Hook Phrases

Whenever the New Testament quotes a passage from the Old Testament, the intent is to "hook" the story of Jesus and his followers into the larger narrative of Israel. The message of the New Testament author is the same as that of the Old Testament author. Here's an example.

Isaiah 7 is a chapter in which the prophet deals with King Ahaz of Judah as he struggles with the oncoming invasion of a Syria-Israel coalition. Isaiah tells Ahaz not to worry because the coalition kings are just a couple of nobodies. He then tells Ahaz to ask the Lord for a sign. Ahaz refuses. Isaiah then informs Ahaz that he's going to get one anyway:

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (7:14)

Before this boy knows how to choose the good and reject the evil, the two aforementioned coalition nations will be reduced to rubble. God will protect Ahaz and Judah from the Syro-Ephraimitic invasion because "God (is) with us", and the boy will serve as a reminder.

When St. Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14 in the context of Jesus' birth, the message is the same-- God is with us, and he will protect us from the enemy! In fact, the enemy will be reduced to rubble.

The Impossibility of Meeting God Halfway

Many believe that God did his part in sending Jesus, and it’s up to us to meet God halfway. It sounds right to our ears, but how is it possible to meet God halfway? How far is “halfway”?

In this scenario, God is often portrayed as a kindly gentleman who stands around and waits for us to sojourn to where he is.

Sorry, but I don’t see this in the Scriptures.

Jesus had this habit of approaching people with the invitation, “Follow me.” That doesn’t sound like meeting Jesus halfway. That sounds like Jesus meeting us and inviting us to go where he’s going. Now, we don’t have to follow. Quite honestly, most of us refuse occasionally. But Jesus doesn’t stand around and wait for us. He goes to do what he does.

If we don’t follow, he doesn’t strand us where we are. He comes back in order to invite us again to walk with him and follow.

Jesus never said, “Prepare your own agenda for me to enact and meet me halfway.” He did say, “Take up your cross (his agenda prepared for us) and follow me.”

How Does It Fit?

I’ve recently come to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter who wrote the books of the Bible or when they were written. Theologians argue to no end about whether a certain book of the New Testament was written prior to AD 70 or after. And I don’t care. They can discuss and disagree about the authorship of 2 Timothy. Some of them say it was not written by Paul; some say it was. And I really couldn’t care less. And what about the Pentateuch? Was it authored by Moses, or was it a cut-and-paste job from various sources? How many Isaiahs were there? These are the kinds of questions that next to no one is asking anymore.

Who? When? Where? These inquiries waste too much energy and brain power. I’m not concerned if Jesus actually said what was written, or if he may have said something similar, or if he even said any of this at all. I don’t even care if Jesus actually existed or not. (I believe he did, but I’m not going to stand around and argue with someone about it.)

Here’s how I see all of this. We have this thing called the Bible. Right? It’s a very ancient book. Agreed? Obviously the books that are contained in the Bible “made it”. Why? My guess is that, politicking and power-brokering aside, they fit into a narrative scheme that is unmistakeable. We can spend all sorts of time arguing about whether such-and-such actually occurred, or if the Bible is applicable to our time or not, or whatever. These discussions are irrelevant to me. What I want to know is: What’s the story here? How does this passage, or book, or incident, fit into the larger canvas of the sweep of the Biblical narrative?

The pages of the Scriptures are all we have to work with, so my assumption is that it all fits together somehow. The interpretive task for our day may quite well be to answer the question, “How?” or “What’s the story here?” or “What is the author (whoever it is, and I don’t care who it is) trying to say here about the story of the Scriptures?” It’s apparent to me that the Biblical authors (whoever they were, and I don’t care who they were) were very knowledgeable of the Story and did the very best they could to maintain the integrity of their received texts and traditions.

What do you think?

Desert Living

If I'm ever asked to live in the desert, I'll hem and haw a bit, and then give a decisive "No!" I like the city, with all if its creature comforts and bright lights. I can't imagine living anywhere else. The closest I got to it was living in rural Iowa, but it wasn't overwhelmingly rural. The town I lived in was the county seat and had all the conveniences of a big city. Just not as much. It was alright, though. I didn't feel like I was lonely and isolated at all.

Eden was like that. Plenty of food, water, trees, wonderful irrigation, easy travel. It was a "garden" after all. Many of our urban areas are like gardens, but consisting of neon and concrete instead of chlorophyll and wood. But the idea is the same. It's paradise!

Sometimes we feel the need to get away from the urban jungle paradise and we go on vacation. Where do we go? Mostly to other places where we know our desires will be satisfied. Other places of paradise.

The Biblical narrative seems to imply that paradise is not where people think it is, mainly because people don't know what real paradise is. It has nothing to do with what we build to surround ourselves. It has to do with who surrounds us. Many times what people think is paradise turns out to be merely a cover and a cheap imitation of real paradise. This was the lesson the Israelites had to learn.

To them, paradise was the Promised Land. It was Eden. Jerusalem was the garden. The Temple was the Tree of Life. After 400 (or so) years of slavery in Egypt, the Israelites didn't go directly to Eden. They were desert dwellers first. 40 years of desert dwelling. They were formed out of the dust and had the breath of life blown into their nostrils, not to be physical beings, but to be a people, a nation, put together by the Spirit of God, to announce to the world that the darkness of their ways has been overcome by the light of God. And they were living, breathing proof of that!

God had molded and shaped them in the desert for this task. In the wilderness they learned that God can be trusted, meeting their every provision and need, and leading them to their mission. There, in the desert, God stripped them of all pretense.

But when they get to Eden, to Canaan, the Promised Land, the land of milk and honey (meaning, everything they could ever want) they'll forget. Tragic. Their priority became doing everything they could to hold on to the milk and honey. How? They ate from the tree they weren't supposed to eat from.

They worshipped the Baals and the Ashtoreths, made high places, built altars and temples. Now, they knew evil. Again. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil looked very much like the tree of life in their eyes. They knew evil, but at least it was comfortable. And they kept eating. And hiding from God. So, this is paradise?

A voice from the past echoes forth, "Adam, where are you?" Lost. In paradise. Can there be any such thing?

It's hard to get lost in the streets of Jerusalem, but easy to lose your way in the wilderness. But it could be the other way around. In fact, that will be the Biblical claim.

"God does not live in houses made with human hands."

"They (the Scribes and Pharisees) tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders."

Why would anyone have the urge to try to save themselves if they think they're in paradise? That is being lost!

It was time for another Exodus. The Eternal One has left the building! Will anyone follow?

Sorry, Folks!

I haven't blogged lately because my brain has been running dry. Please excuse my lapse of dedication to the blogosphere, but I want to make sure I'm on-post and following the theme of this blog.

Meanwhile, I'm on a personal quest to become more organized. I purchased an organizer/portfolio/calendar today and I'm becoming an organization freak!!!!