9/29: Matthew 3 and "Historical World" atmosphere

Great disussion on Matthew 3 today.

Here is the "South Park" episode I tried hard to show you today.
Here is the VanDer Laan video on the Jordan/ Jesus' baptism I tried to show..
Next time!  But check them out before if you can.

10 Ideas in the at "historical world" atmosphere in Jesus' day that impact how we read this chapter



1)Exodus and Exile: The two big events that were huge in common historical memory (see
2)Expectation of a New Moses/Deliverer
3)
a)Some streams of Scripure expected him to be royal/kingly/a Son ofa  King (Psalm 2:12)
b)Other streams expected him to be a suffering servant  (Isiaiah 42:1...and all of Isaiah 42-53
4)Importance of Abraham, and being his descendants:
 a)The tradition and motto was if any Hebrews "accidentally" ended up in the kine for hell/wrath,   Abraham  would be at the door to clear it up (a 'get out of hell free' card)
b)Note: Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son, whom he loved (Gen 22:2, first appearance of word "love" in Bible
5)Baptism:  Until this time, it was basically
a)self-service (self-administered)
b)only for Gentile wanting to convert to Judaiasm
c)called to mind the Red Sea/Dance Party on the Beach
6)Prophets
a)"400 years of silence" between Testaments
b)when they did come, End times
c)"One like Elijah" or actually Elijah would come
7)Judgements:
a)Holy Spirit
b)Fire
8)Pharisees and Sadduccees: had differences, but sometimes connected
9)Symbolis of Israel/Jeruslem/God's people as a  tree (sometimed fig tree).  Postive image often: strong, produces fruit etc.
10)saved for next week..
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Matthew 3 notes:

>>The early Christians clearly saw that the "baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire" was  two pronged, bounded set judgement: Holy Spirit-baptism=good
                                  Fire-baptism=bad (wrath, hell).
This would seem to be Matthew's emphasis
(Compare Luke's),
Note the context , before and after the passage quoted above, the references to "fire" are clearly negative.

There may be a chiasm to corroborate this.  See Tony Siew:

Matthew 3:10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and withfire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the granary, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchablefire."


A - Trees with fruits saved and trees without fruits thrown into fire
               B - I baptize you with water
               B' - He will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
A' - wheat into barns and chaff he will burn with fire.


This passage in Matthew's Gospel puts a greater emphasis on judgment compared to Luke's pericope in Luke 3:16-17. John the Baptizer has the warning of judgment that trees not bearing fruits will be thrown into fire just before the saying that Jesus will baptize the people with fire with another judgment saying following that the chaff will be burned with fire. The chiastic structure for Matt 3:10-12 is set out above. More than Luke, Matthew has it that the baptism of fire by Jesus is a baptism of judgment for the unrepentant or those not producing fruits worthy of repentance (Matt 3:8).: -Tony Siew

>>Voice of God "double pasted" at least two Scriptures, effectively combining the two streams of expectation of Messiah:  a)Royal (Psalm 2:12) and b)Servant (Is. 42:1).  Maybe a triple paste, as an intention reference to Abraham's "loved" son" Isaac is intentional here (Gen 22L2)

>>Many hyperlinks/intertextualities noted:  "Dove" connects to Noah.  "Spirit hovering over the water" happened at creation (Genesis...again).  Thus this new version of the same  could be a new creation.

>> We noticed hyperlinks/intertextuality to many scriptures (Dove mentioned oin account of Noah

>>John the Baptizer dressed like Elijah..(2 Kings..hmmm) Dress/diet showed he was
a)poor  b)prophet   c)outcast

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Homework: Test next class -Tues.  All Q and A at top of page

9/27 :What's on the test?

Click the tab at top of the website that says

What's on Test #1 (10/5)

Test Review/Party Reports

Well, today was fun.

We reviewed the questions for the test ..Click here, or the "What's on the test?" tab at top to see them all, and links to the answers.
 AND
We split into groups again (by party), and accomplished these tasks:

-One group went to the library and came back with a helpful report on how to find books and journal articles on Matthew.

-One group interviewed as many students around campus as they could, asking them what they remembered about JCC when they took it, to see if they still remembered who the Sadducees were, and what the class was about.  Regarding that last phrase...what was the class about...you never know what kind of answer you'll get...as you can see here by the notes the students took>> *Nidia did an amazing job reading the list with a straight face!

>>One group went off and studies several of the question for next week's test...and reported back their findings.

>>One group watched this video about the Essenes, and gave us a report.  The video is not online, but a study guide is here.
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HOMEWORK HELP:

Finish chapters 1-4 of Upside Down Kingdom

9/22: You Taught the Class/What's on the test?

What an amazing class we had today, as each "party" took turns teaching the class, summarizing what they have learned so far.

But the real reason you are reading this page:

What's on the test?

Clcik here for all questions and links to answers.
You can also find it as a tab at the top of the page.
Don't tell! (:

Homework: Read as much of Kraybill, "Upside Down", chapters 1-4 as you can

Fuzzy Sets and Testations

Get used to  scriblink.com

               we'll use it today...See the tab at top of this blog if you ever forget the URL.



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Since we have spent so much time discussing the various "parties" of Jesus day, it is helpful to our discussion of culture to hear how one writer views and succinctly characterizes each group's approach to culture (even though the following is overstatement:

• "Pharisees  separated from culture
•  Sadducees blended into the culture

• Zealots ruled over culture/misused it

• Essenes ignored culture....

The Pharisees were sectarian, developing an unending number of laws to separate themselves from the common people. 

The Sadducees were syncretists, compromising their beliefs in order to blend into the culture.

 The Zealots misused culture as they attempted to usher in God’s kingdom through the use of force.

 The Essenes ignored culture altogether, retreating from society where they could seek mystical encounters with God in monkish privacy...

And so we see that sectarians love God but fail to love their neighbors,

 And so we see that sectarians
love God but fail to love their neighbors, 
              while syncretists love their neighbors,
               but fail to love God."


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Here are some Jewish presentations on three of the parties.. we did not show these in class, but it all helps (especially for the final..remember the party you were assigned to last week)








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We introduced the third (and final) "set" of "set theory:

-When does a mountain begin?
-Is it about predestination or free will?
-When  did Peter become a believer?


These can be debated...as the border can be fuzzy...Thus :
"Fuzzy sets"

Here below is some help on Fuzzy Sets. These readings will help, but if you missed class today, you may want to talk to a classmate about some of the biblical and other examples.... to get a handle on this):

• new nets: bounded sets, fuzzy sets, or centered-sets?

• Rock or Reef:..scroll to page 6-9
• The Attractional Church
• Changing Worldview (scroll to pages 9-12)

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Just as we might see the theme of "subversion of empire" (remember Matthew 2:1 and  the video, "In The Shadow of Herod") being repeated, recast and remixed throughout Matthew's gospel..


We might also suggest that the same three temptations Jesus faced in Chapter 4 were repeated, recast and remixed throughout the rest of the gospel, at different points in Jesus' life...



We noted today that the baptism of Jesus  (chapter 3) and the temptations (chapter 4) should be read together as one literary unit or paragraph (we called this a "coupling" as two items are connected, not three, as in "intercalation").


-  Remember how important repeated words are..in this case,  "SON":

-The segue is direct..."Then after his baptism, Jesus was led by the Spirit  into the desert for temptation by the devil."  (Matt. 4:1)


-In light of that, ask In what other ways do the baptism and temptation connect?
How does baptism prepare for temptation?


See the sermon by Nadia Bolz-Weber, "How To Say Defiantly, ‘I am Baptized!’"for a contemporary world application.


Start reading chapters 1-4 of your Kraybill  UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM text, and note that has a unique way of categorizing the three temptations:


(1=  Bread into stones: Economic
 2=Jump from temple and test God:Religious
  3=Own all kingdoms: Political; 

• Also: see Henri Nouwen's helpful take on the temptations here.
• Also: Why do I call the temptations "testations"? See class notes or stay tuned...we'll deal in depth with this next time
• Also: What did you think about the Lord's prayer, in which Jesus clearly instructs disciples to pray "lead us not into temptation"  VS. Matt 4:1, where the Spirit (God) leads Jesus into temptation?  Hmm, stay tuned..-------------------------------------------------

The Ray Vander Laan video we watched  ( "Jesus Our Desert – The Three Temptations")  is new, and unfortunately not summarized or viewable online yet, so do get notes from a classmate if you had to miss.


VanDer Laan suggested that the three "temptations" Jesus met in Matthew 4 were the same three  that show up  (repackaged, revisited) throughout Jesus' timeline on earth...right up to, and especially including the cross (as in, not avoiding it) .Several examples:

 

• Jesus put God ahead of family ("Who are my brothers and sisters?"  "Whoveer loves father and mother more than me cannot be my disciple."-Matthew 12:46-48...in fact, how many ways can you find in that whole chapter  where Jesus re-encounters versions of one of the testations?
• When people reported Herod wanted to kill him, he was not concerned (Luke 13)
• When people wanted to make him king by force, he walked away  (John 6:15)
• When the crowds were hungry, the disciples  wanted Jesus to feed them.  He refused (Feeding of the Multitude)
• The "get behind me, Satan" comment to Peter when Peter suggested Jesus should bypass the cross (Matthew 18)
• "go ahead and use Your power; the cross is going to hurt" 

The video offered lots of help on how the Testations of Jesus are related to/equated to/hyperlinked to the Testations of Israel in Exodus, Numbers. Deuteronomy.  We noted that it is no accident that all three testations of Jesus were found in different form in the OT, as well as the Scriptures Jesus used to counter the testations.


It is important that though it is obvious who "The Son (of God)" is in Matthew (Jesus), unless we know the literary/historical background, we miss that in the Old Testament, that phrase is used for Israel/God's people.   (see  Exodus 4:22-23 and especially the way Matt 2:15 quotes Hosea 11:1) Thus...remember this chart :

Now we realize that God tested/the devil tempted the first "SON" in a similar way.
Jesus the Son succeeds (in 40 days) in "reversing the curse" that Israel the Son inherited by not passing it (in 40 years). 


Jesus is not only (in a sense) the 
New Moses,
 but (in a sense) the New Israel
 (for help on that important point, see this  article,
and this).




VanDer Laan suggested that the heart of Jesus' "success: was consistently  and persistently keeping the "Shema,"   and not caving into a (mis)use of power. Thus

Q).Who is Jesus in Matthew?

A.) The One who, unlike Israel, passed the wilderness testations by loving God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength....and refusing to give into using "right-handed"  (more on that phrase Friday) power.

We noted that VanderLaan prefers to translate "tests" instead of "temptations."
You have seen that I have coined the word "testations"  It would seen that in Scripture that God tests, and the devil tempts...and sometimes both are going on simultaneously. 


HERE are some helpful questions you might think about if you want to pursue this topic, OR if you's consider writing your second "Three Worlds" assignment on this passage:

• 1)What were the three temptations of Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11, Compare any ways Mark's account,  Mark 1:12-13  and  Luke's account, Luke 4:1-13 differ, and suggest any reasons why.
• 2)How does Nouewen summarize the three temptations(1=to be relevant  2=to be spectacular 3=to rule over). H?  How do you (use your own words)?
• 3)How do the three temptations connect to the historical and literary world of the Hebrew ("Old')Testament?
• 4)How do the three temptations connect to the contemporary world of Jesus and the disciples?
• 5)List and discuss several possible ways that versions of the three temptations reoccur and are revisited  throughout Jesus' life in Matthew's gospel?  (How is Jesus tested/tempted elswhere in Matthew, and how are the temptations versions of a similar one (two, or three) that he faced in the original temptation passage?
• 6)What are the three core temptations you face, and how have they revisited you  throughout your timeline?  How would you categorize them using Nouwen's categories?  Using the three categories of the "Shema"  (heart/mind/might) a la  Vander Laan'?  Using Kraybill's three categories (1=Economic 2=Religious  3=Political; see chapters 1-4 of "Upside Down Kingdom")
• 7)What have you learned about passing these tests/resiisting these temptations?
• 8)What does all of this  (the Matt 4 Scripture, and testing/tempting) have to do with the Kingdom?
• 9)Discuss how the passages that deal with Jesus not being immune to temptation( Hebrews 2:17-18, Hebrews 4:14-16,  and Hebrews 5:7-9) affect your views of  "Who is Jesus?" and of Jesus' divinity and humanity.
• 
  

Here is a video some of my previous freshman made for JCC..See if they (or the settings) look familiar.
It may inspire some of you to make a video at some point in this class...


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PS.My Dack Rambo story?  Click here  to read all about it, and for the sequel click:
" I Deny the Resurrection and I am not straight."

Remember, the quiz questions (and links to the answers) are all on the "Homewofk Help" section of our post from last class.

By next time, have carefully read:

• Matthew, chapters 3-4
• Kraybill, Upside Down Kingdom, Chapters 1-2 (and read Chapters 3-4 by next Mon).
  

"You're on crack!"/Parties/ First 3 Worlds Assignment

Last class, we noted that one can't help but find, in Matthew, the "common history" of two pivotal events in the history of Israel.
Both  ended with homecoming "parties"
    Event       Date            Location                Deliverer       Result
1)Exodus      1000s BC          Egypt   400 years           Moses               Dance Party on the Beach
2) Exile           500s BC            Babylon 70 years          Cyrus   :            4 Parties


For #1, see the post from last class here

for #2, read on..
Hauer and Young call the return  a "new exodus".   Amazing that the "deliverer" who" let then go"  back home was a Cyrus, a pagan king; so used of God that Scripture calls him "Anointed One"/"Messiah"!  (Isaiah 45:1. comment see Hauer and Young p. 198)......For a "journal entry of what it must have felt like to be in exile, read this

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
   when we remembered Zion.
There on the poplars
   we hung our harps,
for there our captors asked us for songs,
   our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
   they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

  How can we sing the songs of the LORD
   while in a foreign land?
 If I forget you, Jerusalem,
   may my right hand forget its skill.
⁶May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
   if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
   my highest joy.

  Remember, LORD, what the Edomites did
   on the day Jerusalem fell.
“Tear it down,” they cried,
   “tear it down to its foundations!”
 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,
   happy is the one who repays you
   according to what you have done to us.
 Happy is the one who seizes your infants
   and dashes them against the rocks. 

(Psalm 137) 

Many changes occirred as the Jews fret  (new temple , synagogues, etc.  But key for understanding Matthew are four "parties," groups, sects that emerged.  These are discussed in detail in Hauer/Young, Chapter 10, particularly pp. 221-227

Pharisees .lay scholars/ middle class   Oral and Written Torah    angels, demons, resurrection........
 Sadduccees   priestly/aristocratic         Written Torah only               no angels, demons, resurrection 


Essenes:  quiet, communal, prob connected to Dead Sea Scrolls 
Zealots    advocated armed rebellion against Rome

Read more on each from Ray VannDer Laan:

•  Pharisees
• Sadducees

• EssenesZealots

We began discussing these four groups in depth today; this will be important information
because:

-For the next quiz (Wed) you'll be asked to "say as much as you can about the four key parties"
-For the paper "Who is Jesus to Them?," you can use the discussion about the first two parties as the basis of your paper or video (see the updated syllabus for complete instructions).
-For the final , you'll be asked to respond to/critique certain sections of "The Upside Down Kingdom" as if you were a member of the party you were assigned to today.


If you missed class today, your group will be decided by last name:

• A-H  Pharisees
• I-M  Sadducees
• N-S  Essenes
• T-Z  Zealots

In this video, a rabbi summarizes the four:




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As we talked about groups ,  parties, and bounded sets...inevitably the topic of "culture" came up.
How do you define culture?  How would you fill in the blank: "In England, they drive on the _____
side of the road?  What musical groups are on crack?  FOR THE ANSWERS TO THESE AND OTHER QUESTIONS, DARE YOU TO WATCH THIS:



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Your first "Three Worlds" assignment (see syllabus) is due  next Thurs: The text is Matthew 2: 1-12.

• Advice: -
• It's okay if you have more questions than answers..Just write them down.
• Remember to use the two required sources (see syllabus, the sources are linked on top of blog here.
• See the tab at top of page  :How to study a text via "Three Worlds" for help
• Remember you have already got a head start on the "historical world" of this passage (Review the :Shadow of Herod" video..see bottom of 
• 8/30 post..

BE READ UP:

Matthew chapters 1 -4

Hauer and Young, Chapters 4, 6. 8, 10, 11, and these pages (only) from Chapter 12:  pp. 269-272

9/13: Kingdom: Dance Party on the Beach OR Back From the Future

In the first few chapters of Matthew, on can't help but notice:

1)Lots of hyperlinks to Old Testament book of Exodus (Egypt, Moses, Pharoah is like Herod, etc4L17
2)Kingship language: King David, King Herod, Jesus message (4:17) is the Kingdom of God..

So we talked Kingdom today..noting  it's crucial not to misinterpret the term politically or territorially

• reign and rule, not                  realm
• person and presence, not     place
• love, not                                  land, latitude, longitude

We noted the "direction" of the Kingdom seems to work both ways:  "backwards" from the future,
and "forwards" from the Exodus ..

We offered one more diagram of a "literary world" outline of  Matthew's gospel, one that posits "The Kingdom" as the very central literary unit, and thus very central theological theme.

• Q."Who is Jesus in Matthew?"

• A. "The One who is King, and brings the Kingdom.":

  
  

See another reason why this outline is important by clicking here (read the paragraph beginning with "This book is a revision..."

We noted that (unlike which side of the road is "right" in England!), the 'direction" in which the Kingdom originates is "both ways":  from the future, and from the past.

>>How does the Kingdom "come" from the "future"?:

Many Jews of Jesus' day (and actually, the Greeks) thought of the Kingdom of God as largely a  future identity/reality/location.
So when Jesus, in Matthew 4:17 announces that he, as King, is ALREADY bringing in the Kingdom,

this not only subverted expectations, but sounded crazy....and like he was claiming to bring the future into the present.

The Jews talked often about "this age" (earth/now) and "the age to come." (heaven/future).
"Age to come" was used in a way that it was virtually synonymous with "The Kingdom."

Scripture suggests that:

The "age to come"  (the Kingdom) 
has in large part already come (from the future/heaven)

into "this age"
 (in the present/on the earth




by means of the earthy ministry of Jesus: King of the Kingdom.



Thus, Hebrews 6:4-8 offers that disciples ("tamidim") of Jesus have
"already (in this age) tasted the powers of the age to come."


In Jesus, in large part, the age to come has come.
The Future has visited the present,

"The presence of the Kingdom of God was seen as God’s dynamic reign invading the present age without (completely) transforming it into the age to come ” (George Eldon Ladd, p.149,The Presence of the Future.)

Here are some articles that may help:

• Kingdom of God: by George Ladd
• THE KINGDOM'S RETROACTIVE RETROFUTURE
• The "Lord's Prayer" does NOT say "daily bread". 

• Kingdom Now and Not Yet

>>How does the Kingdom "come" from the " past"?:

In light of  (and in spite of ) everything we just said  there also  WAS a sense  in which the Jews believed  that --in a  limited but vital way--- the Kingdom had begun on earth..  at a specific Old Testament  time and place... and worked "forwards" from there.
Thus today's video field trip..




Today's video on The Exodus and the "Dance Party on the Beach" is not online in any form (though you can buy it as episode 5 on this DVD).    The points to remember are how this was the seminal/foundational/formative microcosmic event of   (perhaps all) Scripture, in that:

1)It presents a pattern and prototype of any deliverance from bondage/slavery; and every "way out" (Ex-Odus)
from an old way/world to a new way/world.  We had some good discussion about "in-between times" in our lives that we recognized  (maybe only in retrospect) as pivotal  and formative.  Crossing the sea is often meant to call to mind crossing a barrier (remember the Jordan River video from Week One) into a while new world, creation  or order; from allegiance to forbidden gods to The One God.  Jesus is seen in Matthew as the New Moses in that just as Moses led God's people out of bondage to an oppressive ruler/"king" (Pharoah) and an empire that infected them (Egypt), so Jesus leads God;s people out of spiritual bondage to an oppressive ruler/"king" (Herod) and an empire that infected them (Rome).  This is a classic intertexting/hyperlinking/parallelism.

2)It is really the first time God's people are formed/forged into a community; they have "been through stuff together" and are inevitably bonded and changed through a corporate experience.  Thus:

3)Also, remember  (for the test) the Jewish tradition that the Kingdom of God functionally, and for all practical purposes began (or landed in a foundational way on earth) when God's people there on the beach danced and sang, "The Lord is reigning" ( Exodus 15:18 )...remembering that "reigning" could be translated "King" or "Reigner".  Thus, God's Kingship "began" when God's people publicly recognized it after seeing God in action in dramatic way as King.  Vander Laan: "The Kingdom begins when God acts"
...Exodus 15:18:

• "The Lord is                           reigning from this point onward."
• "The Lord is   King      from this point onward."

Homework Help:


Read Hauer/Young, chapters 4 and 6
Read and take notes on Matt 3-4.