John's Presentation of the Messiah

Theologian Merrill Tenney outlines the Gospel of John as follows:

1. 1: 1 - 1: 18, Prologue
2. 1: 19 - 4: 54, Period of Consideration
3. 5: 1 - 6: 71, Period of Controversy
4. 7: 1 - 11: 53, Period of Conflict
5. 11: 54 - 12: 36a, Period of Crisis
6. 12: 36b - 17: 26, Period of Conference
7. 18: 1 - 20: 31, Period of Consummation

(Obviously Tenney enjoys poetically making everything "P... of C...".  He also seems to like 7 divisions for this book.)

In the "Period of Consideration", Tenney sees Jesus presented at the beginning of his ministry to a number of different groups.  In chapter 1, John the Baptist claims witness to the Messiah and introduces the Messiah to his disciples.  In chapter 2 of John's gospel, Mary presents her son to family and disciples, after which Jesus makes a statement in Jerusalem about the future of Jewish worship by driving out the temple merchants.  A Jewish religious leader, Nicodemus, gets a private interview in chapter 3, followed again by witness from John the baptist.  After that, a non-Jew, a woman from the reviled Samaritans, also gets a private interview.

These presentations of the Messiah occur primarily in Judea and Jerusalem and apparently happened before the opening of Jesus's great Galilean ministry.  A. T. Robertson, in his classic harmony of the gospels, puts the opening of Jesus's Galilean ministry, recorded in Mark 1:4, Matthew 4:17 and Luke 4:15, after the visit with the woman of Sychar, which ends at John 4:45.

Beginning in John 4:46, Jesus is presented to the people of Galilee as he heals a nobleman's son in Cana, the site of the earlier wedding.  The nobleman is from the town of Capernaum, a place that Jesus will shortly set as his home.

Prelude to the New Testament

The Old Testament ends with a number of prophetic passages, probably written around 400 BCE. More than four centuries later, Jesus begins his ministry in Galilee and we have the writings of the New Testament. It might be good to review the history that leads up to the New Testament.

The Old Testament records God calling Abraham out of the area of modern Iraq to Canaan, the site of modern Israel, around 2000 BCE.  The children of Abraham's grandson, Jacob, eventually settle in Egypt, where they become a large tribe which eventually leaves Egypt about 1500 BCE under the leadership of Moses.  This tribe, the people of Israel, settles the land of Canaan where, around 1000 BCE, they are a nation ruled by a king, David.  The nation of Israel reaches its greatest strength during the reign of David's son, Solomon, but splits into two kingdoms, the northern ten tribes ("Israel") and the southern two tribes ("Judah") at Solomon's death.

Much of the Old Testament history then chronicles the ups and downs of these two countries, as they are repeatedly urged to return to God and Mosaic law.  Eventually the two kingdoms are invaded by the Babylonian empire with Judah becoming a Babylonian vassal around 605 BCE.  Shortly after this, the inhabitants of Judah (such as the young man, Daniel) are deported to Babylon.  The Jews living in Babylon were allowed to return to their original land then around 538 BCE, an event covered by the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.  Shortly after that time, the Old Testament prophets go silent.  But we know from other sources that Alexander the Great conquered the region around 332 BCE, as he expanded his empire east and that the region was ruled by the Ptolemaic dynasty from 301 BCE to 198 BCE and then by a number of Jewish priest-kings after the Maccabean revolt in 167 BCE. In 63 BCE the Roman ruler Pompey conquered Jerusalem and after that time, the Romans ruled Judea, delegating their authority a series of Jewish kings given the name Herod, beginning with Herod the Great, the founder of the Herodian dynasty. It is within this dynasty that Jesus is born.  The nation of Israel was officially ruled by Herod the Great, but ultimately Herod answered to Caesar Augustus in Rome.

This Wikipedia page has more details on the history of Israel.

The New Testament opens with four accounts of the ministry of Jesus. The “synoptic gospels”, Mathew, Mark and Luke have much in common (thus the term "synoptic" or "similar") and presumably reflect the early accounts of Peter and others on the ministry of Jesus.  These three gospels often tell of the same episodes, with slightly different points of view.  Matthew, a Jew, emphasizes that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah.  Mark, while reporting Jesus as the Messiah (in Greek Christos) also portrays Jesus as a man of action, engaged in reformation of Israel.  Mark's gospel is a sequence of short vivid accounts of Jesus's acts and words and is most likely the life of Jesus as reported by Peter during Peter's later ministry.  Luke, a Gentile convert, emphasizes the role of Jesus as a universal savior, savior not just of the Jews but of all mankind.

The Gospel of John is apparently the report of the young disciple John. John was probably a teenager during the ministry of Jesus and, written after the other gospels, this account fills in details missed by the earlier ones.  It also adds a philosophical view, from the vantage point of sixty years after the events.  John describes Jesus as not just the Jewish Messiah but the (Greek) Logos, the Creator of the universe appearing in the flesh, living among mankind.

We will continue in the Gospel of John tomorrow.

The Letter of Jude: Fallen Angels & Exalted Citizens

What a strange little letter!  Wikipedia has a brief description of the book here. This letter, recognized as authoritative from the first and second centuries, is a brief warning against false teaching, followed by a summary of the work of the Savior-Messiah.

Jude 1-2, Greeting
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

If Jude is the brother of James, the author of the epistle of James, then he is also the brother of Jesus.

Jude 3-4, There are wolves among you
Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

This letter is motivated by people who have slipped into the local congregation and are attempting to turn the congregation away from Jesus.  While Paul had to deal with "Judaizers", those insisting that Christians follow a strict form of Judaism, the concern here may be about people on the other end of the religious spectrum, those who claimed that grace and freedom give license. It is possible that some of these teachers would have followed a form of gnosticism prevalent in the first and second centuries.

Jude 5-7, Punishment for deceivers
Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home--these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

Some early manuscripts give Jesus (in place of "the Lord") as the one who delivered his people out of Egypt.

Some discussion of the Old Testament passages on the fall of Satan and his angels are here and here.

Jude 8-11, The depravity of these false teachers
In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals--these are the very things that destroy them. Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion.

The dispute of Michael with the devil is an ancient Jewish legend, not found in the Old Testament passages.  This letter leans on Jewish stories about the fall of Satan and disputes between God and Satan (eg. Zechariah 3: 1-2, Job 1: 6-8.) Fallen angels are seen as tempting humans into debauchery and immorality, appearing to bring pleasure but seducing human beings into pain and suffering.

Jude 12-16, And their emptiness
These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm--shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted--twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

To those living in the desert, rain is a good thing. "Clouds without rain" is then an image of something which appears to bring refreshment but does not deliver. (Have you ever experienced a hot summer day in Texas and watch dark clouds form on the horizon? If, just as you are getting hopeful, the clouds disappear and the wind dies down, then you understand this metaphor!)

The quote about Enoch is from the apocryphal Book of Enoch, apparently read by Jews of the first century.

Jude 17-19, The last days
But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

The quote, "In the last times..." is close to I Timothy 4:1 and almost identical to II Peter 3:3.  It is likely that Jude is quoting from Peter's letter.

Jude 20-23, How we should act
But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

After a series of warnings, the letter turns to encouragement. Stay in God's love, help others.

Jude 24-25, Jesus, Savior
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy-- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

The letter ends with a doxology, a praise chorus on the eternal power of Jesus, the Savior of humankind Who can present us to God with great joy!

Titus 3, Heirs of Hope

Paul emphasizes a consistent, balanced church life. He has some final words to Titus.

Titus 3: 1-2, Be good citizens

Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.

Christians generally should not be a threat to their temporary country.  They are to be good citizens of whatever land they are in.

Titus 3: 3-8a, Recall the kindness of God and the change it brought!

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. 

Salvation comes out of love and mercy, not because we have obtained some type of religious rank.  It is implemented by the Holy Spirit, given freely and generously to make us part of an eternal family.

Titus 3: 8b-11, Stress God's goodness; avoid poisonous quarrels

And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

We are to emphasize the wonderful work of God and move away from silly myths, folklore (and internet memes!)

There will always be some who want to fight, who want a controversy.  Paul suggests that one who wants to argue be confronted twice.  If that doesn't work, give up and move away from them.  It is important to recognize the poisonous individual and eventually one may just have to avoid him or her!

Titus 3: 12-14, Specific ministerial needs

As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there. 

Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need.

Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives.

Paul describes his winter plans.  (Where does this fit into the Acts narrative?)  As part of the plans, he sends two travelers to Crete and asks Titus to then come to him. In Paul's instructions he mentions Zenas (not mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament) and Apollos (see Acts 18: 24-28.) Then Paul gives a generic instruction again about living productive lives.

Titus 3: 15,  Grace to you!

Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.

Paul ends his brief letter with a quick goodbye.

Titus 2, Teaching with Authority and Integrity

An important part of growing a church is creating a consistent caring community.  Paul emphasizes this while urging Titus to teach truth and sound doctrine.

Titus 2: 1-6, Training believers

You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.

Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.

The church should display a certain consistency and maturity among the believers. Both older men and women are to set examples for those who are younger, both in age and in their faith.

Titus 2: 7-10, An example of integrity
In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

Titus is to be the ultimate example of maturity and faith.  His teaching is to "show integrity".  It would not be manipulative or self-promoting.

Once again we have instructions to slaves that is not radical, but within the social norms.  The primary goal of the gospel is to change hearts and lives, and so there is no attempt to here to overthrow the first century culture of slavery.

Titus 2: 11-14, Living upright lives in the present age

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

God's grace should be obvious in our own lives and hearts.  The life of a Jesus-follower includes a certain future expectation of an eternal kingdom.

Titus 2: 15, Teach with authority

These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

Titus is to be a teacher, speaking with confidence and authority. This emphasis on confidence and authority echoes instructions to Timothy.

Titus 1, Setting up a Church in Crete

Titus was a longtime companion of Paul and apparently left by Paul to minister in Crete. (Wikipedia has an article on "Saint Titus".)

Paul's letter to Titus is the third "pastoral epistle" in the New Testament.  Like the two letters to Timothy, it speaks to a close colleague on pastoral care and ministry.

Titus 1: 1-4, A servant of the eternal God

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness--a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,

To Titus, my true son in our common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

This greeting is lengthier than most, spending some time praising God by listing God's attributes and plans, making it clear the church in Crete is part of this plan.

Titus 1: 5-9, Setting up the church in Crete

The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.

An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless--not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.

Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

This echoes advice also given to Timothy (I Timothy 3: 1-13) about establishing the church using mature consistent believers who have demonstrated their trustworthiness.

Titus 1: 10-12, The emphasis on circumcision persists.

For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach--and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 

Even one of their own prophets has said, "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons."

The Cretan quote was deliberately self-referential, originating from the Cretan philosopher Epimedes. (See the Epimedes paradox.)  It is equivalent to the statement, "This sentence is false."  Presumably Paul sees the philosophical paradox but is using this quote to make a very different point about the reputation of the Cretans for dishonesty.

Titus 1: 13-14, Honesty and sound faith

This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth.

Whether Cretans lied more than other cultures, I will not speculate. But every culture has aspects of dishonesty and deception and a minister and congregation need to take care that that those practices not invade the church.

Titus 1: 15-16, Purity in faith

To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.  They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

Those of the circumcision consistently emphasized legalism and rigid rules.  But a corrupt circumcised man was still corrupt; a righteous uncircumcised man is still righteous.

In the next chapter Paul gives advice on creating a stable and faithful congregation.

Culture, "Culture Wars" and Jewish Messiah

The various writings of the New Testament have an interesting approach to the first century culture and to culture and politics in general.

At a certain level, there is a deliberate lack of engagement with local culture and politics.  Jesus does not attempt to overthrow the Roman government and when challenged regarding Roman taxes, has a famous response about giving to God the things of God and giving to Caesar the things of Caesar.  In a similar way, Paul makes no attempt to overthrow the first century institution of slavery, but does pressure Philemon to free his runaway slave, Onesimus.

On a different level, there is a direct and confrontational approach to culture and politics.  Jesus forgives tax collectors and prostitutes and confronts religious hypocrites and the control of Jewish leaders.  In personal interactions, he tells an adulterous woman to "go and sin no more" and gets a tax collector to promise to repay everything he has stolen.  In a similar way, Paul confronts the jealousy and gluttony of the church in Corinth and insists that they are to be a model of the kingdom of God.

So how are Christians to engage in their culture and community?  I want to lay out some principles from the New Testament readings.

1. It begins with the heart.  There is such a human desire to change other people.  But one cannot engage as a Christian in the community unless one begins with their own life, recognizing their own selfishness, self-deception, jealousy, ego.  The world changed in the first century because people changed, because individuals committed to joining the Kingdom of God, not because they tried to enforce "religious" actions on others.  If I want to be an agent of change, then the first person I should hope to see changed is me.

2. It relies on the Holy Spirit and God's power and sovereignty.  God changes people; my  life is changed as I allow the Holy Spirit to work.  Paul repeatedly tells believers to pray and "not be anxious."  Change comes not through a legalistic set of resolutions but through genuine concern and love for others, seeing others through God's eyes.

3. The church has authority only over the church!  In I Corinthians 5, Paul confronts a very human desire to tell others what to do.  There, in verses 12-13, he asks, "What business is it of mine to judge those outside the Church?"  If one says, "I am a believer and want to be part of your believing community," then it is appropriate to say, "Our community of believers has both rights and responsibilities."  It is only within the community of believers that Paul lays out expectations for truth, love, honesty and generally healthy community behavior.

4. The most common threat to the body of Christ seems to come from religious authorities! Throughout the New Testament the direct conflict to the young church comes first from Jewish religious leaders and later, occasionally, from pagan religious leaders (such as the followers of Diana in Ephesus, see Acts 19:23-41.)  It might be pointed out that religious leaders have often worked out a way to profit financially from their religion and so find true religion a threat.

In the United States, Christianity has suffered greatly at the hands of religious leaders who claimed to represent Christian beliefs and then used those beliefs for political gain.  I recall Richard Nixon, in 1972, getting Billy Graham to endorse him; Nixon also presented himself to the Explo '72 crowd as a Christian president who fully supported the evangelistic goals of Campus Crusade.  (I was there.)

I could list numerous examples that followed.  Routinely religious leaders (see item 4!) have used Christianity as a way to gain power, bully those who don't believe (item 3), pressure people to be anxious and frightened (#2), while routinely living personal lives of greed, jealousy, lust and abuse (#1.)

The only comment I might make about current US politics is already said in this link. However, let me give a more general example of how not  to engage in culture change.

A US television network tells people there is "a war on Christmas."  It encourages its viewers to get angry and fight against this war.  (See items #2 and #3.)  As it encourages Christians to speak up to "preserve Christmas", the network's ratings go up and certain "Christian" leaders gain popularity (#4.)  But if you are a believer and follower of Jesus, why engage in this? Relax!  God is ultimately in control. If you want to "preserve Christmas", make it a time of joy and kindness. Remember the Messiah born in the Jewish city of David, who died for all humankind.  Let nonbelievers celebrate the holiday (or not) as they wish. And be leery of people with financial incentives (ad revenue) who attempt to get you to abandon compassion for conflict.