Historical world...by now you can name a few people in this photo:
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| and this is my JCC prof, Les, and wife Erlene.. |
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| His wife died a few years ago..so what do you do, crop her out of the picture? |
Our campus historical trips call attention to the shared history/heritage/memories Jesus and the disciples shared with Israel.
Have you ever visited a spot where a store, your hone, or another place used to be...but it was torn down, remodeled, burned? It just doesn't feel/look right.
Someone deleted your holy ground...but not your memories?
This concept will be important when we talk later about the Jewish temple being destroyed. How do you think religious Jews feel today to see this temple mount with no temple (destroyed AD 70) and a mosque built right on top of the site (600s)?
So this below is the FPC amphitheatre.. it was (not "IS") thecoolest spot on campus back in the day: plays, movies, concerts, weddings. Even graduation ceremonies were held here. Can you spot where on campus this WAS? Can you guess what's been built over it? No one asked my permission to bulldoze my memories.
Oh, yes, that is me in the photo, waving to you from 1982:
In fact, you can see it as soon as you open the door of our classroom.
R, I, P.
That reminds us of he key place for Israel; the seminal event, the central memory in the Jewish mind in Jesus' day, whih was
The dance party on the beach.
The very place the Kingdom began.
As a 'beach-head," if you will.
I'm glad no one has built a taco stand there..
Here it is..
The Jews believed that --in a limited but vital way--- the Kingdom had begun on earth.. at a specific Old Testament time and place... and worked "forwards" from there. Even though this "seminal event": (Van DerLaan's phrase) happened 1000+ years before Jesus, and no one alive in Jesus' day was there when it happened, it was as if they were. Common memory.
Thus today's video field trip..
to The Exodus and the "Dance Party on the Beach." This video, which we will draw from all semester is not online in any form (though you can buy it as episode 5 on this DVD). The points to remember are how this was the seminal/foundational/formative microcosmic event of (perhaps all) Scripture, in that:
1)It presents a pattern and prototype of any deliverance from bondage/slavery; and every "way out" (Ex-Odus)
from an old way/world to a new way/world. We had some good discussion about "in-between times" in our lives that we recognized (maybe only in retrospect) as pivotal and formative. Crossing the sea is often meant to call to mind crossing a barrier (remember the Jordan River video from Week One) into a while new world, creation or order; from allegiance to forbidden gods to The One God. Jesus is seen in Matthew as the New Moses in that just as Moses led God's people out of bondage to an oppressive ruler/"king" (Pharoah, who is a hyperlink to Herod, see chapter 4 of H & Y textbook) and an empire that infected them (Egypt), so Jesus leads God's people out of spiritual bondage to an oppressive ruler/"king" (Herod) and an empire that infected them (Rome). This is a classic intertexting/hyperlinking/parallelism.
2)It is really the first time God's people are formed/forged into a community; they have "been through stuff together" and are inevitably bonded and changed through a corporate experience. They have experienced "communitas" and "liminality" (both terms will be on exams) together.. Thus:
3)Also, remember (for the test) the Jewish tradition that the Kingdom of God functionally, and for all practical purposes, began (or landed in a foundational way on earth) when God's people there on the beach danced and sang, "The Lord is reigning" ( Exodus 15:18 )...remembering that "reigning" could be translated "King" or "Reigner". Thus, God's Kingship "began" when God's people publicly recognized it after seeing God in action in dramatic way as King. Vander Laan: "The Kingdom begins when God acts"
...Exodus 15:18:
- "The Lord is reigning from this point onward."
- "The Lord is King from this point onward."
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| DROP-DOWN BOX |
In the same way as when you encounter a drop-down menu on a website, and you know you can choose different options, when we talk about "drop-down boxes" in the "text message" of the Bible, will mean a place where you can choose between two options/terms.
veanvehhu
in teh Hebrew text of the song the Israelites sang on the beach
could be translated either "praise"
or "oasis."
This of course makes it a "fuzzy set."
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Here's one more symbol, which we;ll call "Kingdom"
Remember, when we talk about tHE Kingdom in the Bible
the Kingdom that
- Kingdom of God
- Kingdom of heaven
is itself a drop-dpwn-box.
Both refer to the same reality.
You may remember why the two terms, and why only Matthew uses the first.
In fact, the first person to post in the comments below this post the reason why wins a prize,
But what is this reality.
First of all, when you thing KINGDOM,
think
- REIGN AND RULE (of Jesus) >NOT REALM
- PERSON AND PRESENCE (of Jesus >NOT PlACE
Even thougth it's hard not to use "WHERE" language when talking about a kingdom.
Many Jews of Jesus' day (and actually, the Greeks) thought of the Kingdom of God as largely a future identity/reality/location.
So when Jesus, in Matthew 4:17 announces that he, as King, is ALREADY bringing in the Kingdom,
The Jews talked often about "this age" (earth/now) and "the age to come." (heaven/future).
"Age to come" was used in a way that it was virtually synonymous with "The Kingdom."
Scripture suggests that:
The "age to come" (the Kingdom)
has in large part already come (from the future/heaven)
into "this age"
(in the present/on the earth
by means of the earthy ministry of Jesus: King of the Kingdom.
Thus, Hebrews 6:4-8 offers that disciples ("tamidim") of Jesus have
"already (in this age) tasted the powers of the age to come."
In Jesus, in large part, the age to come has come.
The Future has visited the present,
Here are some articles that may help:
Thus Kingdom comes from the past (the beach)
and the future (age to come)...both..so fuzzy set.
Finally, more on the "breach-head" concept from Dom Williams
Jesus proclaimed a kingdom come and coming, both future and present at the same time. Here we are on dead center. Jesus believes in the reestablishment of God's rightful reign in Israel and among the Gentile nations. His mission inaugurates that reign. While God's kingdom is present in his ministry, it is not fully present. There is a future fulfillment when Satan, sin and death will be completely destroyed. At the same time, Jesus comes to manifest God's direct rule here and now, healing the sick, casting out demons, bringing justice to the poor and defeating our enemies. This means that the future messianic kingdom has dawned; it has broken in upon us. Furthermore, it is God's intention to spread this kingdom around the world (to the Gentiles) and down through history until its consummation .In sum, the kingdom is really here but it is not fully here. Believers, then, live in the tension between the kingdom come and coming, the "already and the not yet."
For the New Testament, history is determined by two ages: this present evil age and the coming age of salvation.(See Matthew 12:32) Oscar Cullmann in his classic book, Christ and Time, shows us that this structure is not optional for understanding and retaining the biblical message. Illustrating the meaning of Jesus' coming, Cullmann uses his classic example of the World War II distinction between "D-Day" and "V-Day." When the allies established the Normandy beachhead on "D-Day," the war in Europe was really won. Yet, "V-Day" remained in the future and the battle went on. Likewise, when Jesus came as God's Messiah (Deliverer), it was "D-Day," the beachhead of God's kingdom was secured. It literally broke in upon us as the future became present. Nevertheless, we await its final consummation. When Jesus returns it will be "V-Day." The Christian life is then lived in this tension between the kingdom come and coming.
This illuminates our present experience. It explains both the reality of our triumph in Christ and the continuing spiritual warfare which we fight on many fronts. It explains the reality that we have died with Christ, and the flesh still wars against the spirit. It explains why some people are dramatically healed by the power of God and also continue to get sick and die. It explains why we have strength through weakness and life through death. If we break this tension we either end up in the resignation of "cessationism" (God doesn't work miracles today), or the triumphalism of perfectionism (God always works miracles if we have the faith to believe him). The good news is that the future kingdom is now at work in the present. We are not waiting for the end; we are living in the end. By the power of the Spirit we are enabled to live between the times.
For us, the Christian life will always be lived in tension. All whom we evangelize will not be converted. All whom we pray for will not be healed. But some will as the kingdom breaks in. Jesus teaches us to pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." This is not a magic prayer bringing the perfection of heaven down to earth, which would be dualistic Platonism. This is an eschatological prayer asking for the future kingdom to break in upon us in the present. It is also our prayer for the consummation of all things. Paradoxically, as we live in the end we wait and pray for the end to come. Paul writes, "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ will all be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God, the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet." (I Corinthians 15:22-25) link
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also..for the quiz:
:
1)"good news"..literally what the word means.
2)as a literary genre: biography/history..(but) with a targeted theological purpose (T.T.P.)
Not purely biography, though it IS that
Not purely history though it IS that
Kind of a fuzzy set.
3)Subversion of empire...The emperors could issue pronouncements/edicts called "gospels." That the story of Jesus is presented as a "gospel" satirizes/subverts that idea (This is the REAL good news)
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