Taking it to Another Level

Week Seven - Day 7

Today's Reading

Gospel according to John 1:1 to 3:36

Today, we begin the final leg of our journey with the reading of the Gospel according to John. Like the other Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), John tells the story of the ministry of Jesus but in his own distinctive style and with a variety of differences.  The stories and parables that are shared among the other Gospels are missing from John, and a number of people are heard from who were previously silent or unknown to us.  As D. Moody Smith points out, "Disciples such as Thomas and Philip, who are only names in the other Gospels, ask questions or make comments in John."  Jesus has significant conversations with people like Nicodemus and the woman of Samaria, the former a complete insider to Judaism and the latter an shunned outsider.

Other differences include the issue of time, and overall theology.  John mentions Jesus as being present in Jerusalem for three annual Passover festivals indicating that his ministry spanned at least three years, while the other Gospels keep Jesus outside of Jerusalem until the Passover right before his crucifixion.  John does not refer to Jesus' as performing "miracles" but rather his acts are "signs" of his divine authority, origin or mission.  There is no open question in John as to who Jesus is, and his "I am" statements leave no doubt (when Moses asked to know God's name in case the Israelites challenged him as to who had sent him, God replied to tell them "I AM has sent me to you", Exodus 3:13-14).

One last comment for today:  While the other Gospels all have Jesus facing opposition from various religious parties, he is seen as firmly acting within Judaism and his actions not as a denial of the Law but a more generous and liberal interpretation rooted in love and compassion.  In John, Jesus seems to identify with a group of disciples who have separated themselves from Judaism to follow him.  He often uses the term "your Law" when answering his opponents and is not so interested in placing his actions within the Law but as a response to the will of God.

So, let us begin the spiritual journey with John: "In the beginning was the Word . . ."

Seek the Things that are Above

Week Seven - Day 6

Today's Reading

Letter to the Colossians

Writing sometime around 61-62 A.D. during his imprisonment in Rome, Paul reaches out to a the Christian community in Colossae, a city in southwest Asia Minor.  It is not a community that Paul had evangelized during his journeys.  That was apparently done by a man named Epaphras (1:7-8), someone who has told Paul about the faith and existence of the Colossians.  Never one to miss an opportunity to encourage or correct converts, Paul writes of the supremacy of Christ, "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation" (1:15).  He also tells him that his own present struggles are for them and others, even though they have not met "face to face" (2:1).

While scholars tend to dismiss Paul as the actual author of this letter, I find it enriching to hear it as Paul calling out from his confinement with concern for the lives that others are finding and living in Christ.  Nothing caused Paul to withdraw into himself, and while his words at times might be cutting, they are always offered in love.  They are always urging believers to reach for a new level: "So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory." (3:1-4).

And so, our time with Paul during our 8-Week New Testament Journey comes to the end.  Tomorrow, we begin the final leg of our journey with the reading of the Gospel according to John.  It may seem like a chronological step back in time, but it is filled with the thoughts and concerns of a Christian community that existed well after Paul's lifetime.  But more on that tomorrow . . .

Press on Toward the Goal

Week Seven - Day 5

Today's Reading

Letter to the Philippians

Paul is most likely under house arrest in Rome as he writes this letter to the Philippians, and it is a joy to read toady as I am sure it was a joy for the Philippians to receive around the year 61 AD.  He has a special place in his heart for this Christian community, not only because he had first brought them the gospel, but because they had been so supportive of him as he made further missionary journeys.  They knew that he was imprisoned in Rome and had sent their support and prayers to him, which had brought him much comfort.  His letter to them is filled with encouragement and personal well-wishes, as well as some reminders to keep the faith.

It is hard for me to pick out one or two favorite verses in the Letter to the Philippians, for even though it is short in length it is packed with words and phrases that lift the heart and strengthen the soul.  When Paul says to "make my joy complete" (2:2), or "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus" (2:5), or "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (2:12), or "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus" (3:14), or "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say Rejoice" (4:4), it is only a sampling of what this letter has to offer to us today.

Read this letter slowly.  Read it more than once.  Mark those passages that make your heart sing.  And then think of Paul in prison and the peace that his faith brought into his life.  May we share that peace, now, and for evermore.

One Body and One Spirit

Week Seven - Day 4

Today's Reading

Letter to the Ephesians

I have to say that the approach of placing Paul's letters to the churches within the context of the events and chronology of the Acts of the Apostles has really allowed the letters to have an impact on me that I have not previously experienced.  Where that has really come to the fore is in the acceptance of the Gentiles as worthy to receive the gospel along with the Jews.  Centuries of division, of protecting against any contacts with Gentiles, has tumbled as many have readily received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

In writing to the Ephesians, Paul is reaching out to a Christian community in a city that Paul had to leave because of the hostility towards him and his companions.  Paul's letter, while celebrating the unity of all who accept Christ, has a new feel for me as I can so strongly perceive Paul's instructions and admonitions to the Gentile converts to the faith.  He is eager for them to set aside their previous ways and is in some manner welcoming them into the fold of the tradition that extends back through God's covenant with the Jews and their Hebrew heritage.  He is also eager for peace and unity within families and within the community, and gives them rules for living the new life they have in Christ.  They are to renounce their old ways, order their households and relationships, and put on the whole armor of God: truth, righteousness, faith, salvation, and the word of God.  His final instruction is to pray in the Spirit, and to pray for him during his captivity.

To the Ends of the Earth

Week Seven - Day 3

Today's Reading

Acts 26:1 to Acts 28:31

It is around the year 60 A.D., and Paul has been held in prison in Caesarea Maritima for two years because of the charges brought against him by the Jewish religious authorities.  However, the Roman authorities holding Paul can't seem to decide if he is guilty of any crime.   Now, however, Festus, the newly installed Roman governor, is determined to get to the bottom of this matter with the help of King Herod Agrippa who is versed in Jewish customs and religious law.  Paul is brought in, and he is glad for the opportunity to make his case to Agrippa.  After hearing Paul speak, and engaging is a little back and forth dialogue, Agrippa tells Festus that as far as he is concerned Paul has done "nothing to deserve death or imprisonment" (26:31).  At every level of authority Paul has been seen as innocent, but even now he cannot be set free due to his earlier appeal to have his case hear before the Emperor in Rome.

The voyage to Italy is not an easy one as they fight against the winds, the weather, and the onset of winter.  It takes from the late summer of 60 A.D. to the spring of 61 A.D. to make it all the way to Rome.  At this point, the Acts of the Apostles tells us Paul spent two years under house arrest.  He is able to receive visitors and spend his time proclaiming the gospel of Jesus.  It is during this time that he also wrote letter (which we will read over the next three days) to the churches in Ephesus, Philippi, and Colossae.  What we don't know from Acts or any other biblical record is what happened to Paul after the two years mentioned in Acts.

Piecing together clues from several letters said to have been written by Paul, some scholars surmise that Paul was eventually freed, perhaps after having stood trial in Rome.  There is also speculation that he made further journeys, perhaps finally getting to Spain as he had planned, as well as revisiting some of the places he had already been such as Corinth and Philippi.  Now of this can be known with any certainty, and the writer of Acts leaves us in the dark.  As to Paul's ultimate destiny, tradition holds that he was beheaded near Rome sometime around 67 A.D., a kinder fate than the one met by the apostle Peter, who as a non-Roman citizen, suffered the more gruesome death of being crucified upside down.  As tragic as their deaths were, they bear witness to the irrepressibility of the gospel message, which continues to be preached nearly two thousand years later.

Awaiting a Fair Hearing

Week Seven - Day 2

Today's Reading

Acts 23:1 to Acts 25:27

We last left Paul as he was about to speak to the council of Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem.  It had been years since he was in Jerusalem, and had only been back a little over a week to bring offerings of financial relief to the Christians in that city.  Although Paul had been careful to observe all the Jewish customs, he was charged with defiling the temple and causing unrest.  As he stands before the council, the first words out of his mouth are: "Brothers, up to this day I have lived my life with a clear conscience before God" (23:1), meaning he had lived in fidelity to the Law.  The high priest doesn't like Paul's remark, obviously taking it as an insult, and orders those standing by Paul to strike him on the mouth.  There are some similarities in this scene with the questioning of Jesus when he was arrested, for Jesus was also struck on the face for his answer to the high priest.

For Paul this is only the beginning of his ordeal as he stirs up the pot among two religious factions of the Jews, the Sadducces and the Pharisees, when he gives his own credentials as a Pharisee and says, "I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead" (23:6).  By making a connection the Pharisees' belief in resurrection, he is also making the connection back to what Paul is proclaiming about Jesus.  As a disturbance breaks out among the Jews over this theological point, the Roman authorities rush in to take Paul back into protective custody.  The Roman authorities keep trying to understand what crimes Paul has committed, but can only see this as a religious argument and find no crimes against the state with which to charge him.  When a plot to kill Paul is discovered he is shielded from the threat because of his Roman citizenship and taken to the Roman Governor's palace in Caesarea Maritima on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea.  

There, the governor Felix seems to enjoy Paul's company and holds repeated conversations with him even as Paul is kept locked up, although he is given certain privileges.  Two years pass without any official actions being taken against Paul, and when Felix is replaced by Festus there are steps taken to get to the bottom of the matter.  Was Paul guilty of crimes, and where should he be tried?  Festus offers Paul the choice of going back to Jerusalem to appear before the Jewish religious authorities, but Paul once again plays his citizenship card and appeals to be heard before the emperor's tribunal in Rome.  Festus replied, "You have appealed to the emperor; to the emperor you will go" (25:12).

Who should now appear on the scene but King Herod Agrippa, the king who Rome allowed to rule in the region.  He has come to welcome the Festus, the new imperial representative.  Festus hopes that Agrippa can help sort out this regional dispute, because Festus has no idea what to write in his report to the Emperor Nero in Rome.  What better way than to hear directly from Paul what he thinks this is all about.  So Paul is brought before them.  What will Paul say?  Will he help his case or hurt it?

Return to Jerusalem

Week Seven - Day 1

Today's Reading

Acts 20:3b to Acts 22:30

It is the spring of 58 A.D., and Paul has completed his writing of his letter to the Romans while staying in southern Greece, most probably in the city of Corinth.  Paul is anxious to return to Jerusalem and makes plans to leave accompanied by seven converts to the faith that Paul has picked up from the various places visited and preached the gospel.  Learning of a plot against him he travels by land to Philippi while the others sail across to Troas in Turkey.  When Paul catches up with them a week later it was "the first day of the week," a day for the Christians to meet and break break and to listen to preaching.  Paul, never one at a loss for words, preached well into the night until a young man, overcome with sleep, fell out a three-story window.  Presumed dead, Paul ministers to him and restores him to life.  Paul then went back upstairs and picked up where he left off and didn't stop talking until sunrise!

Paul then sets sail for Jerusalem, stopping in a number of port cities along the way, making his longest layover in Miletus which was close enough to Ephesus to ask the elders of the church in that city to come and meet with him.  Paul may not have wanted to go to Ephesus for two reasons: he left the city after a near riot against the Christians, and he didn't want to further delay his return to Jerusalem.  When the elders arrive he delivers a farewell speech seemingly knowing that he will never see them again.  They send him off with prayers and tears as Paul then sets sail for Syria, and then makes the final overland trip to Jerusalem.

Paul is a controversial figure because of his extended mission among the gentiles, and being in Jerusalem, a place of pilgrimage for Jews from all over the Roman Empire, it was certain that some of his opponents from other lands would spot him somewhere in the city, most probably at the Temple.  When some Jews from Asia make a charge against him of defiling the temple, a charge that is false, the city is aroused and the people seize Paul, drag him out of the Temple and begin to beat him.  Paul is saved by Roman guard and locked up.  Appealing to address the people because he is a Jew by birth, Paul gives an account of his conversion while on the road to Damascus, which only makes the crowd angry again.  When a centurion orders that he be flogged, Paul pulls out his credentials that he is also a Roman citizen by birth.  He has certain rights as a citizen that must be respected, and so he is freed by the Romans but must still answer to the religious authorities.

Tomorrow, we will hear what he had to say.