No Substitute for Common Sense

Note: It may be helpful to read my introduction to this series in order to have some context and understand my disclaimers. You can find that post here.




“Guidelines are great, but they are no substitute for common sense.”

For me, this video was not the most inspiring in Rowe’s series, but the content is decent, and the point is well taken. Even though people tell you that your safety is their priority, it does not remove it from being your responsibility. I think this goes for a lot of other things as well, not just safety. People might say this about your education or your success — they would suggest it is their priority; however, that doesn’t mean it stops being your responsibility.

I like it. There won’t be a lot to say here. Pretty straightforward.

But one passing thought: Some of these same ideas are relevant in a culture that loves to blame others for our circumstances. We love to point fingers and talk about how our situation is brought about by our family, our employer, our government, our neighborhood, our school. We go on endless rants about how somebody else’s mistakes have created my mess.

And this may even be true some of the time.

And I’m definitely not suggesting accountability doesn’t matter or that we shouldn’t fight for justice. That is not my point at all, and anybody who knows me will know I am a big proponent of pursuing those things.

But there is a very significant line crossed when the objectivity of pursuing justice, mercy, and accountability becomes the subjectivity of blame.

People (especially leaders) should be held accountable for the worlds they create.

But we are responsible — solely — for how we respond to our circumstances. And I do get frustrated when people pick one of these sides and denounce the other. They are not mutually exclusive. I say that with all of the awareness of the comfort and privilege I bring to the conversation. As a white male, my list of circumstances working against me is horribly short. And yet, some of the people who have taught me the most about responsibility (especially in the last few years) have been people with much less privilege and comfort than I have.

So accountability does not remove responsibility. And responsibility does not remove the need for accountability. Can both of these statements be true? I certainly hope so.

What does this mean for you and your circumstances? It is not for me to say. I cannot understand what it is to walk in your shoes and I cannot apply wisdom in your life (only my own); but together, we learn from each other.

REVELATION: The Greatest Hallelujah

So we have seen the eminent demise of empire.

The olympic games have concluded, and the victor is taking the stand.

The verdict is in and the gavel has been slammed.

The beast has been shown for what it truly is.

After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting:

“Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
    for true and just are his judgments.
He has condemned the great prostitute
    who corrupted the earth by her adulteries.
He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”

And with that, the song of triumph begins for all of God’s people. For all who did not desire the ways of the dragon and who did not take the mark of the beast, there is hope. For all who persevered and overcame, there was vindication. Just as we saw time and time again through the letters to the seven churches, God was waiting to crown those who overcome with a crown of righteousness and the opportunity to eat from the tree of life.

And again they shouted:

“Hallelujah!
The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.”

The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried:

“Amen, Hallelujah!”

Then a voice came from the throne, saying:

“Praise our God,
    all you his servants,
you who fear him,
    both great and small!”

Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:

“Hallelujah!
    For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
    and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
    and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,
    was given her to wear.”

(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)

John quotes or alludes to all kinds of writings from Israel’s past. He starts with Isaiah (compare Isaiah 34:10 to Revelation 19:3). By doing this, John is doing so much more than simply calling for the fiery judgment of God’s enemies. John is referencing the ancient imprecatory prayers of God’s people. Imprecatory prayers (often seen in the Psalms) are prayers where God’s people cry out for justice in the face of injustice. These passages are often incredibly difficult to read (or not, for some of us) as we try to theologically square them with a God of love and forgiveness. But imprecatory prayers were actually quite revolutionary for their day. Instead of turning to pagan magic (i.e., casting “spells” or harmful curses on another, prevalent in Canaanite through Greco-Roman cultures), these prayers would voice one’s true feelings while simultaneously turning the outcome (and vengeance) over to God.

By quoting Isaiah, John is saying the justice — or mishpat, as we’ve studied before — that those long past have cried out for is finally upon us. The world is being made right. And everything that people throughout the ages have endured is finding its culmination in this moment. As we’ve seen before, this moment is being displayed as a great wedding feast — a central image in the narrative of God.

Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.”

John is so overcome by what happens around him (in his vision) that he must be stopped from worshipping the wrong individuals. This leads to a statement more profound than we realize when the angel tells him about the Spirit of prophecy. For most of first-century Judaism, the belief was that the Spirit of prophecy had gone missing some time ago. According to the prophet Amos, God told the people of Israel that He would shut up the mouths of the prophets; Joel had also prophesied that those prophesies would one day return when the restoration of all things was finally upon us. Most Jews saw their current situation as being void of the Spirit of prophecy; John is insinuating that a new day of restoration — the Age to Come, or olam haba — was upon them. The Spirit of prophecy is back!

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

           KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. 

And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and the mighty, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, great and small.”

And with that, the great hero makes his entrance onto the stage as the closing scenes of the book of Revelation commence. Using imagery from the beginning of the book (itself being pulled from passages in Tanakh), this hero is described as the victorious rider on a white horse. We are told about his name and his character. In similar fashion to the opening of this vision, he still has a long sword of judgment coming from his mouth. He comes to consume all of creation and put it to righteous judgment. This isn’t so much a judgment of individuals (not that it isn’t about individuals, but the picture here is important), but a judgment of all of creation. This isn’t just about people standing in some cosmic courtroom and being judged as much as it is about all things being made new.

The earth is being made right. Faithfulness and Truth are, in fact, having the last word. And this means evil needs to be dealt with, once and for all.

REVELATION: Sickles and Plagues

John is going to continue to draw off of very rich and deliberate apocalyptic imagery from the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures. Let’s take a look at Revelation 14.

I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

As John continues to build on this picture we introduced in our last discussion, more and more angels are getting in the mix. Now, the angel John “sees” is described in language that deliberately makes us think about the book of Daniel. As John speaks of judgment, he calls back to the apocalyptic story that speaks of one coming with books and rendering judgment on the injustice of the world. Also, this same period of apocalyptic imagery often depicts a harvest. This is true in extrabiblical writing, as well as the teachings of Jesus. In other words, John is trying to give the people hope by speaking undeniably about a metaphorical (and maybe literal) day they often think of when they long for justice in a world of oppression.

Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.

While he’s using the image of the grain harvest (the first sickle referenced in the Greek [verses 14–16] is a larger sickle used for wheat or barley), John transitions into another image the prophets often used to speak of God’s judgment — the grape harvest (the Greek word used here references a smaller sickle used for grapes). Outside of the direct prophetic passages in Tanakh that speak of God treading the grapes and the nations under his feet, one might also think of the picture of Isaiah 5 (and others) where God comes expecting a harvest of righteousness from His people.

These images don’t evoke terror for the readers — they evoke hope. The people of God long for the day when justice would be served and their patient faithfulness would be rewarded with restoration of God’s created order.

Now, on to Revelation 15.

I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:

“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
    Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
    King of the nations.
Who will not fear you, Lord,
    and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
    and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

John mentions that this wrath is a restorative justice to put things back in place; it is a purifying fire, leaving that which ought to remain; it is not a fire of destruction that destroys everything in its path. This wrath has an end, and upon its completion there are songs of victory. The reader will notice that God’s people stand and sing the song of deliverance — the song of Moses — as they celebrate the rescue of God and the triumph of the Lamb.

After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple—that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law—and it was opened. Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests. Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

But while there is an end to this wrath, it has not found its end yet, for all the earth has not been made right, and this purification (try to think in apocalyptic pictures and less literally, if you can) does not come without groaning and strife. These bowls are full of plagues and, even though the images here are pulled from other literature and meant to be used as pictures, the readers have experienced many of these atrocities firsthand. As God has said before, “He causes it to rain on the righteous and the unrighteous alike.”

And so with that, the next chapter will lead us into a description of the terrible things experienced by folks all over the ancient world.

PHILEMON: Faith Works

This brings us to the last of what are traditionally considered Paul’s letters. Paul writes a short letter to Philemon about a runaway slave named Onesimus. This short, often under-appreciated letter has actually become one of my favorites. It really helps us fill in some gaps in history and it’s neat to read such a personal correspondence.

First, there are so many things to speculate about (for the enjoyment of Bible study). Church tradition holds that Paul’s parents were manumitted slaves. To be manumitted meant you had won such favor with your master that he purchased your freedom. The honor was so great that Roman citizenship was given to your children (although never to you). This would certainly explain how Paul was “born a citizen,” as he describes in the book of Acts.

I also love to speculate about the background of Onesimus. In the ancient Roman empire, there was a profession of people who wandered about in the fields of exposed babies (a horrid practice, otherwise known as sublatus) and looked for children who were physically able and could be raised to be sold as slaves. There was a Greek physician named Soranos who wrote a work titled How to Recognize a Child Worth Raising that instructed people in this profession. I find it interesting that Onesimus has a Greek name that means “useful.” It strikes me as a name that might be given to such a child who was raised to be a slave. Much could be written about this, but I digress.

Second, there is certainly an air of humor in the letter to Philemon. Almost every scholar I’m aware of and every Bible teacher I’ve heard teach on Philemon seems to recognize that the letter is drenched in Greek, “over-the-top” sarcasm. Paul is writing this tongue-in-cheek letter to Philemon and laying it on really thick that he “owes [Paul] his very life” and that even though he could command him to do the right thing, Paul is confident Philemon will go above and beyond the call of faith. Not to mention that this letter is addressed to the entire congregation at Colossae, therefore forcing Philemon to read the correspondence publicly and give his answer to everyone listening. This leads to my third observation:

There is a very Jewish conversation lying behind the plea of Paul’s letter to Philemon. In the Jewish world of the first century, there was a larger argument about why a person obeys the law; it was an argument between what was called “law works” and “faith works.”

One of the best ways to understand this argument in our culture is to consider the speed limit. Some people may obey the speed limit because they would rather not get a ticket. If they don’t speed, they are not punished. This understanding would be called “law works.”

Of course, there might be others who follow the speed limit because they believe that ultimately it's just the right thing to do. It keeps everybody safe, maintains order, and is more efficient for your car. They would argue that things simply go better when you follow the rule. This understanding was called “faith works.”

It’s worth pausing for a moment to ask ourselves how we “New Testament believers” approach the idea of obedience.

Really.

Because Paul is quite a believer in “faith works” — so much so that he would jokingly reference the idea to a fellow brother.

Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.

Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. It is as none other than Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus—that I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

Paul appeals to Philemon on the basis of love to do the right thing. Sarcastically laying on “good-humored guilt and shame,” Paul brings to mind his old age and his fondness of Onesimus.

I have always found my understanding of this letter a grand reminder of the lightness that we should carry in our walk of faith. The way we should be committed to the right things is so much so that we are able to smile and elbow our neighbor about why we do what we do, always having a profound belief that the way of Jesus truly is the best way to live. Whether or not we set people free from their debts and mistakes shouldn’t really be an argument for people who follow Jesus. And helping people see they are a true member of God’s household is always a privilege and a joy.

A Dry Tree

At the end of the story about Stephen, one of the most dominant characters of the New Testament makes his entrance. We are introduced to a man named Saul, who stands and holds the cloaks of the accusers while he oversees and approves the execution. While we will talk much more about Saul in the time to come, the next thing we see is this early church being persecuted and scattered throughout the land. At the beginning of Acts 8, we are told Saul continues to be one of the leaders of this persecution.

Nevertheless, it is the very next paragraph that assures the reader God’s redemptive plan for the world goes on unhindered. They continue to bring shalom to chaos and healing to brokenness. While the church gets pushed to different corners of the empire, Philip ends up in Samaria; he preaches to those in Samaria and the Kingdom of God advances explosively, just as Jesus taught them.

There is a sorcerer there who latches onto Philip and begins to follow him. When the church hears the news that people in Samaria are jumping in on God’s redemptive plan for the world, they excitedly send Peter and John to investigate. When Simon (the former sorcerer) sees them casting out evil spirits, his old self can’t help but want a piece of the action. But this early movement is not interested in cheap thrills, spiritual gimmicks, or economic advancement. They are wanting to grow deep roots and they exhort Simon accordingly.

I find the next story so inspiring to my walk as a Jesus follower. Continuing to follow the prompting of the Spirit, Philip heads down the road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza. There he meets an Ethiopian eunuch who has traveled to Jerusalem to worship the God of Israel. It’s at this point where most of us might appreciate some context.

This Ethiopian eunuch is the treasurer for the Queen of Ethiopia; he’s an important guy.

He is on his way back from worshipping the God of Israel. We are not told he is a Jew, though it’s possible he might be. (I personally find it unlikely that Luke would leave such a detail out of his account.)

Even if he is a Jew, as a eunuch he will not be allowed to worship Adonai and would have been excluded from the assembly; he would have been forced to worship God as an outsider. The book of Deuteronomy explicitly excluded those with damaged (or altered) genitalia from entering the assembly of worship (cf. Deut. 23:1).

The guy is carrying around a scroll of Isaiah — this is unheard of. You may remember us talking about how an entire village would only have a few scrolls for the entire town of hundreds or thousands. The fact that this guy is carrying around Isaiah tells you he is obviously of incredible wealth (which is expected as the treasurer for Candace) and takes his Bible study very seriously. He knows everything we mentioned above — and he went to worship the God of Israel anyway. He is coming back from Jerusalem where he stood in the court of the Gentiles and caught glimpses of the House of God.

This outsider is content with what he is able to receive from God. And he’s serious about his Text.

Now, back to our story. Philip sees he is reading Isaiah and asks him if he understands what he is studying. Like a typical middle-easterner, the man responds with, “Who could understand by studying these words by themselves? How could I understand it without your help?”

I imagine, sensing this is the reason God had him on this road, Philip climbs into the chariot and begins to expound on the message of Isaiah. The passage tells us the eunuch is studying Isaiah 53. Being a holiday reading, it would make perfect sense for the eunuch to read this on his way to the Temple for worship and possibly still be thinking on it and studying it on his way back. This is the prescribed reading for his trip. Every Jew would be reading these words on that day.

But now watch what Philip does because HE KNOWS HIS TEXT.

What the passage says directly is that Philip tells the eunuch about Jesus, starting in Isaiah 53 (and the assumption is that he continues reading). You don’t suppose he got through the next few chapters, do you? Isaiah 56:

Thus says the Lord:

“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
for soon my salvation will come,
    and my righteousness be revealed.
Blessed is the man who does this,
    and the son of man who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it,
    and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
    “The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;
and let not the eunuch say,
    “Behold, I am a dry tree.”

For thus says the Lord:

“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
    who choose the things that please me
    and hold fast my covenant,
I will give in my house and within my walls
    a monument and a name
    better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
    that shall not be cut off.”

No, that would be crazy if Philip went to THAT passage! Crazy brilliant.

But now wait. We need to look at the question the eunuch asked and Philip is answering, because I think therein lies the lesson. The eunuch had asked him: “Is this passage [Isaiah 53] talking about the prophet or someone else?”

You might remember that we talked about this entire ending to Isaiah as being a call for Israel to be God’s servant. Because they suffer, they will be building the future. For the historical readers of Isaiah, this is not a “messianic” prophecy. This is an exhortation to suffer for the LORD. My point is that the eunuch’s question has nothing to do with the Messiah.

His question is about himself.

His question is this: “Does this exhortation belong only to the prophet and the people of God? Does it apply to outsiders like me?”

And Philip explains to him, using Isaiah (possibly chapter 56), that in Jesus, this good news and call from God is for ALL PEOPLE. While he may be excluded from the assembly of worshippers at the Temple, he is not excluded from the community of God and the invitation to partner with Him in putting the world back together.

And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.

Each One

**  This teaching was heavily influenced by my time with Ray VanderLaan.

Of course, stories like the last one ARE the exception, and the writer of Acts is quick to make that point. The very next record in Acts 5 (vv. 12–16) goes on to record the miraculous signs the apostles were performing:

The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.

It seems like a simple enough passage, an innocent record of the things the followers of Jesus were engaged in. Of course, a skeptical reader might find this record a little dubious. In fact, if one takes a second look at the passage, they too might feel as though the details are a little over the top. Is this really what happened? Does the writer of Acts really need to tell the story this way? It seems like the record of some cheap magic tricks.

People are bringing the sick into the streets so shadows might fall on them?

I mean, even Jesus didn’t seem to go around doing miracles with this level of Jedi mastery. The picture that’s given seems to be one where the disciples are wandering through Jerusalem, minding their own business, and their shadows are magically healing people like a moving relic.

It seems, just as it used to appear in Genesis and all throughout our study, like I have some problems in the Text where the author is begging me to look again and start digging. It isn’t quite right, like there are details in the story that don’t need to be there. Peter’s shadow? Why Peter’s shadow? Is he the lead magician who has more supernatural powers than the others? And why do the details to push up against the boundaries of our common sense? Is there more going on here?

Well, let’s head out on a brief tangent about the messiah.

One of the areas where New Testament Christianity seems to have a misunderstanding of Judaism is the realm of the messiah. First, as we’ve pointed out in other places in this series, the prophecies we often associate with “messianic prophecies” are often not primarily messianic at all; they could (and often should!) be interpreted in a multitude of ways. Second, the Jewish faith is, generally speaking, not looking for a messiah in the sense that we understand messiah or talk about Jesus. In most of Jewish history, the idea of one messianic character who would come and rescue the Jewish people was not a prevalent idea and was often considered quite fringe and fundamentalist.

During the first century, this idea of a messiah was much more prevalent than it was at almost any other time in Jewish history. The writing of the book of Daniel and its commentary on the Roman Empire was certainly a major discussion in the rabbinical circles, but it’s worth noting they often didn’t interact with the idea of messiah in the way we think they did. As a side note, we should also remind ourselves that the concept of the messiah being God in the flesh simply did not exist at this point in Jewish history. They were not expecting the arrival of God in human form, and the idea of the Incarnation is still considered blasphemous on a lot of levels. (This is not to suggest that it is wrong at all; I have a deep love for the doctrine of the Incarnation. I simply find it helpful to remind myself that the Jewish people were not looking for the arrival of God in the flesh.)

Even in the discussions we’ve had surrounding the “Son of Man” and the coming of Righteous Abel or the judgment of Elijah, there was much discussion about whether these people would be literal persons or symbolic of other leaders. The eyes of the Jewish faith were not fixed on the coming of a person so much as the coming of an age. This was much more of a concern than the arrival of just one person; if there was going to be a person, he/she was simply going to help usher in the age. But the era of the olam haba and the “age to come” was the point. The messiah figure would simply be a passing detail.

Passages all throughout the Tanakh spoke of how the world would be in the age to come. For example, Isaiah 32:

See, a king will reign in righteousness    and rulers will rule with justice.Each one will be like a shelter from the wind    and a refuge from the storm,like streams of water in the desert    and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land.

This passage speaks of a day when all things will be made right, when things will be as they ought to be. If you look at the passage closely (even in the Hebrew), you will notice a few things. First, there is a king (singular) who will reign in righteousness. Second, there will be rulers (plural) who will rule in justice…

Wait… plural?

WE are the rulers. It is not the messiah in this prophecy who offers shelter and shade, refuge from the storm, and water in a dry desert. No, but each one (ref. “rulers”) will be a shelter from the wind. Each one will be a refuge from the storm. Each one will be a stream of water in the desert. Each one will be shade in a thirsty land.

I have a friend who is a Rabbi and a shop-owner in Jerusalem. His name is Moshe. Whenever you ask Moshe questions about Messiah, he will very lovingly remind you that he’s not looking for a messiah. But he will also admit that he could be wrong — he might have missed him/her. But he will say in his brilliant Jewish tenor, “But the Scriptures tell me what it will be like! If Messiah is here, there should be the healing of the nations! If Messiah is here, there should be peace brought to chaos! If Messiah is here, then the Kingdom of God should be here! Where is it? WHERE IS IT!? I don’t see it! So how could Messiah have come?”

Sometimes I think we get so hung up on trying to prove Jesus fulfilled prophecy that we forget there is prophecy left for YOU AND I to fulfill.

And the writer of the book of Acts knows this. We said earlier the book of Acts is like the epilogue to the narrative of God where we see the people of God grasp their calling to bring the Kingdom of God crashing into earth — to make the will of God done on earth as it is in heaven.

And so the writer speaks in very poetic words of the people bringing the sick into the streets so that even Peter’s shadow might fall on them.

Why? Because Isaiah 32 is being fulfilled. Because the people of God are ushering in the messianic age. Because olam haba has come, “rulers are ruling with mishpat,” and they are setting things right. Jesus has brought a whole new reality and announced that the Kingdom of God is, in fact, right under our noses and we have been invited to partner with God in making the world right.

And the sick and the marginalized are longing to sit in their shade, to find refuge from their storms, and to drink water in a parched desert.

“Why Peter’s shadow?” we had asked.

Well, with tongue-in-cheek, I see Luke mouthing the words to Isaiah 32 as he records Acts 5:

“…and the shadow of a great rock…”

“I will call you Peter (petros; ‘rock, stone’),” Jesus had said, “and on this rock I will build my church.”

May we take up the call to fulfill prophecy and be a kingdom of priests who remind the world the Kingdom of God has arrived.

Uncut Corners

One of the next stories we run into is the story of Pentecost. There are so many tantalizing aspects to this story when seen through the Text. Let’s pull out a couple of them.

First, the setting.

The story of Pentecost is set within the biblical festival of Shavuot. Shavuot (the Festival of Weeks) is the celebration of the harvest (more on that in a moment) and the giving of Torah on Mt. Sinai. When the Jews did the math of the Exodus story, they came to the conclusion that if the Israelites left Egypt on Passover, arrived at Sinai ten days later, and Moses spent forty days with God in the cloud, then the giving of the Law would fall on Shavuot — so they celebrated the giving of the Law at the Temple that day. If you go back and review the details of the story of Mt. Sinai, however, you will find some striking similarities between the story of Pentecost and the story of Moses and the Law.

In both stories, you have the people coming to the Mountain of the LORD (Sinai/Zion). In both stories, there is thunder/tongues (in Hebrew, the word for “thunder” in Exodus 19 is also the word for “tongues”). In both stories, God is going to establish His temple: the Tabernacle in Exodus and the temple of His people (made of “living stones,” as Peter will tell us) in the book of Acts. In the Exodus, fire will come out from the temple and consume the sacrifice as God dwells in the Tabernacle; in Acts, God’s fire will come out and settle on people as God takes up residence in a new temple.

In Exodus, Moses will come down the mountain with a message from God and find the people in sin at the Golden Calf. We are told Moses will sanction the slaughter of about 3000 people. Peter stands on the steps of Mt. Zion with a message from God and the people will find themselves pierced. And about how many were saved that day?

3000.

It’s in the Text! The story of Pentecost is the redemption of the Golden Calf story. Brilliant.

Second, the content of the celebration.

Not only are the Jews celebrating the giving of the Law, but biblically, the festival is put in place to celebrate the wheat harvest. In the biblical world, there are two harvests each spring. The barley harvest comes first; barley is often referred to as the “poor man’s grain,” with barley loaves being the bread for the commoner. The second harvest is wheat; this grain is much more desirable and fine than that of barley. In the biblical calendar year, God told you to celebrate the Festival of Firstfruits with the barley harvest. You would bring the first of the barley harvest and remember how God brought you into the Promised Land.

Then, fifty days later, God told you to bring “an offering in proportion to how the LORD has blessed you” for the festival of Shavuot. Not only this, but you were commanded not to cut the corners of your field during the wheat harvest, leaving it for the alien, the orphan, and the widow. What I love about that is God tells you to offer your best to those in need — even after you offer a gift to the LORD in proportion to His incredible blessing on you.

My teacher used to jump up and down and say, “If there are no uncut corners in your celebration of Jesus, you are not Pentecostal — I don’t care how many of you are speaking in tongues!” In the Jewish mind, it’s not Shavuot unless those in need are blessed. How does the story in Acts end?

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

They had true Pentecost. Not only this, but the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus play into this story, as well. Jesus dies on Passover, is resurrected on the Festival of Firstfruits (the “firstfruits” even for the poor man), and God saves the greatest harvest — the fine and desirable harvest of the wheat — to be the fragrant generosity of His people, partnering with Him to put the world back together.

Mmm. Delicious tidbits from the Text. It’s an epilogue of an early church that got it!

As the Jews continued to study the story of Shavuot over the centuries, they began reading the story of Ruth each Shavuot. The book of Ruth is basically written to encompass all of the principles we discussed above. There is the giving of the Law and Ruth reminding Boaz of the covenant he carries and the call he has to take care of the alien, orphan, and widow (of which Ruth is all three). There are the uncut corners she gleans from. We are told she shows up during the barley harvest and gleans through the wheat harvest. And we are confronted over and over again with the generosity of Boaz.

Will this movement of God-followers, set apart for the task of partnering with God on Shavuot, end up providing a home and a welcoming community for the mumzer — the outsider, the foreigner — and seize the call of Abram to be a blessing to all nations?

Will we see an example of a community of people who understand how to partner with God in putting the world back together?

HOLY WEEK: The Plot to Kill Jesus

The conversation about “who killed Jesus” is a very electric topic that you don’t dive into hastily. With so much antisemitism that swirls under the surface, handling this question can be a ticking time bomb. Nevertheless, it is interesting to make some very basic observations about what gets Jesus in so much trouble.

Without a doubt, I will not let Rome off the hook in this story, but I want to deal with Rome and Pilate in a later post, so I won’t talk about them here. There is no question that Rome plays a part in the crucifixion of Jesus. They have to: The Jewish leadership does not have the judicial authority to execute prisoners by crucifixion. So, at the very least, Rome authorizes the death of Jesus.

But what gets Jesus in trouble is something far deeper than the Roman authorities. This would be the perfect place to go back and review our lesson that explained the context of the Sadducees and the chief priests.

There are a few things that should be stated right up front:

“The Jews” didn’t kill Jesus. This has been one of the most destructive misinterpretations of history the world has ever seen. Millions of Jews have been slaughtered in the name of this false idea. All throughout the gospels, it is clear the Jewish people loved, adored, and even revered Jesus. The plot to kill Jesus hinges completely upon executing Jesus outside the eye of the Jewish public so they won’t rebel against the Jewish leaders. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the phrase, “Jesus entered Jerusalem to cheers from the crowd only to be crucified by them a week later.” To be very clear, it was not the same crowd. Jesus is arrested, tried, and beaten by a corrupt body of ruling priests and their “mafia-style justice.”

Even though the Pharisees helped arrange this plot (at least a few of them did), the Pharisees were not the ones who led the charge in this execution. This is completely unappreciated in our teachings. The Pharisees and the Sadducees despised each other! That they would work together to conspire against Jesus is incredible culturally. It makes me think the Pharisees involved were as corrupt as the chief priests. One must keep in mind that the Pharisees tried to save Jesus’s life more than once earlier on in his ministry.

It is the chief priests who conspire against Jesus and arrange his execution. It’s worth noticing that Jesus spends three years confronting the Pharisees within every corner of their theology and survives to tell the tale, and even continues to engage them in their methods up until his death. Compare that to the fact Jesus spends less than one week confronting the corrupt rule of the chief priests and he gets himself killed. This is why Jesus knows he is going to die in Jerusalem. It’s not because he has his “God goggles” on, looking into the future; it’s because he knows he is headed into Jerusalem to confront the injustice of the religious mafia — and nobody survives to tell that tale.

Once we have an understanding of the corruption that lied behind the execution of Jesus, it helps us appreciate the story on so many levels.

Why Jesus is tried by the “Sanhedrin”? Josephus told us there were two groups of Sanhedrin: there was the formal ruling body made up of Sadducees and Pharisees, and there was the the informal back-door Sanhedrin who met in the home of the chief priest. They made decisions that were later “ratified” in the formal body. That’s how this corruption operated. Where was Jesus tried? In the home of the chief priest. This is not the formal Sanhedrin, but the informal one.

This helps us see why the trial of Jesus is so corrupt, breaking over fifteen commandments held by Jewish teaching about how to conduct an investigation and hold a trial appropriately. They break all of these rules because they don’t care. They are the chief priests.

This will help us understand the political sway that this group will hold over Pilate later. 

This will help us understand many things. My recommendation would be to go back and read the story again, realizing that the “chief priests” are corrupt families running a completely corrupt Temple system.

But now we need to discuss the betrayer who assists in bringing this plan to action.

The Heat of the Day

One of my favorite parables of Jesus is the story of the vineyard and the workers:

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

“About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

“ ‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ ”

So the story is told about this landowner who hires different groups of people throughout the day to work his vineyard. Some of them are hired early and work all day, while others are hired late and barely have a chance to start. It comes time to pay and the owner instructs the ones paying the wages to pay the ones who have worked the least first.

Now first, even though we know how this story ends, don’t race past the immediate assumptions we make about the story. They are worth wrestling with.

But then, ask more questions about this story. For instance, why would the owner START with the ones who worked the least? If he started with the ones hired first, isn’t there a better chance that he could have avoided this entire mess? Why would he do that?

No, really. Wrestle with that.

And then, Jesus delivers the end of the story:

“The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

Now, this story is loaded with incredible implications on the p’shat level. God is inviting those who are closest to Him to learn the lesson that allows them to experience a heart change.

P’SHAT CONCLUSION: God loves to be generous and He loves to give to people who don’t deserve it.

P’SHAT CONCLUSION: God apparently wants us to have to wrestle with this and let it transform our selfishness by inviting us to join Him in celebrating His generosity, rather than getting angry.

P’SHAT CONCLUSION: The Kingdom of Heaven isn’t fair — it’s incredibly benevolent and generous.

P’SHAT CONCLUSION: It is (and will be) this way for people who we think don’t deserve it.

Now, we are still missing a large contextual piece to the “p’shat puzzle.” The phrase “borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day” is used throughout Jewish thought to express the relationship between Jew and Gentile. The Jews have carried the burden of Torah for centuries and centuries on behalf of the world, in order to show the world what God is like. It should go without saying they would expect to reap a more generous reward for their work.

And Jesus has the nerve to suggest the Gentiles might get the same blessing from God — just because He loves to be generous.

All of this is p’shat.

And the remez? Check out Isaiah 61, Jesus’s staple passage when talking about his ministry:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
    and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
    that have been devastated for generations.
Strangers will shepherd your flocks;
    foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.And you will be called priests of the Lord,
    you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
    and in their riches you will boast.

Instead of your shame
    you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
    you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
    and everlasting joy will be yours.

Wow.

Jesus just insinuated this generosity to the Gentiles is what God has been up to since the beginning. Not only this, but the “double portion” the Jews will receive for all their work — the special blessing that is due them — is going to be the fact that God’s favor is poured out on the foreigners.

Now, for most of my readers (Gentiles), I invite you to rejoice in that amazing plan of God.

And then, I invite us all — Jew and Gentile — to consider what there is left to learn in the teaching of this parable. What do I think I’m entitled to? What are the rewards I am expecting to receive? Am I prepared to join God in handing out generosity to ALL people? And what if my “double portion” is actually going to be the blessing of my enemies?

Those who have ears, let them hear.