So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. – Matthew 7:12

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 31, 2020): Matthew 7

"Want to keep Christ in Christmas? Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the unwanted, care for the ill, love your enemies, and do unto others as you would have done unto you." The words belong to American entrepreneur Steve Maraboli, and he could not be more right. I have never really understood the "Keep Christ in Christmas" message. I guess I do understand it from the perspective of consumerism, but so much of Christmas is about a spirit of giving to those less fortunate. And if you want to shorten the writing of Christmas, transforming it into Xmas, I encourage you to do it. X was used in the early church as a symbol of Christ; it was the cross laid on its side, recognizing that Jesus defeated the cross.

I don't care what you want to call the holiday. Wish me Happy Holidays, and I will smile and wish it right back to you. The name just isn't relevant. As Christians, we need to keep Christ in Christmas by reflecting the person of Christ to those around us. Of course, that is also something that we should be doing all year long, not just when the red and green decorations begin to appear in the stores, reminding us of the coming festive season.

Of course, "and do unto others as you would have done unto you" is not just a Christian sentiment. The reality is that what we call "The Golden Rule" is one thing on which most faith systems agree. And it is not surprising that "and do unto others as you would have done unto you" forms part of the basis for a celebration that we share with the world, regardless of the name that we might attach to it. But Jesus adds that, at least for the Judeo-Christian faiths, "do unto others as you would have done unto you" sums up everything that the Law and Prophets were trying to achieve.

Yet, we miss the message. Too often, we worry about the semantics of keeping Christ in Christmas rather than forgiving the guilty and welcoming the unwanted. We try to keep the various elements of the Law of Moses rather than feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. We forget that what God demands of us has nothing to do with our rules and everything to do with loving our neighbor.

Maraboli is right. We keep Christ in Christmas by reflecting the image of Christ to the world, and everything that he said was important. They will not know that we are Christians by our stand on abortion and homosexuality. They will know we are Christians by the way that we love those who disagree with us.

Today is Halloween. And beyond the reality that that means in a few hours costumed children will be making their way through the streets looking for candy, it also means that tomorrow the pumpkins and costumes will begin to be put away, and the decorations reflecting the coming "Happy Holidays" will begin to appear. And Christ will be in the holidays if we decide to "feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the unwanted, care for the ill, love your enemies, and do unto others as you would have done unto you," regardless of the salutation you use, or how you might spell Christmas.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Luke 11

 

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. – Matthew 6:13

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 30, 2020): Matthew 6

Some years ago, I was at a conference and shared a hotel room with a good friend. Following the first night's session, I remember getting back to our room and being confronted by my friend with a secret. My friend had made a promise to his wife to make some positive changes in his health practices. But on this night, and for the length of the conference, my friend was going to do something different. On that first night, he said to me, "Don't tell my wife, but I am skipping the gym this week, and I am not skipping McDonald's."

I got it. It was going to be a tough week. And temptation toward negative changes in our lives seems ever-present. For me, part of my solution to temptation is found in a regimented schedule. There are practices or actions that I try to do every day. I heard a pastor a couple of decades ago argue that we don't need to read the Bible every day. A couple of days a week is enough, and if we force our practice of Bible reading, we might come to resent the Bible. But I have found that if I do it daily, I can stay in the biblical text. If I commit to reading the Bible twice a week, tomorrow is always a good day to read the Bible, and suddenly weeks have passed between my Bible reading sessions. A daily exercise routine or the practice of daily devotions helps me fight against the temptation of leaving it until tomorrow, or next week or month. But that is me, and I recognize that not everyone is wired the way that I am.

But, whatever the method of dealing with temptation that works for you, it doesn't mean that you won't have to deal with temptation. Temptation is a universal problem that all of us have to confront. Jesus asks his disciples to pray that God would not lead them into temptation, although the word used here could also mean testing. But there is another side of the equation. I need to make sure that I am not leading myself into temptation. I need to do the things that I can do so that I can fight temptation. And if I do that, Paul argues that "no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). In the end, God has promised to deliver us from our temptation and from the one who tries to tempt us.

Some later manuscripts have also added a phrase: "… for yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever. Amen." Most biblical experts agree that this phrase, which most of learned when we were taught "The Lord's Prayer," was likely added by some unknown scribe in the years following the life of Jesus and the writing of the Gospel by Matthew. But even though it may not be part of Jesus's original prayer, the words are still important. Because all of this, the help with temptation, the deliverance from Satan, and all of the other things mentioned in "The Lord's Prayer" are only possible because the Kingdom, power, and glory all belong to God. He is on the throne, and this, we know, he can do.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Matthew 7

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. - Matthew 5:13

Today's Scripture Reading (October 29, 2020): Matthew 5

The English phrase "Worth his (or her) salt" sounds a little strange to the modern ear, even though the saying remains prevalent in our contemporary conversations. For most of us, the most common use of the word salt might be when we are speaking to our doctors about lowering our blood pressure. In our culture, salt has taken on a negative connotation. Like cigarettes, salt is something our physicians wish that we would avoid.

But it has not always been that way. During the time of Jesus, soldiers were often paid in salt instead of gold. Both were extremely valuable. Our contemporary word "salary" comes from a Latin word meaning "salt." Salt is one of our essential spices, one of our fundamental tastes, and was necessary to preserve food for later use. Salt is needed for life. Having said that, once used, salt is worthless. The supply of salt needs to be continually renewed. Salt was and still is, mined or obtained through the evaporation of saltwater. Salt production doesn't just happen; it is something toward which effort had to be directed.

It isn't an accident that Jesus called his followers "the salt of the earth." And I am convinced that it was not just one aspect of salt that Jesus meant with the comparison. We often seem to point toward the fact that the Christian Church is commanded to add "flavor" to the world, probably because that is the most prominent role of salt in our society. But in Jesus's mind, that was likely the least appropriate comparison between salt and the Church. The Christian Church was designed to be a preservative for the nations and essential for life. Everything that the Church does should be life-giving. Unfortunately, that is not a role that those outside of the Church would attribute to us. And that is our fault.

Part of the problem is that we have lost our saltiness. It has been removed and watered down as we have bickered and gossiped about each other. We have lost our saltiness as we seemed to fixate on what is relatively unimportant in our societies. We have not loved as we should. We have criticized when we should have remained silent. (And for those of you who might question that statement, I really wish we could post Ephesians 4:29 on our desks, laptops, refrigerators, bathroom doors, and any other surface that we confront during our day. "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.") And once we lose our saltiness, how can we become salty again?

The answer is to the question of regaining our saltiness is that we can't become salty again. Once we have lost our saltiness, all we are suitable for is to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. But God can renew our saltiness. I think this is one of the tasks of the Holy Spirit and one of the benefits of his presence in our lives – to keep us salty. The Spirit makes sure that we are the life-giving presence that we are designed to be and also allows us to be the preservative that our culture needs. In the mind of Jesus, this is what is meant by being salty; this is what it means to be a follower of Christ. And it is not something that just happens, but something toward which effort has to be directed.   

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Matthew 6

See also Luke 14:34

Now he had to go through Samaria. – John 4:4

Today's Scripture Reading (October 28, 2020): John 4

A Parable: Once upon a time, there was a Republican, an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump. One day this Republican was traveling from New York to Washington, wearing his red MAGA hat and bearing witness to the President with his "I Love Donald Trump" bumper sticker when he fell into the midst of a local gang. Seeing him, the gang beat him up, took everything that he had, except his MAGA hat, and left him by the side of a seldom-used country road.

Now it just happened that a Republican Congressman passed by and saw the man lying there. But there were votes that he was needed for back in Washington, and surely there would be other people that would come and help the man, so he drove right by the injured man lying at the side of the road. After the congressman, there was a Republican Senator that was passing by the wounded man. But he too had to get to Washington, and surely there would be someone else who was better equipped than him that could help a hurting man at the side of the road.

And then a Democratic strategist passed by the hurting man. He, too, had important meetings in Washington, but when he saw the man, his MAGA hat torn and dirty with mud, he had compassion on him. He got down into the soil and gathered the man into his arms, struggling to carry him to the back seat of his car. As he got back into the driver's seat, the Democrat noticed that his shirt, once white and ready for the business in Washington, was now torn and bloodied by the man. As he looked into the back seat, he noticed that the man, now unconscious, was lying on a crucial campaign report, which had now been rendered unusable.

The Democrat took this Republican traveler to the nearest hospital, where he booked him into a private room. He placed the dirty MAGA hat in a place of honor beside the hospital bed. Because the man was unconscious and had nothing to identify him, the Democrat left his platinum American Express card to cover any expenses incurred. And then, finally made his way to Washington. So, which man was the injured man neighbor? Or, maybe, which man exhibited Christian compassion   

Sometimes I think we miss the scandal of the story of the Good Samaritan. My rendition of the parable doesn't come close to recognizing the scandal of the tale that would have been heard by the story's original listeners. Samaritans were hated. They were the descendants of poor, miseducated Jews who had been left behind in Judah during the Babylonian exile. Understand this; the Samaritans were so useless that even the Babylonians wanted nothing to do with them. The Babylonians had left them behind so that they wouldn't devalue Babylonian neighborhoods. And Samaritans returned the favor by hating the self-important Jews.

John says that Jesus went to Galilee and that he had to (or maybe better, "needed to") go through Samaria. But what we need to understand is that nobody needed to go through Samaria. Good Jews bypassed Samaria. They went around. Yes, it was a little longer, but the journey was so much better because you didn't have to put up with Samaritans.

Jesus didn't have to go to Samaria because it was the only way to get to Galilee. He could have joined the crowd of Jews, making the journey by going around the area. Jesus had to go to Samaria because he had a message that the Samaritans needed to hear. And that was almost as scandalous and ludicrous as the story of the Good Samaritan.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Matthew 5 

He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him." – John 3:2

Today's Scripture Reading (October 27, 2020): John 3

One of the best rivalries in Major League Baseball is between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. But maybe an even more significant challenge is being a Boston Red Sox fan living in New York or a New York Yankees fan living in Boston, especially when your team isn't playing well. It is always easy to be a fan of a winning team, but being willing to be identified as a fan of a losing team is a little harder. I know, one of the American football teams I support is the Detroit Lions. When your team is losing, the temptation is to keep your loyalties hidden and wait patiently for better days.

A rivalry existed between Jesus and the arisees. And at this point, Jesus's star is on the rise. Scholars have wondered about Nicodemus's words, "we know that you are a teacher who has come from God." The question is, who is it that comprises the "we"? It is doubtful that Nicodemus is speaking on behalf of the rest of the Pharisees. Even if this was something that they "knew" about their rival, it was doubtful that they would admit it. It seems more likely that Nicodemus is referring here to public opinion. The ordinary people were beginning to believe that there was something very special about this Rabbi from Nazareth based on the miracles.

So, Nicodemus decides to visit Jesus under cover of night when no one can see him. He is becoming a fan of Jesus, but he is not ready to go public with his decision yet. Night protects his image while he explores the teachings of Jesus. It allows him to learn from Jesus without facing the ridicule that might come from his Pharisee friends.

But it is also important to note that Nicodemus's reason for believing in Jesus is somewhat dubious, and something of which his fellow Pharisees might decide to remind him. He says that "no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him." But miracle workers were nothing new, and those who wanted to deceive often did so by performing miraculous signs. Even Paul admits that "the coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing" (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10a). Just the fact that Jesus performed miracles was not enough to prove that he was "from God." But the miracles were enough to get people like Nicodemus to give Jesus a second look and examine if he may be from God. And for that reason, Nicodemus visited Jesus under cover of the night.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: John 4

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there. – John 2:1

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 26, 2020): John 2

American poet and philosopher Criss Jami argues that "Telling an introvert to go to a party is like telling a saint to go to Hell." As a lifelong introvert, I agree. No matter how hard an introvert might try to fit in, we never do. And the level of discomfort in those troubling moments is off the charts. An introvert at a party has found their hell; they know that they have been condemned.

Several years ago, I was an observer to an argument about whether or not Jesus ever laughed. The bible doesn't mention his laughter, although it does mention his tears, so it is an interesting question. But from a human behavior point of view, it is almost impossible to imagine a Jesus who never laughed or at least cracked a smile. Can you imagine thirteen guys gathering around a fire as they traveled together around the countryside and the latest joke not being told? That the antics of one of the apostles did not provoke the others to laugh, or that there wasn't a moment of good-natured fun?

We may not know whether or not Jesus laughed, but we can make this observation. He never turned down a reason to party. Whether it is a wedding in Cana or time with tax-collectors and prostitutes, Jesus showed up at the celebration regardless of the reason behind the party. And there seemed to be no inhibition to inviting him. We have no reports that people didn't want to ask Jesus to the celebration because he would spoil the fun; all the evidence that we have points to Jesus as someone who welcomed a reason to party. Jesus was someone who seemed to have been equally comfortable being alone as he was celebrating with his friends. And a marriage party was the best party of all.

There is an old tradition that argues that the Wedding at Cana was John's. And that after John witnesses Jesus turning the Water into Wine, he left his bride at the altar to follow Jesus (and that might have been a good reason to leave Jesus off of the guestlist for your next party). The story is cute but highly unlikely.

John notes that at this party, Mary was present. After the story of Jesus at the Temple at the age of twelve (Luke 2:41ff), there is no mention of Joseph. The best answer to the puzzle of Joseph's disappearance was that he had died sometime after "The Case of the Missing Jesus." As a result, Jesus had been responsible for caring for the family until his siblings were old enough to care for themselves. And at the Wedding at Cana, Jesus was still at home, helping to care for his siblings. His time had not yet come.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: John 3

After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. "Follow me," Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. – Luke 5:27-28

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 25, 2020): Luke 5

One of the lines that I hear, but don't really like, is 'I was never brought up that way.' Usually, the phrase appears in a conversation that is touching on religious points. "I was never brought up that way' is meant to denote that there are some people that were raised to accept religious ideas – and some that weren't. Or maybe more precisely, some people have a Christian potential, while others simply don't.

What amazes me is that as we read the story of Jesus, the situation seems to be the reverse. This isn't the story of Jesus reaching out to people that have been brought up to be extremely religious. The religious (and an excellent example of this group is found in the presence of the Pharisees) seemed to reject Jesus and his teaching. Their upbringing in religious circles didn't seem to make Jesus more attractive.

Jesus's message was accepted by those that didn't seem to have been 'brought up that way.' As a result, Jesus issued the challenge 'follow me' to some very unlikely people. And what is maybe even more surprising is that these unlikely people said yes. Tax Collectors, prostitutes – people who had been scorned by religious society and who had no real idea of what it meant to be a God-fearer because they had chosen a different way, said yes to the invitation to be with Jesus. When Jesus issued the challenge, they followed.

My question is, "what happened to the church?" When did we make the transition from being a faith that reaches out to those who never considered themselves to be religious, to a body that encourages its followers to act like Pharisees? Has the contemporary church lost its edge? The comment 'I was never brought up that way' seems to be more of a problem now than in the early church. Is it possible that that is because we have lost our way and have ceased to be the church that Jesus envisioned?

It is a big question, but at the base of it is a desire to be a church that the antireligious like and can understand – a church built on love and the desire to heal hurting lives. We still have a chance to make a church where hurting people who have 'never been brought up that way' can find healing. But to get there, we will have to pay attention to the Tax collectors living in our midst.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: John 2

See Also Matthew 9:9

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone.'" – Luke 4:3

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 24, 2020): Luke 4

In 1985, the British Rock Band "Dire Straits" released their most successful single – "Money for Nothing." The controversial song was sung from the point of view of a working-class man watching, what was then, the brand-new music video channel, MTV. The song uses derogatory and offensive names to describe the musicians who appeared in the music videos in keeping with the working-class theme. The album version of the song lasts an incredible eight minutes and twenty-five seconds and contrasts the fine, high falsetto voice of Sting (Gordon Sumner) with the gruff, baritone voice of "Dire Straits" lead singer Mark Knopfler. The song's official single was cut almost in half to a mere four minutes and thirty-eight seconds.

The opening lyrics of the song, after the high falsetto voiced words sung by Sting, "I want my MTV," features these words:

Now look at them yo-yo's that's the way you do it
You play the guitar on the M.T.V.
That ain't workin' that's the way you do it
Money for nothin' and chicks (women) for free.

(Decades after the original release of the song, I quoted these lyrics in a conversation with a friend who informed me that I had the lyrics wrong – it was not chicks for free but instead checks for free, keeping the lyric faithful to the money theme of the line. And there may have been versions of the song where that is true, but I am unaware of them. The original lyrics are definitely "money for nothing and chicks for free.")

It is the dream of a lot of us. If only we could live without working. If somehow someone would only give us the money we need to make our dreams come true. It is why we play the lottery, and then promptly quit our jobs when we have won. Research indicates that most lottery winners have spent all of their winnings within five years of receiving the money, propelling them back into the daily workforce. The money, or more precisely, the toys that we can buy with that money, carries meaning for us. And if we can get "money for nothing," we have achieved what it is that our heart desires.

And this is precisely the temptation that was placed in front of Jesus. He could have anything that he wanted; there was no reason to sacrifice. There were no circumstances that could force the miracle worker of Galilee to go hungry for forty days and forty nights when he could make the rocks themselves into loaves of bread. Jesus could have whatever he wanted; he could have "money for nothing," but the trade-off was that he would have to sacrifice his mission. But Jesus makes it clear that his job meant more to him than any wealth that he could acquire from the rocks. And in the end, Jesus knew that the salvation of the world would not be gained at no cost. His mission could not be achieved "for nothing."

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Luke 5

See Also Matthew 4:3

News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. – Matthew 4:28

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 23, 2020): Matthew 4

In his novel "11/22/63," Stephen King remarks that "We never know which lives we influence, or when, or why." King's story tells the tale of a time traveler who decides to go back to the fall of 1963 to attempt to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy, an event that took place on the date indicated in the novel's title. He was going to fix an event that shook the world and caused an untold amount of pain and destruction; he wanted to prevent a death that was entirely the creation of a disturbed human mind.

Looking through the pages of history, much of the pain we have experienced has been solely because of us. As a race, we seem to continually inflict pain on each other, both great and small. But maybe even more disturbing is the fact that we often also seem to enjoy it. If we could somehow just stop the human inflicted pain, we could make this world into a much better place to live. But stopping our penchant to destroy ourselves remains something that is outside of our collective desire to do.

Matthew says that people brought the sick and the hurting to Jesus for him to heal. And the people suffered from many different kinds of sickness. Some hurts were human inflicted, some the result of the natural breakdown of the human body, and some were brought on by supernatural means. We often think that the idea of demon-possession in ancient times was a place holder for sicknesses that they didn't understand. And now, we have a better explanation of illness, which means that we have less need to attribute these sicknesses to demons.  What we miss is that there is a definite and somewhat unexplainable rise in the mention of demon-possession in the New Testament, something that is not often mentioned in the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible. Scholars have struggled with the reason for the increase. But one possibility is that, just as God became incarnate and dwelt among us and ministered to us physically in our midst for a time, so Satan also increased his power in the world, opposing the physical move of God.

If that is true, then we can expect that Satan would continue that strategy in our modern world, active in the places where God is involved. And maybe that is the reason for the opposition that exists, not to stupid Christianity, which is often self-serving and lacking in love, but to Christianity that genuinely seeks to make this world a better place. Where God is on the move, Satan is moving as well. And in those situations, we need to remember that God has the power to heal all of our sicknesses and situations, regardless of the cause. He is in charge of natural disease, pain that results from human actions, and even illness resulting from Satan's activities. God is still on the throne, and God is still in charge. And he still wants to be the positive influence our lives need, regardless of the when or why.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Luke 4

… the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. – Luke 3:38

 … the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. – Luke 3:38

Today's Scripture Reading (October 22, 2020): Luke 3

American Academic Chip Heath, in his best-selling book "Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die," observes that "To make our communications more effective, we need to shift our thinking from "What information do I need to convey?" to "What questions do I want my audience to ask?" Of course, to do that, you need to know who it is that is listening to your message. And that might be the most formidable task of all.

The writers of the Gospels had specific audiences in mind as they set out to write their biographies of Jesus. John's Gospel was the last of the histories of Jesus to be written, and his writing might have been intended for the broadest audience. John had read the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) and thought that some critical information was missing in those histories that he felt was essential to pass on to his friends. But the Gospel of John was also an announcement of the last apostle's impending death. One of John's messages was that there would come a day when he would no longer walk with them, despite rumors that claimed the opposite.

The Gospel of Mark also appears to be more general in its intended audience. It relates the movement of Jesus as seen by a young man who had associated himself early on with the disciples during the earthly ministry of Jesus; Mark was the son of one of Jesus's significant supporters.

Matthew and Luke were written to more specific audiences, which is actually revealed in their genealogies. In the lineage that Matthew uses, his anchor point is Abraham. The line emphasizes that Jesus was a Jew, a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And that is important for a Gospel whose prime audience was Jewish.

But Luke decides to anchor his genealogy of Jesus in Adam, who God formed out of dust and to whom God gave life. And in doing so, Luke makes the point that the story of Jesus is not about one race, but that the gift of Jesus was for the entire world, regardless of their racial heritage. Jesus came for the world, and he was a descendant of Adam, as are all of us. An essential concept for a history written with a primary audience that was not Jewish, but consisted of all the other races who live and breathe on this planet. Jesus was not just a local deity of the Jewish people. Jesus's presence and ministry impacted all of us, and the story that Luke intends to tell is essential to us all.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Matthew 4

 

At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness … - Mark 1:12

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 21, 2020): Mark 1

Have you ever had something that you felt that you just had to do? A moment when to not act was unthinkable. In my senior year in High School, I watched as a teacher publicly berated a student in class for something that I knew she didn't do. (Admittedly, I knew she didn't do it because I was also aware of the offender's identity.) As the girl ran from the class in tears, I stood up and started to make my way toward the teacher's desk. Alarm sprang up within my circle of friends as they implored me to sit back down, but at that moment, that did not seem to be a possible response. Something inside of me compelled me to confront a teacher that I had seen as no different from any of the other bullies in the school for the past couple of years. I did not like bullies when they were my peers, and I was not any more enamored with them when the bullies turned into teachers. And on this day, the bully that sat behind the teacher's desk in my Chemistry class was going to get what I felt he deserved, a tongue lashing like the ones he liked to deal out. I would get kicked out of the class for my trouble, but I was okay with that. (As an aside, years later, I would become somewhat reconciled with the teacher, and I think as adults we developed a begrudging respect for the challenges and abilities we both possessed.) But at the moment, I seemed to be driven toward the confrontation with my teacher.

The NIV says that the Spirit "sent" Jesus into the wilderness. But the word is a little too gentle. Some other translations argue that the Spirit "drove" him into the wilderness, which is understandable since the word that Mark uses here is the same as the one used when Jesus "drove" demons out of possessed people. Jesus was compelled by the Spirit to go into the wilderness, or maybe it might be appropriate to say that the Spirit "cast him out" of the public eye and into the seclusion of the desert. It was something that Jesus simply felt that he had to do. The forty days that he would spend in the wilderness would be when he would experience his moments of temptation, and likely more than just the three that we celebrate in the biblical text. Those were probably the highlights of the temptation Jesus experienced during this time alone. But the purpose of the solitary experience was to allow Jesus to consider the months that now lie before him. Here, the plan for the coming ministry was laid out and considered. It was in the wilderness that the coming battle was evaluated. And in the process, Satan tried and failed to deflect Jesus from the purpose of his incarnation.

All of this was something that Jesus was just "driven" or compelled to do.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Luke 3

And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." – Matthew 3:17

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 20, 2020): Matthew 3

On February 21, 1995, Joan Osborne released the song "One of Us." And in the lyrics, Joan Osborne asks a question.

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin' to make his way home?

Christians didn't respond well to her assertion that God was a slob, and I don't think that Osborne thought that she would get cheered from the judgmental Christian Right for her uncomplimentary description of God. But suddenly the question was out there. What if God was a slob like "one of us."

Most of us, and likely all of us, spent our Middle School years in fear about the group with which we might be identified. I think most of us tried to shape our friendships with an eye toward what those friends might say about us and our identity. And we all had some guilty friendships, both friends that we could barely tolerate, but who belonged to the social group to which we aspired, and friends with whom we really loved to spend time, but who could also drag our reputation down. I had a few friends in school that belonged to the latter category, kids who were largely socially ignored, but who, if you bothered to spend time with them, were fun people with whom to spend some time.

In the Baptism of Jesus, Jesus, who was without sin, publicly identifies with the sinful human race. There was no need for Jesus to be baptized. He had no sin from which to be cleansed and no reason to repent. Jesus was the perfect Son of God. And yet, he insists on being Identified publicly as "one of us."

Unbelievably for some, and maybe for Joan, Osborne got it theologically perfect. In the baptism of Jesus, he identified with us. He became "a slob like one of us. Just a stranger on the bus
tryin' to make his way home?"

But more than that, at the moment that Jesus performs this unthinkable act with his baptism, finishing a journey to become "one of us" that began with his birth in a manger in Bethlehem, God proudly announces to all who would listen that "This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." The baptism of Jesus was not a random act; it was part of the perfect plan in which God leaves his throne to become "a slob like one of us." And we need to thank Joan for reminding us of that vital fact. And the reality that even if we were displeased by the comparison of God to a slob like us, God was quite okay with it.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Mark 1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. – John 1:1

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 19, 2020): John 1

Communication can be challenging, especially because words can take on different meanings depending on the situation, or even the generation that is speaking. In talking with your kids, you might notice that to call something "sick" is not necessarily a bad thing, and it has nothing to do with the coronavirus. Something that is "sick" is actually something that my generation would have been called cool (nothing to do with temperature) or sweet (not referring to things containing sugar). If a kid asks you to "give them the tea," they are not asking for a hot drink. They are asking for the current gossip about a particular situation. And the swiftly changing slang of a language can make communication hard.

And it isn't just a problem with modern English. For centuries, theologians and philosophers had used the word Logos or Word to substitute for God. For instance, Exodus 19:17, which reads, "Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain." But in ancient Hebrew, the passaged is phrased as, "Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with the Logos (or the Word of God)." Greek philosophers believed that it was this divine Logos that brought order to the chaos of the world. The Logos was the mental reasoning that allows our world to make sense. Logos was reflected in the Natural Laws that enable our world to function predictably. And that reason was present in the world from the very beginning.

John makes the most of this tradition. John purposefully mirrors the opening words of Genesis as he begins his gospel. John extends the ministry of Jesus back to the beginning of time. He argues that you have been speaking and writing about Logos for generations. Well, let me introduce you to the Logos of the world, the Word of God. His name is Jesus. Jesus might have been born, or better understood as incarnated, in Bethlehem, but that was not his beginning. In fact, it is nonsensical to even speak of his beginnings, because at the moment that everything began, in the beginning, the Logos which is Jesus was already there.

John writes, "In the beginning was the Word." While the words might sound strange to us, he introduced Jesus to both Jews and Greeks, not only with a language that they understood but also with a language they were using in their academic dialogue.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Matthew 3

Every year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. – Luke 2:41

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 18, 2020): Luke 2

Christmas has always been a significant holiday in my family. In some families, the holiday of the year is Thanksgiving, but it was always Christmas in my family. And the Christmas season began at Thanksgiving, Canadian Thanksgiving, which occurs on the second Monday in October. Once Canadian Thanksgiving was finished, the Christmas music was unleashed in the house, decorations slowly began to emerge from their hiding spots, and the march toward the big day had begun.

Once the day arrived, again, there was a defined way in which the day would progress. When I was really young, I lived in the same area as both sets of my grandparents. And so, every year, my family went on a Christmas pilgrimage. The day started with breakfast and a Christmas celebration with my parents. And then we gathered ourselves together and made the journey to my Dad's parents' home, and a lunch celebration feast with my paternal relatives. And then the move was made to go to the home of my mom's parents, and an evening celebration feast with my maternal relatives. How we spent Christmas was never questioned or in doubt. This was the way it would be.

Passover was one of the central feasts of Judaism. According to the Law of Moses, it was one of the times when all men were to appear in Jerusalem. As the Jews scattered further and further away, that advice changed to all men within a certain distance from Jerusalem, but the expectation remained that men would come to the Temple in Jerusalem three times a year.

Joseph was an observant Jew, and so he made sure that every year he went to Jerusalem at the time of the Passover. And the family of Joseph went with him. In the beginning, it was just Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. But as the family grew, the children were included in the journey.

The picture that this comment paints is that the House of Joseph and Mary did not live outside of the faith of the land. And they did not just do the minimum. From the time that Jesus was born, he was instructed in what it meant to be a Jewish man in the society. Joseph could have made the eighty-mile trip from Nazareth to Jerusalem on his own. It would have been an easier path. But Joseph wanted to teach his children, and especially his sons, what it meant to be a Jew, and live a life that honored God by obeying the Laws of Moses. And so, from his earliest memories, Jesus would have known that for a Jew, the Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem was not optional. And as an adult, it would be during that same pilgrimage that his life would come to an end. Joseph had taken Jesus on a yearly Passover pilgrimage, and years later, Jesus would be arrested and executed during his own Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem.     

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: John 1

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. – Matthew 2:3

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 17, 2020): Matthew 2

The people often suffer from the moods of the ruler. And those mood swings can be more pronounced with some rulers than with others. In modern times, the ruler's mood swings can make the money markets go up or plunge into the depths they have never seen before. And often, both in ancient times and in modern ones, the best that the people can hope for is a king or political ruler who is calm in challenging situations and who keeps a steady hand on the rudder of the nation, whether the country is going through the best and worst of times. Because, when the King is disturbed, so are the people over whom he rules.

And this was even more true of Herod. Herod the Great was well-known for the cruel streak that existed within his personality, which worsened as he grew older. He also had a mental instability that those around him feared, but it was an instability that some close to him knew how to manipulate. And when Herod was upset, no one was safe from his actions. Herod murdered one of his wives, two sons (Rome executed another son for plotting his father's death, Herod), and numerous in-laws. The number of people in the nation that Herod had killed is unknown, but the biblical story of the Massacre of the Innocents in Bethlehem highlight the propensity of the King to kill his own people, regardless of who they were, including children, and often as a result of whim and his own foul mood rather than a response to any criminal activity that might have threatened the population. As Herod grew older, the danger to Judah's people was increasingly located in the person who sat on the throne of the nation.  

The Magi arrive in Jerusalem, seeking the newborn King of the Jews. It was the obvious place to look for a new King at the current King's palace. But there was no infant prince present in the court, and no doubt over Herod's plans on who would succeed him. And Herod, already beleaguered, was not in the mood to consider a threat to his throne. After the execution of Antipater, Herod's eldest son, and the planned heir to the throne of Judah, by Rome, Caesar Augustus remarked that "It is better to be Herod's pig than his son." At least a pig was unclean and unlikely to be killed and eaten, but three sons of Herod had already died prematurely just because they were the sons of the King.  

Matthew's words are probably a bit of an understatement. "When King Herod heard this he was disturbed." King Herod was likely enraged at the news brought to him by the Magi. And that disturbed Jerusalem and the rest of the nation because no one had any idea what the King was going to do next.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Luke 2

But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. – Matthew 1:25

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 16, 2020): Matthew 1

It wasn't until the fourth century C. E. that the Christian Church seemed to develop the idea that sex, all sex in every situation, was somehow sinful. During the fourth century, monasticism began to promote celibacy as the ideal state of human existence. Sex and marriage began to be linked to original sin. A celibate priesthood was still centuries away, but the foundation was already being laid. And at the same time, another teaching was being advanced; the perpetual virginity of Mary. When we speak of the Virgin Mary, we aren't talking about just the period leading up to Jesus's birth. The belief in the Virgin Mary speaks of the view that there was never a time when Mary was not a virgin; it refers to the idea that Mary and Joseph never lived as a normal husband and wife.

The perpetual virginity of Mary is a belief that is commonly held by Catholic and Orthodox churches, reaching back to the reverse sexual revolution that took place in the fourth century C.E. to find its origins. And as a result of this sexual revolution, the Biblical story began to be rewritten. One of the most prominent features of this rewriting dealt with Jesus's siblings. The Biblical record is straightforward; Jesus had brothers and sisters. These siblings were the focal point of Jesus's visit to Nazareth early in his ministry. The people looked at Jesus and argued, "Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him" (Mark 6:3). But if Mary was always a virgin, how did these siblings, at least six, come to exist. And there are a couple of theories that have been argued to explain James and his siblings' existence. One approach is that they were not siblings, but cousins who had come to live in the house of Joseph and Mary. Some tragedy had taken place among Mary and Joseph's siblings, and the holy family had taken in the orphaned children, making them part of their family. But if this is true, then why do the gospels not say "cousins." Another theory is that Joseph, who was older than Mary, was in his second marriage, and these children were older siblings from Joseph's first marriage.

But the dance is only necessary because of the fourth-century sexual revolution. The biggest problem with Mary's perpetual virginity is that the teaching is unbiblical and makes us jump through hoops to try to explain the basic instructions found in the Bible. One of the most explicit biblical teachings on this subject is located in the opening chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew says that Joseph did not have sex with Mary "until" Mary's son was born, confirming that the son that was to be born of Mary did not result from the contact of an earthly father.

However, after the birth, Joseph consummated his marriage with Mary and lived with her as a normal married couple. And they called their son, Jesus.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Matthew 2

Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us … Luke 1:1

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 15, 2020): Luke 1

With any critical event, people will try to write about the things that have taken place. Countless books have been written about the American Civil War or the Assassination of John F. Kennedy. People have put forward their theories about what had happened, or have tried to uncover facts hidden in the pages of time. It doesn't matter what the event is; someone who has an opinion about what has happened often feels the need to write it down.

And it was not any different when it comes to the life of Jesus. John seems to agree with Luke. As he closes the words that he wrote about the life of Christ, he makes this comment; "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written" (John 21:25). Many books had been written about the life of Jesus; many more would be written long after Luke and John's lives had ended. But even now, more books could be written about Jesus.

So, Luke opens up his account of the story of Jesus by admitting that many people had already written down their accounts of what happened when he walked the earth with us. Luke's desire to tell the story was likely not just to add his voice to the many, but to write a document from which the early church could read during the emerging communion services taking place in homes across the known world.

What were the many accounts? We suspect that the Gospel of Mark was one of the many, and likely the only existing writing that Luke knew about that we still have and can read. There is a long-lost document that we call "Q," probably a collection of the sayings of Jesus, much like the Book of Proverbs. "Q" was a bare-bones collection of the things that Jesus said during his time of ministry. Another document consisting of other teachings of Jesus was likely being circulated at the time, and Luke appears to have, at least, used these three documents to write his account.

Luke probably knew of many more writings, including Paul's letters, which were beginning to be shared among the house churches. Luke had heard the stories of Jesus shared by the disciples and had many discussions about Jesus, and what follows in the gospel that bears his name is the portion of the information that Luke thinks is important to tell to the church.

As Luke was preparing his story, Matthew was also preparing the report that he wanted to tell. The two men would tell similar stories, although with slightly different emphases. Luke was writing to a Gentile audience that had primarily become Christians because of the ministry of Paul. Matthew would write his gospel to Jewish Christians living in Jerusalem and diaspora around the known world. These were not the only writings that existed and that Luke had read. But what had impacted Luke as important, Luke has written down so that we would know.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Matthew 1