Tag Archives: stone

Day 309 (Nov. 5): Burial of Jesus by Joseph of Arimathea, women say stone rolled away, Angel told of resurrection, Jesus tells Mary Magdalene to inform disciples of resurrection, soldiers make up false story as to Jesus’ resurrection

Posted on by

0

Welcome to BibleBum where we are exploring the entire Bible in one year to better learn how to follow God’s instructions and discover the purpose for our lives.  The BibleBum blog uses The One Year Chronological Bible, the New Living Translation version.  At the end of each day’s reading, Rob, a cultural history aficionado and seminary graduate, answers questions from Leigh An, the blogger host, about the daily scripture.  To start from the beginning, click on “Index” and select Day 1.

Mark 15:42-47

Matthew 27:57-61

Luke 23:50-56

John 19:38-42

Matthew 27:62-66

Mark 16:1-8

Matthew 28:1-7

Luke 24:1-12

Mark 16:9-11

John 20:1-18

Matthew 28:8-10

Matthew 28:11-15

Questions & Observations

Q. (John 19:38): John is the only account that says Joseph was a secret disciple.  Doesn’t this make 13?  And, we had talked earlier about the common number 12 — 12 tribes and 12 disciples.  But, I guess since Judas died, that would make it 12 again.

A. Joseph is a secret follower, but not one of the 12 (now 11- it will be 12 again soon).

Q. (Mark 16:1): Rob, I think we have talked before about the Sabbath being on Saturday and not Sunday.  I think you said it was because Jesus arose on Sunday, like it says in Mark 16:9.  But, why would this change the day we worship God, if He commanded it to be on Saturday?  Also, I looked it up online and the only thing I could see is that the Catholics changed it in their doctrine, 1,000 years before a Protestant denomination arose.

A. Oh it’s a much earlier change than that.  The early Church came to see EVERY Sunday (the first day of the week, corresponding to the first day of Creation) as a new Easter, a reminder of Jesus’ victory over death.  One of the arguments that we will see unfold in the midst of new converts to Christianity — primarily Gentiles — is the question of whether you needed to be a Jew first in order to become a Christian.  Ultimately, the leaders decide that you do not, and that because of Christ’s sacrifice, they are no longer under the requirements of the Law (something Paul will discuss extensively), including the Sabbath requirement.  That is why the transition from Saturday to Sunday took place: the most important day of the Christian week was no longer Saturday, but Sunday — it symbolizes the new beginning that Christians see taking place in Jesus.

There are some Christians who feel that the Church should still honor the Sabbath as defined in the Law: they are known as Seventh-Day Adventists, and one of the central differences between them and other denominations is their strict rule about worship on Saturday, not Sunday.  Personally, I see the value OF a Sabbath- we certainly benefit from a day of rest to focus on God and family, but in Christ, we have a new found freedom that says we can decide when that day of rest is, and that it is not REQUIRED to be Saturday (or even Sunday).

Q. (Mark 16:1-8): What is the purpose of the spices?  I would assume to honor and respect the person and also help with the smell of rotting flesh?

A. Yes and yes.  It was part of the Jewish burial ritual to honor the dead in such a way, and kind of like our modern embalming process: it was to help deal with the stench, which ironically, Jesus did not wind up needing.

Q. (Matthew 28:1): Matthew says there is an earthquake, but the others gospels don’t.  I would think that this is just a difference in the story being passed along since the disciples weren’t eyewitnesses.

A. The people who are likely telling this story to the different authors are very likely remembering different details — Matthew was also the only one who mentioned the dead bodies walking around.  Note what is being said here, however: the other Gospels don’t say, “And there definitely was NOT an earthquake”.  Try not to assume a negative, especially when dealing with eyewitness reports as you suggest.

Q. (Mark 16:9-20): Why are there two lengths of Mark — a shorter version that ends with v. 16:8 and a longer that ends with 16:20?

A. The earliest manuscripts we have — which are assumed to be the most reliable to the original writing — end at verse 8, with the women not telling anyone what they had seen.  There are a few theories about why: one is that the original ending of Mark was lost —scrolls such as the ones the Gospels were originally written on tended to lose the beginning and the end of the story.  Another possibility is that verse 8 WAS the original ending, and Mark meant it to be a pointed statement along the lines of “how could you possibly keep a story like that to yourself as it says the women did, and the women clearly DID end up telling people, etc.”  Anyway, regardless of the reason, later Church writers appeared to edit the ending of Mark to include the verses you see (and a few more tomorrow); these verses tend to relate to the resurrection stories told in the other Gospels, so they appear to be later additions rather then necessarily genuine stories.  For my reading of Mark, I view it that for whatever reason, Mark’s true ending is 16:8, either because that’s where Mark intended to edit it, or because it has been lost to history.

Q. I guess Mary is a common name back then?  I know Maria is popular in Spanish cultures.

A. Mary (Miriam in Hebrew to be technical, meaning “beloved”) was a common name on Jesus’ day.  It was the name of Moses’ sister and a prophetess in the Exodus story; Miriam was one of the most respected female characters of the OT (along with Deborah, Hannah, and Rachel), so it is little wonder that many girls were given this birth name.  As to the use of the name today (that would be Mary in English, Maria in Spanish, Marie in French and German, etc.), that has to do with Jesus’ mother, the Virgin or Blessed Mary, who is one of the central figures of the Roman Catholic world, which of course dominated the religious landscape of Western Europe for 1500 years.  That’s why the name was so common then, and is still common today.

Day 298 (Oct. 25): Two sons parable shows who belongs to God, farming parable highlights church leaders corrupt hearts, wedding feast parable shows the chosen, coin story shows importance of God, earthly relationships not important for resurrection

Posted on by

0

Welcome to BibleBum where we are exploring the entire Bible in one year to better learn how to follow God’s instructions and discover the purpose for our lives.  The BibleBum blog uses The One Year Chronological Bible, the New Living Translation version.  At the end of each day’s reading, Rob, a cultural history aficionado and seminary graduate, answers questions from Leigh An, the blogger host, about the daily scripture.  To start from the beginning, click on “Index” and select Day 1.

Matthew 21:28-32

Mark 12:1-12

Matthew 21:33-46

Luke 20:9-19

Matthew 22:1-14

Mark 12:13-17

Matthew 22:15-22

Luke 20:20-26

Mark 12:18-27

Matthew 22:22-33

Luke 20:27-40

Questions & Observations

Q. (Matthew 21:28-32): This is what I think is the “moral to this story”: So, Jesus is saying that, in their hearts, the tax collector and prostitutes believe in Him, but were not following yet.  And, the ones who followed God, were not committed in their hearts.  So, the ones who believe are better off with God than the ones who follow Him by sight alone.

A. I would call that is pretty close.  The younger son is the one paying lip service to obeying his Father, but ultimately does not do what the Father says — this is the way that Jesus has repeatedly described the religious leaders.  The older son represents those who are truly following the wishes of the Father, even if they aren’t on the “inside.”  They are doing what is right, which is what the Father ultimately desires.

Q. (Mark 12:1-12, Mathew 21:33-46, Luke 20:9-19): So, I got this one.  The farmers are obviously the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, the landowner is God, the servants are prophets and Jesus is His favored son.  The farmers don’t listen to the prophets, so God sends His son to see if they will obey Him.  They still don’t, they reject Him.  So, Jesus puts the question to the farmers, or church leaders, as to what will happen next.  You would think this would open the leaders eyes to their evil ways.  Then, Jesus gives them another example of them rejecting Him, but then He becomes the cornerstone.  I like Luke’s version where he says that anyone who stumbles over the stone — fails to see Jesus’s teachings — will be destroyed.  I also noted that those who have thought they were the heirs to the Kingdom of God lose their inheritance because of their assumptions that, by default, the kingdom is theirs.  But, they are not following God’s intentions.  They are following their own selfish ways.  So, the Kingdom of God will be granted to those who they have trampled on.

A. Spot on.  Nothing to add here.

Q. (Matthew 22:1-14): God and Jesus use a lot of wedding imagery between them and their followers.  Can you talk about that?  Also, this is an easy story to understand.  But, how about explaining the last verse, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”  I’m not sure what “chosen” means.  I would guess it means, “For many are called, but few are worthy.”

A. If you think weddings are a big event here, then you would REALLY be impressed by the wedding feast imagery Jesus is talking about.  Weddings in the ancient world were huge festivals, especially when a ruler such as the king in this story was throwing it.  As we mentioned a few days ago, the festival could go for days, and the exact “end” of the wedding was not entirely known.  One other note that we find humorous: after the actual ceremony, the new happy couple would leave the group and go to, uh…consummate the union.  The wedding party itself literally WOULD NOT BEGIN until they had returned.  Isn’t that something?

We need to compare the two sections of the story in order to understand what Jesus is telling us at the end.  First, the call: the call is one that, metaphorically, goes out to all humanity.  But many do not answer, mostly because like the people in this story, they are too busy with their own business and internally focused.  But the man who is in the midst of the party and not in a wedding outfit — you were expected to wear your best clothes to a wedding, just as today, and many times the host would prescribe or even provide an outfit — brings into focus the last section of the story.  It points back to Jesus’s message in Matthew 7:21-23: not everyone who comes to the party will be able to partake of it.  The image that I have seen used to help us understand the passage is the wedding clothes represent the work of Christ covering up our sins (the “dirty” clothes).  Those who arrive at the “party” without the proper garment (the blood of Jesus atoning for their sins) will, sadly, be cast out.  Without the proper attire, which can only come for the true King, we are lost on our own.  Without a proper outfit, you cannot be “chosen”.

Q. (Mark 12:13-17, Matthew 22:15-22, Luke 20:20-26): What does Jesus mean by “Give Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God.”

A. The clue is in what Jesus asks for: a Roman coin called a denarius (the equivalent of the pay for a day’s wages).  In Jesus’s day, this coin would have borne the stamped image of the Emperor Tiberius.  That is, the coin had the “image” of Caesar.  And if we go back all the way to Genesis 1, we note there that man and woman were made in the image of God.  So Jesus is basically making a simple and profound statement about our loyalties: give to Caesar, He says, the things that bear the image of Caesar (the coins), since they “belong to him.”  But, He also says, the things that bear the image of God (us) belong to God, and by extension…not to Caesar.  In summary, Jesus is saying it is right to give to earthly leaders what is owed to them (taxes), but that their leadership pales in comparison to He who made US in His image.

Q. (Mark 12:18-27, Matthew 22:23-33, Luke 20:27-40): Obviously, Jesus is much wiser than me because I don’t understand this one.  All I can guess is that He is saying that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are not dead.  He is the Living God.  And, if He lives in us, we are eternally alive.  But, we do die an earthly death and then, when Jesus comes, we will rise again to be alive.  Right?  So, we would be dead for a time.

A. Our bodies are mortal, and will die, but our souls are immortal, and can be given the gift of eternal life from faith in Christ.  We will talk more about what the NT says about our resurrection when we get into Paul’s letters, but that’s enough for now.

Day 287 (Oct. 14): Jesus stays back from festival, cost of following Jesus, Jesus goes to festival and teaches, Pharisees are stirred by mystery of Jesus, Jesus promises living water, disbelief as to who Jesus is, adulterous woman provides lesson for all sinners, the Light of the world

Posted on by

0

Welcome to BibleBum where we are exploring the entire Bible in one year to better learn how to follow God’s instructions and discover the purpose for our lives.  The BibleBum blog uses The One Year Chronological Bible, the New Living Translation version.  At the end of each day’s reading, Rob, a cultural history aficionado and seminary graduate, answers questions from Leigh An, the blogger host, about the daily scripture.  To start from the beginning, click on “Index” and select Day 1

John 7:1-9

Luke 9:51-56

Matthew 8:18-22

Luke 9:57-62

John 7:10-53

 [The most ancient Greek manuscripts do not include John 7:53–8:11.]

John 8:1-20

Questions & Observations

Q. (John 7:3): Any idea if this is His biological brothers talking or His disciples?

A. His human half brothers.

Q. (Luke 9:57-62): So basically if you “sign on” to follow Jesus, but have any doubts, you aren’t worthy of being one of his disciples?

A. I would read it more like, “if you prioritize the things of this world before the Kingdom of God, you’ve missed the boat.”

Q. (John 7:10-24): Any idea why Jesus told his brothers that he wouldn’t go with them to Jerusalem but decided to go by himself?  Then, he goes secretly, but starts preaching.

A. Jesus did not attend the festival as a pilgrim (as His brothers did), but rather as a prophet who brought a message of God to the corrupt religious leaders who needed to hear of God’s judgment.

Q. (7:28): Jesus was sent to earth as a human.  I wonder why God chose this avenue.  Since the people know where he came from, it’s very difficult for them to believe in Him.  Did God purposely make Jesus hard for the people to believe?

A. We are still early in the story, so hang in there.  Things will really ramp up with who Jesus claims to be as we enter Holy Week.  Also note that it will be the mission of the Disciples to go to all of these villages (including Galilee) to proclaim Jesus’ death and resurrection.  The clarity is coming.

Q. (7:37-39): Is anyone who believes in God and Jesus supposed to be blessed with the Spirit?

A. Yes.  Acts 2 will lay out the details.

Q. (John 8:1-11): I love this “look in the mirror” story.  Why was Jesus writing in the dirt?  Was it just a way for Him to think by using some time up?

A. Since no one knows what Jesus was writing, it is impossible to know what His writing means.  I suspect He was doing so to demonstrate that the crowd was not going to rattle him, even in the midst of the trap.

Q. (8:4): I notice that the teachers of religious law and Pharisees addressed Jesus as “teacher.”  Why do they call Him teacher when they think He’s a fake?

A. Jesus is respected as a Rabbi, and Rabbis frequently had disagreements, so it isn’t that much of a stretch.  The leaders may also be doing so because Jesus followers in the crowd do so: they are doing it out of mock respect.