gregoryjenks

Category: Lectionary

Links to lectionary notes from the Jesus Database site.

  • Trinity Sunday (15 June 2014)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    Year A

    • Genesis 1:1-2:4a and Psalm 8
    • 2 Corinthians 13:11-13
    • Matthew 28:16-20

    These readings are from the Revised Common Lectionary, and may vary slightly in other lectionary systems.

    Introduction

    The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity has only been observed in the Western (Latin) Church since the edict of Pope John XXII early in the 14C. The Eastern Churches have no equivalent festival, although the propers adopted for Trinity Sunday are derived from prayers celebrating the Trinity and originating in the Arian controversies of the 4C.

    The absence of ancient and universal observance has not prevented this festival from acquiring special significance for many Christians, and especially those living in places where a majority Muslim presence makes this doctrine one of the key markers of Christian identity.

    Since the edict of John XXII, Western Christians have observed the Sunday after Pentecost as a time to pause and reflect on the Christian understanding of God. It can be helpful to imagine Advent through Pentecost as a mathematical problem, with Trinity Sunday as the solution. If we affirm all these things about Jesus, how is our idea of God changed?
    It is well-known that the fully-developed doctrine of the Trinity does not appear in the Scriptures, and that it has been contested from time to time by various Christian thinkers. The definitive formulations of the Trinity are found in the creeds agreed upon at the First Council of Nicea (in 325 CE) and the Council of Constantinople (in 381 CE). Those statements were composed to combat specific opposing opinions and naturally drew upon the linguistic and philosophical resources available to Greek-speaking Christian communities at the time.

    The intention of the creeds was to affirm the following core beliefs:

    • the essential unity of God
    • the complete humanity and essential divinity of Jesus
    • the essential divinity of the Spirit

    The immediate political need for the church to resolve conflict between opposing views, and to contribute to the social cohesion of the late Roman Empire, was also a powerful influence on the process and its outcomes.

    While the doctrine of the Trinity is not presented in the Bible, the Scriptures played an important role in the debates over how best to express Christian belief in God. Those fashioning the creeds were especially seeking a way to affirm the significance of Jesus without jettisoning traditional monotheism, and they drew on the biblical texts for insights into the puzzle.

    For selections of the principal biblical texts see:

    For each year’s feast of the Holy Trinity, the lectionaries draw on a variety of texts that use trinitarian language. As such, these passages provide summaries of the raw material behind the formal doctrine. If—as these texts do—we speak of God as Father, of Jesus/Christ as the Son, and of the Spirit as the “go-between God” (to use John Taylor’s term) what kind of God concept are we affirming?

    Crossan on Trinitarian Structures in Religion

    In the epilogue to Who Killed Jesus? (1995:215), John Dominic Crossan reflects on the trinitarian “structures” he perceives in all religions:

    All religions that I have ever known or can ever imagine are trinitarian in structure. And I use this term very deliberately for this is how I understand the Christian Trinity. There is, first of all, that ultimate referent known in supreme metaphors as power, person, state, or order, as nature, goddess or god, nirvana, or way. There is, next, some material manifestation, some person, place, or thing, some individual or collectivity, some cave or shrine, or temple, some clearing in the forest or tree in the desert where that ultimate referent is met and experienced. There is, finally, at least one faithful believer to begin with and eventually more to end with. But since there are always non-believers as well, some prior affinity must exist, as it were, between believer, referent, and manifestation. The spirit of referent and manifestation must already be present to the believer else why does one accept belief and another refuse it. There is always, in other words, a trintarian loop involved. For me, therefore, all faith and all religion, not just my own Christianity, is trinitarian in nature.

    Praying and Living the Trinity

    While definitions of the Trinity have often been used to exclude suspected heretics and other kinds of church dissidents, there is also a rich tradition of exploiting the inherent symbolism of the Trinity for prayer and meditation. This has been a particular feature of Celtic Christianity, which seems to have celebrated the creation themes of God the Father in combination with a high Christology and a strong sense of the pervasive presence of the Spirit in the affairs of everyday life.

    The following caim (or ‘encircling’) prayer is a fine example of this development:

    The compassing of God be upon you,
    the compassing of God, of the God of life.
    The compassing of Christ be upon you,
    the compassing of the Christ of love.
    The compassing of the Spirit be upon you,
    the compassing of the Spirit of grace.
    The compassing of the Sacred Three be upon you,
    the compassing of the Sacred Three protect you,
    the compassing of the Sacred Three preserve you. Amen.
    [SOURCE Celtic Daily Prayer from the Northumbria Community, ©2002 Northumbria Community.]

    For further examples of the living tradition of Celtic Christianity, you might wish to check the following web sites:

    One of the best examples of Trinitarian faith in the Celtic tradition is the hymn, St Patrick’s Breastplate:

    I bind unto myself today
    the strong Name of the Trinity,
    by invocation of the same,
    the Three in One, and One in Three.

    I bind this day to me for ever,
    by power of faith, Christ’s Incarnation;
    his baptism in Jordan river;
    his death on cross for my salvation;
    his bursting from the spiced tomb;
    his riding up the heavenly way;
    his coming at the day of doom
    I bind unto myself today.

    I bind unto myself the power
    of the great love of cherubim;
    the sweet “Well done” in judgment hour;
    the service of the seraphim;
    confessors’ faith, apostles’ word,
    the patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls;
    all good deeds done unto the Lord,
    and purity of virgin souls.

    I bind unto myself today
    the virtues of the starlit heaven
    the glorious sun’s life-giving ray,
    the whiteness of the moon at even,
    the flashing of the lightning free,
    the whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
    the stable earth, the deep salt sea,
    around the old eternal rocks.

    I bind unto myself today
    the power of God to hold and lead,
    his eye to watch, his might to stay,
    his ear to hearken, to my need;
    the wisdom of my God to teach,
    his hand to guide, his shield to ward;
    the word of God to give me speech,
    his heavenly host to be my guard.

    Christ be with me,
    Christ within me,
    Christ behind me,
    Christ before me,
    Christ beside me,
    Christ to win me,
    Christ to comfort
    and restore me.
    Christ beneath me,
    Christ above me,
    Christ in quiet,
    Christ in danger,
    Christ in hearts of
    all that love me,
    Christ in mouth of
    friend and stranger.

    I bind unto myself today
    the strong Name of the Trinity,
    by invocation of the same,
    the Three in One, and One in Three.
    Of whom all nature hath creation,
    eternal Father, Spirit, Word
    praise to the Lord of my salvation,
    salvation is of Christ the Lord.

    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:

  • Pentecost (8 June 2014)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    Year A

    • Acts 2:1-21 (or Numbers 11:24-30) and Psalm 104:24-34,35b
    • 1Corinthians 12:3b-13 (or Acts 2:1-21)
    • John 20:19-23 (or John 7:37-39)

    These readings are from the Revised Common Lectionary and may vary in other lectionary systems. For further details and complete texts, see the RCL site.

    Introduction

    The origins of this festival go back into ancient biblical times, and beyond.

    On one level the festival is simply the Jewish version of the universal celebrations to mark the completion of the grain harvest at the end of Spring. The fact that this happened seven weeks after Passover, which coincided with the beginning of the harvest, assisted in the development of the idea that this festival brought to a solemn conclusion a “week of weeks”.

    The observance of the “festival of harvest” is stipulated in the ancient Covenant Code now found in Exodus 20:22-23:19, but there are very few references to this “feast of Weeks” (shavuot) in the Hebrew Bible:

    • Exodus 19:1 (Sinai revelation coincides with date of Shavuot)
    • Exodus 23:16 (Shavuot is one of the three pilgrim festivals)
    • Exodus 34:22 (Shavuot is one of the three pilgrim festivals)
    • Num 28:26-31 (details of the sacrifices to be offered at Shavuot)
    • Deut 16:10 (freewill offering proportionate to the harvest is expected)
    • Deut 16:16 (Shavuot is one of the three pilgrim festivals)
    • 2Chron 8:13 (Shavuot is one of the annual feasts)

    We find casual references to the festival in Tobit 21 and 2 Macc 12:32, as well as the first use of the Greek term pentekoste (fiftieth), and there are a few references in Philo (Decal. 160; Spec. Leg. 2,176) and several in Josephus (Ant. 3,252; 13,252; 14,337; 17,254. Bell. 1,253; 2,42; 6,299).

    Only Luke-Acts gives the 50th day after Easter a special significance in the Christian calendar, and it now seems that Luke was following an older Jewish tradition that considered the Spring harvest festival of Shavuot (“Weeks” or 7 x 7 days) to mark the end of a sacred period that began with Pesach (Passover/Easter). Gunther Plaut (ed), The Torah. A Modern Commentary (New York, 1981), notes that the Rabbis spoke of Shavuot as “the Atzeret (solemn gathering) of Pesach” —€” suggesting that the two festivals were linked by their connection to the beginning and the end of the grain harvest.

    Plaut (1981:924) continues:

    The Bible describes Shavuot only as an agricultural festival. Later tradition regards it as the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Sinai. According to Exodus, chapter 19, the revelation occurred early in the third month; but an explicit identification of the festival as anniversary of the revelation is not found until well after the beginning of the Christian era. Thereafter the stress on the historical meaning of the holiday overshadowed the agricultural aspect. The latter survived only in the custom of decorating the synagogue with greens and flowers. The prayers and hymns of Shavuot all glorify the Torah. And the occasion was fittingly chosen by Reform Jews for the ceremony of confirmation, at which the pledge of Sinai is renewed.

    Pentecost in the New Testament

    In the account of Christian origins crafted by Luke, we find this festival elevated to conspicuous significance although even his own later acount in Acts does not ever make anything of this event; and we find no hint of such a special Pentecost soon after Jesus’ death in any other NT writing.

    Acts 20:16 does impute to Paul an eagerness to be in Jerusalem, if at all possibe, in time for the celebration of Pentecost but that appears to be no more than a creative flourish by Luke as author:

    For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia;
    he was eager to be Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.

    There is no convincing reason to think that Luke had direct knowledge of Paul’s personal wishes. Even if Luke had access to a travel narrative written by a companion of Paul, Luke does not suggest any specifically Christian reason for Pentecost being a special observance. The wording we have in Acts 20:16 is quite in keeping with his description of Paul as a faithful Jew who honored traditional observances (cf. 21:26).

    Likewise, Paul’s own reference to Pentecost in 1Cor 16:8f suggests nothing more than a simple chronological marker:

    But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost,
    for a wide door for effective work has been opened to me …

    Actually, that authentic Paul reference to Pentecost sits most oddly with the way Luke develops the Ephesus sojourn (or lack thereof) in relation to Pentecost. Where 1Cor has Paul planning to stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, Acts 20 has Paul bypassing Ephesus in his haste to get back to Jerusalem for Pentecost. These two NT references to Pentecost seem at odds with each other and both are blithely unaware of the special charcater of Pentecost in the narrative of Acts.

    It may also be significant that both volumes of Luke-Acts begin with an impressive public event that sets the stage for what is to follow. In the Gospel of Luke, we find Jesus beginning his public activity with an otherwise unattested appearance in the synagogue at Nazareth.

    When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

    18″The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to bring good news to the poor.
    He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
    and recovery of sight to the blind,
    to let the oppressed go free,
    19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

    20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23 He said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ And you will say, ‘Do here also in your hometown the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.’” 24 And he said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown. 25 But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; 26 yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 There were also many lepers4 in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. 30 But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way. (Luke 4:16-30)

    It is is most unlikely that a small Galilean village like Nazareth would have had a synagogue around 28 CE. In addition the village was not built on the brow of a hill. Like the crisis at the edge of the cliff, the liturgical functions peformed by Jesus in the synagogue seem to be a figment of Luke’s imagination. Whatever their historical value, however, they set the scene for the ensuing narrative.

    It is no surprise, then, to discover that some NT scholars point to the similar function that the Pentecost scene plays in the Acts of the Apostles, part two of Luke-Acts:

    When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
    5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs–in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.” (Acts 2:1-13)

    In both Luke 4 and Acts 2 these impressive scenes also provide the occasion for the key character (Jesus/Peter) to deliver a programatic speech that outlines what the reader can expect to encounter in the narrative that follows. The Pentecost episode (Acts 2) has a similar function within the narrative of Acts to the part played by the Nazareth synagogue scene (Luke 4:16-30) in the narrative of Luke.

    • Both set the scene for the longer narrative that will follow.
    • Both revolve around the Spirit’s presence (upon Jesus in Luke 4, and on the gathered community in Acts 2).
    • There is an appeal to prophetic texts in both cases.
    • The Jewish religious community misunderstands and rejects the prophetic word.

    In both cases we have reason to suspect the narratives are the result of Luke’s own literary creativity, since Luke seems to be developing strategic scenes without support in parallel traditions (cf. Mark 1:14-15 + 6:1-6a and Matt 4:12-17 + 13:5-58 for the more traditional description of Jesus beginning his ministry and his homecoming in Nazareth).

    This is the same author who provides Jesus with an impressive infancy narrative, complete with angelic annunciations and a Jerusalem location for the key scenes. Luke will also relocate all the Easter appearances so that everything happens in Jerusalem and its environs, as befits the Holy City (and his own careful literary design).

    In Acts 2 it is likely that Luke is developing a scene to exploit the significance of Shavuot as the solemn conclusion of the Paschal season. The occasion connects the proclamation of the resurrection to the tradition that angels announced the divine Torah to all the nations of the earth, proclaiming God’s requirements in seventy different languages.

    Peter himself suddenly emerges in this scene as an eloquent speaker and a gifted scholar of the prophetic writings. There have been no hints of such a depth to his character in the earlier traditions, but he will deliver several significant speeches in Acts.

    Given its single attestation in Acts, and its inherent contradiction by the Pauline and Johannine traditions, we have to conclude that Luke’s powerful scene, which has shaped Christian consciousness for almost 2,000 years, has no basis in history. It remains, nonetheless, a powerful parable of the new faith’s self-understanding around 125 CE.

    The Christians for whom Luke is writing understood themselves to have a heritage reaching back into the biblical times, but they also know that Jerusalem and its temple had been destroyed by the Romans. For them Jerusalem now exists only in the imagination of the Christian community. It is not a physical site to be visited, but a memory to be invoked. Jesus could be imagined as presented in the Temple for circumcision. The 12 year old Jesus, his bar Mitzvah being presumed by the narrative, could be imagined visiting the Temple and engaging the learned scholars in discourse on religious themes. All the Easter events take place at this sacred site. And the church itself is inaugurated on the day when the tradition had the divine Torah revealed to the nations and entrusted to Israel.

    Luke was not afraid to use story to communicate meaning. Unless we consciously put it to one side, our obsession with historicity may prevent us from enjoying the story and embracing the message.

    Jesus and the Spirit

    It may be interesting to note the very different approach taken by James D.G. Dunn in his classic 1975 study, Jesus and the Spirit (and especially chapter VI).

    Dunn begins by noting that the experiences of the Spirit which are attributed to the primitive Christian community differ in significant degree from the claims of various resurrection appearances by Jesus. These less personalised experiences of the divine Spirit might be understood as more like the experiences of the Spirit which Jesus himself had enjoyed. That is a tantalizing prospect and it transforms this discussion from academic historical inquiry into a quest for authentic encounters with Spirit in the life of the Church.

    Of course, Dunn is well aware of the range of views on the historical character of the account in Acts 2:

    The range of scholarly options stretches from the more traditional view at one end, that Acts 2 is a more or less accurate account of what happened on the first Christian Pentecost, to the more radical thesis maintained most forcefully by E. Haenchen at the other, that Acts 2 is wholly the construct of Luke’s theological expertise. (p. 136)

    One Pentecost or many?

    The first question that Dunn addresses is whether there were actually many separate occasions when the early Christian communities experienced dramatic manifestations of the divine Spirit in their midst, or whether there was just a single event something like the general picture given by Acts 2?

    Is it possible that such ecstatic experiences were part of the primitive Jesus movement, possibly even before Easter? Might such experiences have continued to be characteristic of groups outside the Jerusalem area (e.g., the Q communities in Galilee where itinerant prophets continued to act in ways that seem very much like Jesus’ own actions)? The description of charismatic phenomena in Samaria (Acts 8), in Damascus (note the role of Ananias in Acts 9) and at Antioch (recall the activity of the Spirit in the sending of Barnabas and Saul in Acts 13) seem to suggest a more dispersed charismatic expression of Christianity. The ready acceptance that disciples of John (such as Apollos in Acts 18) could be “aglow with the spirit” despite knowing only the baptism of John seems also to suggest this.

    Dunn concludes as follows:

    It looks … as though there were several individual and groups whose experience of Spirit and faith in Jesus was initially at last independent of Jerusalem. At the same time it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that Jerusalem was the main growing point in the first instance — that the main impulse to the growth of a community rejoicing in rich experiences of Spirit and centring faith in Jesus as Messiah and Son of Man stemmed from Jerusalem. (p. 139)

    Dunn seeks to incorporate biblical evidence for a more complex distribution of “pentecostal” phenomena without discarding the claim of Acts 2 that the definitive and epochal events took place in Jerusalem.

    The timing of Pentecost?

    The next question that Dunn addresses concerns the timing of the event recounted in Acts 2.

    Would such experiences have been delayed for seven weeks (50 days) after Easter, or would they have even been part of the “evidence” that convinced Jesus’ followers that he was still alive and perhaps even now exalted (one greater than Elijah) to heaven and able to pour out the divine spirit on his followers (just as Elisha had inherited a double share of Eliajh’s spirit)?

    Dunn will argue in favor of just that kind of delay, as he foreshadows:

    The main problem indeed is not the earliness of the Pentcost dating for the first great communal experience of the Spirit, but the lateness (cf. again John 20.19-23; also Acts 2.33). Was there really such a lengthy gap between the first appearances and ‘Pentecost’? In fact, the answer is quite probably, Yes. Indeed, it is quite possible, even likely, that the events of Acts 2.1-13 did fall on the day of Pentecost. (p. 140)

    Dunn acknowledges that the closest parallels to the symbolic interpretation of Pentecost as a festival that celebrated the gift of the divine Torah at Sinai come from Jewish sources in the mid-2C CE, but he presumes these to be significantly later than Acts. (Recent studies that date Luke-Acts in the early/mid 2C would give greater significance to these symbolic parallels.) Dunn also dismisses the Johannine description of the Spirit as part of the Easter blessing from the beginning (“John’s presentation of the gift of the Spirit is almost wholly inspired by theological considerations”), asserting simply that “Luke’s dating must be judged to have the superior claim to historicity.” (p. 141)

    His proposed reconstruction of “what really happened” is nonetheless an interesting example of informed speculation, even if it cannot be persuasive as historical account:

    … if we may assume that the earliest appearances, to Peter and the twelve, took place in Galilee, as seems most likely, then the timing and occasion of the return to Jerusalem becomes a relevant issue. The reason for the return to Jerusalem was presumably the eschatological significance of Jerusalem, the city of God, the expected focus of God’s final acts. The most obvious occasion to return would be in time for the next great pilgrim festival (Pentecost); and since Pentecost seems already to have become regarded as the feast of covenant renewal, the disciples may have expected the decisive eschatological intervention of God on that date. This is all the more likely in view of the fact that Pentecost marked the end of the festival which began with the Passover; it was regarded as the closing feast of the Passover. It would be very natural if the disciples cherished some hope that the sequence of events which had begun on the Passover would end on the day of Pentecost — that the last day of the feast which had been marked by the death and resurrection of Jesus would itself be the last great day of the Lord. The gathering together of the disciples in the sort of numbers mentioned in Acts 1-2 and the increasing anticipation and psychological preparedness which presumably led up to the experience of Spirit and glossolalia certainly makes it more than plausible that the climax was reached on the day of the festival itself, the hopes of the last age beginning to be fulfilled in the outpouring of the Spirit. (p. 141f)

    Pentecost and the Appearance Tradition

    Another question addressed by James Dunn concerns how the Pentecost event (sic) relates to the appearances tradition. He asks whether Pentecost was really a resurrection experience, and then seeks to eliminate that interpretation of the story in Acts 2. Having taken Luke’s general depiction of the disciples in Jerusalem some seven weeks after Easter as authentic, he now dismisses Luke’s underlying scheme of appearances — ascension — Pentecost as “theologically determined.”

    The resurrection appearance to Paul certainly took place long after the forty days were past. If there had been an “ascension” which brought the resurrection appearances to a decisive end, or if there had been some other full stop to the resurrection appearances which was recognized by the primitve community as closing the circle of apostles, then Paul would never have been accepted as an apostle. It is Paul himself who seems to be the first to write finis under the list of resurrection appearances (‘last of all’). The real dispute over his own claim was not whether he really had experienced such a commissing appearance of the Lord, but whether he had understood his commission aright. The obvious implication is that the sequence of resurrection appearances listed in I Cor. 15 ran far beyond Luke’s forty days, and that Paul’s own ophthenai was recognized, initially at least, as just another link in the chain. (p. 143 emphasis original)

    After a careful analysis of suggestions that Acts 2 represents nothing more than a variant tradition of an appearance by Jesus “to more than 500 of the brethren at one time” (1Cor 15:6), Dunn concludes that the events described (doubtless with some theological elaboration by Luke) in Acts 2 probably took place between the appearance to the twelve and the appearance to the crowd of 500+ persons. He draws out the significance of this suggestion as follows:

    The not unimportant corollary follows that the gift of the Spirit was not something quite so distinct and separate from the resurrection appearances as Luke implies. Although Pentecost does not itself seem to have involved a resurrection appearance or even a vision of Jesus, it would seem that after the initial resurrection appearances, charismatic and ecstatic phenomena became a not uncommon feature of the communal gatherings of the young church together with occasional visionary appearances of Jesus, on one occasion at least to the whole company. In other words, we can only go so far in distinguishing experiences of Spirit from resurrection appearances in the earliest Christian community. The problem of how the exalted Jesus and the Spirit of God were related in the religious experience of the early churches is by no means solved. (p. 146 emphasis original)

    Jesus Database

    The Pentecost miracle in Acts 2 does not form part of the Jesus Database inventory, but it may be related to the following items:

    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.

     

    Sermons

  • Easter 7A (1 June 2014)

     

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Acts 1:6-14 & Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35
    • 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
    • John 17:1-11

    First Reading: Jesus ascends to the Father

    The account of the ascension in Acts 1 has a close echo in Luke 24:

    Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God. (Luke 24:50–53 NRSV)

    So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:6–11 NRSV)

    Clearly these two sections need to be read together, and—just as clearly—what we have in the closing sentences of Luke 24 is a summary of the information provided (with more detail) in Acts 1.

    Interestingly, nowhere else in the NT do we find such an explicit description of the ascension/exaltation scene from the Easter tradition. The idea that Jesus was raised to glory with God, including variants that simply describe Jesus as being with the Father, is widely-attested in the NT. But no other NT writer attempts to describe the moment of glorification/exaltation.

    Turning a metaphor into a physical reality is a classic Lukan characteristic, but the desire to provide a witness statement attesting to the ascension (and deification) of Jesus may reflect Luke’s context in second century Roman society. Such statements were an essential part of the process for the Senate’s confirmation of the apotheosis of a recently-deceased emperor.

    Fur further discussion of the Ascension, see:

    Second Reading: 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11

    This week concludes the series of readings from 1 Peter that have provided the Second Reading through the Easter season.

    As is often the case, the lectionary verses reflect some careful editing with the verses shown below in italics being omitted from the lectionary:

    Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you.

    But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief maker. Yet if any of you suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear this name. For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinners?” Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.
    Now as an elder myself and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I exhort the elders among youto tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it—not for sordid gain but eagerly. Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away. In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

    Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.” (1Peter 4:12–5:11 NRSV)

    This passage reflects the experience and the perspective of an emerging Christianity community that is sufficiently established to be noticed (and persecuted) by their contemporaries, but does not yet have the protection offered by antiquity or allies in high places. Respectability matters, but there remains a willingness to embrace ostracism—even martyrdom—as the cost of membership in the sect.

    Gospel: Re-imaging Jesus in the twenty-first century

    This week’s Gospel reading from John 17:1-11 continues the recent lectionary focus on the farewell discourse in John 13:31-17:26. This sets the action in the time prior to Jesus’ arrest and execution. However, the lectionary is correct in choosing these passages for the time during Easter as the underlying assumptions are those of a risen and ascended Lord.

    After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

    This week, in particular, we have Jesus portrayed as a victorious hero who has (or will shortly) take his place among the Immortals and who will then be in a position to reward his followers with salvation and honors of various kinds. This representation offends our modern sensibilities which regard such personal distribution of the rewards of power as a form of official corruption, but in the ancient social order of the Hellenistic empires such action by a patron on behalf of their clients was both expected and accepted. We see much the same set of expectations in the devotional practices of the medieval church as saints were imagined to be powerful patrons who would intercede on behalf of their supplicants to secure additional benefits not otherwise available to the pious.

    The traditional ways of imagining the ascension of Jesus and the significance for humanity of Jesus taking his seat at the right hand of God reflect specific ancient perspectives which we for the most part no longer accept:

    • The universe as a muti-layered reality, with God being located in the highest level and various demonic powers inimical to our spiritual progress located at the intermediate levels to form a kind of psychic obstacle course that we must complete successfully before gaining access to God.
    • Jesus as a true Hero who has not only overcome those obstacles (and defeated the powers and rulers in the process) in order to claim his place at God’s right hand, but who can now act as a classic “Lord” (Gk: kyrios) and come to the aid of his devotees as a “Saviour” (Gk: soter).

    It is clear enough that our traditional images for telling the Jesus story (or even the God story) rely on ancient assumptions that simply do not function in our culture. The challenge is to go beyond the task of deconstruction and to find new ways to speak of God, new narratives to express the significance of Jesus, new lexicons for the liturgy and new phrases for our prayers.

    One way in which this is often done these days is to translate the spatial imagery of the external cosmos into the psychological categories of inner space. Those categories have their own limitations, but for many people they seem to work better than traditional metaphors.

    Richard Bruxvoort-Colligan is a contemporary composer and theologian whose work invites us to imagine God differently and to experience faith with some different accents. Richard’s song Ground and Source of All that Is just one of several new pieces that you may like to check out.

    Ground and source of all that is,
    one that anchors all our roots,
    Being of all ways and forms,
    deepest home and final truth.
    We live and move in you.
    We live and move in you.

    Lover of ten thousand names,
    holy presence all have known,
    Beauty ever welcoming,
    Mystery to stir the soul. We live …

    Nature by whose laws we live,
    author of our DNA,
    All compelling call to life,
    drawing one and all the same. We live …

    Energy of heav’nly sphere,
    spark within the insect mind,
    Unseen pulse to charge our plans,
    bringing order and surprise. We live …

    Call to kindness, call to serve,
    freedom for our chosen course,
    Guide and friend for all who dream,
    nourished by our ground and source. We live …

    For details of Richard’s work, including online ordering and sample sound tracks, visit Rivers Voice

    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:

  • Easter 6A (25 May 2014)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Acts 17:22-31 & Psalm 66:8-20
    • 1 Peter 3:13-22
    • John 14:15-21

    First Reading: Paul proclaims the resurrection to the Athenians

    The speech attributed to Paul in Acts 17 tells us more about the theology of Luke than the rhetoric of Paul. In keeping with the historiographical principles of the time, Luke composes the kind of speech his hero (Paul) would have delivered had he enjoyed the opportunity of giving an address to the leading scholars of Athens. It is a classic scene, and the speech is certainly fitting for the narrative purpose although—like most of Luke’s compositions (eg. the Nazareth sermon in Luke 4)—rather thin on content when we examine it closely.

    Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’ Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:22–31 NRSV)

    In just a few words, Luke gives us the impression of Paul presenting a cogent apologia for the new faith at the very centre of the intellectual world of his time. This fits with his desire to present Christianity as a respectable option for his readers, and it is paired at various points in his narrative with depictions of both the Jewish and pagan opponents of Christianity as undisciplined rabble.

    Within the logic of the lectionary, this passage is the most universalistic of the proclamations of the resurrection message. Between last week and this week, we have travelled from Jerusalem to Athens; from Stephen’s dying vision of the risen and exalted Son of Man, to Paul’s invocation of the Greek sages in support of the Christian gospel. Where the Jerusalem authorities turn into a murderous mob (with even Saul/Paul acting as an accessory), here the sophisticated sages of Athens express a willingness to hear more—though some (most?) remained unconvinced:

    When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; but others said, “We will hear you again about this. At that point Paul left them. But some of them joined him and became believers, including Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. (Acts 17:32–34 NRSV)

    Second Reading: Christ preaches to the spirits in prison

    If the representation of Paul preaching to the Athenian sages—and basing his address on pagan poets—can be understood as an appeal to universal spiritual wisdom, then this week’s excerpt from 1 Peter goes one step further by presenting Jesus as proclaiming salvation to the lost souls in Hades during the time between Good Friday and Easter morning:

    Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him. (1Peter 3:13–22 NRSV)

    The idea of Jesus’ Descent into Hell—also known as the Harrowing of Hell—is an interesting twist to the resurrection traditions. For a brief discussion of this traditional motif, which survives in the statement “he descended to the dead” in the Apostles’ Creed but flourishes in Orthodox iconography, see the Holy Saturday page. This ancient tradition survives as a marginal motif in Western Christianity, but surely implies there are no limits to the reach of the Good News since Christ himself has proclaimed the victory of the Cross to all the souls lost in Hades. Paul preaches resurrection to the Greeks, but Jesus preaches liberation to “the spirits in prison.” Can we imagine anyone not embracing such an opportunity for release? What limits dare we place on God’s generosity when the ancient traditions imagine not even death itself as a barrier to conversion?

    Gospel: The promise of the Spirit

    As we get towards the end of the Easter season the lectionary texts shift focus from the resurrection of Jesus to the presence of the Spirit as the mode of the risen One’s continuing engagement with the community that bears his name. This week we have the promise of an Advocate (the Spirit of Truth) to be a continuous presence with the community and/or the individual disciple. Next week the focus will be on the ascended Lord: the one whose departure/elevation is a prior condition for the Spirit’s outpouring. The following week is the feast of Pentecost when the focus falls directly on the presence of the Spirit of God/Jesus.

    There is some confusion within the NT gospels concerning precisely when the Spirit was gifted to the community:

    • MARK barely mentions the theme, but we cannot be sure just how the original version of the Gospel according to Mark ended. We know from chapter 13 that Mark is aware of the early Christian belief that they were blessed with an inner presence of God’s own Spirit:

    As for yourselves, beware; for they will hand you over to councils; and you will be beaten in synagogues; and you will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them. And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations. When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say; but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. [Mark 13:9-13]

    • MATTHEW promises the presence of Christ himself, rather than the Spirit:

    Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” [Matthew 28:16-20]

    • JOHN explores the theme of the promised Spirit through the extended monologue of the Supper Discourse and then has Jesus bestow the Holy Spirit on the disciples gathered in the locked room on Easter night:

    When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” [John 20:19-23]

    • LUKE-ACTS develops the theme of the promised Spirit so that the coming of the Spirit is delayed until the Jewish festival of Pentecost, some 7 weeks after Easter. In the meantime the Spirit is promised and the disciples are told to wait in Jerusalem for the blessing which God would send them:

    While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. [Acts 1:4-9]

    In these texts we can see the truth of a particular religious experience being expressed and interpreted with a mixture of history and metaphor. All these early Christian communities understood themselves to be the recipients of the Spirit’s presence. However, in creating stories to explain the origins of this experience and to guide their contemporary practice, they employed various combinations of metaphor and history. Neither the history nor the metaphor is consistent across the various canonical texts.

    Jesus Database

    Liturgies and Prayers

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    Other recommended sites include:

    Music Suggestions

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

  • Easter 5A (18 May 2014)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Acts 7:55-60 & Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16
    • 1 Peter 2:2-10
    • John 14:1-14

    First Reading: Acts 7:55-60

    The death scene from the martyrdom of Stephen may seem an odd choice for a Sunday reading in the Easter season, but embedded in this story is the claim that Stephen had a vision of the risen and exalted Lord:

    But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died.” (Acts 7:55–60 NRSV)

    This story is also notable for its passing reference to Saul, who will later become known as Paul. This is the very first reference to Paul in a book which will be dominated by his character as the narrative proceeds. It is noteworthy that Saul/Paul first appears in the story as an accessory to the murder of Stephen.

    Second Reading: 1 Peter 2:2-10

    This week’s selection from 1 Peter is out of sequence, perhaps due to verses 19-25 being picked early to exploit the link with last week’s “good shepherd” theme.

    This passage continues to reflect the developing interest in Christianity as a self-conscious religion, with its own rituals, priests, etc. The theological method that comes through is one that weaves together isolated statements from the Jewish Scriptures to create the impression of deep continuity with ancient biblical “prophecies.” Such use of Scripture is close to the pesher hermeneutics of the reclusive community at Qumran, whose long-lost library is known to us as the famous Dead Sea Scrolls.

    This is not suggest that there were formal links between the Qumran sect and the writers of the NT, but simply to observe that the kind of theological method underlying 1 Peter presupposes a scribal elite with the inclination and the opportunity to engage in pesher hermeneutics. Such a development is not likely to have happened in the earliest decades of Christianity, but is more likely to be a natural dynamic with a maturing Christian movement in the decades around the end of the first century.

    Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

    Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture:

    “See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
    a cornerstone chosen and precious;
    and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

    To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe,

    “The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the very head of the corner,”

    and

    “A stone that makes them stumble,
    and a rock that makes them fall.”

    They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

    But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

    Once you were not a people,
    but now you are God’s people;
    once you had not received mercy,
    but now you have received mercy.” (1Peter 2:2–10 NRSV)

    Gospel of John

    Insiders and outsiders in the Farewell Discourse

    During the second half of the Easter season the major lectionaries draw heavily on John’s Gospel, and especially on the so-called Farewell Discourse in 13:31 to 17:26.

    • Easter 4: John 10:1-10
    • Easter 5: John 14:1-14
    • Easter 6: John 14:15-21
    • Easter 7: John 17:1-11
    • Pentecost: John 20:19-23 (or 7:37-52)

    Chapters 14-17 have no parallel in the three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke). There is nothing like this is in any of the other Jesus traditions found in the canonical writings, although there may be close parallels in some of the gnostic writings outside the NT.

    The idea of a farewell discourse by a departing hero is well-known from biblical and non-biblical writings in antiquity. In particular, the many “Testament” texts among the OT Pseudepigrapha should be noted: TAdam, TJob, TMoses, TSolomon, T3Patriarchs, T12Patriarchs.

    Where the Synoptics chose to present Jesus delivering a farewell discourse on eschatological themes (predicting the end of the world and instructing his followers how to prepare themselves for its sudden arrival), GJohn has Jesus discoursing on themes closer to the interests of the Johannine communities.

    We know from the Johannine epistles (1John. 2John and 3John) that the groups associated with the name of John were divided over the humanity of Jesus and the question of how the Spirit’s anointing could be known. In response to a split that had apparently taken place in their ranks, the elder who writes the Letters of John urges them to keep the commandments held from the beginning, to trust that the Spirit has indeed been bestowed on them all, and especially to practice love for one another. In so doing they will know the truth and their joy will be complete.

    Many of those same concerns can be seen in John 14-17. However, rather than a simple line of thought that proceeds from one issue to the next, the materials seem to loop around and cover the same points over and over again. Some scholars have suggested that this reflects a process of development as these meditations on Christ were elaborated over a period of time:

    • (new) commandment: 13:34-35; 14:15; 14:21; 15:10; 15:12-14
    • untroubled hearts: 14:1; 14:27
    • going/coming: 13:33; 13:16; 14:2-4; 14:18-20; 14:28; 16:4-7,10; 16:16-24
    • promised Spirit: 14:16-17; 14:25-26; 15:26; 16:7-11; 16:12-16

    What we seem to have in these traditions are not recollections of things once said by Jesus, but reflections on the significance of Jesus as the divine Son present in the lives of his disciples and active in the life of the community through his Spirit. Not surprisingly, such themes also strike those responsible for our modern lectionaries as appropriate questions for the final weeks of the Easter season.

    As we draw closer to Pentecost during the second half of Easter, themes relating to the Spirit will displace stories of appearances by the risen Lord and the empty tomb. While that may simply be a function of the lack of new stories to use, it also reflects the ancient Christian tradition that the Spirit was the continuing presence of the risen One in their midst. For example, in 1 Cor 15:45, Paul writes: “the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”

    If these texts, including this week’s Gospel, were shaped in a context of conflict between opposing factions of the early Jesus movement, it is not surprising to find some extravagant claims being made. In the heat of such conflict, extreme positions can be adopted (rather like a theological ambit claim) which do not really represent the considered position of the claimant.

    The (only) way, the (only) truth, and the (only) life

    John 14:6 may be one of those theological ambit claims that we would not wish to uphold in the contemporary multi-faith world at the beginning of the third millennium. It is, after all, widely recognized that Christian attitudes to other religions must undergo profound change as the churches come to terms with the results of historical Jesus studies—not to mention other domains of human discovery and experience.

    On the other hand, more conservative Christian groups may indeed wish to uphold traditional Christian claims to exclusive possession of truth and a monopoly on salvation.
    In his book, The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible’s Texts of Hate to reveal the God of Love (HarperSanFrancisco, 2005), John Shelby Spong includes John 14:6 in his list of “terrible texts” that have been employed to promote hate rather than divine love. These notes will draw on Bishop Spong’s discussion of this verse.

    Early in his discussion of John 14:6, Spong comments:

    “No one comes to Father but by me” is a text that invariably comes up when I am lecturing on the vision of an interfaith future. It seems to be a hurdle that people must get over to break the spell of their romantic imperialism. So the question becomes: Does this text actually support this claim? The answer to that question is simple: It does only if one is profoundly ignorant of the New Testament scholarship of the last two hundred years, only if one literalizes the Bible and finally only if one knows nothing about the Fourth Gospel in which alone this text occurs. (p. 233)

    Spong begins his discussion by noting that the first half of this verse (“I am the way, the truth and the life …”) is one of a series of “I AM” statements found in the Gospel of John, and which are integral to the highly developed christology that this Gospel offers the reader:

    • I am the bread of life (John 6:35)
    • I am the light of the world (John 8:12)
    • I am the gate of the sheepfold (John 10:7)
    • I am the good shepherd (John 10:11)
    • I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25)
    • I am the way, the truth and life (John 14:6)
    • I am the true vine (John 15:1 NB: Spong actually cites 15:7 but 15:1 is a better example.)

    Allowing himself some licence to exaggerate, Spong continues:

    Of course, Jesus never literally said any of these things. For someone to wander around the Jewish state in the first century, announcing himself to be the bread of life, the resurrection or the light of the world would have brought out people in white coats with butterfly nets to take him away. None of the earlier gospel writers give us any indication that any of them had ever heard it suggested before that Jesus taught this way. The “I am” sayings are clearly the contribution of the Fourth Gospel. What then do they mean? Why did John add these sayings to the ongoing Christian tradition? The answer is found in the period of history in which the Fourth Gospel was written. (p. 234)

    The history that Spong then cites is the divergence of Torah-observant Jewish synagogue communities and the Christ-centered Kingdom communities during the second half of the first century, and especially in the aftermath of the Jewish war with Rome in 66-73 CE. That growing sense of mutual alienation is well-attested, but it does not really explain the high christological themes that are so typical of John and so different from what we find in Mark, Matthew and Luke.

    It seems to me that the particular form of the Jesus tradition found in John, and especially its exclusive claims to offer secure access to God’s salvation, reflect internal divisions and conflict within the Johannine communities, and between the communities of John and other Jesus communities (those groups associated with Paul and Thomas come to mind for starters), even more than the familiar tensions between Christians and Jews after 70 CE. Recognizing the intra-communal nature of the primary conflicts in the Johannine literature, also softens the implicit anti-Semitism of the Fourth Gospel.

    Even so, at least one of the communities with which the Johannine churches found themselves in sustained conflict was undoubtedly the Torah-observant Jewish synagogue. The familiar Johannine portrait of Jesus in dispute with “the Jews” (see 2:18 and numerous other examples) whose ultimate ancestor was none other than “the Devil” (8:44-47) and who typically expelled the followers of Jesus from their synagogues (9:22), must surely reflect the historical experience of some Christian groups in the final quarter of the first century.

    To the extent that all the various Jesus movements were variants of Judaism, this affirmation of Jesus’ unique status as the entry point to God’s salvation must be understood within the context of a “fierce conversation” about the most secure way for Jews of the time to experience God’s blessing. In the course of their engagement in that debate, the Johannine protagonists have tabled their ambit claim for Jesus:

    • Jesus is the eternal Logos in human form
    • Moses mediated the Torah, but Jesus brings grace and truth
    • ritual water becomes the new wine of the Spirit
    • rival claims by Judeans and Samaritans dissolve when he has come
    • the bread of heaven provided by him surpasses what Moses provided
    • Jesus is the source of the divine Spirit in his followers
    • a person born blind can see while the Pharisees are blind
    • as authentic shepherd Jesus cares for his people and they respond to his voice
    • not even death can resist Jesus
    • Jesus remains serenely in control of events as his trial proceeds
    • Jesus is the way, the truth and the life
    • no-one gets to God except through him

    The christology of the Johannine communities is highly developed and consistently expressed.

    Although Spong does not focus so strongly on the particular dynamics of the Johannine communities around the end of the first century, he sketches a similar account of their rhetorical strategy:

    So the battle raged on, as all battles do when religious feelings are at stake. The gospel of John was the product of these excommunciated revisionists. That is why references appear in this gospel to the followers of Jesus being put out of the synagogue (see 9:22 and 12:42). That is why this gospel reinterprets the opening chapter of the Torah (compare John 1 with Gen. 1). That is also why this gospel, over and over again, claims the divine name “I am” for Jesus of Nazareth. The Christians (formerly the revisionist Jews) were saying, “We have met the holy God who was once revealed to Moses and who has now been revealed anew, and perhaps more fully, in Jesus. We are not separated from the God of our fathers and mothers as the orthodox party was asserting. Jesus is the very way through which we walk into the same divine mystery that our ancestors in faith also knew. We know of no other way that we can come to the God of our fathers and mothers except through this Jesus.” (p. 236)

    Spong concludes with this reflection on the significance of this text then and since:

    That was a testimony to their experience. It was not a prescription claiming that they possessed the only doorway into the only God. It is amazing to me that this attempt on the part of the early disciples of Jesus to validate their experience journeying through Jesus into the mystery of the God they had known in Israel would someday be used to judge all other religious traditions as unworthy, wrong or even evil. Yet that is the path this text has followed as Christianity moved from minority status into majority power.
    There is a difference between my experience of God and who God is. There is a differece between affirming that I walk into the mystery of God through the doorway called Jesus and that in my experience this is the only doorway that works in my journey, [and] that I must then declare it to be the only doorway that exists for all people, the only doorway through which anyone can walk. Imagine the idolatry present in the suggestion that God must be bound by my knowledge and my experience! Yet that claim has been made and is still being made by imperialistic Christians today. The text written by persecuted minority members of the early Christian community to justify their claim to be part of the larger people of God becomes a text that is interpreted to be a claim that issues in religious imperialism. Is it not interesting how little attention is paid to a text that proclaims an open and inclusive faith? It is found in the words attributed to Peter in Acts 10:34ff: “Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”
    We live in a religiously pluralistic world, but there is only one God. This God is not Christian, nor is this God an adherent of any religious system. All religious systems are human creations by which people in different times and different places seek to journey into that which is ultimately holy and other. Until that simple lesson is heard, human beings will continue to destroy each other in the name of the “one true God.” (p. 236f)

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  • Easter 4A (11 May 2014)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Acts 2:42-47 & Psalm 23
    • 1 Peter 2:19-25
    • John 10:1-10

    First Reading: Acts 2:42-47

    The first reading this week is the final of the series of excerpts from Peter’s great sermon in Luke’s account of the Pentecost miracle:

    They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
    Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42–47 NRSV)

    This is vintage narrative, perhaps drawing on authentic traditions about radical community dynamics in the earliest Christian circles, known to Luke from the surviving letters of Paul. As a summary this passage suggests a larger pattern of known behaviours, although in reality we have very few specific stories to justify this impression lodged in our imagination by the story-teller’s art. Luke’s carefully crafted words create a positive impression of the first Christians as people devoted to:

    • the apostles’ teaching (Greek, didache – correct belief mattered to them, and to Theophilus, the intended reader)
    • their common life together (Greek, koinonion)
    • the breaking of the bread (presumably the common meal of the Eucharist, or “supper of the Lord”), and
    • the prayers (as a pious Jewish sect they were careful to observe the times for prayer)

    This four point summary is slightly elaborated in the next paragraph, together with a comment on the (positive) impact which this behaviour was having on other people.

    No matter what Theophilus may have heard about the Christians in his own time and place, Luke would have him know how well they conducted themselves at the beginning and what a positive response they earned from their fellow citizens.

    Second Reading: 1 Peter 2:19-25

    Unlike the pious believers in the Jerusalem community, the recipients of 1 Peter have not gained the approbation of their peers. Instead, they experience opposition and persecution, just as Jesus himself had done:

    For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.

    “He committed no sin,
    and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

    When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. (1Peter 2:19–25 NRSV)

    The final sentence of this passage links nicely with the good shepherd theme in John 10.

    Gospel: Searching for the words of Jesus in the Gospel of John

    The detailed voting results of the Jesus Seminar do not report any voting on this passage, but the commentary in The Five Gospels (p. 435f) reads as follows:

    The words of Jesus in vv. 25-30 pick up the theme of the good shepherd elaborated in vv. 1-18 and develop it along well-known Johannine lines. As in previous sections, there is no echo here of the authentic voice of Jesus.

    The dismissal of these Johannine verses as a “theme of the good shepherd” does not take into account the possibility that John 10 (like John 15) might preserve traditional material deriving from Jesus. Certainly, if there was any material in the Gospel of John that has a claim to be considered for inclusion in the database of historical Jesus materials it would be the two brief parables now found in John 10:1-5.

    The notes this week will draw on the discussion of parable and allegory in John 10 from Raymond Brown’s Anchor Bible commentary (Doubleday, 66. Vol 1, pp 390ff).

    Brown sets out to show that John 10:1-5 “consists of several parables,” while verses 7-30 represent allegorical explanations of those same parables. He notes the following twin-parable structure in these verses:

    The Gate: 1-3a (parable) + 7-10 (explanation)
    The Shepherd: 3b-5 (parable) + 11-18 (explanation)

    Later, vss. 26-30 will offer additional explantion of The Sheep that occur in both parables.

    Brown is not blind to the presence of early Christian catechesis in the present form of these verses, but he also wishes to leave open the possibility that the original impetus for that tradition might derive from Jesus himself:

    In the Synoptic Gospels also, most scholars recognize that in the explanations of the parables … there has been a certain expansion in the interests of early Christian catechesis; but, as we tried to prove in our article cited above [“Parable and Allegory Reconsidered” Novum Testamentum 5 (1962) 36-45] underneath this catechetical expansion and application one finds traces of an explanation that may very well stem from Jesus himself. So too in John x, while not all the explanations of 7 ff. need come from the one time or the one situation, there is no reason to rule out the possibility that we may find among them the traces of Jesus’ own simple allegorical explanation of the parables in x 1-5.

    The possibility that we may have a set of twin parables here is consistent with what we know from earlier forms of the Jesus tradition such as the Sayings Gospel Q. Brown cites the examples of 461 The Tower Builder and 462 The Warring King in Luke 14:28-32 as well as 107 The Lost Sheep and 464 The Lost Coin in Luke 15:3-10. These last two are perhaps part of a triple set that includes 465 The Prodigal Son in vss 11-32, although the prodigal represents a much more developed story than the usual brief parable.

    Not surprisingly, given the close relationship of these parables to the story of the blind man healed by Jesus in John 9, these twin Johannine parables are both related to the theme of imperfect perception.

    The Gate

    The parable of The Gate picks up further traditional themes known from the Synoptic Gospels.

    Brown suggests that Mark 13:34 already preserves the metaphor of the gatekeeper, although it is hardly an image applied to Jesus in that context:

    It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake–for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake. [Mark 13:34-37]

    Brown might be on firmer ground when he identified the theme of the coming thief as playing a part in this Johannine tradition. The unexpected arrival of Jesus “like a thief in the night” was a widely attested Christian theme: 012 Knowing the Danger.

    Brown suggests that the original point of the parable of The Gate (vss. 1-3a) was an attack on the religious leadership of Judean society. The charge that they do not come in through the gate but gain access by other devious means implies that they are bandits and thieves who take advantage of the population for their own profit. Such a criticism seems to be implied by the tradition of the incident in the Temple when Jesus condemned the authorities as having turned a house of prayer into a den of thieves:

    Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. He was teaching and saying, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” [Mark 11:15-17]
    = Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a den of robbers.” [Matt 21:12-13]
    = Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; and he said, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.” [Luke 19:45-46]

    Such a polemical interpretation of this little parable would seem appropriate in the context of John 9:1-10:21, while also offering a good fit with the circumstances in Jesus’ own life time.

    The Shepherd

    The parable of The Shepherd (vss. 3b-5) tends to focus more on the relationship between shepherd and sheep, and this represents a theme with ancient antecedents in the biblical tradition as well as in the ancient world. It is possible that Ezekiel’s criticism of the the leaders of Jerusalem as abusive and self-serving shepherds who prey upon the sheep lies behind this parable.

    The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to them–to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord God: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and scattered, they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them.

    Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, says the Lord God, because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild animals, since there was no shepherd; and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep; therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, I am against the shepherds; and I will demand my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they may not be food for them.

    For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.

    As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats: Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture? When you drink of clear water, must you foul the rest with your feet? And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have fouled with your feet?

    Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
    I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.

    I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild animals from the land, so that they may live in the wild and sleep in the woods securely. I will make them and the region around my hill a blessing; and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. The trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase. They shall be secure on their soil; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke, and save them from the hands of those who enslaved them. They shall no more be plunder for the nations, nor shall the animals of the land devour them; they shall live in safety, and no one shall make them afraid. I will provide for them a splendid vegetation so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the insults of the nations. They shall know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord God. You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture and I am your God, says the Lord God. [Ezekiel 34:1-31]

    If we are correct in linking the second parable with this passage in Ezekiel it would support the idea that these twin parables were originally part of Jesus’ polemic against the Jerusalem authorities.

    In the subsequent tradition this original point has been modified so that the story is understood as an affirmation of Jesus himself as the gate (vss. 7-10) and the ideal (true) shepherd (vss. 11-18). This reapplication of an earlier tradition is effected in several steps:

    (1) First, Jesus asserts his special status as the gate — the metaphor is now personalized and applied directly to him:

    So again Jesus said to them,
    “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.”

    The Gate is no longer simply the proper entry point avoided by thieves and robbers who reveal their true identity by their failure to enter at the appropriate place. Now the Gate is an attribute of Jesus personally; as also seen in the classic Johannine formula in 14:6:

    Jesus said to him,
    “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
    No one comes to the Father except through me.”

    In contrast to Jesus (here considered not as ideal shepherd but as the entry point to salvation), the authorities (and by implication all who rejected the claims about Jesus made by his followers) are “thieves and bandits,” with a special rebuke perhaps intended for the Pharisees who had featured in the larger story of Jesus healing the man born blind:

    All who came before me are thieves and bandits;
    but the sheep did not listen to them [i.e., the Pharisees?]. (vs. 8)

    (2) The next step in the reapplication of the earlier tradition is to identify the blessings given to those who enter salvation through Jesus:

    I am the gate.
    Whoever enters by me will be saved,
    and will come in and go out and find pasture. (vs. 9)

    Those who make Jesus their entry point to God will, according to the evangelist, be saved (a word with social and political connotations in the hellenistic world where rulers were saviors who brought divine blessings to their people). The idyllic quality of this salvation is portrayed with an image of pastoral contentment: the flock will “come in and go out and find pasture.”

    (3) Verse 10 may provide a conclusion to these catechetical explanations on the parable of The Gate:

    The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
    I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (vs. 10)

    (4) We now see a series of further elaborations that develop and explain the parable of The Shepherd, and these will simply be noted here as they lie outside the scope of next Sunday’s readings:

    In verses 11-13 Jesus is the model shepherd who will even die for his sheep, unlike hired hands who have no feeling for the sheep or wolves who simply devour the sheep:

    I am the good shepherd.
    The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
    The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep,
    sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away
    –and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
    The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.

    This is a development not seen in earlier expressions of the shepherd theme, and it has to be seen as reflecting a post-Easter perspective.

    In verses 14-16 the ideal character of Jesus as the shepherd is seen in his intimate knowledge of the sheep:

    I am the good shepherd.
    I know my own and my own know me,
    just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.
    And I lay down my life for the sheep.
    I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
    I must bring them also,
    and they will listen to my voice.
    So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

    In this elaboration of the shepherd tradition we see a continued development of the death theme, the introduction of typical Johannine Father/Son language, and an awareness of the Christian mission to the Gentiles.

    Brown sees verses 17-18 as a short commentary on the theme of dying for the sheep:

    For this reason the Father loves me,
    because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
    No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.
    I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again.
    I have received this command from my Father.

    Here we have moved well away from the original thrust of the twin parables in vss. 1-5, with the focus now firmly on Jesus as the divine Son who has power not only to lay down his life but — uniquely in the NT — also to take it up again. Usually, the resurrection is described as an action by God from which Jesus benefited but here it is seen as something within Jesus’ own divine powers.

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