Sunshine & Rainbows: Luke #3

Life with God isn't all sunshine and rainbows. The silver lining we are blessed with, often comes with rain clouds. Take for instance the experience of Mary.

Mary's first knowledge that she will bear a son comes from the angel Gabriel, who informs her that she will be having a son, who not only will be king, but as the "Son of the Most High," will be divine as well (1.31ff). Gabriel further explains that the Holy Spirit will bring about the conception by "overshadowing" her (Gk. episkiazo), thus making the child holy.

Mary responds to all this by saying, "Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word" (1.38). Her faith is incredible and as we will see, she is overwhelmed with excitement (1.46ff). Overwhelmed with excitement is how we often feel when we are being blessed by God. 

But the story of Mary and Jesus continues. While at the beginning Mary is filled with tremendous joy, it won't be long until she experiences tremendous pain. Her eldest son will reject her (Mk 3.33) and she will have to bear the burden of watching his enemies plot against him and eventually succeed at taking his life. We often feel God is absent during these times.   

But the story doesn't end there. Mary experiences the resurrection - the new life made available to the whole world. And through her flesh and God's unending grace we all are able to experience new life.

Our adventure with God may follow a similar plot - we experience the monumental highs and the devastating lows. But through all of it we have a promise: that no matter what this life throws at us, we hope in the resurrection. 

Just Getting Started: Luke #2

We are only a couple verses into Luke when we run into our first problem. There is this religious couple, who follow all the rules, yet don't get what they really want - children.

Jewish culture regarded this as a sign of divine disfavor (cf. Gen 30.23; 1 Sam 1), often as punishment for sin. But this is not the case with this couple; they were "righteous" (1.6); some- thing is going to happen. 

Sure enough an angel appears to the husband and tells him that his wife is going to have a son. He asks, "How is this possible!? We are too old to have children" (1.19).

To which the angel responds, "I stand in the very presence of God and have been sent specifically to tell you this - you think I'm kidding? On that note, how about you don't talk for the entire duration of the pregnancy" (1.20).

The woman ends up conceiving, releasing her from the disgrace that had plagued her for so many years. God set something amazing in motion, and even the disbelief of those involved could not stop it.

The Gospel of Luke has just begun, and already barrenness is turned to fertility, disgrace to favor, and hope is brought to circumstances that seemed hopeless. This is the gospel in its purest form and we are just getting started!

Why It's Written: Luke #1

Why are there four gospels? Why are three of them (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) very similar while the fourth (John) is quite different?

Over the next few months I am going to tackle these questions by examining The Gospel According to Luke.

Luke was written around 85 CE, and while church history identifies Luke as the author (cf. Col 4.14), the gospel itself is anonymous. In fact, not one of the gospels identify their author.

This is noteworthy because of the strong statement it makes: it was the subject of the gospel that was important and not the author. What better way to highlight Jesus than to present his story anonymously.

Luke also composed the book of Acts, which comes after John, in between the gospels and the rest of the NT letters.

So why did Luke write his version? He tells us, in very polished Greek, "I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth about which you have been instructed" (1.3-4).

So Luke researched, talked to eyewitnesses, gathered data, and in the end, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, wrote the third gospel.

As we journey through this book, may we come to better know the truth of the most important story ever told.

People Don't Like You

It's OK if people don't like you. It took me a long time to come to grips with that. I think mainly because I struggle with basing my self esteem on what others think of me.

My wife has a brilliant saying, "If everyone likes you, you are not being true to yourself."

Jesus warned his followers of this in John 15, "If the world hates you, remember it hated me before it hated you."

The Greek word for "world" here is kosmos, which literally means "something ordered" or "ordered system." We get our English word cosmetic from it, which means to "order one's face."

When Jesus uses this term he is speaking about a way of "ordering the world" that does not harmonize with God's way.

Jesus told his followers they will be hated by people who build themselves up by stepping on others; who abuse the poor and only love those inside their "circle."

If you are hated because you reject a system that marginalizes others and has no room for love, grace, and mercy - Congratulations! You are in good company.

Competing Powers

Constantine

Two of Jesus' disciples ask him for a favor, "Can we sit at your right and left in your glory?" (Mk 10). To which Jesus replies, "You have no idea what you're asking." 

The disciples were waiting for Jesus' revolution; counting down the days until he gathered up his army and kicked the mighty Romans out of Israel once and for all. They wanted to make sure they that were all set to help Jesus rule in his new kingdom. 

But in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus' "glory," or the coming of his kingdom, was his death, and thus to "sit at his right and left" was to occupy the crosses to his right and left as he was crucified. This is why he tells them they have no clue what they are really asking for. 

He goes on to explain that the Kingdom of God doesn't work like earthly kingdoms. There would be no rulers in this new community and the would-be leaders were to be servants, looking to the needs of others before their own. 

Followers of that Kingdom would experience the power of selfless living, looking out for the marginalized, caring for the poor, and renouncing violence (Mt 5). Their commitment to these values in a culture of oppression and violence, brought upon the early church decades of persecution. 

This meant that on a national scale it was easy for Christians to live by Jesus' power narrative - they had no power. But this all changed in the 4th century CE, when the Roman Emperor Constantine became a Christian and effectively made it illegal not to be one.

From that point on, western Christians would struggle with a question of loyalty:  Do we buy into God's definition of power, where we lay down our lives for others, or do we remain loyal to this world's definition, where we gain through others' loss?

Filling Space

Jesus tells a parable: "An unclean spirit goes out of a person, and it wanders through the desert looking for a place to rest, but it finds none. So it says, 'I will return to my house (the formerly possessed person) from which I came.' 

It comes, finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the person is worse off than before."

In the ancient world things were "unclean" that conflicted with the god one served. The Israelites for instance, considered other nations unclean because of their opposition to Israel's values.

Israel even had a whole slew of rituals in place to help a person become "clean" who had forfeited his or her purity by associating with things not "of God." 

The person in Jesus' parable did well by "evciting" the thing that was contradictory to the heart of God. But they didn't fill their life with anything else, and so they were incredibly susceptible to the things that drug them down in the first place. 

How many of us have seen this, either in our own lives or that of others? We give up something, become better for it, but don't take action to replace the vice with virtue and end up falling even further than before.

Here's to ridding ourselves of things that run contrary to the heart of God, and then filling those spaces with things that make us more who we are supposed to be.

Donkey!!

Jesus walked on water, calmed storms, and healed people, but did you know he could ride two donkeys at the same time? 

That's what Matthew tells us in his version of Jesus' life (Mt 21). In preparation for his final entry into Jerusalem, he records Jesus instructing his closest friends to go into a village and find a "donkey, and a colt with her and bring them to me." 

They bring the two animals to Jesus, throw their jackets on both animals and then Jesus hops on both of them! Matthew tells us Jesus did this to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, "Tell the daughter of Zion (Jerusalem): Look your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey" (Is 62.11, Zech 9.9). 

The other gospels only have Jesus riding on the colt and make no mention of two animals, so why would Matthew tell the story this way? It is most likely because he saw Jesus as the literal fulfillment of the words from Zechariah. 

He is so serious about rooting these events in the authoritative Hebrew scriptures, that he chooses to ignore the poetic force of the passage and instead interprets it literally. 

Mentioning the smaller donkey after the first is a way of strongly emphasizing the humility and peacefulness of the one riding the animal: "Your king is so humble and peaceful, that he rides on a donkey...not just a donkey, but a baby donkey."

Jesus rode into Jerusalem being touted by his followers as the triumphant deliverer of Israel, and Matthew more than any of the other gospels presents the strongest contrast between Jesus and the rulers of the day. 

Jesus rides into Jerusalem on two animals, struggling to keep his balance, on his way to inaugurate a revolution of peace. In this revolution people lay down their lives instead of taking them, and what could be a more brilliant picture of their peaceful founder than that.

A Story Worth Living

Mark has a story to tell and he wants to tell it quickly. The gospel attributed to Mark is the shortest of the four gospels and almost has a rushed sense to it. 

This is helped by Mark's use of a phrase that is often omitted in translation for more natural reading: "and immediately" (Gk. kai euthus):  

"and immediately Jesus went into the wilderness....and immediately they leave their nets and follow him....and immediately his fame spread" and on and on. 

The frantic pace of gospel leads to such an abrupt ending, that the early church felt the need to add to it, attempting to bring the work to a more satisfactory completion.  Two attempts were made at this, but the most natural ending is the original in 16.8.

The original ending leaves the reader on the edge of their seat, waiting for the next act to unfold. But the next act is not to be read, it is to be experienced. The reader is to live out the next act. 

Nero

Many feel the tempo of Mark reflects the situation of his readers, who were more than likely Roman Christians who had experienced persecution under Nero.

The themes within the gospel of conflict, and failure to side with Jesus during trials, also give credence to this theory.

Mark is a perfect gospel for the overly busy individual who doesn't have time to read the Bible. But if one were to make time, the best way to read Mark is straight through.

That is where the humor, irony, tension, and passion, come together most potently, all in an attempt to convince the reader that this story is worth telling. And even more, that this story is worth living.

Not Accorinding to Plan

Boat on the Sea of Galilee

Things don't always go as planned. In Mark 6, Jesus had just miraculously fed five thousand people, and before that had been giving sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the mute, and helping the lame walk.

But these had all been public events and involved people with whom he didn't have a close relationship. So Jesus comes up with an idea: he is going to show his best friends, the disciples, that he is connected to God like no one else.

He sends the disciples across the Sea of Galilee and goes off to pray. They struggle all night rowing their boat into the wind and just when they are most fatigued, Jesus comes effortlessly walking on the water beside them.

Mark tells us that Jesus "intended to pass them by," which is kind of frustrating because they could have used some fresh arms for rowing, but Jesus had different plans. "Pass them by" is the same phrase used in Exodus 33.17ff where Yahweh shows Moses his glory by "passing him by."

Unfortunately things don't go so well for Jesus. As he is passing the disciples by, they see him and freak out, thinking he is a ghost. Jesus allays their panic and says "Don't be afraid, it is I." The Greek phrase Mark uses is ego eimi, "I am," which is the Greek translation of Yahweh from Exodus 3:14.

W.O.W.: only for special circumstances.

But announcing he was there wasn't enough, so Jesus gets into the boat with them. He saw that they weren't ready to step toward him and see him for whom he was, so he steps toward them.

They hadn't figured out that he was God manifest as a human; doing the things only God had historically done for his people: feeding them in the wilderness, healing, sustaining, providing life giving teaching, and showing them his glory.

If Jesus' best friends, those who witnessed everything he did, had a hard time believing, how much harder is it for us? But that's OK. Jesus doesn't push it. He puts some things on hold he had been planning and gets into the boat, meeting us right where we are. 

Hidden Treasures

It only takes a cursory glance at the New Testament (NT) to notice it is filled with Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) quotations. A very interesting study can be had by looking up the passages to which the NT refers. 

For example, Mark 1.2-3 reads:

As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
                 
                        "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of, 
                               who will prepare your way; 
                             the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
                          'Prepare the ways of the Lord,
                             make his paths straight.'"

When we scour the pages of Isaiah we realize that only half the quotation comes from that book. The text in bold comes from Malachi 3.1 (cf. Ex 23.20), while the bottom half is from Isaiah 40.3.

Mark was the first gospel written and was used extensively by Matthew and Luke as they compiled their versions of the Jesus event. In fact 97.2% of Mark is found in Matthew and 88.4% of Mark is found in Luke!

When Matthew and Luke are parallel to Mark they are shorter; it seems they have edited Mark. Take for example what happens when Matthew and Luke handle the passage from above; both of them remove the text from Malachi and present only the Isaiah quote:

Matthew 3.3:

This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

                            The voice of one crying out in
                               the wilderness:
                            'Prepare the way of the Lord,
                               make his paths straight.'

Luke 3.4:

As it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

                            The voice of one crying out in
                               the wilderness:
                            'Prepare the way of the Lord,
                               make his paths straight.'

  

This is just one of many examples that help us understand how the Bible was composed. Next time you are reading through the New Testament and come across a quote from the Hebrew Scriptures, look it up. You'll be amazed at what you find!