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1 in Faith: A Christian Bible Study |
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Scripture Readings for May 2003
If you would like to receive these daily scripture readings by email, click subscribe and send. 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 slightly longer passage from scripture. You are encouraged 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, you are invited to go to Exegesis or to Witness. Seek perseverance, true devotion, mutual kindness and love. If you live with these things, they will bring you to a real knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The author of this letter urges its readers to support their faith with knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, and love. The clear implication is that holding fast to certain beliefs about Jesus Christ is not faith. The church has always taught that faith requires manifesting the gifts of the spirit that mark a virtuous character. The first verse of this letter identifies the author as "Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ." Simeon is Aramaic, the spoken language of Jesus and his disciples, for Simon, which is Hebrew. Peter is Greek. The name "Simeon Peter" links the Galilean ministry of Jesus and his disciples with the increasingly Greek-speaking church involving Gentiles as well as Jews. Because the author affirms the teachings of Paul (2 Peter 3:15), it seems unlikely that the apostle Peter actually wrote the letter, as these two apostles were involved in conflicting ministries (See Galatians 2-3). Letters in the first and second century were commonly attributed to earlier teachers to honor their teaching. Paul writes: "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength. By calling me into his service he has considered me trustworthy." Paul confesses to Timothy, his junior partner in their ministry to the Gentiles, that he was "formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence." (v. 13) Paul is grateful for the grace and mercy of God, which has offered him "the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus." (v. 14) And Paul affirms that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." (v. 15) Therefore, Paul prays with thanksgiving: "To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." For Paul, God is Lord of all history and creation, the one God whose love and grace were known to the Israelites and their descendants, the Jews. The God of Jesus is not the Christian God, but was and is "the only God." In Romans 9-11 Paul argues that the Jews who have rejected Jesus as the Messiah have not been rejected by God, but remain a part of his loving plan for the entire world. Christians, therefore, should not assume that people of other religious traditions have been rejected by the "King of the ages." God is free to save the entire creation. In the gospel of John, Philip says to Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus said, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." Anyone who reads carefully the four gospels of the New Testament will see that Jesus in the gospel of John speaks differently than Jesus in the gospels attributed to Matthew, Mark and Luke. In the first three gospels Jesus speaks in parables about the kingdom of God. In the gospel of John, however, Jesus only uses the phrase "kingdom of God" in his dialogue with Nicodemus (3:1-10). Moreover, in the fourth gospel Jesus doesn't tell parables. Instead, he argues with his opponents and teaches as in the passage read today. Philip is named as a disciple in the first three gospels of the New Testament, but only in the gospel of John does he speak. He and Thomas ask questions of Jesus, who answers. This way of presenting the teachings of Jesus is more literary than historical. The author of the gospel of John has written a series of dialogues in order to elaborate for his Christian community what it means to have faith in Christ. Over and over again, the gospel of John affirms that the Father is in and revealed through the Son. In the gospel of Mark, Jesus says: "When you pray, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, as your Father in heaven forgives your sins." This passage begins with Jesus telling his disciples: "Have faith in God." (v. 22) He tells them that with strong faith their prayers will be answered, (v. 24) and reminds them that faith requires forgiveness. Faith is not simply belief in God or in Christ, but means trusting in God and, therefore, forgiving the sins of others, as God has forgiven our sins. Only faith rooted in forgiving love is true. Only prayers rooted in forgiving love are answered. Can we pray for our enemies? Can we pray that those who have wronged us will know the forgiveness of God? We can, the gospel of Mark proclaims, if we have faith in the God we know in Christ Jesus. "Take no notice of appearance. God does not see as human beings see: they look at appearances but God looks at the heart." This is the story of the anointing of David by Samuel. Saul, the king of Israel, has fallen out of favor with the LORD, and Samuel is sent by the LORD to the family of Jesse from the tribe of Benjamin to choose a new king. As Samuel meets Jesse's older sons, he is reminded that appearances may be deceiving. Only when David, Jesse's youngest son, comes before Samuel does the old prophet hear the LORD saying, "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one." (v. 12) After Samuel pours oil on the head of David, the narrator tells us that "the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward." (v. 13) The Hebrew word "messiah" means anointed, and in Greek this is the word "christ." The church witnesses that Jesus in the anointed one of God, which is why, in the Greek New Testament, Jesus is called Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus. The kingdom of God is not a question of exterior rules, but justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Paul addresses a conflict in the church about keeping the Jewish dietary rules by arguing that the kingdom of God requires righteousness and not keeping certain rules. Paul says, "I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself," but he admits "it is unclean if anyone thinks it is unclean." (v. 14) So, Paul urges the Christians in Rome to keep kosher, sothey will avoid offending other members of the church. "If your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love." (v. 15) For Paul, the unity of the body of Christ is the highest priority. A dispute over dietary rules seems petty to us, but arguments over church rules are common. Is your church divided by an argument about the rules of faith? If so, what do you think Paul would say? In the gospel of Luke, the risen Christ says to the disciples: "This is what is written: 'The Christ will suffer, and rise from the dead on the third day. And repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations.'" The gospel of Luke concludes with an appearance by the risen Christ to his disciples in Jerusalem. He explains how his death and resurrection have fulfilled all that was written about the Messiah "in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms." (v. 44) Then, the risen Lord tells the disciples to proclaim "repentance and forgiveness of sins . . . in his name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem." (v. 47) The gospel ends with the disciples in Jerusalem, where "they were continually in the temple blessing God." (v. 53) The gospel of Matthew does not report a resurrection appearance in Jerusalem, but ends with an appearance by Jesus to his disciples on a mountain in Galilee. What is the reason for this difference? The gospel of Luke is the first book of a two-part sequel. The Acts of the Apostles begins in Jerusalem, and the gospel of Luke locates the apostles there. The gospel of Matthew seems to have been written to convince a Jewish Christian community that the teachings of Jesus were the fulfillment of Israelite prophecy and, therefore, were to replace the law of Moses. Twice in the gospel of Matthew Jesus ascends a mountain to deliver his commandments: when he gives the Sermon on the Mount to his disciples (Mt. 5) and when gives them the Great Commission. In the gospel of Luke the same sermon is given on a flat place or plain to a crowd including Gentiles as well as Jews. (Lk. 6:17) These differences are not historical contradictions, but literary devices for different audiences. The author of the gospel of Matthew is writing to support Jewish Christians in their argument about Jesus with Jews who do not accept that Jesus is the Messiah. The author of the gospel of Luke is writing to support Gentile Christians who are trying to convince other Gentiles that a Jew name Jesus is the key to their salvation. Paul writes: "In Christ, God has reconciled us to himself and entrusted us with the ministry of reconciliation." Paul is struggling to renew his close relationship with the Christians in Corinth. He says that he refrained from visiting in order not to cause any "pain" (2:1) and admits that this has caused him "distress and much anguish of heart." (2:4) It is not clear in this letter what has caused the problem, but it is obvious that Paul is not yet reconciled with the church in Corinth. This is why the message of reconciliation is so prominent in his letter. Paul writes that a Christian should no longer see others merely from a human point of view but as "an ambassador for Christ." (5:20) "If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!" (5:17) Paul says this is the work of God in Christ, and that the church is called to present this good news to the world. But if the church is to be the instrument of God's reconciling love in the world, then its members must be reconciled. When Jesus saw the large crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them. This passage begins with a literary slip by the author. Verse 30 reads: "The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught." Of course, they are disciples at this point in the story. They only become apostles after the death and resurrection of Jesus. In the oldest version of the gospel of Mark, unlike the other three New Testament gospels, there is no report of resurrection appearances to the disciples. Clearly, however, the author of the gospel of Mark knows of the apostles and is writing for an audience that knows the disciples of Jesus became the apostles of the church. In this passage Jesus takes his disciples/apostles away to a deserted place, to be alone with them, but the crowds follow and find him. Rather than send the people away, Jesus teaches them. The passage affirms the compassion of Jesus for the people, but it also gives priority to the people over the disciples. In the gospel of Matthew Jesus takes his disciples up a mountain, to get away from the people, and then teaches them. (Mt. 5) Moreover, in the gospel of Matthew the risen Christ appears to his disciples and commissions them. The gospel of Matthew gives the disciples, who become the first apostles, an important intermediary role between Jesus and the people. In the gospel of Mark the disciples of Jesus are far less importance, perhaps because the author of the gospel supports the ministry of the apostle Paul. Trust in God with all your heart and do not rely upon your own understanding. Should we all take this scripture reading to heart? Of the Israelites, the LORD said: "They have forsaken me, the fount of living water, and have dug themselves cracked cisterns that will not hold water." The prophet condemns the Israelites for their lack of faith. The church is wrong, however, to use this passage to condemn the Jews, who are the descendants of the Israelites. Jeremiah is writing about 600 BCE. The faithlessness of the Israelites 2600 years ago has nothing to do with the Jews two millennia ago or several centuries ago or now. The prophet says that those who turn from the LORD will come to ruin. At the time this prophecy was written faith meant keeping Jewish law. The church today reads this warning to mean turning away from Jesus Christ. As Jeremiah was criticizing his own people, however, it might be best for Christian to read this passage self-critically. We should not condemn others, but ask: How have Christians forsaken the fount of living water? How have Christians turned away from the good news of the gospel? How might we live more faithfully? The gospel of Matthew reports that having called his disciples together, Jesus said to them: "You know that in the world the powerful make their power felt. Among you this is not to happen. No, anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant." In the gospel of Matthew the mother of James and John asks Jesus to favor her sons by giving them seats on his right and left hand, when he comes to reign in his kingdom. In the gospel of Mark, however, James and John ask for these special places. Are these different memories, or different literary constructions by the gospel authors? As almost all of the gospel of Mark is included in the gospel of Matthew but editorial changes are made at many places, it seems likely that the author of the gospel of Matthew altered the story in the gospel of Mark. Why would he have the mother of the two sons of Zebedee make this request of Jesus, rather than the two disciples themselves? The most obvious answer is to shift the criticism for this special pleading from the disciples to their mother. In the gospel of Mark the disciples of Jesus are presented as weak in their faith and without understanding of the meaning of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Moreover, the gospel writer does not record a resurrection appearance to the disciples. It seems clear that the gospel of Mark is very critical of all the disciples, including Peter. In the gospel of Matthew, however, the disciples finally understand and Peter, especially, is singled out to be the leader of the church. Furthermore, the resurrected Jesus appears to the disciples and commissions them as the leaders of his church. This, however, is the subplot of the story. The moral drawn in both gospels is that the followers of Jesus must be servants, rather than seek glory for themselves. To that we should all say, "Amen." Thus says the Lord: "Though you are not very strong, you have kept my Word, and now I have opened before you a door that no one can close." The author of the book of Revelation records a letter sent to the church in Philadelphia. This is the sixth of seven letters offering encouragement to Christians under duress. There is no additional information in the New Testament about the church in Philadelphia, so we do not know the cause of the difficulties. However, the text clarifies the key to salvation. Despite their weakness, the Christians of Philadelphia will be saved, because God has opened the door for them and, even with weak faith, they will be able to enter. We are not saved because we adhere to Jewish law or are without doubts, but because God's love saves all those who repent. In the gospel of John, Jesus says: "I am the good shepherd. My sheep will listen to my voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd." The Hebrew Bible in several passages depicts God as the shepherd of his people. (See Isaiah 40:11, Jeremiah 23:1-6 and Ezekiel 34.) The gospel of John applies this image to Jesus. Did Jesus actually say he was "the good shepherd"? The other gospels in the New Testament do not confirm this statement. Moreover, as Jesus uses a different style of speech throughout the gospel of John, it appears that these are the words of the gospel's author and not the words of Jesus. However, this is the faith of the church. Whether or not Jesus described himself as the good shepherd, the church proclaims that God's saving love was fully present in his life, death and resurrection. If you want to serve the LORD, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of heart and steadfast. Do not be alarmed by adversity, but attach yourself to the LORD and do not leave him." Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach, is in the scriptures that were read by Paul and the other Greek-speaking apostles, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible known as the Septuagint. For that reason, it was included in the first canon of the early church. The Protestant reformers of the 16th century, however, omitted Sirach and several other books, which are known today as the Apocrypha, from the Old Testament, because the official Hebrew canon established near the end of the first century also excluded these books. This is why Protestant and Catholic Bibles are not the same. The Catholic Bible includes in the Old Testament all the books of the Septuagint, but the Protestant Bible does not contain the Apocryphal books. Those who affirm that the Christian Bible is the literal or inerrant or infallible word of God urge us to embrace the Protestant Bible as the only correct scripture for the church, and some go so far as to argue that only the King James Version of the Bible is authentic. This position leads to the conclusion that Paul and the other first apostles of Greek-speaking churches were reading false scriptures for their Bible. It makes more sense to see the Christian Bible as an historical expression of faith within the development of the church. Various sections of the church have read slightly different forms of the Christian Bible. And regardless of the particular version of the Bible they were reading, have not millions of Christians heard the good news of the gospel? Give thanks to God! Paul writes to Timothy: "Fight the good fight of faith and win the eternal life to which you were called." Paul tells Timothy: "pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness." (v. 11) This is what Paul means by "the good fight of faith." It is a way of life, a way of being with others, a way of living faithfully. Paul calls this "the commandment" that Timothy is to keep. (v. 14) It is the way to eternal life. We, too, are called to "the good fight of faith" and to "eternal life." Let us pray that we will keep "the commandment" as Timothy did. Paul writes: "When you give, give generously, from the heart; when you do works of mercy, do so with joy." Paul tells the Christians in Rome: "we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another." (v. 5) Do not "think of yourself more highly than you ought to think," he warns, but "think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned." (v. 4) Each member of the church should put the good of the Christian community above his or her own desires. "Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer," (v. 12) Paul urges. Can we heed these words in our churches today? We are members of the body of Christ, with different gifts "according to the grace given to us." (v. 6) Can we appreciate one another? Can we "love one another with mutual affection" and "outdo one another in showing honor"? (v. 10) May our "love be genuine" and may we "hold fast to what is good." (v. 9) In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus says: "Truly, I tell you, the one who becomes as little as a little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." When the disciples ask Jesus, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" (v. 1) he responds by calling a child to him. "Whoever humbles himself like this child," Jesus says, "is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (v. 4) Humility that is the mark of greatness. We are not to be unknowing, as a child is, or childish in our conduct. (Compare 1 Corinthians 13:11.) Nor is our faith to be blind. Humility comes with knowing a great deal, and then realizing we only "see in a mirror dimly." (1 Corinthians 13:12) The humble person does not condemn those who hold different views, but invites them to discuss their differences. For through an open discussion everyone may come to greater understanding. This is the quest for truth the church should endorse, and this is the kind of Bible study Christians should embrace. Paul writes: "These three things remain: faith, hope and love. And the greatest of them is love." Paul's discourse on love is one of the most well-known passages in the Christian Bible. Paul writes: "Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, hopes all things, endures all things." (vs.4-7) Paul says love is more important than the spiritual gifts of prophecy, speaking in tongues, and knowledge. "Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away." (v. 8) Paul is writing about love to the church in Corinth, because it is bitterly divided. The church today is also marked by anger and self-righteousness. How can we argue for what is right without becoming arrogant? How can we be strong in our faith without being self-righteous? How can the church witness to the good news of the gospel with love? "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and in fullness of faith. Let us hold to the hope we profess, without wavering, for the one who has promised is faithful." This letter is anonymous. The ancient church attributed it to Paul, but it is very different from the letters in which Paul identifies himself as the author. It is called "Hebrews" in the New Testament, because it argues in terms of the Hebrew scripture that Jesus is the Messiah. The author describes Jesus as the new priest, who has replaced the priests of Israel. And he asserts that faith and sincerity will bring "the house of God" to eternal life. Faith is not merely believing the right things about God and Jesus. Faith is trusting in God and following Christ faithfully. Therefore, the author of Hebrews writes that Christians must "stir up one another to love and good works." (v. 24) These are the fruits of faith. In the gospel of John, Jesus says: "I am the true vine. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit unless it remains part of the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." Only the gospel of John presents this teaching by Jesus, but the church affirms it is the word of God because it affirms that life in Christ is life in the kingdom of God. But what does it mean to "remain in" Christ or, as Paul says, to live "in Christ"? This image is not to be taken literally. The metaphor of the vine and the branches offers a figurative way of understanding what the church affirms. Christians must continue to draw nourishment and support from the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, like a branch draws nourishment from the vine supporting it. The image of the vine and branch points to this mystery, but cannot explain it. The mystery remains part of the affirmation of the church. We are members of the church, and not merely individual Christians. We are linked to the life of the body of Christ, to use the image of Paul, and thus may bear fruit. We are not proponents of our individual faith, but witnesses to the faith in Christ that is saving. This is what the LORD wants of you: to act justly, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God. The prophets of ancient Israel spoke for God and denounced hypocrisy. They reminded the people of Israel that justice and compassion is more important to God than religion. If, as Christians, we are to read Micah's words, we must not conclude that they apply only to the ancient Israelites. If the LORD wants justice, kindness and humility, surely Christians, too, are judged for thinking that their religion is more important. This is a subtle point. Living our faith, with love and justice, is more important than maintaining the rituals and beliefs of Christianity. The rituals and beliefs of the church are instruments for manifesting the life of faith, but they are not ends in themselves. We are not saved by being religious, but by the grace of God through the work of faith in our lives. Paul writes to Timothy: "I remind you now to fan into a flame the gift God has placed in you. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of inward strength, of love and of self-control." The New Testament contains two letters written by Paul to his younger assistant, Timothy. These are endearing letters by Paul, and each offers advice and encouragement to Timothy for his ministry. Paul, of course, is a model of strength and courage. Timothy may have found it difficult, at times, to assist such a strong-willed apostle. Paul tells Timothy: "follow the pattern of the sound words you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus: guard the truth that has been entrusted to you by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us." (vs. 13-14) He also confesses to Timothy that some church leaders have turned away from him. (v. 15) It must have been hard for Paul and Timothy to persevere. We ought to be grateful for their steadfast faith. Be open-handed towards your neighbor and towards the poor and needy in your land. The first eleven verses of chapter 15 states that the Israelites are to forgive each other's debts every seven years. The purpose of this law is to ensure there "is no one in need" in the Israelite community. (v. 4) Moreover, the passage asserts that the Israelites are not to be tight-fisted toward needy neighbors, but should willingly lend "enough to meet the need, whatever it may be." (v. 8) In return, the Israelites are promised that the LORD, who has brought them into the promised land, will continue to provide for them. This passage does not require Israelites to forgive a debt made to a foreigner, but it does demand that Israelites respond to the needs of poor foreigners. "Since there will never cease to be some in need on the earth, I therefore command you, 'Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor in your land.'" (v. 11) How are Christians today to understand this ancient text from scripture? Paul says followers of Christ are not subject to the laws of Torah, but Paul's letters and the gospels of the New Testament are filled with teachings about responding to the needs of the poor. And the prayer Christians pray in every service of worship explicitly affirms that we are to forgive "our debtors" - those who have wronged or "trespassed against" us. To the Samaritan who returned to thank Jesus for healing him, Jesus says: "Rise and go. Your faith has saved you." In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus explicitly tells his disciples to take their ministry only to the Jews. In Acts, however, Samaritans are converted soon after the church begins in Jerusalem. The author of Acts also wrote the gospel of Luke, so perhaps it is not surprising that in this gospel Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan and receives thanks from a Samaritan who came to Jesus for healing. By showing Jesus reached out to Samaritans, these stories strengthen the position of Christian leaders who favored accepting Gentiles and Samaritans into the church. As we see from Paul's letters, many members of the Jerusalem church were ambivalent about this and tried to make adherence to Jewish law a prerequisite for Gentile and Samaritan church membership. The author of the gospel of Luke supports the ministry of Paul. What Jesus says to the Samaritan sounds just like Paul, and the second half of Acts of the Apostles is devoted to Paul's ministry. Our church is rooted in the witness of the early Greek-speaking churches, which embraced Samaritans as well as Gentiles and Jews who confessed their faith in Jesus Christ. Paul champions this cause, and later the gospel of Luke was written to show how a Gentile-dominated church had its origin in the ministry of a Jew named Jesus. Paul writes: "We advance by faith, not by sight." Paul begins the fifth chapter of his second letter to the church at Corinth by affirming: "we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (v. 1) This knowledge, Paul writes, gives them all courage. So, this is what he means by advancing "by faith, not by sight." (v. 7) Even if their earthly tent is taken away, they will not be separated from the love of God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:39) We are very proud of our churches and fail to see they are but "earthly tents." Can we turn our eyes to the house "from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens"? Can we trust in God and not merely in our religious understanding of God? The author of this letter writes" "Love one another deeply, from the heart." The author of this letter identifies himself as "an elder" (5:1) of the church in Rome (5:13 refers to the church in "Babylon," which was a code word for Rome). The opening verse identifies the elder as Peter, the apostle, but the conclusion of the letter refers to Silvanus (5:12), who was associated with Paul's mission (1 Thessalonians 1:1). If the letter was written or dictated by Peter, then it was sent before his death in Rome about 64 CE. It may, however, have been written later by an elder of the church in Rome and attributed to Peter in order to honor his teaching and to give the letter greater authority. The passage for today urges Christians to embrace "genuine mutual love." (v. 22) The author quotes Isaiah 40:6-9 to affirm that life is fleeting, but "the word of the Lord endures forever." (v. 25) This letter was written before the New Testament existed. Isaiah and the other prophets, as well as the Torah and the Writings, were scripture for the early church. Greek-speaking Christians were reading these scriptures in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures that was used throughout the Roman Empire. For Christians in the first and second centuries in the Greek-speaking world, which included all the Gentiles of the early church, the Septuagint was the Christian Bible. It was the source of Christian teaching about love, forgiveness and the saving word of God. Jesus said to his disciples: "I no longer call you servants, for a servant does not know his master's business. I call you friends, because everything I have learned from my Father I have made known to you." In the gospel of John the disciples of Jesus are depicted differently than in the first three gospels of the New Testament. In what are called the "synoptic" gospels, because they have so much in common, the disciples often do not understand the teachings of Jesus and are described as having "little faith." (See, for example, Matthew 8:26 and Luke 12:28.) Moreover, Peter, James and John are the three disciples who have speaking parts in the story, in addition to Judas Iscariot. In the gospel of John, however, there are no comments about the disciples not understanding Jesus or having "little faith." And Andrew, Philip, Nathanael, Peter, and Thomas have speaking parts, but James and John (at least by name) do not and the gospel does not even include their names. The statement by Jesus to his disciples, which is the reading for today from the gospel of John, does not appear in any of the other New Testament gospels. It elevates the disciples, recognizes their understanding, and confirms their authority in the life of the church. But the Christian community for which the gospel was written is more interested in some of the disciples than in others. Tradition holds that this gospel was written by the apostle John, son of Zebedee, but the gospel only refers to the author as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." (21:20, 24) Simon Peter is given the position of greatest stature in this gospel, but the author and his community do not appear to recognize the authority of James, the other son of Zebedee, who is mentioned prominently in the first three gospel accounts of the New Testament. In the gospel of John, Jesus asks his first disciples, "What do you want?" They answer, "Master, where do you live?" He says to them, "Come, and you will see." Each of the four gospels in the New Testament begins with an encounter between John the Baptist and Jesus. But only in the gospel of John does the Baptist refer to Jesus as "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (1:29) This image comes from the 12th chapter of Exodus, where the Israelites in Egypt are told to sacrifice a lamb and mark their doorposts with its blood, so the LORD will "passover" their houses and strike down only the firstborn sons of the Egyptians. The statement in the gospel of John is probably also an allusion to Isaiah 53:7, where the "suffering servant" is described as "like a lamb that is led to the slaughter." In the gospel of John this statement by John the Baptist prompts two of the disciples of the Baptist to follow Jesus. One of these two men is Andrew, the brother of Simon, whom Jesus calls "Cephas" in Aramaic, which is translated in the Greek New Testament as Peter. The story of Andrew bringing Peter to Jesus is found only in the gospel of John, and it is not consistent with the story of Jesus calling his first disciples in the gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke. (See Mark 1:16-20, Matthew 4:18-22, and Luke 5:1-11) The differences in the stories in the first three gospels can be reconciled, but these three stories cannot be reconciled with the account in the gospel of John. The best way to understand this difference is to accept that these are literary presentations and not historical reports. All the gospels tell their stories to demonstrate that the disciples were called by Jesus. However, the first three gospels make the additional point that the disciples are called to fish for people (traditionally, "fishers of men"). The gospel of John does not make this point, but relates that Jesus immediately gives Simon the name Peter, which is the name by which he was known as an apostle. You who revere the LORD, trust in God and await God's good gifts: everlasting joy and mercy. Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach, is in the scriptures that were read by Paul and the other Greek-speaking apostles - the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible known as the Septuagint. For that reason, it was included in the first canon of the early church. The Protestant reformers of the 16th century omitted Sirach and several other books, known today as the Apocrypha, from the Old Testament, because the official Hebrew canon established near the end of the first century also excluded these books. This is why Protestant and Catholic Bibles are not the same. The Catholic Bible includes in the Old Testament all the books of the Septuagint, but the Protestant Bible does not contain the Apocryphal books. Chapter 2 of Sirach is a poem about trusting God. The author affirms: "the LORD is compassionate and merciful; the LORD forgives sins and saves in time of distress." (2:11) Therefore, Sirach urges the Jewish community (in about 200 BCE) to trust in God. The Christians of the early Greek-speaking churches took these words to heart. In the gospel of John, Jesus says to his disciples: "In a short time the world will no longer see me, but you will see that I live and you will also live." Chapter 14 in the gospel of John is well-known, because of the personal message than Jesus gives to his disciples. However, the other gospels of the New Testament do not record this teaching. It seems unlikely that the authors of these gospels knew this teaching and omitted it, because it is so powerful and reassuring. But it also seems improbable that the disciples heard this teaching, and yet did not communicate it to their followers and communities. So, the voice of Jesus in the gospel of John, at least in part, is most likely the voice of the author of the gospel, who attributes this teaching to Jesus because this is the faith of his community, which has been inspired by the presence of the risen Christ. This teaching affirms the love of God in Christ for all those who keep his commandments. |
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