Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, January 31, 2013 Read – Isaiah 64 I have suggested that we omit Isaiah 63 and move on to Isaiah 64. Isaiah 63 speaks of vengeance, especially against Edom who was despised by the people at the time Isaiah wrote. Edom had assisted the Babylonians in defeating Judah and had laid claim to some of the land. Psalm 137, a dreadful psalm of vengeance, reminds us of that same animosity between Edom and Judah. There is a real humanness to the Bible and to the prophets, even the Isaiah we have been listening to, even though Isaiah’s voice is mostly a positive voice. Isaiah 64 returns to the longing for the Messiah in bold and wonderful terms. Isaiah’s words in the beginning of this chapter likely inspired Mark in his telling of the baptism of Jesus – “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down!” We have already noticed how Luke has softened Mark’s story. Yet, in his own way, Luke was telling a story of God coming down from heaven to save. So it is good for us to hear this chapter. One can hear the longing – the desperate longing for the Messiah! Luke would rejoice that the desperate longing has found its fulfillment in the coming of Jesus. We can share in that rejoicing. Luke is also aware, as Isaiah before him, that the Messiah comes to a people who need to be forgiven. The marvel is that God comes to forgive! Luke’s story is of the visitation of God – a visitation that ought to cause some fear and trembling on the part of those to whom God comes – and a visitation which results in a new people of God who will carry the good news to the ends of the earth.

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Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, January 30, 2013 Read – Isaiah 62 Isaiah’s glorious vision of the Messianic Age continues in chapter 62. Again Luke does not quote from this chapter; however, it is likely that he had the whole series of chapters in this part of Isaiah in mind as he quotes from chapter 61. It is likely that Jesus also had this whole section of the OT in mind. We need to ponder these wonderful words spoken so long before Jesus was born and ponder the wonder of Isaiah, the prophet of God who God called to speak a word of hope to the people of his day – those who languished in Babylonian exile – and yet a vision that reaches far into the future to hope for a day when the Messiah would come. Actually, Isaiah’s hope still reaches into our future. The Messianic Age dawned in the coming of Jesus, but it final fulfillment still awaits completion in God’s good time when God will bring his creation to the glorious new age God is creating. Christians have understood that new age in all its fullness to be heaven and that it is. However, it is important for us to know that the Messianic Age has already dawned – it is already now and still not yet. Remembering that helps us not to become so preoccupied with heaven that we are of no earthly good!

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, January 29, 2013 Read – Isaiah 61 This is the chapter that Luke tells us Jesus selected to read in the synagogue at Nazareth on the day when his ministry was to begin. Once again the vision is of a new day when God will enact a deliverance far outshining any deliverance experienced by anyone. Once again all the nations will be included in this vision – though in Isaiah’s mind the people of Judah are favored. Perhaps it is helpful for us to remember our discussion of the promise made to Abraham. There the people of God are chosen too. But what does it mean to be chosen? In the promise to Abraham to be chosen is to be a blessing to all the others. Here too, being chosen, even given the favored position does not mean at the expense of others but on behalf of others. Luke knows this reality too. In his story of Simeon Luke will have Simeon tell us, “my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:30-32). Once again, the declaration in Luke is clear – Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, the one who Isaiah so hoped would come. When Jesus says, “Today, this word is fulfilled in your hearing,” Jesus is claiming that what Isaiah hoped for is becoming reality in the words and actions of Jesus.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, January 28, 2013 Read – Isaiah 60 Luke does not quote directly from Isaiah 60. However this chapter is the beginning of a long series of chapters in the book of Isaiah in which the prophet longs for the “Messianic Age.” The setting of the words of Isaiah is in the exile in Babylon when the nation of Judah had been defeated and Jerusalem had been destroyed. It was not a good time to be alive! God raised up Isaiah to proclaim the deliverance that God was about to bring to his people – they would be freed from Babylonian captivity and returned to Jerusalem and the land. So, we need to begin by remembering that these words would have had great meaning to people living in exile – over 500 years before Jesus was born. But there is a character to these words that reaches far beyond simply the freedom of exiles and the return to the land. There is a longing for a new time that had never been before. It is one thing to be returned back home – certainly a great promise fulfilled – but returning home always has the possibility of captivity once again. What Isaiah is hoping for is a new day when life will be different. He is looking and longing for the Messianic Age! So it is good for us to spend some time hearing his dream and vision for that time to come. Luke’s claim, in fact the whole claim of the NT, is that in Jesus that Messianic Age dawned! As we listen to Isaiah 60 a vision emerges of a coming day when the light of God will shine into the darkness of this world. It’s a glorious day! And this day includes all people – even the gentiles will see, though in a subservient way in Isaiah’s mind. Those who oppressed will serve, but they will be included in this vision. They will bring treasures to God and God’s people. By the way, Matthew also knew this word from Isaiah – the magi bring gold and frankincense and myrrh (Isaiah 60:6). The writer of the book of Revelation also knows Isaiah’s message – the gates of the city will always be open because God dwells there and the sun and moon will no longer be needed since God is their light (Revelation 21:23). The point is that Isaiah and many of the people of the OT were longing for a Messiah. Luke wants us to know that Jesus is that Messiah.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Sunday, January 27, 2013 Luke 4:14-30 So far in Luke’s gospel everything that we have read has been an introduction or a preparation for the main message of his gospel. Luke has patiently set the scene for his gospel story of Jesus. Mark and Matthew did a similar thing, though, especially for Mark in a much shorter form. In his introduction, Luke has told us much about Jesus – he is clearly connected to the OT and those who welcome him are faithful “OT people.” Zechariah, Elizabeth, Simeon, and Anna; even Mary and Joseph are faithful to the OT message and the God of the OT. They are all awaiting the coming of the Messiah. Luke has even written his introduction in the “style” of the OT – reflecting the style of 1 Samuel. Now Luke is ready to begin the story. Luke begins by again using his primary source, Mark. But as readers we need to notice that Luke has reached ahead in Mark’s gospel and taken hold of a story that Mark tells significantly later in the story. Luke begins with Jesus in his home town of Nazareth. Mark had begun with the calling of four disciples and a marvelous day in the city of Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. Much later in the story in Mark Jesus visits his home town and is rejected there. Why did Luke pull this story forward and begin his story of the ministry of Jesus in this way? Another thing we should notice is that Luke has significantly expanded Mark’s version of the same story. Mark is brief and his point is simply to identify what we might call a troubling source of conflict. The major conflict in Mark’s gospel is between Jesus and the religious leaders and that conflict is deadly. But Mark needed to tell his readers about a secondary conflict between Jesus and his own followers, including his own family. It is Jesus own “kin” who reject him in Mark’s gospel – and what a mystery and tragedy that is. Luke changes the conflict to be between Jesus and “those in the synagogue” – perhaps some of his own family but not necessarily so – in Luke the conflict is with the “religious” people. Mark tells us that on the Sabbath Jesus taught in their synagogue. Luke expands this by telling us what Jesus taught – quoting from the book of Isaiah, from a section of Isaiah that is longing for the coming Messiah! In Luke it becomes abundantly clear that Jesus is claiming that he is the coming Messiah Isaiah so longed for! Jesus claims that he fulfills the words of Isaiah – “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing!” People are amazed, as they are in Mark, and they also question just who Jesus is, as they do in Mark. In both stories they think they know Jesus’ identity – he is the son of Mary (Mark’s version); he is the son of Joseph (Luke’s version) – Mark also adds the witness of Jesus’ brothers and sisters which Luke omits. Mark abruptly tells us that on the basis of this evaluation and supposed knowledge of Jesus’ identity, they, including his own family, reject Jesus. In Mark, Jesus marvels at their unbelief and reminds them of the proverb – “a prophet is not without honor except in his own hometown.” In Luke, Jesus provokes his own rejection by quoting a different proverb and then by reminding the people of the rejection of two OT prophets – Elijah and Elisha – telling stories of the failure of OT people to receive these two prophets of God while gentile “outsiders” do receive them. This is a real insult! And the people of Nazareth took it as an insult. In Mark’s version, Jesus simply leaves, unable to do much and bewildered by the rejection of his own people. Luke tells us that those who are insulted by Jesus seek to destroy him by casting him over a cliff. Incidentally, the people in Luke’s story ask Jesus to do the same wonders in Nazareth that he did in Capernaum – even though in Luke story Jesus has not yet been to Capernaum! The reference to Capernaum makes lots of sense given Mark’s storyline and is clear evidence that Luke is using Mark! What this tells us is that Luke’s storyline is Luke’s creation just as Mark’s was his. So why did Luke begin the ministry of Jesus in this way – grabbing a story from later in Mark, his source, and moving it up front as the very first thing we hear Jesus doing? In this story Luke is defining the mission of Jesus. Jesus comes to fulfill the longing of the OT prophet Isaiah – for that matter the longing of faithful OT people of God like Zechariah and the rest – as they long for awaited Messiah! Jesus does the work of the Messiah as defined by Isaiah. The content of the words quoted from Isaiah are essential! The Spirit of the Lord is upon Jesus! Jesus has been anointed – “messiah-ed” – to “bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captive, to give sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to enact the Lord’s jubilee!” These are all the things Isaiah proclaimed that the Messiah would do! Jesus does them! The connection to Elisha and especially Elijah are crucial since Elijah was the one who OT people had come to believe would come to prepare the way for the Messiah. Mark wanted his readers to come to know that Jesus is the Messiah only through the crucifixion of Jesus. Luke wants that news “out of the bag” from the beginning! What better way than to have Jesus begin his ministry with a clear declaration that he is the Messiah that Isaiah and the others so longed for? There is no secret in Luke’s gospel regarding the identity of Jesus – he is “stuck” with dealing with Mark’s insistence that the identity of Jesus be concealed and will still need to deal with handling that – but the identity of Jesus is clear and up front. Jesus is the Messiah! During the next few days we are going to look at some of the hopes of Isaiah and the OT as Isaiah and the OT people of God longed for the Messiah to come – the very Messiah Jesus claims to be in Luke’s beginning of his story of Jesus.

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WE ARE INTERUPTING OUR NARRATIVE LECTIONARY FOR THE NEXT THREE WEEKS SO THAT WE CAN PARTICIPATE IN OUR STEWARDSHIP EMPHASIS. PLEASE LOOK FOR THE NARRATIVE LECTIONARY TO BEGIN AGAIN ON JANUARY 27TH.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, January 5, 2013 Read – Luke 4:1-15 Luke has one more detail to tell his readers before he begins his story of the ministry of Jesus. That story is the temptation of Jesus. The story is also told by Mark, his primary source, but in a far briefer form by Mark. Perhaps Mark was aware of the longer version and simply shortened it because the longer story was not useful for him. Or, perhaps Mark knew only that Jesus had been tempted. Luke tells us the long version – and he shares that version with Matthew so it is likely that he found it in “Q”. Readers have often noticed that Luke and Matthew tell of the same three temptations, but in a different order. Naturally, the question arises whose order is right. It probably doesn’t matter but interpreters have usually thought Matthew retains the order in “Q” and Luke is the one who makes the change. The reason for that is the Luke tells the temptation of Jesus in the Temple in Jerusalem as the pinnacle of the temptation narrative because Jerusalem and the Temple are crucial to Luke in the broader outline of his narrative. The story started in the Temple in Jerusalem with Zechariah. Jesus was brought to the Temple as an infant and again at the age of twelve. Now his is brought to the Temple as the last event before his ministry begins. It is probably more important that we notice that all three gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, understand the temptation of Jesus as the fulfilling of the wilderness wandering of God’s people. In the wilderness, following the exodus, God’s people were tempted and found wanting. Here Jesus is also tempted and where Israel failed to be faithful Jesus is faithful. That is the main point of the temptation narrative. Luke is now ready to move directly into the story of Jesus. We will pick up that story at the end of January. For now, we are invited to spend three weeks using the Stewardship Devotional materials – “Grow as a Steward through faith, love and hope”.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, January 4, 2013 Read – Psalm 144 Luke has softened Mark’s story of the baptism of Jesus. Psalm 144 was probably more in Mark’s mind than Luke’s, nonetheless, verses 5-8 of Psalm 144 have meaning for both Mark and Luke. In Psalm 144:5 we hear the words, “Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down; touch the mountains so that they smoke.” As Luke tells the story of Jesus, he tells it as “the visitation of God to his people.” The tragedy is that many people did not recognize this coming – many did not welcome God’s visitation. The wonder is that some did recognize and did welcome him! The concept of God’s “bowing of the heavens and coming down” is a prominent theme in the OT. Of course it has allusions to God’s coming at Mount Sinai and giving the Ten Commandments to Moses. Isaiah will also use this image. Luke’s story of the baptism of Jesus is part of his understanding that in Jesus, God is visiting his people – bringing them hope and deliverance. Luke will now tell his readers the genealogy of Jesus, tracing it back to Adam. Readers will notice that Luke’s genealogy is significantly different from the genealogy with which Matthew begins his gospel. Neither can be matched with the genealogy we can derive from the rest of the Bible. It is not necessary for us to plow through this genealogy – reading lots of names is not easy and unless we were to take time to explore each name not very useful for our discussion. But we should note Luke’s reaching all the way back to Adam. Clearly his gospel is meant for the whole world.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, January 3, 2013 Read – Psalm 2 As we noticed yesterday, the words of the voice from heaven, which are most directly connected to Isaiah 42, also alluded to Psalm 2 – especially the words in Psalm 2:7, “You are my son; today I have begotten you.” In the context of Psalm 2 these words refer to the coronation of the king of Israel. When a human being was elevated to the role of king the understanding was that that person was now adopted by God as God’s agent in governing God’s people. God remained fully in charge – the real King – and the power rested with God – the king acted only on behalf of God. So, in a sense, the king really had no power or authority of his own. What power and authority the king exercised was on God’s behalf. Of course that was the ideal. It rarely worked itself out in practice. The king quickly forgot that he was under God’s authority and responsible to God and took power into his own hands. That is the dilemma of the OT – and probably the reason why God was not in favor of having a king in the first place. God adjusted to human wishes attempting to rule through the king. That is the purpose of Psalm 2 – to remind both the king and the people of this reality. As we have noticed the reality of the king slowly was modified into the hope and longing for the coming of the Messiah. The word “messiah” simply means “anointed one”. The concept of king took on a whole new meaning – especially in the time after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and there was no actual reigning king. By alluding to Psalm 2, the voice from heaven is declaring of Jesus that he is the long awaited Messiah! Mark wanted to make that connection and so does Luke. Psalm 2 serves well to identify who Jesus is – the long awaited Messiah.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Wednesday, January 2, 2013 Read – Luke 3:21-22 & Isaiah 42:1-9 The baptism of Jesus was THE crucial event for Mark’s beginning – the powerful and dramatic “explosion” of God coming into the world. Mark tells the baptism as an invasion of God – “The heavens ripped open and God coming down!” If we listen closely, Luke tells the story in a far subtler fashion – in fact, the way he tells the story we might wonder whether or not Jesus was actually baptized by John. Luke tells us in verse 20 that Herod has “added to his sins by locking up John in prison”. It is only after John has been imprisoned that Luke tells about the baptism of Jesus. Of course, we can surmise by implication that John had done the baptism, but the way the story is told has a purpose of de-emphasizing the baptism of Jesus and its connection to John. Luke does not state clearly that John witnessed the descent of the dove/Spirit – in fact Jesus’ baptism is told as a past event and now Jesus is praying when the dove appears. All of this is very subtle, but Luke has done his modifications with purpose. Certainly he is not intending to “correct” Mark but to place the emphasis in a new way. Luke has also softened the scene incredibly. The heavens are not “ripped” open in Luke’s story but merely “opened” much as one would gently “open a door.” We might wonder why Luke chose a different word than the word Mark used. The answer is to be found in the design and purpose of each writer – Mark had his purposes and so does Luke. As with Mark, Luke portrays the voice as coming only to Jesus. The words of the voice are the same as in Mark. It is interesting the both Matthew and John tell a very similar story and in both of them John the Baptist, and presumably others, see the dove and hear the voice (John does not tell of a voice but clearly John the Baptist sees the dove.) Since it is very likely that, like Luke, Matthew also used Mark as his primary source, the question arises why Matthew chose to make the change – but that is for another time. Luke sticks with Mark here. The voice from heaven spoke words that come mostly from Isaiah 42 with allusions to Psalm 2, Isaiah 64, and perhaps the story of Abraham’s near sacrifice of Isaac and even Psalm 144. Let’s turn now to Isaiah’s words. Isaiah 42:1-9 is the first of four “servant songs” that have been identified in the book of Isaiah. Luke, following Mark, does not quote the complete servant song – but we can likely presume that he has the whole passage in mind. When we find a quotation or an allusion to the OT it is usually best for us to dig deeper and gain the full context of what is quoted or alluded to. Just who is the servant in the “servant songs” of Isaiah? There is no easy answer to that question. At least three possibilities are available. The servant may be the people of Israel who are often referred to as the “servant of God” – but that does not fully fit since the servant in the “servant songs” has a ministry to Israel. The servant may be the prophet who is proclaiming the message – but that also falls short since the ministry of the servant reaches beyond that of an ordinary human being. The servant may be the hoped for “Messiah” who God is sending to bring deliverance to his people – this is probably the best alternative, however, one does need to account for Isaiah’s vision that this “servant” would have real impact in his time and not just for a future time when the Messiah would finally arrive. It is likely that the gospel writers, and Luke in particular, understood Isaiah to be referring to the coming Messiah. The reference of the voice from heaven is much more important to Mark than it is to the other gospel writers, including Luke, since the content of the message identifies Jesus as the “Son of God” something that Mark wants to reveal to his readers, but will keep strictly hidden from human understanding within the story until the crucifixion of Jesus. Luke and Matthew both inherited Mark’s “Messianic Secret” but, as we will see, neither was compelled to maintain that “secret” – it was not their concern but Mark’s. We can conclude from the way in which Luke tells the story that the baptism of Jesus is far less important for Luke than it was for Mark. Luke’s version is incredibly shorter, written in much softer tones, and modified to place Jesus in the midst of prayer. If we only had Luke’s version, I think we would think of the baptism of Jesus in a different light than we are likely to do. It appears that the baptism of Jesus was of far less importance to Luke than the others – if he had not found it in his source, one wonders if he would even have mentioned it.

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Tuesday, January 1, 2013 Read - Luke 3:1-20 Luke has already made a choice to begin his gospel with the long and brilliantly written narrative of the births of John and Jesus – Luke chapters one and two. That narrative was Luke’s unique creation and makes for a very fitting beginning. Luke is now ready to take up his primary source, the gospel of Mark and supplement it with his second source, materials that he shares with Matthew. For convenience sake I’m going to refer to this material shared by Luke and Matthew as “Q” which is the way most scholars refer to this material. The letter “Q” is the first letter of the German word for “source.” Luke does not simply repeat Mark, but adds to what Mark said – at times correcting what Luke likely perceived as small errors in Mark. For example, Mark begins by saying that he is quoting from the prophet Isaiah but the words he first quotes are from the book of Malachi. Luke simply drops out the words from Malachi making his version “technically correct.” Because he views himself as a “historian” writing in the fashion of other “historians” of that time, Luke also elaborates the setting of his narrative, placing it squarely in the context of other historical realities – “the fifteenth year of Emperor Tiberius” (about 29 or 30 AD) and also “when Pontius Pilate was governor” and “Herod (Antipas – the son of the Herod who was ruling when Jesus was born) was ruler of Galilee” and so forth. The story has lain dormant for about 30 years with the exception of the brief encounter with Jesus in the Jerusalem Temple when he was 12 years old. Now God acts. It is important that we notice that the action in Luke’s gospel happens because God is acting. So God calls John to begin his ministry. Luke understands the coming of Jesus as God’s “visitation of his people!” The question that looms over his gospel is whether or not they will perceive and welcome this “visitation” of God. Following Mark, Luke tells of a ministry of John the Baptist that fulfills the words of the prophet Isaiah – the voice of one crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord. Luke elaborates on Mark’s briefer quotation from Isaiah 40. Mark’s brevity was likely because he wanted to get to his main point – the “ripping open of the heavens, the descending of the Spirit upon Jesus, and the letting loose of God into the world.” Luke is much more patient than Mark. His purpose is to place Jesus in the context of John’s ministry and eventually to bring contrast between John and Jesus. Having begun with Mark’s dramatic scene, Luke now adds to it by turning to “Q” and speaking much more about John’s actual ministry. Matthew does the same. The ministry of John is a radical call to repentance and a seeking of the forgiveness of sins. The words are harsh and demanding. The outcome is a “making ready” of those who will hear. The ministry of John is far more important to Luke than it was to Mark. Luke is careful to detail how John fulfills the role of Elijah who was to come to prepare the way – Mark more or less takes that for granted.