gregoryjenks

Author: Gregory C. Jenks

  • Bethsaida 2014 – Day Nine

    We were back on the dig today, and at least in Area T there was a significant amount of dirt being moved. Everyone is keen to uncover as much of the hidden history of this small part of the site as we can before the end of this week. As the soil is removed and the fallen stones taken away, we are beginning to see the walls with much greater clarity.

    We began by preparing our limestone kiln pit for its official photograph. First the rocks and bare dirt needed to be swept to provide a good surface, and then the official labels were added:

    dusting-dusting

     

    2014-bethsaida-L4010

     

    It may be that the discovery of this pit will unlock several puzzles for us. It has not only given us a sense of how the ancient limestone was quarried to be burnt for the production of fertilizer, but the presence of significant numbers of Roman nails in the out and the adjacent areas dug in 2013/2013—as well as the presence of numerous Ottoman smoking pipes—suggests the pit was used in the Ottoman period, with timber materials from the Roman period being used as fuel for the destruction of the limestone vessels.

    Here is the latest of our Ottoman smoking pipes:

    ottoman-smoking-pipe

  • Second Sunday after Pentecost (22 June 2014)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Genesis 21:8–21 and Psalm 86:1–10, 16–17
    • Romans 6:1b–11
    • Matthew 10:24–39

    Introduction

    This week we begin a new series of readings:

    • for the next 9 weeks the first reading will come from Genesis
    • for the next 10 weeks the second reading will come from Romans
    • from now until Christ the King on 23 November, the Gospel readings will all be from Matthew

    In some ways these are familiar texts, so the challenge is to look beyond that familiarity in our quest for information about the past and wisdom for the present.

    The video recordings from lecturers on the Synoptic Gospels, and especially the Gospel of Matthew, earlier this year may be interest. Go to my video page and scroll down to the relevant set of videos.

    First Reading: Abraham expels Hagar and Ishmael

    This is a strange and disturbing reading. It is never easy to read this passage in church, and it is especially odd to choose it for the first in a series of readings from Genesis as we move back into ordinary time after the great fifty days of Easter. Given next week’s reading from Genesis 22, where Abraham is willing to sacrifice his other son (Isaac) as an act of devotion to God, this gets increasingly problematic.

    At the heart of this story is the remarkable affirmation that Ishmael and his descendants are blessed by God. In a tradition that too-often privileges Jews and Christians, this is a minority witness to the divine presence and blessing among other communities.

    Yet this small gem comes in the wrapping of a story of betrayal and suspicion.

    In the back story that will not have been read in church, an ageing and childless Sarah has arranged for Abraham to have sex with one of her own servant girls (Hagar) so that Sarah could adopt the child as her own. This is not simply surrogate parenting, but a social system in which the slaves of the patriarch are at his disposal. The master can enjoy them and their bodies, their labour and their affections. The servant girl who becomes pregnant with the master’s child is not given the status of a second wife or even a concubine. Instead, as time passes and Sarah herself bears a son for Abraham (note the sexist language embedded in this tale), rivalry between the two women with unequal power in the household deepens. Sarah demands that the “other woman” be driven out from the camp.

    So much for biblical family values?

    As it happens, the two boys are the only people who really act with integrity in this story and the one that will follow next. Ishmael is a teenager by this point in the story, while Isaac has just been weaned. The older boy is playing with his young half-brother.

    Jealousy intervenes. The boys will not grow up with the blessings of a sibling in their life. Other people’s hatred and fear will drive them apart.

    While Abraham will show no emotion in Genesis 22 when commanded to kill his “only” son, Isaac, here he is grieved by Sarah’s demand. Still, after reassurance by God, Abraham goes along with his wife’s cruel plan and drives his firstborn son and the boy’s mother out into the wildness.

    No good can come to a vulnerable woman and child in such dire straits, unless God intervenes …

    Such a tale surely deserves a place of shame among the “texts of terror” in the Bible. We cannot acquiesce as Paul (in Gal 4:29) accuses Ishmael of persecuting Isaac, and demeans Hagar as a slave mother bearing children destined for slavery. The promise is neither a privilege to evade compassion nor an excuse to exploit those with lesser status. What do we think we hear the Spirit saying to the churches as we proclaim this strange story in our congregations this weekend? Kyrie eleison …

    Second Reading: Buried with Christ in baptism

    The lectionary parachutes us into chapter six of Romans and we find ourselves awash with baptism symbolism. However, these are not themes of renewal and revival as fresh waters bring life to a barren land, but rather images of death and resurrection. Our “old self” has to be crucified with Christ so that a new person can emerge from the self-immolation.

    One can only hope that no fragile souls find their way into our congregations this coming Sunday.

    Images of abuse and self-harm seem to have too great a profile in our sacred texts this weekend.

    The scribes and Pharisees of contemporary Christianity will doubtless craft sermons that speak of sharing the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection. But there comes a time when the people of God need alternative texts to read in our gatherings.

    Gospel: The cost of discipleship

    The reading from Matthew 10 hardly relieves the doom and gloom of this week’s lectionary:

    • If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!
    • Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
    • … whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
    • Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth …
    • Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me…
    • … and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
    • Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

    Without reverting to comfortable expressions of religion that Dietrich Bonheoffer rightly condemned as “cheap grace”, it seems appropriate to ask why we have such a dark set of texts for this weekend.

    Is the God whose compassion is the beating heart at the centre of the Universe really calling us to be so deeply estranged from everyone around us? Are we to take (and give) the kind of mutual recrimination we see Jesus dishing out in Matthew 23? Are we to seek division rather than reconciliation? Have the peacemakers of the Beatitudes been demobilised by the warrior god of tribal religion? Are we to despise the gift of life and prefer death?

    Like the other two readings this week, this passage is going to require careful theological engagement from anyone called to lead the liturgy or preach the word.

    Jesus Database

    Liturgies and Prayers

    For liturgies and sermons each week, shaped by a progressive theology, check Rex Hunt’s web site

    Other recommended sites include:

    Music Suggestions

    See the following sites for recommendations from a variety of contemporary genre:

  • Bethsaida 2014 – Day Eight

    Today—our second Sunday in the Galilee—was planned as a less intense day.

    We began by making a short visit to Capernaum which we had not been able to visit the previous Sunday. The landscaping has continued apace since I was last here in June 2013, although I am not entirely sure that the end result has been a wonderful outcome. In any case, most people had eyes only for the ruins and—of course—the modern church that hovers just above the Venerated House, believed by many to be the home of St Peter. The ruins give us some idea of what to expect in Area T at Bethsaida, while the new church is a model of structures that sit above (rather than 0n) the ruins. May favourite location at Capernaum remains the monumental synagogue that towers above the humble stone houses of the ancient town.

    capernaum-synagogue-and-insula

     

    From Capernaum we headed to Haifa so that we could worship with the Anglican community at St Luke’s Church. We made good time, arriving just before 10.00am for a 10.30 service! I assisted with the service: reading the Gospel, offering the Great Thanksgiving Prayer (we used one from the Australian Prayer Book), and serving Holy Communion. Afterwards we were offered generous Arab hospitality in the church hall:

    haifa-after-church

     

    After leaving the church we went to the top of the hill to enjoy the panoramic vista over the Haifa harbour, including the beautiful Bahai Gardens:

    haifa-bahai-gardens

     

    From there we went to Dado beach, via a local schwarma shop and the train station at Nof HaKarmel (where we collected another Bethsaida volunteer). The day was hot, but the beach was a fabulous place for people to encounter the Mediterranean Sea:

    haifa-beach-scene

    Finally, we went to Mt Tabor. After taking taxis to the top of the mountain we enjoyed both the monumental church and the spectacular views.

    mt-tabor-panorama

     

    Impressive as the buildings and views may be, I most enjoy the gardens and their abandoned structures:

    mt-tabor-garden

  • Bethsaida 2014 – Day Seven

    We spent today in Nazareth. What a deep blessing to be back here with a bunch of new friends to show around my favourite place.

    We began with a brief visit to the Basilica of the Annunciation, before moving just a few metres north to the Sisters of Nazareth Convent where we spent an hour or so exploring the underground excavations: the Holy Cave, the first-century Cave House, and the intact tomb with rolling stone, preparation chamber, and three burial shafts. Here we are before going down below the Convent: Sisters-Nazareth-group

     

    After that we went through the Souk (the Old Markets) to visit the Synagogue Church which happens to be alongside the Melkite church in Nazareth. Our guide, Abu Ibrahim, is from the Melkite community here, so this is his church. Nazareth-synagogue-church

     

    From there we continued through the Souk until we came to El Babour Galilee Spice Mill, where we were welcomed and entertained by the generous Tony Kanaza. Nazareth-El-Babour

     

    Our final stop before the lunch beak was the beautiful Geek orthodox Church of St Gabriel with its ancient well: nazareth-well

     

    After visiting this church we had around two hours free time for people to explore the city by themselves, buy lunch from local vendors, and shop for gifts. I think was a very special part of the day. We then went to Mt Precipice, which offers panoramic views of the Jezreel Valley: Nazareth-MtPrecipice-panorama

     

    From there we went to Nazareth Village with its reconstructions of first-century village life in the Galilee. As always, “Joseph” the village carpenter was one of the highlights with his first-century skills and tools: Nazareth-village-carpenter

     

    We ended the day with a visit to the Nazareth office of Sabeel, where we met with several members of the committee and had an opportunity to learn firsthand of their work.

    Nazareth-sabeel-visit

     

     

     

  • Bethsaida 2014 – Day Six

    Today the energy levels were high and the winds were less blustery, so we were set for a good day on the tools at Area T.

    Even before we were joined by the visitors from Sabeel Nazareth (see below), we had made some exciting new finds:

    Julien found that the spot he had been clearing was actually a pit used by Bedouin to burn limestone recovered from the ancient ruins at the top of the hill to create fertiliser. He is one happy camper, and would happily stay back after the bus leaves at 12.30 to continue working:

    Area-T-Kiln-Pit

     

    Meanwhile, in the opposite corner we have found the top of last year’s Mamluk wall over which a later level of occupation has laid our new set of stone walls.  (Nicole is standing on a large stone that seems to be part of wall W1202 from 2013.) Happy campers all around today:

    Walls-R-Us

     

    While all this was happening our guests from Nazareth arrived to share the day with us:

    Sabeel-Ladies

    With their help we cleared more of Area T than would otherwise have been possible.

    It seems we have at least three phases of occupation at Area T: (1) an initial Mamluk settlement prior to the earthquake of 1202, which re-used some older materials including the 1C grinding stone included in W1202, (2) the occupation phase represented by W1204, and (3) the Bedouin who destroyed part of W1204 to create the pit in which they burned limestone (and maybe some timber materials from the Roman period, judging by the nails found in the pit).

    Meanwhile, exciting finds have been turning up in other parts of the site as well. Around 11.30am we began a series of “show and tell” visits to each other’s areas so that we could learn about the highlights of the week. It was fascinating to see the materials being exposed in Area A West and Area A South. I wonder what the next week of digging will reveal.

  • Bethsaida 2014 – Day Five

    Our fifth day since arriving in Israel, and our third day on the tools at the Bethsaida archaeology project.

    Despite strong winds coming up around 11.00am, we made fantastic progress in Area T  today. We exposed a wall running the entire width of our square. It was not only almost right on top of the northern boundary line, but even turned a snappy 90 degrees at the NW corner of our square to continue a metre or so so south along the western boundary of the square.

    The wall can be seen here:

    140612 AreaT W1204

     

     

    While the neat change of direction in the NW corner can be seen here:

    140612 AreaT W1204 Corner

    The energy levels in the square rose perceptibly as these walls began to be uncovered. While it is not yet clear how they connect (if at all) with the lower walls found in 2012 and 2013, it sure will be interesting to find out.

    Stay tuned for the next update …