Church Write-Up: What Law Did They Think Jesus Broke?

I went to the Missouri Synod church’s Good Friday service.  There was no homily, but the pastor, select people, and the congregation were reading through the passion story in the Gospel of John, singing songs at intervals.

I usually write about the sermon, but, today, I will address a passage that stood out to me.  In John 19:7, the Jewish leaders say to Pilate: “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God” (KJV).

Questions were in my mind.  What did the Jewish leaders mean by “Son of God”?  Did they mean that Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, since the Davidic king was a son of God (II Samuel 7:13-16; Psalm 89:26-28)?  Much of John 19 relates to the claim that Jesus is a king.  But would claiming to be the Messiah merit the death penalty under the Torah?  The Roman authorities would certainly be concerned about such a claim, from a political standpoint, but does it violate the Torah?

In the Gospel of John, Jesus is accused by his opponents of claiming to be equal to God, or even God (John 5:17-18; 10:30-39).  Could that be deemed a violation of the Torah? 


G.R. Beasley-Murray, in his Word Biblical Commentary on the Gospel of John, navigates through these issues.  He claims that the Jewish leaders were sticking with their charge that Jesus was a political insurrectionist, but that they were adding an additional charge: that Jesus violated the Jewish law by being a blasphemer.  According to Beasley-Murray, John may be echoing Mark 14:61-64, in which Jesus confesses to be the Messiah, while also saying that he will be on the right hand of Power, perhaps implying (in certain Jewish leaders’ eyes) a parity with God.  Beasley-Murray also refers to John 5:17-18 and 10:30-39.  As far as charges go, Beasley-Murray states that the Jewish leaders thought that Jesus violated the Torah by being a false prophet, which merited the death penalty (Deuteronomy 13:1-6), as Jesus seemed to claim parity with God and healed on the Sabbath.  Beasley-Murray also refers to Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 43a, in which Yeshu is hanged for sorcery and enticing Israel towards apostasy.

Church Write-Up: Maundy Thursday Road Trip

I went to the Missouri Synod Lutheran church’s Maundy Thursday service.

The pastor opened his sermon with an anecdote.  He said that, when his children were growing up, he, his wife, and his children lived in Colorado.  The maternal grandparents of the children lived in Austin, Texas, while the paternal grandparents lived in Wisconsin.  The pastor, his wife, and kids would drive over sixteen hours to see them, straight through.  The kids would be loaded into the van at night, settling into their nests, and the family would be off!

The pastor talked about the traditional places where they would stop to eat.  They would go to a McDonalds that had a playground, where the kids could run around.  They would also go to a Shoney’s.  This church is in Oregon, so the pastor explained to us what Shoney’s was, likening it to Red Robin and Shari’s.

The pastor spiritually allegorized his family’s tradition.  First, in the same way that his family made those restaurants their own—-part of their traveling experience—-so likewise did Jesus make the Passover his own.  The Passover was originally about Israel’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt, and the Passover meal served to prepare Israel for its journey ahead, which would include its encounter with God at Mount Sinai.  Jesus applied the Passover to his death, which would deliver people from bondage to sin.  Moreover, as Israel encountered God at Sinai, so would people see the heart of God on the hill where Jesus would die, Golgotha.

Second, the family’s meals at those stops refreshed them for the journey.  Jesus ate his meal with his disciples to prepare himself, and perhaps them, for the difficult journey ahead.  In addition, our journey as Christians is to love one another (John 13:34-35), and to love our neighbors.  Many find that tiring, however.  We tend to love those we like and to withhold love from those we dislike.  Some of us may profess a love for humanity, yet we despise people.  But love entails a giving of oneself to others.  How do we do this, when we by nature are selfish?  The pastor said that we feed on Christ, particularly in communion.

The pastor’s sermon brought to my mind some of my own road trips.  On the issue of love, I am not that good at reaching out to others, so love sermons are somewhat of a turn-off to me.  Still, the pastor raises a good point: what is our journey as Christians about?  Well, it is for us to become like Christ, to see people and situations as Christ does, and a significant component of that is love.  On us being inherently selfish, are Christians still inherently selfish, or have they been supernaturally transformed into unselfish people?  An answer to that, I suppose, is that their sinful flesh remains, yet the Holy Spirit is also within them, transforming them.

I’ll leave the comments open in case someone wants to add something constructive.  Snarky comments, or “Why don’t you quote the Bible more?” comments, will not be published.

Book Write-Up: A Chance at Forever, by Melissa Jagears

Melissa Jagears.  A Chance at Forever.  Bethany House, 2018.  See here to buy the book.

A Chance at Forever is the third book in Melissa Jagear’s “Teaville Moral Society” series.  The series is about a moral society in Teaville, Kansas.  The society attempts to help the community.  This third book is set in the early twentieth century.

The book has familiar characters from the first two books of the series.  Nicholas Lowe, the wealthy philanthropist, is back, along with his wife Lydia.  Both are continuing their efforts to help prostitutes find a new and better life.  I have not read the second book of the series, but I can see from the description that it focused on David Kingsman and Evelyn Wisely.  They have cameos in the third book.  My impression in reading the third book is that it contained other characters whose stories were told in the second one (i.e., Caroline, Franklin, etc.).  While that led to some confusion on my part (which is my fault, for not having read the second book), the third book was still enjoyable.

One of the principal characters of the third book is Mercy McLain.  She has a deformed arm, so she depends on her brother, Timothy, and his wife, Patricia.  Timothy and Patricia run an orphanage house, under the authority of Nicholas Lowe and a board.  Timothy and Patricia have their flaws: Timothy secretly goes to the red-light district to drink and to sleep with prostitutes, and Patricia sleeps all day.  But, of course, they are on their best behavior when Nicholas Lowe is around!

Aaron Firebrook applies to teach at the orphanage, and he receives work as its gardener.  Mercy has very unpleasant memories about Aaron because he taunted and bullied her, and others children, when they were younger.  Aaron was coping at the time with abuse that he experienced.  After that time, Aaron became a Christian under the influence of a mild-mannered pastor, and he is now seeking to apologize and make restitution towards those he hurt.  One of his victims suggested that he become a teacher to protect children from bullies, and that is why he applied to teach at the orphanage.  A prominent aspect of this book is Aaron’s efforts at repentance and his attempts to address the negative consequences of his past misdeeds, including Mercy’s struggles to forgive and to trust him.  Add to this the consideration that Aaron is attracted to Mercy, and long has been.

Other events occur in this book, as well.  There is a child at the orphanage, Jimmy, who is a troublemaker, and Aaron tries to mentor him, as a former troublemaker himself.  Aaron is seeking to adopt a little boy, the son of one of the people he tormented in his youth.  The portly flour-mill owner, Henri Beauchamp, is romantically pursuing a servant at the orphanage, Caroline O’Conner, and he brings her an infant from her prostitute sister, Moira.  The orphanage is planning to conduct an auction so that a gifted little boy and his brother can make better lives for themselves, and a wealthy donor is upset when she learns that former women of ill repute work for the orphanage.

There was a lot going on in this book, but that made the book interesting rather than confusing, as the characters coped with continual challenges.  One can identify with the characters, or at least empathize with them, on some level: Aaron’s sorrow over his past sins and his efforts, sometimes unsuccessful, to change; Timothy’s unhappiness in his marriage; Patricia’s coping with her husband because at least their current job gives them a comfortable life; Mercy’s feelings of helplessness.  One character, who will be nameless in this review, looked like he would be a bad character, which was difficult for me, since he was sweet and lovable; but he turned out to be a good character.  The book got heavily into people’s conflicting thoughts and feelings, such that they seemed real.

My favorite part of the book was when Aaron and Mercy are discussing Ephesians 4:22-24, which is about putting off the old self with its deceitful practices and putting on the new self, as one is renewed.  Aaron has recently had a relapse of anger, and he is disappointed at his lack of success at putting off the old self.  Mercy tells him that the Christian life is about God creating the new self in him, as he renews his mind.  This was a little surprising, since Mercy, although she could be heroic, did not seem to be that religious earlier in the book.  Still, her advice was edifying.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.  My review is honest.

Church Write-Up: Off (or On) Track; Last Day of Patristics Class; a Present Love

Here is my write-up about my church experience last Sunday.

A.  The pastor at the Missouri Synod Lutheran church told a funny opening anecdote.  It was a story that a funeral director told him when the two were riding together on the way to a funeral.  In the story, the funeral director forgot the way to the graveyard, so he was looking desperately for a familiar road.  Meanwhile, all these cars were behind him, following him, as they, too, were on their way to the funeral.  The funeral director took a winding path, and he finally found the graveyard.  The wife of the deceased came to the funeral director crying.  It turned out that the funeral director drove past her late husband’s elementary school, his high school, and the place where the husband proposed to the wife.  She thanked the funeral director for this.  The funeral director was baffled, but he replied, “Just part of the service, maam.”  The funeral director thought he was on the wrong path, but he was on a good path.  The pastor tied this to Palm Sunday: many Jews were expecting Jesus to defeat the Romans after entering Jerusalem, but Jesus had a different plan, and, even though his plan was not their plan, his plan was still good.

B.  Last Sunday was the last session of the Missouri Synod Lutheran church’s class on patristic interpretations of John.  Some noteworthy items:

The teacher gave us a character study of Jerome.  He said that there was an Old Latin text of the Bible, which was of the LXX, but Jerome’s influential Latin Vulgate for the Old Testament translated the Hebrew.  The teacher also stated that Jerome had an irascible personality: he was argumentative.  But Jerome had a lot of interaction with three women, who were widows and chaste.  These women had a monastery in Palestine, close to where he was, and Jerome respected them.

Someone asked the teacher if any church father commented on the age of our resurrected bodies’ appearance: will we look like children, or young adults, or middle aged, or elderly?  The teacher replied that he recalled some church fathers who hinted that we will appear to people as they best know us.  That reminded me of a Battlestar Galactica episode that I recently watched: President Roslin saw her deceased mother alive in the afterlife, and the mother looked elderly.

The teacher was making a point that Jesus, the God-man, died.  It was not just his human nature that died, but the divine nature did, too.  The teacher said that, according to Acts, God raised Jesus from the dead; Jesus did not raise himself.  At the same time, the teacher seemed to be saying that the Trinitarian God raised Jesus.  Someone asked about John 10:18, in which Jesus affirmed that he himself had the power to lay down his life and take it up again, implying that Jesus resurrected himself.  I do not recall the teacher’s answer.

The teacher talked about how the empty tomb is not enough to prove Jesus’ resurrection.  Suppose that the teacher was wealthy, died, and was buried in a sepulchre, and the sepulchre was empty after three days.  People would not conclude that he had been raised from the dead.  Other things are important, too, when it comes to Jesus’ resurrection, such as the testimony of the apostles.  Someone in the class remarked that a friend told him that the plagues and miracles of the Exodus occurred also outside of the Exodus, and that dead people are resuscitated even today.  I thought of stories about other people in history crossing bodies of water when they were low.  But what makes these things miracles in the Bible, according to the student, is God’s intent in using them and God’s foretelling of them, and also the lesson that God is not limited. Through Jesus’ resurrection, for example, God defeated death.

The teacher also discussed the timeline from Jesus’ burial to his resurrection.  Jesus was buried, and the women haphazardly prepared the body for burial.  They did not have much time because the Sabbath was very soon, and this Sabbath was both a weekly Sabbath and also the high Sabbath, the Passover.  The rested on the Sabbath, and, that night, after the Sabbath was over, they bought spices and fragrances for the body.  Early on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb to complete their preparation of the body.  This model made sense to me, and I say this as one who grew up in a religious tradition that said that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday and rose on Saturday rather than being crucified on Good Friday and being raised on Sunday morning.  Why would the women go to the tomb early Sunday morning, if they could have finished their anointing on Friday, after the completion of the Thursday Passover Sabbath (according to the Wednesday-Saturday model)?  Friday would be a Day of Preparation for the weekly Sabbath, but could they not finish their anointing early Friday morning and then have the rest of the day to prepare for the weekly Sabbath?

C.  At the “Word of Faith” church, the pastor preached about John 11-12.  John 11 includes the story about Jesus’ resurrection of Lazarus.  Lazarus is called the one Jesus loves (John 11:3).  Jesus’ love for Lazarus is present, not just past, and the pastor said that this is how God’s love for us is.  John 12 is about the woman, Mary, who washed Jesus’ feet with her hair using expensive perfume.  The pastor noted that the woman was not afraid to embarrass herself in showing her enthusiastic love for Jesus, because Jesus loved her.  She went all out for Jesus.  And, unlike other disciples, she took seriously his claim that he would die, so she anointed his body for burial.  The pastor said that death is about the saints living in a new heavens and the new earth, and not losing anything but gaining more than anything they may have lost.

Book Write-Up: Christianity at the Crossroads, by Michael J. Kruger

Michael J. Kruger.  Christianity at the Crossroads: How the Second Century Shaped the Future of the Church.  IVP Academic, 2017, 2018.  See here to purchase the book.

Michael J. Kruger has a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh, and he teaches New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary, which is in Charlotte, North Carolina.  He is also the President there.

As the title indicates, this book is about Christianity in the second century C.E.  Kruger engages such topics as who was attracted to Christianity, the views of Christians that were held by the larger non-Christian society, the church’s ecclesiological organization, diversity and unity within second century Christianity, the importance of texts to second century Christians, and the emergence of a New Testament canon during the second century.

What marks this book is its judicious engagement of scholarship.  Kruger often identifies where there is scholarly doubt about certain narratives, where scholarship has changed, and his own views on the issues.  Kruger’s conclusions tend to accord with a Reformed Protestant view.  He argues that churches were initially shepherded by elders, and that the leadership of bishops, let alone an overarching bishop (i.e., pope), was a later development; Catholics, by contrast, would trace the papacy back to Peter.  In a passing comment on page 104, Kruger states that “the particular way that connection [with Christ] was achieved [at the Eucharist] was a continuing matter of debate” in the second century; this statement would contrast with Catholics and other believers in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, who would see the real presence as the original Christian position and the view that the bread and wine are mere symbols as a much later development.

Kruger also challenges claims from more “liberal” (my word) scholars, such as Walter Bauer, Bart Ehrman, and Helmut Koester.  Kruger contends that the Christianity of the second century church fathers, which won out, was the mainstream, majority Christianity, with a connection to the apostles; other Christian sects, by contrast, were comparatively marginal or were heretical deviations.  Kruger holds that there was a New Testament canon during the second century C.E., while acknowledging that some books were still in dispute; he argues against scholars who think that the canon came later, or that the second century church lacked a canon because it valued oral tradition over written texts.

To determine whether Kruger characterizes the scholarly positions accurately, one would have to read them, and Kruger provides secondary references.  Overall, however, in arguing for his own positions, Kruger does so very effectively, as he looks closely at primary sources.  One argument that was impressive was when he contradicted the view that Marcion’s version of the New Testament came first and that the “orthodox” version was a supplemental response to Marcion; essentially, Kruger pointed to scholarship that indicated that Marcion was harmonizing the New Testament Gospels (or borrowing others’ harmonizations), indicating that the New Testament Gospels were already widely respected by Christians in Marcion’s day.

Compared with his discussion of other issues, Kruger’s treatment of the Eucharist was rather disappointing.  He appeared to be implying that Justin Martyr held a memorialist view of the Eucharist, whereas Ignatius (and perhaps Irenaeus) saw the bread and wine as Christ’s literal body.  (I am inferring this from his references in a footnote, on page 104.)  His footnote did not cite Justin’s “First Apology,” chapter 66, in which Justin seems to affirm that the bread and the wine are Jesus’ flesh and blood.

I am somewhat ambivalent about Kruger’s argument that the second century church fathers had a connection with the apostles.  On the one hand, the “orthodox” positions of the church fathers do appear to be more consistent with the New Testament than are the Christianities of the Marcionites and the Gnostics; the New Testament does not seem to believe that there was a pure, anti-matter God who was above a sinister sub-deity, the God of the Old Testament.  Kruger may also be correct that the “Gnostic” Christians were imitating the “orthodox” Christians by claiming that their teachings went back to the apostles.  On the other hand, my impression is that the New Testament is too diverse for one to claim that it accords with the second century “rule of faith.”  The synoptic Gospels may not depict Jesus as pre-existent, as the “rule of faith” does; Paul may not have had a concept of a virgin birth, as the “rule of faith” has.  To his credit, Kruger actually does mention and express doubt about the argument that Mark’s Gospel may be adoptionist.  My suspicion is, though, that the line from first century Christianity to the second century “rule of faith” was messier than Kruger might think.

Other critiques that I have: Kruger was a little uncritical in his acceptance of Papias, as there are scholars who have questioned Papias’ reliability.  Moreover, while Kruger did well to demonstrate that a number of New Testament books were deemed to be inspired—-even Scriptural—-in the second century, his explanation of Clement’s quotation of extracanonical Christian works was somewhat of a stretch.  It reminded me of conservative Christians who try to argue that Jude did not consider the I Enoch to be inspired Scripture when he quoted it.

One may get the impression from my review that this book is like the numerous classical Christian apologetics books that are out there.  While Christian apologists may find this book to be useful, it is more advanced and scholarly than popular apologetics books, and it also does not recycle the same old hackneyed arguments.  Overall, it is a robust scholarly engagement with other scholars, even as it tells the stories of second century Christians.  The book also has a humble and modest tone, in that Kruger distances himself from an apologetic agenda: he states, for example, that orthodox Christianity being the mainstream Christianity during the second century does not, by itself, mean that it was true (even though he believes that it was true).

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.  My review is honest.

Church Write-Up: Seeking Eternity Through Legacy

At the Missouri Synod Lutheran church’s Lenten service this week, the pastor opened by mentioning that time is relative.  2002 seems like a long time ago, but, for him, it could have been last week.  In 2002, Rick Warren’s bestselling book, the Purpose Driven Life, came out.  For some reason, the pastor seemed to believe that Warren held to the Westminster Confession and believed that everything that occurs was ordained by God for a purpose, and we should just buckle under and accept what comes our way; the pastor said that Lutherans do not quite see things that way.  (Rick Warren is a Southern Baptist, and, from what I perused online, there is diversity among Southern Baptists about predestination.)  Still, the pastor said that the success of the book demonstrates that people are looking for their lives to have purpose and meaning.

The pastor talked about how life is a vapor.  We all have something in common: that we will die (assuming Jesus does not return before that).  But so many of us try to find value in the life that we have, and even to establish a legacy that will last after we die.  We try to establish our presence behind the curtain.  But even the famous come and go.

The pastor referred to a poster that his father had hanging in his den.  His father loved to collect posters, and the pastor related that his father would probably have loved the Internet had it come out when he was younger.  It came out when he was old, however, and he was baffled and confused by it.  Anyway, one of his posters had a quote from a missionary, which said that everything we do for Christ lasts forever.  The pastor said that such a mindset, when taken in a certain direction, can become a burden, as we try to establish a legacy for Christ.  But the pastor thought that the focus on Christ was correct.

The pastor proceeded to share the Gospel of Jesus dying for our sins and giving righteousness and eternal life to those who believe.  How can we be assured that we will have eternal life?  The pastor said that we hold on to God, but also the Holy Spirit holds on to us, sealing us for our eternal inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14).

I’ll stop here.  I know this is a summary, but it is all I feel like writing right now.  It is mainly for my records, anyway.  It leaves me a legacy of the service, to which I can return, whenever I wish.

Book Write-Up: Helping Without Hurting in Church Benevolence

Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, with Katie Casselberry.  Helping Without Hurting in Church Benevolence.  Moody Publishers, 2015.  See here to buy the book.

Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert teach economics at Covenant College and are involved in the Chalmers Center there.  Katie Casselberry was also instrumental in the development of this book.

This book is a sequel to another book that Corbett and Fikkert wrote, entitled When Helping Hurts.  According to Corbett and Fikkert, some churches got the wrong idea from When Helping Hurts, concluding that they should not give to the poor who come asking them for help.  Actually, Corbett and Fikkert say, they are advocating that churches provide even more help than financial assistance: that people in churches develop relationships with low-income people, work with them to improve their situation, and even offer financial assistance, if that is determined to be wise.  Helping Without Hurting refers to When Helping Hurts, while going into more detail about how to assist the low-income.

This book does come across as patronizing and as assuming that poverty is a result of character flaws rather than something that happens to a person.  Yet, to its credit, it does make a conscious effort to avoid and to counter that kind of attitude.  It acknowledges that poverty can be due to a number of factors, some beyond the control of the low-income person.  It presents racism as a real problem that holds people back.  It denies that it is offering a one-size-fits-all approach, recognizing that each individual situation is different.  It encourages churches to work with the low-income rather than telling the low-income what to do.

A number of times, I wondered how feasible its approaches are.  Reading this book, one may get the impression that churches have lots of money, such that they are able to contribute to low-income people’s bank account, or to pay half of their electric bill.  One may also get the impression that churches have an abundance of experienced people who are able to teach vocational skills, or that people in churches have the time to work with low-income people.  The book would have been better had it included more stories of churches actually doing these things, or perhaps offered guidance on how, say, to establish a job-training program.  To its credit, the book had a number of anecdotes and case-studies, as well as recommended resources that can hopefully assist the low-income.  Still, something seemed to be missing.

Greater sensitivity to current economic problems may also have enhanced the book.  As the book acknowledges, some areas lack economic development.  There are also the factors of stagnant wages, the decline of U.S. manufacturing jobs, and robots replacing workers.  At the same time, this book does well to argue that the church should try to muster whatever resources it has (i.e., people with contacts in the business community) to work with the low-income and hopefully improve their situation.  What we need in this society are people who care and who try to help more, not less, and this book does well to promote that.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.  My review is honest.