebrew!
ειη ("to be"; 3:15) The word here for "is" is in the optative mood, a rare usage indeed. Gotta give it to Luke -- using Hebrew thought with advanced Greek!
αλων ("threshing floor") and συναγω ("gather"; 3:17) God gathers in the wheat to do something good with it. It was beaten, yes, but this had a purpose -- make the grain productive for wheat. This is sanctification. God taking away our crap so that we can be useful for our neighbor.
διακαθαιρω ("cleanse"; 3:17). This word's cousin καθαιρω is more familiar -- Catherize! The job of the church is to cleanse us.
Grammar Review: Super easy participle:
μελλοθσηας: The "coming" wrath. This is a verb function as an adjective. Easy as pie. Remember, not all participles are hard! Many have direct and easy ways to translate them into English. In this case, you just have to identify it as an adjectival participle (how? It has the word "the" in front of it and it describes the word immediately following it).
Monday, December 9, 2024
Saturday, December 7, 2024
Luke 1:26-38 (Annunication)
This passage occurs in the Revised Common Lectionary during Advent.
Summary:
Many commentaries reading this passage display
a hermeneutic of suspicion. For example, the anchor Bible commentary
was lamenting that Luke put everything in an OT style. Strangely
enough, this was proof that he was making this stuff up. (Imagine, God
works in a consistent manner over time). The virgin birth becomes
highly problematic within this hermeneutic of suspicion!
I
do not think Luke wants us to read with such cynical eyes. First, Luke
goes to great lengths here to give us names and dates, indicating he
intends to write history, not fiction. He even has the angel offer Mary
a sign (the pregnancy of Elizabeth), reminding us of Mary's human need
for proof. While his characters may follow patterns of other Biblical
characters, they seem to me to be real people with hopes and fears. (Because the Bible characters, as it turns out, are real people with hopes and fears)
I
think Luke offers us another hermeneutic: belief in God's word to do
miracles. I use the word hermeneutic because Luke plays on the word
herma in this passage; the word for "thing" in verse in 37 is "rema",
but because of the heavy breathing on the "r", this comes into
English "herma"; the word for "word" in verse 38 is also "rema" (herma).
We should read the Bible, not ready to doubt, but ready to be amazed at
what God has done. This hermeneutic, I believe, is what Luke intends
that we might echo the angel and Mary in declaring that “All things
(hermas) are possible through God” and “Let it be done according to your word (herma).”
Key Words:
οηομα
("name"; appears throughout the section) It is curious that the word
name appears four times in this section. In addition, every character
has a name; even people not part of the immediate story, David and
Elizabeth, are named.
καλεω ("call"/"invite"; appears
throughout the section) It is also curious that the word "call" appear
four times in this section. Clearly calling things a name is a vital
part of this pericope.
παρθενου ("virgin" or "young
woman"; 1:27) Let's settle this debate. Linguistically it is possible
to imagine that Mary is simply referred to hear as a young woman and not
a "virgin." However, the word for virgin is parthenos (like the
Parthenon building, to the virgin Athena). Furthermore, Mary's very
objection to the pregnancy is the fact that she has never known a man.
χαρις
("grace"; 1:28; 1:30) In 1:28 this appears as a verb in the perfect
passive form: "Having been graced." It is interesting that the grace is
in the perfect, in that the graceful event occurred previous to the
angel's announcement. What was the event that already gave her this
grace? Perhaps her own immaculate conception?!
Another tough thing about this idea of Mary's grace is found in the NET's translation notes. They lament the Vulgate translation, "full of grace" because it presents the idea that Mary has grace to bestow on others. While it is true that Mary's grace comes from God, it is hard to make the argument that Mary does not bestow grace on the rest of us through her role in the birth. Catholics (and Orthodox) go too far, but we protestants have never quite done Mary justice!
συγγενις ("female relative"; 1:36) This word has a cool etymology: συν (syn) + γινομαι (ginomai). These words mean "together" and "become/born." The word γινομαι is where we get the word "gene" and "genesis" from. συγγενις is a word that has a variety of meanings, ranging from family member to a kinsman. In short, it ranges from one who shares the same "genes" to one who shares the same "story" that is, the broader sense of relationship between people.
I find this interesting because in 2023, I observe that more and more, people align themselves less with the people of co-birth but co-becoming -- the people whom we develop as humans over time with. This is especially true in the middle upper class, where people often move far away for education, career and child raising. These become our friends in many ways! Elizabeth and Mary have their stories brought together by an angel, not by true blood lineage.
Grammar Review: Missing words
The
phrase the "The Lord be with you" is not really what the Greek says. It
simply reads "The Lord with you." (ο κυριος μετα σου) This can be read
as an imperative, as in it expresses a wish, "The Lord be or will be
with you." Or as an indicative: "The Lord is with you." Interestingly,
most translators translate a similar construction at the end of the
Gospel of John (Peace to you) with an imperative/wish "Peace be with
you." Using the same translation method they use here, that phrase
in John's Gospel should read there "Peace is with you." In this case, I would probably
argue for the translation, "The Lord is with you" because a) the angel
is standing right there and b) the angel says she is graced.
Monday, December 2, 2024
Luke 3:1-6
This passage is found in the RCL, Advent 2, Year C (Most recently Dec 8, 2024).
Summary: A familiar text with many preaching paths. Once again we need to head to the wilderness, the familiar cry of John the Baptist, to restore our sights. To put it another way, Advent remains a reason of repentance (whatever color we now use), but one where repentance isn't simply about personal sins, but a reorientation of our whole mind away from the crap out there about Christmas and toward the salvation of God unfolding in Jesus Christ.
Key words:
τετρααρχουντες ("rule as tetra-arch"; 3:1) The word tetra-arch means rule as a piddly regional governor. Luke includes a number of historical details in his Gospel, especially early on; Luke clearly wants to show that Jesus birth and life are actual events.
ρημα ("word"; 3:2) This word means "word." It will come into English the word "hermeneutic," i.e., the lens through which one looks at the data. This is really interesting to read John's work like this: "The hermeneutic of God came to John", which was forgiveness, baptism and repentance. What if our repentance means viewing life through this hermeneutic!
βαπτισμα ("baptism"; 3:3). Originally, this word did not have religious meaning. It simply meant to dip. For your enjoyment, here are the Liddell-Scott Hellenistic meanings of the word. Wow!
I. trans. to dip in water
2. to dip in poison
3. to dip in dye, to dye
4. to draw water
II. intransitive the ship dipped, ie, sank
Try preaching that: Baptism as a dip in poison; as a dip in dye; as a drawing of water from God; as finally, a sinking ship!
μετανοεω ("repent"; 3:3) The Greek meaning of the word is "new mind." In Liddell-Scott's ancient (and secular) Greek lexicon, "repent" means to change one's mind or purpose. We often put repentance together with sin, a fine thing, but perhaps we need to consider that repentance means often more than simply a struggle against temptation, but a paradigm shift, a transformation of our whole outlook, if not way of life and even being. In this case, there is a shift into the forgiveness of sins. Perhaps that is what Jesus ministry is really about, not simply our own forgiveness, but inculcating a world view that finally includes forgiveness. Perhaps this is σωτηριον (salvation): when the world finally embraces forgiveness as the path. Overarching point: μετανοεω in Greek and in the New Testament means far more than forgiveness of sins. (Or forgiveness of sins means far more than we think it does).
πληρωθησται (πληροω, fill or fulfill, 3:5) and ταπεινωθησται (ταπεινω, fulfill, 3:5): The English renders these words as "raised up" and "made low." Yet Luke (and Isaiah) use the words here for fill and humble. These then echo other parts of Luke's Gospel (the Magnificat; Jesus words on the road to Emmaus). These represent key features of Jesus mission: To fulfill and to humble.
Grammar note: Lack of punctuation in ancient languages
Original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts lack punctuation; it was added later by monks. So we really don't know if Isaiah meant, "A voice cries out, 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord'" or "A voice cries out in the Wilderness, 'prepare the way of the Lord'." The monks thought the former...probably good to go with their instinct, especially given the need, in the Exile, to walk through the wilderness from Babylon to Israel. If this is the case, it seems that the Gospel writers change the punctuation to fit their own program of matching John's work with the description in Isaiah.
A few options: The scholarly one: Preach or teach, in a despising fashion, about how the NT abuses the OT
The Christological one: Preach and teach about how the NT rightfully abuses (reinterprets) the OT to make it fit with Christ!
Or the pastoral one: In this case both punctuation possibilities are valid. John the Baptist cries out in the wilderness. Yet he speaks to each of us to get into the wilderness, away from all the chaos of the world, to focus on God and God alone.
Summary: A familiar text with many preaching paths. Once again we need to head to the wilderness, the familiar cry of John the Baptist, to restore our sights. To put it another way, Advent remains a reason of repentance (whatever color we now use), but one where repentance isn't simply about personal sins, but a reorientation of our whole mind away from the crap out there about Christmas and toward the salvation of God unfolding in Jesus Christ.
Key words:
τετρααρχουντες ("rule as tetra-arch"; 3:1) The word tetra-arch means rule as a piddly regional governor. Luke includes a number of historical details in his Gospel, especially early on; Luke clearly wants to show that Jesus birth and life are actual events.
ρημα ("word"; 3:2) This word means "word." It will come into English the word "hermeneutic," i.e., the lens through which one looks at the data. This is really interesting to read John's work like this: "The hermeneutic of God came to John", which was forgiveness, baptism and repentance. What if our repentance means viewing life through this hermeneutic!
βαπτισμα ("baptism"; 3:3). Originally, this word did not have religious meaning. It simply meant to dip. For your enjoyment, here are the Liddell-Scott Hellenistic meanings of the word. Wow!
I. trans. to dip in water
2. to dip in poison
3. to dip in dye, to dye
4. to draw water
II. intransitive the ship dipped, ie, sank
Try preaching that: Baptism as a dip in poison; as a dip in dye; as a drawing of water from God; as finally, a sinking ship!
μετανοεω ("repent"; 3:3) The Greek meaning of the word is "new mind." In Liddell-Scott's ancient (and secular) Greek lexicon, "repent" means to change one's mind or purpose. We often put repentance together with sin, a fine thing, but perhaps we need to consider that repentance means often more than simply a struggle against temptation, but a paradigm shift, a transformation of our whole outlook, if not way of life and even being. In this case, there is a shift into the forgiveness of sins. Perhaps that is what Jesus ministry is really about, not simply our own forgiveness, but inculcating a world view that finally includes forgiveness. Perhaps this is σωτηριον (salvation): when the world finally embraces forgiveness as the path. Overarching point: μετανοεω in Greek and in the New Testament means far more than forgiveness of sins. (Or forgiveness of sins means far more than we think it does).
πληρωθησται (πληροω, fill or fulfill, 3:5) and ταπεινωθησται (ταπεινω, fulfill, 3:5): The English renders these words as "raised up" and "made low." Yet Luke (and Isaiah) use the words here for fill and humble. These then echo other parts of Luke's Gospel (the Magnificat; Jesus words on the road to Emmaus). These represent key features of Jesus mission: To fulfill and to humble.
Grammar note: Lack of punctuation in ancient languages
Original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts lack punctuation; it was added later by monks. So we really don't know if Isaiah meant, "A voice cries out, 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord'" or "A voice cries out in the Wilderness, 'prepare the way of the Lord'." The monks thought the former...probably good to go with their instinct, especially given the need, in the Exile, to walk through the wilderness from Babylon to Israel. If this is the case, it seems that the Gospel writers change the punctuation to fit their own program of matching John's work with the description in Isaiah.
A few options: The scholarly one: Preach or teach, in a despising fashion, about how the NT abuses the OT
The Christological one: Preach and teach about how the NT rightfully abuses (reinterprets) the OT to make it fit with Christ!
Or the pastoral one: In this case both punctuation possibilities are valid. John the Baptist cries out in the wilderness. Yet he speaks to each of us to get into the wilderness, away from all the chaos of the world, to focus on God and God alone.
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