CONCEPT LAW AND GRACE.

 A COMMON CONCEPTION OF MANY EVANGELICAL BELIEVERS REVEAL OPPOSITE SIDES OF GOD'S NATURE. LAW REVEALS THE ANGRY, STERN SIDE OF GOD, THE OLD TESTAMENT SIDE OF HIM.; GRACES REVEALS THE MERCIFUL, LOVING, NEW TESTAMENT SIDE OF HIM. MARY ARE SURPRISED TO FIND THAT GRACE AND THE GOSPEL ARE VERY MUCH OLD TESTAMENT CONCEPTS. SPEAKING OF OLD TESTAMENT ISRAELITES WHO WERE LED FROM EGYPT TO CANAAN BY MOSES, HEBREWS 4:1-2 SAYS: "THEREFORE, SINCE THE PROMISE OF ENTERING HIS  STILL  [CHRIST'S] REST STILL STANDS, LET US BE CAREFUL THAT NONE OF YOU BE FOUND TO HAVE FALLEN SHORT OF IT. FOR WE ALSO HAVE HAD THE GOSPEL PREACHED  TO US, JUST AS THEY DID;  BUT THE MESSAGE THEY HEARD DID NOT COMBINE WITH FAITH. SIMILARLY, WE FIND THAT THE GOSPEL WAS PREACHED TO ABRAHAM. PAUL SAYS: IN GALATIANS 3:89: "THE SCRIPTURE FORESAW THAT GOD WOULD JUSTIFY THE GENTILES BY FAITH., AND ANNOUNCED THE GOSPEL IN ADVANCE TO ABRAHAM.: "." ALL NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED THROUGH YOU.'. SO THOSE WHO HAVE FAITH ARE BLESSED ALONG WITH ABRAHAM THE MAN OF FAITH". PAUL MENTIONS IN ANOTHER EPISTLE THAT ABRAHAM AND DAVID WERE EXAMPLES OF MEN WHO WERE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH.  BUT DO THESE PASSAGES FROM ROM. (4:3:6).
 REFER TO THE SAME GOSPEL THAT WE ARE SAVED BY?  ALTHOUGH THE GREEK WORD (EVANGELION) FOR GOSPEL IS THE SAME IN ALL THESE REFERENCES, MIGHT IT NOT BE REFERRING TO A DIFFERENT GOSPEL FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT COVENANT? IT SEEMS POSSIBLE THAT THIS MIGHT BE THE CASE, FOR THERE ARE SEVERAL DESCRIPTIVE TITLES IN THE BIBLE, SUCH AS: " THE GOSPEL OF PEACE," THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST", THE "GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD,"  "THIS GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM" "AN ETERNAL GOSPEL."  SINCE THERE ARE DESCRIPTIVE TITLES, ARE THERE DIFFERENT GOSPELS? PAULS ANSWER IN GALATIANS IS AN EMPHATIC NO!  PAUL SAYS ITS "REPROOF FOR DISLOYALTY." WHEN HE SAYS: I AM AMAZED THAT YOU ARE SO SOON DESERTING HIM WHO CALLED YOU IN ACCORD WITH HIS GRACIOUS DESIGN IN CHRIST, AND ARE GOING OVER TO ANOTHER GOSPEL. BUT THERE IS NO OTHER. SOME WHO WISH TO ALTER THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST MUST HAVE CONFUSED YOU. FOR EVEN IF WE, OR AN ANGEL FROM HEAVEN, SHOULD PREACH TO YOU A GOSPEL NOT IN ACCORD WITH THE ONE WE DELIVERED, LET A CURSE BE UPON HIM!  I REPEAT TO WHAT  I HAVE JUST SAID: IF ANYONE PREACHES A GOSPEL TO YOU OTHER THAN THE ONE YOU HAVE RECEIVED, LET A CURSE BE UPON HIM! WHOM WOULD YOU SAY I AM TRYING TO PLEASE AT THIS POINT--MEN OR GOD?  IS THIS HOW I SEEK TO INGRATIATE MYSELF WITH MEN? IF I WERE TRYING TO WIN MAN'S APPROVAL. I WOULD SURELY NOT BE SERVING CHRIST! TO IMPRESS UPON THE GALATIANS THE DOCTRINAL  SERIOUSNESS OF THEIR INCLINATION TO COMBINE THE PRACTICES OF JUDAISM AS SAVING, PAUL CALLS THIS TEACHING ANOTHER GOSPEL i.e A DOCTRINE OF SALVATION SUBSTANTIALLY DIFFERENT FROM AUTHENTIC CHRISTIAN TEACHING. (GAL1: 6-10)  IT IS HARD TO ESCAPE THE CONCLUSION THAT PAUL BELIEVED QUITE STRONGLY THAT THERE WAS ONLY ONE GOSPEL, WITH RESULTING INFERENCE THAT THE VARIOUS TITLES MENTIONED ABOVE ARE DESCRIPTIVE OF THE SAME GOSPEL. ABRAHAM AND DAVID LOOKED FORWARD TO THE FULFILLMENT OF THE GOSPEL EVEN AS WE LOOK BACKWARDS TO ITS COMPLETION IN CHRIST. THIS IS NOT TO SAY THAT THE OLD TESTAMENT BELIEVERS UNDERSTOOD CHRIST'S ATONEMENT AS CLEARLY AS WE DO NOW, BUT THAT THEY HAD FAITH THAT GOD WOULD PROVIDE RECONCILIATION. FOR THEM, AND GOD HONORED THEIR FAITH BY GRANTING THEM REDEMPTION. REVELATION 13  ROUNDS IT ALL OUT WHICH SUSTAINS THE HOLY ONES, WHO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND THEIR FAITH IN JESUS. I HEARD A VOICE FROM HEAVEN SAY TO ME: "WRITE THIS DOWN: HAPPY NOW ARE THE DEAD WHO DIE IN THE LORD!" THE SPIRIT ADDED, "YES, THEY SHALL FIND REST FROM THEIR LABORS, FOR THEIR GOOD WORKS ACCOMPANY THEM." 

REDEMPTION

 THE USE OF REDEMPTION LANGUAGE IN THE SCRIPTURES ADDS FURTHER NUANCES TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF GOD'S SAVING ACTION IN JESUS CHRIST. EVEN THOUGH  THE REDEMPTION THEME DOES NOT SEEM TO BE IN THE OLDEST LAYERS OF THE SCRIPTURAL TRADITION, IT DEVELOPED RAPIDLY ONCE IT APPEARED. THE NOTION SEEM TO BE DERIVED FROM A JEWISH FAMILY PRACTICE WHERE THE CLOSEST RELATIVE  OF SOMEONE WHO LOST GOODS AND PROPERTY OR WAS ENSLAVED HAD THE OBLIGATION OF "BUYING BACK" WHAT WAS LOST AND GAINING FREEDOM FOR THE ENSLAVED PERSON. THE NOTION IS OPERATIVE IN THE EXODUS DESCRIPTION OF GOD REDEEMING PEOPLE FROM SLAVERY IN EGYPT. IN ADDITION THE PROPHETS, ESPECIALLY ISAIAH, EZEKIEL AND JEREMIAH, COMMONLY REFER TO YAHWEH AS "REDEEMER," THE ONE WHO REDEEMS YAHWEH'S PEOPLE FROM SIN AND GUILT. ARLAND HULTGREN MAINTAINS THAT THERE IS FOUR APPROACHES TO CHRIST AS THE REDEEMER IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. IN THE FIRST TWO APPROACHES " REDEMPTION THROUGH CHRIST"  GOD IS MORE AT THE CENTER OF THE REDEMPTION PROCESS THAN CHRIST IS. IN THE OTHER TWO MODELS, " REDEMPTION BY CHRIST" AND  "CHRIST AS MEDIATOR." THE CENTRALITY OF CHRIST SEEM TO COME FROM LATER EPISTLES AND THE JOHANNINE TRADITION. IT MAY WELL BE, THEREFORE,  THAT THE TRADITION OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS GRADUALLY MOVED FROM IDENTIFYING GOD AS REDEEMER TO RECOGNITION OF CHRIST HIMSELF EXERCISING THAT ROLE. REDEMPTION "IN CHRIST" IS FOUND IN MARK, THE EARLIEST GOSPEL, AND IN THE EPISTLES OF PAUL. THE EMPHASIS HERE SEEMS TO BE THAT REDEMPTION  HAS BEEN PLANNED AND PROMISED BY GOD, AND WAS ACCOMPLISHED BY GOD SENDING HIS SON TO REDEEM US. HERE, JESUS SEEMS TO BE PASSIVELY OBEYING THE DIVINE DECREE. HE TAKES ON THE "CURSE" OF HUMAN SIN, AND OBEDIENTLY GIVES HIMSELF IN THE SACRIFICE OF THE CROSS.  THE DEATH OF JESUS IS FOR ALL AND MANIFESTS THE SAVING POWER OF GOD. HERE THE CROSS AND RESURRECTION MARK THE END OF AN ERA OF SIN AND SLAVERY AND THE COMMENCEMENT OF A NEW AGE OF ONENESS BETWEEN THE WHOLE HUMAN AND GOD FAMILY.  REDEMPTION IS THROUGH CHRIST. IN THE GOSPELS OF MATTHEW AND LUKE, AND IN ACTS, THE STRESS IS PLACED ON REDEMPTION "THROUGH CHRIST." HERE, AGAIN, GOD IS THE INITIATOR OF SALVATION AND JESUS IS THE ONE CARRYING OUT THE WILL OF THE FATHER., BUT,  IN THIS CASE, THERE IS MORE OF AN IDENTIFICATION OF THEIR WILLS AND LESS STRESS ON THE ROLL OF JESUS' DEATH IN THE REDEMPTIVE PROCESS. REDEMPTION SEEMS TO BE BROUGHT BY THE CHRIST WHO IS IN EXALTED STATE. MATTHEW'S IS A ROYAL FIGURE WHO HAS THE RESOURCES TO AVOID SUFFERING AND DEATH, BUT ACCEPTS THEM IN ORDER TO FULFILL THE DIVINE PURPOSE. JESUS BLOOD IS POURED OUT AT CALVARY, AND HIS LIFE GIVEN AS A RANSOM, YET HE YIELDS UP HIS OWN SPIRIT IN THE DEATH SCENE, AND, AS THE RISEN AND EXALTED LORD, GIVES THE BENEFITS  OF HIS REDEMPTIVE ACT TO HIS FOLLOWERS. WITH "ALL AUTHORITY" HE THEN COMMISSIONS HIS DISCIPLES TO GO FORTH AND TEACH REDEMPTION TO EVERYONE, AND HE PROMISES THAT HE WILL BE WITH THEM WITH HIS POWER UNTIL THE END OF TIME. IN LUKE'S GOSPEL AND IN ACTS, THE NOTION OF REDEMPTION IS FULLY DEVELOPED: JESUS IS PORTRAYED AS THE ONE WHO BUYS US BACK FROM THE SLAVERY OF SIN AND DEATH AND BRINGS US INTO A NEW LAND THAT IS SAFE AND HAPPY. HERE, AGAIN, THIS IS ALL CARRIED OUT ACCORDING TO A DIVINE PLAN WHEREBY CHRIST BRINGS US FORGIVENESS TO MANY DURING HIS LIFE AND MUST THEN SUFFER, DIE, AND RISE SO THAT FORGIVENESS MIGHT BE EXTENDED TO ALL PEOPLE. LUKE DOES NOT CHOOSE TO USE THE "RANSOM" IMAGE OF MARK AND MATTHEW. INSTEAD, HE VIEWS REDEMPTION AS AN ONGOING PROCESS. IT HAD ITS BEGINNING IN THE DIVINE PLAN, WAS ACTED OUT IN JESUS' MINISTRY AND DEATH, AND IS NOW THE BENEFITS OF FORGIVENESS AND THE FINAL
REDEMPTION EXTENDED TO THOSE WHO REPENT. IN THE LATER PAULINE EPISTLES, WHICH SEEM TO HAVE BEEN WRITTEN BY AUTHORS OTHER THAN PAUL, AS WELL AS IN THE JOHANNINE TRADITION AND THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. CHRIST IS PORTRAYED AS THE REDEEMER IN HIS OWN RIGHT. CHRIST IS PRE-EXISTENT. AND, RATHER THAN BEING SENT, COMES IN HIS OWN POWER AS A VIGOROUS REDEEMER IN HIS OWN RIGHT WHO DYNAMICALLY SACRIFICES HIMSELF AND DRAWS ALL TO HIMSELF AND SO THAT THEY MAY BE REDEEMED. HE LOVES HIS OWN AND GIVES HIMSELF FOR THEM,  AN RECONCILES ALL HIMSELF. CHRIST IS NOT SO MUCH ONE WHO PERFORMS THE ACTS OF REDEMPTION AS HE IS THE REDEEMER HIMSELF. HE IS THE "IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD." (COLOSSIANS 2:9), THE AGENT OF CREATION. IT IS NOT SO MUCH BY DEEDS AS BY HIS VERY NATURE THAT CHRIST IS THE REDEEMER, RECONCILER, THE  "VICTOR" OVER COSMIC AND DEMONIC POWERS. CHRIST REIGNS FROM THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD AS A POWERFUL SOURCE OF SALVATION FOR ALL HUMANITY AND PROMISES FINAL VICTORY OVER EVIL IN THE FINAL COMING.
 IN JOHN'S  TRADITION, THE ROLE OF MEDIATOR IS ALSO INCORPORATED INTO  INTO THE NOTION OF REDEMPTION "BY "CHRIST"

FAMILY TREE

 THE TRIAL OF JESUS WHICH LED FINALLY TO HIS CRUCIFIXION BEGAN WHEN JESUS WAS BEING LED FROM CAIAPHAS UNTO THE JUDGMENT HALL AND IT WAS EARLY; AND THEY THEMSELVES WENT NOT INTO THE JUDGMENT HALL LEST THEY SHOULD BE DEFILED; BUT THAT THEY MIGHT EAT THE PASSOVER. PILATE THEN WENT OUT UNTO THEM, AND SAID, " WHAT ACCUSATION BRING YOU AGAINST THIS MAN?" THEY ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO HIM "IF HE WAS NOT A MALEFACTOR, (TROUBLE-MAKER) WE WOULD NOT HAVE DELIVERED HIM UP UNTO THEE.  THEN SAIS PILATE UNTO THEM. HE PILATE SAID UNTO THEM, " TAKE YE HIM, AND JUDGE HIM ACCORDING TO YOUR LAW." THE JEWS THEREFORE UNTO HIM, IT IS NOT LAWFUL TO PUT ANY MAN TO DEATH' (THAT THE  SAYING OF JESUS. MIGHT BE FULFILLED, WHICH HE SPOKE,SIGNIFYING WHAT DEATH HE SHOULD HE SHOULD DIE). THEN PILATE ENTERED INTO THE JUDGMENT HALL AGAIN AND CALLED JESUS AND SAID UNTO HIM, "ART THOU THE KING OF THE JEWS?" DO YOU SAYEST THIS THING OF THYSELF, OR DID OTHERS TELL IT THEE OF ME?" PILATE ANSWERED, "AM I A JEW? YOUR OWN NATION AND CHIEF PRIESTS HAVE DELIVERED YOU UNTO ME: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" JESUS ANSWERED, " MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD, IF MY KINGDOM WERE OF THIS WORLD, THEN WOULD MY SERVANTS FIGHT,  THAT I SHOULD NOT BE DELIVERED TO THE JEWS: BUT MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD." PILATE  "ARE THOU A KING THEN?" JESUS ANSWERED, THOU.SAYEST SO.
" FOR THIS REASON I WAS BORN," THAT I SHOULD BEAR WITNESS UNTO THE TRUTH. EVERYONE THAT IS OF TRUTH HEARS MY VOICE. PILATE SAYS UNTO HIM, " WHAT IS TRUTH?" WHEN HE HAD SAID THIS, HE WENT OUT AGAIN UNTO THE JEWS, AND SAID UNTO THEM, "I FIND NO FAULT AT ALL. BUT YOU HAVE CUSTOM, THAT I SHOULD RELEASE ONE UNTO YOU?" AT THE PASSOVER:  SHOULD I RELEASE UNTO YOU THE
KING OF THE JEWS?" THEN CRIED THEY ALL AGAIN, SAYING, "NOT THIS MAN, BUT BARABBAS." NOW BARABBAS WAS A ROBBER. THEIR IS AN0THER STORY HERE, WHICH IS CALLED THE CHRISTMAS STORY WHICH IS FAMILIAR TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE THIS SEASON IS ACTUALLY A BLENDING OF TWO STORIES, ONE ATTRIBUTED TO MATTHEW AND THE OTHER TO LUKE. THESE ARE THE ONLY TWO GOSPELS THAT GIVE AN ACCOUNT OF JESUS BIRTH. MARK THE EARLIEST GOSPEL, BEGINS WITH JESUS' BAPTISM. JOHN BEGINS WITH A HIGHLY STYLIZED ACCOUNT OF CHRIST'S EXISTENCE BEFORE CREATION. BOTH MATTHEW AND LUKE WERE WRITTEN EIGHTY-FIVE YEARS AFTER JESUS BIRTH SEEM TO BE MUCH MORE CONCERNED WITH THE THEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE THEN WITH THE HISTORICAL DETAILS. BOTH GOSPEL ACCOUNTS OF THE BIRTH OF JESUS INSIST THAT HE WAS BORN A JEW, AND THEREFORE, HAD GENUINE ETHNIC AS WELL AS AUTHENTICALLY
HUMAN ROOTS. MATTHEW'S ACCOUNT TELLS OF JESUS GOOD "GENES" IN THE BIBLE
GOING THROUGH JOSEPH AND SOME OTHER "BIG NAMES" IN THE BIBLE, INCLUDING JOSIAH, AMOS, SOLOMON, BATHSHEBA, DAVID, JESSE, RUTH, TAMAR, JACOB, ISAAC, AND ABRAHAM. THE FAMILY TREE, AS IN MOST FAMILIES, INCLUDES OUTSTANDING EXAMPLES OF CHARACTER AND FIDELITY, AS WELL AS SOME ROGUE "SKELETON'S" IN THE FAMILY CLOSET. THE FAMILY HERITAGE INCLUDES THE ADULTERY, OF DAVID AND BATHSHEBA, THE DECEPTION OF JACOB, THE SEDUCTIVENESS OF TAMAR, THE COWARDICE OF ABRAHAM, AND THE DISOBEDIENCE OF ADAM. JESUS IS DESCENDING FROM A LONG LINE OF PEOPLE WHO HAD THEIR WEAKNESSES, BUT WHO WERE STILL ABLE SOMEHOW TO CONTRIBUTE TO GOD'S PLAN IN CONTRAST TO ALL OF THEM, HOWEVER, JOSEPH, MARY, AND OTHERS ARE PORTRAYED AS INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE UTTERLY FAITHFUL TO GOD'S WILL. MATTHEW PUTS JESUS' FATHER AT THE CENTER OF HIS NARRATIVE. APPARENTLY KNOWING LITTLE ABOUT JOSEPH, MATTHEW SEEMS TO RELY ON THE HEBREW SCRIPTURE ACCOUNT OF THE PATRIARCH JOSEPH FOR HIS MATERIAL. LIKE THE JOSEPH OF OLD, JESUS FATHER IS A DREAMER AND INTERPRETER OF DREAMS. IN THE STORY HE HE LEARNS THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF HIS BETROTHED'S PREGNANCY FROM A DREAM. LIKE HIS NAMESAKE, JOSEPH IS ALSO A MAN OF COMPASSION AND FORGIVENESS, AND THUS IS WILLING
 TO QUIETLY DIVORCE HIS BETROTHED, WHO SEEMS TO BE CARRYING SOMEONE ELSE'S BABY, RATHER THAN DENOUNCE HER PUBLICLY. JOSEPH, LIKE THE PATRIARCH OF OLD, IS ALSO FORCED INTO EXILE INTO EGYPT AND IS FAITHFUL TO GOD'S WORD AND DEDICATED TO HIS FAMILY. THE EGYPT OF THE ANCIENT JOSEPH STORY ALSO OFFERS MATTHEW THE BACK GROUND HE NEEDS FOR A MINI-EXILE- EXODUS THEME. THE STORY OF THE FLIGHT TO SAVE JESUS' LIFE FROM HEROD PROVIDES THE BASIS FOR PROCLAIMING THAT JESUS IS THE MOSES FIGURE WHO WILL LEAD HIS PEOPLE OUT OF EXILE. THERE ARE SOME SIMILARITIES IN THE TWO ACCOUNTS: THE NAMES OF THE PARENTS, MARY AND JOSEPH, THE ACCOUNT OF THE VIRGINAL CONCEPTION (ALTHOUGH NOT AS EXPLICIT IN LUKE AS IN MATTHEW),  THE DESIGNATION OF THE PLACE AND TIME AS BETHLEHEM DURING THE REIGN OF HEROD, THE NAME DESIGNATION BY AN ANGEL, THE DAVIDIC LINE AND THE EVENTUAL SETTLING IN NAZARETH. MANY NOTABLE DIFFERENCES EXIST IN THE STORIES, HOWEVER, DIFFERENCES THAT ARE OFTEN OVERLOOKED IN OUR TRADITIONAL BLENDING OF THE TWO STORIES INTO ONE. FOR EXAMPLE THE TWO GENEALOGIES ARE DIFFERENT (MATTHEW STARTS WITH ABRAHAM AND TRACES JESUS FOREBEARS THROUGH THE RULING DAVIDIC LINE. LUKE WHO DELAYS HIS GENEALOGY UNTIL AFTER JESUS BAPTISM, GOES MATTHEW ONE BETTER AND TRACES JESUS ALL THE WAY BACK TO ADAM. MATTHEWS GOSPEL, WHICH SEEMS TO COME OUT OF A SYRIAN COMMUNITY OF BOTH JEWS AND GENTILES, FOCUSES ON JOSEPH, THE PLOT OF HEROD TO KILL THE CHILD, THE VISIT OF THE MAGI AND ON HOW JESUS IS THE FULFILLMENT OF MANY HEBREW PROPHECIES .LUKE'S GOSPEL, WHICH SEEMS TO COME OUT OF THE SYRIAN ANTIOCH, CENTERS INSTEAD ON THE STORY OF MARY, THE MIRACULOUS BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST TO ELIZABETH AND ZECHARIAH, AND THE VISIT OF THE SHEPHERDS. EVEN MORE NOTICEABLE
 ARE THE ACCOUNTS OF THE "HOMETOWN" OF THE PARENTS., THEIR MARITAL STATUS WHEN THE BABY IS BORN. WHEN JOSEPH DISCOVERS HEROD'S PLOT HIS FAMILY MOVES TO EGYPT. AND THEN GOES TO SETTLE IN NAZARETH WHEN HEROD DIES AND THE DANGER IS OVER. IN LUKE'S ACCOUNT, THE PARENTS SEEM TO LIVE IN NAZARETH, GO TO BETHLEHEM FOR THE ROMAN CENSUS, HAVE THE BABY IN A MANGER WHILE APPARENTLY STILL ENGAGED, AND THEN RETURNED TO TO NAZARETH AFTER THEY PRESENT THEIR INFANT IN THE TEMPLE FOR CIRCUMCISION. OBVIOUSLY, THE CHRISTIAN STORY FAMILIAR TO MOST OF US IS REALLY AN AMALGAM OF BOTH STORIES. WHEN WE SET UP OUR CRIB SCENES, WE USUALLY INCLUDE THE MANGER, STAR, MAGI, THE SHEPHERDS,  AND ANGELS AS THOUGH THEY ARE PART OF ONE STORY. THE SCRIPTURES, HOWEVER ,OFFERS TWO DIVERSE ACCOUNTS OF THE THEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST. WE MIGHT LOOK AT THESE NARRATIVES AS TWO PLAYS, THE INGREDIENTS OF WHICH SOME BASIC HISTORICAL  FACTS, A LARGE AMOUNT OF MATERIAL FROM HEBREW SCRIPTURES, AND THE BELIEF OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES OF NAZARETH "IS THE CHRIST.

RULE OF BOOKS

 DURING THE LAST PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE, EARLY IN THE FOURTH CENTURY, A BELIEVER IN SICILY WAS BROUGHT BEFORE THE GOVERNOR. HE WAS CHARGED WITH POSSESSING A COPY OF THE GOSPELS. "WHERE DID THESE COME FROM?" ASKED THE JUDGE, POINTING TO THE BOOKS."DID YOU BRING THEM FROM HOME?" I HAVE NO HOME" REPLIED THE PRISONER, "AS MY LORD JESUS KNOWS." ONCE AGAIN POINTING TO THE GOSPELS, THE JUDGE SAID, " READ THEM READ!"  THE CHRISTIAN OPENED THE GOSPELS AND READ, " BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO ARE PERSECUTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS' SAKE: FOR THEIRS IS THE  KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. HE TURNED TO ANOTHER PLACE AND READ AGAIN, "IF ANY MAN WILL COME AFTER ME, LET HIM DENY HIMSELF, TAKE UP HIS CROSS, AND FOLLOW ME." THAT WAS TOO MUCH. THE JUDGE ORDERED HIS PRISONER AWAY --TO DEATH. ROMAN OFFICIALS CAME TO SEE THAT THE SUPPRESSION OF CHRISTIANITY DEMANDED THE DESTRUCTION OF THE SCRIPTURES.  SO THE LAST GREAT PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS INCLUDED THE BURNING OF THE SCRIPTURES. TO THIS DAY WE FIND IT ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO THINK OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH. WITHOUT THE BIBLE. IT IS THE FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIAN EVANGELISM, ITS TEACHING, ITS WORSHIP, AND ITS MORALITY. WHEN WE LOOK BACK OVER CHRISTIAN HISTORY, WE FIND FEW--IF ANY--- DECISIONS MORE BASIC THAN THOSE MADE DURING THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES SURROUNDING THE  FORMATION OF THE BIBLE. THE SCRIPTURES SERVED NOT ONLY AS THE INSPIRATION FOR BELIEVERS FACING MARTYRDOM, BUT AS THE SUPREME STANDARD FOR THE CHURCHES. NOW THE BIBLE CONTAINING THE BEST OF A GREAT PEOPLE'S LITERATURE DURING NEARLY TEN CENTURIES, IS REGARDED THROUGHOUT THE WESTERN WORLD'S AS THE MOST IMPORTANT OF THE WORLD'S BOOKS. BUT THOUGH ESTEEMED AS HIGHLY AS EVER, PERHAPS AS PURE LITERATURE  IS NOT READ AS FORMERLY. ONE OF THESE WORKS CALLED " THE KING JAMES TRANSLATION BECAME A PART  OF THE VERY BODY OF OUR LANGUAGE, WHICH WAS OFTEN THE ONE BOOK IN THE POSSESSION OF OUR PIONEERING ANCESTORS, ITS TEACHINGS INTERTWINED IN THE WARP OF OUR AMERICAN TRADITION. APART FROM SENTIMENT, QUITE AS A MATTER OF SIMPLE REALISTIC, ART OUTLASTS ALL OTHER FORM OF HUMAN ENDEAVOR. KINGDOMS, EMPIRES, AND CIVILIZATIONS RISE AND FALL; THEIR LAWS, THEIR POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS, THEIR RELIGIONS VANISH; THEIR CUSTOMS AND ALL THEIR WAYS OF LIFE DISAPPEAR FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH; BUT THE ART THEY HAVE MANAGED TO CREATE REMAINS. SO TRUE IS THIS, THAT IT IS USUALLY FROM THE ARTISTIC RECORDS THAT HAVE COME DOWN TO US, THAT HISTORIANS AND ARCHEOLOGISTS RECONSTRUCT THE STORY OF THE PAST, MORE OR LESS COMPLETE ACCORDING AS IT WAS EMBODIED AT THE TIME IN P0TTER, PAINTING, AND SCULPTURE,  OR WORKS OF LITERATURE. MORE THAN A MILLENIUM OF RUIN, RECORDED ON THE FRAILEST OF MATERIALS, , HAS HAD THE STRONGEST LIEN ON IMMORTALITY. MORE THAN A MILLENNIUM OF RUIN HAS DESTROYED THE THEATRE OF DIONYSUS MOST FAMOUS IN THE WORLD, BUT THE GREATEST OF THE PLAYS PRODUCED THERE ARE STILL ENACTED TODAY. THE PYRAMID TEXTS WILL PROBABLY OUTLAST THE PYRAMIDS. TRUE EVEN OF THE CENTURIES OF PARCHMENTS AND PAPYRUS, THE SUPERIOR OF THE WRITTEN WORD.
 WAS ESTABLISHED BEYOND THE POSSIBILITY OF RIVALRY WHEN THROUGH THE INVENTION OF MOVEABLE TYPE IT ATTAINED THE PERPETUITY  OF PRINTING. SHAKESPEARE WAS UTTERING NO FUTILE BOAST WHEN HE DECLARED-- " NO MARBLE, NOR THE GILDED MONUMENTS OF PRINCES, SHALL OUTLASTS THIS POWERFUL RHYME."

IRRITABLE ISRAEL

SOME THINK THE BIBLE CONTAINS MOSTLY STORIES ABOUT GOOD PEOPLE. IT DOES NOT. IT CONTAINS STORIES ABOUT "BAD PEOPLE"- THE HUMAN RACE! THE BIBLE SPEAKS OF ONLY ONE HERO---GOD. NOW LET'S LOOK AT MATT.21.  IN THE GOSPEL READING JESUS TELLS A PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD., AN IMAGE OF ISRAEL, THE PROPHETS MISSION AND CHRIST'S DEATH. FOR CHRISTIANS, THE VINEYARD ALSO SPEAKS  OF GOD'S LOVE POURED OUT IN THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, GIVEN TO US FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. GRAFTED ONTO CHRIST THE VINE AT BAPTISM, WE ARE NOURISHED WITH BREAD AND WINE, THAT WE MAY SHARE CHRIST'S SUFFERING AND KNOW THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION. THEREFORE I TELL YOU THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD WILL BE TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU AND GIVEN TO A PEOPLE WHO WILL PRODUCE FRUIT. IN ISAIAH 5:1-7; THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL ARE PICTURED AS A VINEYARD THAT FAILS TO PRODUCE FRUIT DESPITE THE BEST EFFORTS OF THE VINEYARD KEEPER (CHRIST.) USING ISAIAH'S PARABLE AS A POINT OF DEPARTURE
 JESUS DESCRIBES A VINEYARD THAT DOES NOT PRODUCE GRAPES, BUT THE TENANTS REFUSE TO GIVE THE OWNER HIS SHARE OF THE CROP. GOD CONSISTENTLY ACTS TOWARDS HIS SINFUL, REBELLIOUS, COMPLAINING, AND  THANKLESS PEOPLE WITH KINDNESS, MERCY AND GRACE. WHAT TRANSPIRED DURING THE PERIOD KNOWN AS THE WILDERNESS WANDERINGS IS A GOOD ILLUSTRATION OF THIS. ISRAEL'S BEHAVIOR DURING THE FORTY YEARS LEFT MUCH TO BE DESIRED. SHE BEGAN TO COMPLAIN EVEN BEFORE SHE CROSSED THE RED SEA. WHY? SHE FEARED THAT GOD HAD BROUGHT HER TO THE COASTLINE ONLY TO PERMIT THE EGYPTIAN FORCES TO CORNER HER, CUT HER TO PIECES. AFTER GOD, IN A DEMONSTRATION OF GREAT POWER, LED ISRAEL THROUGH THE SEA BARRIER (EXODUS) THE PEOPLE COMPLAINED ABOUT THE WATER SUPPLY, FOLLOWED BY
 COMPLAINTS ABOUT THEIR FOOD SUPPLY. THEN IT WAS THE WATER SUPPLY ONCE AGAIN. ONE MIGHT HAVE EXPECTED THINGS TO IMPROVE AFTER ISRAEL WITNESSED THE AWESOME EVENTS AT SINAI. THEY DID NOT. WHILE MOSES WAS STILL ON THE MOUNTAIN WITH GOD, THE PEOPLE PERSUADED Aaron TO MAKE THEM A SUBSTITUTE god IN THE FORM OF A GOLDEN CALF. THEIR ACTIONS GRIEVED GOD. HE THREATENED TO DESTROY THEM, BUT ONCE AGAIN MERCY PREVAILED AND HE RELENTED. THE PEOPLE CONTINUED TO COMPLAIN AND REBEL. THEY WERE DISSATISFIED WITH THEIR FOOD ONCE AGAIN. MOSES OWN BROTHER AND SISTER, Aaron AND MIRIAM, CAUSED TROUBLE. THEY WANTED MORE STATUS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY. THE SETTING IS (KADESH--BARNEA) DESCRIBES ISRAEL'S FIRST ATTEMPT TO TAKE POSSESSION OF THE PROMISED LAND. A SCOUTING PARTY WAS SENT TO SPY OUT THE LAND AND REPORT BACK. THEY SURVEYED IT, PRAISED ITS BEAUTY AND FERTILITY, BUT INSISTED IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO WREST CONTROL OF IT FROM THOSE ALREADY LIVING WITHIN IT. TWO OF THE SCOUTING PARTY, JOSHUA AND CALEB, OFFERED A DIFFERENT OPINION. THEY INSISTED THAT THE LAND COULD BE TAKEN. HOWEVER, THE MAJORITY OPINION PREVAILED. ONCE AGAIN THE PEOPLE COMPLAINED BITTERLY TO MOSES AND Aaron ABOUT THE FUTILITY OF THEIR SITUATION. BY NOW GOD IS FED UP WITH THEM. HE DECREED THAT BECAUSE OF THEIR ENDLESS DISCONTENT AND FAITHLESSNESS, THEY WOULD HAVE TO WANDER AROUND IN THE WILDERNESS FOR FORTY YEARS--- ONE YEAR FOR EACH OF THE FORTY DAYS THE SCOUTING PARTY HAD BEEN AWAY FROM THEM. BY THE TIME THOSE FORTY YEARS WERE OVER, ALL MEN  OLDER THAN TWENTY WOULD HAVE DIED OFF. A NEW GENERATION WOULD ENTER THE PROMISED LAND.
MORE GRUMBLING TAKES PLACE, AND THE COMPLAINERS SUFFER A TRAGIC END. FIRST THE WATER SUPPLY GETS MORE ATTENTION, THEN THE FOOD ONCE AGAIN. FINALLY, WHEN THE NATION REACHES THE REGION EAST OF THE JORDAN, THE PEOPLE ENTANGLED THEMSELVES IN THE BAAL CULTS. TWO DETAILS STAND OUT THROUGHOUT THIS PERIOD. THE PEOPLE COMPLAIN. GOD IS MERCIFUL AND PATIENT. HE ALONE IS THE HERO! 

FORGIVENESS AND COMMUNITY

 LUKE 17:1-10.   THIS GOSPEL TEXT IS A COLLECTION OF 4 APHORISMS  AND IT IS ATTRIBUTED TO JESUS ABOUT FORGIVENESS AND FAITH. WHEN COVENTRY CATHEDRAL WAS BLITZED IN NOVEMBER 1940, DURING WORLD WAR II AND DESTROYED BY FIRE, A LARGE NUMBER OF NAILS FROM MEDIEVAL TIMES WAS FOUND IN THE RUBBLE. MANY OF THESE WERE GATHERED AND MADE INTO SILVER PLATED CROSSES. ONE OF THESE IS SET UP ON AN ALTAR IN THE RUINS OF THE OLD CATHEDRAL. BEHIND IT IS A CHARRED CROSS AND WRITTEN ON THE WALL BEHIND THAT, WITH THE WORDS "FATHER FORGIVE". MANY LITTLE CROSSES OF NAILS HAVE BEEN SENT TO CHURCHES AROUND THE WORLD, WHICH HAD PARTICIPATED IN THE WAR. THE COVENTRY CROSS AND EXPERIENCE HAD BECOME A SYMBOL OF FORGIVENESS AND THE NEW LIFE OF RECONCILIATION. I FIRST LEARNED OF THIS WHEN I READ THE BOOK FROM AUGSBURG, " FIRE IN COVENTRY,"  TO FIND HELP IN UNDERSTANDING THE LIFE OF FORGIVENESS, FAITH, RECONCILIATION, WITH GOD, AND OUR NEIGHBOR. WITH OUR SURROUNDINGS AND ALL GOOD NEWS TEXTS TO REINFORCE THIS CENTRAL ACT OF GOD AND TO INVITE OUR RESPONSE. SOMETIMES WE SPEAK ABOUT IT IN TERMS OF GOD'S DEED IN JESUS CHRIST; HOW HIS LIFE, WORDS, HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION, HIS PRESENCE IN OUR MIDST AND HIS PROMISES ARE AT THE CENTER. SOMETIMES WE SPEAK OF IT FROM THE HUMAN VIEW OF FRUSTRATIONS AND IMPATIENCE ABOUT INJUSTICES OF LIFE WE SEE EVERYWHERE THROUGH EVENING NEWS; UNRIGHTED OR UNFORGIVEN. IN VIEW OF THIS, WE MUST ATTEND ALL THE MORE TO WHAT WE HAVE HEARD, LEST WE DRIFT AWAY. FOR IF THE WORD SPOKEN THROUGH ANGELS STOOD UNCHANGED, AND ALL
TRANSGRESSION AND DISOBEDIENCE RECEIVED ITS DUE PUNISHMENT, HOW SHALL WE ESCAPE IF WE IGNORE A SALVATION AS GREAT AS OURS?  ANNOUNCED FIRST BY THE LORD, IT WAS CONFIRMED TO US BY THOSE WHO HAD HEARD HIM.  GOD THEN GAVE WITNESS TO IT BY SIGNS, MIRACLES, VARIED ACTS OF POWER, AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AS HE WILLED. FOR HE DID NOT MAKE THE WORLD TO COME--- THAT WORLD OF WHICH WE SPEAK--- SUBJECT TO ANGELS. SOMEWHERE THIS IS TESTIFIED TO, IN THE PASSAGE THAT SAYS: "WHAT IS MAN THAT WE SHOULD BE MINDFUL OF HIM, OR THE SON OF MAN THAT YOU SHOULD CARE FOR HIM? YOU MADE HIM FOR A LITTLE WHILE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS; YOU CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND HONOR, AND PUT ALL THINGS UNDER HIS FEET." IN SUBJECTING ALL THINGS TO HIM, GOD LEFT NOTHING UNSUBJECTED. AT PRESENT WE DO NOT SEE ALL THINGS THUS SUBJECT, BUT WE DO SEE JESUS CROWNED WITH GLORY AND HONOR BECAUSE HE SUFFERED DEATH: JESUS, WHO WAS MADE A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS, THAT THROUGH ANGELS, THAT THROUGH GOD'S GRACIOUS WILL HE MIGHT TASTE DEATH FOR THE SAKE OF ALL MEN. INDEED IT WAS FITTING,  THAT WHEN BRINGING MANY SONS GLORY GOD, FOR WHOM AND THROUGH WHOM ALL THINGS EXIST, SHOULD MAKE THEIR LEADER IN THE WORK OF SALVATION PERFECT THROUGH SUFFERING. HE WHO CONSECRATES AND THOSE WHO ARE CONSECRATED HAVE ONE AND THE SAME FATHER. THEREFORE HE IS NOT ASHAMED TO CALL THEM BROTHERS, SAYING, "I WILL ANNOUNCE YOUR NAME TO MY BROTHERS, I WILL SING YOUR PRAISE IN THE MIDST OF THE ASSEMBLY"; REMEMBER CHRIST IS GOD'S FINAL WORD OF SALVATION, NOT MERELY BY WORD OF MOUTH BUT THROUGH THE SUFFERING HUMANITY COMMON TO JESUS AND TO THE REST OF MEN. THIS ENACTMENT OF SALVATION WENT BEYOND THE PATTERN KNOWN TO MOSES, FAITHFUL PROPHET THOUGH HE WAS OF GOD'S WORD; FOR JESUS AS HIGH PRIEST PERSONALLY EXPIATED SIN AND WAS FAITHFUL TO GOD WITH THE FIDELITY OF GOD'S OWN SON.
JUST AS THE INFIDELITY OF THE PEOPLE THWARTED MOSES' EFFORT TO SAVE THEM ALL, SO THE INFIDELITY OF ANY CHRISTIAN THWARTS GOD'S PLAN IN CHRIST. CHRISTIAN ARE TO REFLECT THAT IT IS THEIR HUMANITY WHICH JESUS ASSUMED, WITH ALL ITS DEFECTS EXCEPT ITS SINFULNESS, AND THAT HE BORE THE BURDEN OF IT TO HIS DEATH OUT OF OBEDIENCE TO GOD. THIS WORK OF HIS SON GOD DECLARED TO BE THE CAUSE OF SALVATION FOR ALL. ALTHOUGH CHRISTIANS RECOGNIZE THIS FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE.  THEY MAY GROW WEARY OF ITS REPETITION REQUIRE OTHER REFLECTIONS TO STIMULATE THEIR FAITH.  THE ABSOLUTE SUPREMACY OF CHRIST SHOULD GREATLY STRENGTHEN CHRISTIANS AGAINST ABANDONING THEIR FAITH. THE SON IS HIGHER THAN THE ANGELS. BUT NOW IN THE MESSIANIC TIMES, THE FINAL PERIOD OF MAN'S RELIGIOUS HISTORY
GOD THE SON CREATOR AND END OF ALL THINGS IS THE COMMUNICATOR WITH MEN. THE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL IS THE WORD OF CHRIST ADVOCATING PEACE AMONG MEN AND REVANCE TOWARD ALL.



 

JESUS

 CHRISTIANITY IS THE ONLY MAJOR RELIGION TO HAVE AS ITS CENTRAL EVENT THE HUMILIATION OF ITS GOD. FROM: JAMES A SERVANT OF GOD AND OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST TO : JEWISH CHRISTIANS SCATTERED EVERYWHERE!.GREETINGS! DEAR BROTHERS, IS YOUR LIFE FULL OF DIFFICULTIES AND TEMPTATIONS?  THEN BE HAPPY, FOR WHEN THE WAY IS ROUGH, YOUR PATIENCE HAS A CHANCE TO GROW. SO LET IT GROW, AND DON'T TRY TO SQUIRM OUT OF YOUR PROBLEMS. FOR WHEN YOUR PATIENCE IS FINALLY IN FULL BLOOM, THEN YOU WILL BE READY FOR FOR ANYTHING, STRONG IN CHARACTER,FULL AND COMPLETE. IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO DO, ASK HIM, AND HE WILL GLADLY TELL YOU., FOR HE IS ALWAYS READY TO GIVE YOU A BOUNTIFUL SUPPLY OF WISDOM TO ALL WHO ASK HIM.; HE WILL NOT RESENT.  BUT WHEN YOU ASK HIM, BE SURE THAT YOU REALLY EXPECT HIM TO TELL YOU, FOR A DOUBTFUL MIND WILL BE AS UNSETTLED AS A WAVE OF THE SEA   THAT IS DRIVEN AND TOSSED BY THE WIND;  AND EVERY DECISION YOU THEN MAKE WILL BE UNCERTAIN, AS YOU TURN FIRST THIS WAY, AND THEN THAT.IF YOU DON'T ASK WITH FAITH, DON'T EXPECT THE LORD TO GIVE ANY SOLID ANSWER. A CHRISTIAN WHO DOESN'T AMOUNT IN THIS WORLD  TO MUCH SHOULD BE GLAD, FOR HE IS GREAT IN THE LORD'S SIGHT. BU A RICH MAN SHOULD BE GLAD THAT HIS RICHES MEAN NOTHING TO THE LORD FOR HE SOON WILL BE GONE, LIKE A FLOWER THAT HAS LOST ITS BEAUTY AND FADES AWAY, WITHERED--KILLED BY THE SCORCHING SUMMER SON. SO IT IS WITH RICH MEN. THEY WILL SOON DIE, AND LEAVE BEHIND ALL THEIR BUSY ACTIVITIES. HAPPY IS THE MAN WHO DOESN'T GIVE IN AND DO WRONG WHEN HE IS TEMPTED, FOR AFTERWARDS HE WILL GET AS HIS REWARD A CROWN OF LIFE THAT THAT GOD AS PROMISED THOSE WHO LOVED HIM. REMEMBER, WHEN SOMEONE WANTS TO DO WRONG, IT IS NEVER GOD WHO IS TEMPTING HIM, FOR GOD NEVER WANTS TO DO WRONG AND NEVER TEMPTS ANYONE ELSE TO DO IT. TEMPTATION IS THE PULL OF MAN'S OWN EVIL. EVIL THOUGHT LEADS TO EVIL ACTIONS AND AFTERWARDS TO THE  DEATH PENALTY FROM GOD. SO DON'T BE MISLED DEAR BROTHERS. BUT WHATEVER IS GOOD AND PERFECT COMES TO US FROM GOD, THE CREATOR OF ALL LIGHT, AND HE SHINES FOREVER WITHOUT CHANGE OR SHADOW. AND IT WAS A HAPPY DAY FOR HIM WHEN HE GAVE US OUR NEW LIVES, AND REMEMBER, IT IS A MESSAGE TO OBEY, NOT JUST TO LISTEN TO. SO DON'T FOOL YOURSELVES. FOR IF A PERSON JUST LISTENS AND DOESN'T OBEY, HE IS LIKE A MAN LOOKING AT HIS FACE IN A MIRROR; AS SOON AS HE WALKS AWAY, HE CAN'T SEE HIMSELF ANYMORE OR REMEMBER WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE. BUT IF ANYONE KEEPS STEADILY INTO GOD'S LAW FOR FREE MEN, HE WILL NOT ONLY REMEMBER IT BUT BUT HE WILL DO WHAT IT SAYS AND GOD WILL GREATLY BLESS HIM. IN EVERYTHING HE DOES. ANYONE WHO SAYS HE IS A CHRISTIAN BUT DOESN'T CONTROL HIS SHARP TONGUE IS JUST FOOLING HIMSELF AND HIS RELIGION ISN'T WORTH MUCH. THE CHRISTIAN WHO IS PURE AND WITHOUT FAULT, FROM GOD THE FATHER'S POINT OF VIEW, IS THE ONE WHO TAKES CARE OR ORPHANS AND WIDOWS, AND WHO REMAINS TRUE TO THE LORD. DEAR BROTHERS, DON'T EVER FORGET THAT IT IS BEST TO LISTEN MUCH, SPEAK LITTLE AND NOT BECOME ANGRY AND WHO TAKES CARE OF ORPHANS AND WIDOWS AND WHO REMAINS TRUE TO THE LORD NOT SOILED AND DIRTIED BY HIS CONTACTS WITH HE WORLD. SO YOU SEE, IT ISN'T ENOUGH JUST TO HAVE FAITH. YOU MUST ALSO DO GOOD TO PROVE THAT YOU HAVE IT. FAITH THAT DOESN'T ALLOW ITSELF BY GOOD WORK IS NO FAITH AT ALL-- IS DEAD AND USELESS. I SAY  THAT GOOD WORKS ARE IMPORTANT TOO, FOR WITHOUT GOOD WORKS YOU CAN'T PROVE WHETHER YOU HAVE FAITH OR NOT BY THE WAY YOU ACT." ARE THEIR STILL SOME AMONG YOU WHO HOLD THAT "ONLY BELIEVING IS ENOUGH. BELIEVING IN ONE GOD? WELL, REMEMBER THAT THE DEMONS BELIEVE THIS TOO-- SO STRONGLY THAT THEY TREMBLE IN TERROR! FOOL! WHEN WILL YOU EVER LEARN THAT BELIEVING IS USELESS WITHOUT DOING WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO DO? FAITH THAT DOES NOT RESULT IN GOOD DEEDS IS NOT REAL FAITH. DON'T YOU REMEMBER  OUR FATHER ABRAHAM WAS DECLARED GOOD BECAUSE OF WHAT HE DID, WHEN HE WAS WILLING TO OBEY GOD, EVEN IF IT MEANT OFFERING HIS SON ISAAC TO DIE ON THE
ALTAR. JUST AS THE BODY IS DEAD WHEN THERE IS NO SPIRIT IN IT., SO FAITH IS DEAD IF IT IS NOT THE KIND THAT RESULTS IN GOOD DEEDS.

ST.PAUL. JESUS IS LORD.

 ABOUT ONE-FOURTH OF THE NEW TESTAMENT IS MADE UP OF THE 13 LETTERS OF ST.PAUL. THEY OFFER A VERY POWERFUL AND UNIQUE VISION OF THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST. READING THEM, ONE SENSES A PERSONALITY AND APPROACH QUITE DIFFERENT BOTH FROM THE WRITERS OF THE FIRST THREE GOSPELS AND FROM ANOTHER UNIQUE WRITER BY THE NAME OF St. JOHN. PAUL'S LETTERS USUALLY USUALLY DEAL WITH CONCRETE  SITUATIONS IN THE EARLY CHURCH, HENCE ARE INDEPENDENT OF EACH OTHER. AND NOT SYSTEMATIC. BUT PAUL ALWAYS MANAGES TO RISE ABOVE THE PERSONAL AND THE PARTICULAR TO THRILL HIS READERS. WITH THE OUTLINES OF THE FAITH AND TO BRING THEM  TO THE PRACTICE OF A MORE INTENSE CHRISTIAN LIFE. IN TENSE IS A GOOD WORD TO DESCRIBE PAUL. HE WAS A HUMAN DYNAMO,  ALWAYS A 1OO PERCENT- WHETHER AS A ZEALOUS PHARISEE OR LOVER OF CHRIST. HIS CONSTANT EMPHASIS  WAS ON THE INTIMATE CONNECTION BETWEEN OUR SALVATION AND THE PASSION, DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS. THROUGH THESE EVENTS JESUS HAS BECOME A POWER PRODUCING A NEW LIFE IN US, BEGINNING WITH DYING AND RISING IN BAPTISM AND ENDING WITH OUR BODILY RESURRECTION TO ETERNAL GLORY IN CHRIST. ONE IS TEMPTED TO SAY THAT NO OTHER CHRISTIAN WRITER HAS INFLUENCED THE CHURCH AS MUCH AS THIS "APOSTLE TO THE GENTILES."  SOME OF WHAT HE WROTE IS DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND-EVEN PETER HAS DIFFICULTY. BUT THE MAJORITY OF PAUL'S WORDS ARE FULL OF  PASSIONATE DEVOTION TO CHRIST THAT CAN ILLUMINATE OUR READING OF THE GOSPELS AND THE POWER OF A DEEPER FAITH IN US. THIS IS THE REAL ST. PAUL: THE MAN ON FIRE WITH THE LOVE OF CHRIST, THE TOTAL CONVERT, THE FEARLESS HERALD OF THE GOOD NEWS. MAY WE CATCH SOME OF HIS SPIRIT. PAUL TELLS US, GOD HAD A FAMILY IN MIND, WITH JESUS AT THE CENTER. EVEN BEFORE THE WORLD WAS MADE, GOD HAD ALREADY CHOSE US TO BE HIS THROUGH OUR UNION WITH CHRIST. SO THAT WE WOULD BE HOLY AND WITHOUT FAULT BEFORE HIM. THOSE WHOM GOD HAD CHOSEN, HE ALSO SET APART TO BECOME LIKE HIS SON, SO THAT THE SON WOULD BE THE FIRST AMONG MANY BROTHERS. PAUL TELLS US JESUS IS GOD AND MAN. PAUL SIMPLY LETS THESE TWO FACTS STAND SIDE BY SIDE: HE IS THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD. THE FIRSTBORN OF ALL CREATURES. IN HIM EVERYTHING IN HEAVEN AND EARTH WAS CREATED." THE SON ON OF GOD BECAME MAN SO THAT WE MIGHT SHARE THE LIFE OF GOD... WHEN THE DESIGNATED TIME HAD COME GOD SENT FORTH HIS SON BORN OF A  WOMAN... SO THAT WE MIGHT RECEIVE OUR STATUS AS ADOPTED SONS.  IN ONE OF THE 'MAGNIFICENT PASSAGES" IN ST.PAUL SUMS UP THE STORY OF JESUS: YOUR ATTITUDE MUST BE THAT OF CHRIST: THOUGH HE WAS IN THE FORM OF GOD. HE DID NOT DEEM EQUALITY WITH GOD, SOMETHING TO BE GRASP AT. RATHER HE EMPTIED HIMSELF AND TOOK THE FORM OF A SLAVE, BEING BORN IN THE LIKENESS OF MEN. HE WAS KNOWN TO BE OF HUMAN ESTATE, AND IT WAS THUS THAT HE HUMBLED HIMSELF, OBEDIENTLY ACCEPTING EVEN DEATH, DEATH ON THE CROSS! BECAUSE OF THIS, GOD HIGHLY EXALTED HIM AND BESTOWED ON HIM THE NAME ABOVE EVERY OTHER NAME SO THAT AT JESUS NAME EVERY KNEE MUST BEND IN THE HEAVENS, ON EARTH, AND UNDER THE EARTH AND EVERY TONGUE PROCLAIM TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER: JESUS CHRIST IS LORD. JESUS JOINS HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS TO HIMSELF IN ONE BODY, THE CHURCH. EACH ONE OF YOU IS A SON OF GOD BECAUSE OF YOUR FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS. ALL OF YOU HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST HAVE CLOTHED YOURSELF WITH HIM. TELL ME, IF CHRIST IS PREACHED AS RAISED FROM THE DEAD, HOW IS IT THAT SOME OF YOU SAY THERE IS NO RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD? ... IF THE DEAD ARE NOT RAISED, THEN CHRIST WAS NOT RAISED; YOUR FAITH IS WORTHLESS AND THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP IN CHRIST ARE THE DEADEST OF THE DEAD. IF OUR HOPES IN CHRIST ARE LIMITED TO THIS LIFE ONLY, WE ARE THE MOST PITIABLE OF MEN. BUT AS IT IS, CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD, THE FIRST FRUITS OF THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP. THE GREAT SIN IN THE BODY OF CHRIST IS TO DESTROY ITS UNITY OF FAITH BY FACTIONS, FALSE TEACHINGS, FALSE STANDARDS;
THE SOUL KILLER IN HUMANITY IS "UNBELIEF." THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH. THIS ENLIVENING "SOUL" JOINS ALL TOGETHER IN ONENESS OF LOVE AND FAITH. THE SPIRIT IS POWER AND GUIDANCE. BECAUSE THE SPIRIT LIVES IN US, WE HAVE UNSHAKABLE HOPE.ALL WHO ARE LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD ARE SONS OF GOD. YOU DID NOT RECEIVE A SPIRIT OF SLAVERY LEADING YOU BACK INTO FEAR, BUT A SPIRIT OF ADOPTION THROUGH WHICH WE CRY OUT "ABBA!" (THAT IS "FATHER"). THE SPIRIT HIMSELF GIVES WITNESS WITH OUR SPIRIT THAT WE ARE CHILDREN OF GOD. BUT IF WE ARE CHILDREN WE ARE HEIRS AS WELL: HEIRS OF GOD, HEIRS WITH CHRIST, IF ONLY WE SUFFER WITH HIM SO AS TO BE GLORIFIED WITH HIM AND THIS WILL NOT LEAVE US DISAPPOINTED, BECAUSE THE LOVE OF GOD HAS BEEN POURED INTO OUR HEARTS THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO HAS BEEN GIVEN TO US. IT IS [CHRIST] WHO ANOINTED US WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, THEREBY DEPOSITING THE FIRST PAYMENT, THE SPIRIT, IN OUR HEARTS. THE SPIRIT KNOWS WHAT AND HOW WE WANT TO PRAY.  TO THE FATHER.
AND PRESENTS OUR PRAYER. WE ARE A NEW CREATION, BEING THE HANDIWORK CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS. THE WORLD STARTS OVER IN JESUS.THOUGH WE LIVE IN    THE MIDST OF A SINFUL WORLD AND EVIL SEEMS TO DOMINATE LIFE, WE ARE SAFE IN ETERNAL LIFE. WE MUST STILL EXPERIENCE THE DYING AND RISING OF JESUS. BUT THE VICTORY HAS BEEN ONE. SUFFERING, DEATH, SIN HAVE NO POWER TO HARM US AGAINST OUR WILL.

PARABLES: DO YOU GET THE POINT?

 IT SHOULD BE NOTED AT THE OUTSET THAT EVERYTHING ABOUT THE TEACHING OF JESUS IN THE GOSPELS HOLDS TRUE, FOR THE PARABLES. NEED THEIR OWN BOOK? WHY? HOW COULD THESE SIMPLE,DIRECT LITTLE STORIES JESUS TOLD. ONE WOULD HAVE TO BE SLOW ON THE UPTAKE OF THE FIRST CLASS, TO MISS THE POINT OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN OR THE PRODIGAL SON.  THE VERY READING OF THOSE STORIES PRICK THE HEART. OR COMFORTS IT.  THE PARABLES HAVE SUFFERED BECAUSE OF ALL THEIR CHARM AND SIMPLICITY, THE PARABLES HAVE SUFFERED A FATE OF MISINTERPRETATION IN THE CHURCH, SECOND ONLY TO REVELATION. THE REASON FOR THE LONG HISTORY OF THE MISINTERPRETATION OF THE PARABLES CAN BE TRACED BACK TO SOMETHING JESUS HIMSELF SAID: AS RECORDED IN MARK 4:10-12 (AND PARALLELS, MATT.13:1O; LUKE 8: 9-10. WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE PURPOSE OF PARABLES, HE SEEMS TO HAVE SUGGESTED THAT THEY CONTAINED MYSTERIES FOR THOSE ON THE INSIDE, WHILE THEY HARDENED  THOSE ON THE OUTSIDE. BECAUSE  HE THEN PROCEEDED TO "INTERPRET" THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER. IN A SEMI-ALLEGORIAL, THIS WAS SEEN TO GIVE LICENSE TO THE HARDING THEORY AND ENDLESS ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATIONS. THE PARABLES WERE TO BE SIMPLE STORIES FOR THOSE ON THE OUTSIDE, TO WHOM THE "REAL" MEANINGS, "THE MYSTERIES" WERE HIDDEN; THESE BELONGED ONLY TO THE CHURCH BY   MEANS OF ALLEGORY. AND COULD BE UNCOVERED. THUS AS GREAT AND BRILLIANT SCHOLAR AS AUGUSTINE OFFERS THE FOLLOWING INTERPRETATION OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN: A CERTAIN MAN WENT DOWN FROM JERUSALEM TO JERICHO=ADAM
 JERUSALEM= HEAVENLY CITY OF PEACE, FROM WHICH ADAM FELL
 JERICHO= THE MOON AND SIGNIFIES ADAM MORTALITY
THIEVES= THE DEVIL AND HIS ANGELS
STRIPPED HIM=NAMELY, OF HIS IMMORTALITY
BEAT HIM=BY PERSUADING HIM TO SIN.
AND LEFT HIM HALF DEAD= AS A MAN HE LIVES, BUT HE DIED SPIRITUALLY, THEREFORE HE IS HALF DEAD
THE PRIEST AND THE LEVITE= THE PRIESTHOOD AND MINISTRY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
THE SAMARITAN=IS SAID TO MEAN GUARDIAN; THEREFORE CHRIST HIMSELF IS MEANT
BOUND HIS WOUNDS= MEANS BINDING THE RESTRAINT OF SIN
OIL=COMFORT OF GOOD HOPE
WINE= EXHORTATION TO WORK WITH A FERVENT SPIRIT
BEAST= THE FLESH OF CHRIST'S INCARNATION
INN= THE CHURCH
THE MORROW=AFTER THE RESURRECTION
TWO PENCE= PROMISE OF THIS LIFE AND THE LIFE TO COME
INNKEEPER =PAUL

 AS NOVEL AND INTERESTING AS ALL OF THIS MIGHT BE, ONE CAN BE SURE THAT IT IS NOT WHAT JESUS INTENDED. AFTER ALL, THE CONTEXT CLEARLY CALLS FOR AN UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS (" WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?"), NOT DIVINE TO HUMAN; AND THEIR IS NO REASON TO THINK THAT JESUS WOULD PREDICT THE CHURCH AND PAUL IN HIS OBUSE FASHION. INDEED. IT IS EXTREMELY DOUBTFUL WHETHER MOST WERE INTENDED FOR FOR AN INNER CIRCLE AT ALL.  IN AT LEAST THREE INSTANCES LUKE SPECIFICALLY SAYS THAT JESUS TOLD PARABLES TO PEOPLE WITH THE CLEAR INDICATION THAT THE PARABLES WERE TO BE UNDERSTOOD. MOREOVER, THE LAWYER TO WHOM JESUS TOLD THE PARABLES OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN UNDERSTOOD THE PARABLE AS DID THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND PHARISEES. THE PARABLE OF THE TENETS IN MATTHEW. IF WE HAVE TROUBLE AT TIMES UNDERSTANDING THE PARABLES, IT IS NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL ALLEGORIES FOR WHICH WE NEED SOME SPECIAL INTERPRETIVE KEYS. RATHER IT IS RELATED TO SOME THINGS WE SUGGESTED IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER ON THE GOSPELS. ONE OF THE KEYS TO UNDERSTANDING THE PARABLES LIES IN DISCOVERING THE ORIGINAL AUDIENCE.TO WHOM THEY WERE SPOKEN; AS WE NOTED, MANY TIMES THEY CAME DOWN TO THE EVANGELISTS WITHOUT A CONTEXT.
THE FIRST THING ONE MUST NOTE IS THAT NOT ALL THE SAYINGS LABELED PARABLES ARE OF THE SAME KIND. THERE IS A BASIC DIFFERENCE, FOR EXAMPLE, BETWEEN THE GOOD SAMARITAN (TRUE PARABLE), ON THE ONE HAND, AND THE LEAVEN IN THE MEAL(SIMILITUDE) ON THE OTHER, AND BOTH OF THESE DIFFER FROM THE SAYING, " YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH." (METAPHOR), OR "DO PEOPLE PICK GRAPES FROM THORNBUSHES, OR FIGS FROM THISTLES? "EPIGRAM).
 YET ALL OF THESE CAN BE FOUND FROM TIME TO TIME IN DISCUSSIONS OF THE PARABLES. THE GOOD SAMARITAN IS A TRUE PARABLE. IT IS A TRUE STORY,PURE AND SIMPLE, WITH A BEGINNING AND A ENDING; IT HAS SOMETHING OF A "PLOT."
 OTHER SUCH STORY PARABLES INCLUDE THE LOST SHEEP., THE PRODIGAL SON, THE GREAT SUPPER, THE LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD, THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS, AND THE TEN VIRGINS. THE LEAVEN IN THE MEAL, ON THE OTHER HAND IS A SIMILITUDE. WHAT IS SAID OF THE LEAVEN, OR THE SOWER, OR THE MUSTARD SEEDS. SUCH "PARABLES" ARE MORE LIKE ILLUSTRATIONS TAKEN FROM EVERYDAY LIFE.  LETS GO BACK TO OUR ANALOGY OF THE JOKE. THE TWO THINGS THAT CAPTURE THE HEARER OF A JOKE AND ELICIT A RESPONSE OF LAUGHTER ARE THE SAME TWO THINGS THAT CAPTURED THE HEARERS OF JESUS PARABLES., NAMELY THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF THE POINTS OF REFERENCE AND THE UNEXPECTED TURN OF THE STORY. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY POINTS OF REFERENCE CAN BEST BE ILLUSTRATED FROM A PARABLE OF JESUS THAT IS RECORDED IN ITS FULL ORIGINAL CONTEXT--- LUKE 7:40-42. IN THE CONTEXT  JESUS HAS BEEN INVITED TO DINNER BY A  PHARISEE NAMED SIMON. BUT THE INVITATION WAS NOT TO BE CONSIDERED AS BEING IN HONOR OF A VISITING RABBI. THE FAILURE TO OFFER JESUS EVEN THE COMMON HOSPITALITY OF THE DAY WAS SURELY INTENDED AS SOMETHING. WHEN THE TOWN PROSTITUTE FINDS HER WAY INTO THE PRESENCE OF THE DINERS AND MAKES A FOOL OF HERSELF OVER JESUS BY WASHING HIS FEET WITH HER TEARS AND WIPING THEM WITH HER HAIR., IT ONLY FORTIFIES THE PHARISEES' SUSPICIONS JESUS COULD NOT BE A PROPHET AND LEAVE UNCONDEMNED HIS KIND OF PUBLIC DISGRACE. JESUS KNOWING THEIR THOUGHTS, JESUS TELLS HIS HOST A SIMPLE STORY. TWO MEN OWED MONEY TO A MONEY LENDER. ONE OWED FIVE HUNDRED
 DENARII ( A DENARIUS WAS A DAYS WAGE);  THE OTHER OWED FIFTY. NEITHER COULD PAY, SO HE CANCELLED THE DEBTS OF BOTH. THE POINT: WHO DO YOU THINK, WOULD HAVE RESPONDED TO THE MONEY LENDER WITH THE GREATEST DISPLAY OF LOVE? THIS STORY NEEDED NO INTERPRETATION. THE WOMEN HEARD THE PARABLE AS WELL IDENTIFY WITH THE STORY. NOTE WELL: THIS IS NOT A ALLEGORY; IT IS A PARABLE. A TRUE ALLEGORY IS A STORY WHERE EACH ELEMENT IN THE STORY MEANS SOMETHING QUITE FOREIGN TO THE STORY ITSELF. THE POINT OF THE PARABLE IS NOT IN THE POINTS OF REFERENCE AS IT WOULD BE IN A TRUE ALLEGORY. ALLEGORY WOULD GIVE MEANING TO THE FIVE HUNDRED DENARII, THE FIFTY DENARII AS WELL AS TO ANY OTHER DETAILS ONE MIGHT FIND.THE POINT OF THE STORY IS TO BE FOUND IN THE INTENDED RESPONSE. IN THIS PARABLE ON SIMON AND  IT IS A WORD OF JUDGMENT AND FORGIVENESS TO THE WOMEN

.

MATTHEW, MARK JOHN.

 THE NEW TESTAMENT OPENS WITH MATTHEW , MARK, LUKE, AND JOHN.  NONE OF THE GOSPELS STATE THE NAME OF THE AUTHORS. HOW EVER THAT DOES NOT MEAN THEY ARE ANONYMOUS. THE EARLY CHURCH IN WHOSE MIDST THE GOSPELS WERE WRITTEN. AND TO WHOM THEY WERE ORIGINALLY ADDRESSED TESTIFIES AS TO THEIR AUTHORS.  WE HAVE NO REASON AS TO DOUBT THEIR TESTIMONY. THE CHURCH HISTORIAN EUSEBIUS, WHO LIVED A.D. 275-339, IN HIS ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. QUOTES FROM A LOST BOOK OF THE CHURCH FATHER PAPIAS (A.D. 140). IN THIS QUOTATION PAPIAS CITES JOHN THE APOSTLE CALLING HIM THE ELDER, THE VERY TERM BY WHICH JOHN OF HIMSELF IN 2 AND 3 JOHN. THE QUOTATION IN EUSEBIUS READS: THE ELDER " THE ELDER SAID THIS ALSO MARK, WHO BECAME PETERS : INTERPRETER, WROTE ACCURATELY, THOUGH NOT IN ORDER, ALL THAT HE REMEMBERED OF THE THINGS SAID OR DONE BY THE LORD.  FOR HE HAD NEITHER HEARD THE LORD NOR BEEN ONE OF HIS FOLLOWERS, BUT AFTERWARDS, AS I SAID, HE HAD FOLLOWED PETER, WHO USE TO COMPOSE HIS DISCOURSES WITH A VIEW TO THE NEEDS OF HIS HEARERS, BUT NOT AS THOUGH HE WAS DRAWING UP A CONNECTED ACCOUNT OF THE LORD'S SAYINGS. SO MARK MADE NO MISTAKE IN THUS RECORDING SOME THINGS JUST AS HE REMEMBERED THEM. FOR HE WAS CAREFUL OF THIS ONE THING, TO OMIT NONE OF THE THINGS HE HAD HEARD AND TO MAKE NO UNTRUE STATEMENTS THEREIN." THUS THE APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY  OF PETER AS WELL AS THE APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY OF JOHN SUPPORT THE GOSPEL OF MARK., NOT TO MENTION THE AUTHORITY OF PAUL 2 TIMOTHY 4:11.
 MORE THAN THAT. MARK'S  GOSPEL WAS ALSO WRITTEN BY INSPIRATION AND THUS CONTAINS WHAT GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT WANTED THE CHURCH TO KNOW., BOTH THE FIRST READERS AND ITS PRESENT READERS, INCLUDING YOU AND ME. THOUGH PAUL WAS SPECIFICALLY SPEAKING OF THE OLD TESTAMENT WHEN HE WROTE THE WORDS 0F 2 TIMOTHY 3:16,17: "ALL SCRIPTURE IS GOD BREATHED AND IS USEFUL FOR TEACHING, REBUKING CORRECTING AND TRAINING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, SO THAT THE MAN OF GOD MAY BE THOROUGHLY EQUIPPED FOR EVERY GOOD WORK.,"  YET THESE WORDS ALSO APPLY TO EVERYTHING RECORDED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, INCLUDING THE GOSPEL OF MARK. WHY DID THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVE US FOUR GOSPELS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT? THOUGH THERE IS MUCH REPETITION OF MATERIAL IN THEM, YET ALL FOUR HAVE THEIR OWN WAY OF APPLYING IT AND THEIR OWN REASON FOR INCLUDING IT. A COMPARISON OF WHAT THEY HAVE IN COMMON SHOWS NO DISTORTION OR AMENDING OF THE FACTS.  THE GOSPEL  WRITERS WERE CHOSEN AND MOVED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD TO RECORD THE GOSPEL. ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN SPECIAL ABILITIES AND INTERESTS, THUS TO MEET YOUR NEEDS AND MIND. MATTHEW IS IS CLEARLY INTERESTED IN PRESENTING CHRIST AS AS THE FULFILLMENT OF OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY. HIS GOSPEL WOULD THEREFORE HAVE BEEN OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO THOSE WHO CAME TO CHRIST AMONG ISRAEL. LUKE'S PURPOSE MEETS THE NEED OF A MAN NAMED THEOPHILUS, SEEMLY A RECENT CONVERT WHO NEEDED TO BE "ASSURED."
 LUKE GOES INTO GREAT DETAIL, PARTICULARLY CONCERNING THE EARLY YEARS OF OUR LORD'S LIFE. FURTHERMORE, WHAT LUKE WROTE WAS BASED ON THROUGH PERSONAL INVESTIGATION THAT INCLUDED INTERVIEWING EYE-WITNESSES  AND RESEARCHING PREVIOUSLY WRITTEN RECORDS OF OUR LORD'S LIFE NOW NO LONGER IN EXISTENCE, UNLESS THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW AND MARK ARE INCLUDED AMONG THEM. JOHN THE LAST OF THE GOSPELS WRITTEN SHORTLY BEFORE A.D. 1OO, SUPPLEMENTS THE EARLIER GOSPELS, WHERE NECESSARY AND REVEALS A DECIDEDLY THEOLOGICAL TREND PARTICULARLY DEALING WITH OUR LORD'S DEITY AND RELATIONSHIP TO THE FATHER AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, OVER  ONE-HALF OF JOHN'S GOSPEL DEALS WITH CHRIST WORDS AND ACTS DURING HIS LAST DAYS HERE ON EARTH. BY CONTRAST MARK, THE SHORTEST OF THE GOSPELS DEALS IN GREATER DETAIL WITH OUR LORD'S ACTS THAN WITH HIS SAYINGS. MARK AS AUTHOR QUOTES THE OLD TESTAMENT ONLY ONCE AND THAT IN HIS OPENING STATEMENT. IT IS CLEAR HE WROTE FOR AN AUDIENCE WHO HAD HEARD THE GOSPEL MESSAGE BUT WAS NOT INTIMATELY ACQUAINTED WITH THE OLD TESTAMENT. HIS WAS UNDOUBTEDLY A PREDOMINANTLY  GENTILE READERSHIP, FOR HE MAKES IT A POINT TO TRANSLATE ALL ARAMAIC EXPRESSIONS AND TO EXPLAIN HEBREW CUSTOMS, SOMETHING THAT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN NECESSARY HAD A MAJORITY OF HIS READERS GROWN UP IN THE SYNAGOGUE  THAT HE ALSO USES NUMEROUS LATIN WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS SUGGESTS HIS FIRST READERS UNDOUBTEDLY WERE ROMANS OR FROM ITALY. WHEN READING JOHN'S GOSPEL ONE MUST PAUSE AND REFLECT AT ALMOST EVERY SENTENCE. NOT SO WITH MARK. HIS IS A BOOK OF ACTION THAT RAPIDLY PROCEEDS FROM ONE INCIDENT TO ANOTHER.IT PICTURES OUR LORD'S ACTIVE MINISTRY AS HE HELPS MEN AND WOMEN IN THEIR DISTRESS AND THEN IN HIS PASSION CARRIES OUT GOD'S GOOD AND GRACIOUS WILL TO SAVE US. JESUS IS A MAN AMONG MEN, BUT AT THE SAME TIME MARL'S NARRATIVE OPENS OUR EYES TO SEE THAT THIS MAN
IS AT THE VERY SAME TIME THE VERY "SON OF GOD" THE SAVIOR OF MANKIND. AS OUR LORD STEP BY-STEP TEACHES HIS DISCIPLES THROUGH WORD AND DEED TO RECOGNIZE WHO HE TRULY IS, WE TOO ARE SUPPORTED IN OUR FAITH TO SAY WITH PETER, " YOU ARE THE CHRIST" AND WITH THE CENTURION STANDING BENEATH THE CROSS, "SURELY THIS MAN WAS THE SON OF GOD!"

JESUS ENTERS JERUSALEM ON PALM SUNDAY. [ Matthew 21:3].

AS THEY APPROACHED JERUSALEM AND CAME TO BETHPAGE ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, JESUS SENT TWO DISCIPLES, " GO TO THE VILLAGE AHEAD OF YOU AND AT ONCE YOU SHALL FIND A DONKEY TIED THERE WITH HER COLT BY HER. UNTIE THEM AND BRING THEM TO ME. IF ANYONE SAYS ANYTHING TO YOU, TELL THEM THE LORD NEEDS THEM FOR TRANSPORTATION. THIS WAS THE PROPHECY. OF COURSE THAT JESUS WAS TO FULFILL. IN THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE, ONE TURNS THE PAGE AFTER MALACHI AND FINDS MATTHEW AS IF A FEW DAYS FELL BETWEEN THE ACTIVITIES OF THE PROPHET AND THE ARRIVAL OF JESUS CHRIST. IN REALITY, HOWEVER, FOUR HUNDRED "SILENT YEARS"  LIE BETWEEN THE OLD TESTAMENT AND NEW, A TIME WHEN GOD DID NOT SPEAK TO ISRAEL THROUGH HIS PROPHETS.. YET DESPITE THE PROPHETS SILENCE, GOD CONTINUED TO WORK IN HIS PEOPLE, AND OTHER NATIONS, AND THE SUPERNATURAL REALM. HE LED ISRAEL THROUGH A TIME OF TESTING THAT DEVELOPED A SENSE OF HOPE, AND A BURNING DESIRE FOR THE PROMISED MESSIAH.  HE BROUGHT THE FOUR NATIONS PROPHESIED IN DANIEL
 VISION. GOD ALSO PREPARED TO FULFILL HIS PROMISE TO THE SERPENT IN EDEN: " I WILL PUT ANIMOSITY BETWEEN YOU AND THE WOMEN, AND BETWEEN YOUR DESCENDANT AND HER DESCENDANT; HE WILL BRUISE YOUR HEAD, AND YOU WILL BRUISE HIS HEEL (GEN 3: 15). YOU KNOW GOD NEVER SLEEPS, AND THOUGH HE MAY NOT COMMUNICATE AS WE EXPECT HIM TO, BUT HE ALWAYS SPEAKS TO A RECEPTIVE. HEART. IF YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN, THE OLD TESTAMENT IS YOUR SPIRITUAL HISTORY, THE PROMISES AND CALLING OF GOD TO ISRAEL ARE YOUR HISTORICAL CALLINGS. WHEN WE ALL GET HOME, THERE'S SOMEONE I WANT  TO KNOW. I DON'T KNOW HIS NAME, OR WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE. I ONLY KNOW FROM SCRIPTURES WHAT HE GAVE JESUS. HE GAVE A DONKEY TO JESUS ON THE SUNDAY HE ENTERED JERUSALEM. "GO TO THE TOWN YOU CAN SEE THERE. WHEN YOU ENTER IT, YOU WILL QUICKLY FIND A DONKEY TIED THERE WITH A COLT UNTIE THEM AND BRING THEM TO ME. IF ANYONE ASKS YOU WHY YOU ARE TAKING THE DO WAS IT HARD TO GIVE? WAS IT DIFFICULT TO GIVE SOMETHING TO JESUS. I KNOW THE TIMES I TRY TO GIVE MY WIFE SOMETHING, SHE ALWAYS RESPONSES :"I DON'T NEED THAT?  HOW DID IT FEEL TO LOOK OUT AND SEE JESUS ON THE BACK OF A   DONKEY? WERE YOU SURPRISED? WERE YOU PROUD? WERE YOU ANNOYED? DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU HAVE ANY IDEA THAT YOUR  GENEROSITY WOULD BE USED FOR SUCH A NOBLE PURPOSE? DID IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU THAT GOD WAS GOING TO RIDE YOUR DONKEY?  WERE YOU AWARE THAT ALL FOUR GOSPEL WRITERS WERE GOING TO TELL YOUR STORY? DID IT EVER CROSS YOUR MIND, THAT A REV. DEACON IN 2019, WOULD PUT IT IN HIS BLOG?  I WONDER OF YOUR PLIGHT AS I PONDER MY PLIGHT!  SOMETIMES I GET THE FEELING THAT GOD ONCE ME TO GIVE HIM SOMETHING AND SOMETIMES I DON'T BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW FOR SURE? THEN I FEEL I MISSED MY CHANCE?  AND OTHER TIMES, TOO FEW TIMES WOULD BE USED TO CARRY JESUS TO ANOTHER PLACE. STILL OTHER TIMES I WONDER IF MY LITTLE DEEDS TODAY WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LONG HAUL? MAYBE YOU HAD THOSE QUESTIONS TOO. ALL OF US HAVE A DONKEY. YOU AND I EACH HAVE SOMETHING IN OUR LIVES, WHICH IF GIVEN BACK TO GOD COULD, LIKE THE DONKEY MOVE JESUS AND HIS STORY FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD. WHICH EVER, THAT'S YOUR DONKEY. THAT DONKEY BELONGS TO JESUS. YOUR GIFTS ARE HIS AND THEY BELONG TO HIM. THE ORIGINAL WORDING OF THE INSTRUCTIONS JESUS GAVE TO HIS DISCIPLES IS PROOF: " IF ANYBODY ASKS WHY YOUR TAKING THE DONKEYS, YOU ARE TO SAY, ' ITS LORD IS IN NEED'"









































 

MESSIANIC MINISTRY

 AFTER JOHN THE BAPTIST IS ARRESTED, JESUS GOES INTO GALILEE WHERE HE PROCLAIMS:  THE TIME IS "FULFILLED, AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND  REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL,"  JESUS CLAIMED FOR HIMSELF THE RIGHT TO FORGIVE SINS. HIS CLAIM INCENSED THE SCRIBES, WHO INSISTED THAT ONLY GOD  COULD FORGIVE SINS. THEY WERE CORRECT, BUT IN THEIR BLINDNESS COULD NOT SEE WHO STOOD BEFORE THEM. JESUS NEVER DID ANYTHING TO BENEFIT HIMSELF. HE CONSISTENTLY REFUSED TO USE HIS DIVINE POWER TO  PERFORM A MIRACLE. EVEN WHEN HE WAS HUNGRY RATHER THEN TO CHANGE A STONE INTO BREAD, "JESUS WAS ALWAYS THE SERVANT";  HE SOUGHT ONLY TO PLACE HIMSELF AND HIS POWERS AT THE SERVICE OF HUMANITY. FOR EXAMPLE, BEFORE HEALING A LEPER, HE REACHED OUT AND TOUCHED HIM. THE PHARISEES ON OCCASION THREW ROCKS AT LEPERS AND SAID THEIR SUFFERING WAS THE RESULT OF SOME SIN THEY HAD COMMITTED. FURTHERMORE, JESUS SOUGHT THE COMPANY OF "SINNERS, TAX COLLECTORS," AND THE LIKE. HIS ACTIONS UPSET THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES FOR THEY FELT THAT IF HE REALLY WAS THE MESSIAH, HE WOULD SEEK OUT THE "RIGHTEOUS" (NAMELY THEMSELVES). JESUS'  CONCERN FOR THE GENTILES WOULD ALSO BEEN REPUGNANT TO MANY IN ISRAEL WHO BELIEVED THAT WHEN MESSIANIC AGE CAME, THE GENTILES WOULD BE DESTROYED, OR AT BEST MADE SLAVES OF THE JEWS. JESUS REPEATEDLY IGNORED TRADITIONAL ATTITUDES CONCERNING THE OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH. WHAT MATTERED TO HIM WAS THE WELLBEING OF PEOPLE, NOT THE KEEPING OF RITUALS AND TRADITIONS. THIS WAS BOUND TO BRING HIM HEAD LONG CONFRONTATION WITH THE SCRIBES, PHARISEES, FOR HIS ACTIONS CALLED INTO QUESTIONS THE VALIDITY OF THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF THE LAW. ALL BUT ONE OF JESUS MIRACLES (REPORTED IN MARK) ARE DONE IN AND AROUND GALILEE. JESUS PERFORMS ONLY ONE MIRACLE AFTER LEAVING GALILEE. HE HEALS BLIND BARTIMAEUS NEAR JERICHO. HE PERFORMS NO MIRACLES IN OR NEAR JERUSALEM, THE " CITY OF OPPOSITION."   WHEN JESUS WAS RECOGNIZED, HE WARNED THE PERSON OR SPIRIT WHO HAD RECOGNIZED HIM TO  SAY NOTHING OF THE MATTER, WHY?  FIRST, JESUS WANTED TO MAKE CLEAR THAT THE MESSIANIC AGE HAD COME, AND THAT INDEED HE WAS THE MESSIAH HE HAD COME TO BE.  SECOND,  HE WANTED TO MAKE IT CLEAR OF WHAT KIND OF A MESSIAH HE HAD COME TO BE. THE COMMUNITY  CONTAINED MANY BURNING WITH DESIRE TO BE RID OF THE ROMANS. AND TO GAIN POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE. JESUS NEEDED TIME TO DEMONSTRATE THAT HE WAS NOT THE KIND OF MESSIAH WHO WOULD FIT THAT KIND OF EXPECTATION. HE HAD NOT COME TO BE A POLITICAL DELIVER (. NOTE: THE EXCEPTION OF MARK 5:19,20 WHERE JESUS COMMANDS THE MAN HEALED OF DEMON POSSESSION. TO BEAR WITNESS IN GENTILE TERRITORY!  MARK 8:27-3O. JESUS PUTS TWO QUESTIONS TO HIS DISCIPLES. THE FIRST IS: WHO DO MEN SAY THAT I AM.?! THE SECOND IS: "WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?" THOUGH HE DID NOT PREVIOUSLY PUT THESE QUESTIONS TO ANYONE, HE WAS RECOGNIZED PRIOR TO THAT TIME -----BY THE DEMONS! THIS LEADS IN TO THE GOSPEL OF ST.MARK WHICH CONTAINS NO INFANCY NARRATIVE. THERE'S A REPORT THAT JESUS WENT FROM NAZARETH IN GALILEE WHERE JOHN WAS WORKING TO BE BAPTIZED BY HIM. AT HIS BAPTISM HE WAS ANOINTED INTO HIS MESSIANIC OFFICE. HIS TITLES WERE ANNOUNCED AND THE NATURE OF HIS MISSION WAS DEFINED.AFTER HIS BAPTISM   JESUS RETURNED TO GALILEE. HE REALLY WANTED THEM TO SEE CLEARLY WHAT KIND OF MESSIAH HE HAD COME TO BE. THE PEOPLE, THE AUTHORITIES, IN JERUSALEM, "THE CITY OF OPPOSITION" CAME NORTH TO WHERE HE WAS WORKING, USUALLY THEY COME TO CHALLENGE AND OPPOSE HIM. JESUS LIFE WAS THAT OF A SERVANT.  HE ALWAYS  DEMONSTRATED GREAT COMPASSION TO THOSE HE CAME INTO CONTACT WITH. BUT  TO HIS DISCIPLES THEY FOUND IT HARD TO RELATE TO HIS LIFESTYLE TO TRADITIONAL EXPECTATIONS ABOUT WHAT THE MESSIAH WOULD BE LIKE AND WHAT HE WOULD ACCOMPLISH.

. BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON THERE WE SET DOWN AND WEPT (PSALM 137: 1).

'. BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON, WE SAT DOWN AND WEPT, WHEN WE REMEMBERED ZION." PSALM 137 LAYS BARE THE AGONIES OF THE EXILES IN A STRANGE LAND, AS THEY LONG TO RETURN TO JERUSALEM, AND PRAY FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF THOSE WHO DESTROYED JERUSALEM (V.8) AND THOSE WHO ASSISTED IN THE PROCESS THE EDOMITES,V 7).  THE DESCENDANTS OF ABRAHAM,ISAAC AND JACOB WERE INDEED IN A "FOREIGN LAND,"MORE CORRECTLY, "LANDS"!  AS A RESULT OF THE BABYLONIAN CAMPAIGN OF 597 AND 587 B.C. MANY OF THE DESCENDANTS OF THE PATRIARCHS FOUND THEMSELVES IN OTHER PARTS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD AS WELL. AS WE LOOK, AT THE TERM "JUDAISM" IN EXILE. WILL  OF  THOSE JUDEANS OR JEWS, AMONG WHOM THE COVENANT FAITH TOOK ON A TRANSFORMED EXPRESSION AS A RESULT OF THE COLLAPSE OF THE NATION AND THE EXPERIENCE OF THE EXILE.THOUGH THE THESE EVENTS CLOSE ONE CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL'S FAITH, THEY ALSO BEGAN A NEW ONE. LET US LOOK AT  JUDAH AFTER 587 B.C. NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S CAMPAIGNS LEFT JUDAH CRIPPLED AND DISORGANIZED. HE RAVAGED ITS TERRITORY TO SUCH A DEGREE THAT IT NEEDED MANY YEARS TO RECOVER. ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH INDICATES THAT JUDAH'S FORTIFIED TOWNS CONTINUED TO LIE IN RUINS THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD OF THE EXILE. TO COMPLICATE MATTERS TERRITORY WAS DIVIDED. PART OF IT WAS INCORPORATED IN THE NORTHERN PROVINCE OF SAMARIA. THE REMAINDER WAS TAKEN OVER BY THE EDOMITES ( THE LATER EDOMITES ( THE THE LATER IDUMEANS WHO HAD MOVED FROM THEIR HOME TERRITORY  SOUTHEAST OF THE DEAD SEA INTO HEBRON AREA. MANY LEFT BEHIND BY THE BABYLONIANS FOUND ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS IN JUDAH SO DIFFICULT THAT THY MIGRATED IN INCREASING NUMBERS TO OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD. TO MAKE A FRESH START. A HANDFUL OF JEWS REMAINED IN AND AROUND WHAT WAS LEFT OF JERUSALEM. AS A RESULT OF THE EVENTS OF 597 AND 587 B.C.,  MANY JEWS WERE TAKEN FORCIBLY TO BABYLON AND MANY FLED TO EGYPT. THE EXILES EXPERIENCED AGONY OF SOUL IN BABYLON. THEY MISSED THEIR LAND, THEIR CITY, THEIR TEMPLE AND THEIR WORSHIP RITUALS.  SOME, LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF BABYLONIAN ZIGGURATS, QUERIED WHETHER THE BABYLONIANS god's WERE NOT, AFTER ALL, MORE POWERFUL THAN THE LORD? AND WHAT ABOUT THE DAVIDIC DYNASTY?  HAD IT REALLY COME TO END?  WHILE IN EXILE, SOME APPLIED THEMSELVES WITH ZEAL TO THE STUDY OF THE SACRED WRITINGS WHILE IN EXILE,
 SOME APPLIED TO FIND ANSWERS AS TO WHY THE NATION HAD COLLAPSED AND WHAT NEEDED TO BE DONE TO AVOID A REPETITION OF THE CATASTROPHE. ONE EXILE WAS ENOUGH!  THERE MUST BE NO REPETITION OF THE TRAGEDY. SOME RESOLVED THAT WHEN THE EXILED WAS OVER, THEY WOULD MAKE EFFORT TO OBEY THE STIPULATIONS OF THE COVENANT---AND URGE OTHERS TO DO THE SAME AS WELL. IN THIS LATTER RESOLVE THAT WHEN EXILE WAS OVER, THEY WOULD MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO OBEY THE STIPULATIONS OF THE COVENANT--- AND URGE OTHERS DO SO AS WELL. IN THIS LATTER RESOLVE LAY THE DANGER-- THAT TAKEN TO THE EXTREME---LEGAL DETAIL MIGHT BE STRESSED TO THE NEGLECT OF GRACE.
LOOKING AT THE DISPERSION. WE ARE REFERRED TO THE ASSASSINATION OF GEDALIAH BY ISMAEL, A NATIONALIST. AND DAVIDIC PATRIOT. AS A RESULT OF THIS AND OTHER ACCOMPANYING MURDERS, JUDAH'S MILITARY LEADERS, FEARING BABYLONIAN REPRISALS, FLED TO EGYPT. EVENTUALLY EGYPT WAS TO BE ONE OF THE MAJOR CENTERS OF THE JEWISH DISPERSION. ABOUT A HUNDRED AFTER JEREMIAH AND HIS CAPTORS FLED TO EGYPT, SOME OF DESCENDANTS OF THIS GROUP SETTLED AT THE FIRST CATARACT OF THE NILE ON THE ISLAND OF ELEPHANTINE, NOW KNOWN AS ASWAN. A TEMPLE WAS BUILT THERE, IN WHICH THE LORD WAS WORSHIPPED TOGETHER WITH THE WITH THE GODDESS ANATH. DESPITE THIS STRANGE PERVERSION OFF THE FAITH OF THEIR FATHERS, THE EGYPTIAN JEWS CONTINUED TO MAINTAIN A CONNECTION WITH THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE, WHICH BY THIS TIME HAD BEEN REBUILT IN LATER YEARS IN LATER YEARS. JEWISH SETTLEMENTS WERE ALSO SETUP IN ALEXANDRIA AND OTHER CENTERS. BY THE TIME OF THE GREEK PERIOD (333 B.C. AND BEYOND), EGYPT HAD BECOME A WORLD CENTER JEWRY. MANY MIGRATED TO OTHER PARTS MEDITERRANEAN WORLD AS WELL. EVENTUALLY THE NUMBER LIVING EXCEEDED THE NUMBER LIVING IN THE PROMISED LAND ITSELF! JEWISH COMMUNITIES WOULD ONE DAY BE SCATTERED ALL OVER THE KNOWN WORLD.  FOR MOST WHO WERE INVOLVED IN THIS (DIASPORA), THERE  WAS NO GOING BACK. THOSE WHO WERE TAKEN TO BABYLON DID NOT FIND LIFE IN THAT GREAT CITY IMPOSSIBLE. ON THE CONTRARY THEY WERE PERMITTED TO SET UP RESIDENCES THERE, AND PERPETUATE SOME DEGREE OF COMMUNITY LIFE,  WITH THE LOCAL POPULATION AND ESTABLISH THEMSELVES IN BUSINESS. ANTI-SEMITISM WAS UNKNOWN.  TH EXILES FOUND THEMSELVES SURROUNDED BY A CULTURE SUPERIOR TO THAT WHICH THEY HAD LEFT BEHIND. LIFE IN JUDAH HAD BY AND LARGE, BEEN SIMPLE. THE NATION'S ECONOMY HAD BEEN BASED ON PURSUITS LIKE GRAZING AND FARMING. IN AND AROUND BABYLON, THE SCENE WAS ONE OF INTENSIVE AGRICULTURE AND THRIVING INDUSTRY. IT IS THOUGHT THAT DURING THE BABYLONIAN PERIOD, MANY OF THE EXILES GATHERED TOGETHER FOR WORSHIP AND STUDY. SOME TRACE TO THIS PERIOD. THE TERM COMES FROM A GREEK WORD MEANING " TO GATHER TOGETHER." POSSIBLY THE SYNAGOGUES ESTABLISHED BY THE JEWS IN THOSE MANY LANDS TO WHICH THEY WERE SCATTERED, CAME INTO BEING AS A RESULT OF A NEED FIRST FELT IN BABYLON. LET'S LOOK AT THE THEOLOGICAL ACTIVITY, DURING THE EXILE FOR CENTURIES, THE FAITH OF ISRAEL HAD A GEOGRAPHICAL FOCAL POINT, THE "THE PROMISED LAND."  THE SONS OF THE PATRIARCHS BELIEVED THAT THE LORD HAD GIVEN THEM THAT LAND, AND THAT HE HIMSELF DWELT IN THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE. THE EVENTS 597 AND 587 B.C. DEALT THESE POPULAR NOTIONS A DEVASTATING BLOW. THE BABYLONIANS HAD RAVAGED THE  LAND AND DESTROYED JERUSALEM, FLATTENED THE TEMPLE, AND NOW THE CHOSEN PEOPLE ARE NOW IN EXILE IN A STRANGE LAND., SURROUNDED BY A CULTURE OBVIOUSLY SUPERIOR TO THAT WHICH THEY HAD LEFT BEHIND. THE NEW ENVIRONMENT MADE A CONSIDERABLE IMPRESSION ON MANY OF THE EXILES.
BABYLON AND THE SURROUNDINGS MADE A CONSIDERABLE IMPRESSION ON MANY OF THE EXILES. THE  TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM  HAD BEEN INSIGNIFICANT IN COMPARISON WITH ITS MANY GRAND TEMPLES. WERE THE BABYLONIAN GOD'S AFTER ALL SUPERIOR TO THE GOD OF ISRAEL?  THE TEMPTATION TO GIVE UP THE ANCESTRAL FAITH WAS STRONG. IT WAS AN ATTRACTIVE THOUGHT MERELY TO MERGE INTO THE LOCAL SCENE AND BE DONE WITH IT. WAS THE LORD ONLY PRESENT ONLY IN JERUSALEM?   COULD HE BE WORSHIPPED THERE? IT WAS A ATTRACTIVE THOUGHT ISRAEL'S TRAGEDY. IT WAS ESSENTIAL FOR HER TO EXPAND HER WORLD. THE PRESENT FAITH HAD TO PROVE ITSELF BIG ENOUGH TO COPE WITH THE PAST TRAGEDY AND THE PRESENT WORLD--- OR PERISH. ISRAEL'S FAITH ROSE TO THE CHALLENGE. MANY DEVOTED THEMSELVES TO AN INVOLVEMENT IN THE FAITH OF THE FATHER'S AND TO THE PURIFICATION OF THE FAITH. THE GREAT PROPHETS HAD LONG INSISTED THAT THE LORD WAS NOT CONFINED TO THE LIMITS OF THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE. TRUE WORSHIP DID NOT CONSIST IN RITUALS PERFORMED IN SPECIFIED PLACES, BUT IN KINDNESS FAITHFULNESS, IN A HUMBLE
WALK WITH GOD. THE PRACTICE OF THESE THINGS WAS NOT DEPENDENT ON FACTORS OF GEOGRAPHY, ARCHITECTURE OR RITUAL. THE KINGDOM OF GOD WAS SOMETHING OF THE HEART! ACCORDINGLY THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD DID NOT COME TO AN END IN BABYLON. INSTEAD, A PEOPLE EMERGED FROM THE EXILIC EXPERIENCE WITH A FLOURISHING, TRANSFORMED FAITH. THOUGH THE EXILES IN BABYLON NO LONGER HAD A LAND AND A TEMPLE TO SERVE AS FOCAL POINTS THEY DID HAVE A COMMON HISTORY AND A COMMON TRADITION, THE SENSE OF BELONGING TO A COVENANT COMMUNITY. THE FAITHFUL SIFTED THROUGH THE SCRIPTURES TO LAY BARE THEIR MEANING AND ENSURE FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS ( 2 KINGS 25:27-30. DURING THE EXILIC PERIOD, A VITAL
INTEREST IN THE LAW DEVELOPED. IT WAS EXAMINED MINUTTTTELY, CODIFIED AND LAID ON THE HEARTS OF THE FAITHFUL. WHAT BETTER WAY TO SHOW ONE WAS "DIFFERENT?"  SOME HOPED THAT CONCENTRATION ON THE KEEPING OF THE LAW MIGHT HELP ISRAEL BECOME WHAT GOD HAD ALWAYS INTENDED HER TO BE, A HOLY PEOPLE SET APART FOR HIMSELF, EXODUS 19:5,6.