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Tag: Melchizedek

  • Pentecost 22B (28 October 2012)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Job 42:1-6, 10-17 and Psalm 34:1-8
    • Hebrews 7:23-28
    • Mark 10:46-52

     

    First Reading: Job’s fortunes restored

    This week the RCL completes its series of readings from the book of Job.

    There is no intellectual resolution to the questions posed by Job’s undeserved suffering, but the narrative provides a kind of “they lived happily ever afterwards” ending for the tale.

    • 42:1-6 provides the final exchange between Job and God. Job seems to acknowledge that it is sufficient for him to embrace his own condition as a mortal. He relinquishes any claim to vindication and withdraws his demands for an explanation from God. It is enough to have a proper sense of his own place in the divine economy. Religion itself almost disappears in this resolution. Job stands in the presence of the Holy Other, and abandons any claims (religious or moral) on the Sacred. Simply to be a creature of this God is enough.
    • 42:7-9 portrays God rebuking the friends. They have not represented God accurately in the discourse and are advised to seek Job’s intercession on their behalf:

    After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has done.” 9So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord had told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.

    • 42:10-17 rounds off the tale with a description of Job’s fortunate life being restored, including new children and a long life. The fairy tale quality of this ending may distract us from an interesting theological issue. The community whose values are enshrined in this ancient classic was apparently quite able to imagine an entirely satisfying and meaningful human existence without any recourse to the idea of life after death. A rich and full life, lived in the company of one’s neighbors and loved ones, has not been fully appreciated by Christians. The Christian ideal of a truly blessed life has tended to focus much more on divine blessing after death, rather than on material and psychological wellbeing in this life. As contemporary Christian belief is losing its focus on life after death as the chief benefit and value in religion, the simpler focus of the biblical community responsible for Job may provide the stimulus to seek a holistic vision of human existence as part of the complex web of life on our planet and within the cosmos.

    While Christians may not wish to jettison belief in life beyond death, we may wish to set such a belief within a more robust appreciation of life before death.

     

    Second Reading: Jesus as priest

    The major western lectionaries continue their reading of Hebrews this week:

    • RC: Heb 5:1-6
    • ECUSA: Heb 5:12-6:1,9-12
    • RCL: Heb 7:23-28

    These selections all come from the central section of Hebrews (4:14-10:31) with its focus on Jesus as the eternal high priest:

    4:14-5:10 Christ as “a great high priest”
    5:11-6:20 Appeal for steadfast hope (“an anchor for the soul”)
    7:1-28 Melchizedek as a superior order of priesthood
    8:1-6 Jesus as the “more excellent” priest seated in divine glory
    8:7-13 The new (and “better”) covenant mediated by Jesus
    9:1-10 The limited and symbolic character of the tabernacle
    9:11-28 Christ’s priestly action as “priest and victim”
    10:1-18 Christ’s offering of himself “once for all”
    10:19-31 Concluding appeal and warnings

    This way of interpreting Jesus is distinctive within the NT:

    • The Synoptic tradition (Mark, Matthew, Luke-Acts) does not give any ground for thinking that Jesus was from priestly circles, although Luke turns John the Baptist into both a cousin of Jesus and the son of a priest from the Jerusalem temple. The Pauline writings use a considerable array of images and categories to express the significance of Jesus, but do not draw on priestly themes. The Johannine communities shared Hebrews interest in Jesus’ divinity, but found no need to employ priesthood as the title “Son” seemed to meet their needs.
    • The nearest we come to Hebrews seems to be 1Peter where we find some themes derived from the sacrificial cult are applied to both Jesus and the Christian:

    Christians are to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus (1Pet 1:2)
    Christ is like a lamb without defect or blemish (1Pet 1:20)
    Christians are fashioned into a royal priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God (1Pet 2:5,9)
    Jesus suffered abuse and hardship in an exemplary manner (1Pet 2:20-24)
    Christ suffered in the flesh (1Pet 4:1)
    Christ has entered into heaven and is at the right hand of God with the angels (1Pet 3:22)

    It seems that a case could be made that Hebrews and 1Peter share much the same theological outlook, and yet there is not the slightest hint in 1Peter that Jesus was (or could be imagined as) a Jewish priest.

    Hebrews perhaps acknowledges the imaginative leap involved when it assigns Jesus to the mythical priestly order of Melchizedek, and makes not the slightest attempt to assert his physical descent from Levi. Indeed, making a virtue of necessity, Hebrews argues for the supremacy of the pre-Torah priesthood of Melchizedek over Israel’s traditional priestly pedigree.

    Creative spiritual imagination is at work here. In our own time so much effort has been invested in determining precisely what Jesus “actually said” and what events “really happened.” Hebrews shows us a rather different approach to the questions, Who is Jesus? and, What am I called to do in response to him?

    Is it possible that we have been seduced by the narrative format of the Gospels and have accorded them far more historicity than they require? Perhaps the Gospels, like the Letter to the Hebrews or the Book of Revelation, are better understood as imaginative expressions of what Jesus meant to some of his followers in the 1C?

    Do we honor the sage of Galilee better by treating theological fictions as history, or by fashioning lives and communities around his message?

     

     

    Gospel: Blind Bartimaeus

    The Gospel story of Jesus healing the blind beggar, Bartimaeus, is common to all of the major western lectionaries this weekend.

    This story can be understood as the other end of the extended exploration of the meaning of discipleship created by Mark (8:22-10:52). The Greek word hodos (translated as “way” or “road”) was a code word for “Christianity” (cf. Acts 9:2; 18:25; 19:9,23; 22:4; 24:14,22 and 2Pet 2:2) and occurs several times in this section:

    • 8:27 – “On the road, he started questioning his disciples …”
    • 9:33,34 – “What were you arguing about on the road?”
    • 10:17 – “As he was traveling along the road …”
    • 10:52 – “And right away he regained his sight, and he started following him on the road.”

     

    In the first section of his Gospel, Mark has set up various scenes in which Jesus acts as a person of spiritual power. According to Mark, only the demons recognized his true identity as the hero sent by God to rescue people from the Evil One. Disciples and opponents alike seemed unable to determine his identity and mission.

    The central section stretching from 8:22 to 10:52 provides an opportunity for Mark to present the true meaning of Jesus and, by extension, the authentic character of discipleship. Writing on the other side of 70 CE (when the Romans destroyed the temple), Mark interprets Jesus as the messiah of an empire that has power but exerts no violence. This mother’s son (a paraphrase of “son of man”) comes to give his life away for the sake of others. This mother’s son has no special privileges, not even a safe place to sleep of a night. This mother’s son will drink the cup prepared for him by God, and will be baptized in the ordeal that is his destiny. Those who grasp his identity and are drawn into the mission as disciples will do likewise.

    In the final section of the Gospel (11:1-16:8) Mark sketches the final outcome of that interpretation of Jesus. It is easy to forget that our oldest copies of Mark end the story of Jesus without any Easter appearances. Neither Matthew nor Luke felt able to imitate Mark’s boldness at that point. Mark looked beyond the fate of both Jesus and Jerusalem, and told his readers that Jesus had gone ahead of them to Galilee. They were not to linger around the graveyards of Jerusalem, but to go find Jesus in the places where they had first encountered him; in the communities of the Galilee. Their job was not to protect the relics of the past, but to catch up with Jesus who was already ahead of them and blazing new trails into the future.

     

    In the context of that brilliant literary fiction created by Mark, Bartimaeus has a symbolic role. Here is someone empowered to see Jesus clearly. He immediately follows Jesus “on the road” (Greek: en te hodo). No one else in this central section makes the connection.

    • A blind man at Bethsaida (8:22-26) eventually sees clearly but is sent home
    • Disciples (8:27-9:1) cannot embrace a suffering messiah
    • Transfiguration (9:2-13) does not achieve enlightenment for disciples
    • Disciples have not understood prayer at healing of the mute spirit (9:14-29)
    • Disciples argue over status in the kingdom (9:30-50)
    • Disciples fail to welcome the children (10:13-16)
    • Man with money (10:17-31) fails to become a disciple
    • James and John seek special favors (10:32-45)
    • Bartimaeus regains his sight and becomes a disciple (10:46-52)

    Bartimaeus is part of a very small cast of characters in Mark’s Gospel who actually understood the identity and mission of Jesus. The others include:

    • An unnamed woman who anoints Jesus for burial (14:3-9)
    • Roman officer in charge of the crucifixion (15:39)

     

    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.

  • Pentecost 21B (21 October 2012)

    Contents

    Lectionary

    • Job 38:1-7, (34-41) and (or Isaiah 53:4-12 & Psalm 91:9-16
    • Hebrews 5:1-10
    • Mark 10:35-45

     

    First Reading: God replies to Job

    This week’s excerpt from Job takes us into the long-awaited divine response to Job’s complaint. The speech extends from 38:1 to 42:6, with Job having almost nothing to say in response to God:

    • 38:1-40:2 First divine speech
    • 40:3-5 Job’s first response
    • 40:6-41:34 Second divine speech
    • 42:1-6 Job’s second response

    Job 38 is a fine example of the natural sciences in the late first millennium BCE. We are given a catalogue of cosmic processes and phenomena that were understood as signs of God’s unparalleled power over creation, and all creatures. This is not to be taken as a timeless benchmark for human knowledge of the natural world, but as a conscious drawing on the best current information for theology. The challenge for the contemporary theologian is to make similar use of our own best knowledge, rather than to fight yesterday’s battles in defence of empty castles.

    The divine speech begins with a theophany: God answers out of a whirlwind. This is reminiscent of other biblical theophanies:

    • Exod 3 (Moses at the burning bush)
    • Exod 19 (giving of the Law at Sinai)
    • 1 Kings 19 (Elijah at the cave)
    • 2 Kings 2 (ascension of Elijah)
    • Ezek 1 (chariot vision)
    • Psalm 83, 97, 104, etc
    • Isa 29:6
    • Jer 23:19

    Nahum 1:3-6 may reflect a similar tradition to what we find in Job 38:

    The LORD is slow to anger but great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 1:4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, and he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither, and the bloom of Lebanon fades. 1:5 The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who live in it. 1:6 Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and by him the rocks are broken in pieces.

    The divine speech does not directly address Job’s complaint. His troubles are never explained. It seems sufficient for the author that the clearer vision of God’s reality makes everything else fall into place. The awesome reality of God glimpsed in the splendor of the cosmos does not resolve human questions of meaning and justice. However, a vision (or even a glimpse) of the sacred Other may frame those questions with a sense of our own vulnerable and yet essential place in the web of life. That may suffice to allow us to continue living faithfully even if we never cease to wrestle for both meaning and justice.

     

    Suffering Servant

    The RC and ECUSA lectionaries both draw on Isaiah 53 with its famous description of the suffering servant of Yahweh. This theme will link well with both the reading from Hebrews (a son who learns obedience through suffering) and Mark (can you drink my cup or undergo my baptism?).

    Isaiah 53 is one of a series of “songs” in the second half of the book that seem to describe the community of ancient Israel as a suffering servant, destined for great things and with a mission to illuminate the nations with the light of the sacred Torah.

    There is some debate about the number and exact delineation of these servant songs, but the following passages seem to work with the theme of “servant” as a way to explore the meaning of Israel’s existence:

    • Isa 41:8-16
    • Isa 42:1-9
    • Isa 49:1-6
    • 50:4-11
    • 52:13-53:12
    • 61:1-4

    The four passages underlined are those usually recognized as the Servant Songs of Isaiah.

    Early Christians understood these texts are prophecies of Jesus. While it is not certain that Jesus himself drew on these texts to understand his mission, it is clear that his followers did so. The passage used this week seems closely connected to the Jewish tradition of the innocent victim that shaped the early telling of the passion narrative.

    After many centuries, they continue to evoke the ideal of a non-violent mission to share the divine Torah with all humanity.

     

     

    Second Reading: A high priest in the order of Melchizedek

    The RCL moves to the distinctive representation of Jesus as a priest in Hebrews 5.

    There is no historical basis for the way that this author has re-imagined Jesus in terms that were familiar and significant to himself and his community. Only in Luke’s infancy traditions do we get the slightest hint that Jesus was connected with priestly circles, and then only by inference since his supposed cousin, John the Baptist, was the son of a priest. The twin birth narratives of John and Jesus that we find in Luke 1-2 are clearly the creation of the author and do not provide any reliable information about the social status of Jesus’ family.

    The priestly Jesus of Hebrews is just as much a creative fiction as the well-connected Jesus of Luke-Acts. In Hebrews, Jesus is not simply a priest, but a High Priest; and not merely a human High Priest, but a divine figure in the “order of Melchizedek.”

    There are three passages in Hebrews that develop this link to Melchizedek:

    In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek … [Heb 5:7-10]

    This “King Melchizedek of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him”; and to him Abraham apportioned “one-tenth of everything.” His name, in the first place, means “king of righteousness”; next he is also king of Salem, that is, “king of peace.” Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever … [Heb 7:1-3]

    It is even more obvious when another priest arises, resembling Melchizedek, one who has become a priest, not through a legal requirement concerning physical descent, but through the power of an indestructible life. For it is attested of him, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.” [Heb 7:15-17]

    The origins of this line of thought are to be found in Genesis 14 and Psalm 110:

    And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High.  He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth;  and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave give one tenth of everything. [Gen 14:18–20]

    The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind,
    “You are a priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek.” [Ps 110:4]

    This rudimentary tradition was elaborated in Jewish texts as diverse as the Qumran scrolls and Philo of Alexandria, extracts from which are available here: Melchizedek.

    Gospel: Status in the kingdom

    The Gospel reading from Mark continues the “master class” in discipleship that is found in Mark 8:31-10:52.

    In this case, the disciples are portrayed as still failing to understand the character of Jesus and their own parts in the Kingdom. Their inability to see beyond opportunities for personal benefit serves as a teaching moment for the narrator.

    Jesus has come with a destiny. He must drink the cup prepared for him, just as others will in their turn. And he must undergo the baptism that is reserved for him and for those who are his disciples.

    The cup symbol will recur in the Last Supper (Mark 14:23-25) and in the solitary prayer vigil in Gethsemane (Mark 14:36). The symbol of Jesus’ baptism (now understood in a metaphorical sense, rather than as an allusion to his baptism by John the Baptist) is less familiar, but presented Mark’s readers with the challenge to remain faithful to their suffering master as they went through their own personal and communal baptisms of suffering.

    Mark then presents a classic text on servant leadership, with repeated use of the term “deacon” —

    whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant [diakonos],
    and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave [doulos] of all.
    For the Son of Man came not to be served [diakonethenai] but to serve [diakonesai],
    and to give his life a ransom for many.

     

    One of the recent signs of new life in the churches has been the recovery and revival of the diaconate as a distinctive and significant ministry. Despite the pious imagination of Hebrews, Jesus was not a priest. He is not even described in the NT as a bishop [episcopos], although he is called a shepherd. Is it possible that the authentic and distinctive Christian ministry role, is neither bishop nor priest, but deacon? This is a role without pretensions to status or power, being defined by its role in preparing for the meal of the gathered community. In the “kingdom of nobodies” that constitutes the empire of God, what better model for leadership?

    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.