4 In A Row
During last night's excellent class on Luke, this oddity occurred: On Jim's right sat Richard, an A's fan...Jim is, of course, a Rangers fan (bless his loyal heart)...I loves me some Angels...and to my left sat a girl in a Mariners shirt. We confirmed after class that she was, in fact, a fan and not just wearing the shirt because of that beautiful (blecch) Mariners logo. So there it was, the entire AL West represented by us four seminary students. I'm sure I don't need to point out that there are NO Mariners, Rangers, or Athletics in Luke...but there are plenty of angels. For the record.(Let me just nip this in the bud: fishermen are not mariners, temple police are not rangers, and no amount of hiking, running, or tree-climbing qualifies in my estimation as athletics.)
The class got even better at the break when my friend and former student, Vanna, joined us. Vanna is an incredibly hard-working guy with an intense love for Christ and a desire to lead gang members away from sin and into the loving arms of the Father. He is also a reminder to me not to complain too much. In addition to his 8-5 job and his work with his church's youth group, Vanna is taking 3 (!) classes. Of course, he's much younger than I. I had Vanna in my math class as a 7th and 8th grader almost 20 years ago. So to hear him yelling at the professor from the back of the classroom last night brought a tremendous mixture of deja vu and joy.
There were a number of AHA! moments last night. I'll share one of them. Much of Luke is spent with Jesus leading his disciples to Jerusalem. He knew the fate that awaited him there, but he had "set his face" because that's where his work needed to be done. One of the first things Jesus did upon arriving was to cleanse the temple. Now in all likelihood, the temple didn't stay clean all that long. The moneychangers returned shortly and life went on as usual. But the act was symbolic. Jesus had teaching to do in the temple and before he could do it, the place had to be cleansed. I think the more we know about Judaism, the more we can appreciate all of these wonderful things that Jesus did while on Earth.
One more thing for today. My friend and brother, Joe, is having heart bypass surgery today. If you'd lift him up after reading this, it would mean a lot to his family...and to me.
posted by Thurman8er @ 7:59 AM
6 Comments:
Jesus, the master-teacher may have also been signalling that for "spiritual growth / learning" to take place, we must clean out "our temples" as well.
Man, the whole A.L. West in once class. At least you guys could talk to each other. If you had folks in there with Seminoles / Gators / Hurricanes shirts on you might have needed another "Temple cleansing." :)
By the time I read your blog, the surgery was over so I hope he did well.
One thing I like about Barclay's commentaries is the Jewish perspective he would put on a verse. (There was a lot I didn't like about him, too.) About half way through my preaching years, I purchased a number of very good books that gave me the Jewish perspective on a given verse ... didn't always use that in a sermon but it sure gave me a fresh view of the text.
Get yourself a copy of Bailey's "Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels." I also enjoyed the Mishnah and several Jewish commentaries / dictionaries. Edershiem (sp?) has some good stuff as well.
Greg, I have Dad's copies of Edersheim's OT Bible History and Life and Times of Jesus. I've never read them completely, but have referred to them often. I'll take your advice on the other book too. In fact, I'll take your advice on a LOT of things...been there, done that, ripped the t-shirt type thing.
How many ways can we perceive the "money-changers" today? Um...banks, AIG...maybe the Dodgers?
One book that affected me deeply was a small-ish publication with deeply-packed prose, called "The Incarnate Jesus" (by Bruce, maybe?)
I was wondering when "baseball" would return as a topic in your blog. A bit late this year...but then...your dance-card HAS been full.
I'm behind on my blog reading. How did the surgery go on Friday?
Praying...a little late...
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