Ray Bradbury devotion links:
Quiz:
popoff: -----------------------------------------------------------
Buckets:
the Holy Kiss for today..on a bridge and in a bucket
"There is the kiss and the counterkiss, and if one wins, we both lose." -Walter Brueggemann ----------------
We covered the biblical tradition of the "holy kiss" in our gathering last Sunday.
It was a lot of fun. We started with a game of Hangman;
We had "Holy _ _ _ _" on the whiteboard when folks came in!
They has to guess what four letter word filled in the blank to make this a phrase that appears in Scripture. When i said "yes" to the first guess of "S," you should have heard the comments!
That the Bible explicitly mentions this practice five times:
- Romans 16.16a — "Greet one another with a holy kiss" (Greek: ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν φιλήματι ἁγίῳ).
- I Corinthians 16.20b — "Greet one another with a holy kiss" (Greek: ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν φιλήματι ἁγίῳ).
- II Corinthians 13.12a — "Greet one another with a holy kiss" (Greek: ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν ἁγίῳ φιλήματι).
- I Thessalonians 5.26 — "Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss" (Greek: ἀσπάσασθε τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς πάντας ἐν φιλήματι ἁγίῳ).
- I Peter 5.14a — "Greet one another with a kiss of love" (Greek: ἀσπάσασθε ἀλλήλους ἐν φιλήματι ἀγάπης).
any scriptures that we assume need a cultural equivalent to out taking them literally.
(Though some of our folks took the "holy kiss" literally Sunday..no, not on the lips....I wish I had video..someone post the stories!(:...)
On this issue of interpretation:
- Brian Dodd's discussion of the "interpretive bridge" is helpful (p. 19 here)
- Ron Martoia's posts on the "two buckets" (see "The Two Bucket Theory Examined" here).
I really recommend you read both above links, then get back to us.
They helped us when we tackled women in leadership, and homosexuality.
We learned that, counterintuitively to our guesses from this end of the cultural bridge, it seems the early church's holy kissing was almost always... on the lips!
The reason is powerful: that form on kiss implied equality...a kiss on the cheeks implied one person was inferior. Nothing like a Kingdom Kiss as an acted parable and reminder that in Christ we are equal! Of course, today, when we look at cultural equivalents like the "holy hug", "holy handshake," we might not realize that that, too, began as a Kingdom equalizer:
Ironically, the kiss of inclusion became a kiss of exclusion (from centered to bounded set):
In fact, handshaking, which can seem quite prosaic today, was popularised by Quakersas a sign of equality under God, rather than stratified system of etiquette of seventeenth century England
-link
Just as kissing had many different meanings in the wider ancient world, so too early Christians interpreted the kiss in various ways. Because ancient kissing was often seen as a familiar gesture, many early Christians kissed each other to help construct themselves as a new sort of family, a family of Christ. Similarly, in the Greco-Roman world, kissing often was seen as involving a transfer of spirit; when you kissed someone else you literally gave them part of your soul. The early church expanded on this and claimed that, when Christians kissed, they exchanged the Holy Spirit with one another. Christians also emphasized the kiss as an indication of mutual forgiveness (it’s from here that we get the term “kiss of peace”). These different meanings influenced and were influenced by the sorts of rituals kissing became associated with. For example, because the kiss helped exchange spirit, it made perfect sense for it to become part of baptism and ordination, rituals in which you wanted the Holy Spirit to descend and enter the initiate. The flip side of the coin is that before someone was baptized you wouldn’t want to kiss them. Early Christians often believed that previous to exorcism and baptism people were inevitably demon possessed. Given that they also thought that kissing resulted in spiritual exchange, it’s pretty clear why you wouldn’t want to kiss non-Christians. I sometimes think of this as an ancient form of “cooties.” It resulted in early Christian debates over whether one could kiss a pagan relative, if one should kiss a potential heretic, or if Jews even had a kiss.
-Penn, link
We incorporated insights from these and other articles linked below, and quoted the only book on the topic, "Kissing Christians" by Michael Penn. You'll note some of the articles below include interview with him. We particularly enjoyed some of the early fathers and teachers' comments and guidelines on the practice.
One early guideline, for real (wonder if this was in the weekly "bulletin"):
1)No French Kissing!
2)If you come back for seconds, because you liked the first kiss too much, you may be going to hell!!
Clement of Alexandra (c.150 - c. 215):
"There are those who do nothing but make the church resound with the kiss."
Chrysostom (4th C):
“We are the temple of Christ, and when we kiss each other
we are kissing the porch and entrance of the temple.”
Augustine (4th C):
"when your lips draw close to the lips of your brother, let your heart not draw away."
One interview with Michael Penn:
ARTICLES:Whoever said ''a kiss is just a kiss" didn't know their theological history. During Christianity's first five centuries, ritual kissing -- on the lips -- was a vital part of worship, says Michael P. Penn, who teaches religion at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley. In that context, kissing helped Christians define themselves as a family of faith, he writes in his new book, ''Kissing Christians: Ritual and Community in the Late Ancient Church" (University of Pennsylvania Press). Excerpts from a recent interview follow.Q: Let me start with the basic question: Who kissed whom?A: In the first two centuries [AD], men may kissmen, women women, but also you would have men and women kissing one another. In future centuries, there continued to be a debate over who should kiss whom. In later years, Christians will no longer have men and women kissing each other, but only men men, women women. [Christians had] debates on whether or not priests could kiss the laity, on whether you should kiss a non-Christian relative in the normal, everyday situation, even debates over whether Jews have a kiss or not.
Q: When in the service was the kiss performed?A: Our earliest references would be a kiss that would follow a communal prayer. Later on, it gets increasingly associated with the Eucharist and also occurs in part of the rites of baptism and in ordination rites. You have Christians kissing each other as an everyday greeting or also martyrs, before they're killed, kissing one another.Q: What was the theological significance?A: In antiquity, a kiss on the lips was seen as transferring a little bit of one's spirit to the other person. You have a lot of early -- I kind of think of them almost as Greco-Roman Harlequin -- novels that speak of the kiss as this transfer of spirit. Christians modify it a bit, to suggest that when Christians kiss each other, they don't just exchange their own spirit, but also share a part of the Holy Spirit with one another. So the kiss is seen as a way to bind the community together.There's another side, though. There was a concern that kissing an individual who has promised to join the Christian community but isn't yet baptized should be avoided, because the spirit that would be transferred wouldn't be a holy spirit but a demonic spirit. So you have the kiss working as this ritual of exclusion.Q: Did Christian leaders worry about the erotic overtones?A: We have only two explicit references to this concern. One says, essentially, to kiss with a closed and chaste mouth, which suggests that a few of these kisses may have been too erotic. The other one warns against those who kiss a second time because they liked the first one so much.Judas kissing Jesus [to betray him] terrifies them a lot more than eroticism. There's this evil intention behind it. Early Christian writers use the kiss of Judas to warn that it's not just how you practice the kiss, but what you're thinking. If you kiss another Christian while keeping evil in your heart against them, you are repeating Judas' betrayal.Q: When did kissing fall out of favor?A: In the third century, men and women are no longer to kiss one another. Early Christians met in what we think of as a house church -- you meet in someone's living room, essentially. Starting in the third century, when Christians [worship] in a public forum, this familial kiss is less appropriate. It's also a time where Christianity becomes concerned with making sure women and men are categorically separated. In the fourth century, that clergy and laity become increasingly distant. You start having prohibitions against clergy and laity kissing one another.The ritual kiss never entirely died out. We still have it as an exchange of peace [in Christian services]. We see it in the kissing of the pope's ring. In Catholicism, a priest may kiss a ritual object.Q: What would Christianity have been without the kiss?A: What I find exciting is to see how what we think of as trivial is so central to early Christian self-understanding. Our earliest Christian writing, Paul's letter to the First Thessalonians, talks about the ritual kiss, albeit briefly. We have hundreds of early Christian references to this ritual. For these authors, it was anything but trivial.-LINK
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Wikipedia article on Holy Kiss Kiss and Tell the Gospel Michael Penn explains what the early church meant by the "holy kiss." On Kissing: A Q&A with Michael Penn -PUCKER UP by Martin Marty GREET ONE ANOTHER WITH A HOLY KISS (PDF) The Holy Kiss of Love: Are We Keeping This Command? I Corinthians 16-II Corinthians 1: Greet One Another with a Holy Kiss
Links and quotes below
Gotta love so much about this film..like Eugene calling Rolling Stone Magazine "Rolling Stones"..
and a mosh pit a "mash pit." (;
If you like the hilarious story (excerpted above) about how EP first turned Bono down, there's a whole video of EP on that and more here.
--
EP:
"At twelve years old , [the psalms] showed me that imagination was a way to get inside the truth.
....translating a psalm...To try to get them to realize that praying wasn't being nice before God.. The psalms are not pretty; they're not nice...just pray this psalm.. It's not smooth; it's not nice, it's not pretty; but it's honest. And I think we're trying for honesty..which is very, very hard in our culture.
We need to find a way to cuss...without cussing. And the imprecatory psalms surely do that.
We've got to some way in context; and the context is the whole Bible; whole psalter...to tell people how mad we are.
...We have crosses in every room in this house. But when I look at those, I don't think of decoration; I think 'This is the world we live in..and it's a world with a lot of crosses . ' And I would just like to spend my life in doing something about that through Scripture, through preaching, through friendship. My years are getting shorter, and I don't have many left; but I don't want to escape the violence..."
Bono:
"The only way we can approach God..if we're honest..is through metaphor; through symbol. So art becomes essential; not decorative.
..The psalmist is brutally honest about the explosive joy that he's feeling and the deep sorrow or confusion, and it's that that sets the psalms apart for me.And I often think,
'Why isn't church music more like that'? ..
...I'm talking about dishonesty. I find in a lot of Christian art ..a lot of dishonesty. I think it's a shame because these people are vulnerable to God (in a good way)...porous; open.. I would love if this conversation would inspire people who are writing these beautiful.., gospel songs: write a song about their bad marriage; write a song about how they're pissed off at the government. Because that's what God wants from you: the truth... The truth will set you free; it will blow things apart. Why I'm suspicious of Christians is because of this lack of realism..and I'd love to see more of that in art and life and music."
(answering "What is the work of the artist..in acknowledging the intensity; the reality of the feeling without indulging the feeling?").
Having feelings is perfectly normal. ...David danced naked in front of the troops; that's one reason I like him .. abandonment... very important... understanding our bodies as well as our minds and ourspirits. The Three-Personed God --The Trinity--is reflected in our body, mind and spirit..,We really do ignore this.
--
EP prays:
"Be with us as we continue our lives of serving You with poetry, with the arts, with psalm, finding ways to enter into what You're already doing: not calculating the chances, but doing what's right there, what You've already started doing..."
Listen for the prophetic summary in the last two words of the film
...from Mrs. Peterson.
--------------------------
See:
- Story of the film, along related quotes with resources
- Behind the scenes
Bono audio: God at the 9" Nails Gig
atu2:"The Message Author Says U2's Message is Refreshing, Faithful, and Honest
--
David Crowder (the"flippin' semiotician")'s "soooo Crowder" T-shirt with the F-word
T shirt called "Ancient Chinese Secret." Don't leave the blog now, all offended. (: Read the story of this T-shirt below
Any list of great books on the Psalms would include Eugene Peterson's amazing "Answering God" (see "Eugene Peterson on loud farts"), works by Bruegemann (of course) and....
...did you know David Crowder wrote a book on the Psalms? It's"Praise Habit:Finding God in Sunsets and Sushi"
...and it's a ...well, Crowderesque...devotional on selected psalms. Here's a hilarious highlight, from the book's conclusion:
 |
| T shirt called "Ancient Chinese Secret." Don't leave the blog now, all offended. (: Read the story of this T-shirt below |
Any list of great books on the Psalms would include Eugene Peterson's amazing "Answering God" (see "Eugene Peterson on loud farts"), works by Bruegemann (of course) and....
...and it's a ...well, Crowderesque...devotional on selected psalms. Here's a hilarious highlight, from the book's conclusion:
The Ancient Chinese Secret - by David Crowder
Se-mi-ot-ics n
1. the study of signs and symbols of all kinds, what they mean and how they relate to the things or ideas they refer to.
I bought a T-shirt in Washington, D.C. It was red. It said "Ancient Chinese Secret" on the front. Below this statement, it had writing, which I assumed to be Chinese. Never assume. My sushi friend Shelley was there when I picked it out. I held it up, and she said, "Oh, that is soooo Crowder." I put it on that very day. I ate lunch in it sitting across from the pastors of the church where we were playing music later that evening. As I made my way across the stage, heading for our bus that was parked outside, our lighting technician stopped me and said, "Wow. You are brave."
"Yes. Well, brave how? I mean, what do you mean 'brave'?"
"The shirt. You know the secret right?"
"Well, yeah." I nervously responded in an uncertain chuckle. It is embarrassing to wear a shirt and not know what it means. "Wait, what? You mean you know Chinese? Wow. So, huh, well what does it say? I don't know the secret. I don't know Chinese. What's the secret?"
"Oh, it's in English."
"What? No! I studied this shirt at the store like a flipping semiotician. It is most certainly not in English. That I am sure of."
"It is in English. Turn the shirt sideways then read."
It was most definitely in English. Granted, it was intended to be cleverly hidden in ornate, faux Chinese brushstrokes, but once spotted it was unmistakable. I was wearing a shirt that said, "Go F#$@ Yourself!" It was all I could see now. How had I missed this? I am not a semiotician. I sat across from pastors eating hamburgers, laughing and smiling, while the whole time this was written on my chest!
Stuff in life happens, and we try to make sense of it. So we look carefully. What could this moment, this tragedy, this weight, this mountain, this tearing, this violence, this frenzy that is life be teaching us? What is being said here? And then someone points out, "Hey, it says, 'Go F#$@ Yourself!'" and you've had it on the whole time.
Se-mi-ot-ics n
2. the study of identifying the ways that various symptoms indicate the disease that underlies them. (Medical)
The real message, the thing that is scribbled barely legible, the thing that's always there, underlying, is—we need rescue.
Things aren't as they should be. When your eyes focus and this becomes visible, you can't tear your eyes from it. And you start to see that there are those all around us who wait in begging wonder. "What is wrong? I am here. I am here, and I need you to notice. At times I'm waving my arms above my head, screaming it. At times I am too frightened to move, but always I am here, and I want you to notice. And in the dark I am afraid. I lie with my hand on my chest waiting for the tapping to come. Things aren't as they should be. There are symptoms. You see it in my eyes. I have seen it in your eyes, too.
Come to Jesus
To follow Jesus doesn't remove us from the stuff of life. It is not resolution. It is tension and journey. In 1 John 2:6 it says,"Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." Jesus was in the world, engaged, alive, involved, making a difference. To follow Him, we must do the same. His prayer for us in John 17 is "Not that you take them out of the world ..." and "As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world" (verses 15, 18).
This is what God has done for us. He has come into our condition. He has come to bring us back. He has come and embraced us. He has come and covered us in Himself. Watch this Christ. Watch as He is accused of being a drunkard, of associating with tax collectors. Watch as He brings healing to the afflicted, love to prostitutes, forgiveness to sinners. Watch as He climbs the hill bearing His destruction on His back. Watch as blood and water flow. Watch as salvation comes to us all. Watch as glory ascends to come again. Watch and fall in love with a God who does not resolve, whose rescue is never-ending. Whose prayer is that you would be that rescue. Who sends you to be that rescue.
Be courageous. Even as you stand there hiding in the bushes, shaking to the bottom of your toes, frightened of what's to follow, what consequences will come of it, know that evil will not prevail. That you are not alone. That you bring the kingdom of God, and there is hope. There is hope always. And others will walk out of dark places and see you standing there, arms outstretched, given completely to this hope.
Praise is response. Praise happens when there is revelation, and there is revelation waiting for us around every bend, in places we would not suspect.
Our task is to live with eyes wide open to God's greatness because when we see the imprint of the creator, our insides will swell with devotion, our hearts will erupt with thankfulness. You will live, breathe and radiate praise. The habit isn't in learning "how to praise"; it is in reminding yourself "who to praise." It is a remembering of who you are. It is a remembering of your identity. Praise is redeemed and redefined with rescue.
When you have been found by grace, your identity is swallowed in Christ. You are enveloped by Him, clothed in His merciful sacrifice. To live in this remembrance is to bring awareness of Christ into your every encounter. In this awareness you bring His embrace to the things you embrace.
You Are Here
There is a sign in my favorite restaurant, 1424, which happens to be located directly across the street from my house, that hangs by the bar and states, in black letters on a pale-yellow background, "You Are Here."
I call often for takeout. I pretend that they are my residential kitchen staff that just so happens to cook the most flavorful foods on the planet. The chef's name is Bill, and he knows exactly how I like my pork tenderloin. We have never discussed it; he just knows. He's always known. And as I wait for my order to be packed in white Styrofoam and placed in a plastic bag for transport, I sit at the bar and read, "You Are Here," and it brings a comfort and solidity to things. You often hear or encounter inspirational art convincing you to live as if today is the last, to engage each moment as if it were all we had, but usually this is married to the idea that it is. That this is it.
There is nothing more than now. All we get is what we suck out of this moment. But I disagree. I read, "You Are Here," and I am equally inspired to be fully present in this moment, but it is not because that is all I have, but because I am bringing something more. I am bringing the very kingdom of God.
I read, "You Are Here," and I, ignoring the dramatic punctuation of finality, think, "The kingdom of God is sitting at this bar, waiting to bring something better."
We are to be rescue. We are to be redemption. We are to carry the story of God to the ones waiting. To the ones with their hands on their chest, begging you to notice that things aren't right. And this is praise. You are the note sounding in a thousand different rooms. There are chords and reflective surfaces around you. There is context.
Sometimes life comes at us with the delicacy of a sunset, and other times it comes with the rawness of sushi and the bitter bite of wasabi. Sometimes the tears will be because you cannot stand empty-eyed in the presence of such beauty, and sometimes they will be full of fire, but notice/know this: You are here. You Are Here! You are here, and you are not alone.
Look me in the eyes. Can you feel the fabric on your skin? It is woven from the threads of love. Pay attention to the way it folds around you, sense its softness, brush the hair of your arms as you lift them toward the heavens in unencumbered declaration.
It is the coverings of rescue that you feel. It is a flood. It is an ocean. It is a sea that has no bottom, for there is no end to it. To be fully present in the rescue and recreation of Christ is to embrace what God does for us, and this is the best thing we can do for Him.-David Crowder, pp, 152-153 Praise Habit: Finding God in Sunsets and Sushi
oo
Sleep Like a Baby version 1
Morning, your toast
Your tea and sugar
Read about the politician’s lover
Go through the day
Like a knife through butter
Why don’t you
You dress in the colours of forgiveness
Your eyes as red as Christmas
Purple robes are folded on the kitchen chair
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
In your dreams everything is alright
Tomorrow dawns like someone else’s suicide
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Dreams
It’s a dirty business, dreaming
Where there is silence and not screaming
Where there’s no daylight
There’s no healing, no no
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
In your dreams everything is alright
Tomorrow dawns like a suicide
But you’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Hope is where the door is
When the church is where the war is
Where no one can feel no one else’s pain
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
In your dreams everything is alright
Tomorrow dawns like a suicide
But you’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Sleep like a baby tonight
Like a bird, your dreams take flight
Like St. Francis covered in light
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Sleep Like A Baby Tonight" version 2 (Alternate Perspective Mix)
Wake
In the morning when you wake up
You won’t have much
But you’ll have enough
When you are weakest
I’ll be strong enough for you
Dreams
Yeah, the ones where you are fearless
Can’t break what’s broken
You are tearless
Steal back your innocence
That’s what they stole from you
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Not everything can be so black and white
There are demons in the broad daylight
But you can sleep like a baby tonight
Stop
Where you stand right now
Just stop
Don’t think or look down at the drop
The people staring from the street
Don’t know what you’ve got
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
No, not everything can be so black and white
There are demons in the broad daylight
But you can sleep like a baby tonight
Hope is where the door is
When home is where the war is
Where nobody can feel no one else’s pain
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Not everything can be so black and so white
There are demons in the broad daylight
You’ve got to sleep like a baby tonight
Sleep like a baby tonight
Where you stand
Where you fall is where I kneel
To take your heart back to where you can feel
Like a child, a child
--
(found this online)
It has been hugely productive, revelational and (even) fun to, as part of a class that several others and I teach, have students plot out (on the whiteboard) their timeline.
As Pastor/Trucker Franks suggests below, sometimes it's "more about the journey than the destination." See also "What if Torah/ מלכות השמים, is more 'journey than 'doctrine'?"
We then take time to interweave/intertext our personal timelines with the timeline/trajectory of Jesus' life in Matthew's gospel (the thrust of the class).
Especially helpful is the suggestion by Donald Kraybill ("The Upside Down Kingdom") and Ray Van Der Laan ( video) that throughout his earthly life, Jesus was revisited by remixes of the original three temptations ("testations" ) of the devil"in chapter 4.
Kraybill provocatively proffers the following taxonomy of the temptations; suggesting that any later temptation Jesus faced (or we face) is at heart in one of these three spheres:
1= Bread into stones: Economic
2=Jump from temple and test God:Religious
3=Own all kingdoms: Political;
Henri Nouwen ("in the Name of Jesus" breaks it down this way:
1= Bread into stones: temptation to be relevant
2=Jump from temple and test God: temptation to be spectacular
3=Own all kingdoms: Political; temptation to be rule over
So, it may be useful to plot out various temptations along your life timeline, and ask which of Jesus' temptation are each is tied to.
Nouwen himself, one of the most profound writers on the temptations of Jesus, was both Catholic (gasp!) and struggled with homosexual temptation (!!!)..
And....Uh, on that last temptation, the homosexual one, he was in good company, according to a good Book I read:
"Jesus was tempted in every single way humans are..."(click here for the shocking source...but warning, it's a dangerous book for religious folk!)
SO..if every temptation can be filed under one of the three categories:
Economic Religious Political..
or
Relevant Spectacular Rule over
..under which does sexual temptation occur?
Note Ron Bell's definition of "sexuality," biblically defined:
"For many, sexuality is simply what happens between two people involving physical pleasure. But that's only a small percentage of what sexuality is. Our sexuality is all the ways we strive to reconnect with our world, with each other, and with God." (Rob Bell, "Sex God," p. 42)...
How might virtually all temptations (the three Jesus faced, or others you could name) be fundamentally economic? Kraybill, you'll remember, calls the bread temptation "economic," but how might any/all others temptations trace to this root/'garbage"?
HINT: We noted that he term economics comes from the Ancient Greekοἰκονομία (oikonomia, "management of a household, administration") from οἶκος (oikos, "house") + νόμος (nomos, "custom" or "law"), hence "rules of the house(hold)".[1]
------------------
Note that the baptism of Jesus (chapter 3) and the temptations (chapter 4) should be read together as one literary unit or paragraph ( a "coupling" or "particularization") as two items connected.
Remember how important repeated words are..in this case, "SON":
-The segue is direct..."Then after his baptism, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert for temptation by the devil." (Matt. 4:1)
(see this amazing assortment of Scriptures, maybe he is "God's devil" after all..)
-In light of that, ask In what other ways do the baptism and temptation connect?
How does baptism prepare for temptation?
See the sermon by Nadia Bolz-Weber, "How To Say Defiantly, ‘I am Baptized!’"for a contemporary world application.
NOTE: a drop-down box in the temptation scene:
The devil's text ,
"IF
you are the son of God.."
might better be translated
(according to the Greek word used) as:
"SINCE
you are the son of God.."
What difference might it make? Is the devil wondering/questioning asking Jesus if he is son of God? Or is he assuming it; he and Jesus both know that he is...and thus "Since you are the Son of God, what kind of ways can I tempt you to use/abuse that Sonship?"
--
Van Der lann, in "Jesus Our Desert – The Three Temptations") proposes that the three "temptations" Jesus met in Matthew 4 were the same three that show up (repackaged, revisited) throughout Jesus' timeline on earth...right up to, and especially including the cross (as in, not avoiding it) .Several examples:
- Jesus put God ahead of family ("Who are my brothers and sisters?" "Whoveer loves father and mother more than me cannot be my disciple."-Matthew 12:46-48...in fact, how many ways can you find in that whole chapter where Jesus re-encounters versions of one of the testations?
- When people reported Herod wanted to kill him, he was not concerned (Luke 13)
- When people wanted to make him king by force, he walked away (John 6:15)
- When the crowds were hungry, the disciples wanted Jesus to feed them. He refused (Feeding of the Multitude)
- The "get behind me, Satan" comment to Peter when Peter suggested Jesus should bypass the cross (Matthew 18)
- "go ahead and use Your power; the cross is going to hurt"
The video offered lots of help on how the Testations of Jesus are related to/equated to/hyperlinked to the Testations of Israel in Exodus, Numbers. Deuteronomy. It is no accident that all three testations of Jesus were found in different form in the OT, as well as the Scriptures Jesus used to counter the testations.
Though it is obvious who "The Son (of God)" is in Matthew (Jesus), unless we know the literary/historical background, we miss that in the Old Testament, that phrase is used for Israel/God's people. (see Exodus 4:22-23 and especially the way Matt 2:15 quotes Hosea 11:1) Thus...remember this chart :
Now we realize that God tested/the devil tempted the first "SON" in a similar way.
Jesus the Son succeeds (in 40 days) in "reversing the curse" that Israel the Son inherited by not passing it (in 40 years).
Jesus is not only (in a sense) the
New Moses,
but (in a sense) the New Israel
(for help on that important point, see this article,
and this). 
VanDer Laan suggested that the heart of Jesus' "success" was consistently and persistently keeping the "Shema," and not caving into a (mis)use of power. This is the "binder" of the testations: Love God and neighbor.Thus
Q).Who is Jesus in Matthew?
A.) The One who, unlike Israel, passed the wilderness testations by loving God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength....and refusing to give into using "right-handed" (a la Capon) power.
VanderLaan prefers to translate "tests" instead of "temptations."
You have seen that I have coined the word "testations" It would seen that in Scripture that God tests, and the devil tempts...and sometimes both are going on simultaneously.
HERE are some helpful questions you might think about if you want to pursue this topic::
- 1)What were the three temptations of Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11, Compare any ways Mark's account, Mark 1:12-13 and Luke's account, Luke 4:1-13 differ, and suggest any reasons why.
- 2)How does Nouewen summarize the three temptations(1=to be relevant 2=to be spectacular 3=to rule over). H? How do you (use your own words)?
- 3)How do the three temptations connect to the historical and literary world of the Hebrew ("Old')Testament?
- 4)How do the three temptations connect to the contemporary world of Jesus and the disciples?
- 5)List and discuss several possible ways that versions of the three temptations reoccur and are revisited throughout Jesus' life in Matthew's gospel? (How is Jesus tested/tempted elswhere in Matthew, and how are the temptations versions of a similar one (two, or three) that he faced in the original temptation passage?
- 6)What are the three core temptations you face, and how have they revisited you throughout your timeline? How would you categorize them using Nouwen's categories? Using the three categories of the "Shema" (heart/mind/might) a la Vander Laan'? Using Kraybill's three categories (1=Economic 2=Religious 3=Political; see chapters 1-4 of "Upside Down Kingdom")
- 7)What have you learned about passing these tests/resiisting these temptations?
- 8)What does all of this (the Matt 4 Scripture, and testing/tempting) have to do with the Kingdom?
- 9)Discuss how the passages that deal with Jesus not being immune to temptation( Hebrews 2:17-18, Hebrews 4:14-16, and Hebrews 5:7-9) affect your views of "Who is Jesus?" and of Jesus' divinity and humanity.
-
-----------
Finally..
Facebook!
I started teaching all this before Facebook announced it was changing it's entire format/interface to "Timeline." As you probably know by now ( If note read all about it here), your Facebook page and wall (oops, the wall is renamed "timeline") is now regeared to feature and celebrate key points (and photos) of your life.
Ostensibly, the (eventually mandatory) switch wasabout the fun of highlighting historical markers of your life. As we all (should) know, it's all about Facebook catching even more personal data about us, so they can better target their ads towards us..
...in an attempt to tempt us.
So, whatever theor motive, I also see the switch as a significant (sign-ificant) sign of the times;
there is a hunger in the culture for narrative/story/journey. Such is integral to the postmodernshift of our EPIC times.
So, plot your life and testations...if not oi Facebook, on paper or in your mind.
Who knows what you'll learn.
Maybe how to me more like Jesus...who faced equivalent temptations to all of us..and passed the test.
..But you know, he never was on Facebook ..
--
In any case, the clincher for the argument that the devil's ideas {in the wilderness temptations}aren't all bad comes from Jesus himself. At other times, in other places, and for his own reasons, Jesus does all of the things the devil suggests. Instead of making lunch out of rocks, he feeds the five thousand miraculously--basically the same trick, on a grander scale. Instead of jumping off the temple and not dying, he dies and refuses to stay dead--by any standards, an even better trick. And finally, instead of getting himself bogged down in a two-man presidency with an opposite number he doesn't really understand, he aces out the devil on the cross and ends up risen, ascended at the right hand of the Father as King of Kings and Lord of Lords--which is the best trick of all, taken with the last trump.
No, the difference between Jesus and the devil does not lie in what the devil suggested, but in the methods he proposed--or more precisely, in the philosophy of power on which his methods were based...If you are really God, the devil says, do something. Jesus answers, I am really God, therefore I do nothing...The devil wants power to be used to do good; Jesus insists that power corrupts and defeats the very good it tries to achieve.
..the devil in the wilderness overs Jesus a short cut, Jesus calls it a dead end and turns a deaf ear.-Robert Farrar Capon "The Third Peacock," 43-45.
Timelines ..see lots here
--
Se-mi-ot-ics n
1. the study of signs and symbols of all kinds, what they mean and how they relate to the things or ideas they refer to.
I bought a T-shirt in Washington, D.C. It was red. It said "Ancient Chinese Secret" on the front. Below this statement, it had writing, which I assumed to be Chinese. Never assume. My sushi friend Shelley was there when I picked it out. I held it up, and she said, "Oh, that is soooo Crowder." I put it on that very day. I ate lunch in it sitting across from the pastors of the church where we were playing music later that evening. As I made my way across the stage, heading for our bus that was parked outside, our lighting technician stopped me and said, "Wow. You are brave."
"Yes. Well, brave how? I mean, what do you mean 'brave'?"
"The shirt. You know the secret right?"
"Well, yeah." I nervously responded in an uncertain chuckle. It is embarrassing to wear a shirt and not know what it means. "Wait, what? You mean you know Chinese? Wow. So, huh, well what does it say? I don't know the secret. I don't know Chinese. What's the secret?"
"Oh, it's in English."
"What? No! I studied this shirt at the store like a flipping semiotician. It is most certainly not in English. That I am sure of."
"It is in English. Turn the shirt sideways then read."
It was most definitely in English. Granted, it was intended to be cleverly hidden in ornate, faux Chinese brushstrokes, but once spotted it was unmistakable. I was wearing a shirt that said, "Go F#$@ Yourself!" It was all I could see now. How had I missed this? I am not a semiotician. I sat across from pastors eating hamburgers, laughing and smiling, while the whole time this was written on my chest!
Stuff in life happens, and we try to make sense of it. So we look carefully. What could this moment, this tragedy, this weight, this mountain, this tearing, this violence, this frenzy that is life be teaching us? What is being said here? And then someone points out, "Hey, it says, 'Go F#$@ Yourself!'" and you've had it on the whole time.
Se-mi-ot-ics n
2. the study of identifying the ways that various symptoms indicate the disease that underlies them. (Medical)
The real message, the thing that is scribbled barely legible, the thing that's always there, underlying, is—we need rescue.Things aren't as they should be. When your eyes focus and this becomes visible, you can't tear your eyes from it. And you start to see that there are those all around us who wait in begging wonder. "What is wrong? I am here. I am here, and I need you to notice. At times I'm waving my arms above my head, screaming it. At times I am too frightened to move, but always I am here, and I want you to notice. And in the dark I am afraid. I lie with my hand on my chest waiting for the tapping to come. Things aren't as they should be. There are symptoms. You see it in my eyes. I have seen it in your eyes, too.
Come to Jesus
To follow Jesus doesn't remove us from the stuff of life. It is not resolution. It is tension and journey. In 1 John 2:6 it says,"Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." Jesus was in the world, engaged, alive, involved, making a difference. To follow Him, we must do the same. His prayer for us in John 17 is "Not that you take them out of the world ..." and "As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world" (verses 15, 18).
This is what God has done for us. He has come into our condition. He has come to bring us back. He has come and embraced us. He has come and covered us in Himself. Watch this Christ. Watch as He is accused of being a drunkard, of associating with tax collectors. Watch as He brings healing to the afflicted, love to prostitutes, forgiveness to sinners. Watch as He climbs the hill bearing His destruction on His back. Watch as blood and water flow. Watch as salvation comes to us all. Watch as glory ascends to come again. Watch and fall in love with a God who does not resolve, whose rescue is never-ending. Whose prayer is that you would be that rescue. Who sends you to be that rescue.Be courageous. Even as you stand there hiding in the bushes, shaking to the bottom of your toes, frightened of what's to follow, what consequences will come of it, know that evil will not prevail. That you are not alone. That you bring the kingdom of God, and there is hope. There is hope always. And others will walk out of dark places and see you standing there, arms outstretched, given completely to this hope.Our task is to live with eyes wide open to God's greatness because when we see the imprint of the creator, our insides will swell with devotion, our hearts will erupt with thankfulness. You will live, breathe and radiate praise. The habit isn't in learning "how to praise"; it is in reminding yourself "who to praise." It is a remembering of who you are. It is a remembering of your identity. Praise is redeemed and redefined with rescue.
Praise is response. Praise happens when there is revelation, and there is revelation waiting for us around every bend, in places we would not suspect.
When you have been found by grace, your identity is swallowed in Christ. You are enveloped by Him, clothed in His merciful sacrifice. To live in this remembrance is to bring awareness of Christ into your every encounter. In this awareness you bring His embrace to the things you embrace.
You Are Here
There is a sign in my favorite restaurant, 1424, which happens to be located directly across the street from my house, that hangs by the bar and states, in black letters on a pale-yellow background, "You Are Here."
There is nothing more than now. All we get is what we suck out of this moment. But I disagree. I read, "You Are Here," and I am equally inspired to be fully present in this moment, but it is not because that is all I have, but because I am bringing something more. I am bringing the very kingdom of God.
We are to be rescue. We are to be redemption. We are to carry the story of God to the ones waiting. To the ones with their hands on their chest, begging you to notice that things aren't right. And this is praise. You are the note sounding in a thousand different rooms. There are chords and reflective surfaces around you. There is context.
Sometimes life comes at us with the delicacy of a sunset, and other times it comes with the rawness of sushi and the bitter bite of wasabi. Sometimes the tears will be because you cannot stand empty-eyed in the presence of such beauty, and sometimes they will be full of fire, but notice/know this: You are here. You Are Here! You are here, and you are not alone.
Look me in the eyes. Can you feel the fabric on your skin? It is woven from the threads of love. Pay attention to the way it folds around you, sense its softness, brush the hair of your arms as you lift them toward the heavens in unencumbered declaration.
It is the coverings of rescue that you feel. It is a flood. It is an ocean. It is a sea that has no bottom, for there is no end to it. To be fully present in the rescue and recreation of Christ is to embrace what God does for us, and this is the best thing we can do for Him.-David Crowder, pp, 152-153 Praise Habit: Finding God in Sunsets and Sushi
Sleep Like a Baby version 1
Morning, your toast
Your tea and sugar
Read about the politician’s lover
Go through the day
Like a knife through butter
Why don’t you
You dress in the colours of forgiveness
Your eyes as red as Christmas
Purple robes are folded on the kitchen chair
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
In your dreams everything is alright
Tomorrow dawns like someone else’s suicide
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Dreams
It’s a dirty business, dreaming
Where there is silence and not screaming
Where there’s no daylight
There’s no healing, no no
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
In your dreams everything is alright
Tomorrow dawns like a suicide
But you’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Hope is where the door is
When the church is where the war is
Where no one can feel no one else’s pain
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
In your dreams everything is alright
Tomorrow dawns like a suicide
But you’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Sleep like a baby tonight
Like a bird, your dreams take flight
Like St. Francis covered in light
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Your tea and sugar
Read about the politician’s lover
Go through the day
Like a knife through butter
Why don’t you
You dress in the colours of forgiveness
Your eyes as red as Christmas
Purple robes are folded on the kitchen chair
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
In your dreams everything is alright
Tomorrow dawns like someone else’s suicide
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Dreams
It’s a dirty business, dreaming
Where there is silence and not screaming
Where there’s no daylight
There’s no healing, no no
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
In your dreams everything is alright
Tomorrow dawns like a suicide
But you’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Hope is where the door is
When the church is where the war is
Where no one can feel no one else’s pain
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
In your dreams everything is alright
Tomorrow dawns like a suicide
But you’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Sleep like a baby tonight
Like a bird, your dreams take flight
Like St. Francis covered in light
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Sleep Like A Baby Tonight" version 2 (Alternate Perspective Mix)
Wake
In the morning when you wake up
You won’t have much
But you’ll have enough
When you are weakest
I’ll be strong enough for you
Dreams
Yeah, the ones where you are fearless
Can’t break what’s broken
You are tearless
Steal back your innocence
That’s what they stole from you
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Not everything can be so black and white
There are demons in the broad daylight
But you can sleep like a baby tonight
Stop
Where you stand right now
Just stop
Don’t think or look down at the drop
The people staring from the street
Don’t know what you’ve got
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
No, not everything can be so black and white
There are demons in the broad daylight
But you can sleep like a baby tonight
Hope is where the door is
When home is where the war is
Where nobody can feel no one else’s pain
You’re gonna sleep like a baby tonight
Not everything can be so black and so white
There are demons in the broad daylight
You’ve got to sleep like a baby tonight
Sleep like a baby tonight
Where you stand
Where you fall is where I kneel
To take your heart back to where you can feel
Like a child, a child
--
 |
| (found this online) |
As Pastor/Trucker Franks suggests below, sometimes it's "more about the journey than the destination." See also "What if Torah/ מלכות השמים, is more 'journey than 'doctrine'?"
We then take time to interweave/intertext our personal timelines with the timeline/trajectory of Jesus' life in Matthew's gospel (the thrust of the class).
Kraybill provocatively proffers the following taxonomy of the temptations; suggesting that any later temptation Jesus faced (or we face) is at heart in one of these three spheres:
1= Bread into stones: Economic
2=Jump from temple and test God:Religious
3=Own all kingdoms: Political;
Henri Nouwen ("in the Name of Jesus" breaks it down this way:
1= Bread into stones: temptation to be relevant
2=Jump from temple and test God: temptation to be spectacular
3=Own all kingdoms: Political; temptation to be rule over
So, it may be useful to plot out various temptations along your life timeline, and ask which of Jesus' temptation are each is tied to.
Nouwen himself, one of the most profound writers on the temptations of Jesus, was both Catholic (gasp!) and struggled with homosexual temptation (!!!)..
And....Uh, on that last temptation, the homosexual one, he was in good company, according to a good Book I read:
"Jesus was tempted in every single way humans are..."(click here for the shocking source...but warning, it's a dangerous book for religious folk!)
SO..if every temptation can be filed under one of the three categories:
Economic Religious Political..
or
Relevant Spectacular Rule over
..under which does sexual temptation occur?
Note Ron Bell's definition of "sexuality," biblically defined:
"For many, sexuality is simply what happens between two people involving physical pleasure. But that's only a small percentage of what sexuality is. Our sexuality is all the ways we strive to reconnect with our world, with each other, and with God." (Rob Bell, "Sex God," p. 42)...
HINT: We noted that he term economics comes from the Ancient Greekοἰκονομία (oikonomia, "management of a household, administration") from οἶκος (oikos, "house") + νόμος (nomos, "custom" or "law"), hence "rules of the house(hold)".[1]
------------------
Note that the baptism of Jesus (chapter 3) and the temptations (chapter 4) should be read together as one literary unit or paragraph ( a "coupling" or "particularization") as two items connected.
Remember how important repeated words are..in this case, "SON":
-The segue is direct..."Then after his baptism, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert for temptation by the devil." (Matt. 4:1)
(see this amazing assortment of Scriptures, maybe he is "God's devil" after all..)
-In light of that, ask In what other ways do the baptism and temptation connect?
How does baptism prepare for temptation?
See the sermon by Nadia Bolz-Weber, "How To Say Defiantly, ‘I am Baptized!’"for a contemporary world application.
NOTE: a drop-down box in the temptation scene:
The devil's text ,
"IF
you are the son of God.."
might better be translated
(according to the Greek word used) as:
"SINCE
you are the son of God.."
What difference might it make? Is the devil wondering/questioning asking Jesus if he is son of God? Or is he assuming it; he and Jesus both know that he is...and thus "Since you are the Son of God, what kind of ways can I tempt you to use/abuse that Sonship?"
--
Van Der lann, in "Jesus Our Desert – The Three Temptations") proposes that the three "temptations" Jesus met in Matthew 4 were the same three that show up (repackaged, revisited) throughout Jesus' timeline on earth...right up to, and especially including the cross (as in, not avoiding it) .Several examples:
- Jesus put God ahead of family ("Who are my brothers and sisters?" "Whoveer loves father and mother more than me cannot be my disciple."-Matthew 12:46-48...in fact, how many ways can you find in that whole chapter where Jesus re-encounters versions of one of the testations?
- When people reported Herod wanted to kill him, he was not concerned (Luke 13)
- When people wanted to make him king by force, he walked away (John 6:15)
- When the crowds were hungry, the disciples wanted Jesus to feed them. He refused (Feeding of the Multitude)
- The "get behind me, Satan" comment to Peter when Peter suggested Jesus should bypass the cross (Matthew 18)
- "go ahead and use Your power; the cross is going to hurt"
The video offered lots of help on how the Testations of Jesus are related to/equated to/hyperlinked to the Testations of Israel in Exodus, Numbers. Deuteronomy. It is no accident that all three testations of Jesus were found in different form in the OT, as well as the Scriptures Jesus used to counter the testations.
Though it is obvious who "The Son (of God)" is in Matthew (Jesus), unless we know the literary/historical background, we miss that in the Old Testament, that phrase is used for Israel/God's people. (see Exodus 4:22-23 and especially the way Matt 2:15 quotes Hosea 11:1) Thus...remember this chart :
Now we realize that God tested/the devil tempted the first "SON" in a similar way.
Jesus the Son succeeds (in 40 days) in "reversing the curse" that Israel the Son inherited by not passing it (in 40 years).
Jesus is not only (in a sense) the
New Moses,
but (in a sense) the New Israel
(for help on that important point, see this article,
and this).
VanDer Laan suggested that the heart of Jesus' "success" was consistently and persistently keeping the "Shema," and not caving into a (mis)use of power. This is the "binder" of the testations: Love God and neighbor.Thus
Q).Who is Jesus in Matthew?
A.) The One who, unlike Israel, passed the wilderness testations by loving God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength....and refusing to give into using "right-handed" (a la Capon) power.
VanderLaan prefers to translate "tests" instead of "temptations."
You have seen that I have coined the word "testations" It would seen that in Scripture that God tests, and the devil tempts...and sometimes both are going on simultaneously.
HERE are some helpful questions you might think about if you want to pursue this topic::
- 1)What were the three temptations of Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11, Compare any ways Mark's account, Mark 1:12-13 and Luke's account, Luke 4:1-13 differ, and suggest any reasons why.
- 2)How does Nouewen summarize the three temptations(1=to be relevant 2=to be spectacular 3=to rule over). H? How do you (use your own words)?
- 3)How do the three temptations connect to the historical and literary world of the Hebrew ("Old')Testament?
- 4)How do the three temptations connect to the contemporary world of Jesus and the disciples?
- 5)List and discuss several possible ways that versions of the three temptations reoccur and are revisited throughout Jesus' life in Matthew's gospel? (How is Jesus tested/tempted elswhere in Matthew, and how are the temptations versions of a similar one (two, or three) that he faced in the original temptation passage?
- 6)What are the three core temptations you face, and how have they revisited you throughout your timeline? How would you categorize them using Nouwen's categories? Using the three categories of the "Shema" (heart/mind/might) a la Vander Laan'? Using Kraybill's three categories (1=Economic 2=Religious 3=Political; see chapters 1-4 of "Upside Down Kingdom")
- 7)What have you learned about passing these tests/resiisting these temptations?
- 8)What does all of this (the Matt 4 Scripture, and testing/tempting) have to do with the Kingdom?
- 9)Discuss how the passages that deal with Jesus not being immune to temptation( Hebrews 2:17-18, Hebrews 4:14-16, and Hebrews 5:7-9) affect your views of "Who is Jesus?" and of Jesus' divinity and humanity.
Finally..
Facebook!
I started teaching all this before Facebook announced it was changing it's entire format/interface to "Timeline." As you probably know by now ( If note read all about it here), your Facebook page and wall (oops, the wall is renamed "timeline") is now regeared to feature and celebrate key points (and photos) of your life.
Ostensibly, the (eventually mandatory) switch wasabout the fun of highlighting historical markers of your life. As we all (should) know, it's all about Facebook catching even more personal data about us, so they can better target their ads towards us..
...in an attempt to tempt us.
So, whatever theor motive, I also see the switch as a significant (sign-ificant) sign of the times;
there is a hunger in the culture for narrative/story/journey. Such is integral to the postmodernshift of our EPIC times.
So, plot your life and testations...if not oi Facebook, on paper or in your mind.
Who knows what you'll learn.
Maybe how to me more like Jesus...who faced equivalent temptations to all of us..and passed the test.
..But you know, he never was on Facebook ..
--
In any case, the clincher for the argument that the devil's ideas {in the wilderness temptations}aren't all bad comes from Jesus himself. At other times, in other places, and for his own reasons, Jesus does all of the things the devil suggests. Instead of making lunch out of rocks, he feeds the five thousand miraculously--basically the same trick, on a grander scale. Instead of jumping off the temple and not dying, he dies and refuses to stay dead--by any standards, an even better trick. And finally, instead of getting himself bogged down in a two-man presidency with an opposite number he doesn't really understand, he aces out the devil on the cross and ends up risen, ascended at the right hand of the Father as King of Kings and Lord of Lords--which is the best trick of all, taken with the last trump.
No, the difference between Jesus and the devil does not lie in what the devil suggested, but in the methods he proposed--or more precisely, in the philosophy of power on which his methods were based...If you are really God, the devil says, do something. Jesus answers, I am really God, therefore I do nothing...The devil wants power to be used to do good; Jesus insists that power corrupts and defeats the very good it tries to achieve.
..the devil in the wilderness overs Jesus a short cut, Jesus calls it a dead end and turns a deaf ear.-Robert Farrar Capon "The Third Peacock," 43-45.
Timelines ..see lots here
--
Centerfolds in Big Green Theology Books
It has got to be the most engaging, practical and liveliest books around...
with the most boring title.
It's "Clinical Theology" (zzzzz) , Frank Lake's classic...the heavyweight (literally; it's known in academia as "the big green book" of over 1000 pages) tome. For years out of print, and the prize possession of only three of my seminary professors, some bibliophiles (I confess) have been known to spend years searching used bookstores (before Amazon and EBay) like drug addicts for a copy. Especially a copy with the (I am serious) fold-out centerfolds included (Often these are missing when the copy has been used...kinda like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, eh, John?).
Shawn Rabon, a member of the church I pestered (not a typo) in Delano, Calif. (now in ministry in England) had for years heard me whine that I did not have a "real" copy...just a cheesy cheap 
counterfeit condensed ("Condensed"? How dare any mortal put that word in the same sentence as the immortal Frank Lake! Heresy! Next you you know, they'll be a condensed Bible!!...oops).
Besides, as you can see by the photo,this 
is clearly an illicit bootleg:
it is not big OR green!!)
I'll never forget the day that Shawn met my plane into London. I was thrilled to see him again, we were to spend the night at the airport hotel before my flight to Israel the next day.
But when I scanned the crowds, and found him...my eyes (and jaws) immediately dropped at the big green book in his hand.
He had scored a copy for me!
I don't think I kissed him..
..until he verified what was too good to be true:
Yes, the centerfolds were included!
We had to steal a peek at them right in the middle of Heathrow International.
(OK, for those worried a bit..the fold-out 
centerfolds are full of intricate diagrams of
theological and psychological charts...not naked, airbrushed and hairbrushed babes, These charts are lusted for in some seminary circles)
I still owe you man.
But Shawn, do you remember then going over to the airport newstand; where we were browsing magazines. On gentleman was sneaking peeks at a naughty
magazine centerfold, and you (obviously still so in awe at seeing me again...I understand!!) actually interrupted his fun with "Hey, this is my pastor from America!"
I am sure he was thrilled. He mumbled something; I think the word "sod" was in his sentence.
(you UK folk know what that means).
But Shawn's genuine evangelistic enthusiasm is refreshing.
Even though I turned a few shades of red.
Now, thirteen years later, the big green book is still my favorite addiction/pornography.
I read it in the study, in the car, on the beach
( I get so ongrossed I don't even notice....as much... the scantily-clad women).
Especially the famous dozen centerfold charts. I mean, just
look at them!
(note i have the theologian's beer in my hand).
I was leading a seminar on culture and evangelism a few years ago, drawing as usual from a wide variety of material: from Matrix movie clips to Nextreformation articles to U2 songs to (of course) Frank Lake's centerfolds.
On the last day, I knew it was time for a "lab." I sent my class out on the town in groups of three (No, we weren't dressed like Mormons) for low-key conversations with people. My group walked the parking lot of the shopping center where the church we were teaching at was located.
I'll never forget Nancy Boyd (pastor of this amazing tribe), bold and loving like Shawn (though 
not like Shawn),
befriending and praying for a guy sitting is his car. No, we didn't mention that two of us were pastors. But we noticed a minute into the conversation he was drinking a beer and had spread open on his dashboard..an adult magazine centerfold.
We had a good talk, and even prayer.
As we were about to leave, he asked "Are you from that church over there?
We were, we told him.
He said, "I think I went to school with one of the pastors."
He dropped the name and he was right.
No accident.
Steve (the pastor he mentioned, pictured here at the beach where he was, uh, doing theology homework with his senior pastor) have been praying for this guy since. Hopefully by now, he has
connected with Jesus, the church community, and has encountered the big green book that's far better than porn.
The centerfolds can't be beat.
- See more at: http://davewainscott.blogspot.com/2008/02/theological-centerfolds.html#sthash.D8URRNWT.dpuf
It has got to be the most engaging, practical and liveliest books around...
with the most boring title.
It's "Clinical Theology" (zzzzz) , Frank Lake's classic...the heavyweight (literally; it's known in academia as "the big green book" of over 1000 pages) tome. For years out of print, and the prize possession of only three of my seminary professors, some bibliophiles (I confess) have been known to spend years searching used bookstores (before Amazon and EBay) like drug addicts for a copy. Especially a copy with the (I am serious) fold-out centerfolds included (Often these are missing when the copy has been used...kinda like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, eh, John?).
Shawn Rabon, a member of the church I pestered (not a typo) in Delano, Calif. (now in ministry in England) had for years heard me whine that I did not have a "real" copy...just a cheesy cheap counterfeit condensed ("Condensed"? How dare any mortal put that word in the same sentence as the immortal Frank Lake! Heresy! Next you you know, they'll be a condensed Bible!!...oops).
Besides, as you can see by the photo,thisis clearly an illicit bootleg:
it is not big OR green!!)
counterfeit condensed ("Condensed"? How dare any mortal put that word in the same sentence as the immortal Frank Lake! Heresy! Next you you know, they'll be a condensed Bible!!...oops).Besides, as you can see by the photo,this
is clearly an illicit bootleg:it is not big OR green!!)
I'll never forget the day that Shawn met my plane into London. I was thrilled to see him again, we were to spend the night at the airport hotel before my flight to Israel the next day.
But when I scanned the crowds, and found him...my eyes (and jaws) immediately dropped at the big green book in his hand.
He had scored a copy for me!
I don't think I kissed him..
..until he verified what was too good to be true:
Yes, the centerfolds were included!
We had to steal a peek at them right in the middle of Heathrow International.
(OK, for those worried a bit..the fold-out centerfolds are full of intricate diagrams of
centerfolds are full of intricate diagrams of
theological and psychological charts...not naked, airbrushed and hairbrushed babes, These charts are lusted for in some seminary circles)
I still owe you man.
But Shawn, do you remember then going over to the airport newstand; where we were browsing magazines. On gentleman was sneaking peeks at a naughty
magazine centerfold, and you (obviously still so in awe at seeing me again...I understand!!) actually interrupted his fun with "Hey, this is my pastor from America!"
magazine centerfold, and you (obviously still so in awe at seeing me again...I understand!!) actually interrupted his fun with "Hey, this is my pastor from America!"
I am sure he was thrilled. He mumbled something; I think the word "sod" was in his sentence.
(you UK folk know what that means).
But Shawn's genuine evangelistic enthusiasm is refreshing.
Even though I turned a few shades of red.
Now, thirteen years later, the big green book is still my favorite addiction/pornography.
I read it in the study, in the car, on the beach
( I get so ongrossed I don't even notice....as much... the scantily-clad women).
Especially the famous dozen centerfold charts. I mean, just look at them!
look at them!
(note i have the theologian's beer in my hand).
I was leading a seminar on culture and evangelism a few years ago, drawing as usual from a wide variety of material: from Matrix movie clips to Nextreformation articles to U2 songs to (of course) Frank Lake's centerfolds.
On the last day, I knew it was time for a "lab." I sent my class out on the town in groups of three (No, we weren't dressed like Mormons) for low-key conversations with people. My group walked the parking lot of the shopping center where the church we were teaching at was located.
I'll never forget Nancy Boyd (pastor of this amazing tribe), bold and loving like Shawn (though not like Shawn),
not like Shawn),
befriending and praying for a guy sitting is his car. No, we didn't mention that two of us were pastors. But we noticed a minute into the conversation he was drinking a beer and had spread open on his dashboard..an adult magazine centerfold.
We had a good talk, and even prayer.
As we were about to leave, he asked "Are you from that church over there?
We were, we told him.
He said, "I think I went to school with one of the pastors."
He dropped the name and he was right.
No accident.
Steve (the pastor he mentioned, pictured here at the beach where he was, uh, doing theology homework with his senior pastor) have been praying for this guy since. Hopefully by now, he has connected with Jesus, the church community, and has encountered the big green book that's far better than porn.
connected with Jesus, the church community, and has encountered the big green book that's far better than porn.
The centerfolds can't be beat.
Centerfolds in Big Green Theology Books
It has got to be the most engaging, practical and liveliest books around...
with the most boring title.
It's "Clinical Theology" (zzzzz) , Frank Lake's classic...the heavyweight (literally; it's known in academia as "the big green book" of over 1000 pages) tome. For years out of print, and the prize possession of only three of my seminary professors, some bibliophiles (I confess) have been known to spend years searching used bookstores (before Amazon and EBay) like drug addicts for a copy. Especially a copy with the (I am serious) fold-out centerfolds included (Often these are missing when the copy has been used...kinda like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, eh, John?).
Shawn Rabon, a member of the church I pestered (not a typo) in Delano, Calif. (now in ministry in England) had for years heard me whine that I did not have a "real" copy...just a cheesy cheap counterfeit condensed ("Condensed"? How dare any mortal put that word in the same sentence as the immortal Frank Lake! Heresy! Next you you know, they'll be a condensed Bible!!...oops).
Besides, as you can see by the photo,this is clearly an illicit bootleg:
it is not big OR green!!)
I'll never forget the day that Shawn met my plane into London. I was thrilled to see him again, we were to spend the night at the airport hotel before my flight to Israel the next day.
But when I scanned the crowds, and found him...my eyes (and jaws) immediately dropped at the big green book in his hand.
He had scored a copy for me!
I don't think I kissed him..
..until he verified what was too good to be true:
Yes, the centerfolds were included!
We had to steal a peek at them right in the middle of Heathrow International.
(OK, for those worried a bit..the fold-out centerfolds are full of intricate diagrams of
theological and psychological charts...not naked, airbrushed and hairbrushed babes, These charts are lusted for in some seminary circles)
I still owe you man.
But Shawn, do you remember then going over to the airport newstand; where we were browsing magazines. On gentleman was sneaking peeks at a naughty
magazine centerfold, and you (obviously still so in awe at seeing me again...I understand!!) actually interrupted his fun with "Hey, this is my pastor from America!"
I am sure he was thrilled. He mumbled something; I think the word "sod" was in his sentence.
(you UK folk know what that means).
But Shawn's genuine evangelistic enthusiasm is refreshing.
Even though I turned a few shades of red.
Now, thirteen years later, the big green book is still my favorite addiction/pornography.
I read it in the study, in the car, on the beach
( I get so ongrossed I don't even notice....as much... the scantily-clad women).
Especially the famous dozen centerfold charts. I mean, just look at them!
(note i have the theologian's beer in my hand).
I was leading a seminar on culture and evangelism a few years ago, drawing as usual from a wide variety of material: from Matrix movie clips to Nextreformation articles to U2 songs to (of course) Frank Lake's centerfolds.
On the last day, I knew it was time for a "lab." I sent my class out on the town in groups of three (No, we weren't dressed like Mormons) for low-key conversations with people. My group walked the parking lot of the shopping center where the church we were teaching at was located.
I'll never forget Nancy Boyd (pastor of this amazing tribe), bold and loving like Shawn (though not like Shawn),
befriending and praying for a guy sitting is his car. No, we didn't mention that two of us were pastors. But we noticed a minute into the conversation he was drinking a beer and had spread open on his dashboard..an adult magazine centerfold.
We had a good talk, and even prayer.
As we were about to leave, he asked "Are you from that church over there?
We were, we told him.
He said, "I think I went to school with one of the pastors."
He dropped the name and he was right.
No accident.
Steve (the pastor he mentioned, pictured here at the beach where he was, uh, doing theology homework with his senior pastor) have been praying for this guy since. Hopefully by now, he has connected with Jesus, the church community, and has encountered the big green book that's far better than porn.
The centerfolds can't be beat.
- See more at: http://davewainscott.blogspot.com/2008/02/theological-centerfolds.html#sthash.D8URRNWT.dpuf
It has got to be the most engaging, practical and liveliest books around...
with the most boring title.
It's "Clinical Theology" (zzzzz) , Frank Lake's classic...the heavyweight (literally; it's known in academia as "the big green book" of over 1000 pages) tome. For years out of print, and the prize possession of only three of my seminaryprofessors, some bibliophiles (I confess) have been known to spend years searching used bookstores (before Amazon and EBay) like drug addicts for a copy. Especially a copy with the (I am serious) fold-out centerfolds included (Often these are missing when the copy has been used...kinda like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, eh, John?).
Shawn Rabon, a member of the church I pestered (not a typo) in Delano, Calif. (now in ministry in England) had for years heard me whine that I did not have a "real" copy...just a cheesy cheapcounterfeit condensed ("Condensed"? How dare any mortal put that word in the same sentence as the immortal Frank Lake! Heresy! Next you you know, they'll be a condensed Bible!!...oops).
Besides, as you can see by the photo,this is clearly an illicit bootleg:
it is not big OR green!!)
I'll never forget the day that Shawn met my plane into London. I was thrilled to see him again, we were to spend the night at the airport hotel before my flight to Israel the next day.
But when I scanned the crowds, and found him...my eyes (and jaws) immediately dropped at the big green book in his hand.
He had scored a copy for me!
I don't think I kissed him..
..until he verified what was too good to be true:
Yes, the centerfolds were included!
We had to steal a peek at them right in the middle of Heathrow International.
(OK, for those worried a bit..the fold-out centerfolds are full of intricate diagrams of
theological and psychological charts...not naked, airbrushed and hairbrushed babes, These charts are lusted for in some seminary circles)
I still owe you man.
But Shawn, do you remember then going over to the airport newstand; where we were browsing magazines. On gentleman was sneaking peeks at a naughty
magazine centerfold, and you (obviously still so in awe at seeing me again...I understand!!) actually interrupted his fun with "Hey, this is my pastor from America!"
I am sure he was thrilled. He mumbled something; I think the word "sod" was in his sentence.
(you UK folk know what that means).
But Shawn's genuine evangelistic enthusiasm is refreshing.
Even though I turned a few shades of red.
Now, thirteen years later, the big green book is still my favorite addiction/pornography.
I read it in the study, in the car, on the beach
( I get so ongrossed I don't even notice....as much... the scantily-clad women).
Especially the famous dozen centerfold charts. I mean, justlook at them!
(note i have the theologian's beer in my hand).
I was leading a seminar on culture and evangelism a few years ago, drawing as usual from a wide variety of material: from Matrix movie clips to Nextreformation articles to U2 songs to (of course) Frank Lake's centerfolds.
On the last day, I knew it was time for a "lab." I sent my class out on the town in groups of three (No, we weren't dressed like Mormons) for low-key conversations with people. My group walked the parking lot of the shopping center where the church we were teaching at was located.
I'll never forget Nancy Boyd (pastor of this amazing tribe), bold and loving like Shawn (though not like Shawn),
befriending and praying for a guy sitting is his car. No, we didn't mention that two of us were pastors. But we noticed a minute into the conversation he was drinking a beer and had spread open on his dashboard..an adult magazine centerfold.
We had a good talk, and even prayer.
As we were about to leave, he asked "Are you from that church over there?
We were, we told him.
He said, "I think I went to school with one of the pastors."
He dropped the name and he was right.
No accident.
Steve (the pastor he mentioned, pictured here at the beach where he was, uh, doing theology homework with his senior pastor) have been praying for this guy since. Hopefully by now, he hasconnected with Jesus, the church community, and has encountered the big green book that's far better than porn.
The centerfolds can't be beat.
---
Where the Streets U2 2 Venned Versions: interpret these texts
---
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If, for your paper, you want to consider chiasm in Philemon, after searching out any such structures yourselves (which you are getting good at!) consider:
It has got to be the most engaging, practical and liveliest books around...
with the most boring title.
It's "Clinical Theology" (zzzzz) , Frank Lake's classic...the heavyweight (literally; it's known in academia as "the big green book" of over 1000 pages) tome. For years out of print, and the prize possession of only three of my seminary professors, some bibliophiles (I confess) have been known to spend years searching used bookstores (before Amazon and EBay) like drug addicts for a copy. Especially a copy with the (I am serious) fold-out centerfolds included (Often these are missing when the copy has been used...kinda like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, eh, John?).
Shawn Rabon, a member of the church I pestered (not a typo) in Delano, Calif. (now in ministry in England) had for years heard me whine that I did not have a "real" copy...just a cheesy cheap counterfeit condensed ("Condensed"? How dare any mortal put that word in the same sentence as the immortal Frank Lake! Heresy! Next you you know, they'll be a condensed Bible!!...oops).
Besides, as you can see by the photo,thisis clearly an illicit bootleg:
it is not big OR green!!)
counterfeit condensed ("Condensed"? How dare any mortal put that word in the same sentence as the immortal Frank Lake! Heresy! Next you you know, they'll be a condensed Bible!!...oops).Besides, as you can see by the photo,this
is clearly an illicit bootleg:it is not big OR green!!)
I'll never forget the day that Shawn met my plane into London. I was thrilled to see him again, we were to spend the night at the airport hotel before my flight to Israel the next day.
But when I scanned the crowds, and found him...my eyes (and jaws) immediately dropped at the big green book in his hand.
He had scored a copy for me!
I don't think I kissed him..
..until he verified what was too good to be true:
Yes, the centerfolds were included!
We had to steal a peek at them right in the middle of Heathrow International.
(OK, for those worried a bit..the fold-out centerfolds are full of intricate diagrams of
centerfolds are full of intricate diagrams of
theological and psychological charts...not naked, airbrushed and hairbrushed babes, These charts are lusted for in some seminary circles)
I still owe you man.
But Shawn, do you remember then going over to the airport newstand; where we were browsing magazines. On gentleman was sneaking peeks at a naughty
magazine centerfold, and you (obviously still so in awe at seeing me again...I understand!!) actually interrupted his fun with "Hey, this is my pastor from America!"
magazine centerfold, and you (obviously still so in awe at seeing me again...I understand!!) actually interrupted his fun with "Hey, this is my pastor from America!"
I am sure he was thrilled. He mumbled something; I think the word "sod" was in his sentence.
(you UK folk know what that means).
But Shawn's genuine evangelistic enthusiasm is refreshing.
Even though I turned a few shades of red.
Now, thirteen years later, the big green book is still my favorite addiction/pornography.
I read it in the study, in the car, on the beach
( I get so ongrossed I don't even notice....as much... the scantily-clad women).
Especially the famous dozen centerfold charts. I mean, just look at them!
look at them!
(note i have the theologian's beer in my hand).
I was leading a seminar on culture and evangelism a few years ago, drawing as usual from a wide variety of material: from Matrix movie clips to Nextreformation articles to U2 songs to (of course) Frank Lake's centerfolds.
On the last day, I knew it was time for a "lab." I sent my class out on the town in groups of three (No, we weren't dressed like Mormons) for low-key conversations with people. My group walked the parking lot of the shopping center where the church we were teaching at was located.
I'll never forget Nancy Boyd (pastor of this amazing tribe), bold and loving like Shawn (though not like Shawn),
not like Shawn),
befriending and praying for a guy sitting is his car. No, we didn't mention that two of us were pastors. But we noticed a minute into the conversation he was drinking a beer and had spread open on his dashboard..an adult magazine centerfold.
We had a good talk, and even prayer.
As we were about to leave, he asked "Are you from that church over there?
We were, we told him.
He said, "I think I went to school with one of the pastors."
He dropped the name and he was right.
No accident.
Steve (the pastor he mentioned, pictured here at the beach where he was, uh, doing theology homework with his senior pastor) have been praying for this guy since. Hopefully by now, he has connected with Jesus, the church community, and has encountered the big green book that's far better than porn.
connected with Jesus, the church community, and has encountered the big green book that's far better than porn.
The centerfolds can't be beat.
It has got to be the most engaging, practical and liveliest books around...
with the most boring title.
It's "Clinical Theology" (zzzzz) , Frank Lake's classic...the heavyweight (literally; it's known in academia as "the big green book" of over 1000 pages) tome. For years out of print, and the prize possession of only three of my seminaryprofessors, some bibliophiles (I confess) have been known to spend years searching used bookstores (before Amazon and EBay) like drug addicts for a copy. Especially a copy with the (I am serious) fold-out centerfolds included (Often these are missing when the copy has been used...kinda like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, eh, John?).
Shawn Rabon, a member of the church I pestered (not a typo) in Delano, Calif. (now in ministry in England) had for years heard me whine that I did not have a "real" copy...just a cheesy cheapcounterfeit condensed ("Condensed"? How dare any mortal put that word in the same sentence as the immortal Frank Lake! Heresy! Next you you know, they'll be a condensed Bible!!...oops).
Besides, as you can see by the photo,thisis clearly an illicit bootleg:
it is not big OR green!!)
counterfeit condensed ("Condensed"? How dare any mortal put that word in the same sentence as the immortal Frank Lake! Heresy! Next you you know, they'll be a condensed Bible!!...oops).Besides, as you can see by the photo,this
is clearly an illicit bootleg:it is not big OR green!!)
I'll never forget the day that Shawn met my plane into London. I was thrilled to see him again, we were to spend the night at the airport hotel before my flight to Israel the next day.
But when I scanned the crowds, and found him...my eyes (and jaws) immediately dropped at the big green book in his hand.
He had scored a copy for me!
I don't think I kissed him..
..until he verified what was too good to be true:
Yes, the centerfolds were included!
We had to steal a peek at them right in the middle of Heathrow International.
(OK, for those worried a bit..the fold-out centerfolds are full of intricate diagrams of
centerfolds are full of intricate diagrams of
theological and psychological charts...not naked, airbrushed and hairbrushed babes, These charts are lusted for in some seminary circles)
I still owe you man.
But Shawn, do you remember then going over to the airport newstand; where we were browsing magazines. On gentleman was sneaking peeks at a naughty
magazine centerfold, and you (obviously still so in awe at seeing me again...I understand!!) actually interrupted his fun with "Hey, this is my pastor from America!"
magazine centerfold, and you (obviously still so in awe at seeing me again...I understand!!) actually interrupted his fun with "Hey, this is my pastor from America!"
I am sure he was thrilled. He mumbled something; I think the word "sod" was in his sentence.
(you UK folk know what that means).
But Shawn's genuine evangelistic enthusiasm is refreshing.
Even though I turned a few shades of red.
Now, thirteen years later, the big green book is still my favorite addiction/pornography.
I read it in the study, in the car, on the beach
( I get so ongrossed I don't even notice....as much... the scantily-clad women).
Especially the famous dozen centerfold charts. I mean, justlook at them!
look at them!
(note i have the theologian's beer in my hand).
I was leading a seminar on culture and evangelism a few years ago, drawing as usual from a wide variety of material: from Matrix movie clips to Nextreformation articles to U2 songs to (of course) Frank Lake's centerfolds.
On the last day, I knew it was time for a "lab." I sent my class out on the town in groups of three (No, we weren't dressed like Mormons) for low-key conversations with people. My group walked the parking lot of the shopping center where the church we were teaching at was located.
I'll never forget Nancy Boyd (pastor of this amazing tribe), bold and loving like Shawn (though not like Shawn),
not like Shawn),
befriending and praying for a guy sitting is his car. No, we didn't mention that two of us were pastors. But we noticed a minute into the conversation he was drinking a beer and had spread open on his dashboard..an adult magazine centerfold.
We had a good talk, and even prayer.
As we were about to leave, he asked "Are you from that church over there?
We were, we told him.
He said, "I think I went to school with one of the pastors."
He dropped the name and he was right.
No accident.
Steve (the pastor he mentioned, pictured here at the beach where he was, uh, doing theology homework with his senior pastor) have been praying for this guy since. Hopefully by now, he hasconnected with Jesus, the church community, and has encountered the big green book that's far better than porn.
connected with Jesus, the church community, and has encountered the big green book that's far better than porn.
The centerfolds can't be beat.
---
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If, for your paper, you want to consider chiasm in Philemon, after searching out any such structures yourselves (which you are getting good at!) consider:
- PHILEMON AS CHIASM WITH VERSE 14 AS CENTER
- THE SAME CHIASM AS ABOVE, WITH MORE DETAIL
- SAME CHIASM , SEEN A BIT DIFFERENTLY
- SAME CHIASM, DIFFERENTLY AGAIN
- -----------------------------------------
- INTERESTING INCLUSIO AND CHIASM OF NAMES IN PHILEMON
- -------------------------------------------------
- CHIASM IN PHILEMON 5
- SAME PHILEMON 5 CHIASM
>>Here is a simple and helpful online commentary on Philemon
>>Here is an excellent one from IVP
>>SEVERAL ADVANCED ONLINE ARTICLES AND COMMENTARIES
The first three pages below are from "The Bible Background Commentary"(very helpful) and the last page is the text and study notes from "The NIV Study Bible." They both cover some good historical and literary world background, which you may quote in your paper (not required), and which may help you decide the theme of the book.
Click a page to enlarge and read. Once you have a page open, you can click to magnify it.
-------------------
Kurt Willems, an FPU seminary student, has posted a helpful 5 part series on Philemon (text links below, audiohere):
Click a page to enlarge and read. Once you have a page open, you can click to magnify it.
-------------------
Kurt Willems, an FPU seminary student, has posted a helpful 5 part series on Philemon (text links below, audiohere):
- Philemon: Forgiveness that Leads to Reconciliation, part one
- Philemon: Forgiveness that Leads to Reconciliation, part 2 (Business / Partnership Metaphors
- Philemon: Forgiveness that Leads to Reconciliation, part 3 (A Slave, a Master, and Forgiveness)
- Philemon: Forgiveness that Leads to Reconciliation, part 4 (Radical Reconciliation)
- Philemon: Forgiveness that Leads to Reconciliation, part 5 (New Possibilites!)
James Dennison:
Perhaps we should approach Philemon by first analyzing its structure. You will observe that the first three verses include the names of five persons: Paul, Timothy, Philemon, Apphia, Archippus. You will further observe that the last three verses (vv. 23-25) conclude with the names of five persons: Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke. Now observe also that the pattern of verses 1-3 is five names plus the phrase "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ." This is precisely mirrored in verses 23-25: five names plus the phrase "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ." The greeting or salutation of the epistle ends with the Lord Jesus Christ. The closing or conclusion of the epistle ends with the Lord Jesus Christ. A perfectly balanced inclusio structurally envelops the tender plea of the apostle on behalf of Onesimus. Paul, Timothy, Philemon, Apphia, Archippus—members of the church; Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke—members of the church. Within the church, something new is occurring! LINK
Alternative views:
a)He might be a slave, but not a runaway. He simply was asking Paul for help in being an advocate. This view solves several problems with the traditional view, and this article is helpful on Paul's style of persuasion/theme of the letter. by Brian Dodd: click here
b)"This is not about a runaway slave at alll. Paul and Onesimus are literal brothers.":
There are several problems with the interpretation that Onesimus is a runaway fugitive slave. There are other examples of letters written in the period that Paul was writing that implore slaves to return to their masters and that implore masters to receive their slaves back graciously. Paul’s letter to Philemon does not follow the same pattern.
In addition, the epistle itself never says that Onesimus is a runaway or a thief, this is simply a presumption. Finally, the entire argument that Onesimus is a slave is based on verse 15 and 16 where Paul uses the greek word doulos to describe Onesimus. Certainly the word can be interpreted as slave, however, the word is used many other times in scripture and does not always mean that the one calleddoulos is a literal slave. Sometimes doulos refers to a son or a wife, not a slave. That one word is not a definitive identification of Onesimus.
What if Callahan’s interpretation is correct? Onesimus not just a Christian, he is actually a blood brother to Philemon. This interpretation means that the book of Philemon is about reconciliation in families rather than an admonition for the slave to remain obedient and the master to treat the slave fairly. LINK:Philemon...Slave Master?
..and then we encounter these verses which have caused many varied interpretations. Verses 15-16. Callahan translates them as, “For on this account he has left for the moment, so that you might have him back forever, no longer as though he were a slave, but, more than a slave, as a beloved brother very much so to me, but now much more so to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.”[1]
First, there is a grammatical question about how to translate this phrase which many have rendered “no longer as a slave.” Callahan dissects the greek and he argues that the phrase is more accurately translated, “no longer as though he were a slave.” Even with Callahan’s translation, the question remains: Why did Paul choose to use the word slave if Onesimus wasn’t a slave?
The word used is doulos and according to Callahan’s research, it “was a term of both honor and opprobrium in the early Christian lexicon.”[2]
It was thought to be an honor to be called a doulos tou theou or a slave of God. In fact, Paul calls himself a slave of Christ in several of his letters including Romans, Philippians, and Titus, as do other authors of the epistles of James and 2 Peter.
It is also true that the term slave signified subjugation, powerlessness, and dishonor, one who does not have liberty or agency on one’s own.
Callahan argues that Paul is using the term doulos to capture both dimensions of the human condition and is perhaps even making a connection with the Christ hymn in Philippians 2 where he quotes an ancient hymn that exalts the Christ who humbles himself to be nothing, powerless, and empty of the divine dimension, like a slave to the human condition.
Callahan argues that Paul is simply calling Onesimus a slave in the same way that he describes himself as a slave. Onesimus is also a doulos tou theou, a slave of God.
If this is the case, then Paul uses language that indicates Onesimus and Philemon are related, in fact that they are brothers in the flesh. Reconciliation and love between brothers was a special concern for several ancient writers and philosophers. One Roman philosopher named Plutarch writes of the importance of repairing a breach between brothers, even if it comes through a mutual friend...
James Dennison:
Perhaps we should approach Philemon by first analyzing its structure. You will observe that the first three verses include the names of five persons: Paul, Timothy, Philemon, Apphia, Archippus. You will further observe that the last three verses (vv. 23-25) conclude with the names of five persons: Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke. Now observe also that the pattern of verses 1-3 is five names plus the phrase "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ." This is precisely mirrored in verses 23-25: five names plus the phrase "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ." The greeting or salutation of the epistle ends with the Lord Jesus Christ. The closing or conclusion of the epistle ends with the Lord Jesus Christ. A perfectly balanced inclusio structurally envelops the tender plea of the apostle on behalf of Onesimus. Paul, Timothy, Philemon, Apphia, Archippus—members of the church; Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke—members of the church. Within the church, something new is occurring! LINK
Alternative views:
a)He might be a slave, but not a runaway. He simply was asking Paul for help in being an advocate. This view solves several problems with the traditional view, and this article is helpful on Paul's style of persuasion/theme of the letter. by Brian Dodd: click here
b)"This is not about a runaway slave at alll. Paul and Onesimus are literal brothers.":
There are several problems with the interpretation that Onesimus is a runaway fugitive slave. There are other examples of letters written in the period that Paul was writing that implore slaves to return to their masters and that implore masters to receive their slaves back graciously. Paul’s letter to Philemon does not follow the same pattern.
In addition, the epistle itself never says that Onesimus is a runaway or a thief, this is simply a presumption. Finally, the entire argument that Onesimus is a slave is based on verse 15 and 16 where Paul uses the greek word doulos to describe Onesimus. Certainly the word can be interpreted as slave, however, the word is used many other times in scripture and does not always mean that the one calleddoulos is a literal slave. Sometimes doulos refers to a son or a wife, not a slave. That one word is not a definitive identification of Onesimus.
What if Callahan’s interpretation is correct? Onesimus not just a Christian, he is actually a blood brother to Philemon. This interpretation means that the book of Philemon is about reconciliation in families rather than an admonition for the slave to remain obedient and the master to treat the slave fairly. LINK:Philemon...Slave Master?
..and then we encounter these verses which have caused many varied interpretations. Verses 15-16. Callahan translates them as, “For on this account he has left for the moment, so that you might have him back forever, no longer as though he were a slave, but, more than a slave, as a beloved brother very much so to me, but now much more so to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.”[1]
First, there is a grammatical question about how to translate this phrase which many have rendered “no longer as a slave.” Callahan dissects the greek and he argues that the phrase is more accurately translated, “no longer as though he were a slave.” Even with Callahan’s translation, the question remains: Why did Paul choose to use the word slave if Onesimus wasn’t a slave?
The word used is doulos and according to Callahan’s research, it “was a term of both honor and opprobrium in the early Christian lexicon.”[2]
It was thought to be an honor to be called a doulos tou theou or a slave of God. In fact, Paul calls himself a slave of Christ in several of his letters including Romans, Philippians, and Titus, as do other authors of the epistles of James and 2 Peter.
It is also true that the term slave signified subjugation, powerlessness, and dishonor, one who does not have liberty or agency on one’s own.
Callahan argues that Paul is using the term doulos to capture both dimensions of the human condition and is perhaps even making a connection with the Christ hymn in Philippians 2 where he quotes an ancient hymn that exalts the Christ who humbles himself to be nothing, powerless, and empty of the divine dimension, like a slave to the human condition.
Callahan argues that Paul is simply calling Onesimus a slave in the same way that he describes himself as a slave. Onesimus is also a doulos tou theou, a slave of God.
If this is the case, then Paul uses language that indicates Onesimus and Philemon are related, in fact that they are brothers in the flesh. Reconciliation and love between brothers was a special concern for several ancient writers and philosophers. One Roman philosopher named Plutarch writes of the importance of repairing a breach between brothers, even if it comes through a mutual friend...
-LINK: Philemon...Brother?
NOTE also: metaphorical terminology by Paul re: slavery in Galatians 4:7:
"So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir"... actually a verse quite similar to Philemon 16 (first clause the same, second clause family language)
"no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother."
OR MAYBE THE TWO ARE LITERAL BROTHERS AND ONESIMUS IS A SLAVE
See:
NOTE also: metaphorical terminology by Paul re: slavery in Galatians 4:7:
"So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir"... actually a verse quite similar to Philemon 16 (first clause the same, second clause family language)
"no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother."
OR MAYBE THE TWO ARE LITERAL BROTHERS AND ONESIMUS IS A SLAVE
See:
Philemon and Onesimus as (half) bothers AND slave/master
c)Allegory:
c)Allegory:
Philemon, an allegory?
Consider the following passage (Philemon 8-18) with these analogies in mind:
- Paul (the advocate) : Jesus
- Onesmus (the guilty slave) : us (sinners)
- Philemon (the slave owner) : God the Father
Martin Luther: "Even as Christ did for us with God the Father, thus also St. Paul does for Onesimus with Philemon"
Accordingly, though I (Paul) am bold enough in Christ to command you (Philemon) to do what is required, yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own free will. For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. LINK: Philemon, an allegory?
------------------------------------------------
Consider the following passage (Philemon 8-18) with these analogies in mind:
- Paul (the advocate) : Jesus
- Onesmus (the guilty slave) : us (sinners)
- Philemon (the slave owner) : God the Father
Martin Luther: "Even as Christ did for us with God the Father, thus also St. Paul does for Onesimus with Philemon"
Accordingly, though I (Paul) am bold enough in Christ to command you (Philemon) to do what is required, yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own free will. For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. LINK: Philemon, an allegory?
------------------------------------------------
Extra Credit!!: Christus Victor, Tricking the Devil, Golf Clubs
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ATONEMENT
When Jesus died , what was his death intended ti accomplish (Atonement, At-one0ment)
Keltic Ken of KRDU asks people at Manchester North shopping center:
What is Good Friday? Why is it good?
What is atonement?
At-one-ment: How does Jesus' death and resurrection make us ":at one" with God?
Here are the first two theories:
- 'Christus Victor" (CV on the chart); Jesus death trumped/triumphed over the devil, evil, and the "tyrant" of the law, sin death// see below
- "Marry Me" (MM on the chart): Jesus death was a wedding proposal, based on imagery in the Passover liturgy. see THIS
1)CHRISTUS VICTORYY:
---
---Matrix Revolutions...ending:
Click here to watch all 4 parts at once..
OR
Part 1 (click here)
(Check the cross over Neo's head at 1:26 at that click)
-----------------------
Part 2: is embedded below..
Check the crosses at 2:00 amd 2:56
What Scripture at 3:15?
--
part 3Here
part 4:
...........
-------
see also:
- "No Victor: deux machina"
ATONEMENT
When Jesus died , what was his death intended ti accomplish (Atonement, At-one0ment)
Keltic Ken of KRDU asks people at Manchester North shopping center:
What is Good Friday? Why is it good?
What is atonement?
At-one-ment: How does Jesus' death and resurrection make us ":at one" with God?
Here are the first two theories:- 'Christus Victor" (CV on the chart); Jesus death trumped/triumphed over the devil, evil, and the "tyrant" of the law, sin death// see below
- "Marry Me" (MM on the chart): Jesus death was a wedding proposal, based on imagery in the Passover liturgy. see THIS
1)CHRISTUS VICTORYY:
---
---Matrix Revolutions...ending:
Click here to watch all 4 parts at once..
OR
Part 1 (click here)
(Check the cross over Neo's head at 1:26 at that click)
-----------------------
Part 2: is embedded below..
Check the crosses at 2:00 amd 2:56
What Scripture at 3:15?
--
part 3Here
part 4:
...........
-------
see also:
- "No Victor: deux machina"
Christus Victor
Christus Victor (Christ the Victor) is a view of the atonement taken from the title of Gustaf Aulén’s groundbreaking book, first published in 1931, where he drew attention back to the early church’s Ransom theory. In Christus Victor, the atonement is viewed as divine conflict and victory over the hostile powers that hold humanity in subjection. Aulén argues that the classic Ransom theory is not so much a rational systematic theory as it is a drama, a passion story of God triumphing over the powers and liberating humanity from the bondage of sin. As Gustav Aulén writes, “the work of Christ is first and foremost a victory over the powers which hold mankind in bondage: sin, death, and the devil.”[1]
The Ransom Theory was predominant in the early church and for the first thousand years of church history and supported by all Greek Church Fathers from Irenaeus to John of Damascus. To mention only the most important names Origen, Athanasius, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus, and John Chrysostom. The Christus Victor view was also dominant among the Latin Fathers of the Patristic period including Ambrose, Augustine, Leo the Great, and Gregory the Great.
A major shift occurred when Anselm of Canterbury published his Cur Deos Homo around 1097 AD which marks the point where the predominate understanding of the atonement shifted from the ransom theory to the Satisfaction Doctrine in the Roman Catholic Church and subsequently the Protestant Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church still holds to the Ransom or Christus Victor view. This is built upon the understanding of the atonement put forward by Irenaeus, called “recapitulation”.[2]
As the term Christus Victor indicates, the idea of “ransom” should not be seen in terms (as Anselm did) of a business transaction, but more of a rescue or liberation of humanity from the slavery of sin. Unlike the Satisfaction or Penal-substitution views of the atonement rooted in the idea of Christ paying the penalty of sin to satisfy the demands of justice, the Christus Victor view is rooted in the incarnation and how Christ entered into human misery and wickedness and thus redeemed it. Irenaeus called this “Recapitulation” (re-creation). As it is often expressed: “Jesus became what we are so that we could become what he is”. LINK
--
More:
- "Christus Victor" atonement (see p, 148 of "Teaching the Bible through popular culture and the
The Ransom Theory was predominant in the early church and for the first thousand years of church history and supported by all Greek Church Fathers from Irenaeus to John of Damascus. To mention only the most important names Origen, Athanasius, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus, and John Chrysostom. The Christus Victor view was also dominant among the Latin Fathers of the Patristic period including Ambrose, Augustine, Leo the Great, and Gregory the Great.
A major shift occurred when Anselm of Canterbury published his Cur Deos Homo around 1097 AD which marks the point where the predominate understanding of the atonement shifted from the ransom theory to the Satisfaction Doctrine in the Roman Catholic Church and subsequently the Protestant Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church still holds to the Ransom or Christus Victor view. This is built upon the understanding of the atonement put forward by Irenaeus, called “recapitulation”.[2]
As the term Christus Victor indicates, the idea of “ransom” should not be seen in terms (as Anselm did) of a business transaction, but more of a rescue or liberation of humanity from the slavery of sin. Unlike the Satisfaction or Penal-substitution views of the atonement rooted in the idea of Christ paying the penalty of sin to satisfy the demands of justice, the Christus Victor view is rooted in the incarnation and how Christ entered into human misery and wickedness and thus redeemed it. Irenaeus called this “Recapitulation” (re-creation). As it is often expressed: “Jesus became what we are so that we could become what he is”. LINK
Anabaptism, Christus Victor, Postmodernity
Where else does a "Christus Victor": show up in literature/film?
C.S. Lewis, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe":
\
See:
The Beautiful Victory of the Cross and the Table of Aslan
- ---
2)"MARRY ME":
In the VanDer Laan video that we watched most of today, "Roll Away the Stone," we learned that:
When a couple was to be married, the fathers would negotiate the bride price. Once the bargain was struck, the groom would offer a cup of wine to his bride to be — declaring his love and pledging his life. She could either accept it or not. If she accepted the cup, she accepted the offer and pledged her love and life to him.
The Passover meal has four cups of wine. The third cup is the cup of redemption (or salvation). The host says a prayer and then passes the cup. “Blessed are you, oh God, king of the universe, creator of this fruit of the vine. He then declared this cup the blood of the new covenant — a new promise, in essence offering a pledge of his life.
When we take communion, God is declaring his love to us, and when we take the cup, we are returning his offer — promising our love and lives to God.
The bride-price paid by Jesus was high — his very life. It was so high that he asked God to let this “cup” pass from him.
The Lord’s Supper is a meal with God after a fellowship offering — it’s eating a meal with God. LINK
s-
Penal substitution:
The penal substitution theory.. It was proposed by John Calvin and other Protestant reformers. Instead of focusing on God's honor, it focuses on God's justice. This theory states that Jesus died on the cross as a substitute for mankind, taking our place. God imputed our sin to Jesus, and imputed the righteousness of Jesus to us.
The Satisfaction Theory / Penal Substitution
Penal Substitutiuon and/or Christus Vuictoir. Two videos:
Penal Substitution or Christus Victor (on theories of the atonement) from :redux on Vimeo.
See also:
From FPU"S Mark Baker:
- ---
2)"MARRY ME":
In the VanDer Laan video that we watched most of today, "Roll Away the Stone," we learned that:When a couple was to be married, the fathers would negotiate the bride price. Once the bargain was struck, the groom would offer a cup of wine to his bride to be — declaring his love and pledging his life. She could either accept it or not. If she accepted the cup, she accepted the offer and pledged her love and life to him.
The Passover meal has four cups of wine. The third cup is the cup of redemption (or salvation). The host says a prayer and then passes the cup. “Blessed are you, oh God, king of the universe, creator of this fruit of the vine. He then declared this cup the blood of the new covenant — a new promise, in essence offering a pledge of his life.
When we take communion, God is declaring his love to us, and when we take the cup, we are returning his offer — promising our love and lives to God.
The bride-price paid by Jesus was high — his very life. It was so high that he asked God to let this “cup” pass from him.
The Lord’s Supper is a meal with God after a fellowship offering — it’s eating a meal with God. LINK
s-Penal substitution:
The penal substitution theory.. It was proposed by John Calvin and other Protestant reformers. Instead of focusing on God's honor, it focuses on God's justice. This theory states that Jesus died on the cross as a substitute for mankind, taking our place. God imputed our sin to Jesus, and imputed the righteousness of Jesus to us.
The Satisfaction Theory / Penal Substitution
Penal Substitutiuon and/or Christus Vuictoir. Two videos:
Penal Substitution or Christus Victor (on theories of the atonement) from :redux on Vimeo.
See also:
From FPU"S Mark Baker:
Baker: Resources on the Atonement - Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary
Penal Substitution vs. Christus Victor
Have you ever heard:
"God cant look at you because you're sinful. He can only look at Jesus, or look at you through Jesus."
"on the cross, Jesus was temporarily but literally forsaken/abandoned by God the Father, because he was carrying the weight of our guilt and sin, and God is too holy to be involved in that."
??
Check this article:
Christians usually respond that God had to turn his back on Jesus because Jesus took on the sin of the whole world, and God can't look upon sin, so he turned away. We hear this in sermons and worship songs. "The Father turns his face away." "God can't stand sin, so he turned his back on Jesus."
On one level this provides a tidy theological answer. But at a more visceral, emotional level, it's still unsatisfying. In our own families, when a child has erred, we might get mad at them. But would we forsake them? Abandon them? Kill them? There was a case last year of parents with a very strict form of discipline. They thought their daughter was "rebellious," so they starved her and beat her. They locked their daughter out of the house in the middle of winter. She froze to death. We call that child abuse.
Is that what God did to Jesus? Left him on the cross to die?
This also raises the theological problem of the broken Trinity. Christians are Trinitarian; we believe that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, eternally united in purpose and divine love. But does the Father break fellowship with the Son on the cross? Are they pitted against each other?
Cross-Cultural PerspectivesWe in the West live in a predominantly guilt-based culture; we tend to think in terms of guilt and punishment. When someone is guilty, they must be punished. So if Jesus took on our guilt and sin, the punishment is death. God's justice must be satisfied, so Jesus must be executed. It's disturbing, but that's how we understand the story.
But much of the world, including the ancient biblical world, thinks less in terms of guilt and more in terms of shame and honor. A few years ago I read the book The Bookseller of Kabul, about life in Afghanistan. And some of the most disturbing parts were the descriptions of honor killings. A woman somehow brings shame to a family, and she is killed to take away the shame and to restore honor. It doesn't matter if she committed adultery or was raped. It doesn't matter if she was the perpetrator or the victim. If she has been made impure, the impurity must be removed to restore family honor. And in many cases, a father will kill his daughter. Or a woman's brothers will kill her. It will be described as an accident, but everybody knows what happened.
So modern objections to Christianity say that this is the essence of Christian teaching on the Cross. God's son has been made impure, tainted by the sin of the world. So God restores his honor by killing his son. This puts us Christians in a bind. If we defend this theology of the Cross, then it seems like our Christianity does the same thing as honor killings in Afghanistan. And we lose our basis for saying that those honor killings are wrong, because our God does the same thing. Does he?...
...I find it interesting that Matthew and Mark tell us that some of the hearers misheard Jesus. That opens up the possibility that the same has been true for others, and for us. Have we misunderstood this cry from the cross? The crucifixion narratives do not explicitly tell us what Jesus' cry meant. Both Matthew and Mark record the cry, but neither unpacks the meaning. They just let it stand. Neither actually says that God turned his face away, turned his back on Jesus, or abandoned him. That's an assumption that we bring to the text. It doesn't come from the passage itself.Here's the key biblical insight that changed everything for me in how I read this passage. It's a simple historical fact about how Israelites cited their Scriptures. They didn't identify passages by chapter numbers or verse numbers. Verse numbers weren't invented yet. Their Scriptures did not have little numbers in the text. So how they referenced a passage was to quote it, especially the first line. So the book of Genesis, in Hebrew, is not called Genesis. It's called, "In the beginning." Exodus is "Names." We similarly evoke a larger body of work with just a line of allusion: "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away." or "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
That's why Jesus often says, "It is written" or "You have heard it said." He doesn't say, "Deuteronomy 8:3 says this." No, he says, "It is written, 'Man does not live by bread alone.' " That's just the way they did it.
So when Jesus says, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" he's saying, "Psalm 22." He expected his hearers to catch the literary allusion. And his hearers should have thought of the whole thing, not just the first verse: "I am … scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. … I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax. … My mouth is dried up … my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. … All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment."
Is Jesus saying "I have been forsaken by God"? No. He's declaring, "Psalm 22! Pay attention! This psalm, this messianic psalm, applies to me! Do you see it? Do you see the uncanny way that my death is fulfilling this psalm?"
Jesus has done this before. At the beginning of his ministry, in Luke 4, he read the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue, saying, "The spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Then to make things completely clear, he said, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
That's what Jesus is saying on the cross. When he says, "My God, my God," he's saying, "Psalm 22. Today Psalm 22 is fulfilled in your hearing. I am the embodiment of this psalm. I am its fulfillment."
A Psalm of Lament and VindicationPsalm 22 is one of many psalms that fit a particular lyrical pattern. We call them the psalms of lament. They usually begin with a complaint to God, rehearsing the wrongs and injustices that have been experienced by the psalmist. Psalm 5: "Listen to my words, Lord. Consider my lament." Psalm 10: "Why, Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" Psalm 13: "How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?" Psalm 74: "O God, why have you rejected us forever?"
This is a common pattern in the Psalms. This opening lament usually goes on for a stanza or two. But then the psalm pivots. The psalmist remembers the works of God, and the psalm concludes on a note of hope. Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann says that these psalms were Israel's way of ordering their grief and making sense of their sorrow. Today, we'd call it "processing." They would recount their troubles, but by the end of the psalm, they declared their confidence in God.
That's what's happening in Psalm 22. It starts out with the psalmist feeling forsaken and abandoned. "Why have you forsaken me? … I cry out by day, but you do not answer." But he's not literally forsaken, any more than the other psalms mean that God was literally forgetting the psalmist forever. It's expressing how the psalmist felt at the time.
But that's not the end of the story. Like the other psalms of lament, there's a pivot point. Several, in fact. Verse 9: "Yet you brought me out of the womb … from my mother's womb you have been my God." Verse 19: "But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me." The psalm is not a psalm of forsakenness. It starts out that way, but it shifts to confidence in God's deliverance. Verse 22: "I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you." And here's the key verse, verse 24: "For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help."
Here is a direct refutation of the notion that the Father turned his face away from the Son. But the refutation is not as important as the pivot. Jesus is declaring: Right now, you are witnessing Psalm 22. I seem forsaken right now, but my death is not the end of the story. God has not despised my suffering. I will be vindicated. The Lord has heard my cry. Because death is not the end. Verse 30–31: "Future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!"
Jesus is not saying that God has forsaken him. He's declaring the opposite. He's saying that God is with him, even in this time of seeming abandonment, and that God will vindicate him by raising him from the dead.
The closest modern analogy I can come up with might be something like this. Imagine that later on this election year, this summer, the President is on the campaign trail. And despite his security, an assassin gets in and shoots him. As the President falls to the ground, he says, "I still have a dream." And then he dies.
Now imagine everybody saying, "Hmmm, his last words were 'I still have a dream.' I wonder what that means. What was his dream? Was he napping on the campaign bus? What was it about?" No, we'd all recognize that he was making an allusion to Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech. He'd be saying that this dream is still alive, that it did not stop with MLK's death, and it would not stop with his.
It's the same way with "My God, my God" on the cross. It's a biblical allusion, and the point of Psalm 22 is not about being forsaken. After all, David wrote Psalm 22. Was David saying that God had forsaken him forever? No. The literary genre of the psalm of lament shows that David was saying that he felt like God had forsaken him. That the odds were against him. That things looked really bad right then. But that was not the end of the story. David still had confidence that God would hear his cry. God did not abandon David. And God did not abandon Jesus. The clearest evidence of that, besides the rest of Psalm 22, is Jesus' final words on the cross, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." The Father had not forsaken him. God was still his Father. Jesus was still his Son -Link, full article
We watched the section from 1:20:27 to 1:28:54 ("God screaming alongside us":
Penal Substitution vs. Christus Victor
Have you ever heard:
"God cant look at you because you're sinful. He can only look at Jesus, or look at you through Jesus."
"on the cross, Jesus was temporarily but literally forsaken/abandoned by God the Father, because he was carrying the weight of our guilt and sin, and God is too holy to be involved in that."
??
Check this article:Christians usually respond that God had to turn his back on Jesus because Jesus took on the sin of the whole world, and God can't look upon sin, so he turned away. We hear this in sermons and worship songs. "The Father turns his face away." "God can't stand sin, so he turned his back on Jesus."
On one level this provides a tidy theological answer. But at a more visceral, emotional level, it's still unsatisfying. In our own families, when a child has erred, we might get mad at them. But would we forsake them? Abandon them? Kill them? There was a case last year of parents with a very strict form of discipline. They thought their daughter was "rebellious," so they starved her and beat her. They locked their daughter out of the house in the middle of winter. She froze to death. We call that child abuse.
Is that what God did to Jesus? Left him on the cross to die?
This also raises the theological problem of the broken Trinity. Christians are Trinitarian; we believe that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, eternally united in purpose and divine love. But does the Father break fellowship with the Son on the cross? Are they pitted against each other?
Cross-Cultural PerspectivesWe in the West live in a predominantly guilt-based culture; we tend to think in terms of guilt and punishment. When someone is guilty, they must be punished. So if Jesus took on our guilt and sin, the punishment is death. God's justice must be satisfied, so Jesus must be executed. It's disturbing, but that's how we understand the story.
But much of the world, including the ancient biblical world, thinks less in terms of guilt and more in terms of shame and honor. A few years ago I read the book The Bookseller of Kabul, about life in Afghanistan. And some of the most disturbing parts were the descriptions of honor killings. A woman somehow brings shame to a family, and she is killed to take away the shame and to restore honor. It doesn't matter if she committed adultery or was raped. It doesn't matter if she was the perpetrator or the victim. If she has been made impure, the impurity must be removed to restore family honor. And in many cases, a father will kill his daughter. Or a woman's brothers will kill her. It will be described as an accident, but everybody knows what happened.
So modern objections to Christianity say that this is the essence of Christian teaching on the Cross. God's son has been made impure, tainted by the sin of the world. So God restores his honor by killing his son. This puts us Christians in a bind. If we defend this theology of the Cross, then it seems like our Christianity does the same thing as honor killings in Afghanistan. And we lose our basis for saying that those honor killings are wrong, because our God does the same thing. Does he?......I find it interesting that Matthew and Mark tell us that some of the hearers misheard Jesus. That opens up the possibility that the same has been true for others, and for us. Have we misunderstood this cry from the cross? The crucifixion narratives do not explicitly tell us what Jesus' cry meant. Both Matthew and Mark record the cry, but neither unpacks the meaning. They just let it stand. Neither actually says that God turned his face away, turned his back on Jesus, or abandoned him. That's an assumption that we bring to the text. It doesn't come from the passage itself.Here's the key biblical insight that changed everything for me in how I read this passage. It's a simple historical fact about how Israelites cited their Scriptures. They didn't identify passages by chapter numbers or verse numbers. Verse numbers weren't invented yet. Their Scriptures did not have little numbers in the text. So how they referenced a passage was to quote it, especially the first line. So the book of Genesis, in Hebrew, is not called Genesis. It's called, "In the beginning." Exodus is "Names." We similarly evoke a larger body of work with just a line of allusion: "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away." or "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
That's why Jesus often says, "It is written" or "You have heard it said." He doesn't say, "Deuteronomy 8:3 says this." No, he says, "It is written, 'Man does not live by bread alone.' " That's just the way they did it.
So when Jesus says, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" he's saying, "Psalm 22." He expected his hearers to catch the literary allusion. And his hearers should have thought of the whole thing, not just the first verse: "I am … scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. … I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax. … My mouth is dried up … my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. … All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment."
Is Jesus saying "I have been forsaken by God"? No. He's declaring, "Psalm 22! Pay attention! This psalm, this messianic psalm, applies to me! Do you see it? Do you see the uncanny way that my death is fulfilling this psalm?"
Jesus has done this before. At the beginning of his ministry, in Luke 4, he read the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue, saying, "The spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Then to make things completely clear, he said, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
That's what Jesus is saying on the cross. When he says, "My God, my God," he's saying, "Psalm 22. Today Psalm 22 is fulfilled in your hearing. I am the embodiment of this psalm. I am its fulfillment."
A Psalm of Lament and VindicationPsalm 22 is one of many psalms that fit a particular lyrical pattern. We call them the psalms of lament. They usually begin with a complaint to God, rehearsing the wrongs and injustices that have been experienced by the psalmist. Psalm 5: "Listen to my words, Lord. Consider my lament." Psalm 10: "Why, Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" Psalm 13: "How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?" Psalm 74: "O God, why have you rejected us forever?"
This is a common pattern in the Psalms. This opening lament usually goes on for a stanza or two. But then the psalm pivots. The psalmist remembers the works of God, and the psalm concludes on a note of hope. Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann says that these psalms were Israel's way of ordering their grief and making sense of their sorrow. Today, we'd call it "processing." They would recount their troubles, but by the end of the psalm, they declared their confidence in God.
That's what's happening in Psalm 22. It starts out with the psalmist feeling forsaken and abandoned. "Why have you forsaken me? … I cry out by day, but you do not answer." But he's not literally forsaken, any more than the other psalms mean that God was literally forgetting the psalmist forever. It's expressing how the psalmist felt at the time.
But that's not the end of the story. Like the other psalms of lament, there's a pivot point. Several, in fact. Verse 9: "Yet you brought me out of the womb … from my mother's womb you have been my God." Verse 19: "But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me." The psalm is not a psalm of forsakenness. It starts out that way, but it shifts to confidence in God's deliverance. Verse 22: "I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you." And here's the key verse, verse 24: "For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help."
Here is a direct refutation of the notion that the Father turned his face away from the Son. But the refutation is not as important as the pivot. Jesus is declaring: Right now, you are witnessing Psalm 22. I seem forsaken right now, but my death is not the end of the story. God has not despised my suffering. I will be vindicated. The Lord has heard my cry. Because death is not the end. Verse 30–31: "Future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!"
Jesus is not saying that God has forsaken him. He's declaring the opposite. He's saying that God is with him, even in this time of seeming abandonment, and that God will vindicate him by raising him from the dead.
The closest modern analogy I can come up with might be something like this. Imagine that later on this election year, this summer, the President is on the campaign trail. And despite his security, an assassin gets in and shoots him. As the President falls to the ground, he says, "I still have a dream." And then he dies.
Now imagine everybody saying, "Hmmm, his last words were 'I still have a dream.' I wonder what that means. What was his dream? Was he napping on the campaign bus? What was it about?" No, we'd all recognize that he was making an allusion to Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech. He'd be saying that this dream is still alive, that it did not stop with MLK's death, and it would not stop with his.
It's the same way with "My God, my God" on the cross. It's a biblical allusion, and the point of Psalm 22 is not about being forsaken. After all, David wrote Psalm 22. Was David saying that God had forsaken him forever? No. The literary genre of the psalm of lament shows that David was saying that he felt like God had forsaken him. That the odds were against him. That things looked really bad right then. But that was not the end of the story. David still had confidence that God would hear his cry. God did not abandon David. And God did not abandon Jesus. The clearest evidence of that, besides the rest of Psalm 22, is Jesus' final words on the cross, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." The Father had not forsaken him. God was still his Father. Jesus was still his Son -Link, full article
We watched the section from 1:20:27 to 1:28:54 ("God screaming alongside us":
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See: also:
"The Lord Be With You...Even When He's Not!"----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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HEALING SHAME
"Guilt says I've done something wrong; shame says there is something wrong with me.
Guilt says I've made a mistake; shame says I am a mistake.
Guilt says what did was not good; shame says I am no good."
Bradshaw (1988).
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From Mark Baker, FPU:
A Japanese pastor asked Norman Kraus, a Mennonite missionary, “Why did Jesus have to die?” The pastor immediately clarified that he knew the answer – that Jesus had to die to pay the penalty for sins that God required – but that he did not find that explanation satisfying. Kraus pondered the question over the course of several months. He concluded that the traditional penal satisfaction explanation of the atonement was intelligible in a guilt-based society such as ours, which understood wrongs as an infraction against a legal or moral code. This guilt could be remedied through punishment that would relieve guilt. However, that same explanation would feel foreign and unintelligible in a shame-based society like Japan where both the wrong committed and the remedy are understood and felt in more relational ways. The wrongdoer is ridiculed or removed and hence feels alienation and shame, not guilt. When Kraus set aside the penal satisfaction model and read with new eyes, he found rich biblical material, including specific references to shame, that allowed him to proclaim to the Japanese how the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ provides freedom from the burden of shame and restores their relationship with God. By opening up to more than one Biblical explanation to the atonement, we can talk of Jesus bearing our shame and healing our alienation, in an ultimate sense, through the cross and resurrection. This has great evangelistic potential and pastoral significance not only in “shame based” cultures, but also in North America where people can be burdened by both guilt and shame. FPU link
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Hebrews (12:2)… “Jesus endured the cross, despised it’s shame for the….joy set before him!”
- HEALING SHAME
"Guilt says I've done something wrong; shame says there is something wrong with me.
Guilt says I've made a mistake; shame says I am a mistake.
Guilt says what did was not good; shame says I am no good."
Bradshaw (1988).
--
From Mark Baker, FPU:
A Japanese pastor asked Norman Kraus, a Mennonite missionary, “Why did Jesus have to die?” The pastor immediately clarified that he knew the answer – that Jesus had to die to pay the penalty for sins that God required – but that he did not find that explanation satisfying. Kraus pondered the question over the course of several months. He concluded that the traditional penal satisfaction explanation of the atonement was intelligible in a guilt-based society such as ours, which understood wrongs as an infraction against a legal or moral code. This guilt could be remedied through punishment that would relieve guilt. However, that same explanation would feel foreign and unintelligible in a shame-based society like Japan where both the wrong committed and the remedy are understood and felt in more relational ways. The wrongdoer is ridiculed or removed and hence feels alienation and shame, not guilt. When Kraus set aside the penal satisfaction model and read with new eyes, he found rich biblical material, including specific references to shame, that allowed him to proclaim to the Japanese how the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ provides freedom from the burden of shame and restores their relationship with God. By opening up to more than one Biblical explanation to the atonement, we can talk of Jesus bearing our shame and healing our alienation, in an ultimate sense, through the cross and resurrection. This has great evangelistic potential and pastoral significance not only in “shame based” cultures, but also in North America where people can be burdened by both guilt and shame. FPU link
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Hebrews (12:2)… “Jesus endured the cross, despised it’s shame for the….joy set before him!”
Jesus Christ prayed, at least implied, the whole gamut of emotionton in Psalm 22.
So can we.
The account of Jesus’ dying words in John actually could be made to infer that Jesus did in fact pray aloud the entire Psalm…or at least the first and last line… to give context and contour, no matter how real...and really troubling...the fulness of what he was experiencing.
Jesus, as John tellingly tells us, cried out the famous words…the “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” line “in a loud voice.” Then it is relayed that someone offered him a sponge with wine vinegar. (Matthew, not John, notes that Jesus had said “I thirst.) Then a fascinating, intriguing fact that only John highlights: “And then, after receiving the drink, he cried out again in a loud voice”
(emphasis mine). This second crying out has puzzled Bible readers for years: What did he say? Was it anything audible? Was it the “eighth saying from they cross”, just one that never got transcribed?
There is actually a chance that we know exactly what he cried out that second time.
With the help of John.
The mentioning of the wine vinegar sponge being lifted to Jesus is immediately followed…not in Matthew, but only in John… not by Jesus offering up a generic loud cry. Jon alone tells us exactly what Jesus said. I’m reading it now; watch this: “The wine was lifted to his lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said…..
‘It... is…. finished.’
With that , he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
So according to John’s journal, the literal last words of Jesus were not a helpless “My God, Why…” but a hearty “It is finished.”
Three words which are strikingly similar to the literal last words of Psalm 22.
Look at them. One version even translates the last line of Psalm 22; “It is finished”
Many scholars recognize the similarity in the structure of the Hebrew (of Psalm 22)
This last line is usually rendered something like in the NIV “He (God) has done it.”
Jesus’s cry on the cross, “It is finished” doesn’t specifically mention God having done or finished something; so we often assume it means “It is finished…I, Jesus, have finished the saving act of dying on the cross.” That of course, is true and key. But in the Greek language grammar, it may well be what we call a ”divine passive”…a sentence that doesn’t specifically mention God, but implies it. Like we might say “Someone is watching out for you.” Or “I was touched.” So it may be “It is finished; God has done it.”
The last line of Psalm 22 may have been the last line of Jesus on Friday.
He may have forced himself, as he was dying, to say and pray aloud, the whole thing.
Did you ever wonder why Jesus said “I thirst” right in the middle of dying? Maybe he was right in the middle of a long Psalm, but he knew he had to get it all said.
For our sake.
Again, whether or not Jesus literally prayed the first line only, the first and closing line (a common framing technique in Bible days, a framing device, an “inclusio”), or the entire psalm, the message is the same salty one:
“I feel this whole psalm. My guts are literally being wrenched. I wonder why God is doing this to me. But I am sensing it will work out; that God is finishing something.”
"The Lord Be With You...Even When He's Not!"
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I believe Corrie Ten Boom was right and right on:
Jesus died naked.
Even the (very conservative)Dallas Theological commentaries assume this, so this is not just some "liberal" agenda:
"That Jesus died naked was part of the shame which He bore for our sins. " -link
Which means this picture
(found on a blog with no credit)
is likely wrong(Jesus looks too white).
...and largely right (What Jesus is wearing).
I answered a question about this a few years ago, I would write it a bit differently know, but here it is:
First of all, it is probable that (again, contrary to nearly all artwork and movies), Jesus hung on the cross absolutely naked. This was a typical way of crucifixion, to increase the shame factor. Romans might occasionally add a loincloth type of garment as a token concession and nod to Jewish sensitivity; but not very often, it would seem. Of course, once we get past the emotive and cultural shock of imagining Jesus naked, we realize that if He indeed die naked, the symbolism is profound and prophetic: In Scripture, Jesus is called the "Second Adam". As such, it would make sense that He died "naked and unashamed." We are also told that "cursed is he who dies on a tree." The nakedness was a sign and enfolding of shame and token of curse. And the wonderful story of Corrie ten Boom and family, told in the book and movie "The Hiding Place," relates. One of the turning points of her ability to endure the Ravensbruck concentration camp, particularly the shame of walking naked past the male guards, was her conviction that Jesus too was shamed and stripped naked before guards. "Finally, it dawned on me," she preached once," that this (shaming through nakedness) happened to Jesus too..., and Jesus is my example, and now it is happening to me, then I am simply doing what Jesus did." She concluded, "I know that Jesus gave me that thought and it gave me peace. It gave me comfort and I could bear the shame and cruel treatment." ( continued )
Stephen Seamands, in "Wounds That Heal," (much of it a free read here) stirs me to wonder if shaming is always perpetrated in two stages:
1)forced/involuntary/public nakedness (literal or emotional) nakedness of soul may be even worse)
2)the promise of continued shaming beyond death (by dishonoring our name after we are gone, or sending us to hell in the afterlife ).
Seamands quotes the most important theologian you have never heard of,Frank Lake, and that section reminds how vital it might be to doggedly defend the doctrine (that most evangelicals seem to think is unspeakable, even though very conservative Dallas Seminary professors claim it is necessary, let alone Martin Hengel in his classic book "Crucifixion)"that Jesus died completely naked...especially that he might completely identify with, incarnate; convert and subvert our shame, particularly of sexual abuse or memories:
Crucifixions were purposely carried out in public..Executioners heightened the shame by turning the gruesome personal ordeal into grisly public entertainment.. In most paintings, films and artistic depictions, the crucified figure of Jesus is partially covered with a loincloth. But in the ancient world, the victim was always crucified naked. The shameful exposure often continued after death since it was common for the victim to be denied burial.. Hengel explains, ...'What it meant for man in antiquity to be refused burial, and the dishonor that went with it, can hardly be appreciated by modern man.' ...Frank Lake expresses the truth powerfully in describing Christ's experience of shame in nakedness: 'He hangs on the Cross naked. Both the innocent who were not loved and the guilty who have spurned love are ashamed. Both have something to hide. Clothing is the symbol of hiding what we are ashamed to reveal. In His own innocence He is identified with the innocent in nakedness...He was so deprived of His natural clothing of transfigured beauty and glory that men, seeing Him thus, shrank away from Him. The whole world will see this King appearing in all beauty and glory, because He allowed both..to be utterly taken away.' -Seamands, pp 49-50
More posts on Jesus dying naked? See:.
See: "Jesus died naked..but not in Christian art and movies."
and"The Last Temptation of Movie Boycotters,"
That some well-meaning folks suggest we should never mention his nakedness,
that doing so is so wrong as to be satanic...
that we should fear thinking about genitalia,
is represented here:
That he may have been naked is as about as important as what kind of nails were used to nail him there. Copper? Bronze? Iron? Who cares?! Was the crown of thorns made of Briar thorns or Thistle? Who cares?
Did Jesus die? Who cares? (Bear with me).
Did Jesus lay down his life willingly and by his own power, and then take it back up again just as willingly and just as powerfully? THAT is the point.
Don't get distracted by images of genetalia! [sic] And let's face it; as soon as you hear someone say "Jesus died naked on a cross", that's the first thing that pops into your carnal, fleshly, sinful mind. As soon as you hear it, you are IMMEDIATELY distracted.
That man who is telling you that may not know that he's being used as a servant of Satan; but he is.
-link
Of course, I feel for this position, and am aware that the naked Jesus doctrine could be terribly abused...But I fear that ironically, it may be crucial to recover/uncover.
It may not be a "required doctrine,"....but..
Anyway..
Several pages later, Seamands, in a
discussion on the practical relevance of the Trinity (Note:see his entire wonderful book on this important topic):
'My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?' On the cross, Christ gave expression not only to his own sorrow and disappointment, and ours, but also to God's...At the foot of the cross, our mournful cries of lament are always welcome...
...This cry is the only place in the gospels where Jesus didn't address God with the personal, intimate, 'My Father,'...
..On the cross, the bonds of trust between the Father and the Son seem to disintegrate. As theologian Jurgen Moltmann says, 
'The love that binds the one to the other is transformed into a dividing curse.'....Yet at the cross, the Father and the Son are never more united, never more bound together. They are one in their surrender, one in their self-giving. The Father surrenders the Son...The Son, in turn, surrenders himself...So {they} are united even in their separation, held together by their oneness of will and purpose
-Seamands, 67-68
More on the dynamics of God forsaking God here, and more on the trinitarian centrality of all this by clicking the "trinity" label below this post.
Finally, Seamands helps me grasp that Jesus died not only for our shame, but our rage
(rage, of course, is often enacted as a reaction to shame). Rage, ironically, is what literally killed Jesus (and shamed him into nakedness):
Christ became the innocent, willing victim of their rage. But not only their [those at the cross] rage -ours too. Frank Lake is right: 'We attended the Crucifixion in our crowds, turned on our Healer..' -Seamands, 69
Which of course, leads to Jesus healing us precisely when we deserve it least and need it most.
Naked and (un)ashamed.
See this great chapter 8 in
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I believe Corrie Ten Boom was right and right on:
Jesus died naked.
Even the (very conservative)Dallas Theological commentaries assume this, so this is not just some "liberal" agenda:
"That Jesus died naked was part of the shame which He bore for our sins. " -link
Which means this picture
(found on a blog with no credit)
is likely wrong(Jesus looks too white).
...and largely right (What Jesus is wearing).
I answered a question about this a few years ago, I would write it a bit differently know, but here it is:
First of all, it is probable that (again, contrary to nearly all artwork and movies), Jesus hung on the cross absolutely naked. This was a typical way of crucifixion, to increase the shame factor. Romans might occasionally add a loincloth type of garment as a token concession and nod to Jewish sensitivity; but not very often, it would seem. Of course, once we get past the emotive and cultural shock of imagining Jesus naked, we realize that if He indeed die naked, the symbolism is profound and prophetic: In Scripture, Jesus is called the "Second Adam". As such, it would make sense that He died "naked and unashamed." We are also told that "cursed is he who dies on a tree." The nakedness was a sign and enfolding of shame and token of curse. And the wonderful story of Corrie ten Boom and family, told in the book and movie "The Hiding Place," relates. One of the turning points of her ability to endure the Ravensbruck concentration camp, particularly the shame of walking naked past the male guards, was her conviction that Jesus too was shamed and stripped naked before guards. "Finally, it dawned on me," she preached once," that this (shaming through nakedness) happened to Jesus too..., and Jesus is my example, and now it is happening to me, then I am simply doing what Jesus did." She concluded, "I know that Jesus gave me that thought and it gave me peace. It gave me comfort and I could bear the shame and cruel treatment." ( continued )
Stephen Seamands, in "Wounds That Heal," (much of it a free read here) stirs me to wonder if shaming is always perpetrated in two stages:
1)forced/involuntary/public nakedness (literal or emotional) nakedness of soul may be even worse)
2)the promise of continued shaming beyond death (by dishonoring our name after we are gone, or sending us to hell in the afterlife ).
Seamands quotes the most important theologian you have never heard of,Frank Lake, and that section reminds how vital it might be to doggedly defend the doctrine (that most evangelicals seem to think is unspeakable, even though very conservative Dallas Seminary professors claim it is necessary, let alone Martin Hengel in his classic book "Crucifixion)"that Jesus died completely naked...especially that he might completely identify with, incarnate; convert and subvert our shame, particularly of sexual abuse or memories:
Crucifixions were purposely carried out in public..Executioners heightened the shame by turning the gruesome personal ordeal into grisly public entertainment.. In most paintings, films and artistic depictions, the crucified figure of Jesus is partially covered with a loincloth. But in the ancient world, the victim was always crucified naked. The shameful exposure often continued after death since it was common for the victim to be denied burial.. Hengel explains, ...'What it meant for man in antiquity to be refused burial, and the dishonor that went with it, can hardly be appreciated by modern man.' ...Frank Lake expresses the truth powerfully in describing Christ's experience of shame in nakedness: 'He hangs on the Cross naked. Both the innocent who were not loved and the guilty who have spurned love are ashamed. Both have something to hide. Clothing is the symbol of hiding what we are ashamed to reveal. In His own innocence He is identified with the innocent in nakedness...He was so deprived of His natural clothing of transfigured beauty and glory that men, seeing Him thus, shrank away from Him. The whole world will see this King appearing in all beauty and glory, because He allowed both..to be utterly taken away.' -Seamands, pp 49-50
More posts on Jesus dying naked? See:.
See: "Jesus died naked..but not in Christian art and movies."
and"The Last Temptation of Movie Boycotters,"
That some well-meaning folks suggest we should never mention his nakedness,
that doing so is so wrong as to be satanic...
that we should fear thinking about genitalia,
is represented here:
That he may have been naked is as about as important as what kind of nails were used to nail him there. Copper? Bronze? Iron? Who cares?! Was the crown of thorns made of Briar thorns or Thistle? Who cares?
Of course, I feel for this position, and am aware that the naked Jesus doctrine could be terribly abused...But I fear that ironically, it may be crucial to recover/uncover.
Did Jesus die? Who cares? (Bear with me).
Did Jesus lay down his life willingly and by his own power, and then take it back up again just as willingly and just as powerfully? THAT is the point.
Don't get distracted by images of genetalia! [sic] And let's face it; as soon as you hear someone say "Jesus died naked on a cross", that's the first thing that pops into your carnal, fleshly, sinful mind. As soon as you hear it, you are IMMEDIATELY distracted.
That man who is telling you that may not know that he's being used as a servant of Satan; but he is.
-link
It may not be a "required doctrine,"....but..
Anyway..
Several pages later, Seamands, in a discussion on the practical relevance of the Trinity (Note:see his entire wonderful book on this important topic):
'My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?' On the cross, Christ gave expression not only to his own sorrow and disappointment, and ours, but also to God's...At the foot of the cross, our mournful cries of lament are always welcome...
More on the dynamics of God forsaking God here, and more on the trinitarian centrality of all this by clicking the "trinity" label below this post.
...This cry is the only place in the gospels where Jesus didn't address God with the personal, intimate, 'My Father,'...
..On the cross, the bonds of trust between the Father and the Son seem to disintegrate. As theologian Jurgen Moltmann says,'The love that binds the one to the other is transformed into a dividing curse.'....Yet at the cross, the Father and the Son are never more united, never more bound together. They are one in their surrender, one in their self-giving. The Father surrenders the Son...The Son, in turn, surrenders himself...So {they} are united even in their separation, held together by their oneness of will and purpose
-Seamands, 67-68
Finally, Seamands helps me grasp that Jesus died not only for our shame, but our rage
(rage, of course, is often enacted as a reaction to shame). Rage, ironically, is what literally killed Jesus (and shamed him into nakedness):
Christ became the innocent, willing victim of their rage. But not only their [those at the cross] rage -ours too. Frank Lake is right: 'We attended the Crucifixion in our crowds, turned on our Healer..' -Seamands, 69
Which of course, leads to Jesus healing us precisely when we deserve it least and need it most.
Naked and (un)ashamed.
See this great chapter 8 in
Saint Paul Returns to the Movies: Triumph Over Shame
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for shame being the source of our win.
- for shame being the source of our win.
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The Recapitulation /Restoration Theory of Atonement
Two videos, then a definition:
"sees the atonement of Christ as reversing the course of mankind from disobedience to obedience. It believes that Christ’s life recapitulated all the stages of human life and in doing so reversed the course of disobedience initiated by Adam."^[1]^
This view originated with Irenaeus (125-202 AD). He sees Christ as the new Adam, who systematically undoes what Adam did. Thus, where Adam was disobedient concerning God's edict concerning the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, Christ was obedient even to death on the wood of a tree. Irenaeus is the first to draw comparisons between Eve and Mary, contrasting the faithlessness of the former with the faithfulness of the latter. In addition to reversing the wrongs done by Adam, Irenaeus thinks of Christ as "recapitulating" or "summing up" human life.^[2]^ LINK
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- The Recapitulation /Restoration Theory of Atonement
Two videos, then a definition:"sees the atonement of Christ as reversing the course of mankind from disobedience to obedience. It believes that Christ’s life recapitulated all the stages of human life and in doing so reversed the course of disobedience initiated by Adam."^[1]^This view originated with Irenaeus (125-202 AD). He sees Christ as the new Adam, who systematically undoes what Adam did. Thus, where Adam was disobedient concerning God's edict concerning the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, Christ was obedient even to death on the wood of a tree. Irenaeus is the first to draw comparisons between Eve and Mary, contrasting the faithlessness of the former with the faithfulness of the latter. In addition to reversing the wrongs done by Adam, Irenaeus thinks of Christ as "recapitulating" or "summing up" human life.^[2]^ LINK--
