1 Peter 4:7-11

The first letter attributed to Peter affirms: "Above all, love each other deeply, because love wipes away many a sin."

The author of this letter asserts that "the end of all things is at hand." (v. 7) This did not turn out to be the case, at least in a literal sense, but the advice of the letter is nonetheless worth taking. Keep "sane and sober," the letter affirms, and "practice hospitality ungrudgingly," (v. 9) because in loving service God is glorified through Jesus Christ. (v. 11)

Whatever our past may be, whatever we have done, we can become the instruments of God's saving love, if we love our neighbors and trust in God.

Grace and peace...Bob

Matthew 12:14-21

The gospel of Matthew teaches that Jesus fulfilled the words of the prophet Isaiah: "My servant will not quarrel or cry out, he will not snuff out the smoldering wick. All the nations will put their hope in him."

The gospel of Matthew presents Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophetic writings of ancient Israel. In Isaiah 42:1-4 the prophet reports that the LORD will put his Spirit upon a chosen servant, who will bring justice to the nations. For centuries Jewish readers have understood this passage to refer to Israel, to the people chosen for a covenant relationship with God, who are to establish justice on the earth for all peoples. But the author of the gospel of Matthew understands this passage to refer to Jesus, who is celebrated by the church as the Christ, the promised Messiah of God.

In the gospel of Matthew it is the Gentiles, not the nations, who will put their hope in this servant of God even though in the book of Isaiah the phrase used is the nations. It seems that the author of the gospel of Matthew wanted to emphasis the inclusion of the Gentiles as well as the fulfillment of ancient Israelite prophecy. Although the gospel of Matthew seems to be written for a largely Jewish Christian community, it is Greek-speaking and at home in Roman society. So, the Gentiles, too, the gospel of Matthew proclaims, will find justice and hope in Jesus the Christ.

Grace and peace...Bob

John 14:1-12

In the gospel of John, Philip says to Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us," Jesus said. "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father."

The magnificent sermon in John 14 is not found in any of the other gospels in the New Testament. Moreover, only in this gospel do Thomas and Philip speak and question Jesus. If the answers given by Jesus remind us of the teachings of Jesus in the first three gospels in the New Testament, perhaps these are words of Jesus simply remembered and reported by another disciple. But because the style of speech in the fourth gospel and what Jesus says about himself is so unlike the other New Testament gospels, it seems probable that some of the words attributed to Jesus are the creation of the gospel author.

Jesus tells Thomas that he is going to his Father's house to prepare a place for them. Then he says he is "the way, and the truth, and the life" and that "no one comes to the Father" except through him. These words suggest that there is an argument in the church for which this gospel was written about the authority of Jesus. The gospel writer affirms that Jesus has God's complete authority. The Father is fully present in the Son, and the Son fully reveals the will of the Father. Others, who affirmed faith in Jesus, must have believed that Jesus was a teacher or a prophet, rather than the Son of God. This passage becomes the basis for the doctrine of the Trinity, but the word "Trinity" is not in the Bible. The Trinity is a doctrine that the church developed after the first century.

Grace and peace...Bob

Mary Magdalene

Luke 8:1-3, John 20:1-18

Who was Mary of Magdala? We read in Luke 8:1-3 that she was one of several women traveling with Jesus and the disciples through cities and villages in Galilee, that she had been "cured of evil spirits and infirmities," that "seven demons had gone out" of her, that within the Jesus movement she was known as "Magdalene," and that she and the other women "provided for" the disciples "out of their resources."

This brief passage is extraordinary. A preacher traveling with a woman not under the care of her father or husband would have been scandalous in first century Jewish society. However we understand Mary’s healing, certainly her life was transformed. Furthermore, Mary of Magdala is described as a woman with independent resources, which she was using to fund the ministry of Jesus. Finally, in this movement she had a special name, Magdalene.

We hear nothing more about Mary Magdalene in the New Testament gospels until the end of each. In the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John, Mary Magdalene is named as a witness to the death of Jesus on the cross, and she is the only witness named in all four gospels who is present after the sabbath among the women who come to the tomb and find it empty. In addition, in the gospel of John she is the first to experience the resurrected Lord, who tells her to explain to the disciples what has happened.

The primary role of Mary Magdalene at the end of the gospels, and especially in the gospel of John, is even more astonishing when we consider 1 Corinthians 15:3-8. "For I handed on to you," Paul writes, "as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas [Peter], then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James [the brother of Jesus], then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me."

This teaching, which Paul says came from Peter and James, the brother of Jesus, the leading apostles of the Jerusalem Church, tells us nothing about the appearance of the risen Lord to Mary Magdalene related in the gospel of John.

Acts and the letters of Paul are silent about the woman the gospel of Luke says was remembered in the early church as Magdalene. But she is prominent in some of the early Christian writings discovered in the middle of the twentieth century near Nag Hammadi in Egypt. Fragments in Greek and Coptic of what is called "the gospel of Mary," which dates to the late first or early second century, depict Mary Magdalene as a leader among the apostles.

In this gospel Mary encourages the apostles, who are despairing. "Do not weep and be distressed," she says, "nor let your hearts be irresolute. For his grace will be with you all and will shelter you." (5:5-6) In this account Peter says to Mary, "Sister, we know that the Savior loved you more than any other woman. Tell us the words of the Savior that you know, but which we haven’t heard." (6:1-2) After Mary speaks to the apostles at length, Peter objects to her teachings. "Has the Savior spoken secretly to a woman and not openly so that we would all hear? Surely he did not wish to indicate that she is more worthy than we are?" (10:3-4)

The text continues: "Then Mary wept and said to Peter, ‘Peter, my brother, what are you imagining about this? Do you think that I’ve made all this up secretly by myself or that I am telling lies about the Savior?’" (10:5-6) At this point in the narrative, Levi [Matthew] confronts Peter and defends Mary: "Peter, you have a constant inclination to anger and you are always ready to give way to it. And even now you are doing exactly that by questioning the woman as if you’re her adversary. If the Savior considered her to be worthy, who are you to disregard her? For he knew her completely and loved her devotedly." (10:7-10)

What is known today as the gospel of Mary clearly continues the tradition found in the New Testament in the gospel of John. The gospel of Mary affirms that the Magdalene had a special relationship with Jesus, and that he entrusted her to encourage and guide the apostles.

We know today that Peter, who in this lost gospel opposes her leadership, is identified in Matthew 16:18-19 as the apostle chosen by Jesus to lead the church. Yet, in the latter part of the third century before the New Testament canon was closed in the fourth century, Christians wrote in what is known today as the gospel of Philip: "And the companion of the Savior is Mary Magdalene. But Christ loved her more than all the disciples and used to kiss her often on her mouth. The rest of the disciples were offended by it and expressed disapproval. They said to him, ‘Why do you love her more than all of us?’ The Savior answered and said to them, ‘Why do I not love you like her?’"

Neither the gospel of Mary, nor the gospel of Philip was included in the New Testament, because each was judged to lack apostolic authority. From the fifth century on, both of these gospels and other church writings were identified by church authorities as teaching the heresy of Gnosticism, and so they were suppressed. Our awareness of them today enables us to see that the first few generations of the church were marked by a greater diversity of Christian witness than is represented in the New Testament.

Even as we cannot recover the historical Jesus, we will never know the historical Mary of Magdala. The New Testament gospels are not journalistic accounts of first century events, but are narrative sermons witnessing to the meaning of Jesus Christ for the first century Christians who wrote them. However, these meanings include a prominent place for Mary Magdalene, as a supporter and confidant of Jesus, and as a model of faith for many Christians in the first three centuries. Christian literature from this period verifies that among early Christians Mary Magdalene was remembered as a woman of great faith.

Grace and peace...Bob

Hosea 14:2-9

The LORD says: "I will cure my people of their disloyalty, I shall love them with all my heart. I hear them and watch over them."

Those who say that the Old Testament reveals only a God of wrath have not read the scriptures closely. In many places, as in this passage from the prophecy of Hosea, we find a loving God who is concerned for the people of Israel and seeks to renew the covenant and relationship of intimacy with them. God calls Israel to "return to the LORD," to be faithful and wise. Moreover, God promises to love Israel so much that the people will become faithful once again. The prophet uses the image of dew in the desert to proclaim that God will nurture the people of Israel and enable them to flower and prosper.

The prophet, of course, also speaks words of judgment to the northern kingdom of Israel at a time when there was war with Assyria and the people were suffering. Like the other prophets, Hosea sees this suffering as a direct result of not keeping the commandments of God. But he is filled with hope that God will renew the covenant, if the people repent of their sin and return to the God who continues to love them .

Grace and peace...Bob

Matthew 21:28-31

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus says: "A father said to his two sons, 'Go and work in the vineyard today.' The first replied, 'I will not,' but thought better of it and went. The second replied, 'Certainly, sir,' but did not go. Which of the two did the father's will?" Those listening said, "The first."

Only the gospel of Matthew relates this parable. It seems directed at the Jews who believed they were the righteous leaders of Israel. They, like the son who professed to obey, have in fact disobeyed. On the other hand, the sinners, tax collectors and harlots, who did not at first accept the authority of God but later repented of their sin, will be forgiven by God. They will go into the kingdom ahead of the others.

The gospel of Matthew is about separating out the saved and forgiven from those who are not saved, because they have not repented and sought forgiveness. The author seems to be writing for a congregation of Christians who are mostly Jewish and in conflict with Jews that do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah. There is an anti-Jewish edge in this gospel that cannot have come from the teachings of Jesus, who in the gospel of Matthew only goes to the Jews.

Grace and peace...Bob

1 John 4:7-11

"This is love: not that we loved God but that God loved us and sent his Son for the forgiveness of our sins."

The author of this letter does not tell us who he is. Because he seems to share the tradition of the fourth gospel, the letter like the gospel has been traditionally attributed to the disciple John. The emphasis on love in this letter suggests there were conflicts undermining the unity of a church. The letter urges Christians to acknowledge that their life must be rooted in the love of God, if they are to have the capacity to forgive and live in peace together.

The forgiving love of God enables us to love one another. This is the good news of the gospel, and it should be the witness of the church.

Grace and peace...Bob

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

In Deuteronomy, Moses says to the people: "The LORD our God is the only God. Love the LORD with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength."

This is the cornerstone of Jewish faith. There is but one God. The witness of the Hebrew scriptures is that this one God has called Israel into a special relationship through which the world is to be redeemed. Jews, therefore, are called to respond with love and obedience. Christians who read this passage may think that the doctrine of the Trinity has replaced the Jewish affirmation of one God, but this is not so. There is no Son without the Father, and there is no Spirit of God without God. God is one.

There is much, therefore, in this confession of one God that can unite our hearts with Jews and Muslims. We are all children of Abraham, all recognize the God of the Bible, all proclaim salvation through faith. Of course, there are significant differences between Jews, Christians and Muslims, but there are also significant differences among Jews, among Christians, and among Muslims. It is not a small thing that all three traditions affirm one God of the Bible and thus pray to the same God. (If there is but one God, then we all pray to this God.) Perhaps the test of faith is not whether we are Jewish, Christian or Muslim, but whether we love God with all our heart and soul and strength.

Grace and peace...Bob

Romans 5:1-11

"Our hope will not let us down, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us."

We know from Paul's letter to the Galatians that the church in Jerusalem opposed his gospel. The former disciples of Jesus, who were led by Peter and James, the brother of Jesus, were in Jerusalem proclaiming Christ in the temple, where Gentiles were not permitted on pain of death. The followers of these apostles were all Jewish, and most of these followers adhered strictly to the Law of Moses. Therefore, they were upset by Paul's teaching that opposed faith and law. We see this struggle in Paul's letters and find hints of it as well in the Acts of the Apostles (21-26).

Paul writes to the Christians in Rome that they are saved by faith and not by keeping Jewish law. We know this, Paul asserts, because we see the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ, in his death and in his resurrection. In Christ we are reconciled to God, and thus because of the initiative of God we may come to salvation through faith. The opposition to Paul's message was so strong that Paul was unsure of the success of his ministry. But the destruction of the temple when the Romans conquer Jerusalem in 70 CE ensured that Gentile-dominated Christians would gain control of the church, and that Paul's writings would be preserved.

Grace and peace...Bob

Romans 6:12-14

"Give yourselves to God and then sin will no longer have any power over you — you are not under law, but under grace."

It seems that Paul has been accused of encouraging sin, because he is emphasizing that salvation is God's gracious gift and not a reward for keeping the commandments of the Jewish law. Here, in his letter to the church in Rome, Paul argues that in Christ we have died to sin and been reborn through grace. In baptism we are buried with Jesus, and in faith we are raised to new life in Christ.

In the early church the issue of sin did not merely concern immorality, but also violations of the Jewish law concerning diet, observing the sabbath, circumcision, and rituals. Gentiles were at times referred to as "sinners" because they did not submit to these requirements of Jewish law. However, the church Paul is organizing makes Gentiles and Jews equal before God. This requires resisting the Jewish tendency within the church to enforce Jewish law on Gentile converts. Paul argues that God's grace to Jews and Gentiles offers new life, and thus replaces Jewish law.

Not all Jewish Christians agreed, but after the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem in 70 CE the Gentile-dominated churches in the Roman empire took over the leadership of the Christian movement. Opposition to Paul within the church grew weak, as Greek-speaking Christians gained influence, and this guaranteed Paul's letters a place in the Christian canon when the church created the New Testament in the fourth century.

Grace and peace...Bob

Matthew 9:9-13

The gospel of Matthew reports that when  Jesus saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, he said to him, "Follow me." And the man got up and followed him.

The idea of someone who works for the tax office becoming a Christian is not surprising to us, so we have to appreciate the first century context in which this story was told. Those who collected taxes in the first century were working for the Romans, whose harsh rule caused tremendous suffering for the Jewish peasants. So, Matthew was not just a government employee. For the Galilean peasants following Jesus, Matthew was an agent of the oppressor. The poor who were encouraged by teachings about the coming kingdom of God might well have expected that collaborators with the Romans, like Matthew, would be punished when the kingdom of God came. Certainly, peasants would not have been happy to find a tax collector among the disciples of Jesus.

But the gospel of Matthew was not written for Galilean peasants but for Greek-speaking Jews in a major Roman city. These Christians, who in may ways benefited from Roman rule, probably had quite a different view of Jews who served the Romans by collecting taxes. No one likes taxes, but those who make money under the rule of a government recognize the necessity of funding the enforcement of the laws that protect their property. Moreover, the churches in Roman cities did not want to be identified with rebellious movements, and surely that is how many Romans saw the Jesus movement in Palestine that Pilate tried to stamp out by crucifying its leader.

The teaching that Christians should pay taxes may have first been articulated by Paul (Romans 13:7), as part of his campaign to extend the gospel among Jews and Gentiles in Roman cities like Corinth, Rome, Ephesus and Philippi. If so, the gospel of Mark, which was written after the letters of Paul, attributed the teaching to Jesus (Mk. 12:17) and the gospels of Matthew (Mt. 22:12-22) and Luke (Lu. 20:20-26) confirmed this law-abiding imperative within the church's witness.

In the gospels Jesus not only calls a tax collector to be his disciple, but eats with tax collectors and others who are identified as sinners under Jewish law. Among Jewish leaders this would have been seen as a criticism of the religious leadership similar to the ancient message of the prophets that accused priests and political elites of hypocrisy, because they failed to provide justice for the poor as God commanded. But at the time the gospel of Matthew was written, this emphasis in the story might also have implied more openness in the church to Gentiles, who were considered by traditional Jews as "sinners" simply because they did not adhere to Jewish law.

Grace and peace...Bob

Noah and the flood

How are we to interpret the biblical story of Noah and the flood in Genesis 6-9? 

In this well-known tale God causes a devastating flood but saves Noah, his family, and the animals that Noah has taken into the ark.  The story explains that God is “sorry that he had made humankind on earth” and is “grieved” by human wickedness. [Gen. 6:6]  Noah is spared, we are told, because he is righteous.  Why are Noah’s family and the animals saved?  It seems that God hopes to renew creation with an “Adam” who is righteous, so the people descended from him will be righteous. 

If we interpret this story literally, it is a “wet holocaust.”  The word “holocaust” comes from a Greek word referring to a burnt offering to God, but has been used since the eighteenth century for mass killings.  The Nazi attempt during World War II to exterminate the Jews is generally known as “the Holocaust.”  In the story of the flood, God drowns every person and creature on earth except those on the ark with Noah and his family.  If read as history, this is an appalling story.

We should, therefore, look for clues to see if the story was intended to be understood literally.  Is there any evidence that the authors of Genesis are reporting a factual event?  Or is this fiction, which should be read figuratively? 

If fiction, we should find in the story figures of speech, such as irony and metaphor.  Irony conveys a meaning that is the opposite of what is actually expressed.  For instance, the story of Noah tells of an almighty God who tries, but fails, to recreate a righteous world.  Apparently, almighty God is not so mighty after all.  This is irony.  Metaphor, as a figure of speech, expresses one meaning in terms of another.  A metaphorical reading of the story would interpret the flood as meaning something other than a natural event, and would see Noah as representing someone else (such as the reader).    

An allegory is an extended metaphor — a story using fictional characters and actions to explore the meanings of human experience.  For centuries Christians read scripture as allegory, but Protestants argue that the Bible is mostly history.  So, how should we read the story of Noah and the flood?

There are no historical facts verifying this biblical account, and our scientific understanding of the earth’s history does not give us any reason to believe that a flood ever covered the entire landmass of the planet.  Also, the book of Genesis in the Bible is filled with metaphor and other figures of speech.  So, it seems reasonable to read the story of Noah and the flood as an allegory — as an extended metaphor expressing one meaning in terms of another. 

Perhaps the flood is a metaphor for whatever we fear.  We fear natural disasters that may leave us homeless and hungry.  We also fear wars that may kill our children and grandchildren.  And we fear economic crises that may leave us destitute and depressed. 

To alleviate our fears, the Bible promises that God will keep us safe.  In the story of the flood God saves Noah and his family, and places a rainbow in the sky to remind Noah’s descendants that they need not fear another such flood.  If the story ended with everyone living happily ever after, we might after reading it feel reassured.  But the biblical story does not end like a fairy tale.

For once off the ark, Noah builds an altar and sacrifices an animal from each species of “clean” animals.  “And when the LORD smelled the pleasing odor, the LORD said in his heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done.’” [Gen. 8:21] 

This language should not be understood literally.  God does not have a nose with which to “smell” the burnt offering, nor does God have a body with a heart.  Moreover, a literal reading would mean believing that God promised not to harm humankind in the future because he was pleased by the smell of roasting meat from an altar.  

For more than half a millennium, however, this text was read literally to justify animal sacrifice in the temple in Jerusalem.  But the language supports a figurative interpretation.  I suggest that this passage is best understood as irony, because it contains statements about God that cannot be true.  The God it describes is not God.

Then the God of the story blesses Noah and his sons as he did Adam: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” [Gen. 9:1, 1:28]  But now God gives “clean” animals to Noah and his family for food.  Permission to eat meat is only surprising to readers who did not notice earlier in the Genesis account that God gave only plants to Adam and Eve for food. 

Finally, after harvesting the grapes from his vineyard, Noah makes wine and becomes drunk.  While he is lying naked in a stupor, his son, Ham, sees him and then tells his older brothers, who walk backwards toward their father with a garment held between them so they can drop it over him without seeing his genitals.  After Noah awakens and learns that Ham saw him naked, he curses Canaan, Ham’s son.  

The story does not say that Ham, or Canaan, intentionally did anything wrong.  This curse, however, will have a dreadful history, because a Christian Europe will identify Africans as the descendants of Ham.  For centuries Christians profiting from the slave trade in captured Africans will claim that Noah’s curse justifies the brutal exploitation of black slaves.  

So, what does the end of the allegory reveal about its meaning?  First, the concluding actions of God and Noah undermine any reading of the story as a parable about justice.  God sends a flood to punish people for behaving badly, and saves Noah from the flood because he is righteous.  At the end of the tale, however, Noah unjustly curses Ham’s descendants but God does not punish him.  God’s justice proves to be inconsistent and thus unjust.

Second, the story suggests that we are not to understand natural disasters as “acts of God.”  For it ends with God promising that he will never again cause such a flood and presumably that goes for other natural disasters, such as cyclones, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, forest fires, etc.  The allegorical meaning is that natural disasters are not God’s punishment, but simply natural events.

Third, this ironic allegory undermines belief in the almighty God of scripture.  In the story God tries but fails to purge the earth of evil.  After the flood God admits that humans will continue to act badly, and Noah’s curse of Ham’s descendants is proof that God’s wet holocaust did not succeed.  In this story God acts unjustly, demands and enjoys animal sacrifice, and commits a crime against humanity.  If Noah is a metaphor for us, the story is telling us that such a God is not God.   

The end of the story brings us back to earth, to human life as we know it, marked by fears of natural disasters and by the wonder of rainbows, by the work of producing food and by the pleasure of drinking wine, by promises of a better future and by curses that are unjust.   

If we read the story of Noah and the flood literally, we miss its irony.  For as allegory, this Bible story reveals that the God of the Bible is not always God.  

Grace and peace...Bob

John 15:1-5

In the gospel of John, Jesus says: "Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit unless it remains part of the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."

Isaiah seared into the memory of Israel the image of Judah as a vineyard gone wild that God destroys. (Is. 5:1-5) Jeremiah returned to the same image to depict the apostasy of the chosen people (Jer. 2:21), and Ezekiel also used this metaphor in his lamentation for the princes of Israel (Ezekiel 19:10-14).

The author of the gospel of John has these passages in mind when he presents Jesus as "the true vine" of God that bears fruit. Of course, the image is powerful even if the reader is unaware of the way the major writing prophets of ancient Israel used it to express the judgment of God against Israel for breaking the covenant. But for those who know the scriptures of Israel, the teaching is about promise as well as  judgment. For the gospel witness is that all those abiding in the Son, like branches on the vine, will flourish, whereas all those not abiding in the Son will wither and be burned in the fire.

The first three gospels in the New Testament do not record these words, which are attributed to Jesus by the author of the gospel of John.  These words reflect the faith of the church for which the gospel of John was written, a Jewish church that because of its witness to Jesus as the Messiah is being criticized by the Jews of a synagogue. The first-century Christians proclaiming this gospel teach that Jews who do not confess Jesus as the Christ (Messiah) will be condemned by God. However, this teaching is contradicted by the witness of Paul in chapters 9-11 of Romans. Paul argues that the opposition of some Jews to the church is part of God's plan, because it spreads the gospel to the Gentiles. And Paul asserts that, as God is just, the Jews who rejected Jesus cannot be condemned but will be saved with Christians on the last day.

Grace and peace...Bob

Philippians 1:20-22

Paul writes: "Now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For me, to live is Christ."

Paul is in a joyous mood. He is in prison awaiting trial, yet he is full of gratitude for his friends in the church at Philippi and for the spreading of the gospel throughout the Roman empire. He is moved by the prayers of the Philippians, but he wants them to know that he will rejoice whether he lives or dies. His life belongs to Christ, and so whether he lives or dies is of no importance. All that matters is proclaiming the "fruits of righteousness, which come through Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:11)

This is what faith in Christ means. It means living with joy and gratitude, not fearing death, and not being concerned about how life works out. It means trusting in God and giving our lives in faith.

Grace and peace...Bob

Romans 13:8-10

"All the commandments can be summed up in this: Love your neighbor as yourself."
 
When we read this passage, we may say at once, "Yes, this is the teaching of Jesus," because we remember the teaching of the Great Commandment to love our neighbor that is in the gospels of Matthew (22:34-40), Mark (12:28-34) and Luke (10:25-28). Paul, however, does not tell us that he is passing on the teaching of Jesus. In fact, he does not refer at all to Jesus, but merely presents this teaching as his own. Moreover, he does not seem to know that this teaching is in any of the first three gospels of the New Testament. 

We need to be reminded that the New Testament was not formed by the church until centuries after Paul's death, and that most likely none of the gospels of the New Testament were written during the time of Paul's ministry. Paul's teaching is the earliest written affirmation we have from the the church that all the commandments of Jewish law are summed up in the teaching of Leviticus 19:18 to love our neighbor.

Is Paul merely stating the teaching of Jesus, which is being spread by word of mouth and has yet to be written down? Perhaps. But if this is so, why doesn't Paul say so? It is hard to imagine that Paul was unaware of the teachings of Jesus, because he spoke with the former disciples of Jesus who were the leaders of the church in Jerusalem.  But Paul bases his preaching on his experience of the risen Christ, rather than on reports of the ministry of Jesus. For Paul, the future of the church within the Roman Empire lies not with the Jewish teacher and healer from Galilee, but with the risen Christ who offers his living presence to all those with faith.

By the time the gospels were written the Greek-speaking churches were well aware of the teachings of Paul. Perhaps this passage from Paul's letter to the church in Rome was included in the teachings attributed to Jesus by the author of the gospel of Mark. The authors of the gospels of Matthew and Luke, who seem to have used the gospel of Mark in writing their gospels, kept the teaching in their accounts but revised it slightly. In the gospel of Mark a scribe asks Jesus about the greatest commandment, but in the gospel of Matthew the question is put by a Pharisee. This is consistent with the general attack on the Pharisees that is part of the purpose of the gospel of Matthew.

In the version in the gospel of Luke, a lawyer raises the question. Jesus asks the lawyer how he reads the law, and the lawyer provides the teaching that in the other two gospels is put into the mouth of Jesus. Then the lawyer asks for a definition of "neighbor," and Jesus answers by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan, which is a story about loving not only one's neighbor but also one's enemy. This kind of forgiving love, which encourages Jewish and Gentile Christians (including Greeks and Samaritans) to cooperate, is at the heart of the church's witness to the redeeming love of God.

Grace and peace...Bob

Jeremiah 1:4-8

Jeremiah writes that God said to him: "Go to everyone I send you to. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to protect you."

Jeremiah was a descendant of the priest Abiathar, who was banished by Solomon to Anathoth because he sided with Adonijah, Solomon's elder brother, in the struggle to succeed King David. (1 Kings 2:26-27) It is significant that Jeremiah begins his prophecy by identifying himself with this line of banished priests, especially as he will take to task the priests in power in Jerusalem. He speaks for those who have suffered unjustly against the powerful elite that is now leading the people of God to ruin. Jeremiah says he received his call in the thirteenth year of the reign in Judah of King Josiah, which would be 627 BCE. The "word of the LORD" comes to Jeremiah, as it came to all the writing prophets, with a command to speak for God to the people of Israel. The LORD tells Jeremiah that his calling was conceived even before Jeremiah was formed in the womb and that Jeremiah is being appointed to be "a prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:4)

This will prove dangerous. We read in Jeremiah 20:1-3 that the high priest had Jeremiah arrested, beaten and put in stocks near the Benjamin Gate of the temple, because of Jeremiah's prophecy against the ruling elite of the holy city. Jeremiah may have felt abandoned by God, but he remained true to the calling he had received to announce the judgment of God and the restoration of Israel with a new covenant. Therefore, Jeremiah is remembered as a witness to the God of the old and the new covenants, whose purpose will be fulfilled through events full of terror and suffering.

Grace and peace...Bob

Ephesians 1:13-14

"God choose us in Christ, before the world was made, to be holy and faultless before him in love."

This letter opens with the greeting commonly used by Paul: "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." But the letter is not addressed to any particular church, as are the other letters in the New Testament attributed to Paul. It is a general letter that perhaps was sent to more than one church, by Paul or by others closely associated with his ministry. Some versions of Ephesians insert the words "at Ephesus" in verse 1, which reads: "To the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus." But the earliest copies of the letter have simply the general form of address.

The reading for today affirms that God is eternal and is working out purposes conceived, at least from our perspective, in an earlier time. Thinking in the language of modern physics, we might say that time, for God, is like another dimension of space and thus does not "pass," as it does for us, but is always present. Reality, for us, is space and a particular time, with a past behind us and a future in front of us. For God reality may be more like a space-time continuum. The past and future, for God, are present in a way beyond our experience.

It is in this sense that the letter speaks of Christ as being before the world was made, and of God choosing us "in Christ." Christians, the letter explains, are to be loving because they have been chosen by God and redeemed by Jesus Christ to be witnesses, in word and deed, to the loving creation that is God's eternal purpose.

Grace and peace...Bob

John 18:33-37

In the gospel of John, Jesus says to Pilate: "For this I was born, and for this I came into the world: to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

This conversation between Jesus and Pilate is not recorded in the other three New Testament gospels. It presents dramatically Christ on earth as the author of the gospel understands him and is not a journalistic report of a conversation Pilate and Jesus actually had. The account does not mention any witnesses, but the fourth gospel ends with an affirmation that the disciple of Jesus, who is relating the story, is witnessing to what is true. Certainly, this particular passage is about what is true, for Pilate responds to Jesus' statement with the question, "What is truth?"

If it is not factually true that Jesus said these words to Pilate, then what is true about this gospel account? The Christian answer to Pilate's question is that creation is filled with love and forgiveness, which enables us all to be more loving and forgiving.

In the Christian Bible this revelation culminates in Jesus, who is saving for those with faith in him. In the gospel of John, truth is to be found only in the church and among those who confess their faith in Jesus. But other witnesses in the Christian Bible testify that the redeeming love of God also embraces the Jews, who have rejected Jesus as the Messiah (Romans 9-11), and all the nations of the world, who worship different gods (Isaiah). Therefore, we are called to answer Pilate's question by affirming that God loves even those who reject love, because this is God's way.

Grace and peace...Bob

Time of justice and peace?

Psalm 72 is a prayer for God's blessing on the king. The psalmist prays that the king will be just and will "defend the cause of the poor" and "give deliverance to the needy." The vision of the psalmist goes beyond what one might expect even from a good king, and so it adds to the hope of Israel in the coming of a king (an anointed one, or messiah) who will bring lasting peace to the earth for all peoples. May he have dominion, the psalmist prays, to the "ends of the earth.

May we live with hope for such a time of justice and peace on earth, when the poor and the needy will be free from oppression and the violence to which they are now subjected.

Grace and peace...Bob
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Ordinary care

When my dad at age 90 suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed on his left side and unable to swallow, but alert and able to talk, he chose to have his IV removed in order to let nature take its course. He said that he had lived a full life, was ready to die, and didn’t want to be kept alive by machines when his body couldn’t care for itself.

His death took four days. He was not on medication for pain, and by the second day he was unable to speak. By the third day he was unconscious. About thirty minutes before he died, his breathing slowed, with a long pause between each deep breath. I recited psalms and prayed for him, until he was still.

At his memorial service I shared with other family members and friends of my father that I was moved by the way my father faced death. He wasn’t afraid or depressed. He was grateful for his family and for the years he had lived, and he saw accepting his death as a way of affirming his faith.

In the university ethics class I teach, I mention my father’s death when we discuss health care, because it illustrates the right of a patient to withhold consent for medical treatment. In the 1990 Cruzan decision the US Supreme Court upheld this right, citing a “liberty interest” in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution and the common-law tradition supporting the right not to be touched by another person without consent or legal justification.

International law also supports the right of informed consent, which creates a duty for those providing health care to adequately inform patients of their condition, possible treatment, and their right to consent or decline treatment.

The story of my father’s death illustrates why Catholic moral teaching requires only health care that offers a reasonable hope of benefitting a patient and is not excessively expensive, painful, or inconvenient. This “ordinary” care is distinguished from “extraordinary” care. Catholic teaching supports using medication for a terminally ill patient to reduce suffering even if this may shorten the patient’s life. For medication is ordinary care and, if it hastens death, this unintended consequence does not outweigh the duty to reasonable means that are not excessively expensive to alleviate suffering.

My father was not Catholic, nor am I. But as a senior now, I support limiting health insurance to coverage for ordinary medical care, and I urge other seniors to do the same for the sake of the common good. We can help those who are younger overcome their fear of death by facing this fear ourselves. We should support health care as a human right for all, which is Catholic teaching and international law as well, but we should also affirm our right to decline medical treatment. And when treatment is very costly and offers only a short-term benefit, why not affirm our faith by accepting death?

With hope...Bob