Here are some items from this morning’s LCMS church service and Sunday School class.
A. The pastor handled the children’s part of the service this morning because the youth pastor was conducting a retreat at the beach. The pastor talked about love and the different people who love: the kids’ parents love them and provide for them, and their teachers show them love by teaching them. God showed us love by sending Jesus to die for our sins, and Jesus chose to come and do so out of love. As God sent Jesus on a mission, so Jesus sends us on a mission. We love others not out of obligation or law but because we get to do so; we want to do so.
B. The pastor’s text was I Corinthians 13, but the pastor spoke about how love relates to the church’s mission. He referred to church growth studies in the 1960’s that encouraged churches to build on their homogeneity. In the case of our church, it consists mostly of white, middle-class people over 20 (that “over 20” part got some chuckles!), so church growth books would suggest that our church seek out other white, middle-class people over 20. The pastor disagrees with that approach, however.
The pastor later told a story about a pastor he knows who aroused controversy by saying that the four walls of the church are not for those who are already there, but for those on the outside. Our pastor said that our church, too, seeks to serve those on the outside. We have a traditional service because people in the outside community might have a nostalgic feeling about the liturgy and decide to visit. We have a contemporary service because some may like lively contemporary Christian music. Of course, the pastor would probably agree that the four walls of the church are for those on the inside as well; we’re going through I Corinthians, and that is about edifying the church. But the church is supposed to serve the community, too.
The pastor told another story about a Lutheran church where two families were at odds. The sanctuary was being built, and different people in the congregation ended up bringing different things, without the congregation voting on it. You would expect disaster, but it actually turned out well, like God was working things out for good.
C. The Sunday school class was about text criticism. We looked at three versions of Luke 23:13-23. The first was the Bodmer Papyrus, p75, which dates to the third century. The second is Codex Sinaiticus, which dates to the fourth century. The third is Codex Claromontanus, which dates to the fifth century. V. 17, which specifies the reason that Pilate is offering to release Barabbas—because of the custom to release a prisoner on the Passover—is missing from p75, the earlier manuscript. The teacher speculates that p75 is the earlier version, and later scribes added v. 17 because that explanation was in the other Gospels. Often, texts go from shorter to longer, as scribes add details for clarification.
In Luke 23:15, Pilate says that Herod sent Jesus “back to us.” Codex Claromontanus, however, has Pilate saying that Herod sent us back to him. That makes no sense, so the teacher speculated that this reflects a scribal error: the scribe was getting tired, or sleepy, and make a mistake.
The teacher made some other points about Luke 23:13-23. He told the story of Pilate. A Jewish delegation earlier went to Emperor Claudius and asked for Pilate’s removal, due to Pilate’s violence and disrespect for the Jewish religion. Pilate was recalled to Rome due to that, so now he seeks to appease the Jewish authorities. He offers to whip Jesus. The Greek word there is paideuo, which relates to correction; from that we get the word pedagogy, which concerns education. Tutors in ancient times would beat students to correct them.
The teacher gave us some other text critical morsels:
—-He referred to the woman caught in adultery in John 7:53-8:11. That story is missing from most ancient manuscripts. Church fathers cite it, however, and Origen apparently had a manuscript of the Gospel of John that had it.
—-Sometimes the Syriac is more accurate. Jesus spoke Aramaic, so his idioms make more sense in Syriac.
—-In some cases, if scholars are puzzling over a word, they may check another Gospel with the same story to see what it says, and that can clarify the meaning of the word.
A. The pastor handled the children’s part of the service this morning because the youth pastor was conducting a retreat at the beach. The pastor talked about love and the different people who love: the kids’ parents love them and provide for them, and their teachers show them love by teaching them. God showed us love by sending Jesus to die for our sins, and Jesus chose to come and do so out of love. As God sent Jesus on a mission, so Jesus sends us on a mission. We love others not out of obligation or law but because we get to do so; we want to do so.
B. The pastor’s text was I Corinthians 13, but the pastor spoke about how love relates to the church’s mission. He referred to church growth studies in the 1960’s that encouraged churches to build on their homogeneity. In the case of our church, it consists mostly of white, middle-class people over 20 (that “over 20” part got some chuckles!), so church growth books would suggest that our church seek out other white, middle-class people over 20. The pastor disagrees with that approach, however.
The pastor later told a story about a pastor he knows who aroused controversy by saying that the four walls of the church are not for those who are already there, but for those on the outside. Our pastor said that our church, too, seeks to serve those on the outside. We have a traditional service because people in the outside community might have a nostalgic feeling about the liturgy and decide to visit. We have a contemporary service because some may like lively contemporary Christian music. Of course, the pastor would probably agree that the four walls of the church are for those on the inside as well; we’re going through I Corinthians, and that is about edifying the church. But the church is supposed to serve the community, too.
The pastor told another story about a Lutheran church where two families were at odds. The sanctuary was being built, and different people in the congregation ended up bringing different things, without the congregation voting on it. You would expect disaster, but it actually turned out well, like God was working things out for good.
C. The Sunday school class was about text criticism. We looked at three versions of Luke 23:13-23. The first was the Bodmer Papyrus, p75, which dates to the third century. The second is Codex Sinaiticus, which dates to the fourth century. The third is Codex Claromontanus, which dates to the fifth century. V. 17, which specifies the reason that Pilate is offering to release Barabbas—because of the custom to release a prisoner on the Passover—is missing from p75, the earlier manuscript. The teacher speculates that p75 is the earlier version, and later scribes added v. 17 because that explanation was in the other Gospels. Often, texts go from shorter to longer, as scribes add details for clarification.
In Luke 23:15, Pilate says that Herod sent Jesus “back to us.” Codex Claromontanus, however, has Pilate saying that Herod sent us back to him. That makes no sense, so the teacher speculated that this reflects a scribal error: the scribe was getting tired, or sleepy, and make a mistake.
The teacher made some other points about Luke 23:13-23. He told the story of Pilate. A Jewish delegation earlier went to Emperor Claudius and asked for Pilate’s removal, due to Pilate’s violence and disrespect for the Jewish religion. Pilate was recalled to Rome due to that, so now he seeks to appease the Jewish authorities. He offers to whip Jesus. The Greek word there is paideuo, which relates to correction; from that we get the word pedagogy, which concerns education. Tutors in ancient times would beat students to correct them.
The teacher gave us some other text critical morsels:
—-He referred to the woman caught in adultery in John 7:53-8:11. That story is missing from most ancient manuscripts. Church fathers cite it, however, and Origen apparently had a manuscript of the Gospel of John that had it.
—-Sometimes the Syriac is more accurate. Jesus spoke Aramaic, so his idioms make more sense in Syriac.
—-In some cases, if scholars are puzzling over a word, they may check another Gospel with the same story to see what it says, and that can clarify the meaning of the word.