| Topic: |
Religions > Bible |
| User: |
"• Ninure Saunders" |
| Date: |
09 Aug 2006 09:28:56 AM |
| Object: |
(~) Bibical Words: August 13, 2006 |
(~) Bibical Words: August 13, 2006
I Kings 19:4-8; Psalm 34:1-8; Ephesians 4:25-5:2; John 6:35, 41-51.
Biblical reflections on the 11th Sunday after Pentecost, August 13, 2006,
from Jay Wilcoxen, Ph.D.
People of faith find themselves in new circumstances in which, by God's
mysterious choice, they are directed and sustained.
I Kings 19:4-8. The main reading from the prophetic books in the
Lectionary for this Sunday is the conclusion of the story of Absalom in II
Samuel 18 (which I commented on three years ago). Our reading here is the
alternate selection, concerning Elijah in the wilderness.
The main structure of the Elijah cycle of stories parallels the Mosaic
story of the origins of Israel.
* There is first a gestation period in which, following divine
instructions, the prophet lives in obscurity but is sustained through
famine by God's power (I Kings 17), corresponding to the promises to the
wandering ancestors in the Israelite story.
* Then there is the very public battle between the gods on Mount Carmel
in which Yahweh is proven to the world to be the mighty God (I Kings 18),
corresponding to Yahweh's exodus defeat of Pharaoh and the Egyptian gods.
* Then there is a journey through the wilderness with the prophet
despairing of his life but sustained by God's gifts of water and food (I
Kings 19:1-8), corresponding to Israel's trials in the wilderness on the
way to Sinai.
* The climax comes when the prophet reaches the holy mountain (Horeb =
Sinai). There he is given a revelation that sanctions the power of the
prophetic word and instructs him to initiate a revolution to establish
Yahweh's exclusive rule over Israel (I Kings 19:9-18), corresponding to
the revelation to Israel at Sinai. * After leaving the mountain Elijah
commissions Elisha as his follower (I Kings 19:19-21), corresponding to
Joshua as Moses' successor in the Israelite story.
Our reading is the Elijah version of Israel's receiving food in the
wilderness. Where the Israelites "murmur" and blame Moses (and Aaron) for
ever bringing them out of Egypt, Elijah, who is now Israel's Most Wanted
Man in Queen Jezebel's book (see 19:2), just cries out in despair. "It is
enough; now, O Lord, take away my life..." (verse 4, NRSV). Yahweh's
answer to this plea is a heavenly messenger (angel) who provides fresh
bread and a jug of water. After two days of such nourishment, Elijah is
ready for the challenge of a forty-day journey to the holy mountain. God
provides the bread needed by God's chosen ones as they pass through the
trials of the wilderness.
Psalm 34:1-8. (This is the alternate psalm selection; the main selection
is Psalm 130.) The psalm selection can be read as Elijah's considered
response to food in the wilderness. First there is exuberant praise of
Yahweh (verses 1-3, NRSV). Then a little narrative proclaims how Yahweh
answered the speaker's need, and declares that the "taste" of life before
God is "good."
I sought the Lord and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears....
This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord,
and was saved from every trouble.
The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
O taste and see that the Lord is good;
happy are those who take refuge in him. (verses 4, 6-8, NRSV)
Ephesians 4:25-5:2. In the Epistle reading we have proceeded in the letter
to the Ephesians to the "ethical" section, which usually follows the
"doctrine" part of the letter. The Apostle has just said, "You were taught
to put away your former way of life, your old self...and to clothe
yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in
true righteousness and holiness" (4:22-24, NRSV). Now, in our reading, we
can see a set of mini-commandments, telling the hearers how to live the
new life in detail. We have a list of eight basic "commands," each of
which is elaborated in the full text.
Let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors.
Do not let the sun go down on your anger.
Thieves must give up stealing (and work to share with the poor).
Let no evil talk come out of your mouths.
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit ("grieve" means disappoint, betray). Put
away from you all bitterness.
Be kind to one another.
Be imitators of God...and live in love, as Christ loved us...
John 6:35, 41-51. The Gospel reading continues our focus on Jesus as the
Bread of Life in John 6. This whole chapter has three major parts, the
miracles of the feeding of the five thousand and walking on the water
(verses 1-21), the discourse or dialogues about the Bread of Life (verses
22-59), and the impact afterwards on Jesus' followers (verses 60-71). Our
reading for today is the central section of the dialogues on the Bread.
Interpreters of John have differed a great deal on how to divide the
discourse into smaller sections. The division usually depends on how one
understands the main thrust of Jesus' revelations here, whether understood
in terms of Jesus teaching in Galilee or in terms of later followers
gradually coming to new understandings of the revelation and salvation
brought by Jesus.
There is one external and objective criterion for dividing the whole
discourse. That is change in speakers. When Jesus' hearers say something
and Jesus says something back, we have a new unit in the discourse. Using
this criterion, we get the following structure of the whole discourse.
There are three sets of two speeches by Jesus' hearers, with Jesus'
response to each speech.
1. Verses 25-29. Introduction of the theme Food of Life.
1. Verse 25, The "crowd" asks when Jesus came to Capernaum.
Jesus' answer (actually a non-answer) is verses 26-27.
2. Verse 28, They ask how they should "work the work of God."
Jesus' answer is verse 29.
2. Verses 30-40. Moses' bread that perishes and Jesus' heavenly bread of life.
1. Verses 30-31, The crowd asks for a sign of Jesus' heavenly authority,
referring to the manna from heaven.
Jesus' answer is verses 32-33.
2. Verse 34, They ask to always receive Jesus' heavenly bread.
Jesus' answer is verses 35-40.
3. Verses 41-58. Speaking to the Jews, the heavenly bread is Jesus' flesh.
1. Verses 41-42, "The Jews" refer to Jesus' parents as proof of his human
origin.
Jesus' answer is verses 43-51.
2. Verse 52, The Jews dispute about eating Jesus' flesh.
Jesus' answer is verses 53-58.
As I commented a week or two ago, John 6 contains a mini-history of early
Christian faith. In fact, our chapter moves from a great popular following
to a little dedicated core, from five thousand or more Jesus followers to
a set of twelve committed disciples (verses 66-67). Between the crowds and
the small group of disciples are the Jewish authorities who challenge the
Jesus claims. The chapter also moves from Jesus as miracle doer, to
general comments about his heavenly background, to declarations of divine
guidance in bringing people to him, to the sacramental core of Christian
worship, and to the scandal among his followers created by the paradoxes
of faith.
In last week's readings, those speaking to Jesus were the "crowd" (verses
22, 24), and they were told that the manna in the wilderness was not the
real heavenly bread that gives life to the world, but that Jesus himself
is that bread. The concluding punch line was, "I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry..." (verse 35, NRSV).
It is important to be clear that the whole discussion requires a
distinction between what perishes and what endures, between bread that
only lasts a day and must be replaced by another day's bread, and bread
that lasts because it is God's nourishment, it is eternal. Here are some
of the statements in this discourse that point to this great distinction.
Verse 27. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that
endures for eternal life.
Verse 33. For the bread of God is that which [or he who] comes down from
heaven and gives life to the world.
Verse 35. Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me
will never be hungry..."
Verses 49-50. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they
died. 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat
of it and not die.
All of the gospel of in this chapter requires that we find for ourselves a
distinction between the "here" and the "beyond," between the worldly and
the heavenly, between the passing and the lasting. However we understand
that old (Platonic) distinction for our own lives, we should apply it here
to the bread that people eat every day and the bread that is God's eternal
nourishment -- that is, the revelation of the ultimate truth about divine
and human relations.
Most of our reading for today, from verse 41 on, presents the responses to
Jesus by "the Jews." After the popular audience (the "crowd") have heard
of Jesus as the heavenly Bread, the religious authorities raise
objections. "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother
we know? How can he now say, I have come down from heaven'?" (verse 42).
We clearly have reflected here the kinds of objections to Christian claims
for Jesus raised by followers of Pharisaic and Rabbinic Judaism in the
middle and late first century of the Christian era. It was one thing for
Jesus followers to claim that Jesus was the Messiah -- the Davidic
ruler-to-be who would return Israel to its ancient glory. Now to talk
about a heavenly Man come to earth (which is what "Son of Man" means in
John, see verse 27) is a great break from Moses (see verse 32) and
contrary to what is known about the human Jesus of Nazareth!
Jesus' reply to this objection includes the argument that not everyone is
included in the salvation sent from heaven. How or why is God's own
mystery, but God "draws" some to the heavenly gift while others are not so
"drawn." "No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me;
and I will raise that person up on the last day" (verse 44). This
discourse is aware that the mainline Jewish community would increasingly
refuse the proclamation of the Jesus preachers after the middle of the
first century CE, and here (as elsewhere in the Gospels) the Christian
belief is expressed that God ultimately directs people's response to or
rejection of Jesus.
Our reading ends with a final note that is very provocative and
surprising. Verse 51 concludes the discussion about Jesus as the "living
bread," but adds, "the bread that I will give for the life of the world is
my flesh." Flesh is a new word. It opens a whole new discussion, which is
next week's reading from the Gospel.
====================
Pax Christi,
Ninure Saunders aka Rainbow Christian
My Blog
http://NINURE.TK
.
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