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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):
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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.
It may inspire some of you to make a video at some point in this class...
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" 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).
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