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2018, May 20 ~ Acts 2:1-21 and Romans 8:22-27

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Acts 2:1-21

The book called “The Acts of the Apostles” was written around 85 to 90 CE by the anonymous author of the Gospel According to Luke. The first 15 chapters of Acts are a didactic “history” of the early Jesus Follower Movement starting with the Ascension. The last 13 chapters describe Paul’s Missionary Journeys – not always consistently with Paul’s letters.

The Gospel According to Luke and Acts of the Apostles see the Holy Spirit as the driving force for all that happens. The events of today’s reading exemplify this.

Pentecost (also known in Judaism as Shavuot and the Feast of Weeks) celebrated the Spring Harvest 50 days after Passover. It was observed in Ancient Israel from at least the Fifth Century BCE and was one of three feasts in which Jews came to the Temple in Jerusalem to make offerings. It is therefore not surprising that Acts reports that there were large numbers of devout Jews in Jerusalem (v.5) for Pentecost.

After the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, offerings could no longer be made there. The feast then became a celebration of the giving of the Torah 50 days after (according to the Book of Exodus) the Israelites celebrated the First Passover and left Egypt.

Today’s Pentecost Story contains images of fire and wind – common “descriptions” of the Spirit that knows no boundaries.

Many Bible scholars note that persons’ hearing the disciples speaking their own languages (v.11) is seen as the Spirit’s reversal of the Tower of Babel Story in which YHWH confused the languages of the earth (Gen.11:9). The Babel Story is generally considered an “etiology” (a myth-story of origins) rather than a literal account about the multiplicity of languages on earth.

Romans 8:22-27

Paul’s letter to the Romans was his longest, last and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) to a Jesus Follower community that Paul did not establish. Among other messages in the letter, Paul sought to encourage respectful and supportive relationships between the Gentile Jesus Followers and the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome.

Paul died in 62 or 63 CE. Accordingly, the Temple in Jerusalem (which was destroyed in 70) was in full operation all during Paul’s life. As a Jew who was also a Jesus Follower, Paul continued to have expectations about the fullness of the Coming of the Messiah. This is the “glory about to be revealed to us” (v.18).

Paul’s views were “apocalyptic” (anticipating a breakthrough from the current time to a new and better age). In today’s reading, he used the image of “freedom of the glory of God” to represent the new age, and metaphors of labor pains (v.22) and waiting for adoption and redemption (v.23) as characteristics of the transitional time to this fullness.

Like most apocalyptic writers, Paul sees God as the moving force for this change (v.27) by God’s willing that the Spirit help us to pray (v. 26).

2017, July 16 ~ Genesis 25:19-34, Isaiah 55:10-13 & Romans 8:1-11

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During the 2017 Pentecost Season, alternative readings from the Hebrew Bible are offered. Scripture in Context will discuss both readings and the reading from the Christian Scriptures.

Genesis 25:19-34

Today’s reading comes after the burial of Abraham by his sons Ishmael and Isaac, and a list of the 12 tribes descended from Ishmael residing in the deserts on both sides of the Red Sea.

The birth of Jacob and Esau is an etiology, a story of origins (in Greek, “etio” means a beginning and “logo” is a story). An anthropomorphic (humanlike) YHWH tells Rebekah she has two nations in her womb (v.23). Jacob (whose name means “supplanter”) will become the father of the 12 tribes of Israel, and Esau (whose name means “red”) will be the father of the Edomites, traditional enemies of Israel.

In the story, the younger son Jacob buys Esau’s “birthright” (blessing, family leadership and a double share of inheritance when Isaac dies) for a bowl of stew. Esau is presented as dull-witted, willing to give up his birthright because he is hungry. This is a slap at the Edomites whom Israel dominated during the reigns of David and Solomon (1005-930 BCE), and who pillaged Jerusalem during the middle years of the Babylonian Exile (587-539 BCE).

Isaiah 55:10-13

The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Israel’s history. Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and were written by “Isaiah of Jerusalem” in the 20 years before Jerusalem was under direct siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55 and brings hope to the Judeans during the time of the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they have suffered enough and will return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 and gives encouragement to the Judeans who returned to Jerusalem after the Exile.

Today’s reading is the closing verses of Second Isaiah. It emphasizes the effectiveness of YHWH’s word (v.11) and the joy the people will experience (v.12) when the Exile ends with the conquest of the Babylonians by Cyrus the Great of Persia in 539 BCE and the Return to Jerusalem.

Romans 8:1-11

Paul’s letter to the Romans is his longest, last and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) – about ten years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written.

Today’s reading continues Paul’s extended discussion of law, sin, the flesh, and the Spirit. For Paul, “the flesh” is our human tendency towards self-centeredness and self-interest. “Sin” is our personal egoism that leads to “death” (both spiritual and physical). (Paul takes literally the story of Adam’s disobedience as the cause of human mortality.) Life in the Spirit leads to wholeness and Eternal Life. Paul uses “law” in diverse ways – in some places, it means the Jewish Law, but in other contexts it means a “way of living” as in “the law of the Spirit in the life of Christ Jesus” and “the law of sin and death” (v.2).

2017, March 12 ~ Genesis 12:1-4a & Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

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Genesis 12:1-4a

The first 11 Chapters of Genesis are called the “primeval history” which ends with the Tower of Babel story — an “etiology” (story of origins) relating to the scattering of humankind and the multiplicity of languages. The last chapter of the primeval history also traces Abram’s lineage back to Noah’s son, Shem (which means “name” in Hebrew and from which we get the word “Semites”).

Today’s reading begins the “ancestral history” in which YHWH calls Abram (whose name is the same root word as “Abba” or father) to go to a land that YHWH will show him. There, Abram will be a father of a great nations and (as a descendent of Shem) his “name” will be great.

In Verse 3 is the phrase “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (which Paul interpreted as a blessing on the Gentiles through Abraham). This phrase is also translated as “by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves” – or in other words, people will say “may we be like Abraham.” 

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

Paul’s letter to the Romans is his longest, last and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) – at least ten years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written. Its over-all purpose was to encourage respectful and supportive relationships between the Gentile Jesus Followers and the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome.

In today’s reading, Paul emphasizes that Abraham’s righteousness (right relationship with God) was a result of Abraham’s faithfulness. In Paul’s epistles, the word “Faith” is almost always better understood a “Faithfulness.”   For most modern persons, “Faith” is understood primarily as a cognitive assent to one or more propositions, but “faithfulness” is an active living into one’s beliefs through grace and trust in God. In the last verses of today’s reading, Paul continues his discussion of the law and its limitations and emphasizes that mere obedience to the law is  not sufficient for the fullness of a right relationship with God.