Scripture Readings for December 2005

If you would like to receive these daily scripture readings by email, click email list service.

These short readings from the Christian Bible are read daily at community prayer in Taizé, an ecumenical and international Christian community in France. The Bible reference indicates a longer passage from scripture. You are invited to read the longer passage in the morning before you begin your daily activities, and then to ponder the reading, in silence and prayer, as it comes to mind during the day. For a brief explanation of how I am reading the Christian Bible, please go to Exegesis or to Witness.

In the gospel of John, Jesus says: "There is no greater love than giving one's life for those one loves."

"This is my commandment," Jesus says to his disciples, "that you love one another as I have loved you." (v. 12) He also says that he will no longer call the disciples servants, because he has revealed to them the will of his Father.  So, he calls them his friends and adds, "you are my friends if you do what I command you." (v. 14) Love is the key to understanding Jesus and God. "As the Father has loved me, so I have love you; abide in my love." (v. 9)

What would it mean to abide in the love of God in Jesus? Might we feel that we are accepted as we are? Might we feel forgiven for our sins? Might we, therefore, be able to accept others as they are and forgive them for their sins against us? These words from the gospel of John, whether spoken by Jesus or not, offer a wondrous challenge. 

In the gospel of John, Jesus says to his disciples: "In my Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you."

The fourteenth chapter of the gospel of John begins with the well-known words, "Do not let your hearts be troubled." (v. 1) When Jesus tells his disciples that he is leaving them, they are troubled. Thomas and Philip, disciples who do not speak in the other New Testament gospel stories, here ask Jesus to explain what he means. Thomas says, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" (v. 5) He is inquiring about the journey that Jesus says he will soon undertake, and we need to remember his question when we read the answer that Jesus gives: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (v. 6)

When Jesus says he is the way he might mean believing in him is the only way to God. On the other hand, Jesus might mean that his example by the way he lives with his disciples is the way to God. We have to interpret this passage, and these are two possible and different meanings. The first meaning implies that worshipping Jesus is the way. The second meaning implies that living like Jesus lived with his disciples is the way. To decide which is correct, we need to read the rest of the gospel of John. The passage read yesterday included Jesus' commandment to his disciples to "love one another" as he has loved them. (Jn. 15:9) Isn't this the way, the truth, and the life?

The vision of the end in the gospel of Luke is an adaptation of the vision in Mark 13. The gospel of Luke, however, explicitly refers to Gentile armies trampling on Jerusalem, which is probably a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE by the Roman legions. (v. 24) In both gospels and also in the gospel of Matthew Jesus announces that the Son of Man is coming with power and glory, which is a reference to Daniel 7:13-14. (Mt. 24:30, Mk. 13:26, Lk. 21:27) And in all three of these gospels, Jesus says, "this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place." (Mt. 24:34, Mk. 13:30, Lk. 21:32) But the generation did pass away without the coming of the Son of Man in glory, which was to mark the end of the world. Therefore, this passage from the New Testament requires some interpretation. 

Clearly the early church believed this was to happen, but the end did not come within the lifetime of the first generation. Did Jesus actually say this? There is no way to know but, if he did, he was wrong. Of course, Jesus may not have said this. The church may simply have interpreted his teachings to mean this. All we know is that the gospel of Mark presented this meaning as the words of Jesus, and the gospels of Matthew and Luke included this portion of the gospel of Mark in their gospels. The point of the teaching is that we must prepare for death and the end of the world by living faithfully. This is true, even if the the historical facts in the gospels are not always literally true.

"Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth," this passage from Isaiah begins, "For the LORD has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones." (v. 13) The Israelites have been taken into bondage in Egypt and Babylonia, and Jerusalem has been destroyed.  But God will not forget the people of the covenant, the prophet proclaims. The image of a mother nursing her child offers a feminine image of God. It is love, not judgment, that marks this vision of the God of the Old Testament.

Christians read this passage as foretelling the coming of Christ. For Jews, however, this promise of restoration has been fulfilled by the modern state of Israel. Neither of these meanings was in the mind of Isaiah when he wrote these words, and after the Persians defeated the Babylonians this passage was understood to refer to the return of the exiles to Jerusalem in the late sixth century BCE and the rebuilding of the temple. Clearly, the passage does not have a single meaning, for those with faith in the God of the Bible have found solace in it over the past two and a half millennia. 

This passage recalls the servant songs of Isaiah 42-53, especially Isaiah 50:4-11. It was likely written to encourage Israelites in exile in Babylon. Because Cyrus of Persia soon liberated the Israelites in captivity by defeating the Babylonian armies, this passage was remembered as prophecy that was fulfilled in history. Thus, throughout their history of persecution for two millennia, Jews have read this passage from Isaiah as promising the steadfast love of God.

Christians know this passage because Jesus reads it, according to the gospel of Luke, when he begins his ministry in Galilee at the synagogue in Nazareth. (Lk. 4:18-19) In the gospel of Luke Jesus says that this passage from Isaiah has been fulfilled in the hearing of those present in the synagogue with him. Under oppressive Roman rule the Jews in Palestine were looking to God for justice. In this story the author of the gospel of Luke says that Jesus is the answer to their prayer, even if later in the story most of the people don't seem to understand. Are these words good news for the poor and the broken-hearted of our time? The church is called to make it so.  

Jesus tells his disciples to stay awake, "for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." (v. 42) This warning comes in a passage concerning the end of the world, which is in the first three gospels of the New Testament. It is characteristic of these three gospels that Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man (Mt. 24:30, Mk. 13:26, Lk. 21:27), a title from Daniel 7:13 that tells of a being like a man coming "with the clouds of heaven" and being given by God power over the nations of the earth. 

Some Christians read this passage as warning of the final judgment of the God, and surely this was the understanding of first century Christians who were expecting the end of the world within their generation. (Mt. 24:34, Mk. 13:30, Lk. 21:32) Other Christians take the meaning in a more general sense, as a warning to live faithfully whether or not the end of history is near. These differences remind us that the reader of the Bible to some extent "reads meaning into" the text and does not merely find or understand the meaning that the author intended in writing a passage. 

At the end of the book of Isaiah there is a vision of a restored Jerusalem. "I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like an overflowing stream," the New Revised Standard Version says. (v. 12) Now the people of Israel "will nurse and be carried on her arm, and dandled on her knees." But then the LORD speaks like a woman: "As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem." (v. 13) The image of God at this point in the Jewish Bible is tender. The people will rejoice when Jerusalem is restored, "and it shall be known that the hand of the LORD is with his servants, and his indignation is against his enemies." (v. 14)

These words gave hope to Israelites exiled in Babylon and Egypt in the sixth century BCE. How shall we read them today? Literally, they envision Jerusalem with power over the nations. Modern Israelis may read this passage with their own sovereignty and security in mind, but Christians read the passage more generally to promise comfort and care for all those who turn to God in faith.

The story of Mary, which is only in the gospel of Luke, is one of the most touching accounts in the New Testament. In the birth story in the gospel of Matthew the angel of the LORD comes to Joseph, not Mary, and Mary is a minor (although obviously necessary) part of the birth of Jesus. In the gospel of Luke, however, Mary is the center of the story. The angel comes to her, Mary questions the angel, she visits Elizabeth to confirm the angel's words, and then she offers a lovely prayer of praise and thanksgiving that is known in the church as the Magnificat, because in Latin this is the first word of the text.

The image of Mary's obedience has often been highlighted, but there is nothing in this story that supports emphasizes the subservience of women to men. The gospel of Luke celebrates the special roles of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, and Mary, the mother of Jesus. Elizabeth names her son, because her husband has been struck dumb by the angel for his unbelief. Mary praises the Lord like Hannah did in gratitude for the birth of Samuel. And when shepherds come to visit the newborn child in Bethlehem and tell Mary and Joseph of the angels that have spoken to them, the gospel records that Mary pondered these words in her heart. 

In the the gospel of Luke Joseph does not speak and soon disappears from the story, but the author of the gospel tells us that Mary was present at the crucifixion of Jesus, came to his tomb, and was part of the first church in Jerusalem (Acts 1:14). Mary was not only obedient to the will of God, but clearly was also a leader of the early church.

This is part of Paul's prayer for the Gentile Christians to whom the letter is address. "I pray," he says, "that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." (vs. 18-19) He closes his prayer with a doxology: "Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." (vs. 20-21)

May we pray that God will strengthen us, so that Christ might live in our hearts through faith. For that is how we will be able to witness to the love of God in Christ, in the church and in all that we do.

The gospel of Mark begins with this quote from Isaiah 40:3 and then tells the story of John the Baptist. In the gospels of Matthew and Luke the narrator also relates these words, but in the gospel of John the Baptist says this about himself (Jn. 1:23) This is an example of how the authors of the later three gospels edited the story found in the gospel of Mark. The gospel of Luke also quotes Isaiah 40:4-5, words which many of us know from Handel's Messiah: "Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."

Clearly the early church saw John as preparing the way for Jesus. Is this, however, the way that John the Baptist saw his ministry? We cannot know, but Acts reports that during the first generation of the early church there were Jews who had received John's baptism, but were unaware of the ministry of Jesus. (Acts 19:3) It must be, therefore, that some of John's disciples continued his ministry after his death and did not understand that John's ministry merely prepared the way for Jesus. The gospels relate that John called the Jews to repentance for their sins. (Mk. 1:4, Mt. 3:8, Lk. 3:3) In the gospels of Mark and Matthew this is also the heart of the message of Jesus at the beginning of his ministry. (Mk. 1:14-15, Mt. 4:17) 

"Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD," the psalmist begins. "If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities . . . who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered." (vs. 3-4) The psalm was not written for Gentiles like us. "O Israel, hope in the LORD!" the psalmist cries. "For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem. It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities." (vs. 7-8)

Ancient Israelites took strength from psalms like this, and Jews have been comforted and encouraged by these words throughout the centuries of their persecution. Christians, however, tend to think of Christ when they read in scripture about the Lord saving his people. This is not a literal reading of the text, but an interpretation from the perspective of the New Testament of the Old Testament witness to the steadfast love of God.

"Build up, build up, prepare the way," Isaiah writes, "remove every obstruction from my people's way." (v. 14) This reminds us of the words from Isaiah 40:1-5, which are recorded in the story of John the Baptist in the four gospels of the New Testament. Here the prophet is proclaiming that God will prepare the way for the restoration of Israel despite the continuing sins of the Israelites. God's wrath is justifiable, but not unending. Those who are contrite and humble will find their spirits revived by the Holy One of Israel.

When Isaiah wrote these words he had in mind the return of exiles to Jerusalem from Babylon and Egypt.  But for hundreds of generations Jews have read these words as  promising the renewal of Jerusalem, a city on a hill, as a home for the descendants of the Israelites. Christians tend to ignore that interpretation in order to focus on the promise of God's presence among those with humble and contrite hearts.

Isaiah foresees that the LORD will make an "everlasting covenant" with the Israelites, whose descendants "shall be known among the nations." (vs. 8-9) Therefore, the prophet identifies with Zion. "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." (v. 10) Justice and praise will spring up "before all the nations" just as surely as the earth produces plants and seeds.

Jews find in these words a promise of justice for them, as God's chosen people who have been exiled for most of their history from Jerusalem. Christians read this passage more generally to reveal God's justice for all those who are faithful. The Christian interpretation is hardly a literal reading of the text, but it is consistent with the revelation of God in Christ in the New Testament. 

In the gospel of Mark the women who come to the tomb find it empty and in fear run away without saying anything to anyone. In the gospel of Luke the disciples remain in Jerusalem after the resurrection of Jesus.  But in the gospel of Matthew the disciples return to Galilee and there see the risen Lord: "When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted." (Mt. 28:17) Then Jesus commissions them to make disciples in his name, "teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you." (v. 20) This last instruction from Jesus is delivered to his disciples on a mountain, as was his sermon in Matthew 5-7.

Jesus promises to be with his disciples to the end of time, which early Christians thought would be soon. A literal reading of this text suggests that it refers only to the presence of Jesus with his eleven disciples, as they take up their responsibilities. However, Christians interpret this passage to mean that Jesus will be with all those who who witness to his gospel. And that interpretation is consistent with the witness of the New Testament, even if it isn't the literal meaning of this passage.

Paul's prayer for unity in the church in Rome implies that there is division among the Christians. Paul appeals to the strong "to put up with the failings of the weak," (v. 1) and he counsels, "Each of us must please our neighbor for the purpose of building up the neighbor." (v. 2) Our model is Christ, Paul writes, who did not seek pleasure but took upon himself the insults of others. Paul quotes from Psalm 69:9 to encourage the Romans and reminds them that "by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope." (v. 4) The scriptures for Paul are the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible that was read by Greek-speaking Jews throughout the Roman Empire. Paul is not referring to the New Testament, for the gospels had not yet been written and his letters were not scripture at the time he wrote them.

We look to scripture for encouragement and hope, and we find it in the example of Jesus and also in the example of Paul and the other apostles. They were divided over many issues, yet built up the unity of the church in order to witness to the love of God in Christ. Can we, despite the many divisions in the church, put up with what we see as the failings of the weak in order to strengthen them, for the sake of the church's witness to the work of the Spirit? Can we foster harmony in the church by following the example of Jesus?

The gospel of John contains a teaching by Jesus for his disciples (John 14-16) that is not found in the other three New Testament gospels. The passage for today is the conclusion of that teaching. Jesus has explained that he is going away and that he will give them the Spirit of truth to guide them in his absence. Now Jesus tells his disciples that they will scatter and leave him alone, "Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me." (v. 32) Jesus says he has given them this teaching, "so that in me you may have peace." (v. 33) They will face suffering in the world, but he has not left them to do so on their own.

A literal reading of this passage would conclude that Jesus will be with his disciples in their ministry, but Christians read this passage more broadly to mean that Jesus will be with all Christians in their witness to the gospel proclaimed by the church. We interpret the text to mean that Jesus is speaking to us, not simply to his disciples in ancient Palestine. Surely this is the intention of the author, otherwise why tell the story? We are all called to be disciples of Jesus, to follow in the footsteps of the apostles, and to have the peace of Christ in our hearts as we struggle in the world to live faithfully.

John the Baptist chastised Jews for their hypocrisy and preached repentance. When the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?" he has an answer, but it is an answer that we do not want to hear. Instead of condemning the rich and the established leaders for their greed and their abuse of power, he asks those with a little to share with those who have nothing. 

Who in the church today takes this passage as the literal word of God? John says that we should give away our extra coat, if others are without a coat at all, and that we should give away our food, if others are hungry. The literal meaning is that we should live with only the bare essentials of food, shelter and clothing. However, almost all Christians interpret this passage to mean simply that we ought to share a bit of our wealth with the poor. Surely the God of John and Jesus expects more.

In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Bible that was read by Paul and used in the early church as scripture, chapter 3 of Daniel has an insertion at verse 23 that is not in the Hebrew Bible. In the Apocrapha it is called "The Prayer of Azariah," and as part of chapter 3 of Daniel it extends the chapter to verse 90. In chapter 3 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego of the tribe of Judah have been thrown into the fiery furnace, because they have refused to obey the command of Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king, to worship a golden statute. In the extension to chapter 3 the three men in the furnace praise and glorify God saying, "Blessed are you, O LORD, God of our ancestors" and "Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven," and then calling on others to "Bless the LORD" for all that God has done. The verse above is the next to last verse in a series of more than thirty such blessings.

These verses are not in Protestant Bibles, for Protestant translators have used the Hebrew canon that was approved around the end of the first century CE as a basis for their translations rather than the Septuagint. But this is part of scripture for Catholic and Orthodox Christians and was part of the scripture of the Greek-speaking church in the first several centuries of the Christian era. When we read scripture as the word of God we need to recall that the early church made decisions about what should be included in scripture, as did the sixteenth century Reformers. No one can point to a single, definitive version of the Christian Bible, as there are different historical traditions of selection, translation and interpretation.

Isaiah has prophesied that the Assyrians will destroy Israel, because the people have not kept the covenant with God to live justly and to care for the poor. But after Israel is destroyed, "A shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse . . . [and] the spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord." (vs. 1-2) This "root of Jesse" will not judge by what he sees or hears, "but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins." (vs. 4-5)

When will this come to pass? "The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them." (v. 6) This is a vision of the end of time that Christians will later apply to Jesus as the Messiah (Christ, in Greek). Jews and Christian share hope in the culmination of history by a righteous and loving God, but they differ over how this is to be. Christians proclaim it has already happened in Jesus Christ, though the end has yet to be fully consummated. Jews do not see the beginning of the end in Jesus, which is not surprising given the suffering that the church has inflicted upon them, but continue to await the coming of the Messiah. 

At the end of time, Isaiah writes, God will bring forth new heavens and a new earth. God, the prophet proclaims, is "about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight." (v. 18) This new creation of God will be centered on Jerusalem and the people of the covenant, who will rule in a way that will delight God and be a joy for all nations. For there will be peace among peoples and species. "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox." (v. 25)

A literal interpretation of this prophecy would hope for the rule of Israel over the world and an end to the natural world as we know it. Americans would be under the authority of whoever reigns in the state of Israel, lions would no longer act like lions, and presumably humans would also no longer be carnivorous. A figurative interpretation of this imagery puts the emphasis on peace rather than on the details of the prophecy.  

In Romans 9-11 Paul addresses the problem of the Jews, who have rejected Jesus. He explains that they will not be condemned, because their rejection has made it possible to extend the gospel to the Gentiles. Jewish resistance to the gospel, Paul argues, is part of God's plan. The Jews who deny that Jesus is the Messiah "have a zeal for God," Paul says, but "being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." (Rm. 10:3-4) 

Paul is quoting from Deuteronomy 30:14 when he says, "but what does it say?" (Rm. 10:8) By "it" Paul means Jewish law, for in this passage from Deuteronomy Moses refers to the entire law given by God to the Israelites. "Surely," Moses teaches, "this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away . . . No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe." (Dt. 30:11-14) The literal meaning of this passage is clear. Moses says that the law of God is not merely written down but is part of the life of the Israelites and known by each of them. However, Paul explains to the Christians in Rome what this passage from Deuteronomy really means: "If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Rm. 10:9) This is obviously not the plain sense of the text from Deuteronomy, but Paul claims it is a hidden meaning that was revealed by the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Paul is trying to change the minds of the Christians in Rome. The will of God must be discerned by using our heads, he tells them, for that is how we will know "what is good and acceptable and perfect." (v. 2) That means not having inflated egos, but appreciating the different gifts of others in the church. This is a rational observation, as is Paul's appeal to the Romans to be more caring for each other: "Let love be genuine, hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers." (vs. 9-13)

That is what faith means, Paul claims. Unlike the way of the world, Christians are not to seek vengeance. Paul quotes from Moses in Deuteronomy 32:35 that vengeance belongs to God. And quoting from Proverbs 25:21-22, Paul counsels, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Rm. 12:20-21) This is not only the teaching of Jesus (Mt. 5:44), but of Paul.  And both Jesus and Paul are lifting up a teaching from Jewish scripture.

Paul writes this letter, he says, with Silvanus and Timothy, two of his colleagues. He explains to the Christians at Thessalonica that the day of the Lord has not yet come and urges them to hold fast to his teachings. Apparently others are stirring up resistance to the authority of Paul, or have misunderstood his previous letter to mean that they are already living in the end time. In chapter 3 Paul asks for prayers to support his missionary work and for protection from persecution. He also prays for the continued faith and love of the members of the church at Thessalonica.

We need to remember that Paul wrote to churches having problems. We can usually tell what these problems were by what Paul said. There was considerable controversy within the early church, as today, about the meaning of scripture and the will of God.  Not surprisingly, therefore, love and perseverance are as important in our time in the life of the church as these virtues were two thousand years ago.

The story of Elizabeth and Mary is told only in the gospel of Luke. The angel Gabriel has come to Zechariah, the husband of Elizabeth, and promised a special son who will be filled with the Holy Spirit. Then the angel comes to Mary and promises that the Holy Spirit will give her a son who will be called "the Son of the Most High" and will "reign over the house of Jacob forever." (Lk. 1:32-33) Then Mary visits Elizabeth, who feels the child leap in her womb when she hears Mary's voice. The gospel tells us that Elizabeth "was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.'" (v. 42)

In the gospel of Luke, Elizabeth and Mary are not presented as subservient to their husbands. Each speaks for herself, and each receives a blessing from Gabriel. It seems clear that the church for which this gospel was written included strong women as leaders, in addition to men, and this impression is verified in Acts of the Apostles, which is written by the same author as the gospel of Luke. Women not only serve the church by bearing children, but by witnessing to God's gifts of faith and love.

It is hard for us to imagine life in the church without Christmas, but Paul appears to be unaware of this birth story, which is found only in the gospel of Luke. The story of the three wise men is found only in the gospel of Matthew, and there is also no evidence that Paul knew of this story. The church began without Christmas, which was not celebrated until the fourth century. Speculation about the birth date of Jesus seems to have begun in the second century, when Clement of Alexandria argued for a date in November. The first evidence that the church began to celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25th, the winter solstice in the Julian calendar, is in an almanac dated 354.

The word "Christmas" comes from the Middle English "Cristes masse" which means "the festival mass of Christ." Mass is the Catholic name commonly used from the fourth century for the liturgy of the Eucharist, and this name probably comes from the Latin "missio" for "dismissal." In the Eucharist before the consecration of the bread those preparing for baptism and penitents were dismissed with the words, "Ite, missa est." ("Go, you are dismissed.") And at the end of the service, those who had celebrated the Eucharist were dismissed with the words, "Et missae fiant." (And let the dismissals be made.") 

The Eucharist, or Mass, celebrates the incarnation, or God in Christ, which is the heart of our Christmas holiday (holy day). And the story of the presence of God in a humble child born in a stable has become one of the greatest images of our faith.

The author of the gospel of Matthew has made few changes to this passage, which is in Mark 13:9-13. He refers to the "Spirit of the Father" rather than the "Holy Spirit," but the text is almost a word-for-word repetition of the earlier gospel's account. However, Luke 21:12-17 edits this passage more freely. In the gospels of Mark and Luke the passage is set among teachings about the day of the Lord and the judgment of the earth's peoples. However, in the gospel of Matthew this context is less obvious. Jesus has commissioned his disciples to carry his message into the world. "See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." (Mt. 10:16) In the gospel of Matthew it seems that persecution is expected not merely at the end of time, but at the beginning of the ministry of the church.

It is likely that the gospel was written for a Christian community already facing strong resistance by one or more Jewish synagogues, which were pulling strings with the Roman authorities to make life difficult for the fledgling church. The conflict over the church even within families reminds us today that the church began in the Jewish community as an argument over the interpretation of scripture. The gospel of Matthew was written to help prepare Christians for this controversy and for the demands of arguing their case in the synagogues and before the civil authorities.

At the end of the second century, church leaders thought that this letter was written by the author of the gospel of John, because of similarities in the ideas expressed by the two documents. More recently, it has been argued that the letters attributed to John concern a split among Christians all recognizing the authority of the gospel of John. So, it's likely that this letter was written later than the gospel of John.

The opening passage of this letter echoes the words of Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1. Jesus is understood as the eternal word of God who was with the Father in the beginning, and was who made flesh in his Son. This is the message of the church, the letter affirms, and so it calls Christians to rejoice in the abiding love of God.

The opening words of the gospel of John are well-known. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The author of the gospel of John does not tell a birth story about Jesus, but instead identifies Jesus with God at the very beginning of time. "And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth." (v. 14)

These words not only express the conviction of the church, but also reveal the literary skills of the author. Each of the gospels presents Christian faith using different images, stories and arguments. The gospel of John is one of the most beloved gospels because of its magnificent images. The author of this fourth gospel has given us a portrait of Jesus that continues to have enormous appeal for Christians around the world.  

This passage is part of the Sermon on the Mount, which includes the Lord's Prayer (Our Father) in chapter 6 as well as the Beatitudes in Chapter 5. These other teachings must be the context for interpreting a teaching that, on its face, seems to say you get what you ask for, if you use the name of Jesus. In the prayer that Jesus teaches his disciples, he encourages them to pray not for their own desires but that God's will might be done. He also tells them to pray for the forgiveness of their sins, as they have forgiven those who have wronged them. In the Beatitudes Jesus indicates that the blessed are those who hunger for justice and righteousness, and who are meek, merciful and pure in heart.

Clearly, we will only find what we are seeking when we seek the kingdom of heaven (God) and not simply the fulfillment of our desires. Later in chapter 7 this is made very clear when Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." (Mt. 7:21) The way to God is by doing God's will, by asking for strength to be faithful, and by seeking to love God and our neighbors more fully. If we "knock" in this way on the door to the kingdom of heaven, it surely will be opened for us.

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever has faith in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

This familiar text is usually written, "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life." But the Greek word in the New Testament for "believes in" means "to have faith in." It does not mean simply to have a belief that Jesus is the Son of God. Faith means trust, and this is more than belief. In the New Testament, faith in Jesus Christ means trusting in the God we know through Jesus.

The "good news" of this gospel reading is that God loves the world so much that he offered eternal life to men and women everywhere. In the Bible the incarnation of God in Jesus revokes the ending of the story of the garden of Eden. In the Genesis story God banishes Adam and Eve from Eden, so they will not eat the fruit of the tree of eternal life. However, the gospel of John affirms that in Jesus God has freely given eternal life to people. All that we have to do is have faith in God's promises by trusting our lives to Jesus, who is "the way, the truth and the life." (Jn. 14:6)

December 31, Colossians 3:12-17

Bear with one another and forgive whatever grievances you have against one another. The Lord has forgiven you, do the same in your turn.

The church at Colossae is divided over fasting, dietary restrictions, observing festivals and rules for the sabbath. (Col. 2:16-23) Paul harshly attacks those who are urging adherence to Jewish law: "If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, 'Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch?' All these regulations refer to things that perish with us; they are simply human commands and teachings." (Col. 2:20-22) Paul clearly denies that commandments in the Torah are the literal word of God! Christians who claim that the Bible is the literal or inerrant word of God should take note. Paul is telling us that the gospel has set aside the commandments in scripture concerning fasting, dietary restrictions, observing festivals, and keeping the sabbath. 

Instead of obedience to the laws of scripture, Paul counsels "compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience." (Col. 3:12) "Above all," he teaches, "clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts." (Col. 3:14-15) As God has forgiven us, we are called to forgive others. This is the prayer we should pray each day, and it is literally what it means to be a Christian.

Home   Exegesis   Scripture   Worship   Ethics   Dialogue   Parables   Email   

1 in Faith: A Christian Bible Study † Copyright © 2000 by Robert Traer