Answer the interesting question posted on my Facebook "Questions" by midnight tonight 1/30.
Probably best to answer HERE on Facebook, but you can also answer in the comments below the this blog post (just be sure to leave your name for credit)
Which is the greater sin?
To tell a lie? | ||
To lose your temper? |
On the "text" message theme...I'll tell a story about getting the same "text message" on my Starbucks (St. Arbuck's) cup...against all odds...about 17 times. When a text is repeated (RECURRENCE) multiple times, something is up. Throughout these first several chapters of Matthew, look for a repeated phrase ("righteousness"). we'll discuss that in a minute..
Related: see:
a word from God at St. Arbuck's
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.Here is what quiz #3 will looks like. Remember, there is a new tab at the top of the website where all quizzes (and "missions" or alternatives to quizzes are listed). .
Today we'll cover #4-7.
I
5=Play On Words. This happens a lot, even puns show up in biblical text. A great example is Matthew 16:
In the original Greek the word translated as "Peter" is Πέτρος (Petros) and that translated as "rock" is πέτρα (petra), two words that, while not identical, give an impression of one of many times when Jesus used a play on words. link
then you'll remember this "play on words"...'
at 3:47ff in this video:
or in this video:
.
It's an old joke..
With two lessons for class:
- 1).Pay attention in reading the text messages in Matthew. Sometimes it's just as important what he DOESN'T say...as what he DOES
- 2)Reading a gospel text is a lot like overhearing a phone conversation, but you only hear one side/one voice...so it takes guesswork (Or "Three Worlds" and "literary world" detective work) to determine what the other person said. Of course this is particularly true in the New Testament letters. Often, Paul is writing a letter to a church, and addressing specific situations. We know the other person or church wrote a previous letter, but the Bible DOESN"T SAY what was said.
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#6 and 7 will be explained below as we pick up today's theme of Baptism/Testation.
#6="Particularization" "Generalization" or "Coupling" This is a literary technique where the general topic in the first section is particularized in the following section.. The classic example we'll talk about today is "Son of God" in Matt 3 and then Matt 4.
#7=REVISITATION/REMIX. This means a theme is repeated and remixed throughout the text. The example today (below) is about how the devil kept remixing the same three temptations/testations that he offered originally in chapter 4.
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Jesus' Baptism:
we'll watch a short video about the Jordan River called "Wet Feet." It is not online, but a condensed transcript is here: Jordan River Faith Lesson, For quiz 4, and for the exam, be prepared to discuss two aspects of the Jordan's symbolism as discussed in the video/transcript: 1)as a barrier 2)The Spirit descending...and give a couple answers to "Who is Jesus in Matthew?" from this clip.
By class Wednesday, extra points if you post in the comments below, or bring to class the THREE Scriptures quoted, paraphrased are alluded to (IT'S A TRIPLE PASTE this time) in the "Text message from God" at Jesus' baptism:
“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
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Check out these fish in the Jordan River, who nibbled at my feet (or somebody did(:...)as a pastor from Africa and I baptized some folks in the Jordan River:
NOTE: a drop-down box in the baptism scene:
Jesus replied,
“Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.
righteous could also be translated "justice."
Watch for this word to drop all over Matthew:,,
what if you read it as "justice"
instead of "righteousness.":
- Matthew 3:15
Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
Matthew 3:14-16 (in Context) Matthew 3 (Whole Chapter) - Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Matthew 5:5-7 (in Context) Matthew 5 (Whole Chapter) - Matthew 5:10
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:9-11 (in Context) Matthew 5 (Whole Chapter) - Matthew 5:20
For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:19-21 (in Context) Matthew 5 (Whole Chapter) - Matthew 6:1
[ Giving to the Needy ] “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
Matthew 6:1-3 (in Context) Matthew 6 (Whole Chapter) - Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6:32-34 (in Context) Matthew 6 (Whole Chapter) - Matthew 21:32
For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.
Matthew 21:31-33 (in Context) Matthew 21 (Whole Chapter)
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Just as we might see the theme of "subversion of empire" (remember Matthew 2:1 and the video, "In The Shadow of Herod") being repeated, recast and remixed throughout Matthew's gospel..
We might also suggest that the same three temptations Jesus faced in Chapter 4 were repeated, recast and remixed throughout the rest of the gospel, at different points in Jesus' life...
We noted today that the baptism of Jesus (chapter 3) and the temptations (chapter 4) should be read together as one literary unit or paragraph (we called this a "coupling" (or "particularization") as two items are connected, not three, as in "intercalation").
- 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)
-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 message:
"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?"
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Start reading chapters 1-4 of your Kraybill UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM text, and note that has a
unique way of categorizing the three temptations:
2=Jump from temple and test God:Religious
3=Own all kingdoms: Political;
- Also: see Henri Nouwen's helpful take on the temptations here.
- Also: Why do I call the temptations "testations"? See class notes or stay tuned...we'll deal in depth with this next time
- Also: What did you think about the Lord's prayer, in which Jesus clearly instructs disciples to pray "lead us not into temptation" VS. Matt 4:1, where the Spirit (God) leads Jesus into temptation? Hmm, stay tuned..
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Remember my temptation over by the seminary..when the girl jumped in to my car and mad me an offer. What was that about at core?
DID JESUS EVER EXPERIENCE SEXUAL TEMPTATION?
DID JESUS EVER EXPERIENCE HOMOSEXUAL TEMPTATION?
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..
..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)...
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| clck to enlarge |
The Ray Vander Laan video we watched (LATER NOTE: we didn't watch it.. we'll watch it Wed.) ( "Jesus Our Desert – The Three Temptations") is new, and unfortunately not summarized or viewable online yet, so do get notes from a classmate if you had to miss.
VanDer Laan suggested 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. We noted that 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.
It is important that 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" (more on that phrase next time) power.
We noted that 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, OR if you's consider writing a "mission" assignment on this passage:
- 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.
Interesting and subversive to note..also IRONY that it says
devil. But what about the "Lord's Prayer" in Matthew 6: "Leas us NOT into temptation."
But God did lead Jesus into temptation..though be clear that the devil did the tempting.
How do you sort this out?
See :The devil is God's devil..
BELOW,: Robert Farrar Capon, from an out of print classic (no wonder it's 100 bucks on Amazon.(
talks about the difference between Jesus and the devil:
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 offers Jesus a short cut, Jesus calls it a dead end and turns a deaf ear.
-"The Third Peacock," 43-45.
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