Jesus Questions the Text

Is the Biblical text set in stone?

October 1, 2012 By 2 Comments

by Russell Rathbun

Gospel Reading:  Mark 10:2-16

For Sunday, Oct. 7, 2012—Ordinary 27

When we started this blog, we set out with a clear resolve to take seriously the questions that came up as we read the weekly lectionary texts—that is, hard questions about the text, not life application questions that arise from the text, not the ethical/pastoral, semi-Pelagian, “how then shall I live?” questions.

We really want to nail the sometimes theological, sometimes contextual, text-critical kind of questions—questions about how, what, and why the text means. And in a sincere pseudo-midrashic spirit, to open ourselves to the possibility that often the real questions are found in the texts gaps and fissures. Did I mention the sometimes outrageous? [Read more...]

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The Law of Love

March 5, 2012 By 2 Comments

The Ten Commandments as a Way Station.

by Mike Stavlund

Old Testament Reading: Exodus 20:1-17

For Sunday, March 11, 2012: Year B—Lent 3

If you or I were coming down from Mt Sinai, what would the commandments be today? Would we even have any? It is hard to imagine that God intended for us to be so concerned with these ten laws, thousands of years later, literally and metaphorically chiseling them into stone, again and again, like some totemistic icon.

Are they instead simply arbitrary, meant for another time and place? A friend of mine insightfully suggests that–in our day and age–they are exactly that: proxy measures for righteousness.

Situational Ethics, Reconsidered

To be clear to my wife and everyone else, I’m not planning on contravening commandments number six and seven. But I teach undergraduate ethics, and understand something about moral complexities: I will bear false witness to help someone, I don’t honor fathers who are abusive, I have crucifixes in the house, and I sometimes preach on Sunday. And it might be a good thing for me to covet my neighbor’s new all-electric Nissan Leaf, basking in the blue glow of its charging station, waiting to be pre-warmed via iPhone app just before he silently jets off to work in the morning.

But I digress.

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Reading the Bible with Jews

February 26, 2012 By 6 Comments

 Are we saved not by faith or belief, but by Jesus’ faithfulness?

by Carl Gregg

Epistle Reading: Romans 4:13-25

 For Sunday, March 4, 2012: Year B — Lent 2

Many Christians have begun to have ears to hear the rightful Jewish protests that “law” is a problematic translation of “Torah.” “Teaching” or “Instruction” are preferable options. In our context, the word “law” imports all the negative baggage associated with the bulky U.S. Law Code.

Do You Hear “Torah” or “Law?”

Landmark books such as E.P. Sanders’ Paul and Palestinian Judaism (1977) emphasize that many Jews view the Torah not as a burden, but as God’s gracious gift of a covenant and way of life. Sanders was a leader in studying what Jews in and around the first-century said about themselves compared to the increasingly anti-Semitic Christian rhetoric about Jews. The “New Perspective on Paul” seeks to understand Paul in his authentic Jewish context instead of through the lens of Christian theologians such as Augustine (354-430) and Luther (1483-1546).

The Jewish Annotated New Testament argues that the word “law,” such as in verse 13 (Greek: nomos, without a definite article), often refers not to the “Torah,” but to Roman law (see the burgeoning field of Empire-critical interpretation) or Jewish “conventions” such as circumcision.

Do You Hear “Faith” or “Faithfulness?”

This commentary also invites us to hear the word “faith” (Greek: pistis) as more about faithfulness than “faith,” especially as opposed to faith heard with the connotation of “belief.” (Remember complications such as Romans 2:13, “doers of the law will be justified,” which challenge simplistic portrayals of justification by faith alone.) Thus, in verses 20-21, “Paul is defining a continuum of decisions and concomitant actions based on trust in God’s promises…. Paul may be alluding to Abraham’s willingness to be circumcised as an act of faithfulness toward being able to father this promised child.” Like the Christians in Rome to whom Paul was writing, we are called to similar faithfulness. [Read more...]

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Writing the Back Story

January 1, 2012 By 4 Comments

In what ways are the writings of an ancient people and their perception of God relevant to us?

by Russell Rathbun

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 1:1-5

For Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012: Year B—Baptism of Our Lord

What a job Moses had.

I mean, can you imagine if you got the job to write the story of creation, the beginning of everything, the world, life, and humanity?

The Whole Enchilada?

I am saying it was Moses who wrote the story because that is what the tradition says. I am sure it probably wasn’t Moses, but tradition says Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible.

I am sure, one could wonder how Moses was able to conclude his last book with the story of his own death and burial, but that is a minor question, compared to the many others his work brings up.

I wonder—did God ask Moses to write the books? God did tell him to write down the Law, right?  That is, I guess, according to Moses God told him to write down the Law. But, did God ask him to write the rest of it?

[Read more...]

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Reading the Text Abundantly or Protectively

November 6, 2011 By 5 Comments

What is the difference?

by Russell Rathbun

Gospel Reading:  Matthew 25:14-30

For Sunday, Nov. 13 , 2011: Year A—Ordinary 33

Jesus never comes right out and says “The Kingdom of Heaven is…” He says “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…” And then he tells some odd story that at first hearing seems not to clarify the issue but to confuse it. 

Keep Awake

The opening words of the “Parable of the Talents” tie it to the conclusion of the previous parable—For it is as if. It’s as though today’s parable is some sort of explanation of what Jesus had just said.

And what Jesus had just said was: Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. That is the conclusion of a parable about the Kingdom of God. The “keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour” is an admonition of how one should live in light of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Not About the Money

One could read this parable this way: Jesus is leaving but he will return and usher in the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven. Until then he has bestowed upon us the gift of free market capitalism which we should dedicate ourselves too so that when Jesus returns we will have made him a healthy profit and if you don’t at least show some minimal gain through compound interest you can go to hell. 

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Deception and the Hand of God

July 31, 2011 By 3 Comments

Can We Still Speak Credibly of Salvation?

 

by Russell Rathbun

Epistle Reading: Romans 10:5-15

For Sunday, August 7 , 2011: Year A—Ordinary 19

I feel like I should post about the Epistles every now and then. I don’t really like to. A lot of times they feel like essays about particular theological points or ethical exhortations that I am not really that interested in, but, you know, they are in the Bible, so….

Paul sure talks a lot…

Whenever I write about Romans in particular I’m struck by two things: 1) Paul sure talks a lot, and 2) Why isn’t there a more recent translation of Barth’s Epistle to the Romans? 1932 was a long time ago. Any Barth scholars out there? German translator, theology nerds? But I digress.

I like that Paul talks a lot, and he is never more interesting then in Romans, but this week’s Epistle reading leaves me searching for something to preach. In chapters 9-11, Paul is getting himself all twisted up trying to get Israel saved. He wants them to be saved, he is pretty sure God is saving them, he just needs to reason it out.

The thing that keeps getting in the way is that he wants them to confess that Jesus is Lord. And given that Jesus is the end of law, or that the law is contained within Jesus, somehow a devotion to the law could get them there—as long as they don’t interrupt the doing of the law, as Moses puts it, in some way that contradicts Paul and Barth.

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Your Neighbor Might Actually Live Next Door

February 13, 2011 By 1 Comment

It is time to further consider the question: What does it mean to love my neighbor?

by Russell Rathbun

Old Testament Reading: Leviticus 19:1-2, 8-18

For Sunday, Feb. 20 , 2011: Year A – Epiphany 7

Ripping the Law from the pages of a conversation between God and God’s people and tacking it up on the wall (or memorizing it) changes it. It becomes a measure of personal ability, worth and righteousness.

Me or You?

Taken in context these codes from Leviticus seem less about how an individual is able to adequately focus on their self, to produce the desired out comes, than it is about interacting with another human being.

These codes, however are not about ones ability to interact with some generalized human being, they are about how I live with the person standing next to me.

The Crowd

Jesus spends a lot of time with crowds in the gospels. The Crowd becomes a character in these narratives. But in all the situations where Jesus ends up teaching the crowds, it is never a result of him seeking them out.

Jesus doesn’t seem to like crowds very much, he hides from them, tries to get away from them. Jesus doesn’t heal crowds, he doesn’t pronounce forgiveness to whole crowds, he singles out people from the crowd. Jesus identifies individuals and personally engages with them.

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Collapsing Our Dichotomies

February 6, 2011 By 7 Comments

In Defense of Flesh, Blood, Fat, and Dust

by Carol Howard Merritt

Epistle Reading: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

For Sunday, February 13, 2011: Year A – Epiphany 6

I grew up in Florida, in a little beach town. I loved most things about being there—the brilliant beauty of the rising sunrise, the endless hunt for delicate shells, and the peace-inducing sound of the rolling waves. I long for these things when I’m caught in the anxiety-ridden culture of D.C.

So Exposed

But I do have some residual effects that I don’t appreciate when I think about growing up near that beach. Though I loved spending time on that shore more than any other place, I learned to hate my body there. People don’t wear many clothes in Florida. Perhaps it was the heat, perhaps it was just being a teenager, or perhaps it was because I felt so exposed all the time, but when I looked in the mirror I loathed what I saw. I despised the curves that developed and any ounce of fat. I deeply detested my flesh.

When I think back at all my friends who had eating disorders, I’m pretty sure that I wasn’t alone. The images of beauty in our country are often emaciated, and the fact that I didn’t match up to this gaunt perfection became clearer each time I donned my bathing suit. I knew that something was wrong as I watched as the smart, gifted girls around me struggle to stave off starvation and self-mutilation (usually cutting).

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Filed Under: 1 Corinthians, Featured, New Testament, YearA Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Cut It Out

February 6, 2011 By 12 Comments

What Do These Difficult Teachings Mean?

by Carol Howard Merritt

Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:21-37

For Sunday, February 13, 2011: Year A - Epiphany 6

When I was in college, there was a woman in our dorm who suffered with bulimia. As a result, the common refrigerator became ground of major tension. I was on edge about it. I would go out on a date on Friday night and have a fabulous meal. I would carefully eat only half of my entree, so that I could enjoy the rest of it the next day for lunch. But when I would open up the door to the fridge anticipating the content of that doggy bag, the leftovers would be gone, along with anything else that might have been edible in the icebox. Then much drama would ensue.

Until one particular morning.

Serrated Exegesis

I woke up, went into the kitchen to fetch some milk for my coffee, and I gasped. Some one had taped a sign to the refrigerator. In bold red letters, it said: “If your hand causes you to sin, CUT IT OFF.” Then, carefully taped to the sign was a fierce serrated-edge knife.

It felt like a scene out of a horror movie, but it was a joke. Sort of. I attended a fundamentalist Bible school, and I must say that at that moment I began to question a literal interpretation of scripture. I mean, my leftovers were clearly not worth someone’s hand.

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The Hardest Apology

January 30, 2011 By 5 Comments

Must a Christian interpretation of any Older Testament passage be read through the lens of the resurrection?

by Russell Rathbun

Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:13-20

For Sunday, Feb 6. , 2011: Year A – Epiphany 5

I’m sorry, I hope it doesn’t seem like we (Christians) have co-opted your Holy Book. I don’t think it started out that way. It looked a lot different when the founders of our upstart religion were all Children of Israel; quoting the only scriptures they knew (i.e., the Laws and the Prophets).

Our Prequel

But now it doesn’t look so good, when most of us have really no connection at all to the practice of the faith of Abraham, no ancestral connection, not even a clear understanding of what Jewish ritual, faith, religion even consists of. And your Holy book? We kind of think of it as ours too. It is still yours as well; we can both use it, right? We think of it as our prequel, and our background story. Is it presumptuous of us to bind it together with our newer part and call it one book?

‘er Testament?

When I was in seminary, they taught us to say Hebrew Bible, never Old Testament. “Old” denoted stale or bad somehow. Which, if you are going to be perfectly, politically correct, is kind of ageist. Some would allow, Older Testament, thinking of it as a non-judgmental chronological statement, although I have never heard anyone referring to the Newer Testament.

These were attempts at sensitivity, born of the best intentions. You see we did not want it to look like we think our religion is better than yours. That Christianity, somehow, is an improvement on your faith. Or the really ugly thing that you somehow missed the main point of your own faith, a point we get.

[Read more...]

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