| Please consider adding your name to these important initiatives |
|
|
|
|
|
INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURES
ACTS 2:1-21 Pentecost celebrates the climax of the Good News. On this day all the benefits of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ rush into our lives and into the church through the gift of the Holy Spirit. The coming of the Spirit makes this Good News available to the whole world. continue reading…
SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (ASCENSION SUNDAY)
INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
ACTS 1:15‑17, 21‑26 This passage tells us of the first company of believers appointing a successor to Judas Iscariot. The full complement of twelve apostles was necessary in order for the church to fulfil Old Testament prophecy and the task of proclaiming salvation through Jesus Christ until his return. The choice fell to Matthias, one who had participated in Jesus’ earthly ministry and a witness to the resurrection. These were the two qualifications for being an apostle in the early church.
PSALM 1 As the prologue to the whole psalter, this psalm describes the kind of person who will benefit most from all the hymns of praise, petition and lament that follow. It may have been written intentionally for this purpose when the many disparate songs of Israel were being collected into one volume.
1 JOHN 5:9‑13 The heresy which this letter sought to confront denied that Jesus of Nazareth and Christ, the Son of God, were the same person. The Christ was supposed to have come to Jesus at his baptism and departed from him before his death.
The test of faith was to believe that the human Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God in the flesh. The gift of God to those who believe is eternal life in fellowship with God and Jesus.
JOHN 17:9 – 19 We can never know whether or not John heard Jesus utter a prayer for his disciples something like this. It is a prayer for us as well as we live in a world still not rushing to hear of God’s saving love.
Because he will no longer be with them, the work he has begun rests entirely with the disciples. He prays that they will be kept safe by the power of the Holy Spirit; that they will experience the fullness of joy in their ministry; and that they will be committed to God in spite of all the pressures placed upon them.
A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS continue reading…
SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
ACTS 10:44-48 This story reads like the story of Pentecost in Acts 2 and was intended as its sequel. Before Peter had finished preaching, the Holy Spirit came upon the household of Cornelius, a Roman military officer and a Gentile. Jewish Christians accompanying Peter were astonished that the Spirit had come to a gathering of Gentiles. With the baptism of Cornelius and his household a new phase of the church’s mission began in earnest.
PSALM 98 This triumphant hymn may well have been used in the temple ritual for the Jewish New Year when Israel celebrated the enthronement of God as sovereign of the world. Not only God’s special people, Israel, but the whole world and all of nature are summoned to join in the praise.
1 JOHN 5:1-5 In the controversy with heretical teaching that forms the background of this letter, actions as well as words were essential. Believing in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God meant obeying God’s commands. “The world” represented all that was evil and tempting to those early Christians. Living love for God and neighbor was the way to live in the world without being dominated by its sinful ways. This is still so.
JOHN 15:9-17 As in several other places in John’s Gospel, chapters 13 to 17 use a familiar literary device of the time, an extended and stylized discourse. Containing much of John’s own thought about the relationship of Jesus to the church, this discourse includes some of Jesus’ most incisive teachings remembered by the church 60 or more years after the resurrection. As if quoting Jesus, John takes us to the heart of the Christian discipleship: Love for others as God has loved us. John thus interprets the meaning of Jesus’ death on the cross as his loving sacrifice of himself for us.
A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS continue reading…
INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
ACTS 8:26-40 This passage tells how the gospel became a missionary faith outside of Judaism. A eunuch whether Jewish or Gentile believer in Israel’s God would have been excluded from every Jewish congregation because he could not have any male heirs, “sons of the covenant.” The story is told as part of the main theme of Acts: To trace the expansion of the early church under the leadership of the apostles from Jerusalem to the Gentile nations of the world, especially to Rome, the capital city of the empire.
PSALM 22:25-31 This psalm begins with a cry of dereliction repeated by Jesus on the cross. It ends with a hymn of praise and trust in the God who rules over all nations.
1 JOHN 4:7-21 Perhaps the finest definition of God is given here: “God is love.” Like partners in a dance, we are invited to love each other as God loves us. No one has seen God, but as we love one another we allow the world to catch a glimpse of God’s true nature. In fact, God’s love is somehow incomplete until we feature that love in our lives.
JOHN 15:1-8 The allegory of the vine and the branches offers insight into the way the early Christian community saw the redemptive relationship between God, Jesus and the faithful. John stretches the image most picturesquely. The solid trunk of the vine emerging from the ground grows long, tender branches on which the fruit is produced. Without those branches, newly grown each year, the vine cannot produce. Cut off from the root, the branches are useful only as kindling for a fire. This was a common source of firewood in ancient times. God is described as the vine grower who cares for both the vine and the branches. Part of that caring requires rigorous pruning so that the vine continues to produce good fruit. This is exactly what has happened to Israel and to the church through the ages.
A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS continue reading…
INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
ACTS 4:5-12 This is another of the sermons preached by Peter and other apostles during the early days of the church. This time he declares the fact and the power of Christ’s resurrection before the same supreme council of religious leaders, the Sanhedrin, who had condemned Jesus and brought about his death. The healing of the man at the gate of temple had a wider meaning than giving strength to crippled legs. As in Jesus’ own healing miracles, to be fully healed meant to be brought into a right relationship with God through faith. Thus healing and salvation were one and the same.
PSALM 23 No psalm is better known or more loved as a prayer of trust in God who cares for us now and forever. It cannot be correctly attributed to David as ancient tradition supposed, a tradition generations have followed.
1 JOHN 3:16-24 John writes of God’s love for us and God’s command that we love one another. This love enables us to live courageously as God requires. Note that John also says that we receive whatever we ask of God because we obey and do what God requires of us. Yet this is not justification for a ‘name it and claim it’ attitude which mistakenly dreams of God meeting our every demand. As Jesus himself made clear, obedience to God sometimes involves great suffering.
JOHN 10:11-18 It may be helpful to read this passage and then to read Ezekiel 34 immediately after. There seems little doubt that Jesus (or his apostolic interpreters, if these were not his own words) made that Old Testament passage the basis for his own ministry as Messiah.
One of the enduring images of Jesus is that of the good shepherd. The startlingly different aspect of this passage is the willingness of the shepherd to lay down his life for the sheep.
There are numerous other Old Testament references to the way God, like the shepherds of biblical times, guided, cared for and rescuedIsrael, “the sheep of his flock.” For some of these, read also Isaiah 40:11; 49:9-10; 63:14; Psalms 80:1; 95:7; 100:3.
A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS continue reading…
INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
ACTS 3:12-19 All the sermons recorded in Acts are recollections of what all the apostles preached rather than verbatim reports of what Peter or other apostles may have said. They all contain essentially the same elements. Some, like this one, may reflect a somewhat earlier and more basic tradition than others. Like all the New Testament, this passage interprets Jesus as fulfilling a prophecy of a suffering Messiah. Although Isaiah 53 had spoken of a Suffering Servant, such a Messiah was unknown in the Hebrew tradition.
Though his own people rejected him, this sermon declares, the resurrection of Jesus is the proof that he is the promised Messiah. Through repentance and faith in him all sin is forgiven and sinners reconciled with God.
PSALM 4 An attitude of confident trust in God permeates this psalm. Accordingly it does not become a bitter lament, but a song of faith from someone suffering great distress.
1 JOHN 3:1-7 The real benefits of faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, are clearly stated in this passage. Believers are regarded as the children of God who at Christ’s second coming will be like him. Those who do not believe do not share kinship with Christ and fellowship with God. A life of sin and the Christian life are incompatible.
LUKE 24:36-48 The post-resurrection appearances of Jesus recorded in the four gospels have a common purpose: to prepare the faithful for life in the world as witnesses to the resurrection.
Luke’s closing narrative tells how Jesus revealed himself to his disciples to prove to them that he really was alive. He urged them to touch the wounds in his hands and feet, and then asked for something to eat. Luke also wished to show that Jesus himself had initiated the early Christian belief that the Old Testament prophesies of the Messiah had now been fulfilled. The church could now proclaim that repentance and forgiveness of sins, i.e. the moral and spiritual power to love a whole new life, were now available through faith in Jesus.
A MORE COMPLETE ANLAYSIS continue reading…
INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
Readings from The Acts of The Apostles take the place of Old Testament passages during the seven week Easter Season. Written perhaps as long as fifty years after the resurrection, Acts contains the church’s recollection of events rather than contemporary, eye-witness reports.
ACTS 4:32-35 In this brief passage we catch a glimpse of the life of the early Christian community. Motivated by the Holy Spirit, they generously shared what property they possessed. One of the most important early converts and benefactors was Joseph Barnabas. He was a Levite, a member of the official priesthood who served at regular intervals in the temple rituals.
PSALM 133 This brief psalm may have been sung by worshippers approaching the temple to celebrate the blessings of belonging to the Jewish community. For Christians, its significance lies in the closing words: the blessing of faith is eternal life.
1 JOHN 1:1-2:2 The three letters of John were written early in the second century to counter a serious heresy which denied that Jesus, the divine Son of God, had actually been crucified and raised from the grave. The witness of the apostles, John claims, is that these things actually happened. The forgiveness of sin and our life in fellowship with God entirely depend on this faith.
JOHN 20:19-31 The story of Thomas, the disciple who at first doubted the resurrection, was told to encourage those who had not witnessed that all-important event, yet still believed. The Gospel was written some sixty years after the event. Few witnesses remained. The author himself may not have been among those few, but sought to preserve the testimony of the apostles.
A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS continue reading…
INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
ACTS 10:34‑43 Peter’s sermon to the household of Cornelius, the Roman centurion in Caesarea, may seem a strange lesson to be read instead of an Old Testament selection. The thrust of Peter’s message, however, is the central theme of Easter.
The resurrection confirmed for all people and all time that Jesus is Lord, not Caesar, whom the centurion would have called by that title. The setting in a Gentile officer’s quarters, the assembled audience, mostly Gentiles to whom this Good News was proclaimed, and the linking of gospel and prophecy underline the universality of Peter’s message.
ISAIAH 25: 6-9 (Alternate) The prophet rejoices in God’s future deliverance of Israel from oppression and the rebuilding of Jerusalem as the holy city of God. Although, it is likely that this prophecy was uttered after the return from exile in Babylon in 539 BCE, early Christians found its sentiments, including Paul and John, the seer of Revelation, suitable to celebrate the victory of Easter.
PSALM 118:1‑2, 14‑24 This song of victory may have been composed to celebrate some unknown military triumph. In later Jewish rituals it served as a special litany for festive occasions. It was a favourite of Martin Luther which he said had helped him out of grave distress. It is still appropriate as a hymn of Easter thanksgiving.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-11 Paul introduces his remarkable interpretation of the resurrection with a brief survey of some of Jesus’ resurrection appearances, including the one he himself experienced. This event, he claims, is the heart of the gospel he and all the apostles proclaimed and everyone must believe to experience the presence of the living Christ.
JOHN 20:1‑18 The Easter story always leaves us with more questions than answers. Note who it was that first found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Matthew also names Mary Magdalene as one of the two women who were the first witnesses to the resurrection. Doesn’t that say something about the importance of women in the early church? Could Mary Magdalene herself have been the original source for this report?
MARK 16:1-8 (Alternate) Mark ends his gospel leaving his audience with many unanswered questions: What happened after Jesus was buried? Who moved the stone at the entrance of the sepulchre? How was “he raised?” Who was the “young man in white?” How could he “go ahead (of the disciples) into Galilee?” The women who first witnessed the empty tomb could only respond in fear to what they had been told. Quite naturally they fled from the scene. Wouldn’t we all do the same? Are our questions about the resurrection our own way to avoid belief?
A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS continue reading…
Holy Saturday
INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
JOB 14:1-14 Poor Job! Few laments in the Old Testament reach the depths of despair about the futility of life expressed in this passage. Its final words define the hopelessness of those without faith.
LAMENTATIONS 3:1-9, 19-24 (Alternate) The Book of Lamentations consists of a series of five liturgical poems written to express the grief of Jews who endured the economic and spiritual hardships of those remaining in their homeland following the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. This selection also contritely accepts those traumatic events as the judgment of God and expresses hope in the steadfast love of God forIsrael.
PSALM 31:1-4, 15-16 In striking contrast to Job’s despair, the psalmist voices his lament with a certain hope that deliverance will come because of God’s steadfast love.
1 PETER 4:1-8 These words exhort the recipients of the letter to embrace suffering as did Jesus the Christ. The community for whom they were written appears to have been facing persecution. Their conduct in the face of anticipated suffering will be the measure of their spiritual maturity. Of special note is the belief in the proclamation of the gospel to the dead, an interpretation that came into the Christian tradition from the apocryphal book of Enoch (2nd century BCE) and earlier Old Testament belief in a shadowy after-life in Sheol, the abode of the dead.
MATTHEW 27:57-66 These two brief vignettes assured Matthew’s audience that there could be no doubt as to the death of Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea’s new tomb provided a special place for the burial according to the custom of the wealthy of those days. Rock sepulchers would have been too expensive for ordinary folk whose burials would more likely to have been in trench graves. The apprehensive sealing and guarding of the tomb by the priests and Pharisees present a striking contrast to the gentle solemnity of the burial by Jesus’ friends. But at that point did anyone really believe that the resurrection would occur?
JOHN 19:38-42 (Alternate) John includes Nicodemus along with Joseph of Arimathea in his brief report of the burial. The amount of spices Nicodemus brought points to a depth of commitment, however much his fear of the Jews had forced him to conceal. Despite the claims still being made, archeologists have never located any specific tomb as the actual burial site. This description lends some greater authenticity to the Garden Tomb outside the Damascus Gate shown to tourists rather than the traditional site in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. (http://www.gardentomb.com/.)
A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS
| Open passage in new window |
This passage includes parts of three of the four strophes of a poem ending Job’s third discourse ending the first cycle of the discussion between Job and his three friends. Scholars differ whether the poem should begin at 13:28 rather than 14:1. Some interpreters even truncate the poem to begin at 14:6. The whole poem (13:28-14:22) deals with the fate of mortal humanity and its utter finality. It also includes a wild imagining of an afterlife and the irrevocable annihilation of life.
Poor Job! Few laments in the Old Testament reach the depths of despair about the futility of life expressed in this passage. Its final words define the hopelessness of those without faith. Although the poem begins with a statement about humanity in general, he quickly reverts to the particular – himself (vs. 3). His concern centres on the predetermined brevity of his life as well as his sinfulness.
In vss. 7-9 a perceptive metaphor contrasts human life to the apparent immortality of a tree that seems to die only to be regenerated from an old root. Another metaphor in vss. 10-12 contrasts the finality of human mortality to the wasting away of lakes and rivers, a phenomenon frequently seen in the aridMiddle East. On the other hand, in vss. 13-17, Job does express some hope for an afterlife. The mournful yearning of vs. 14 sums up the vanity of such a hope. Was this the mood of the women approaching the tomb on Resurrection Day?
| Open passage in new window |
(Alternate) The Book of Lamentations consists of a series of five liturgical poems written to express the grief of Jews who endured the economic and spiritual hardships of those remaining in their homeland following the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. They formed a single collection due to their common theme and purpose for use in the continuing worship of the people. This selection also contritely accepts those traumatic events as the judgment of God and expresses hope in the steadfast love of God forIsrael.
The lament was deliberately created to convey a particularly somber attitude. It has the appearance of a prayer by an individual as if the author was playing the role of Jeremiah. That prophet of the exilic era was traditionally, although mistakenly, regarded as the author. The lament proceeds through a series of moods from affliction to resignation, repentance and prayer.
The source of the author’s affliction is the wrath of God (vss. 1-3). Yet there is a sense of despair that his prayers are not being heard and is actually deterred from living righteously (vs. 8-9). The remainder of this selection refocuses the readers’ thoughts on Yahweh’s steadfast love. The opening words of two well-known hymns contain words identical with those of vs. 23: John Keble’s “New every morning is the love” and Thomas O. Chisholm’s “Great is thy faithfulness.” This essential note of hopefulness make the choice of this lesson particularly appropriate for Holy Saturday.
| Open passage in new window |
In striking contrast to Job’s despair, the psalmist voices his lament with a certain hope of deliverance because of God’s steadfast love.
Scholars believe that the whole psalm presents a composite of three distinct voices of which we have only excerpts from two in this reading. The first calls for protection (vss. 1-8), the second for recovery from illness (vss. 9-12); and the third (vss. 13-18) a lament by someone menaced by hostile opponents. The lament ends with a hymn of thanksgiving for God’s gracious response (vss. 19-24).
The two selected excerpts have relevance for the Easter vigil. They express a prayerful hope that out of never-failing love God will act in a redemptive way as in the many occasions in Israel’s past. Note vs. 5 in particular. This is the kind of prayer that faithful people still offer from the depths of grief, especially when a loved one’s death has been an unexpected tragedy.
Kneeling beside a swift flowing river as a search crew pulled a teenager’s lifeless body from the water, a student pastor heard the boy’s father utter these words, “What is a man to do to raise a son past 21?” This was the fourth of his sons to die tragically before reaching manhood. Yet the family remained faithful and contributed much to their community in later years.
| Open passage in new window |
Scholarly debate still wrestles with questions about the authorship and date of this letter. Dates varying from the 60 to 120 CE have been suggested as to its message of encouragement to the Christian communities of northernAsia Minor. No historical data has ever been found to confirm any mission by the Apostle in that region. Arguments from silence, however, are never convincing. The author whose Greek was quite sophisticated could have been Silvanus writing on behalf of Peter (5:12), or is just as likely to have been pseudonymous but using the apostle’s name to give the message authority long after Peter’s death.
These words exhort the recipients of the letter to embrace suffering as did Jesus the Christ. The communities for whom they were written appear to have been facing persecution. Their conduct in the face of anticipated suffering will be the measure of their spiritual maturity. Of special note is the belief in the proclamation of the gospel to the dead, an interpretation that came into the Christian tradition from the apocryphal book of Enoch (2nd century BCE) and the earlier Old Testament belief in a shadowy after-life in Sheol, the abode of the dead.
The passage expresses a moral urgency throughout. The quality of life of the Christian before and after conversion is clearly set forth. The imminence of the end of history and the pursuant judgment of the living and the dead are true to the apocalyptic passages in the Gospels and other epistles, especially those of Paul. So also the appeal for constant love within the Christian community (vs. 8) reflects the words attributed to Jesus in the final discourse in John 13-16.
| Open passage in new window |
It is obvious that the gospel accounts of Jesus’ burial are just as distinctive as those of his crucifixion. These two brief vignettes assured Matthew’s particular audience that there could be no doubt as to the death of Jesus. That, of course, was essential to the credibility of his subsequent narrative of the resurrection.
It is noteworthy that while Joseph of Arimathea appears in all four gospels, he also spoken of in slightly different terms. His membership in the Sanhedrin is attested in only two of the four gospels, Matthew and John being the exceptions. However, these gospels do imply that he was a powerful member of the Jewish community because he had access to the governor, Pontius Pilate.
The new tomb Joseph provided would have been a special place for the burial according to the custom of the wealthy and powerful of those days. Rock sepulchers would have been too expensive for ordinary folk whose burials would more likely to have been in trench graves. Furthermore, so few actual tombs of this type have been located in Jerusalem that there is no possible way that this could have been a general burial system for all the people.
Modern illustrations of such rock-hewn tombs have shown that these could be as simple as having place for a single burial or as elaborate as providing for several burials with ossuaries for the skeletal bones to be gathered and stored to make room for other remains. The controversial documentary The Tomb of Jesus (released in March 2007 on Discovery Channel in USA and Vision TV in Canada) showed a very elaborate tomb with ossuaries in small niches as well as a place for laying recently deceased persons. Hewing such tombs from rock cliffs was widely practiced throughout the Middle East for centuries before Christ. The royal tombs of the great Persian monarchs, Darius I and II and Artaxerxes I, still exist in Iran. Possibly the most elaborate are those still evident in Petra, the Nabatean capital which flourished from the late 1st century BCE to the late 2nd century CE. How appropriate, therefore, for the Messiah to be buried in the personal tomb prepared for a man of such power and wealth as Joseph of Arimathea.
The apprehensive sealing and guarding of the tomb by the priests and Pharisees present a striking contrast to the gentle solemnity of the burial by Jesus’ friends. But at that point did anyone really believe that the resurrection would occur? Matthew makes a point of noting the date: “the next day, that is, after the Day of Preparation.” That would have been the Sabbath according to the time-line of his Passion narrative.
Was this an indication that the chief priests and Pharisees regarded the need to secure the tomb as a very urgent matter?
One commentator noted that this passage along with 28:11-16 were two parts of a legend more fully elaborated in the apocryphal Gospel of Peter in the 2nd century. (Sherman E. Johnson. The Interpreter’s Bible. vii.713.) Both stories may have been part of the oral tradition from earlier times. The presence of an authorized guard negated the chief priest’s devious plot to counter the common Christian tradition. Matthew used the incident as the prelude to his witness to the resurrection and the two post-resurrection appearances to the disciples.
| Open passage in new window |
(Alternate) John includes Nicodemus along with Joseph of Arimathea in his brief report of the burial. Joseph’s provision of the tomb (although John does say it belonged to Joseph) and amount of spices Nicodemus brought points to the depth of their commitment. Their fear of the Jews which had forced them to conceal their discipleship was a very human trait and understandable, considering their public status. Would we not have done the same in such hostile circumstances?
Despite the claims still being made in 2007, archeologists have never located any specific tomb as the actual burial site. However, this description lends some greater authenticity to the Garden Tomb outside the Damascus Gate shown to tourists rather than the traditional site in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. (See both at: http://www.gardentomb.com/; and http://www.bibleplaces.com/holysepulcher.htm.)
Tourists visiting either site bring their own particular devotional biases with them. Personally, I found the Garden Tomb very attractive and believable even though its history is much more recent. Greatly improved since its accidental discovery in 1867 and purchased in 1893 by a British trust, the Garden Tomb Association, without question it presents a compelling but not irrefutable likeness to the garden John identified in vs. 41. The long history of pilgrimages since the 4th century CE, the elaborate architecture and liturgical decoration of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre confirms that each visitor is moved by whatever his or her tradition espouses as the burial place of Jesus. Yet both also lead to the historic affirmation of the Apostles Creed: “[he] was crucified, dead and buried; … on the third day he rose again ….”
GOOD FRIDAY
INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
ISAIAH 52:13-53:12 This traditional reading from the unknown prophet of Israel’s Babylonian exile quickly became the model for early Christian interpretation of Jesus’ Passion. As the fourth and last of the Servant Songs in the Hebrew Scriptures, it describes vicarious suffering on behalf of others which receives divine vindication. This was seen asIsrael’s role in bringing God’s plan and purpose to the world.
PSALM 22 This psalm also became a model for the crucifixion story in Christian tradition. Many of the details of that narrative were taken directly from this psalm – e.g. vss. 1, 7 and 18.
HEBREWS 10:16-25 This passage contains references to the end of traditional Jewish practices of sacrificial worship and the Christian interpretation of the death of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of God’s revelation and covenant with Israel.
HEBREWS 4:14-16; 5:7-9 (Alternate) This passage compares the suffering and death of Jesus to Jewish religious practices related to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It proclaims that Jesus’ death and resurrection accomplished once and for all the necessary atonement for our sin.
JOHN 18:1-19:42 Modern media accounts of the Passion reflect the tendency to create a single narrative about the crucifixion as if such a compendium was possible. These usually reflect a particular theological position about the meaning of Christ’s death on the cross.
The majesty of the Passion narratives in the four Gospels lies in their distinctive contributions to our understanding of the death and resurrection of Christ. It is not possible to create a harmonized version that is convincingly cohesive. John’s interpretation of the story provides details not found in the other Gospels. We must therefore accept the scholarly view that the several authors had access to differing oral traditions of what may actually have happened. All of the gospels give us a very moving story from different points of view and with different theological purposes.
A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS
| Open passage in new window |
This traditional reading from the unknown prophet of Israel’s Babylonian exile quickly became the model for early Christian interpretation of Jesus’ crucifixion. It has also shaped that part of Christian theology called Christology about the person and work of Christ. As the fourth and last of the Servant Songs in the Hebrew Scriptures, it describes vicarious suffering on behalf of others which receives divine vindication. This was seen asIsrael’s role in bringing God’s plan and purpose to the world. However, it was not until the beginning of the Christian era that Jews began to think of the Messiah as suffering, and then only in an extensively qualified manner. For instance, in the Targum of Isaiah, the sufferings fall on both Jews and Gentiles. Whereas Christian thought pressed an individual interpretation in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, Jewish thought maintained a collective theory thatIsrael itself was the Servant who suffered.
At the beginning of this passage at 52:13, Yahweh speaks of the future exaltation of the Servant despite the horrible suffering he was to endure. Early Christians desperately seeking to understand the cross and resurrection of Jesus quickly seized on the subsequent vss. 14-15. The Roman system of capital punishment by crucifixion, like those of every culture, had one intent: to instill fear in the general populace. The obvious cruelty and shame of public crucifixion effectively subdued unstable societies throughout the empire.
Ch. 53:1-3 turns the attention to the tragedy of the situation. The “we” of vs. 1 cannot be identified but presumably are the sensitive observers in the general public to whom the passage was addressed. The unbelievable has happened. This ordinary person, the Servant, disfigured and despised, supposed to have been stricken by Yahweh, has suffered for their sins, not his own (vss. 4-6).
Attention shifts once more in vss. 7-9 to the manner in which the Servant bore the afflictions laid on him. As silently as a sheep led to slaughter, he endured his lot though it was a perversion of justice. He made no protest nor uttered any deceitful blame against anyone else. The image of lambs slaughtered for the Passover feast would surely have been in the prophet’s mind.
Again in vs. 10, attention shifts to the Servant’s vindication. His self-sacrifice benefits many. Behind all that has happened in this tragic situation stands the purpose of Yahweh. Divine justice and mercy come together as the Servant’s offspring bring his legacy to light. Sin must be punished and righteousness rewarded.
The essence of substitutionary sacrifice lies behind these verses. Divine justice requires that sin, the breaking of divine law, and subsequent alienation from Yahweh must be atoned for, but the divine-human relationship sustained. The Servant’s sacrifice effectively does this by fulfilling Yahweh’s purpose. This motif can also be found in the sufferings ofIsrael’s great prophets like Jeremiah and Hosea. No amount of scholarly discourse can set aside the supreme significance of this passage for Christian faith in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. It is not surprising that Christian theology has been fascinated for many centuries by a substitutionary interpretation of Jesus’ death on the cross.
Is it surprising, therefore, that meaning is also to be found in the tragic deaths of public servants such as police officers or soldiers who are killed in the performance of their duties? As the commemorative hymn published in 1919 by Oxford scholar, John Stanhope Arkwright, puts it: “Still stands His Cross from that dread hour to this, like some bright start above the dark abyss; still, through the veil, the Victor’s pitying eyes look down to bless our lesser Calvaries.”
| Open passage in new window |
This psalm also became a model for the crucifixion story in earliest Christian tradition. Many of the details of that narrative were taken directly from this psalm e.g. vss. 1, 7 and 18. The latter part of vs. 18 appears in all four gospels – Matt. 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34; and John 19:23-24. If proof is needed, this surely confirms how the earliest reflections of the apostolic community sought meaning for the crucifixion in the Hebrew Scriptures.
Scholars have detected a sharp difference in tone after vs. 21. The psalm takes the form a very personal lament. The remaining vss. 22-31 becomes a hymn of thanksgiving for deliverance. As it now stands, the whole psalm can be approached by worshippers as an appropriate way to view the cross on Good Friday. Inevitably we are saddened by the tragic death of such a person as Jesus of Nazareth. We can also rejoice and gratefully celebrate that he died for us.
Did Jesus actually feel forsaken despite his experience of intense praying and being strengthened inGethsemane? Humanly speaking, how else could he accomplish his mission of closing the gates of death for all creation except by being totally excluded himself from the presence of God in death? Did he sacrifice his divine nature at this point? Theologically this is an acceptable interpretation of what we call “the cry of dereliction.” But how could this have happened to the Son of God?
The final words of vss. 19-21 offer a way out of such a terrifying dilemma. The whole psalm is in essence a soulful prayer. Particularly intense pleas for help and trust in God lift the psalm from the tragic despair of the foregoing verses to the realm where only thanksgiving and global witness seem appropriate responses to the final revelation of God’s will to save to the uttermost.
| Open passage in new window |
This passage contains references to the end of traditional Jewish practices of sacrificial worship and the Christian interpretation of the death of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of God’s revelation and covenant with Israel.
It is difficult to know why the framers of the RCL chose to begin this reading in the middle of the sentence that introduces the quotation from Jeremiah 31:31-34. The author’s point, nonetheless, is to reinforce the conviction that while forgiveness removes the necessity for further sacrifices, yet the need remains to respond to Christ’s sacrifice with sound ethical behaviour. Indeed, this selective quotation from the prophet serves as an introduction to the moral exhortations which continue from this point to the end the letter/sermon.
Vss. 19-20 refer directly to the functions of the high priest of the temple on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). On that greatest of Jewish feasts, and only on this one occasion each year, the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the blood of the sacrificial lamb on the ark of the covenant. This liturgical action had the effect of cleansing the whole ofIsraelfrom sin and renewing their covenant relationship with God. This author regarded the self-sacrifice of Jesus symbolized in our baptism (vs. 22) as replacing once and for all the need for this annual ritual of atonement. Some Protestant denominations would argue vehemently against the concept of baptismal regeneration/atonement. But it must be remembered that baptism is but the very beginning of one’s spiritual development, moral discernment and Christian witness.
Our faith in the efficacy of Jesus’ sacrifice for each one of us is continually confirmed and invoked in worship. Our intent in so doing should result in love and good deeds (vs. 23-24). But not all of those faithful for whom this is true gather for worship awaiting the approaching Day of the Lord when Jesus will return. Some are habitually absent and need further encouragement. Would this be one of the reasons why some preachers are said to make a habit of thundering from the pulpit at those designated as Easter Christians?
| Open passage in new window |
(Alternate) This passage also compares the suffering and death of Jesus to the ritual performed by the Jewish high priest on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It proclaims that Jesus’ death and resurrection accomplished once and for all as the final, necessary atonement for our sin. The emphasis is not placed on the ritual but on the sinless nature of the one performing it.
Jesus alone is qualified to atone for our sin because he alone is able to sympathize with us who constantly face temptations which prevent us, but these did not prevent him from maintaining a perfect faith relationship with God.
The second part of this reading refers directly to Jesus’ experience inGethsemanewhere he prayed to be relieved of his impending doom. This author perceived that experience correctly as one more temptation, although not the last he faced, all of which caused him intense suffering. His final temptation was to respond to the scurrilous cries of the crowd watching his crucifixion that he miraculously come down from the cross to save himself. Through his faithful obedience strengthened by his prayers inGethsemaneand on the cross, he became the source of salvation for all who follow and obey his commandment to love as he loved us. He suffered so intensely for the simple reason that he did not deserve to die a criminal’s death and felt totally abandoned by God.
The final words of this reading – “a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek” – may bring a good deal of puzzlement to the minds of those who hear them. Melchizedek was the priest-king of Salem(Jerusalem) who provided a cultic feast for Abraham (Gen. 14:18-20) and then blessed him. This gave him greater status than either Abraham, his brother Aaron, recognized as the first high priest of Israel, and Levi, his descendant, all of whom were mortals. Mentioning him here served to reinforce in the minds of the audience the superiority of Jesus in his salvatory function. In Heb. 7:1-3 we read that Abraham subjected himself to Melchizedek alone and that this Canaanite priest-king whose name means “king of righteousness and peace” has no parents or genealogy, “but resembling the Son of God remains a priest forever.” In short, Jesus sacrifice on the cross makes him superior to all others from whom we may derive hope of salvation.
| Open passage in new window |
Modern media accounts of the Passion reflect the tendency to create a single narrative about the crucifixion as if such a compendium was possible. These modern renditions of the story usually reflect a particular theological position about the meaning of Christ’s death on the cross. One of the most recent and variant narratives is Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ.
It is not possible to create from the Gospels themselves a harmonized version that is convincingly cohesive. John’s version of the story provides details and a theological purview not found in the other Gospels. We must therefore accept the scholarly view that the several gospel authors had access to differing oral traditions of what may actually have happened. All of the Gospels give us a very moving story from different points of view.
John’s perspective has some notable characteristics. True to the theme of his whole gospel narrative, he presents a Christological concern. As the Jesuit scholar J.R. Donahue wrote in his article in The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (vol. 5, 645) John also has an apologetic perspective which sees the Jews more intensively as the agents of Jesus’ death. Hence, he has been regarded through the centuries, and particularly in the 20th century, as anti-Semitic. John also presents his version of the Passion story with a dramatic style most apparent in the trial before Pilate (30 verses in all, 18:28 – 19:16). On the other hand, Jesus’ sufferings through scourging and mocking have been softened to some extent, being detailed in only two verses (19:2-3). This has the effect of making the Passion less degrading but heightens its significance as the hour of his glorification and the return of the Word made flesh to the Father who is Spirit as the prelude to the sending of the Paraclete.
In an article, “The Last Man Standing,” in the March/April 2006 issue of the Biblical Archaeological Review, Prof. Ben Witherington III, of Ashbury Theological Seminary, inWilmore,Kentucky, made a cogent argument that the author of the Fourth Gospel, or at least the tradition behind the very distinctive narrative, can be traced to Lazarus of Bethany. His reasoning rests on the words of Jesus from the cross to “the disciple whom Jesus loved” to take Mary, the Mother of Jesus, into his care.
Witherington concludes his article: “Scholars have often wondered why it is that the Fourth Gospel is so different from the other gospels. Perhaps being brought back from death changes a person’s worldview. Where others might see a void in the empty tomb, the Beloved Disciple saw its pregnant meaning. It meant that God’s “yes” to life was louder than death’s “no.” He had seen it on yet another occasion. What had happened to him had now happened to Jesus as well.”
Throughout John’s narrative, Jesus knew what was to happen to him and he accepted it willingly. Instead of giving cryptic responses or silence to his interrogators, he interrogated them. Even Pilate was reduced to a powerless official representative of the powers of this world over which Jesus triumphed. As described in words attributed to him in his last discourse at the Last Supper and prayer, Jesus’ behaviour under such stress modeled the sacrificial love of the one who lays down his life for his friends. All of the above made John’s narrative more of a reflective interpretation than a report of what may have happened. Nonetheless, when we present it liturgically and homiletically in Good Friday worship and in Lenten Bible study, we often treat it as history rather than theology. Perhaps we neglect the point that for Jewish and Gentile audiences, Jewish authors – and Jesus himself – did theology by telling stories. For John, the crucifixion is the story of the victorious and sovereign Christ, Son of God and Lord of lords.
