Scripture Readings for September 2002

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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.

The gospel of Matthew also presents this teaching by Jesus (Mt. 7:1-5), but the differences are more striking than the similarities. In the gospel of Matthew we read: "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get." (Mt. 7:1-2) The gospel of Luke has taken this teaching and modified it to emphasize forgiveness rather than judgment. The verse preceding the statement about not judging says: "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful." (Lu. 6:36) And then after saying, "Judge not, and you will not be judged," the author of the gospel of Luke has Jesus repeat this teaching with a parallel statement: "condemn not, and you will not be condemned." Then the teaching concludes: "forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you." (Lu. 6:37-38) The shift from not judging to forgiving and giving reflects the distinctive purpose of the gospel of Luke.

This, of course, is a variation on the theme of the Golden Rule: "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." In the gospel of Luke, Jesus says: "Do to others as you would like them to do to you." Lk. 6:31) In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus adds, "for this is the law and the prophets." (Mt. 7:12) Both Jews and Christians in the first century referred to "the law and the prophets" as "scripture." The letters of Paul and the gospels written after them did not officially become "scripture" until the 4th century, when they were included in the canon of the Christian Bible, although they were used as scripture as early as the second century in some churches. The gospel of Matthew emphasizes that the teachings of Jesus sum up the Jewish scriptures, because this gospel was written for a primarily Jewish Christian church. The gospel of Luke does not identify the Golden Rule with the Jewish scriptures, because it was written for a largely Gentile church.

In 40-10 BCE Hillel was the leader of the dominant school of Pharisees in Palestine. A story is told that once a Gentile came and said to Hillel, "I will convert, if you can teach me Judaism while standing on one foot." Hillel replied, rephrasing Leviticus 19:18, "What is hateful to you do not do to anyone else." When this same man went to Shammai, the leader of a school of Pharisees that interpreted the Jewish law more strictly, the man was physically pushed away. The conflict among Pharisees, between the followers of Hillel and the followers of Shannai, is reflected in the gospels of the New Testament. The teachings of Jesus in the first three gospels of the New Testament are often consistent with what was taught by the Pharisees who followed the teachings of Hillel.

Can we accept the call to forgiveness? If we give, and forgive, we will receive, and be forgiven. This is the good news of the gospel.

This is one of the most well-known and beloved passages of the gospels. It is found only in the gospel of John, and is preceded by other teachings about the glorification of the Son of Man (John 13:31-32) that are also unique to the fourth gospel. Also in this passage we find the strange use of the phrase "the Jews," for in verse 33 Jesus says: "and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you." He is speaking to his disciples, and certainly they are Jews. "The Jews" refers to the Jewish followers of Jesus, but to the group that is opposing him, all of whom are also Jews. This use of the phrase "the Jews" to refer to the opponents of Jesus is unique to the gospel of John, as is the pattern of speech used by Jesus. It represents the understanding of the author of the gospel, but is probably not the actual speech of Jesus.  In the first three gospels of the New Testament the opponents of Jesus are identified as scribes, Pharisees, priests, and Herodians.

Jesus teaches that by love, the followers of Jesus will be worthy representatives of their teacher. This is true, whether or not Jesus actually used these words two thousand years ago. It is in love that we become worthy of the name "Christians," for we are both called and enabled by God in Christ to love one another. Christ will be known, if we love one another. The love of God will be manifested, if we love as we have been loved.

The book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament is about the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, after the Judeans have returned from exile in Babylon. The time is about 444-424 BCE. In the eighth chapter Ezra, a scribe, reads the book of the law to the people in order to renew the covenant. When the people weep, after hearing the law of Moses, Nehemiah, the governor, joins Ezra and the Levites, the priests, in encouraging the people to rejoice, rather than weep. "This day is holy," they say, therefore, "do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." (v. 11) In most English Bibles the word "Lord" appears as LORD, because this is the way translators have represented the four letter symbol in Hebrew for God's name, which the ancient Israelites believed was too holy to be spoken. In Hebrew the word Adonai, which means Lord, is used in place of the Hebrew "name" YHWH. In th text from Nehemiah there is both a practical renewal of the life of the Judeans under the rules of the Torah and a profound reverence for the God who has called them into covenant, judged them for breaking that covenant, and then brought them back to the land from which they were exiled.

In a way far different from the ancient Israelites, we are called to rediscover the joyful presence of God in our world. We have not been exiled, and we have not had our place of worship destroyed. But we have wandered away from the sense of God's joy, and so our faith lacks strength. Our faith will not reflect the LORD unless we open minds to a mystery that transcends our understanding of scripture and our beliefs, no matter how dear to us these may be. The call of scripture is to follow the wondrous and yet strange God that we know through the stories of Israel and the early church, with faith, hope and love.

This psalm is a lengthy meditation on the law of God. In verses 33-40 the psalmist prays for understanding and for guidance in keeping the commandments of the LORD. He prays that he might observe the law of God with his "whole heart" and "delight in it." We need to be reminded that the law of Moses is seen as liberating by the Israelites, and not simply as a set of rules by which they are to be judged. It is that, too, and the psalmist prays: "Turn away the reproach that I dread." But this passage is followed, in verse 41, by the prayer: "Let thy steadfast love come to me, O LORD."

The word of God is commandment and law, but finally it is love, for the psalmist and for us, too. That is the good news of the gospel and the testimony of the New Testament, as well as the witness of the Torah. The God, who is holy beyond belief (and also wholly beyond belief) is the source of all life and also of our lives. 

This passage comes at the end of a section of instructions about dealing with wrong-doing among members of the church. The followers of Jesus are urged to reason with someone in the church who sins against them and to involve two or three others in the church in an effort to resolve the issue, rather than taking the other person to court for judgment. Then Jesus, in the gospel of Matthew, says that where two or three agree on anything they ask, the Father in heaven will grant their request. 

In 1 Corinthians 6:1-6 Paul similarly instructs members of the church in Corinth to resolve their grievances without resorting to the courts. If the gospel of Matthew had been written before Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, surely he would have referred to the passage quoted from the gospel as presenting the authoritative words of Jesus on this subject. Paul does not, however, and thus we may conclude that Paul wrote his letter to Corinth without any knowledge of the gospel of Matthew. It is possible, of course, that the gospel of Matthew had been written earlier and Paul simply did not know about it, but it seems unlikely that in his travels and correspondence Paul would have been ignorant of such a gospel, if it existed at the time he was writing.

Surely, Paul would have agreed with the gospel passage quoted above. He, too, affirms the presence of the risen Christ when followers of the Way gather for prayer. In fact, it may be that the gospel of Matthew is presenting the teaching of Paul to the early church in Corinth (and elsewhere, we may presume) as the teaching of Jesus. The reference in the gospel account to "the church" (v. 17) reveals that the gospel was written during the life of the church and was intended to help resolve conflicts within the church. The gospel of Matthew (and the other gospels as well) are not biographies of Jesus written shortly after his death, but are testimonies that present the experiences of the risen Christ within the churches in the middle and latter part of the first century. 

The author of this letter is explaining the requirements of love. "He who does not love remains in death," he says. (v. 14) The love among members of the church, he notes, is a sign that Christians have "passed out of death into life." Yet, there is a warning in the letter. "But if any one has the world's goods and sees his brother in need yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?" (v. 17) The word "brother" means member of the church, because the author is not saying that a Christian has this obligation to those outside the church. The commandment to love one another, however, that we find in the gospel of John (13:35) is reinforced by this letter, which is also attributed to the same author.

"Little children," the letter reminds us, "let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth." (v. 18) We are capable of such love, because the Spirit of God that we have known in Christ abides within our hearts. And when our hearts fail us, we can rely on that Spirit, which reflects the wisdom from God that eludes us. All who keep Christ's commandments will discover the presence of Christ in the Spirit that moves within them.

The second part of Isaiah comes from the time just before the fall of Babylon to the Persians in 539 BCE and the release from captivity of the Israelites exiled by the Babylonians who conquered Jerusalem in 587. The suffering of the Israelites in captivity is understood by the prophet as part of the purpose of God, as is the restoration that will come. Even as the rain and snow quench the thirst of the earth, the word of God will also restore the strength of God's people. This chapter of Isaiah's prophecy celebrates with joy the coming restoration of Israel.

The prophets proclaim that the covenant with God will be renewed, if the people of Israel are righteous and keep the law. The New Testament modifies that claim by asserting that the covenant with God has been fulfilled in Jesus the Christ, and now all those with faith will enjoy the blessings of God's presence promised through the covenant. So, Christians who read Isaiah rejoice in the delight of the prophets, who despite their suffering did not lose faith in God.

This story of the birth of Jesus is unique to the gospel of Matthew. The only other birth story in the New Testament tells of an angel coming to Mary, but in this account the angel speaks to Joseph. Then the author of the gospel explains this birth will fulfill the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14, which is the passage of scripture presented for our reflection today. In many translations of Isaiah 7:14 this verse reads that "a young woman shall conceive and bear a son," which is the correct translation of the Hebrew text. The gospel of Matthew, however, used the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (the Septuagint) and in this translation the Greek word is more commonly translated as "virgin" rather than as "young woman."

Whether young woman or virgin, the gospel affirms that the birth of Jesus fulfils the promise expressed in Isaiah of the presence of God with "us" in a new and intimate way, in the life of a special person. The Christian witness is that God is present to us in the life of Jesus, as he was remembered by the church in the scriptures of the New Testament, and as he is among us and within us in worship and prayer and acts of loving service. The Christian faith is that God is with us, among us, and in us, as a loving and forgiving and compelling presence. In faith we may come to know this God, and in love and forgiveness we may enter what the gospel of Matthew calls the kingdom of heaven.

In the gospel of Matthew what has come to be known as "The Sermon on the Mount" in chapters 5-7 concludes with a parable about building a house on rock or on sand. The house on sand is washed away in a storm, but the house on rock remains standing. So it will be, the gospel of Matthew affirms, with those who heed the words of Jesus. In the gospel of Luke this parable also concludes a chapter of teachings that has many similarities with the sermon in the gospel of Matthew, although in the gospel of Luke the sermon is given by Jesus on a plain rather than on a mountain. In the gospel of Matthew a mountain is chosen for the teachings so that Jesus is understood, by the largely Jewish Christian community for which the gospel is written, as the new Moses. This parallel is not chosen by the author of the gospel of Luke, wjocj is evidence that the author of the gospel of Luke is writing for a primarily Gentile Christian audience.

The parable tells us that the teachings of the New Testament must be put into practice, if we are to be saved. It is not enough to have beliefs about Jesus and God, or to profess that Jesus is the Christ. Faith is not merely words but deeds. It is the life of the church, and not only its words, that testifies to the redeeming love of God, which we know  in Jesus the Christ.

In the first century "God-fearing" Gentiles were part of the life of many synagogues in the cities of the Roman Empire, where the synagogue was not only a religious center but also a place for cultural and educational activities. So, Greek-speaking Jews in cities of the Roman Empire had already established relationships with Gentiles, when Paul and other apostles to the Gentiles came visiting. But Paul claimed that Gentiles and Jews were called into a new community of faith that made no essential distinction between them. This message appealed to many God-fearing Gentiles, but sometimes it angered the leaders of the synagogues where these Gentiles were welcome (but not accepted as equal members of the community of faith). This led to the split between these tolerant and welcoming synagogues and the newly formed churches that included Gentile Christians as well as Jewish Christians.

For Paul, the mystical body of Christ was the source of the unity of the church, and he spent his life trying to resolve the conflicts between Gentile and Jewish Christians. He died without any assurance that he had succeeded, but the growth of the church among Gentiles and the dispersion of the church in Jerusalem after the destruction of the temple in 70 CE by the Romans who were putting down a Jewish rebellion meant that the unity of the church would no longer be threatened by Gentile and Jewish differences. An almost entirely Gentile Christian church soon looked to Paul's writings for guidance in facing other issues. Once Paul's letters were included in the New Testament in the fourth century, his words of counsel were preserved for centuries to come. They might well encourage and guide us even today, for differences among Christians continue to plague the promise of the church.

This passage promises a king or anointed one (messiah) who will rule with wisdom and justice. He will be from the house of David, because he will be a descendent of Jesse, David's father. And "the Spirit of the LORD" will rest upon him. He will judge the poor with righteousness and "decide with equity for the meek of the earth." When this messiah rules, the prophet tells us, there will be a new kind of earth, for the wolf and the lamb will lie down together, the lion will eat straw like an ox, and the suckling child will play over the hole of the snake. The author of the gospel of Matthew read this passage as predicting the birth of Jesus, but other Jews argued that Jesus was not the promised messiah because life on earth had not changed as the LORD (through the prophet) had promised. Given the fundamental change in life on earth envisioned by this passage in Isaiah, the resistance to the claim that Jesus was the messiah is not surprising.

The church argued that this language in Isaiah should be understood metaphorically or symbolically, not literally. The peace and righteousness brought by Jesus had obviously not conquered the earth, but the church affirmed that the decisive victory over evil and death had been achieved. The continuing struggle was the completion of the messianic reign of Jesus that would be fulfilled by his second coming. Today, therefore, Christians rejoice for the peace and righteousness that is present in the world, at times and in places, and in the promise of the fulfillment of Isaiah's vision in God's good time. Moreover, Christians try to live as though the messianic age has been realized, for by living this faith we enable God to work through us for the completion of the kingdom of heaven on earth. So, don't not lose hope, despite the ignorance and injustice all around us. Be faithful to the God we know in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

Under Jewish law one who has been wronged has no obligation to forgive the person who has wronged him, until that person repents. Once the wrong-doer repents, however, the person who was wronged is obliged to forgive the wrong. Thus, Peter's question concerns the situation where one is repeatedly wronged, but where the wrong-doer repents. This is clear by the rendering of the same teaching in the gospel of Luke: "if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, and says, 'I repent,' you must forgive him." (Lu. 17:3-4) The gospel of Matthew emphasizes the commandment to forgive by using the number seventy-seven, which means that one must always forgive a wrong-doer who repents of the wrong he has done.

In the gospel of Matthew this teaching is followed by the parable of the unjust servant, who is forgiven his debt to a king but who fails to forgive a debt owed to him. The moral of the teaching is clearly spelled out at the end of chapter 17. God will punish those who do not forgive their brothers (and sisters). The word "brothers" refers to those who are part of the same community, not to members of the same family. This is a teaching for the church that draws on words attributed to Jesus to preach forgiveness to Christians. The same teaching is incorporated in the Lord's Prayer, where we pray: "and forgive us our debts (trespasses), as we forgive our debtors (trespasses)." (Mt. 6:12) The whole prayer attributed to Jesus is found in verses 9-13 of Matthew 6, but Protestant readers will be surprised that the ending of the prayer - "for the kingdom and the power and the glory are yours, for ever and ever..." - is not included in the gospel. This ending, using words from David's prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:11-13, was added by the early church. In the Catholic mass these words are included but not as part of the Our Father, so Catholics do not think of these words as part of the prayer taught by Jesus to his followers.

"In God's days justice will flourish, and peace in plenty until the end of time. For the LORD rescues the needy who call to him, and the poor who have no one to help."

Psalm 72 is a prayer for God's blessing on the king. The psalmist prays that the king will be just and will "defend the cause of the poor" and "give deliverance to the needy." The vision of the psalmist goes beyond what one might expect from even a good king, and so it adds to the hope of Israel in the coming of a king (an anointed one, or messiah) who will bring lasting peace to the earth for all peoples. May he have dominion, the psalmist prays, to the "ends of the earth."

Pray with the psalmist for such a time of justice and peace on earth, when the poor and the needy will be freed from their oppression and from the violence to which they are now subjected.

This passage includes some of the most treasured words of the New Testament. "Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God." (v. 7) In a time when many were claiming to follow different sons of God, the author asserts that there is only one son of God. This is the crux of the unity of the church. As God is one, so there can be only one son of God, or the church will be even more divided than it is. The love of God is made known in this one son, and this love of God is the source of life. The love of God in Christ is saving. Our sins our forgiven, because God is forgiving.

The forgiving love of God is the good news of the church. "If we love one another, God abides in us," the church proclaims, and in this way God's love "is perfected in us." (v. 12) This is our witness, but so often we fall short (sin) because we lack faith in God and so fail to love one another. Let us pray that our hearts might be quickened by the love of God, so that we will bear witness to the miracle that brings hope out of despair and life out of death.

This conversation between Jesus and Pilate is not recorded in the other three New Testament gospels and is unique to the gospel of John. Surely it presents dramatically the Christ on earth as the author of the gospel understands him and is not a report of a conversation that Pilate and Jesus actually had. The account does not mention any witnesses, but the fourth gospel ends with an affirmation that the disciple of Jesus, who is relating the story, is witnessing to what is true. Furthermore, this particular passage is certainly about what is true. The response of Pilate, after all, to this affirmation of Jesus is the question, "What is truth?"

If it is not factually true that Jesus said this to Pilate, then what is true about this gospel account? The answer to Pilate's question is that creation is filled with love and forgiveness that enables us to be more loving and forgiving. That's the way God is, and we know this because God's redeeming love is revealed to us through the witness of scripture. In the Christian Bible this revelation culminates in Jesus, who is saving for those with faith in him. In the gospel of John, truth is to be found only in the church and among those who confess their faith in Jesus. Other witnesses in the Christian Bible, however, testify that the redeeming love of God embraces the Jews, who have rejected Jesus as the Messiah (Romans 9-11), and all the nations of the world, who worship different gods (Isaiah). Therefore, we are called to answer Pilate's question by affirming that God loves even those who reject love, because that's the way God is. This is the truth and the witness of the church, when it is true to its calling.

This letter opens with the greeting commonly used by Paul: "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." But the letter is not addressed to any particular church, as are the other letters in the New Testament attributed to Paul. It is a general letter that perhaps was sent to more than one church, by Paul or by others closely associated with his ministry. Some versions of Ephesians insert the words "at Ephesus" in verse 1, which reads: "To the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus." But the earliest copies of the letter have simply the general form of address.

The reading for today affirms that God is eternal and is working out purposes that were conceived, at least from our perspective, in an earlier time. Thinking in the language of modern physics, we might say that time, for God, is like another dimension of space and thus does not "pass," as it does for us, but is always present. Reality, for us, is space and a particular time, with a past behind us and a future in front of us. For God reality may be more like a space-time continuum. The past and future, for God, are present in a way that is beyond our experience. It is in this sense that the letter speaks of Christ, as being before the world was made, and of God choosing us "in Christ." Christians, Ephesians affirms, are to be loving, because they have been chosen by God and redeemed by Jesus Christ to be witnesses, in word and deed, to the loving creation that is God's eternal purpose.

Jeremiah was a descendant of the priest Abiathar, who was banished by Solomon to Anathoth because he sided with Adonijah, Solomon's elder brother, in the struggle to succeed King David. (1 Kings 2:26-27) It is significant that Jeremiah begins his prophecy by identifying himself with this line of banished priests, especially as he will take to task the priests in power in Jerusalem. He speaks for those who have suffered unjustly against the powerful elite that is now leading the people of God to ruin. Jeremiah says he received his call in the thirteenth year of the reign in Judah of King Josiah, which would be 627 BCE. The "word of the LORD" comes to Jeremiah, as it came to all the writing prophets, with a command to speak for God to the people of Israel. The LORD tells Jeremiah that his calling was conceived even before Jeremiah was formed in the womb and that Jeremiah is being appointed to be "a prophet to the nations." (Jr. 1:4)

This will prove dangerous. We read in Jr. 20:1-3 that the high priest had Jeremiah arrested, beaten and put in stocks near the Benjamin Gate of the temple, because of Jeremiah's prophecy against the ruling elite of the holy city. Jeremiah may have felt abandoned by God, but he remained true to the calling he had received to announce the judgment of God and the restoration of Israel with a new covenant. Therefore, Jeremiah is remembered as a witness to the God of the old and the new covenants, whose purpose will be fulfilled through events full of terror and suffering.

When we read this passage, we may say at once, "Yes, this is the teaching of Jesus," because we remember the teaching of the Great Commandment to love our neighbor that is found in the gospels of Matthew (22:34-40), Mark (12:28-34) and Luke (10:25-28). Paul, however, does not tell us that he is passing on the teaching of Jesus. In fact, he does not refer at all to Jesus, but merely presents this teaching as his own. Moreover, he does not seem to know that this teaching is in any of the first three gospels of the New Testament. We need to be reminded that the New Testament was not formed by the church until centuries after Paul's death, and that most likely none of the gospels of the New Testament were written during the time of Paul's ministry. Paul's teaching is the earliest written affirmation we have from the the church that all the commandments of the Jewish love are summed up in the teaching of Leviticus 19:18 to love our neighbor.

Is Paul merely summarizing the teaching of Jesus, which is being spread by word of mouth and has yet to be written down? Perhaps. But if this is so, it would seem likely that Paul would refer to Jesus. That would be a way for Paul to enhance the authority of his teaching. It is hard to imagine that Paul was unaware of the basic teachings of Jesus, because he spoke with the former disciples of Jesus who were the leaders of the church in Jerusalem.  But Paul bases his preaching on his sense of the risen Christ, rather than on reports of the ministry of Jesus. For Paul, the future of the church within the Roman Empire lies not with the Jewish teacher and healer from Galilee, but with the risen Christ who offers his living presence to all those who have faith.

By the time the gospels were written the Greek-speaking churches were well aware of the teachings of Paul. Perhaps this passage from Paul's letter to the church in Rome was included in the teachings attributed to Jesus by the author of the gospel of Mark. The authors of the gospels of Matthew and Luke, who seem to have used the gospel of Mark in writing their gospels, kept the teaching in their accounts but revised it slightly. In the gospel of Mark a scribe asks Jesus about the greatest commandment, but in the gospel of Matthew the question is put by a Pharisee. This is consistent with the general attack on the Pharisees that is part of the purpose of the gospel of Matthew. 

In the version in the gospel of Luke, a lawyer asks the question. Jesus asks the lawyer how he reads the law, and the lawyer provides the teaching that in the other two gospels is put into the mouth of Jesus. The gospel of Luke is the least judgmental of the four New Testament gospels, and by allowing the Jewish lawyer to answer his own question the author of the gospel of Luke demonstrates this openness. Then the lawyer asks for a definition of "neighbor," and Jesus answers by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan, which is a story about loving not only one's neighbor but also one's enemy. This kind of forgiving love, which encourages Jewish and Gentile Christians (including Greeks and Samaritans) to cooperate is at the heart of the church's witness to the redeeming love of God manifested in Jesus Christ.

Paul is in a joyous mood. He is in prison awaiting trial, yet he is full of gratitude for his friends in the church at Philippi and for the spreading of the gospel throughout the Roman Empire. He is moved by the prayers of the Philippians, but he wants them to know that he will rejoice whether he lives or dies. His life belongs to Christ, and so whether he lives or dies is of no importance. All that matters is proclaiming the "fruits of righteousness, which come through Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:11)

This is what faith in Christ means. It means living with joy and gratitude, not fearing death, and not being concerned about how life works out. It means trusting in God and giving our lives in faith. It means witnessing to the risen Christ by the way we live and by our love for one another.

Isaiah seared into the memory of Israel the image of Judah as a vineyard gone wild that God destroys. (Is. 5:1-5) Jeremiah returned to the same image to depict the apostasy of the chosen people (Jer. 2:21), and Ezekiel also used this metaphor in his lamentation for the princes of Israel (Ezekiel 19:10-14). The author of the gospel of John has these passages in mind when he presents Jesus as "the true vine" of God that bears fruit. Of course, the image is powerful even if the reader is unaware of the way the major writing prophets of ancient Israel used it to express the judgment of God against Israel for breaking the covenant. But for those who know the scriptures of Israel, the teaching is about promise as well as  judgment. For the gospel witness is that all those abiding in the Son, like branches on the vine, will flourish, whereas all those not abiding in the Son will wither and be burned in the fire.

The first three gospels in the New Testament do not record these words, which are attributed to Jesus by the author of the gospel of John.  Clearly, these words reflect the faith of the church for which the gospel of John was written, a Jewish church that because of its witness to Jesus as the Messiah is being criticized by the Jews of a synagogue. The first-century Christians proclaiming this gospel teach that Jews who do not confess Jesus is the Christ (Messiah) will be condemned by God. However, this teaching is contradicted by the witness of Paul in chapters 9-11 of Romans. Paul argues that the opposition of some Jews to the church is part of God's plan, because it spread the gospel to the Gentiles. As God is just, the Jews who rejected Jesus cannot be condemned but will be saved with Christians on the last day.

Christians ought not to judge non-Christians as the author of the fourth gospel does. We are called by Christ to be faithful and to leave judgment to God. (See Matthew 7:21-23)

The idea of someone who works for the tax office becoming a Christian is not surprising to us, so we have to appreciate the first century context in which this story was told. Those who collected taxes in the first century were working for the Romans, whose harsh rule caused tremendous suffering for the Jewish peasants. Thus, Matthew was not just an employee of the state. For the Galilean peasants following Jesus, Matthew was an agent of the oppressor. The poor who were encouraged by teachings about the coming kingdom of God might well have expected that collaborators with the Romans, like Matthew, would be punished when the kingdom of God came. Certainly, peasants would not have been happy to find a tax collector among the disciples of Jesus.

But the gospel of Matthew was not written for Galilean peasants but for Greek-speaking Jews in a major Roman city. These Christians, who benefited from Roman rule, probably had quite a different view of Jews who served the Romans by collecting taxes. No one likes taxes, but those who make money under the rule of a government recognize the necessity of funding the enforcement of the laws that protect their property. Moreover, the churches in Roman cities did not want to be identified with protest or rebellious movements, and surely that is the way many Romans saw the Jesus movement in Palestine that Pilate attempted to stamp out by crucifying its leader. The teaching that Christians should pay taxes was perhaps first articulated by Paul (Romans 13:7), as part of his campaign to extend the gospel among Jews and Gentiles in Roman cities like Corinth, Rome, Ephesus and Philippi. Perhaps the gospel of Mark later attributed the teaching to Jesus (Mk. 12:17) and the gospels of Matthew (Mt. 22:12-22) and Luke (Lu. 20:20-26) confirmed this law-abiding imperative within the church's witness.

In the gospels Jesus not only calls a tax collector to be his disciple, but Jesus eats with tax collectors and others who are identified as sinners under Jewish law. Among Jewish leaders in Palestine this would have been seen as a criticism of the religious leadership akin to the ancient message of the prophets that accused priests and political elites of hypocrisy, because they adhered to details of the Law of Moses but failed to provide the poor the justice God commanded. But at the time the gospel of Matthew was written, this emphasis in the story might also have implied more openness in the church to Gentiles, who were considered by traditional Jews as "sinners" simply because they did not adhere to Jewish law. This was not, of course, a focus of the ministry of Jesus, but it was a crucial issue in the life of the churches in the latter part of the first century.

It seems that Paul has been accused of encouraging sin, because he is emphasizing that salvation is God's gracious gift and not a reward for keeping the commandments of the law. Here, in his lengthy letter to the church in Rome, Paul argues that in Christ we have died to sin and been reborn through grace. In baptism we are buried with Jesus, and in faith we are raised to new life in Christ.

In the early church the issue of sin did not merely concern immorality, but also violations of the Jewish law concerning diet, the sabbath, circumcision, and rituals. Gentiles were at times referred to as "sinners" because they did not submit to the Jewish law. However, the church that Paul is organizing makes Gentiles and Jews equal before God. This requires resisting the Jewish tendency within the church to enforce Jewish law on Gentile converts. Paul argues that God's grace to Jews and Gentiles offers new life. Not all Jewish Christians agreed, but after the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem in 70 the Gentile-dominated churches in the Roman Empire took over the leadership of the Christian movement. Opposition to Paul within the church grew weak, as Greek-speaking Christians gained influence, and this was to guarantee Paul's letters a place in the Christian canon when the church created the New Testament in the fourth century.

We know from Paul's letter to the Galatians that the church in Jerusalem opposed his gospel. The former disciples of Jesus, who were led by Peter and James, the brother of Jesus, were in Jerusalem proclaiming Christ in the temple, where Gentiles were not permitted on pain of death. The followers of these apostles were all Jewish, and most of these followers adhered strictly to the Law of Moses. Therefore, they were upset by Paul's teaching that opposed faith and law. We see this struggle in Paul's letters and find hints of it as well in the Acts of the Apostles.

Paul writes to the Christians in Rome that they are saved by faith and not by keeping Jewish law. We know this, Paul asserts, because we see revealed in Jesus Christ, in his death and in his resurrection, the love of God. In Christ we are reconciled to God, and thus because of the initiative of God we may come to salvation through faith. It is hard for us to imagine that the opposition to Paul was so strong that in his letters Paul at times despairs of his ministry. Only the destruction of the church of Jerusalem with the conquest of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 ensures that Gentile-dominated Christian communities will gain control of the church and that Paul's leadership will be remembered.

Moses said to the people: "The LORD our God is the only God. Love the LORD with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength."

This is the cornerstone of Jewish faith. There is but one God. The witness of the Hebrew scriptures is that this one God has called Israel into a special relationship through which the world is to be redeemed. Jews, therefore, are called to respond with love and obedience. Christians who read this passage may think that the doctrine of the Trinity has replaced the Jewish affirmation of one God, but this is not so. The Bible, in its Christian as well as in its Jewish form, witnesses to one God whose creating, sustaining and redeeming love is saving for the whole world. Jesus is not saving apart from God. The Holy Spirit does not guide us apart from God. There is no Son without the Father, and there is no Spirit of God without God. God is one.

There is much, therefore, in this confession of one God that can unite our hearts with Jews and Muslims. We are all children of Abraham, all recognize the God of the Bible, all proclaim salvation through faith. Of course, there are significant differences between Jews, Christians and Muslims, but there are also significant differences among Jews, among Christians, and among Muslims. It is not a small thing that all three traditions affirm one God of the Bible and thus pray to the same God. (If there is but one God, then we all pray to this God.) Perhaps the test of faith is not whether we are Jewish, Christian or Muslim, but whether we love God with all our heart and soul and strength.

The author of this letter does not tell us who he is. Because he seems to share the tradition of the fourth gospel, the letter like the gospel has been traditionally attributed to the disciple John. The emphasis on love in this letter suggests there were conflicts undermining the unity of a church. The letter urges Christians to acknowledge that their life must be rooted in the love of God, if they are to have the capacity to forgive and live in peace together.

The Christian message is summed up in a marvelous and compelling way. In Jesus we know that God loves us and forgives our sins. This knowledge of the forgiving love of God enables us to love one another. This is the good news of the gospel, and it is the witness of the church. So often we obscure this message by claiming that our beliefs define the love of God. Can we let go of this temptation to try to define God? Can we open ourselves to the redeeming love of God and allow it to work within and through us?

Only the gospel of Matthew relates this parable. It seems directed at the Jews who believed they were the righteous leaders of Israel. They, like the son who professed to obey, have in fact disobeyed. On the other hand, the sinners, tax collectors and harlots, who did not at first accept the authority of God but later repented of their sin, will be forgiven by God. They will go into the kingdom ahead of the others.

The gospel of Matthew is about separating out the saved and forgiven from those who are not saved, because they have not repented and sought forgiveness. The author seems to be writing for a congregation of Christians who are mostly Jewish and in conflict with Jews that do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah. There is an anti-Jewish edge in this gospel that cannot have come from the teachings of Jesus, who in the gospel of Matthew only goes to the Jews. However, the anger at the Jewish leaders, who were opposing the church of the author, has been understood for centuries to be a judgment on Jews in general. Christians need to reject this implication and discover the good news that the church proclaims for all those with faith in God.

The LORD says: "I will cure my people of their disloyalty, I shall love them with all my heart. I hear them and watch over them."

Those who say that the Old Testament reveals only a God of wrath have not read the scriptures closely. In many places, as in this passage from the prophecy of Hosea, we find a loving God that is concerned for the people of Israel and seeks to renew the covenant and relationship of intimacy with them. God calls Israel to "return to the LORD," to be faithful and wise. Moreover, God promises to love Israel so much that the people will become faithful once again. The prophet uses the image of dew in the desert to proclaim that God will nurture the people of Israel and enable them to flower and prosper.

The prophet, of course, also speaks words of judgment to the northern kingdom of Israel at a time when there was war with Assyria and the people were suffering terribly. Like the other prophets, Hosea sees this suffering as a direct result of not keeping the commandments of God. But he is filled with hope that God will renew the covenant, if the people repent of their sin and return to the God who continues to love them .

The magnificent sermon in John 14 is not found in any of the other gospels in the New Testament. Moreover, only in this gospel do Thomas and Philip speak and question Jesus. If the answers given by Jesus remind us of the teachings of Jesus in the first three gospels in the New Testament, perhaps these are words of Jesus simply remembered and reported by another disciple. But because the style of speech in the fourth gospel and what Jesus says about himself is so unlike the other New Testament gospels, it seems likely that some of the words attributed to Jesus are the creation of the gospel author.

Jesus tells Thomas that he is going to his Father's house to prepare a place for them. Then he says he is "the way, and the truth, and the life" and that "no one comes to the Father" except through him. These words suggest that there is an argument in the church for which this gospel was written about the authority of Jesus. The gospel writer affirms that Jesus has God's complete authority. The Father is fully present in the Son, and the Son fully reveals the will of the Father. Others, who affirmed faith in Jesus, must have asserted that Jesus was a teacher or a prophet, rather than the Son of God. This passage becomes the basis for the doctrine of the Trinity, but the word "Trinity" is not in the Bible. The Trinity is a doctrine that the church developed after the first century.

The gospel of Matthew presents Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophetic writings of ancient Israel. In Isaiah 42:1-4 the prophet reports that God, the LORD, will put his Spirit upon a chosen servant, who will bring justice to the nations. For centuries Jewish readers have understood this passage to refer to Israel, to the people chosen for a covenant relationship with God, who are to establish justice on the earth for all peoples. But the author of the gospel of Matthew understands this passage to referr to Jesus, who is celebrated by the church as the Christ, the promised Messiah of God.

In the gospel of Matthew it is the Gentiles, not the nations, who will put their hope in this servant of God even though in the book of Isaiah the phrase used is the nations. It seems that the author of the gospel of Matthew wanted to emphasis the inclusion of the Gentiles as well as the fulfillment of ancient Israelite prophecy. Although the gospel of Matthew seems to be written for a largely Jewish Christian community, it is Greek-speaking and at home in Roman society. So, the Gentiles, too, the gospel of Matthew proclaims, will find justice and hope in Jesus the Christ.

The author of this letter affirms that "the end of all things is at hand." (v. 7) This did not turn out to be the case, at least in a literal sense, but the advice of the letter is nonetheless worth taking. Keep "sane and sober," the letter affirms, and "practice hospitality ungrudgingly," (v. 9) because in loving service the glory of God is glorified through Jesus Christ. (v. 11)

Whatever our past may be, whatever we have done, we can become the instruments of God's saving love, if we love our neighbors and trust in God. This is Christian faith. By trusting that the love of God will be in us, we may become more loving of one another.

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