People of the Book

The book of Ezra-Nehemiah tells the story of the Israelites return from the Exile, the rebuilding of the Temple, and the commitment of the community to be a "people of the Book."

It details how Israel vowed to break the cycle of disobedience that brought about the Exile, by focusing on Torah.

Torah is the name of the first five books of the Bible and contains the 613 commandments (Hb. mitzvot) Yahweh gave to Israel. These laws outlined the way Israel was to live in order to be blessed by God and in turn be a blessing to the whole world (Gen 12).

Among the many laws, the Israelites were called to love each other, to care for the immigrants living among them, and to worship only one God. This set them apart as minorities in a polytheistic world that did not live by such ideals.

Part of being a "people of the Book" was understanding how the Book applied to their lives. This was especially challenging because it had been over 700 years since the Torah was given. So we read in Neh 8.8 that, "they read from the book, from the law of God, with interpretation. They gave the sense, so that people understood the reading."

We are called to be a "people of the Book" as well; people who center our lives around the ideas and events of Scripture.

So we, living thousands of years after the Bible was written, have to wrestle with the text to interpret and apply it. But this just may be what it means to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind and there is no greater mitzvot than that! 

For a couple interesting examples of the Bible interpreting the Bible, see Ex 21.2-11 vs. Deut 15.12-18, as well as this post.

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.

Jesus, Why Are You Different?

Jesus gets arrested. That much is clear. But how it happened is less clear. Mark's version portrays a Jesus who has very little control.

He uses violent verbs to describe the arrest and tells us Jesus is basically manhandled and then deserted by his best friends.

John presents things a little differently. He notes that not only do the religious big wigs come to arrest Jesus, but they bring with them a speira, or band of some 600 soldiers. 

Jesus, "knowing all that was going to happen, asked them, 'Whom do you seek?' and they said 'Jesus of Nazareth.' And he said to them, 'Ego eimi,' 'I am'" - which is the same titled used in Greek for Yahweh.

Upon hearing this, the crowd "drew back and fell to the ground." Another round of this takes place, sans the falling, and then Jesus instructs the crowd to let his disciples go and he is "arrested and tied up."

Comparing these two events may lead us to ask how the arrest actually took place. But that's the wrong question. The fact that the event took place is probably a better concern. After that we might ask: Why did the authors present their versions the way they did?

When we ask that, we find that Mark more than likely wrote to a persecuted community and presents Jesus as one who suffers, is rejected and left all alone. He, through the Spirit of God, presented Jesus in a way that most fit the needs of his community. He presented a Jesus they could relate to.

John on the other hand, views the events of Jesus' life through the lens of the resurrected Christ. This is why Jesus knows the future in John, and seems so incredibly in control. That's because after the resurrection the community realized who Jesus actually was. He was Yahweh in human form.

The unique angle of these stories tells us something about the heart of God: he is incredibly concerned about meeting us right where we are. That's why there are four gospels, each meeting our needs in different ways, at different times. 

Fully Participating

A video from N.T. Wright, who argues for the full participation of women in church ministry.

People still are quite divided on this issue. No matter where you stand, it's always important to hear both sides of the argument.

Please leave your comments below.