gregoryjenks

Author: Gregory C. Jenks

  • Epiphany 2C (20 January 2013)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Isaiah 62:1-5 & Psalm 36:5-10
    • 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
    • John 2:1-11

    Introduction

    This week many faith communities will be settling into the EPIPHANY season, even if they do not use that language in naming the Sundays between now and Lent. The major Western lectionaries will show little variation through this period.

    The ecumenical significance of this convergence in lectionaries often passes unremarked, but may be worth some reflection this week.

    The following statement affirming the significance of the lectionary in shaping and sustaining a living faith comes from the Theological and Educational Foundations of the Seasons of the Spirit congregational resources:

    The Bible contains meaning and mystery beyond the printed words. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are called to engage continually in biblical exploration in community. We learn from biblical scholarship and value the insights and experiences of people of diverse cultures and life situations and all ages and eras.
    The lectionary provides an organized, holistic exploration of Scripture, linking education and worship and calling us to service. Through the yearly cycle of readings, we are drawn into the story of God’s creation of all things; God’s calling and forming a people; the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus; and the witness of the early church in the world.

    Jesus in the Epiphany Cycle, Year C

    During the course of Epiphany, the lectionary invites us to reflect on a selection of Gospel “snapshots” of Jesus. These particular episodes are mostly chosen from the opening chapters of Luke, although this week’s passage will be from John:

    • 1st Sunday after Epiphany: Jesus is Baptized [Luke 3:15-17,21-22]
    • 2nd Sunday after Epiphany: Miraculous Wine at a Wedding in Cana [John 2:1-11]
    • 3rd Sunday after Epiphany: In the Synagogue at Nazareth [Luke 4:14-21]
    • 4th Sunday after Epiphany: Jesus rejected at Nazareth [Luke 4:21-30]
    • 5th Sunday after Epiphany: The Great Catch of Fish [Luke 5:1-11]
    • 6th Sunday after Epiphany: Beatitudes [Luke 6:17-26]
    • 7th Sunday after Epiphany: Love of Enemies [Luke 6:27-38], or
    • Last Sunday after Epiphany: Transfiguration [Luke 9:28-36, (37-43)]

     

    Taken as a set of texts, this makes an interesting bundle of epiphany passages:

    • In what ways are these episodes epiphanic, or revelatory?
    • What do they reveal to us about the meaning of Jesus, at least within the faith of the Gospel writers if not in his own lifetime?
    • And what do these passages reveal about ourselves, and our own capacity to be epiphanies?

    Miraculous wine at a wedding in Cana

    It is fairly easy to see that this miracle story is intended to be understood as an epiphany or revelation of the divine glory of Jesus:

    Jesus attends a wedding in a Galilean village, along with his mother (never called “Mary” in this Gospel although his father is named as “Joseph”) and his disciples.

    • This event is set “on the third day”–a significant pointer to the symbolic nature of the story.
    • Jesus’ mother mentions to him that the wine has run out and, after initially declining to get involved, Jesus issues instructions that solve the dilemma.
    • As the servants pour water into six large stone ritual jars it is miraculously transformed into wine of the highest quality!
    • Everyone is amazed, Jesus’ glory is revealed, and his disciples believed in him.

    John P. Meier devotes 16 pages to this particular miracle story, taking particular care to isolate the Johannine traits to see whether any kernel of historical memory can be identified. According to Meier, the elements in the story that presuppose the larger literary and theological context of John’s Gospel, and therefore suggest the hand of the author rather than some historical memory of an event in the life of Jesus, are as follows:

     

    (1) The opening phrase, “And on the third day …” makes sense only within the larger context of the preceding events in chapter 1 with its clearly marked out days:

    • 1:29 – On the next day …
    • 1:35 – On the next day …
    • 1:43 – On the next day …

    The third of these days included the encounter with Nathanael, during which Jesus promises Nathanael that he will see even greater things including the glorification of the Son of Man. The Cana miracle is then immediately set “also on the third day” (translating kai – “and” – as “also”) and begins the process of revealing the glory of Jesus.

    (2) The references to “the mother of Jesus” reflect both the style and theology of the Gospel’”

    (a) John never refers to Mary by name, even when naming Joseph as Jesus’ father and naming various other women associated with Jesus:

    Indeed, the fact that “his mother” can occur in the same verses in which “his father” and all the other women at the cross are mentioned by name (6:42; 19:25) makes it all but certain that, for whatever theological or symbolic reason, the Fourth Evangelist purposely suppresses the name of Jesus’ mother and refers to her only by a phrase that begins to look like some sort of formula or title. (Marginal Jew, II,938)

    (b) The manner in which Jesus addresses his mother appears to be a literary device:

    … outside of John’s Gospel, it is unheard of in either the OT or the NT that a son should address his biological mother with the unadorned title “woman.” When we put this strange mode of address together with the Evangelist’s avoidance of Mary’s proper name in favor of the formal phrase “the mother of Jesus,” the natural conclusion is that the Evangelist intends to convey some sort of symbolic relationship between Jesus and his mother. (II,938)

    (c) Within GJohn, this combination of “the mother of Jesus” and the address “woman” occur only in this miracle story and at the cross:

    In other words, the Fourth Evangelist has carefully introduced and limited “the mother of Jesus” to two pericopes at the beginning and at the end of Jesus’ public life: the “sign” at Cana marking the beginning of his public ministry and a scene at the cross just before his death. That this positioning seeks more than just literary balance is clear from the theological correspondence between the two scenes. At Cana, the reason why Jesus distances himself and his intention from his mother’s implied request is that “my hour has not yet come.” In John’s Gospel, … “my hour,” “his hour,” “the hour” and “this hour” … regularly refer to Jesus’ “glorification” by his death on the cross (7:30; 8:20; 12:23; 13:1; 17;1). (II,939)

    (3) Consistency with a trait seen in the stories of the miraculous wine at Cana (2:1-11) , the healing of the official’s son (4:46-54) and the raising of Lazarus (11:1-57). Typically GJohn portrays Jesus as possessed of divine omniscience, and able to perform a miracle even before it is requested, However, in these three stories there is at least an implicit request for intervention as the need is brought to the attention of Jesus. Meier continues:

    It is hardly by accident that it is in these three miracle stories that we notice a particular Johannine pattern that safeguards the sovereign initiative and control of Jesus. In each of these three stories:

    • A petitioner makes an implied or explicit request for a miracle.
    • Jesus at first seems to refuse the request .. abruptly and unfeelingly … keeps control of the flow of events and shows that whatever he will do he will do in accordance with the “timetable” and purpose of his mission …
    • The petitioner, being a person who is basically well-disposed to Jesus and open to his challenge of faith, is not put off by the apparent refusal but in one way or another persists in his or her request, thereby implicitly affirming faith in the Jesus who appears to be disappointing the petitioner.
    • In the end, in response to this persistent faith, Jesus does accede to the request, but each time in a more spectacular and amazing way than the petitioner could possibly have imagined. Jesus thus makes it clear that, when he does grant the miraculous favor, he does so on his own terms, at his own time, with a superabundant generosity the petitioner could not have expected, and with a special theological symbolism that far transcends the original intention of the petitioner. (II,940)

    (4) Meier identifies two further aspects of John 2:1-11 that seem “very typical” of the author’s theology, namely the spectacular character (and massive scale) of the miracle, and its highly spiritualized symbolic interpretation:

    • The miracle is spectacular and massive, as are many of Jesus’ miracles in John. They often surpass in sheer quantity and quality equivalent stories in the Synoptics.
    • As usual in John, the physical reality portrayed (in this case, the over-abundant supply of fine wine at a wedding feast) symbolizes a higher, spiritual, eschatological reality.
    • … we also find the related OT image of Yahweh, the true husband of Israel, rejoicing with his bride at the wedding banquet of the end time … conjure up the idea of Jesus the bridegroom coming to claim his bride Israel at a wedding feast. The messianic wedding feast which both Matthew and the Book of Revelation place at the parousia, John sees being realized from the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry; this is typical of John’s realized eschatology.
    • The description of the happy but ignorant headwaiter betrays the Evangelist’s hand in another way as well. We are told in v 9 that the headwaiter “did not know whence the water-become wine was” … In John’s theology, Jesus has come down from heaven … (his “whence”) … To know Jesus’ true origins (his “whence”), and hence his divine nature and gift, is equivalent to believing and to having eternal life …

    (5) Finally, Meier notes the significance of the summary statement in v. 11 that identifies this miracle as the “beginning” [arche] of the signs performed by Jesus:

    … this sign is not just the “first” in a purely numerical sense. It is also the beginning–not just in the sense of the culmination of the beginning seen in the gathering of the community of disciples narrated in chap. 1 but also in the sense of the beginning of a series of signs that will spell out in ever greater detail the abundant, overflowing gift of divine life succinctly summarized in this first sign. The first sign is the arche almost in the sense of the archetype of all the signs to come. All those signs will progressively reveal the glory that the Word had with the Father before the world existed (17:5; cf. 12:41), the glory that begins to shine forth in Jesus from the incarnation onward (1:14), the glory that is first revealed to the disciples at Cana (2:11), the glory that shines ever brighter throughout the public ministry with its various signs (e.g., 11:40, in the raising of Lazarus), the glory that leaves behind all signs as it blazes forth in the reality of Jesus’ definitive glorification, his death on the cross (12:23,27-33; 17:1-5), the glory that penetrates the believing community and so makes it one even as the Father and the Son are one (17:22), the glory that the disciples will see fully when they are reunited with Jesus in heaven (17:24).

    Meier wraps up his assessment of the Cana story as follows:

    In short, from start to finish, John 2:1-11 is pervaded with Johannine theological concepts and literary patterns. It fits snugly and functions smoothly within the overarching literary and theological structure of the Gospel. Certainly, the impression one gets is that the pericope seems to be for the most part, if not entirely, the creation of the Evangelist–or, as some would claim, of the Johannine “circle” or “school” whose work he inherited. (II,947)

    In sum, when one adds these historical difficulties to the massive amount of Johannine literary and theological traits permeating the whole story, it is difficult to identify any “historical kernel” or “core event” that might have a claim to go back to the historical Jesus. Put another way: if we subtract from the eleven verses of the first Cana miracle every element that is likely to have come from the creative mind of John or his Johannine “school” and every element that raises historical problems, the entire pericope vanishes before our eyes. Many critics would assign the origin of the story to the Johannine “school” or “circle” lying behind the Gospel. I prefer the view that the story is a creation of the Evangelist himself, using a number of traditional themes. (II,949)

    Metaphor and Truth

    As a story about Jesus that seems to have no basis in history, the miracle at Cana raises the question of history and metaphor as ways to communicate truth. This is an issue that Marcus Borg has addressed in his book, Reading the Bible Again for the First Time:

    A metaphorical approach to the Bible … emphasizes seeing, not believing. The point is not believe in a metaphor, but to see in light of it. (Reading the Bible Again, 41)

    Borg distinguishes between narratives that metaphorize history, and purely metaphorical narratives. The former combine both history and metaphor:

    A historical event lies behind the story, but the way the story is told gives the narrative a metaphorical meaning. (45)

    However, a purely metaphorical narrative has no basis in history:

    No particular event lies behind them. Rather, the stories as a whole are metaphorical or symbolic. (46)

    Borg identifies two factors that affect the decision to see a story as purely metaphorical:

    The first centers on elements within the story itself. Does the story look as if it is reporting something that happened, or are there signs within the story suggesting that it is to be read symbolically? … The second factor involves a judgment about what I call “the limits of the spectacular.”

    Borg expands on the question of the miraculous in biblical stories:

    … the question whether there are “limits to the spectacular” asks, “Are there some things that never happen anywhere?” As we think about that question, it is important not to draw the limits too narrowly, as the worldview of modernity does. More things are possible, and more things happen, than the modern worldview allows. For example, I think that Jesus really did perform paranormal healings and that they cannot simply be explained in psychosomatic terms. I am even willing to consider that spectacular phenomena such as levitation perhaps happen. But do virgin births, multiplying loaves and fish, and changing water into wine ever happen anywhere? If I became persuaded that they do, then I would entertain the possibility that the stories about Jesus reporting such events also contain history remembered. But what I cannot do as a historian is to say that Jesus could do such things even though nobody else has ever been able to. Thus I regard these as purely metaphorical stories. (47)

    Borg directly addresses the Cana miracle, treating it as “Jesus’ inaugural scene” in GJohn:

    The text reports a miracle, of course: the transformation of a large quantity of water (122 to 180 gallons) into wine. But if we focus on the event’s “happenedness,” we easily become distracted and miss the point. We then wonder if such a thing could really happen; and if we think it could and did, we may then marvel about what Jesus did on a particular day in the past. But the meaning of this story does not depend on its “happenedness.” Instead, it is a “sign,” as John puts it. Signs point beyond themselves; to use a play on words, they sign-ify something, and what they signify is their significance.
    So what is the meaning of this story as a “sign”? What is its significance? A number of its details have caught the attention of scholars: the odd exchange between Jesus and his mother; the detail that the water was “for the Jewish rites of purification”; the anticipation of Jesus’ death. Though these details matter, they should not divert attention from the primary symbolic feature of the text: a wedding banquet.
    Wedding banquets were the most festive occasions in the world of first-century Palestine, especially in the peasant class (and Cana was a peasant village). Wedding banquets commonly lasted seven days. They featured dancing, wine, and vast quantities of food. The normal peasant diet was meager: grains, vegetables, fruit, olives, eggs, and an occasional fish. Meat and poultry were infrequently eaten, since people were reluctant to kill the few animals they had. But at a wedding banquet, there were copious amounts of food of all kinds.
    Given the above, what is this text–which John places as the inaugural scene of Jesus’ public activity –saying? What is Jesus about? What is the gospel–the good news–of Jesus about? John’s answer: it is about a wedding banquet at which the wine never runs out and the best is saved for last.
    To this metaphorical meaning of a wedding banquet can be added historical associations of banquet and wedding imagery in Jewish and early Christian traditions. In Judaism, a banquet was a frequent symbol for the messianic age. Marriage was also used as a metaphor for the relationship between God and Israel. In the New Testament, Jesus is sometimes spoken of as the bridegroom and the community of his followers as the bride. The book of Revelation refers to “the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Jesus) and ends with a vision of the New Jerusalem descending from the sky “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” A wedding could thus symbolize the intimacy of the divine-human relationship and the marriage between heaven and earth. It is a common mystical symbol, and John is the most mystical gospel.
    Did John intend to build all of these meanings into his inaugural scene? There is no way of knowing. But it is the nature of metaphorical language to convey more meanings than the author intended. In any case, it is clear what John is saying: the story of Jesus is about a wedding banquet at which the wine never runs out. (204f)

     

     

    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 David MacGregor’s Together to Celebrate site for recommendations from a variety of contemporary genre.

  • An (un)Common Book of Hours

    Uncommon Book of Hours cover

    Peter Watkins has edited a set of reflections based around the weekday and Sunday readings from the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL).

    An (un)Common Book of Hours is available only as a digital text (eBook) and can be purchased online at Smashwords for just US$4.99.

     

    The editor reflects on the project in his Preface:

    My motivation for this booklet was to compile a set of reflections and prayers drawn from a group of Christians which reflects, to what seems to me, the great diversity which exists within Christianity, something that is not often acknowledged nor sufficiently celebrated. This represents the “(un)” component of the title. The “Common” is derived from the use of the Daily Readings of the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), a three year table of readings from the Bible which is in widespread use around the world (see commontexts.org for further details on the RCL) and thus is common to many of those who offer homilies each week, and the “Book of Hours” refers to the devotional content of this booklet.

    Recruitment of the contributors to this project was by invitation. Some of the contributors I have known for quite some time while, for others, this represent the first time that I have had contact but I hope that this will continue beyond the scope of this booklet. In order to participate, each contributor was sent a copy of the outline which forms the framework for each daily devotional, and a set of readings for each day Lent. Each person was asked to provide a reflection (around 500 words) as well as a prayer that relates to both the reflection and the set of readings. The result of their endeavours is what you will be reading for Lent. When I first envisaged this booklet, I anticipated that, with such a diverse group of contributors, a wide range of voices would be heard. However, with the arrival of each contribution, I found quite the opposite; there seemed not be a multitude of voices but rather only One.

    As one of the invited contributors (responsible for the Third Sunday of Lent as well as Tuesday in Holy Week), I want to congratulate Peter on pulling this project together and thank him for his trust in our collected glimpses of sacred wisdom.

    If the volume is well-received further sets of reflections for other seasons of the Christian year will be planned.

  • The Baptism of the Lord (13 January 2013)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Isaiah 43:1-7 and Psalm 29
    • Acts 8:14-17
    • Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

     

    Introduction

    In the introduction to An Uncommon Lectionary, John Beverley Butcher comments on the pivotal significance of this event in the life of Jesus:

    The liturgical year in this lectionary begins with the primary spiritual event in the life of Jesus: his Baptism by John in the Jordan River. Mark, the earliest narrative Gospel, opens with the ministry of John the Baptizer who is “calling for baptism and a change of heart that lead to forgiveness of sins.” (Mark 1:4, SV)

    According to Luke 3:23, Jesus was about thirty when he went to hear John preach. What might there have been in John’s message that prompted Jesus to ask for baptism? And what might have he experienced during his baptism and the forty days in the wilderness that reportedly followed? Might the baptism in the Jordan and the time in the desert comprise a story illustrating his enlightenment?

    The evidence is clear that something profound happened within Jesus which provided direction and energy for a ministry of teaching and healing. Without Jesus’ baptism, there might have been no ministry, no getting into trouble with the authorities, no crucifixion, no resurrection experiences, no church, no Christian religion, and no church history! The course of human civilization would have gone quite differently.

     

    The baptism of Jesus in early Christian tradition

    There are nine surviving Christian texts from the first hundred years after Easter which refer to the baptism of Jesus:
    (1) GHeb 2

    1The whole fountain of the holy spirit comes down on him. For the Lord is the spirit and where the spirit is, there is freedom.
    2And it happened that when the Lord came up out of the water, the whole fountain of the holy spirit came down on him and rested on him. 3It said to him, “My Son, I was waiting for you in all the prophets, waiting for you to come so I could rest in you. 4For you are my rest; you are my first-begotten Son who rules forever.” [Complete Gospels]
    (2a) Mark 1:9-11 and Synoptic Parallels

    1:9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

    = Matt 3:13-17
    3:13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

    = Luke 3:21-22
    3:21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
    (2b) GNaz 2

    1The mother of the Lord and his brothers said to him, “John the Baptist baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Let’s go and get baptized by him.” 2But he said to them, “How have I sinned? So why should I go and get baptized by him? Only if I don’t know what I’m talking about.” [Complete Gospels]
    (2c) GEb 4

    1When the people were baptized, Jesus also came and got baptized by John. 2As he came up out of the water, the skies opened and he saw the holy spirit in the form of a dove coming down and entering him. 3And there was a voice from the sky that said, “You are my favored son—I fully approve of you.” 4And again, “Today I have become your father.” 5And right away a bright light illuminated the place. When John saw this, he said to him, “Who are you?” 6And again a voice from the sky said to him, “This is my favored son—I fully approve of him.” 7John knelt down in front of him and said, “Please, Lord, you baptize me.” 8But he stopped him and said, “It’s all right. This is the way everything is supposed to be fulfilled.” [Complete Gospels]
    (2d) John 1:(29-)32-34

    1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
    (2e) IgnSmyr 1:1c

    I glorify God, even Jesus Christ, who has given you such wisdom. For I have observed that ye are perfected in an immoveable faith, as if ye were nailed to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, both in the flesh and in the spirit, and are established in love through the blood of Christ, being fully persuaded with respect to our Lord, that He was truly of the seed of David according to the flesh, and the Son of God according to the will and power of God; that He was truly born of a virgin, was baptized by John, in order that all righteousness might be fulfilled by Him; and was truly, under Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch, nailed [to the cross] for us in His flesh. Of this fruit we are by His divinely-blessed passion, that He might set up a standard s for all ages, through His resurrection, to all His holy and faithful [followers], whether among Jews or Gentiles, in the one body of His Church.
    (3) IgnEph 18:2d

    For our God, Jesus Christ, was, according to the appointment of God, conceived in the womb by Mary, of the seed of David, but by the Holy Ghost. He was born and baptized, that by His passion He might purify the water.

    Commentary

    David Flusser

    Flusser devotes chapter 3 of his book, Jesus (pp. 37-55), to the baptism of Jesus. He stresses the links between the Essene beliefs and practices at Qumran, where “baptism linked repentance with forgiveness of sins, and the latter with the Holy Spirit.”

    On the probability of ecstatic phenomena, Flusser observes:

    We can well imagine the holy excitement of that crowd who had listened to the words of the Baptist. Having confessed their sins and awaiting the gift of the Holy Spirit to cleanse their souls from all the filth of sin, they plunged their bodies into the cleansing water of the river. Can it be that none of them would have had a special pneumatic-ecstatic experience in that hour when the Spirit of God touched them? (p. 40)

    … many scholars are right in thinking that in the original account, the heavenly voice announced to Jesus, “Behold, My servant, whom I uphold, My chosen, in whom My soul delights; I have put My Spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations” (Isaiah 42:1). This form is probably the original, for the reason that the prophetic word fits the situation. (p. 41)

    The gift of the Holy Spirit assumed a significance for Jesus that was different than for others who were baptized by John. Heavenly voices were not an uncommon phenomenon among the Jews of those days, and frequently those voices were heard to utter verses from scripture. Endowment with the Holy Spirit, accompanied by an ecstatic experience, was apparently something that happened to others who were baptized in John’s presence in the Jordan. (p. 42)

    If, however, the heavenly voice intoned the words of Isaiah, Jesus must have understood that he was being set apart as the servant of God, the Chosen One. For him, the gift of the Holy Spirit, which was part of John’s baptism, held another special significance that was to become decisive for his future. None of the designations Son, Servant or Chosen One were exclusively messianic titles–the last two could also denote the special status of the prophetic office. By these titles, Jesus learned that he was now called, chosen, set apart. Nothing we have learned casts any doubt upon the historicity of Jesus’ experience at his baptism in the Jordan. (p. 42)

    Jesus Seminar

    The opinion of the Jesus Seminar Fellows about the baptism of Jesus by John was tested across a number of statements, with the average result for each statement:

    • JBap baptized Jesus
    • Jesus saw the heavens open and the spirit descend on him like a dove.
    • Jesus heard a voice from heaven at his baptism saying, “You are my favored son.”
    • Jesus had visionary experiences.
    • Jesus had a visionary experience at the time of his baptism.
    • Jesus had a vision at his baptism.
    • Jesus had a powerful religious experience at his baptism.
    • Jesus was a disciple of JBap.

    Gerd Lüdemann

    Lüdemann [Jesus, 9] affirms the historicity of Jesus being baptized by John, but does not trace the theological interpretations back beyond the post-Easter community:

    … Jesus did not regard his baptism as appointment to be the son of God. The underlying concept derives from the community, which believed in Jesus as the son of God (cf. Gal. 2.16; 4.4) and located his appointment within his lifetime. In the earliest period, for example, the appointment of Jesus as son of God came only after his resurrection from the dead (cf. Rom. 1.4).

    John P. Meier

    The second volume of A Marginal Jew devotes considerable space to a study of John as “mentor” to Jesus. The historicity of the baptism is addressed on pages 100-105, before considering the meaning of Jesus’ baptism on pages 106-116. On the basis of the criterion of embarrassment, supported by a limited proposal for multiple attestation (relying on possible echoes of a Q version in John’s Gospel and in 1 John 5:6), Meier concludes:

    We may thus take the baptism of Jesus by John as the firm historical starting point for any treatment of Jesus’ public ministry. (II,105)

    Having established the historicity of the baptism event, Meier is adamant that the narrative must be seen as a Christian midrash, drawing on various OT themes to assert the primacy of Jesus over John. In particular, Meier insists that the theophany must be excluded from all attempts to understand the event, since it is a later Christian invention rather than a surviving memory of some actual spiritual experience of Jesus.

    Meier’s discussion of the meaning of the baptism puts great weight on the fact that accepting baptism implied Jesus’ agreement with John’s apocalyptic message, and also engages at length with the question of Jesus’ sinlessness.

    See also:

     

    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 David MacGregor’s Together to Celebrate site for recommendations from a variety of contemporary genre.

  • Re-dating the Galilean synagogues

    Interesting to see Jodi Magness is now arguing that the Galilean type synagogue was not developed until a couple of hundreds year later than most scholars had previously proposed:

    Christian and Jewish scholars tend to like dates as early as possible, as that suggests greater historicity for the biblical narratives as well as the traditional accounts of Jewish and Christian origins. While the hermeneutic of suspicion (in this case, suspicion of self-serving early dates) cannot be invoked too readily, I find it intrinsically probable that the development was slower than the traditional stories want us to think.

  • The Epiphany of the Lord (6 January 2013)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Isaiah 60:1-6 and Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14
    • Ephesians 3:1-12
    • Matthew 2:1-12

     

    Introduction

    The Feast of the Epiphany of our Lord concludes the traditional twelve days of Christmas with a celebration of the universal significance of the Christ Child. In recent lectionaries this festival also introduces a season of varying length between Christmas and Lent. During this season the readings provide an opportunity to explore some of the different ways in which epiphanies (a Greek word for an event or action that reveals the otherwise hidden presence of a god) form part of the Christian faith tradition. Epiphany celebrates the possibility of an encounter with the Sacred beginning with a celebration of the life of Jesus as a divine disclosure.

    Commentary and Critical Notes

    The following links provide more detailed information on various aspects of this story, including extended citations of the ancient sources:

     

    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 David MacGregor’s Together to Celebrate site for recommendations from a variety of contemporary genre.

  • Christmas 1C—Feast of the Holy Family (30 December 2012)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26 & Psalm 148
    • Colossians 3:12-17
    • Luke 2:41-52

     

    The Childhood and Family of Jesus

    The first Sunday after Christmas is often observed as the Feast of the Holy Family. In any event, the Sunday after Christmas presents a natural opportunity to reflect on the likely nature of Jesus’ upbringing, his immediate family and the impact of his family upon his own spiritual formation.

    Arthur J. Dewey, “The Family of Jesus.” Forum ns 2,1 (Spring 1999) 79-97 lists the relevant texts as follows, although these relate not so much to the circumstances of Jesus’ childhood as to the activity of Jesus’ own relatives within his movement:

    Dewey also notes the following references:

    • Pauline references: Gal 1:19; 2:9,12; 1Cor 9:5; 15:7
    • Acts material: Acts 1:14

    For the record, Dewey concludes with the following recommendations for the Jesus Seminar session in the Fall of 1994:

    • The family of Jesus continued into the second century. [Recommendation: Red]
    • The family played a significant role in the development of the early Jerusalem community. [Recommendation: Red]
    • The family of Jesus became the vehicle for dynastic succession of community leaders in Jerusalem. [Recommendation: Red]
    • This dynastic succession lasted until the second Jewish War. [Recommendation: Gray]

    The voting outcomes from the Seminar’s examination of texts relevant to Jesus’ family were as follows:

    True relatives: Mark 3:20-21,31-35 and parallels

    • Jesus’ relatives thought him mad. 0.72
    • Jesus’ mother and brothers came to get him. 0.65

    No Respect at Home: Mark 6:1-6 and parallels

    • Jesus had brothers. 0.97
    • James was the name of one brother of Jesus. 0.97
    • Jesus had sisters. 0.73
    • Jesus’ brothers were not in sympathy with him. 0.69
    • Jesus was known as the son of Mary. 0.89
    • The name of Jesus’ father was not known. 0.73
    • Jesus did favor or inaugurate the establishment of a blood dynasty. 0.01

    Jesus’ Family: Gal 1:19, 2:9,12

    • James was a brother of Jesus. 0.96
    • James was one of those of “repute.” 0.94
    • James appears to be pre-eminent among the three leaders of “repute.” 0.95
    • James, Cephas and John extended the right hand of fellowship to Paul. 0.84
    • Emissaries of James later came to Antioch and precipitated a confrontation between Cephas and Paul. 0.96

    Jesus’ Family: 1 Cor 9:5, 15:7

    • The brothers of Jesus were married. 0.88
    • James claimed a revelatory experience or vision. 0.81

    Jesus’ Family: Eusebius and his sources

    • The family of Jesus continued into the second century. 0.87
    • The family of Jesus played a significant role in the development of the early Jerusalem community. 0.91
    • The family of Jesus became the vehicle for dynastic succession of community leaders in Jerusalem. 0.75
    • The dynastic succession of Jesus’ family lasted until the second century. 0.44

    Early Christian writings show an increasing interest in Jesus’ birth and childhood as time passes, but these matters were seemingly not of interest to the original followers of Jesus or even early converts such as Paul. For Paul it was sufficient to note that Jesus was born of a Jewish mother (“born of a woman, born under the Law” (Gal 4:4).

    Other developments can be traced as follows:

    Mark (written in the 70s) has very little information about the family of Jesus, and its reliability cannot be verified. From Mark we can draw just the following points:

    • Mark pays no attention to Jesus’ conception, birth or childhood.
    • Jesus was known as the “son of Mary” rather than being named for his father. (Mark 6:3)
    • While the mother and brothers of Jesus are mentioned, there is no mention of his father. (Mark 3:31-35; 6:3)
    • There seems to be have been some division between Jesus and his family. (Mark 3:31-35; 10:28-31)
    • Jesus had at least two sisters. (Mark 6:3)

    Matthew (written a decade or so after Mark) begins the process of filling out the sketchy details in Mark:

    • Matthew begins with a genealogy that traces Jesus’ descent from Abraham and David (Matt 1:1-17)
    • Jesus’ father is Joseph, a “just man” whose religious practices included revelatory dreams. (Matt 1:18-25; 2:13,19,22)
    • There is some doubt over Jesus’ paternity but Joseph acknowledges Jesus as his own child. (Matt 1:18-25)
    • Jesus’ family originally lived in Bethlehem, not Nazareth in Galilee. (Matt 2:1,23)
    • A threat to Jesus’ life caused the family to flee to Egypt for safety. (Matt 2:13-15)
    • Subsequently Joseph took his family to Nazareth rather return to Bethlehem. (Matt 2:22-23)
    • Joseph is described as a carpenter. (Matt 13:55)
    • His siblings now include 4 named brothers and more than 2 unnamed sisters. (Matt 13:56)
    • Jesus was alienated from his own family to some extent. (Matt 10:34-36; 12:46-50; 19:29)

    John (written mid/late 90s) gives no attention to the birth and childhood of Jesus, but has an occasional reference to members of Jesus’ family:

    • Mary attends the Cana wedding celebrations with Jesus and plays an active role in his first miracle. (John 2:1-11)
    • His mother and brothers accompany Jesus when he goes to Capernaum. (John 2:12)
    • Galilean Jews recognize Jesus as the “son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know.” (John 6:42)
    • Jesus’ brothers advise him to leave Galilee and go to Judah. (John 7:3)
    • Jesus’ brothers did not believe in him. (John 7:5)
    • Jesus’ brothers go to Jerusalem for Tabernacles, and then Jesus follows them there. (John 7:10)
    • Jesus is not born in Bethlehem but comes from Galilee. (John 7:40-44)
    • Jesus’ opponents hint at his illegitimate birth while affirming their own pedigree. (John 8:39-41)
    • Mary is with Jesus during his crucifixion and he gives her into the care of a favorite disciple. (John 19:25-27)

    Luke (perhaps written ca 110) pays far more attention to the family of Jesus:

    • The parents of John the Baptist are relatives of Mary. (Luke 1:36)
    • John and Jesus are cousins although there is no mention of contact between them.
    • Mary and Joseph live in Nazareth. (Luke 1:26-27; 2:39)
    • Mary conceives Jesus prior to the marriage.
    • Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem late in her pregnancy for a census. (Luke 2:4-5)
    • Jesus is born while his parents are visiting Bethlehem. (Luke 2:6-7)
    • Lacking proper housing in Bethlehem a manger serves as a make-shift crib. (Luke 2:7)
    • The “baby in a manger” is visited by shepherds alerted to his birth by angels. (Luke 2:8-20)
    • Jesus is circumcised on the eighth day. (Luke 2:21)
    • Jesus and is parents visit the Temple for Mary’s purification rituals. (Luke 2:22-24)
    • At the Temple Simeon and Anna prophesy his future significance. (Luke 2:25-38)
    • The family returns to their hometown of Nazareth. (Luke 2:39)
    • Jesus’ childhood is spent at Nazareth. (Luke 2:40)
    • At age 12 Jesus visits Jerusalem for Passover and engages the scholars in the Temple. (Luke 2:41-51)
    • Luke provides a genealogy that traces Jesus’ descent to Adam. (Luke 3:23-38)
    • His townsfolk identify Jesus as “the son of Joseph.” (Luke 4:22)
    • Jesus seems to be alienated from his mother and brothers when they come looking for him. (Luke 8:19-21)
    • Jesus praises disciples over his own mother. (Luke 11:27-28)
    • His mother Mary and his brother are among the disciples in Jerusalem after Easter. (Acts 1:14)
    • James the brother of the Lord is a significant leader in the Jerusalem community. (Acts 15:13-21)

    Infancy Gospel of James (ca 150 CE):

    • a collection of stories about Mary’s special childhood
    • the circumstances of her arranged marriage to an elderly widower named Joseph
    • various episodes relating to the miraculous birth of Jesus.

    Infancy Gospel of Thomas (ca 180 CE) provides a collection of childhood adventures by Jesus that fill the gap between the birth of Jesus and his appearance in the Temple aged 12

     

    John P. Meier [A Marginal Jew, vol 1:350-52] gives the following summary of what can be said about the childhood and family of Jesus:

    During the reign of Herod the Great, and probably towards its end (ca. 7-4 B.C.), Jesus was born in the hill town of Nazareth in Lower Galilee. His mother was Mary, his putative father, Joseph. We hear of four brothers of Jesus (James, Joses, Jude, and Simon) and at least two unnamed sisters. It may be significant that all the names in the family hark back to the glorious days of patriarchs, the exodus, and the conquest of the Promised Land. Jesus’ family may have shared in the reawakening of Jewish national and religious identity that looked forward to the restoration of Israel in its full glory. That is all the more likely if Joseph claimed to be a descendant of King David. At any rate, judging by the fiercely religious focus of Jesus’ life once it becomes visible to us, we may reasonably suppose that his family had been deeply devout Jews of a peasant Galilean type: firmly committed to the basic practices of the Mosaic Law (especially its “boundary symbols” of circumcision, Sabbath, and pilgrimage to the Jerusalem temple), but not given to the niceties of Pharisaic observance.
    As the firstborn son, Jesus would have been the object of Joseph’s special attention, both in training him for a trade and in seeing to his religious education. The fact that Joseph is notably absent during the public ministry is best explained by the traditional idea that he had already died. Jesus’ mother, brothers, and sisters survived into the period of the ministry, though not without some tensions between them. …
    However galling the Gospels’ silence about Jesus’ “hidden years” may be, the silence may have a simple explanation: nothing much happened. The shoot of the stump of Jesse was sprouting slowly and silently.
    Jesus in Nazareth was insufferably ordinary, and his ordinariness included the ordinary status of a layman, without any special religious credentials or “power base.” As a Galilean layman, he would have appeared at first negligible to the high priestly families in Jerusalem—until he began to appear dangerous.

     

    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 David MacGregor’s Together to Celebrate site for recommendations from a variety of contemporary genre.