NT – Luke 4:1-30
If you were a Roman or a Greek who lived during Luke’s day, you would hear all sorts of myths and legends about Hercules, Zeus, Apollo and all the other great ones. The great ones were all tested but came out on top, usually unscathed. Glorified, put into epic poems and carvings, we still read about their exploits today.
By comparison, all Jesus had to do was go hungry and tell the devil no three times. Which he did as a result of his power and fullness of the Holy Spirit given at baptism (thanks, Kim!). But his reward? Epic poems? A large marble bust in the Nazareth courtyard?
No, they ran him out of the town, intending to toss him over the cliff. Fortunately, he had the means to walk thru the crowd unimpeded and escape.
The positioning of these two stories about Jesus, when he could have had it all and when his own hometown shoved him out, back to back and at the beginning of his public ministry makes clear that Jesus did not come as a Super Hero.
Matthew Henry’s commentary makes much out of the fact that while the devil took him to the desert, and to the top of the highest point in Jerusalem, Jesus had to get himself down. He apparently can fly. He apparently either has an invisibility cloak or can perform the Jedi mind trick “these are not the Jesus you are looking for” as he passes through crowds undetected. While much is made of his healings, it is the ‘other’ powers that Jesus has that set him firmly in the Hero seat. He just doesn’t use them often and hops right back out.
So, you are this relatively well-educated Greek in Tyre in 90 CE and you hear about this Jesus dude setting the devil on his butt. This is going to pull me in?
You are a teen in the techno age with all sorts of electronic wizardry that can levitate cars, send messages wirelessly around the world, and you hear about this Jesus dude setting the devil on his butt. This is going to pull me in?
What makes this a compelling story?
Why is this Luke’s jumping off point for Jesus public ministry?
What makes Jesus human? God?
Psalm 63
Which makes me grateful that this psalm was with the above reading. Quiet. Unimposing. But full of the confidence that God is God and he is wonderful. Always there. Always great. He doesn’t need the 12 Labors to shine out his power. He is.
OT – Numbers 30:1-31:54
This is Rashi’s basis for saying that Balaam caused the sexual immorality of the Israelites. I should have known better than to quarrel with an 11th century rabbi with no cell phone distractions.
The harshness of God towards the Midianites is hard for me. Right now, I am just suspending my judgment until I have more information and can process the whole destroy everyone except the virgins idea. I guess the Midianites should have let the Israelites pass through on the road…
Have a wonderful day and keep in The Word.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
March 19
NT – Luke 3:23-38
I have to admit it. I was prepared for the cursory “I read it” of the genealogy. But then I decided I would see if the women were named in Luke’s lists just like Matthew’s. Can I just say I was blown away??
Not only are there no women – the names are not the same!! Solomon was not mentioned. So then I had to bop to 2nd Samuel 5:14-15. No, Nathan is one son and Solomon is listed after him.
To the internet with the question “why are the names different in Jesus’ lineage?”
(Where is Rashi when you need him?????)
There are 4 theories that hold the most prominent place among Bible scholars.
1. These are all made up names anyway so it really doesn’t matter whether the names are accurate or not. They were listed to prove a purpose. Since the purposes of Matthew and Luke are different, the genealogies are as well.
2. Luke is recording Mary’s genealogy and Matthew is recording Josephs’s.
3. Remember Levirate marriage? This goes back to Tamar who coincidentally (?) is mentioned in Matthew. All the brothers left her childless and so when Judah didn’t pony up the last son, she took matters into her own hands. But even if Tamar had conceived with brother #2, brother #1 would have been listed as his ‘father’ for purposes of inheritance. And as we read yesterday, the inheritance was Law. ‘
4. The genealogy in Matthew is actually through his maternal grandfather.
Here is my problem with each one.
1. If Matthew wrote in 70 CE and Luke 10-15 years later, there would be people who knew the answers to these questions and they would have yapped about this and LOUDLY. Genealogies are really, really important in the Middle East. You have to know whose tribe you come from so that you can tell if someone who approaches is friend or foe. And Luke was talking to family. We have too many details about him as a human. (Remember, Luke was trying to counteract Gnosticism which said Jesus wasn’t really a human.) Humans have fathers. I think this theory is definitely out for me.
2. This one is a maybe for me. But then you have the problem of 3:23 ‘JOSEPH, the son of Heli’.
3. If this were the case, every single one from David to Joseph would have had to have been a Levirate marriage. Highly unlikely in my opinion. And for it just to have been Joseph’s father’s Levirate, that would not have worked since the brothers would have had the same father. This one is also out for me.
4. Matthew already skipped a bunch of people to make the 14 generation thing work so why not money around with who is the line through? Except that 1:16 says that Joseph was the husband of Mary and Jacob was his father. Problems with this theory as well.
I guess I left out another theory. But this one is definitely out for me. I just put it down because if you look very far at all, it comes at you.
5. This is a flat out reason not to believe as people writing 30-100 years after someone’s death can’t even get their parents’ names right.
6. And then there is this one from my dear 85 year old friend Mary Earle. “I don’t care who his earthly daddy was. I just care who his heavenly daddy IS.”
You decide.
http://www.theology.edu/ap10.htm
http://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-genealogy.html
http://home.inreach.com/bstanley/geneal.htm
Psalm 62
Do you love that last verse as much as I do?
Vs. 11-12
One thing God has spoken,
Two things have I heard,
That you, O God, are strong,
And that you, O Lord, are loving.
Surely you will reward each person
According to what he has done.
May you start the week in The Word, with the grace of God beaming from your countenance.
I have to admit it. I was prepared for the cursory “I read it” of the genealogy. But then I decided I would see if the women were named in Luke’s lists just like Matthew’s. Can I just say I was blown away??
Not only are there no women – the names are not the same!! Solomon was not mentioned. So then I had to bop to 2nd Samuel 5:14-15. No, Nathan is one son and Solomon is listed after him.
To the internet with the question “why are the names different in Jesus’ lineage?”
(Where is Rashi when you need him?????)
There are 4 theories that hold the most prominent place among Bible scholars.
1. These are all made up names anyway so it really doesn’t matter whether the names are accurate or not. They were listed to prove a purpose. Since the purposes of Matthew and Luke are different, the genealogies are as well.
2. Luke is recording Mary’s genealogy and Matthew is recording Josephs’s.
3. Remember Levirate marriage? This goes back to Tamar who coincidentally (?) is mentioned in Matthew. All the brothers left her childless and so when Judah didn’t pony up the last son, she took matters into her own hands. But even if Tamar had conceived with brother #2, brother #1 would have been listed as his ‘father’ for purposes of inheritance. And as we read yesterday, the inheritance was Law. ‘
4. The genealogy in Matthew is actually through his maternal grandfather.
Here is my problem with each one.
1. If Matthew wrote in 70 CE and Luke 10-15 years later, there would be people who knew the answers to these questions and they would have yapped about this and LOUDLY. Genealogies are really, really important in the Middle East. You have to know whose tribe you come from so that you can tell if someone who approaches is friend or foe. And Luke was talking to family. We have too many details about him as a human. (Remember, Luke was trying to counteract Gnosticism which said Jesus wasn’t really a human.) Humans have fathers. I think this theory is definitely out for me.
2. This one is a maybe for me. But then you have the problem of 3:23 ‘JOSEPH, the son of Heli’.
3. If this were the case, every single one from David to Joseph would have had to have been a Levirate marriage. Highly unlikely in my opinion. And for it just to have been Joseph’s father’s Levirate, that would not have worked since the brothers would have had the same father. This one is also out for me.
4. Matthew already skipped a bunch of people to make the 14 generation thing work so why not money around with who is the line through? Except that 1:16 says that Joseph was the husband of Mary and Jacob was his father. Problems with this theory as well.
I guess I left out another theory. But this one is definitely out for me. I just put it down because if you look very far at all, it comes at you.
5. This is a flat out reason not to believe as people writing 30-100 years after someone’s death can’t even get their parents’ names right.
6. And then there is this one from my dear 85 year old friend Mary Earle. “I don’t care who his earthly daddy was. I just care who his heavenly daddy IS.”
You decide.
http://www.theology.edu/ap10.htm
http://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-genealogy.html
http://home.inreach.com/bstanley/geneal.htm
Psalm 62
Do you love that last verse as much as I do?
Vs. 11-12
One thing God has spoken,
Two things have I heard,
That you, O God, are strong,
And that you, O Lord, are loving.
Surely you will reward each person
According to what he has done.
May you start the week in The Word, with the grace of God beaming from your countenance.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
March 18
NT – Luke 3:1-22
Did you realize John had his checklist too? I didn’t. Here is the checklist that John, the Baptist, gives in response to what should we do in order that we not be thrown into the fire:
1. Share clothing with the ones who have none.
2. Share food with the ones who have none.
3. Don’t abscond with other people’s stuff even if it is legal to do so.
4. Don’t use power to gain wealth and prestige
5. Don’t accuse people falsely
I am sitting here, patting myself on the back because on paper, I look pretty good. I do the whole Goodwill, Food Pantry thing. I think I keep my hands off other people’s stuff and I haven’t accused many people lately. But #4. That is sort of vague, don’t you think? What does that really look like? Is it possible to be an American consumer and NOT use/abuse our power?
I am thinking about what we ate for dinner tonight. Now, granted, the hamburgers were from a steer from my Uncle Dick. And the asparagus came from my friend Vicki’s farm. But those strawberries. The strawberries came from CALIFORNIA. I live in Georgia. 3,000 miles. And the strawberry fields were irrigated with water, fertilized with who knows what, picked by migrant workers who are paid poorly. Then trucked that 3,000 miles to my Costco. But I ate them. And accepted the high praises from my men. I think on the John scale, I came out just as poorly as I did on the Jesus scale.
OT – Numbers 26:52-28:15
Do you find it interesting that a group of women! bring about the laws of inheritance? I assume, based on the whole Jacob/Esau blessing stuff, that before this, the father could choose anyone he wanted to choose for leaving his possessions. Maybe if this law had been prevalent before now, we wouldn't have had the whole brother issue that seems to run through Genesis.
At any rate, the claims of Zelophedhad’s daughters cause God to spell out the laws that allow women to inherit. (Only if there are no sons.) Presumably, the sons were supposed to take care of their sisters. However, having read Jane Austen and her Sense and Sensibility several times, I don’t think that brothers were always that gracious to their sisters regardless of whether they lived in 1830s England or 1000 BCE Israel. Today, we have reverted back to the father gets to pick who and what is inherited. Does that cause the same problem in families as it did prior to Torah?
Click here and go read this funny essay from my friend Chris who is a Baptist pastor in Charlotte, NC. Wills are tricky things. And speaking of Wills, how long has it been since you updated yours? Matthew is now 18 so Don and I put that task on the calendar for summer. What about you?
Blessings on your Sunday.
Did you realize John had his checklist too? I didn’t. Here is the checklist that John, the Baptist, gives in response to what should we do in order that we not be thrown into the fire:
1. Share clothing with the ones who have none.
2. Share food with the ones who have none.
3. Don’t abscond with other people’s stuff even if it is legal to do so.
4. Don’t use power to gain wealth and prestige
5. Don’t accuse people falsely
I am sitting here, patting myself on the back because on paper, I look pretty good. I do the whole Goodwill, Food Pantry thing. I think I keep my hands off other people’s stuff and I haven’t accused many people lately. But #4. That is sort of vague, don’t you think? What does that really look like? Is it possible to be an American consumer and NOT use/abuse our power?
I am thinking about what we ate for dinner tonight. Now, granted, the hamburgers were from a steer from my Uncle Dick. And the asparagus came from my friend Vicki’s farm. But those strawberries. The strawberries came from CALIFORNIA. I live in Georgia. 3,000 miles. And the strawberry fields were irrigated with water, fertilized with who knows what, picked by migrant workers who are paid poorly. Then trucked that 3,000 miles to my Costco. But I ate them. And accepted the high praises from my men. I think on the John scale, I came out just as poorly as I did on the Jesus scale.
OT – Numbers 26:52-28:15
Do you find it interesting that a group of women! bring about the laws of inheritance? I assume, based on the whole Jacob/Esau blessing stuff, that before this, the father could choose anyone he wanted to choose for leaving his possessions. Maybe if this law had been prevalent before now, we wouldn't have had the whole brother issue that seems to run through Genesis.
At any rate, the claims of Zelophedhad’s daughters cause God to spell out the laws that allow women to inherit. (Only if there are no sons.) Presumably, the sons were supposed to take care of their sisters. However, having read Jane Austen and her Sense and Sensibility several times, I don’t think that brothers were always that gracious to their sisters regardless of whether they lived in 1830s England or 1000 BCE Israel. Today, we have reverted back to the father gets to pick who and what is inherited. Does that cause the same problem in families as it did prior to Torah?
Click here and go read this funny essay from my friend Chris who is a Baptist pastor in Charlotte, NC. Wills are tricky things. And speaking of Wills, how long has it been since you updated yours? Matthew is now 18 so Don and I put that task on the calendar for summer. What about you?
Blessings on your Sunday.
Friday, March 16, 2012
March 17
OT – Numbers 26:1-51
Another census, another list of names. But in it are several items of interest.
1. The number of the people, despite the wars, plagues, the opening of the earth, the exploding lanterns, remains very close to the same. A few of the tribes have lost a lot –Simeon – since his leader Zimri had the gall to parade his Midianite floozy in front of Moses, and others grew quite a bit. But the overall numbers stayed about the same.
2. Being the ardent feminist that I am, the little note – Asher had a daughter names Serah (vs. 46) intrigued me. Serah is JACOB’s only living granddaughter. The tradition, according Rashi, was that when the news came to Jacob that Joseph was still alive, he fell into shock and his granddaughter Serah was sent for to play her harp and comfort him. So great was her playing that Jacob said “if your uncle is still alive, may you live forever” and she did. Eventually after many years in The Promise Land, she went to the Garden of Eden and was received alive by the cherubim who guard the entrance.
3. The other women listed as children of a man that has no sons is the beginning of the next story of whining. Stay tuned.
NT—Luke 2:36-52
Jump over to Luke 3:23, which says, “He (Jesus) was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph” and then it proceeds to list Joseph’s geneology. Back in our scripture for today, Mary makes the scolding comment to Jesus “Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you” to which JESUS replies “Didn’t you know I had to be my FATHER’s house?”
I have to think that the whole issue of who was Jesus’ true father is enormous in Luke’s readership/congregation. He addresses several more times than these comments and don’t forget, he has already addressed it earlier with Gabriel’s visit to Miss Mary. You just don’t get all that trash talking without some sort of issue.
That aside, even before I became a mother, I knew what MY mother would have done if I had ‘stayed’ behind, regardless of my reason. MY mother would have beat me with a broom, the yardstick she kept on the dash and beside the refrigerator, and a belt and THEN she would have told my dad and he would have whipped us all. Lollygagging is a cardinal sin in the Cole household.
So, if this is the case, and I can’t believe we were at all unique, what was Jesus thinking? And why was Luke telling this story at all?
I have theories. The first one is Luke wanted his readers to know he got his material from a primary source. He either talked to Mary or one of the other children. This is a family story. You know the ones. There are no time limits and probably at my funeral they will be telling about me falling in the trash cans and learning how to ‘swim’ at UGA. I am sure your family has them too.
The second theory has to do with the whole idea that Jesus wasn’t really human. Many people during the time that Luke wrote his gospel believed in Gnosticism, a form of Christianity that Paul rejected. One of the main tenets of Gnosticism is that Jesus was fully God, not human. Luke clearly follows Paul in rejecting that idea. Luke knew that parents everywhere fear losing their children. This really was bad behavior on Jesus’ part, no matter what he said. Jesus was clearly a human 12 year old boy who wanted to stay (for whatever, even Godly, reasons) and did. He should have told his parents.
But I have no Rashi to comment so if you feel I am going down the wrong path, feel free to challenge.
Psalm 60
My study Bible has this as the title of this Psalm:
For the director of music. To the tune of The Lily of the Covenant. A miktam (literary or musical term) of David. For teaching. When he fought Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah and when Joab returned and struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
This psalm goes with 1st Chronicles 19:6-19 which is the story of one of David’s campaigns that did not go well. And that in and of itself is unusual. To the victor go the spoils. At least that is the idiom. For example, there is absolutely no mention of the Israelite departure from Egypt. The Babylonian record for Nebuchadnezzar is very different. No madness is listed. Kings don’t like their defeats and mistakes recorded. Today is no different. In China, their history books don’t list Mao’s violent killings and deportations. In Russia, little mention is made of Josef Stalin’s purges.
But David was not that way. We have just as many “I’ve made a mess” psalms as we have “the glorious victory” psalms. Maybe more. What king/leader do we know that admits he was indiscreet? None that I know of. Everything hangs out with David and for this, I am grateful. It so helps to know that I am not alone in my ups and downs and the wrongs and rights that happen to me and I cause.
Many thanks for taking the time to read and follow this blog. I cannot tell you how much I am learning and growing from reading scripture daily and having to pull my thoughts together instead of the wild tangle they normally are. I hope that you are being enriched as well.
Another census, another list of names. But in it are several items of interest.
1. The number of the people, despite the wars, plagues, the opening of the earth, the exploding lanterns, remains very close to the same. A few of the tribes have lost a lot –Simeon – since his leader Zimri had the gall to parade his Midianite floozy in front of Moses, and others grew quite a bit. But the overall numbers stayed about the same.
2. Being the ardent feminist that I am, the little note – Asher had a daughter names Serah (vs. 46) intrigued me. Serah is JACOB’s only living granddaughter. The tradition, according Rashi, was that when the news came to Jacob that Joseph was still alive, he fell into shock and his granddaughter Serah was sent for to play her harp and comfort him. So great was her playing that Jacob said “if your uncle is still alive, may you live forever” and she did. Eventually after many years in The Promise Land, she went to the Garden of Eden and was received alive by the cherubim who guard the entrance.
3. The other women listed as children of a man that has no sons is the beginning of the next story of whining. Stay tuned.
NT—Luke 2:36-52
Jump over to Luke 3:23, which says, “He (Jesus) was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph” and then it proceeds to list Joseph’s geneology. Back in our scripture for today, Mary makes the scolding comment to Jesus “Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you” to which JESUS replies “Didn’t you know I had to be my FATHER’s house?”
I have to think that the whole issue of who was Jesus’ true father is enormous in Luke’s readership/congregation. He addresses several more times than these comments and don’t forget, he has already addressed it earlier with Gabriel’s visit to Miss Mary. You just don’t get all that trash talking without some sort of issue.
That aside, even before I became a mother, I knew what MY mother would have done if I had ‘stayed’ behind, regardless of my reason. MY mother would have beat me with a broom, the yardstick she kept on the dash and beside the refrigerator, and a belt and THEN she would have told my dad and he would have whipped us all. Lollygagging is a cardinal sin in the Cole household.
So, if this is the case, and I can’t believe we were at all unique, what was Jesus thinking? And why was Luke telling this story at all?
I have theories. The first one is Luke wanted his readers to know he got his material from a primary source. He either talked to Mary or one of the other children. This is a family story. You know the ones. There are no time limits and probably at my funeral they will be telling about me falling in the trash cans and learning how to ‘swim’ at UGA. I am sure your family has them too.
The second theory has to do with the whole idea that Jesus wasn’t really human. Many people during the time that Luke wrote his gospel believed in Gnosticism, a form of Christianity that Paul rejected. One of the main tenets of Gnosticism is that Jesus was fully God, not human. Luke clearly follows Paul in rejecting that idea. Luke knew that parents everywhere fear losing their children. This really was bad behavior on Jesus’ part, no matter what he said. Jesus was clearly a human 12 year old boy who wanted to stay (for whatever, even Godly, reasons) and did. He should have told his parents.
But I have no Rashi to comment so if you feel I am going down the wrong path, feel free to challenge.
Psalm 60
My study Bible has this as the title of this Psalm:
For the director of music. To the tune of The Lily of the Covenant. A miktam (literary or musical term) of David. For teaching. When he fought Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah and when Joab returned and struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
This psalm goes with 1st Chronicles 19:6-19 which is the story of one of David’s campaigns that did not go well. And that in and of itself is unusual. To the victor go the spoils. At least that is the idiom. For example, there is absolutely no mention of the Israelite departure from Egypt. The Babylonian record for Nebuchadnezzar is very different. No madness is listed. Kings don’t like their defeats and mistakes recorded. Today is no different. In China, their history books don’t list Mao’s violent killings and deportations. In Russia, little mention is made of Josef Stalin’s purges.
But David was not that way. We have just as many “I’ve made a mess” psalms as we have “the glorious victory” psalms. Maybe more. What king/leader do we know that admits he was indiscreet? None that I know of. Everything hangs out with David and for this, I am grateful. It so helps to know that I am not alone in my ups and downs and the wrongs and rights that happen to me and I cause.
Many thanks for taking the time to read and follow this blog. I cannot tell you how much I am learning and growing from reading scripture daily and having to pull my thoughts together instead of the wild tangle they normally are. I hope that you are being enriched as well.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
March 15
Sorry, couldn't resist. Don't you think Lego Balaam looks slightly like Lego Darth Vader????
NT – Luke 1:57-80
Did you notice the little family argument about John’s name? “They” came to circumcise him and “they” were going to name him Zechariah after his father.
For a long time, I did not really understand this passage. A big part of my hangup with it was the ‘naming after his father’. When I was in college, my freshman roommate was Jewish. Pam’s sister had married a Gentile (her words) and they had a baby boy while we were living together. They committed the unspeakable (and evil eye calling upon) act of naming him after his father. Pam explained that no good Jew names after a living person.
So, I couldn’t understand why this was so in John’s case. But the idea of not naming after fathers is not Biblical. This was actually a medieval custom that has persisted especially among Jews of Eastern European descent.
As a matter of fact, Josephus, the early 1st century CE Jewish turncoat of Roman writing fame, had a brother and a father, both named Mattias that he writes on and on about.
So what was the deal with the name?
One of the commentaries that I read said this was actually a way to point out that John would not be following in his father’s footsteps.
http://bible.org/seriespage/why-john-was-not-named-little-zach-luke-157-80
Having just read all the stuff in Leviticus and Numbers regarding Aaron’s descendents and the things they do and don’t do, John clearly did not follow the correct route. Even his seclusion to the desert growing up is a direct challenge to Jewish society and priestly training in the Torah which is studied in groups of youngsters, not by one, alone in the desert.
OT – Numbers 22-:21-23:30
Wow. All I can say is that Balaam must have been some kind of mighty prophet to have made Balak kill 21 bulls and 21 rams for him to divine the will of a God who is not his god. And Balaam continues to bless the Israelites.
Rashi claims that Balaam, as a sop to Balak, probably to keep his own head on his shoulders, told Balak that he could lead the Israelites astray by women instead of by force. That is tomorrow, well, yesterday for me but March 16 for anyone who knows what day of the calendar it is.
I don’t see that. Instead, I see someone who saw an angel, recognized the angel for what it? he? was, and then continued on to have a pretty serious interaction with God. I am sorry. I don’t see Balaam selling the Israelites out after having these intense meetings with God.
My personal opinion is that the Israelites needed no help going astray. They do it just fine all on their own.
Proverbs 11:12-13
The neighbor stuff. Don’t we all have issues at one time or another with our neighbors?
I am blessed with two lovely ladies on each side of me. Miss Barbara Ann babysat my boys when they were little. She has continued to love on both of them, remaining interested in their lives and what they are doing. Miss MaryBeth also has been a stalwart for us. She has shooed chickens AND TURKEYS! from her backyard with aplomb. When we were having some vandalism, she actually volunteered to take a shift watching in the night (we settled on cameras, being the high-tech group we are. Once the cameras went up, the vandalism stopped.).
But with each, we definitely have our fences. I guess fortunately, none of the three of us are party people but I can see how that might put a crimp in a relationship.
Both have prayed for my children and loved on Don and me through good times and bad. Both have loved the regular ‘gifts’ of vegetables.
Others in my neighborhood aren’t so lucky. One neighbor who definitely has mental challenges has a backdoor neighbor who will not cut down dead trees that loom over his house. Another claims that her next door neighbor’s husband is trying to seduce her. All of this stuff is lived out in the public arena of streets.
I can definitely see the wisdom of this proverb.
Blessings on your weekend. May you have rest and rejuvenation.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
March 16
Okay, I am sorry. I just realized that I had read the scripture for Friday rather than Thursday. As it is 9:45 and I am still reeling from Daylight savings time, well, this will just have to do. I will go back and read the scripture for March 15. If you feel like it, you could read the scripture and either comment on the blog or email me your comments and I will post them as the commentary for March 15. So very sorry!
My email: sylvia.mcadam@yahoo.com
NT – Luke 2:1-35
Such familiar words. I felt like I could have the capacity of simply going, well, yeah, I’ve heard those a time or two.
I decided to focus on the action verbs. Here is a partial list:
Issued, belonged, register, pledged, expecting, gave birth, wrapped, placed, keeping watch, appeared, shone, were terrified, Do Not Be Afraid, lying, praising, peace, see, found, spread, amazed, treasured, glorifying, circumcise, name, completed, present, offer, called, revealed, moved, promised, dismiss, prepared, marveled, blessed, destined, pierced.
This is another reason why I love Luke. Things HAPPEN in this gospel. In the space of 35 verses, the above and MORE happens. And it seems like each one of the verses has antecedents in books of the OT that we have already read.
Proverb 11:14
“For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure.”
I am still listening to Herman Wouk’s Winds of War. Today, I listened to the section where the fictional German Commander gives his explanation of the invasion of Norway. He makes the statement that Hitler took over the army, constantly meddled in the affairs and objectives of the army and when high ranking officials contradicted him, he had them dismissed and /or killed. He also makes the statement (which our protagonist Victor Henry denies) that Churchill was the same way.
Thus, his megalomania was never challenged.
Is this true of all situations? Or is there ever a case where the leader and the leader alone should make the decisions? What if we extrapolate that all the way to God? Who advises him?
In our OT – Numbers 24:1-25:18, it seems that Moses frequently advises God. God gets really mad and Moses either falls face down or makes atonement for the sin. In this case, the men of Israel were ‘indulging’ with Moabite women and another in the leadership of the Children of Israel intervenes with God. I am not sure that I would call them advisers, but clearly, God is listening to humans.
You will recall that Moab was created when Lot got his two daughters pregnant after Sodom fell and they ran off to the caves. In his defense, the girls got him drunk but really, that isn’t an excuse.
The Moabite women tried to seduce the masses but their allies, the Midianites, aimed really high. They went after the leaders of Israel. The law says that cohabitation with a gentile is punishable by death. Moses apparently forgot this but not Phinehas. Thus, Phinehas was elevated to his grandfather Aaron’s spot. This was a clear transfer of power. Tomorrow, we will read of Moses’.
My email: sylvia.mcadam@yahoo.com
NT – Luke 2:1-35
Such familiar words. I felt like I could have the capacity of simply going, well, yeah, I’ve heard those a time or two.
I decided to focus on the action verbs. Here is a partial list:
Issued, belonged, register, pledged, expecting, gave birth, wrapped, placed, keeping watch, appeared, shone, were terrified, Do Not Be Afraid, lying, praising, peace, see, found, spread, amazed, treasured, glorifying, circumcise, name, completed, present, offer, called, revealed, moved, promised, dismiss, prepared, marveled, blessed, destined, pierced.
This is another reason why I love Luke. Things HAPPEN in this gospel. In the space of 35 verses, the above and MORE happens. And it seems like each one of the verses has antecedents in books of the OT that we have already read.
Proverb 11:14
“For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure.”
I am still listening to Herman Wouk’s Winds of War. Today, I listened to the section where the fictional German Commander gives his explanation of the invasion of Norway. He makes the statement that Hitler took over the army, constantly meddled in the affairs and objectives of the army and when high ranking officials contradicted him, he had them dismissed and /or killed. He also makes the statement (which our protagonist Victor Henry denies) that Churchill was the same way.
Thus, his megalomania was never challenged.
Is this true of all situations? Or is there ever a case where the leader and the leader alone should make the decisions? What if we extrapolate that all the way to God? Who advises him?
In our OT – Numbers 24:1-25:18, it seems that Moses frequently advises God. God gets really mad and Moses either falls face down or makes atonement for the sin. In this case, the men of Israel were ‘indulging’ with Moabite women and another in the leadership of the Children of Israel intervenes with God. I am not sure that I would call them advisers, but clearly, God is listening to humans.
You will recall that Moab was created when Lot got his two daughters pregnant after Sodom fell and they ran off to the caves. In his defense, the girls got him drunk but really, that isn’t an excuse.
The Moabite women tried to seduce the masses but their allies, the Midianites, aimed really high. They went after the leaders of Israel. The law says that cohabitation with a gentile is punishable by death. Moses apparently forgot this but not Phinehas. Thus, Phinehas was elevated to his grandfather Aaron’s spot. This was a clear transfer of power. Tomorrow, we will read of Moses’.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
March 14
NT: Luke 1:26-56
Even after I have read Luke a MILLION times, especially the birth story, I just realized today that Mary was not pregnant when she went to visit Elizabeth. For some reason, all these years, I had assumed that she was and the reason she had gone to Elizabeth was the time honored tradition of sending the pregnant young girl to visit her aunt.
Here is a lovely rendition of the sung Magnificat as well as beautiful imagery of the visit of Gabriel to Mary.
Click here to go to the home page of Bible in a Year if your email does not download YouTube.
Gabriel is mentioned in only one other book of the Bible – Daniel 9:21. However, the Talmud and Midrash talk about Gabriel, the Archangel of God, extensively. Just another hash mark for Luke being a good Jewish scholarly boy.
OT -- Numbers 21:1-22:20
The story of Balaam clearly resonates with the rabbis. There is page after page after page of commentary on this one gentile ‘prophet’. Later on, in the Talmud, Balaam is mentioned again as one of the seven prophets (others include JOB!!! and his four friends (did you realize they were gentiles?)) and is held in great esteem. After all, he thwarted the plans of kings to destroy the Children of Israel. Still later, Balaam is mentioned in the letter of John and also in the extra-Biblical sources of Josephus. I plan on doing more research for tomorrow’s post.
Psalm 57
“I am in the midst of lions, I lie among ravenous beasts”. While I do not currently feel that way, I have on occasions. I’ve marked this psalm as one when under assailment. And I don’t think it necessarily has to be physical. Sometimes it is emotional or mental. Maybe even spiritual.
I am really glad to have had this time to simmer in the psalms. I did not really have a good working knowledge of them and where to turn in times of trouble or despair.
I have been planting my garden this week and my body is full of aches and creaks that I don’t normally have. But it is good to be out in God’s wonderful creation of Atlanta spring and I wish you the joy of the loveliness that I have immersed in.
Even after I have read Luke a MILLION times, especially the birth story, I just realized today that Mary was not pregnant when she went to visit Elizabeth. For some reason, all these years, I had assumed that she was and the reason she had gone to Elizabeth was the time honored tradition of sending the pregnant young girl to visit her aunt.
Here is a lovely rendition of the sung Magnificat as well as beautiful imagery of the visit of Gabriel to Mary.
Click here to go to the home page of Bible in a Year if your email does not download YouTube.
Gabriel is mentioned in only one other book of the Bible – Daniel 9:21. However, the Talmud and Midrash talk about Gabriel, the Archangel of God, extensively. Just another hash mark for Luke being a good Jewish scholarly boy.
OT -- Numbers 21:1-22:20
The story of Balaam clearly resonates with the rabbis. There is page after page after page of commentary on this one gentile ‘prophet’. Later on, in the Talmud, Balaam is mentioned again as one of the seven prophets (others include JOB!!! and his four friends (did you realize they were gentiles?)) and is held in great esteem. After all, he thwarted the plans of kings to destroy the Children of Israel. Still later, Balaam is mentioned in the letter of John and also in the extra-Biblical sources of Josephus. I plan on doing more research for tomorrow’s post.
Psalm 57
“I am in the midst of lions, I lie among ravenous beasts”. While I do not currently feel that way, I have on occasions. I’ve marked this psalm as one when under assailment. And I don’t think it necessarily has to be physical. Sometimes it is emotional or mental. Maybe even spiritual.
I am really glad to have had this time to simmer in the psalms. I did not really have a good working knowledge of them and where to turn in times of trouble or despair.
I have been planting my garden this week and my body is full of aches and creaks that I don’t normally have. But it is good to be out in God’s wonderful creation of Atlanta spring and I wish you the joy of the loveliness that I have immersed in.
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