[jesus, the middle eastern storyteller] author’s closing thoughts
October 3, 2009 by bibledude
Filed under bible literacy, featured
by Gary M. Burge
I’m really honored that each of you have taken the time to give a thoughtful reading to this short book. I often feel that there is a huge gap between the world of scholarship (where I live) and the world of the church. We publish and discuss technical matters regularly but rarely do we take the time to make these rich things accessible to everyone. That was my goal in this series. And that you read it thoughtfully and gave such amazing comments — usually things more profound than I could ever think of — tells me that conversations like this need to continue.
This particular book, Jesus the Middle East Story Teller, is trying to do what we call “contextual interpretation.” This means that we admit something right up front: that the cultural, social, political, economic context of Jesus’ world was different than ours. And that for us to really understand him and his stories, we have to jump back in time and unravel some of these mysteries from the ancient world. So the idea of borrowing bread late at night, or asking your dad for your inheritance — you name it — these things cannot be understood easily from our position. It would be like taking a very good joke about the Batman Dark Knight film, burying it for 2,000 years, and then expecting readers in the future to understand it. “Who was Batman?” they might ask! And some researcher will write a little book explaining that Dark Knight was a film and that films were things shown on screens, etc. etc.
My encouragement to you is to continue studying context to open the world of the Bible in ways the average person will not. Always make sure that your sources are reliable. Always make sure that a contextual reconstruction is based on sound scholarship, the texts of antiquity, archaeology, and cautious cultural analysis. But if you do, you will have a grasp of the Bible like few others and you’ll be able to speak of God’s word with an authority and power you never had before.
This is a very cool blog group. And website. It’s a new discovery for me and I know I’ll enjoy coming back again many times.
Gary Burge, Ph.D.
Wheaton College & Graduate School
[jesus, the middle eastern storyteller] chapter 7: the foolish builder
October 1, 2009 by bibledude
Filed under bible literacy, featured
by Gabriel Morton
Luke 12:13-21
The Foolish Builder? I beg to differ. I believe a better title for this chapter is Selfish vs. Selfless. If you boil this chapter down to the nitty-gritty, that’s what it’s all about. Let me fill you in:
The central story for this chapter is a man who asked Jesus to mediate a family quarrel (Luke 12:13-14). Reading this with modern eyes doesn’t begin to explain exactly what’s going on. It simply seems like someone wanting their inheritance. Gary Burge picks this apart a bit more to give us a bigger picture.
He was trying to use Jesus’ influence. In Bible times, a rabbi, or Jewish religious leader, would be called on to settle minor disputes. We might pick up the phone and call a lawyer, but back then, they would find the modern day equivalent of a pastor. Rabbis would be trained in the Jewish laws handed down from Moses. Jesus was widely known as a spiritual teacher, with many people equating him with rabbis, though he had not completed formal rabbinical training.
The inheritance was likely land. These days, many of us rent or lease. Those of us who own will likely sell their house and move into a new one once, if not several times in our lives. The idea of a piece of land permanently owned by anyone, let alone a family is a bit of a foreign concept. Fact: in those days land was associated with prestige and honor – not just the monetary value of the land.
The man was likely trying to get his own way. He tried to tell Jesus what to do: “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” He didn’t ask Jesus to look at the facts and make a decision of his own. He simply told Jesus what to say.
Jesus doesn’t take sides. The man was likely to lose the relationship with his brother if Jesus were to divide this land. Christ realizes the central fact in the dispute: it was over the love of money. He refuses the title of arbiter and speaks the next phrase: “Be careful to guard yourselves from every kind of greed. Life is not about having a lot of material possessions.” (God’s Word Version) I always thought that this was a mere lead into the next story about the man who tore down his barns for the sake of building bigger ones to hold his crops (Gary Burge talks about that too, but I’ll let you read it for yourself). Christ was commenting on the inheritance issue, and then clarified the statement with the parable that followed.
So what?
That’s my favorite phrase to say when reading a passage of scripture. I can dig into the Greek. I can dig into the context of the Jewish faith of Bible times. I can find thousands of commentaries online to pick apart a verse, but so what? Head knowledge is useless unless we apply it to our lives in some way. So here’s “so what:”
The legacy you leave will not be what you own, but the lives you touched. PLEASE don’t misjudge me. This is not a cry for you to go dump your money in the offering tray next time a missionary comes to your church (though we should support our missionaries). When most people read this scripture, they interpret it as though we should give away all we have to support the poor and needy. That is well and good – the Bible does call us to help the widows and orphans. But do we do it merely by tossing money at the problem?
The chapter, and for that matter, the book, closes with a true story about two men: one named John Bennett. He built mission agencies and traveled the world. At the age of 47, he died of a heart attack. The other was a friend of the author’s that lives in Chicago. He flew all of his children and grandchildren to Ecuador to cast the vision of helping the people in the country. After he dies, he wants his estate to be used for positive means. Both of these men live a life for others.
Personally, I’m reminded of my friend, Pastor Ramon Morante. He came to Indonesia with his entire family – a wife and three kids – to help reach the lost here. He was a man that always had a smile on his face. While he had very little most of the time, he would find a way to help those around him. He organized countless mission opportunities to reach out the countless poor of Jakarta.
Sadly, just last week, he went to be with the Lord. It was so sudden. One day, he’s there, ministering, sharing, loving, and the next day he’s not there. He will never be there. His memorial service was packed. The small funeral home was packed to overflowing – filled with the lives he touched.
I’m not saying that we have to pack up and sell off everything and go live overseas as missionaries. FACT: we are all missionaries. Every time we go to work, to the grocery store, gas station, mall, park, gym, pool, sidewalk, doctor’s office, restaurant, fast food joint, library, coffee shop, yoga class, sporting event, etc., we are all missionaries. We don’t have to try to get everyone we meet to kneel down and say the sinner’s prayer. Rather, we should be “the salt and light” to the world – with our words of love and mercy and with our deeds of compassion and grace.
Pastor Ramon was a good man. He lived life to the fullest. He lived life without regrets. We should follow his lead. You don’t know when your life will end, but when you live a life that reaches into the hearts of those around you, it won’t matter whether you know our not. You would be living a life without regrets.
About the author:
Gabriel Morton is a husband, father, teacher, and youth pastor. His passion is changed lives. He loves it when he sees churches uniting in spreading the message of Christ’s love across the Globe. Want some mental floss? Check out his blog Christ in 3D.
[jesus, the middle eastern storyteller] chapter 6: finding the lost
September 30, 2009 by bibledude
Filed under bible literacy, featured
by Jesse Giglio (check out the artsy version of this contribution)
Luke 15
This chapter addresses those who are were lost but also separated. People socially pushed to the margins due to race or practice or mistakes. Jesus embraces these people of separation in such a way that he himself is marginalized. He himself is separated.
Burge notes the opinion of the religious leaders toward Jesus – “Jesus is at fault because he fully accepts people who have failed by every religious and social standard…”
The culture values separation. Jesus inclusion.
Jesus makes his statement on inclusion by telling 3 stories of loss. 100 Sheep. 10 Coins. 2 Sons.
The first in this narrowing progression introduces us to a shepherd; admired in biblical literature but not so in real life. “Suppose one of you has a 100 sheep” Jesus says-evoking discomfort from the religious leaders as a shepherd’s work was hard, dangerous and kept them from keeping the law-”if you were to lose one would you not leave the 99 to go look for it?”
Burge insights- 1. The flock were likely the collective animals of the community 2. Shepherds didn’t work alone. The remaining 99 would’ve still been cared for. 3. The village celebrated the return.
Next we go from likening God to a shepherd to that of a woman (gasp!) losing a single coin. Squirm Pharisees, squirm.
The woman loses, seeks and finds resulting in again a communal celebration. Things that find themselves separated are meant to be sought, restored and celebrated.
The 3rd story develops in complexity but retains congruency. Emphasis remains on community and separation. The father’s affairs with his sons would not have been private nor quiet. The village would be involved and offended and angry at the departing son and the giving father. And then upon his return the village would celebrate together. All but one.
The one who remained. The older son, who had considerable rights to this estate, was seemingly left out. Questioning the father for welcoming this son who separated while at the same time shaming the father by not being present at this community celebration.
The chapter ends by drawing some modern day parallels and ultimately questions…
Do you welcome those on the outside? And celebrate their inclusion?
Jesus lived in the margins.
About the author:
Jesse Giglio loves stories, at least good stories but then again thatʻs why we have bad ones…so we can tell. He thinks life is meaningful. Sometimes the way we live it is not. He’s a teaching pastor and mission architect in Southern California. But prefers activist and raconteur. His church isnʻt too big and isnʻt too small but itʻs not just right either. Itʻs probably a lot like yours.
[jesus, the middle eastern storyteller] chapter 6: finding the lost (artsy version)
September 30, 2009 by bibledude
Filed under bible literacy, featured
by Jesse Giglio (check out the straight-up version of this contribution)
Luke 15
YouTube Video :: Dustin Kensrue: Please Come Home (acoustic)
Please Come Home by Dustin Kensrue
Well I woke one morning,
found you staring down at me,
you said “I’ll take my share now, father please”,
and you took your money,
and you took your leave,
you drilled my heart and turned your back on me…
And you hit the town,
and you hit the bottle hard,
you race ’round in your fancy cars and you blow all your money,
on brothels, beds, and bars,
before you know your broken times get hard…
I still stand here waiting,
with my eyes fixed on the road,
and I fight back tears and I wonder,
if you’re ever coming home,
don’t you know son that I love you,
and I don’t care where you’ve been,
so please come home.
And now you’ve hit bottom,
all those open doors have shut,
and you’re hungry stomach’s tied in knots,
but I know what you’re thinking,
that you troubled me enough,
nothing could ever separate you from my love…
I still stand here waiting,
with my eyes fixed on the road,
and I fight back tears and I wonder,
if you’re ever coming home,
don’t you know son that I love you,
and I don’t care where you’ve been,
yes and i’ll be right here waiting,
’til you come around the bend,
and I run to you and hold you close,
won’t let go again,
so please come home,
please come home…
Don’t you know son that I love you?
And I don’t care where you’ve been,
so please come home.
About the contributor:
Jesse Giglio loves stories, at least good stories but then again thatʻs why we have bad ones…so we can tell. He thinks life is meaningful. Sometimes the way we live it is not. He’s a teaching pastor and mission architect in Southern California. But prefers activist and raconteur. His church isnʻt too big and isnʻt too small but itʻs not just right either. Itʻs probably a lot like yours.
