The Trinity

Christians supposedly believe in "the Trinity", a popular but confusing doctrine that gives the impression that Christians believe in three gods. It is my conviction that Christians in the United States place far too much emphasis on minor doctrinal differences and are far too willing to forget their main mission (and love) in order to "take a stand" on confusing topics.  (See, for example, this blogpost that raises concerns about "complementarians" and the Trinity and this Wikipedia article for a history of some of the past viewpoints and disagreements!)

The theological concept of the "Trinity" of God dates to the second century and is an attempt to understand the way God is represented in creation, in Jesus and in the Holy Spirit. The concept is not explicit in the Scriptures, but various pieces of it are implied in certain passages.

That there is only one God, not three, is clear throughout Scripture. The Old Testament "Shema Israel" passage, in Deuteronomy 6:4, makes that a basic principle of the faith of Israel.

In John 1: 1-4, we are introduced to the Word (Logos) of God, the creative mind of God, with God from the beginning of creation, finally made flesh (John 1:14) in the appearance of Jesus.

In Hebrews 1: 1-3, Jesus is similarly described as the one through whom the universe was made. Furthermore, he is the "exact representation" of God. I cannot read those passages without reading the claim that Jesus is God, in some human representation of him.

In John 14: 16-17, Jesus promises to send "a Comforter" who will live within his followers and we see this Comforter appear at Pentecost in Acts 2.  The early church seemed to view the Holy Spirit as the presence of God (or Jesus) internally guiding the believer and Paul seems to explicitly identify the Holy Spirit with Jesus (eg. II Corinthians 3:17.)

There is a popular explanation of the Trinity in a diagram (see below.) The diagram makes no sense to me, as it violates our understanding of "is" or "equal."  As a mathematician, if God=Son and God=Father then Father=Son by the transitive property of equality!  Apparently the word "is" here means something different than the way I typically use it.  I am uncomfortable with an argument that relies (to quote an American president) "on what the meaning of the word 'is' is."

That people consider this important is clear.  But it is not important that a Christian sort this out. If the Bible only provides a sketch of the complexity of God, I see no obligation to take that sketch and create an intricate (and flawed) systematic theology. Nor am I obligated to endorse someone else's detailed (and flawed) theology.

The website GotQuestions.org attempts to lay out the Biblical theology for the Trinity.  There is some good material these, including a number of related Old Testament passages.  But I appreciate most that the site wisely ends with this paragraph:

"The doctrine of the Trinity has been a divisive issue throughout the entire history of the Christian church. While the core aspects of the Trinity are clearly presented in God’s Word, some of the side issues are not as explicitly clear. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God—but there is only one God. That is the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. Beyond that, the issues are, to a certain extent, debatable and non-essential. Rather than attempting to fully define the Trinity with our finite human minds, we would be better served by focusing on the fact of God's greatness and His infinitely higher nature. “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” (Romans 11:33-34)."

Passover Week, Holy Week

The Passover Week in Jerusalem, somewhere between 30 and 33 C.E., is the week in which Jesus enters Jerusalem in glory, adored by the crowds, riding on a donkey, spends time with his disciples in and around the temple, and then is crucified on Friday, just before the Jewish sabbath.  Then, on the first day of the week, Jesus is seen alive in parts of Jerusalem, his tomb now empty.

The week begins in Matthew 21 and includes numerous teachings by Jesus about the coming kingdom of heaven and the end times.

Historically, Christians celebrate the Friday crucifixion as "Good Friday" and the Sunday resurrection as Easter Sunday.  The celebrations of these days date back to probably the third century, if not earlier.

The last supper was apparently on Thursday, now celebrated as Maundy Thursday. Matthew 26:17 has the last supper occurring on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

I've found a variety of interesting internet resources on the Passover Week.   As always, Wikipedia is a good source.  There is a Wikipedia article on the "Holy Week".

The Passover feast dates back to Exodus 12, when the tribe of Israel was expelled from Egypt.  On that night (the 14th day of the month Nisan) the Jews sacrificed a lamb and spread its blood over their doorposts so that the Angel of Death would "pass over" their homes and spare them, while killing the first born son of the Egyptians.

A Catholic view of Passover is here.  Another Christian view is here.  A Jewish explanation can be found here and a Messianic Judaism view here or here.

Was Jesus, in the Last Supper, really celebrating the Passover Seder? A fairly detailed analysis of this question appears in this Biblical Archealogy article.

Tomorrow we return to Matthew's account of the Passover Week, crucifixion and resurrection.

Dreamers (A Plea to my Christian Brothers & Sisters)

At the end of the Exodus, the twelve tribes of Israel moved into their "Promised Land". Yet that new land was filled with strife and struggles.  The books of Joshua and Judges describe the pagan nations that routinely fought wars with Israel and tried to conquer it.

One of these evil pagan nations was Moab.

In the middle of the history of Israel, in the time of the Judges, a pagan woman, a Moabite refugee, enters the small Judean town of Bethlehem. In Bethlehem she is welcomed and protected. And in the sovereign plan of God, she has a son, (a "Redeemer") and her great-grandchild is David, a future king. In her lineage is the Messiah, the Son of David.

The line of Jesus goes back to this Moabite refugee that Bethlehem welcomed.

The book of Ruth is intended to represent God's sovereign plans, the ways that He works out, over a long period of time, his redemptive work. The short book of Ruth is a beautiful work. Read through it slowly!  Read it as a romance, if you will, between Ruth and Boaz ... and between God and the widow and orphan.

Do not miss an undercurrent theme in the book of Ruth -- indeed, throughout the Old Testament -- the emphatic instructions that the people of Israel were to welcome the alien and the stranger. God worked through the "alien and stranger" and in the Old Testament there are two, three dozen explicit instructions to welcome, protect and shield the alien!

And so, to my Christian friends, a plea –

   IF you have looked at the heartbeat of a fetus and -- knowing that it had a beating heart and felt pain -- if in love for the vulnerable fetus, you have taken a stand for the unborn,
   IF you are aware of those sweet children who are born with an extra copy of chromosome 21 and if you have then acted in love for those with Downs Syndrome (some of you even have started calling it Ups Syndrome!)

THEN, as your brother in Christ, seeking to speak in the Holy Spirit, I plea with you, I beg, that you consider the plight of the "undocumented aliens" and those "dreamers" around you who love this country, their home!

They are in your block.  They live near you and go to your church.

My wife and I are currenlty involved in a Christian ministry that includes at least three students who have publicly identified themselves as DACA recipients.  These friends are anxious and frightened. Last year they studied hard, hoping to graduate and start a career. Now they are afraid that in six months they will be deported to a country they do not know.

Please, walk down the block, cry with them and pray with them! And then (as you would for the unborn and those with Downs) take a stand for the Immigrant. Reach out to your congressional representative and ask that our country find a way to legally welcome these people who love the USA and who are doing so much for our beautiful country!

And IF you are sympathetic with the unborn and IF you are sympathetic with those with Downs but can still turn your back on the Dreamers – if you as a Christian, but can ignore two dozen Old Testament passages on the immigrant  – if you can find words like "Obama" or "America" or "Muslim extremist" to ignore that scared neighbor down the block – then your conscience has been seared.  I pray, in Jesus name, that you RESET your conscience – that you put Jesus above your job and your country – and I beg that you weep with the dreamers and then act to protect them.  If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, if your Master is concerned about the unborn and the child with Downs, then please prayerfully, slowly, read through the last half of Matthew 25, read the book of Ruth, read through the more than two dozen Old Testament commands, and see your dreamer neighbor as God does!

Republican, Democrat or Independent, this issue is above American politics. It is an issue for Christians, residents of a different country (Hebrews 11:13-16.)  Please, act as a citizen of that eternal kingdom!

Matthew 25: 1-30, Waiting for the Bridegroom & Master

Jesus continues teaching on the coming of the final age and the kingdom of heaven.

Matt 25:1-13, Five wise, five foolish virgins
"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

"At midnight the cry rang out: `Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps.

"The foolish ones said to the wise, `Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.'

"`No,' they replied, `there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'

"But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the  bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. `Sir! Sir!' they said. `Open the door for us!' But he replied, `I tell you the truth, I don't know you.'

"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

This is a warning, not especially about timing, but about preparation and the unexpected.  Notice what it says about the culture of the time, waiting for a party traveling at night.

Matt 25:14-18, Distributing talents, 5, 2 and 1
"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a  hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

A simplistic story has been set up -- 8 talents are distributed unevenly among three servants.  They respond in different ways.

In verse 15, the NIV footnotes says, "A talent was worth more than a thousand dollars."

Matt 25:19-30, Settling the accounts
"After a long time the master of those servants returned and  settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other  five. `Master,' he said, `you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'

"His master replied, `Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

"The man with the two talents also came. `Master,' he said, `you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'

"His master replied, `Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

"Then the man who had received the one talent came. `Master,' he said, `I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'

"His master replied, `You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

 "`Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

This is a strange and rather scary parable.  It includes a message about being serious about the gospel, working hard in the role given you, with the abilities and skills learned or inherited.  But I still find it strange.

Matthew 22: 23-46, Tests by the Religious Leaders, II

The religious teachers continue to challenge Jesus.  They have their favorite nuggets to throw at him. "Can God make a stone so big He can't move it?"  No, that is not one of the questions... but the questions are on that simplistic level.

Matt 22:23-33, Who is a man's wife in heaven?
That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question. "Teacher," they said, "Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for him. Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?"

Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.

"But about the resurrection of the dead--have you not read what God said to you.  `I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of  Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."

When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.

The Sadducees also attempt a direct line of questioning, hitting Jesus with one of their conundrums intended to show that the resurrection is a foolish idea.  Jesus's response is more direct here and he confronts the foolishness of the Sadducees by confronting their underlying assumptions.

(This reminds me of some of the silly things I see on Facebook, ideas that only make sense to those who have already bought into them....)

The quote in verse 32 is from  Exodus 3:6.  This quote is significant, I think, to one's view of the afterlife and the "restoration" mentioned in an earlier passage.  The afterlife is not going to be like the popular church description, sitting high above the clouds, looking down on the earth.  It will be on the earth, in a new, restored earth and universe.

Matt 22:34-40, Greatest commandment
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

Jesus replied: "`Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.'  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

Jesus quickly summarizes the Law in a way that shows he has thought deeply about it.

The quote in verse 37 is from Deut. 6:5. The quote in verse 39 is from Lev. 19:18.

Matt 22:41-45, David calls his Son, "My Lord"
While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked  them, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?"  

"The son of David," they replied.

He said to them, "How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him `Lord'? For he says `The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I  put your enemies under your feet."' If then David calls him `Lord,' how can he be his son?"

Jesus has saved up a question for the Pharisees: why did David call his chosen descendant, "Lord"? The quote in verse 44 is from Psalm 110:1 and hits at the Pharisees' narrow view of the coming Messiah.

Matt 22:46, Stymied
No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Jesus seems to know the entire Old Testament by heart, and to have thought deeply about it.  The Pharisees' trick questions (over the last two chapters of Matthew) have been futile and Jesus has ended the session with a question that has caught them out.

Matthew 22:1-22, Tests by the religious leaders

The religious leaders test Jesus, trying to trap him.  But most of Jesus's teachings are in parables, which seem to confuse and distract them.

Matt 22:1-14, A king prepares a banquet
Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said, `Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.'  But they paid no attention and went off--one to his field, another to his business.  The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.

"The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, `The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.'

"So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. `Friend,' he asked, `how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, `Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will  be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

"For many are invited, but few are chosen."

The metaphor implies that the Jewish nation has ignored God's invitation and so the invitation (as prophesied in the Old Testament) is dispersed to the Gentiles, to the "foreigners".  But even then, there are guests who seem to ignore the prestige and importance of such an invitation.

These parables (denouncing Jewish apathy and opening the kingdom of heaven to the Gentiles) force the Pharisees' hand....

Matt 22:15-22, A question about Caesar
Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax." 

They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?"

"Caesar's," they replied. 

Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."  

When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.

The Pharisees ask Jesus a direct question.  But even the direct question he manages to deflect in a way that frustrates them.  Jesus does not, as they had hoped, attack the Romans, but continues to emphasize a larger kingdom of heaven.

Note the outright flattery that leads the questioning.

The "Herodians" have been brought to this questioning.  Presumably the Herodians are sympathetic to King Herod and so the question put before Jesus has considerable danger; if he runs down the Roman government, King Herod will have witnesses to his treason.

On Parables

If one grew up in the Christian church, the parables of Jesus are part of the tapestry of Christian religion.  But if we look at the gospels with fresh eyes, as a newcomer to these letters, we are struck by how much storytelling Jesus does and by his constant "hiding" of the main message.

At every turn, Jesus sheathes his message in a story, a "parable".  Indeed, "parables" now are often synonymous with "the teachings of Jesus."

Why does Jesus do this? Why the steady stream of stories?

Jesus answers this question in, of course, a parable.  The "parable of the sower" (Matthew 13, Luke 8, Mark 4) is a parable about parables! Jesus tells of a farmer spreading seeds and of the differing responses, depending upon the ground on which the seeds fall. When questioned about the parable by his disciples, Jesus says (essentially) that the parables are to keep out the calloused, that is, those who are not really interested and only pretend to be listening.

There are other Biblical instances of stories being created to carry a message. In the Old Testament passage, II Samuel 12, the Jewish prophet Nathan rebukes King David.  It is dangerous to rebuke a king, especially about murder, deceit and adultery, but Nathan wants to get under David's defensiveness to reach the true David, that king who had once been concerned about justice.  And so Nathan tells a story.  At the end of the story, when David is incensed at the rich man who abused a poor man and killed the poor man's pet, Nathan points a bony finger at David and says, "You are that man!"  The story achieved its goal.  Similarly, in II Samuel 14, David's commander, Joab, communicates to the king by way of a contrived story.

Communication by stories and parables is not unique to the Bible, of course.  An ancient example is the fables of Aesop, which date from 500 years before Christ.

As a teacher in the twenty-first century, Jesus's use of parable resonates with me.  Good teaching methods go beyond mere transformation of facts.  Whether it is the "Socratic method" or "Inquiry Based Learning" or some other currently popular technique, educators recognize that students must actively engage in the learning process, if that process is to mean anything.  If that process is to lead to true learning and understanding, the student needs to put energy into integrating the knowledge and concepts.  Jesus forces this in his use of parables; the information he provides is not low-hanging fruit that is easy to pluck -- and then forget.

If we link the parable of the sower with the proverb in Matthew 7:6 about "not casting pearls before swine", there is an additional message, a message about matching the appropriate message to the audience.

Too often, in American Christianity, the emphasis is on giving as simple a message as possible, on the presentation of a simplistic candy-coated Jesus, a message suitable for young children but patronizing to adults.  Joining the Kingdom of Heaven should be a thoughtful and careful process.  An adult should not lightly make a decision to be a disciple of Christ. Jesus himself warns people of this; in some cases, he warns people away.  The effect of Jesus's parables is to ask the listener, "Are you sure you really want to go down this path?"

I'd have more to say about the importance of thinking deeply on the gospel -- and not being distracted by silly trivialities -- but googling "pearls before swine" led me to this comic strip and I've been reading the comic strip instead of thinking about parables....