I offer three posts for the RCL readings for this Sunday:
John 3:1-21
Little tidbit:
ο διδασκαλος ("the teacher", vs 2) Nicodemus calls Jesus "a" teacher;
Jesus calls Nicodemus "THE teacher." Obviously Jesus is catching
Nicodemus in his words!
A laser focus on John 3:16
A little tidbit
εχη : STOP. read carefully: This is a present tense verb. This means
that we HAVE the eternal life, not we will have, but we HAVE the eternal
life. In John's Gospel life begins here and in as we, through faith,
live in the son.
For those who want to work with the lovely Ephesians passage:
http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2009/03/ephesians-21-10.html
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Lent 4, Narrative Lectionary: Matthew 25:1-13 and Matthew 25:14-30 (Year 1)
This week the narrative lectionary offers two choices. For both I've updated my previous posts.
Parable of the Talents
Tidbit:
ταλαντον ("talent", a measure of gold weight worth roughly a million dollars or 20 years worth of a standard persons wages, 25:15). While this parable may produce guilt and anxiety in us that we don't do enough, it is worth remembering that anyone who gives away 5 talents to his slaves (not friends, slaves) doesn't value money they way the rest of us do. 5 talents would be 5-10 million dollars; 100 years worth of human labor entrusted!
Parable of the Bridesmaids
Tidbit:
A long explanation of why Bridesmaids is a better translation than virgin for παρθενοις.
Parable of the Talents
Tidbit:
ταλαντον ("talent", a measure of gold weight worth roughly a million dollars or 20 years worth of a standard persons wages, 25:15). While this parable may produce guilt and anxiety in us that we don't do enough, it is worth remembering that anyone who gives away 5 talents to his slaves (not friends, slaves) doesn't value money they way the rest of us do. 5 talents would be 5-10 million dollars; 100 years worth of human labor entrusted!
Parable of the Bridesmaids
Tidbit:
A long explanation of why Bridesmaids is a better translation than virgin for παρθενοις.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Lent 3: Exodus 20 and John 2:13-22 (Year B)
Here are links to the OT and Gospel passage for this Revised Common Lectionary readings for this week (Year B):
John 2:13-22
Tid-bit:
οικος του εμποριον (house of market; 2:16) German has a nice word: Kaufhaus, in which the word for shopping center contains the word house. Since we don't in English, the writers drop it and say, "market" instead of the literal "house of market." While our churches today may not be a house of market, I wonder if this really is the alternative to church: a few more hours to purchase things on TV, at the mall or on the internet; a few more hours to work; a few more hours to pay bills.
Exodus 20
Tid-bit:
אנכי ("anocki", meaning "I", 20.2) The first word of the ten commandments have nothing to do with rules, but God affirming his role as their savior and Lord.
John 2:13-22
Tid-bit:
οικος του εμποριον (house of market; 2:16) German has a nice word: Kaufhaus, in which the word for shopping center contains the word house. Since we don't in English, the writers drop it and say, "market" instead of the literal "house of market." While our churches today may not be a house of market, I wonder if this really is the alternative to church: a few more hours to purchase things on TV, at the mall or on the internet; a few more hours to work; a few more hours to pay bills.
Exodus 20
Tid-bit:
אנכי ("anocki", meaning "I", 20.2) The first word of the ten commandments have nothing to do with rules, but God affirming his role as their savior and Lord.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Lent 2: Mark 8:31-38 or Mark 9:2-10 (Year B)
There are two possible Revised Common Lectionary texts this week. Here are links to my posts on both of them:
Mark 8:31-38
Little tid-bit:
Use of tenses: Mark carefully selects his tenses in this passage. When Jesus asks the question, he is using the imperfect tense, which implies repeated action. Jesus repeatedly asks them: "Who are people saying that am?" and "Who do you say that I am?" In our life, we will repeatedly be asked who Jesus is.
Mark 9:2-10
Little tid-bit
εξ ("six"; there is a rough breathing mark, making it "hex" as in "hexagon"; 9:2). This is the only time Mark records something as happening "six" days later. So what happens on the sixth day? Well, on the 6th day Jesus died on the cross! Recall the OT: On the sixth day humanity was created. Very good (like Transfiguration). But final? No.
Mark 8:31-38
Little tid-bit:
Use of tenses: Mark carefully selects his tenses in this passage. When Jesus asks the question, he is using the imperfect tense, which implies repeated action. Jesus repeatedly asks them: "Who are people saying that am?" and "Who do you say that I am?" In our life, we will repeatedly be asked who Jesus is.
Mark 9:2-10
Little tid-bit
εξ ("six"; there is a rough breathing mark, making it "hex" as in "hexagon"; 9:2). This is the only time Mark records something as happening "six" days later. So what happens on the sixth day? Well, on the 6th day Jesus died on the cross! Recall the OT: On the sixth day humanity was created. Very good (like Transfiguration). But final? No.
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Matthew 18:15-35
This passage occurs in the Narrative Lectionary Year 1 (Most recently Feb 22, 2015).
Matthew 18:15-20
Juiciest tid-bit:
εθνικος (pagan, gentile, literally "ethnic"; 18:17) Jesus suggests we treat Christians who have greatly sinned against us as gentiles. Interestingly, Jesus final words in the Gospel of Matthew instruct us to preach to the gentiles (all the nations of the world; same root word) and earlier Jesus reminds us to love our enemies, because even the gentiles to this. Jesus is not giving us permission to be rude and dismissive to our brothers and sisters in Jesus, even those whom we are angry with.
Matthew 18:21-35
Juiciest tid-bit:
When you break down the Greek, you realize that Peter does not wonder "if" his brother will sin, but he wants to know what to do "when" his brother will sin.
Matthew 18:15-20
Juiciest tid-bit:
εθνικος (pagan, gentile, literally "ethnic"; 18:17) Jesus suggests we treat Christians who have greatly sinned against us as gentiles. Interestingly, Jesus final words in the Gospel of Matthew instruct us to preach to the gentiles (all the nations of the world; same root word) and earlier Jesus reminds us to love our enemies, because even the gentiles to this. Jesus is not giving us permission to be rude and dismissive to our brothers and sisters in Jesus, even those whom we are angry with.
Matthew 18:21-35
Juiciest tid-bit:
When you break down the Greek, you realize that Peter does not wonder "if" his brother will sin, but he wants to know what to do "when" his brother will sin.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Matthew 6:7-21; Must we forgive others?
The passage occurs in the narrative Lectionary, Year 1 (Most recently Feb 1, 2015).
For my pound-it-out analysis of the Greek in Luke and Matthew's version of the Lord's Prayer, click here.
This week, I want to focus on the Bible verses 6:14-15: (NRSV)
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
It brings up the haunting question, must we forgive others to be forgiven? Before we answer this theologically, let's dig into the grammar and words in the Greek (is there a linguistic way out of this theological conundrum!)
παραπτωμα (paraptoma, "trespasses"): In Matthew's Gospel a couple of words are employed to talk about sin. In the Lord's Prayer, the word is "οφειλημα" which means first and foremost, a debt. There is also the most theologically loaded term of sin, a wrongdoing against God, αμαρτια, used when Jesus institutes the Holy Communion. The word in this verse, παραπτωμα, means linguistically, "overstep." (This is what "trespass" literally means.)
How does this offer us a possible out: You could say that that this verse actually exonerates us from forgiving the sins of other people. We cannot do this. Only God can forgive sins. Jesus' claim to divinity in Matthew (see chapter 9 and healing of the paralytic) rests on his ability to forgive sins. But we can and must forgive missteps.
υμων (of yours): The entire section is conjugated in terms of verbs and possessive adjectives in the plural form of you. Another way to look at this passage then is that Jesus is speaking to the collective and not just individuals.
How does this offer us a possible out: It doesn't. In fact, it makes it a whole lot more complicated.
ουρανιος (houranios, ie, horizon", "heavens.") If you notice, the first part of the passage speaks about the Father in heaven; the second half simply about your father.
How does this offer us a possible out: Perhaps we are speaking about human judgements -- if we do not forgive others, our human piers will not forgive us.
αφητε (aphete, in various forms in this passage, "forgive") This word provides two avenues for reflection. First, it's meaning. It can mean "permit" or "let go" in addition to "forgive."
How does this offer us a possible out: If one reads this translating "permit" instead of "forgive" it has a slightly different meaning, one that is less about heaven and hell, but simply about how our attitude toward others becomes God's attitude toward us in life. God becomes the universal tolerance karma instead of judge.
Lastly, this verb is in the aorist. Aorist can be thought of as an inceptive aorist, meaning it points to the moment an action began. So, "If you begin to forgive others their trespasses..." Ultimately, this does not alter the meaning, it simply waters down the intensity.
To put it another way, the Greek in these passages does not intensify the English meaning. If anything, they provide us with a more earthly than eternal framework for understanding its significance. Regardless, our forgiveness before God and the forgiveness of others are bound together. Jesus didn't wait until enough humans had forgiven each other to die on a cross!
I think I would want to thread a very precarious theological needle and offer this: While on earth. the extent to which we experience God's forgiveness is intimately related to how much we extend forgiveness to others. Forgiveness and the prayer life that accompanies this are a way of life for Christians. That said, when it comes to heaven and our sins against God, this comes down to the cross, grace and faith.
For my pound-it-out analysis of the Greek in Luke and Matthew's version of the Lord's Prayer, click here.
This week, I want to focus on the Bible verses 6:14-15: (NRSV)
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
It brings up the haunting question, must we forgive others to be forgiven? Before we answer this theologically, let's dig into the grammar and words in the Greek (is there a linguistic way out of this theological conundrum!)
παραπτωμα (paraptoma, "trespasses"): In Matthew's Gospel a couple of words are employed to talk about sin. In the Lord's Prayer, the word is "οφειλημα" which means first and foremost, a debt. There is also the most theologically loaded term of sin, a wrongdoing against God, αμαρτια, used when Jesus institutes the Holy Communion. The word in this verse, παραπτωμα, means linguistically, "overstep." (This is what "trespass" literally means.)
How does this offer us a possible out: You could say that that this verse actually exonerates us from forgiving the sins of other people. We cannot do this. Only God can forgive sins. Jesus' claim to divinity in Matthew (see chapter 9 and healing of the paralytic) rests on his ability to forgive sins. But we can and must forgive missteps.
υμων (of yours): The entire section is conjugated in terms of verbs and possessive adjectives in the plural form of you. Another way to look at this passage then is that Jesus is speaking to the collective and not just individuals.
How does this offer us a possible out: It doesn't. In fact, it makes it a whole lot more complicated.
ουρανιος (houranios, ie, horizon", "heavens.") If you notice, the first part of the passage speaks about the Father in heaven; the second half simply about your father.
How does this offer us a possible out: Perhaps we are speaking about human judgements -- if we do not forgive others, our human piers will not forgive us.
αφητε (aphete, in various forms in this passage, "forgive") This word provides two avenues for reflection. First, it's meaning. It can mean "permit" or "let go" in addition to "forgive."
How does this offer us a possible out: If one reads this translating "permit" instead of "forgive" it has a slightly different meaning, one that is less about heaven and hell, but simply about how our attitude toward others becomes God's attitude toward us in life. God becomes the universal tolerance karma instead of judge.
Lastly, this verb is in the aorist. Aorist can be thought of as an inceptive aorist, meaning it points to the moment an action began. So, "If you begin to forgive others their trespasses..." Ultimately, this does not alter the meaning, it simply waters down the intensity.
To put it another way, the Greek in these passages does not intensify the English meaning. If anything, they provide us with a more earthly than eternal framework for understanding its significance. Regardless, our forgiveness before God and the forgiveness of others are bound together. Jesus didn't wait until enough humans had forgiven each other to die on a cross!
I think I would want to thread a very precarious theological needle and offer this: While on earth. the extent to which we experience God's forgiveness is intimately related to how much we extend forgiveness to others. Forgiveness and the prayer life that accompanies this are a way of life for Christians. That said, when it comes to heaven and our sins against God, this comes down to the cross, grace and faith.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Matthew 5:1-20
This week the narrative lectionary presents us with a very large chunk of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:1-20. I have looked at this passage as two smaller passages previously. I am not sure if I am up to the task of capturing all of 5:1-20 in one sermon. That said, I like how the narrative lectionary wants to help people here the beatitudes as part of the Sermon on the Mount and not as a "single hit."
http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2011/01/matthew-51-12.html
http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2011/02/matthew-513-20.html
Side note: Both these posts have a lot of grammar insights. I guess I had more time four years ago when writing these!
Two other words
φως ('phos,' meaning 'light', 5:14 and 16) Jesus calls us the light of the world. Later in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus even tells his disciples that they have the light inside of them (6:23) But where does this light come from? We might go to John's Gospel and its proclamation about Jesus as THE light of the world. But can we get there in Matthew's Gospel? Well, a few verses back (Matthew 4:16), Matthew quotes from Isaiah that the people walking in darkness have seen a great light as a savior is born. The original light is not the people, but Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the only person who shines in Matthew's gospel is Jesus, during the transfiguration (17.2).
ορος ('oros', meaning "mountain", 5:14). Look at what happens on mountains in Matthew's Gospel
Chapter 4: Devil tempts Jesus from mountain top
Chapter 5: Sermon on the mountain begins (light must be on a mountain top, not hill; same word!)
Chapter 14 & 15: Jesus prays on mountain top
Chapter 17: Transfiguration
Chapter 21-24: Mount of Olives is the starting and ending point of the passover experience
Chapter 28: Jesus encounters his disciples on a mountain top
In short, when stuck on Matthew's, run for the hills and make a nifty connection.
http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2011/01/matthew-51-12.html
http://lectionarygreek.blogspot.com/2011/02/matthew-513-20.html
Side note: Both these posts have a lot of grammar insights. I guess I had more time four years ago when writing these!
Two other words
φως ('phos,' meaning 'light', 5:14 and 16) Jesus calls us the light of the world. Later in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus even tells his disciples that they have the light inside of them (6:23) But where does this light come from? We might go to John's Gospel and its proclamation about Jesus as THE light of the world. But can we get there in Matthew's Gospel? Well, a few verses back (Matthew 4:16), Matthew quotes from Isaiah that the people walking in darkness have seen a great light as a savior is born. The original light is not the people, but Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the only person who shines in Matthew's gospel is Jesus, during the transfiguration (17.2).
ορος ('oros', meaning "mountain", 5:14). Look at what happens on mountains in Matthew's Gospel
Chapter 4: Devil tempts Jesus from mountain top
Chapter 5: Sermon on the mountain begins (light must be on a mountain top, not hill; same word!)
Chapter 14 & 15: Jesus prays on mountain top
Chapter 17: Transfiguration
Chapter 21-24: Mount of Olives is the starting and ending point of the passover experience
Chapter 28: Jesus encounters his disciples on a mountain top
In short, when stuck on Matthew's, run for the hills and make a nifty connection.
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