http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/ en john.dray@sightgroup.com Copyright 2009 2009-07-21T09:14:47+00:00 http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/the_word_of_the_lord_to_a_corrupt_world/ http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/the_word_of_the_lord_to_a_corrupt_world/#When:09:14:47Z Study Outlines to the Books of Jonah and Nahum: the two preachers to Nineveh Commentary 2009-07-21T09:14:47+00:00 http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/the_busy_persons_guide_to_ezekiel1/ http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/the_busy_persons_guide_to_ezekiel1/#When:22:19:01Z Fourteen studies that provide a survey of the remarkable book of Ezekiel, one of the most interesting of God’s spokespersons.The Busy Person’s Guide to Ezekiel: A Survey of the Message of Ezekiel in 14 studies Introducing Ezekiel Date: 1:1,2 help us. Jehoiachin was taken into exile in 597/8 together with the ‘upper classes’ of Judah (including, it would appear, the twenty-five-year-old, Ezekiel (compare 2 Kings 24:10-17) and young Daniel and his friends. This puts his birth @ 622/3: a year after Josiah’s reformation commenced. His early life included the brief reformation and the rapid decline to the end of the kingdom of Judah. Home: Some exiles were treated humanely and given towns to live in. This was apparently true for Ezekiel who lived in Tel-Abib (3:15) near Babylon. It seems he may have been one of the community leaders (see 33:21 where he is directly approached by a messenger from Jerusalem). Occupation: Ezekiel (like Jeremiah) was from a priestly family (1:3:40:46;44:15). He was married and, early, widowed (24:15-18). Ministry: His ministry as a prophet began in 592/3, aged 30 (when a priest commenced his ministry). He was still prophesying 22 years later (29:17). We have no knowledge how longer he lived. It appears from this, however, that all of his ministry was undertaken in exile. It appears that his home may have become a centre for those seeking spiritual help (8:1;14:1;20:1).  Call: His call is recorded in chapter 1. As with other prophets, his experience coloured the specifics of his ministry… as we shall see. Spiritual Experience: The ‘hand of the Lord’ (1:3) is a semi-technical phrase for an unusual state of mind in which he was sometimes affected bodily: falling on his face (1:28;3:23;9:8;11;13;43:7;44:4), shaking (12:17ff) and groaning (21:6). He appears to have had some sort of ‘telepathic’ abilities (8:5-16;12:22,27;18:2;33:10). As such, he appears to have ‘functioned’ at one extreme of the prophetic experience. Testimony: The summary of his experience is found in 1:28: he saw ‘the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD’. We might say that he glimpsed a reflection of an illustration of the reality of God….’ It left him gobsmacked! But this shaped his whole ministry. Specifically, he saw the LORD as majestic (1:26), awesome (1:22), beautiful as precious stones (1:4;16;26), pure (1:4,13,14,22, compare Isaiah 6:1-7), powerful (1:4,14,24),‘human’ (1:26), constantly and watchfully on the move (esp. 1:12,14,17) and surrounded by a rainbow (1:26). How do you think this experience would have helped Ezekiel? How might it help us? Ezekiel : His Call (Chapters 2:1-3:21). None of us are called to be prophets and, perhaps, few of us, evangelists but, as we explore these two chapters, we will discover a number of lessons that apply directly to each one of us! * We note then that the first thing that occurred to Ezekiel after his first encounter with God was that God started to speak to him…(2:1,2) indeed for many years this continued to be the case. Words (certainly at their best) are the means to and characteristic of intimacy. The God who banished human beings from his face and fellowship in Genesis 3 now resumes his conversation with his prophet. The fruit of our own very individual encounters with God in Jesus have for us, too, opened up the channels of intimacy to us too! How is this true for us?...and why was the word bittersweet (3:3)? * Right from the first conversation Ezekiel has with God, he is given a task to undertake (2:3). He is to be the prophet/evangelist par excellence to the Israelites in exile (2:3). What has God called me to do? * Reading through these two chapters one is immediately struck by the fact that Ezekiel’s call is both impossible and thankless. Small wonder his response (2:15 and compare the previous verse!). Words like ‘rebellious’, obstinate’ and ‘stubborn’ (2:3,4) recur throughout the passage. The potential problems to effective communication will not exist (3:5,6) and the problem does not lie with the effectiveness of the messenger, nor the clarity of the message (2:5) but, rather, with the human heart (3:7,11), and its problem with God (3:7): the people will hear, sure enough, but (few at most) will listen! He is doomed to failure from the start! What might we learn from this in our witness as a Church? What might we learn from this as we face God’s call on our lives? Since Ezekiel is sent to Israel (2:3; 3:1), how might we prove to be like the members of the Old Testament ‘church’? * Yet, for all its difficulty, the LORD both promises Ezekiel resources commensurate with the difficulty of the task and calls him to faithfulness not ‘success’. The latter is in God’s hands, the former is our responsibility. Thus Ezekiel is warned that he must fulfil his difficult call or ‘be it on your own head’ (2:8; 3:16ff). At the same time he is encouraged (2:6; 3:9), guided (3:12-15) and equipped (3:8,9) even though the task is not congenial (3:14). What then might we learn from Ezekiel’s experience or, rather, what might we learn here about his God? The Book of Ezekiel: Study 3 Ezekiel 3:21-7:27 Surveying the Passage: What a peculiar passage! • Ezekiel is bound and struck dumb in his own house, except when God speaks to him (3:21-27); • he then plays soldiers in the mud, building up a model of Jerusalem under seige (4:1-3); • this is followed by demonstrating the effects of living under seige (4:4-17); • further, he shaves his head and burns, hacks and throws up in the air all but a small amount that he tucks in the folds of his clothes (5:1-4). By this time everyone doubtless regarded him as mad: dumb and quite obviously out of his mind! Some prophet!!! Ezekiel himself is given an explanation (4:3; 16f;5:4-17). Not until chapter 6, however, is Ezekiel given words to speak to the people; and then….!!! . Simply, he explains: • The LORD is going to reveal himself in the almost total destruction of his apostate people (6:1-7, 11-14); • A remnant, however, will be exiled and, there, be awakened to repentance (6:8-10); • The end is coming (7:1-9) and has now arrived (7:10-27). ‘Israel’ has ceased to exist! • Then they will know that ‘I am the LORD’ (7:27 and parallels, e.g. 7:4,9). Questions: • Why do you think Ezekiel was struck dumb? • Why was Ezekiel required to do so much peculiar ‘play acting’? • How should his actions and words apply to us… who are not Israel? • What then are the lessons we can take away from this passage?       The Book of Ezekiel, Study 4. Chapter 8 A Backward Glance In the early chapters of the prophecy (1-7), Ezekiel has encountered God, been given his call and then (by means largely of symbolic actions) given the responsibility to declare the imminent judgement of God on Jerusalem and Judah. The following chapters (8-24) may be viewed as the prophet’s justification of his message. A Renewed Experience of God Exactly fourteen months after his first vision (8:1, compare 1:2) Ezekiel receives another trance-like vision in which he is conducted to the north gate of the Jerusalem temple (8:3). A People Under Judgment • There he is faced with two strikingly contradictory scenes. Firstly, the glory of God was present as in his former vision and as one would expect of God’s earthly dwelling place (8:4). Secondly, however, he sees an ‘idol that provokes to jealousy’ (8:3), i.e. something that was an insult to God and inevitably doomed to arouse his righteous anger (8:5,6). As to what it was is bnot made explicit. While it is clearly a picture of compromise and syncretism could the altar be something that (like the Golden Calf) was thought to be a representation of the LORD? • But worse was to follow! Through a ‘hole in the wall’ and like a ‘fly on the wall’ Ezekiel is given a picture of the senior figure in the executive and the entire (?)  religious and social heirarchy of Judah engaged in worship (8:11) but in a context which is a) directed to the creation rather than the creator (and is determined by the practices of Egypt, Canaan and Babylon, 8:10) and b) self-determined (8:12). Such is, of course , possible where the revealed picture of God is ignored (8:12b). • Again worse was to follow (8:13)! The failure of the leadership is reflected in the practice of the people. Tammuz was a popular Sumerian god of vegetation, fertility and the underworld. The rejection of God’s self-revelation has made it ‘open day’ for the infiltration and popular adoption of a world-view totally opposed to the truth. • But there was one final and notorious cause celebre that the LORD wished Ezekiel to see (8:14,15). Within the very heart of the temple (8:16) the priestly assembly had turned their backs on the holiest place and were engaged in sun worship in what could only be viewed as a ‘two finger sign’ to the LORD (8:17). In such a context, no amount of aggressive actions towoard God were going ot affect his decision to act againstthem (8:18). Questions • Can we apply this passage to our contemporary situation and, if so, how? • What detailed applications and observations can be made about the different pictures Ezekiel depicts?   Ezekiel, Study 5: chapters 9-11 Recap After his initial vision and call (chapters 1,2), Ezekiel is called to fulfil a number of (largely mute but symbolical) actions that are intended to declare Judah/Jerusalem is under imminent threat of extinction under the LORD’s judgement (chapters 3-7). Then, some time later, as if to justify the severity of the threat, Ezekiel receives a second visionary experience that exposes the spiritual corruption that lay at the very heart of Judean life and had extended throughout society and, above all, characterised the spiritual elite. This sets the context for the present passage. Explanation Ezekiel’s vision continues as, in response to the situation described in chapter 8, executioners are called to prepare for action (9:1-2). Meanwhile two significant events are recorded: 1) the ‘glory’ of God rises from its place at the sanctuary and (temporarily) rests at the outer door of the Temple (3a); 2) a scribe is sent to mark the righteous (3b-4). Once this has occurred the carnage can start and extend indiscriminately to both genders and every age group (5-7,11) with the sole exception of those marked. In response, Ezekiel asks whether this is the end of God’s people (8). At this stage no reply is given except to re-iterate the point that the practical atheism of the people has brought this judgement upon themselves (9). The consequence is, therefore, inevitable: the one deemed uninterested will show that he is anything but (10). The following detailed scene (chapter 10) is reminiscent of chapter 1. Central to the reappearance of the cherubim is the fact that they act as guardians of the LORD’s departing glory. From inner court, to threshold, to the east gate, the ‘glory’ moves out of the Temple (compare 4,18). Where the presence of the LORD is withdrawn from his people, the consequences are inevitable. Meanwhile a very different scenario is played out at the east gate (1): the elite of the nation are gathered, as certain of protection as meat in a strong iron pot (2,3). The reality is, however, at odds with their optimism (4).These leaders are guilty of the (coming) destruction of their people (5,6) and will, themselves, encounter their worst fears (8-10): all ‘meat’ indeed for devouring (7)! Thus, the city will fail to afford the hoped-for security as the people are led out of the land into exile for their failure to obey the LORD (11,12). As a token of this judgement to come the ringleader drops dead (13) and prompts the prophet’s repeated question as to whether this is the end of his people (13). This time he is given an answer! The very people whom the erstwhile residents had considered under the LORD’s judgement, the current exiles among whom Ezekiel lived, have been removed from the scene to protect them from the destruction (14-16) and will, in time return to the land (17), scour it clean (18) and experience the LORD’s renewing work (19) that will render possible their obedience (20): but obedience will remain the ground of their blessing (21). After such an answer we are unsurprised that the ‘glory’ removed further… and to the east where the exiles lived (22,23) and to whom Ezekiel proclaims his experience (24,25).  Application Ezekiel’s vision centres around the movement of the LORD’s glory. What lessons might we learn from this? How might ‘practical atheism’ characterise our lives? How can we ‘presume’ on God? What lessons are to be derived from these chapters for those who seek to remain faithful to the LORD? What warnings might leaders derive from these chapters? Ezekiel Study 6 (12:1-14:11) Chapters 12-19 continue the theme of the coming judgement of Judah but the emphasis is slightly different. Whereas 4-7 constitute a prediction of that judgement and 8-11 offer the reasons, 12-19 focus more specifically (but not exclusively) on the certainty of the coming judgement. In chapter 12 two further symbolic actions, here accompanied by commentaries, are given (12:1-16; 17-20). The reason for such a technique is apparently offered (1,2): the inability of mere words to prompt listening and the opening of the ‘inward eye’. As a result, Ezekiel is called (first of all) to act the part of a city’s inhabitant who, by day, is seen packing his few remaining possessions together so that, under darkness, flight is effected through a breach in the city’s defences. Yet flight is ineffectual and the fugitive, deprived of sight (6,12,13), is taken into captivity; a fate that actually befell king Zedekiah in 586 (see 2 Kings 25:7). The second symbolic action is to eat a meal, quaking and trembling as if this might be the last meal.  The threat is real and immediate. By way of contrast, however, are the description of the spiritual (chapter 13) and political (14:1-11) leadership. In Judah it was not the case that no voice claiming the LORD’s authority was present! There were voices (plural) to be heard: but they uttered the words of the self-deceived who, having never heard the authentic voice of God, genuinely confused their own inner-musings with his revelation and offered a message unable to meet the needs of their hearers (13:1-7). Specifically, they do a ‘whitewash job’, offering cheap and illusory peace (13:8-16) and are become ministers who confusedly reassure those who are under judgement while condemning those who genuinely need an oracle of peace (13:17-23). Such ministries will be proven false by the exposure of their lies in judgement. If the religious leaders have failed, so have the political leadership. They may seek spiritual authentication for their actions (14:1,2) but, at heart, they are utterly corrupt. Ezekiel’s language is graphic employing words that refer to the seat of a person’s personality (the ‘heart’) and the ‘deepest’ word for sin (‘iniquity’); their problem lies at the very core of who they are (14:1-5). Without repentance (6) they, too, must face the consequences (7,8) and suffer the same fate as the spiritual charlatan (9-10) so that (and, at last a word of hope) the spiritual well-being of those who are, genuinely, the LORD’s people is effected (11). The immediately ensuing months revealed who was speaking on the LORD’s behalf! Points to Ponder: • At what point do parallels exist today with Ezekiel’s time: specifically, who are the persons who stand in the ‘place’ of those Ezekiel condemns? • Given such parallels, what are the modern equivalents to those evils that Ezekiel condemns? • What actions should we take in the light of this? • Ezekiel Study 7 (14:12-16:63)   Recap: Ezekiel has, thus far, been dominated by the coming judgement of Judah. Whereas 4-7 predicted Judah’s fall, 8-11 offered the divine rationale. 12-19, by way of contrast, focus more specitically upon the certainty of this judgement and 12:1-14:11 have depicted this inevitabilty in the face of the failures of both religious and political authorities who had failed to live and speak for the LORD. The present passage emphasises that, as a consequence, the coming sword, famine, wild beasts and plague cannot be averted: not even by the intervention of the most righteous and best of intercessors (14:12-21). Indeed, Ezekiel’s word will be confirmed and vindicated by the wicked lifestyles of those who arrive before the prophet in his place of exile (14:22,23). Ezekiel here responds to an implied objection: ‘But is not Jerusalem the spiritual heart of Judah and the indestructible vine planted by the LORD?’ His reply is to re-interpret the image. Vine indeed, but wild, fruitless, useless as timber and, if plucked from the fire (as in 587) only good enough to be chucked back into the fire and finally consumed (15:1-8). Another objection might be, ‘Is not Judah the chosen bride of God and covenanted to him?’ In response the LORD tells Ezekiel, Jerusalem had been an unnattractive foundling (16:1-4) upon whom the LORD had lavished every attention, beautified and loved (16:5-8). Within the covenant of marriage every privilege had been given (16:9-14) but these very privileges had become the means of her downfall (16:15-19). Tragically, spiritual prostitution followed: any and every religious practice (‘justified’ perhaps by the need for political alliances) was preferable to faithfulness: thus the religions of Canaan and its neighbours (16:20-22) and the various practices of those from south (Egypt), west (Philistines), north (Assyrians) and east (Babylon) had been insatiably pursued (16:23-29)… without even bothering to take a fee (16:30-34)! Such can only be afforded the punishment of an adulterous wife (16:35-43) and (ironically) the ‘lovers’ will prove the agents of such punishment. Indeed, such has been Judah’s sin that she has revealed her ancestry, but exceeded the complacent prosperity and pride of ‘sister’ Sodom and the religious abominations of ‘sister’ Samaria (16:44-53). The following verses (16:53-59) with their promise of restoration are not easy to interpret but lead to a promise that beyond judgement will be lasting forgiveness and a new covenant grounded in an act of divinely undertaken atonement accompanied by enduring shame and humiliation for past sins (16:60-63) The story of the whole Bible is the story of the triumph of God in relation to those whom he created and redeemed from their rebellion. What do we learn from this section of Ezekiel that contributes to our understanding of God and his actions towards us? Ezekiel Study 8 (17:1-19:14) Recap: this is the third and final section of that part of Ezeliel’s message (chapters 12-19) that are largely devoted to setting out the inevitability of the LORD’s coming judgement against Judah (and Jerusalem as its centre). Given, probably about 590, the LORD’s allegory given to ‘Israel’ (17:1,2) dominates the chapter. A knowledge of the historical context does not make it difficult to interpret. Thus, the first great eagle is Nebuchadrezzar who invades the region, takes away its nobility, removes them to Babylon. Meanwhile, Zedekiah is placed upon the throne of Judah but in a subservient role (17:1-6). The second eagle is Egypt to whom Zedekiah turns (17:7,8) but with no prospect of florishing (17:9,10). Explanation follows (17:11-21). Such an action by Zedekiah is seen as doomed (17:11-15), Egypt will prove no saviour and Zedekiah, himself, will be taken away to Babylon to die there (17:16-18): indeed, the LORD will be the avenger of Zedekiah’s broken oath to Nebuchadrezzar (17:19-21). And yet…. Nebuchadrezzar’s action will be eclipsed by the LORD (17:22-24, compare 3b with 22). He, too, will ‘act the gardener’ and guarantees (17:24) the ongoing Davidic dynasty and its influence will increase as that of others wanes. Several of the chapters in the present section seem to reflect objections raised by Ezekiel’s opponents. This is explicitly so here (18:1-32, especially, 1,2). The people are, apparently, blaming their predecessors for the mess in which they find themselves. Such a conclusion implies the LORD is not just and there were certainly those ready to make this point (18:25). Ezekiel’s reply is to emphasise personal responsibility (18:3,4) and he makes his point with three illustrations: apparently referrring to three generations of the same family (could it be Hezekiah, Manasseh and Josiah?). First, then, a righteous man is described by his religious fidelity and his moral rectitude (18:5,6 and 7-9). Secondly, there is the wicked son of a righteous father, similarly described (18:10-13) and, finally, the righteous son of a wicked father (18:14-18). In each case the individual is treated on their own merits (see, especially, 18:9,13, 18). The point is then, righteousness is no more inherited than iniquity: each is individually responsible (18:19-20). Consequently, the LORD’s threats can be averted since he delights in repentance rather than judgement (18:21-32). These verses offer an explanatory key to the otherwise unendingly black picture!It must not be missed. The section ends with a dirge (19:1-14). It is not difficult to identify the persons referred to: Jehoahaz, taken captive to Egypt in 609BC (4), Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, exiled to Babylon in 597BC (9) and Zedekiah (14). The last section is probably prediction and nothing could more effectively depict the sorry and inevitabel end of the nation in the light of its ongoing refusal to listen to the LORD and repent. Questions: • If chapter 18:19-20 is correct, how do we explain the present condition of the Church in Southend? • If Zedekiah was tempted to look elsewhere than the LORD for support, where might we be looking? • What comfort can we draw from these chapters? • Ezekiel Study 9: Chapters 20-22 After the account of the Prophet’s call (chapters 1-3), Ezekiel’s ministry, declaring the judgement to come on Judah/Jerusalem has followed: the initial prediction (4-7) followed by the successive emphases upon the reasons for (8-11) and the certainty of (12-19) judgement. Chapters 20-24 reach a climax in stressing both the rightness and describing (in a somewhat peculiar way!) the fact of judgement: by the end of this section there can be no question that Ezekiel is the LORD’s spokesperson (24:27). For the third time (compare 8:1;14:1) the nation’s leaders-in-exile visit Ezekiel but while they keep coming they do not change and, consequently, there can be no fellowship but only a message of judgement (20:1-4) as the culmination of three periods of Israel’s history: the sojourn in Egypt (5-9), the wilderness wanderings (10-27) and the occupation of Canaan (28-32). Sadly the repeated lessons (like Ezekiel’s sermons) had gone unheeded. Self-generated religion (8,28) and disregard for the LORD’s will (13,21,24: its companion, 16,24), were as characteristic of the present as the past and the consequence as inevitable (30-32). This judgement would also mark a new beginning of the LORD’s kingly rule (33-47): an era in which all those in the nation who had failed to live by the stipulations of his covenant with them would be purged (especially 37-39) before the people’s restoration to the land. Yet, even now, there was none willing to listen (48f). Small wonder, then, the sustained picture (and painful message) of a warrior’s vengeance against idolatry (21:1-5), the leaders of the nation and all those who rally to their cause (6-17) and, finally, against the land itself (18-32). Perhaps we are intended to detect the irony in the fact that Judah/Jerusalem will even reject the voices of idolatrous practices when the voice is one of judgement (23)! A final expose of the perverse society that Jerusalem had become follows (chapter 22): with the intent of demonstrating the propriety of the LORD’s judgement. Simply, defiling violence and idolatry was rampant (1-5). More specifically, Ezekiel highlights the misuse of power (6), the breakdown of authority (in the home, 7), the absence of compassion for the marginalised and vulnerable (the migrant, orphan and widow, 7), the pursuit of profit (8), ‘spin’ in a power-hungry disregard for the truth (9) and unbridled licentiousness (10-11) among those whose ruthless exploitation emulates the conduct of the Mafia (12). Put at its baldest ‘you have forgotten me’ (12). Such a society will be ‘hoist on its own petard’ (13-16). If the pursuit of money drive such a society, the nation will be melted like precious metals and be treated as the mere dross from the refining process (17-22). Even the ‘Church’ had been caught up in (sanctioning and/or perpetrating) predatory, finance-driven, behaviour and in a wholesale disregard of God’s word and by means of self-motivated ‘prophetic’ words and actions (23-28). Inevitably, with such examples in leadership, the people, as a whole, have (to a ‘man’) become corrupt and liable to judgement (29-31). 1. These chapters depict a society ripe for judgement yet either refusing to listen to the ‘bad news’ from God or their own oracles or preferring the more popular version of future events? Where might we detect parallels in our own world? 2. The marks of a society ‘gone to seed’ may, possibly be viewed as exemplary. What might Ezekiel have highlighted in our own society… and church?   Ezekiel Study 10: Chapters 23-24 After the account of the Prophet’s call (chapters 1-3), Ezekiel’s ministry, declaring the judgement to come on Judah/Jerusalem has followed: the initial prediction (4-7) followed by the successive emphases upon the reasons for (8-11) and the certainty of (12-19) judgement. Chapters 20-24 reach a climax in stressing both the rightness and describing (in a somewhat peculiar way!) the fact of judgement: by the end of this section there can be no question that Ezekiel is the LORD’s spokesperson (24:27). Chapter 20-22 exposed the unrepentant attitude of Judah’s leaders to the corruption that characterised the whole of the nation and made judgment inevitable. The present two chapters re-enforce the same message by an appeal to Judah’s history within the wider history of God’s people (chapter 23) and the ‘double-whammy’ of God’s revelation to Ezekiel, on the very day his wife died of the fact that the siege against Jerusalem had commenced with only one possible outcome (chapter 24). Judah is now at and end. Chapter 23 is an allegory of two sisters (representing Israel and Judah). Their two names hint at their purpose (to be devoted to the LORD); but despite their ‘union’ with the LORD they had proved irredeemably promiscuous from their earliest days as God’s people (23:1-4). The older sister eventually suffered the full consequences of her unfaithfulness: her lovers proving to be there merely to use, abuse and dispose of her (23:5-10). The younger sister proved still worse. In full-knowledge of he sister’s fate she sought the very lovers who had destroyed her sister (11-13). The language that follows (14-21) is deliberately and shockingly crude (e.g. 23:20) to foreground the extent of her apostacy: her ‘one track’ mind, despite the disgust she had for some of those who ‘bedded’ her (23:17). Her disgust, however, is little compared with her ‘husband’ (23:18) and the like consequence to that of her sister inevitable (22-35): the lovers she despised will prove her nemesis. The final verses (36-49) recapitulate the story, presumably for emphasis and for its conclusion: disregard for the LORD will have its end, but in judgement, for then they will know he is the sovereign one (23:49). But all such warnings are now too late, as the following chapter (24) notes. Thus, Ezekiel receives a vision on the day that marked the beginning of the end for Jerusalem (15th January 588BC, 24:1,2). It may be that Ezekiel uses a popular piece of doggerel (like ‘Polly, put the kettle on’) but turns it against Jerusalem. The allegory (24:3-5) needs little explanation: Jerusalem is ‘doomed’ like meat in a cauldron. The following verses (24:6-14) pick up the picture to make two points: the contents of the cauldron will be consumed and disposed of (23:6-8) and such will be the heat of the fire that the cauldron itself will melt (23:9-14): neither people nor city has any current ground for hope since the corruption is so deep-seated. The final paragraph of this long section of the prophecy (chapters 4-24) is full of pathos. On the evening of the day in which Ezekiel declares the previous words, his beloved wife suddenly dies but he is commanded not to grieve for her (24:15-18). His strange conduct will be matched by the people when news of the fall of Jerusalem arrives whose pain will be deep but necessarily mute in the land of the victor (24:19-24). But then, when the news arrives… proved to be the LORD’s spokesperson, Ezekiel will be given a ministry to the Exiles (24:25-27). 1. The problem that led to judgement in these chapters is an insatiable corruption that corroded everything to the core.  What are the characteristic marks of the downward spiral to inevitable judgement that are described here? How may we avoid them ourselves? 2. How, in the light of these chapters, might Ezekiel’s mute suffering in the face of his wife’s death reveal the attitude of the LORD to our own unfaithfulness? The Book of Ezekiel Study 11 (Chapters 25-32) The call of Ezekiel (chapters 1-3) is followed by a description of the first stage of his ministry: to declare the judgement of the LORD on Judah and its capital Jerusalem (chapters 4-24). By the time that chapter 24 is concluded, the LORD has revealed to Ezekiel that the final destruction of Jerusalem has commenced and has indicated to him that when the news arrives his own ministry will be vindicated and a new stage of his work will commence. However, before the messenger arrives, eight chapters of messages that Ezekiel gave at different times are gathered together: oracles addressed to seven nations surrounding Judah: the more traditional ‘sparring partners’ of Ammon, Moab, Edom and Philistia (chapter 25) and the more distant and, generally, more powerful, Tyre (chapters 27-28:19), Sidon (28:20-24) and Egypt (chapters 29-32). Clearly these chapters heighten the expectation of the awaited news (even though, in actual fact, the dating of them indicates they were given later). However, the key to understanding why Ezekiel or his editor included them here is found in 28:25-26: ‘the house of Israel’ can only live in peace if its enemies are overthrown and the glory of the LORD can only be manifested when he has demonstrated his sovereign right to judge the nations in righteousness. The message of hope, touched on here and expanded in the chapters that follow require, logically, that such righteous acts of judgement precede. Without going into detail here all these judgements did come to pass in the succeeding years and sovereignty lost to every one in the immediately succeeding years. The fundamental charges raised against the various nations may be identified as pride, delight at the misfortunes of others and the taking advantage of them rather than expressing sympathy and solidarity. In several cases pride is accompanied by an insular attitude: ‘we are all right, it won’t happen to us’ rather than express moral outrage.  So much for the basic message. But why seven nations and why the highly poetic language of this section (especially in the oracles against Tyre and Egypt? The most likely answer is that ‘seven’ were the number of nations that Israel had to drive out to settle in Canaan (Deuteronomy 7:1) and seven is often a ‘perfect’ number in the Bible and here may symbolise the ‘fullness of the Gentiles’. Linked with this, is the recognition in the Bible that earlier events anticipate the later and greater. Without, therefore, being explicit, these chapters anticipate the greater and final actions of God to establish his reign of peace that will be expanded it later chapters. What are we to learn here about the relationship between the LORD blessing his people and glorifying himself and judgement? How and where might we recognise in our world the presence of the attitudes the LORD makes the basis of his judgement here: and can we recognise them in ourselves? Jesus, shall reign, where’er the sun does his successive journeys run’: so said Isaac Watts. What does this passage teach us about our own hope? The Book of Ezekiel, Study 12: Chapters 33-34   The first 32 chapters of Ezekiel are largely devoted to the threat of judgement against Judah. In 24:1 Ezekiel has been advised by the LORD that the final siege against Jerusalem has commenced… but no news has yet been received of the city’s fall and, to heighten tension and to prepare for the message to follow, chapters 25-32 have been devoted to a collection of oracles against the seven surrounding enemies of the LORD’s people. Now that news is received (33:21f) and what follows is a marked change in Ezekiel’s ministry. Thus, as we shall see, the remainder of the book records the prophet’s messages of the resurrection (chapters 33-39) and consequent new life (chapter 40-48) of the LORD’s people. But, first, we are provided with a prologue (33:1-20). The prophet is reminded of his God-given responsibility to speak faithfully on the latter’s behalf (33:1-9) and to do so among a people who are ready to place the blame on other than themselves (33:10-20). In the face of such claims the LORD declares through Ezekiel his reluctance to judge and his desire to witness repentance so that they might escape his judgment. The news that Jerusalem has fallen follows (33:21,22) and, even before the arrival of the minister, Ezekiel is freed from his dumbness to be the minister of the new start. However, first he must deal with two remaining problems. Firstly, he addresses the last few embers of false hope among those few who, yet left in Palestine, appeal on the mere ground of their descent from Abraham that their future is secure. Such are called to face reality in the face: persistence in moral and religious apostasy and self-reliance is no ground for confidence, whatever their spiritual heritage: they are still doomed (33:23-29). Secondly, there is the reaction of his fellow exiles: they may enjoy his preaching as ‘first-class religious entertainment’ but that was all (33:30-33). They, too, must awake to reality before they can be offered a lasting and secure hope! So hope there is (as the following chapters will demonstrate) but such demands a new and utterly gracious work of God. Specifically, the LORD will shepherd his people through the person of ‘my servant David’: gathering, feeding and healing the scattered and broken and providing them with justice, security and peace (34:11-34): in marked contrast to the contemporary leadership of those whom the LORD abhorred (3:9,10) and were characterised by being self-serving (34:2,3), power-driven (34:4) and disinterested in the fate of their ‘flock’ (34:5,6) who, as a consequence, were prey to the evil forces at work in their world (34:7,8). Further, this ‘David’ (and his flock) will be heirs of a new covenant and new land. Here the land will be what it was always intended to be: desolate and barren land will no longer be the habitation of wild beasts (34:25,26) but enjoy conditions that will produce seasonable fruitfulness (34:26,27). The inhabitants will be freed from those threats (and even the anxiety) that render such possible and will enjoy true ‘shalom’ with ‘Immanuel’ (God ‘with them’). Heaven on earth will have arrived! Questions: * Have these promises been fulfilled yet? If not, to what do they apply? * Consider the analysis of false leadership offered here: in what ways might it apply to or be seen in the Church today? The Book of Ezekiel, Study 13: Chapters 35-39 The gloomy chapters recounting the threat of the LORD’s judgement against Judah have come to end end. Jerusalem now lies in ruins (33:21) just as had been threatened. Now Ezekiel’s ministry is one that is re-directed to give hope of resurrection (33-39) and new life (40-48). Already, Ezekiel has promised a new covenant, a new land and a new king…. This is now expanded. Previously, David had brought peace to the people of God through the subjection of his enemies. A similar fate awaits God’s enemies now (35:1-36:7): among whom Edom is singled out as a typical example of those who had harboured hostility against the LORD (35:13) and his people (35:5) and delighted in its judgement (35:15; 36:5). Enemies overcome, the land will be permanently re-occupied (36:8-15). Yet this is no mere return to the past and all its failures (36:16-21). Rather, for the sake of his own name (36:22f) and out of sheer grace (36:29-32) the LORD purposes himself to deal with the past (and provide atonement and cleansing (36:24f)) and to secure the future (through that inner work of the Spirit that will produce conformity to the LORD’s will, 36:26f). Then, and only then, Eden will be restored, fellowship with the LORD established and his glory manifested (36:33-38). Then, nothing short of resurrrection will be experienced by his people (37:1-14), the divided people will be re-united (37:15-23). Thus, under new Davidic leadership, enjoying the full possession of the LORD’s people, they will live under a ‘new’ covenant, enjoy lasting peace and, above all, the divine presence (37:24-28). Two very strange chapters follow (38,39). In symbolic language a great battle is described. All the enemies of the LORD and his people gather to seek to overthrow them (38:1-17) but will be vanquished before the LORD’s awesome intervention (38:18-23). The utter overthrow of the enemy and its leaders will follow (39:1-8) and the entire land/earth be purged of all that might pollute it (39:9-16), the people of God will enjoy the fruits of the LORD’s victory (39:17-20). Thus, the victory of God that is celebrated when the sufferings of the LORD’s people will be seen to be occasioned by their sin (39:21-24) and their restoration due to his compassion 39:25). Then, knowing such mercy, his people will forget their shame and delight in his presence through the empowering Spirit (39:26-29). For reflection: The universal scope of these chapters (surely) have their fulfilment in nothing else that the ‘new covenant’ inaugurated (and to be completed) by Jesus. Here is one of the greatest passages in the Old Testament that speak of him and his work.  What are the specific lessons that we might learn here about what he has and will yet do in us?   The Book of Ezekiel, Study 14: Chapters 40-48 After the fall of Jerusalem (33:21),  Ezekiel’s ministry is re-directed to give hope. Specifically, he offers hope of resurrection to the people of God (33-39) and, now, offers a description of the new life that will follow (40-48). The language is, again, highly symbolic and looks far beyond the mere restoration of the people to Palestine. This vision is given some years later and is of the new Jerusalem (40:1,2), that the prophet is told to describe in loving detail and for the benefit of his hearers (40:3f). Thus, what immediately follows is something like a guided tour of the new temple area by an angelic being (40-42): the details best envisaged in the accompanying diagram. Such scrupulous attention might seem tedious, but it echoes the latter chapters in Exodus where, as here, where proper worship is established, the presence of the LORD is, once again, enjoyed (43:1-12, compare, by way of contrast, 8:1-11:25). The ongoing enjoyment of the LORD’s presence is then secured by the proper adminstration of the temple, its services and functionaries and festivals (43:13-46:18), centred on the archetypal prince (44:3 compare 45:7f) and expressed in proper ethical conduct (45:9-12). At 46:19 the tour resumes. Ezekiel sees the stream issuing from the altar and explores where it goes (46:20-47:12)! Ever growing it brings life to desert and even to the Dead Sea and its waters are universally therapeutic. The remainder of the book (47:13-48:35) describes the reallocation of the land to the 12 ‘tribes of Israel’ with emphasis prominence being given to the portion of the priests and the prince (48:9-22) and to the fact that every tribe had ‘equal’ access to the city (48:30-35). Thus, Ezekiel describes a city and land/earth centred around the abiding presence of the LORD and from which flows the resources that bring life to the world. There, too, true worship is offered to him, with the prince the mediator of the free access to God, uniformly offered to all his people. Reflection: As with our previous stody (and bearing in mind the symbolic and ‘impossible’ language of the vision) this passage cannot but have its ultimate fulfuilment in the New Covenant… but how? Commentary 2008-09-07T22:19:01+00:00 http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/the_busy_persons_guide_to_ezekiel/ http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/the_busy_persons_guide_to_ezekiel/#When:14:52:01Z A series of short studies introducing the message of one of God’s most remarkable spokesperson’s 2008-09-07T14:52:01+00:00 http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/jonah_4_the_rebellious_prophet/ http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/jonah_4_the_rebellious_prophet/#When:20:13:00Z Jonah: 4As the story of Jonah has unfolded, we have been introduced to one of the LORD’s spokespersons who (for some reason hitherto not explicit) seeks to evade the latter’s call upon his life. This proves impossible and, though Jonah might prefer death and hell than obey, he • Is forced to recognise life with God is better than death in hell; • Experiences ‘salvation’ from death in a quite remarkable way; • Receives a fresh commissioning to service without any divine recrimination for his past failure; • Proceeds to undertake the task appointed for him and with quite extraordinary success. The reader is, understandably, excited! What an incredible God who in mercy and grace demonstrates he is far more willing to save than to punish and is ready to respond to the repentance of each and every one of the most abject of sinners! Thus, we are absolutely astonished (or ought to be) when we read of Jonah’s response. Bluntly, he tells the LORD that the reason he fled in the first place was his recognition that this is exactly what he expected would happen: he knew the LORD would be ‘gracious and compassionate… slow to anger and abounding in love’, one far more ready to forgive than to judge (after all some such had been repeated time and again in the confessions of the people of God). While Jonah doubtless affirmed such a belief,  quite simply, there was something about the application of this truth with which he did not approve and (consequently) he returns to his earlier death-wish, despite the fact that suicide was anathema to the people of God (1-3). Students of Jonah have come up with all sorts of reasons as to why Jonah had such a problem… but we do best to let the story unfold so as to explain this remarkable enigma. With remarkable forbearance, gentleness and (perhaps) understanding, the LORD asks Jonah whether his attitude is appropriate (4). Petulantly, Jonah refuses to answer and (possibly hoping against hope) takes up a position that will give him a grandstand view of what takes place (5). However, it is Jonah’s need that is fore-grounded and we quickly learn that while Jonah has apparently given up on the LORD, the LORD has not given up on him and, rather than destroy the prophet (or allow him to self-destruct) the LORD shows mercy to him and seeks to enlarge his understanding ogf his ways (6a). The incident that follows leaves us with many unanswered questions. It might suggest that Jonah believes the LORD’s actions to be • either capricious: the LORD saves ‘on a whim’; • and/or applied beyond the limits of the reasonable and right such as to justify his opting out; • and/or (possibly saying the same thing but in a different way) reflect a belief that that LORD’s mercy to him was proper but that such mercy extended to the wicked Ninevites was wrong (6b-9)! Whichever, it reveals that Jonah has a fundamental problem with God’s grace. Somehow or other, grace is to be limited to the deserving or must be dispensed along lines determined by the human perception of ‘right and proper’. The final two verses (9,10) are significant. The LORD makes no attempt to justify his sovereign freedom to ‘save’ those he will, but does emphasise that his compassion far exceeds the ‘right and proper’. Humankind and even beasts (the last word in the Hebrew text) touch his heart and prompted his sustained and every attempt to deliver them from his wrath. We do not know how Jonah responded, probably we are deliberately ‘kept in the dark’. For the question is one we ourselves need to ask and answer for ourselves. Specifically, we need to ask ourselves: • do we realise that we are all objects of God’s grace? • do we acknowledge the freedom of God to save all those he wills? • is our perception of his grace one that is big enough to embrace us … and to embrace all? The sacrificial self-offering of the Son of God on the Cross demands the answer ‘Yes’ to each of these questions. Are we ready to agree and live accordingly. An outline by Stephen Dray Ferndale Baptist Church, North Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS2 4ET. A recording of the spoken message may be obtained at: http://www.ferndalechurches.org.uk Sermon 2008-09-01T20:13:00+00:00 http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/jonah_3_the_rebellious_prophet/ http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/jonah_3_the_rebellious_prophet/#When:20:12:01Z Jonah: 3We have seen that: • Jonah, the prophet, seeks to evade his call to preach in Nineveh: even death appears preferable to faithfulness to the call (though we are not told what was the reason); • Paradoxically, the words of the ‘mute’ and reluctant prophet, when uttered, lead to the salvation of pagans; • Further, Jonah cannot escape the LORD: his sovereignty extends to hell itself; • There, Jonah is forced, however, reluctantly, to acknowledge the LORD as the God of his salvation. Thus, Jonah finds himself back at the beginning (2:10) and we are left with lots of questions!!! What is going on? What will happen next? What happens is that: • Without recrimination, with a minimum of fuss, the LORD repeats his call (1,2) and this time, however reluctantly, Jonah obeys (3). • Despite the starkness of the message (4, and in contrast to the repeated experience of God’s prophets among his own people) the vast number of the ‘pagan’, grossly wicked Ninevites (1:2) ‘to a man’ (from the least to the greatest) show genuine repentance (5-9, note especially 8b). • While the Ninevites repent in uncertainty, they receive certain mercy (as Augustine commented!, 10) The way the story is told here is plainly designed to gain our sympathy. While Jonah may have understandably baulked at a ministry in such a dangerous and impossibly demanding situation, we are surely expected to celebrate: • The grace of God to the most undeserving. Thus, warning and forgiveness are freely given to the most notorious ‘sinners’ of the ancient world; • The responsibility of all to turn to him (‘pagans’ and even Ninevites) • The mercy of God to each one of us when we fail ‘first time round’. This is most fully seen in the light of Jesus’ cross. There the readiness of God to cross the gulf that separates us from him was seen in large pen-strokes. There the grace of God to intervene by warning and by action is wonderfully displayed. And there we still can turn and find a waiting Father, far more ready to welcome that judge, immeasurably more willing to set us right that to rebuke past failures. An outline by Stephen Dray Ferndale Baptist Church, North Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS2 4ET. A recording of the spoken message may be obtained at: http://www.ferndalechurches.org.uk Sermon 2008-09-01T20:12:01+00:00 http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/jonah_2_the_rebellious_prophet/ http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/jonah_2_the_rebellious_prophet/#When:20:09:00Z Jonah: 2If the book of Jonah were primarily intended to teach that we should not run away from God, it could happily have concluded at the end of chapter 1. However, we would still be left with the question, ‘Why did he run?’ and that question still remains at the end of the present chapter: a chapter that is itself leaves a lot of loose ends that anticipate further developments in the story. The obvious thing that we note is that, in the jaws of hell, the mute Jonah becomes a fluent poet and composes a Psalm!: though much of what he says in fact quotes from existing psalms (except for 5b-6 which express the realities of his own situation). Yet, beyond these obvious facts, much is unclear. For example, • when did he say this prayer? Is there a suggestion that it was only after ‘three days and nights’ (compare 1:17 and 2:1)? Was it ‘forced’ out of him? • Jonah nowhere says ‘Sorry’: so does this song represent a real or deep change of heart or the words of one with their fingers caught in the sweet tin? Might the latter view be supported by his use of ‘borrowed words’? • Jonah could be seen to view his deleiverance as down to his prayers, rather than the grace of God: he certainly emphasises what ‘he’ did (1,2,7). • Verses 8,9 are true, in and of themselves, but can read as a rather ‘hidden’ justification for his flight and deeply ironic in the light of 1:16. • While we are told that the LORD commanded the fish to deposit Jonah ashore, does the fish vomit up Jonah because it is literally sick of his hypocrisy (10)? In other words, it appears that Jonah has woken up to the fact that life is better than the death he had sought in chapter 1 and that death would bring to an end the possibility of fellowship with the LORD (3-6). He is also grateful that the LORD answered his prayer (1,2,7). Yet we look in vain for clear evidence of willing submission to the LORD and a deep repentance for his act of brazen disobedience: indeed we continue to witness (apparently) an element of self-justication for his earlier actions. His response to the LORD is partial at best! Notwithstanding this, the LORD saves, keeps and delivers him… and this is, surely, the main lesson of the chapter. The LORD will simply not abandon Jonah to his fate (1:17), he will not allow him to experience the death he deserves in the big fish (2:1-9) and he has every intention to deliver him (2:10). For what and why we are not yet told! Conclusion Jonah does not come out of this story well! Only due to the undeserved love and grace of God is he delivered. Even in the experience of grace, his thoughts are primarily fixed upon himself and his arrogant self-righteous superiority over others. So why should the LORD bestow such grace upon the reluctant prophet?…we look for answers in the chapters that follow. Meanwhile, we too are reminded that none of us deserve the grace of God: for there are elements of Jonah in us all. Such is both challenging and comforting. How easy is it for us to presume upon the divine mercy and to view that generosity as something that we have deserved. But how easy, too, to conclude we are beyond the reach of such grace. The book of Jonah and the life and death of Jesus give the lie to both! An outline by Stephen Dray Ferndale Baptist Church, North Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS2 4ET. A recording of the spoken message may be obtained at: http://www.ferndalechurches.org.uk Sermon 2008-09-01T20:09:00+00:00 http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/jonah_the_rebellious_prophet/ http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/jonah_the_rebellious_prophet/#When:19:58:00Z Jonah 1A good story starts at a cracking pace and leaves sufficient matters unresolved as to both invite questions and to want to read on…. Such is the book of Jonah. Thus we are introduced to the prophet who had (apparently previously) preached a message of hope to the ‘bad’ king Jereoboam II (2 Kings 14). Does his name ‘Dove’ (for names were important in Old Testament times) hint that he was a messenger of peace, does his parentage ‘son of Truth’ highlight his call to witness for the LORD? Whatever, when called to declare the truth of God and offer peace to the city that incarnated wickedness, he ran away. Why? We are not told here… and we best wait to find out if our question will be answered. More significantly, we are presented with a man who resigned his commission, headed in the directly opposite direction and did so to escape the consequences of his call (1-3). Thus, the scene is set! And so the call of God sometimes comes to us. We too can reject it and run from the very place that reminds us of our responsibility and call… not a few leave one church for another (or for none at all) for similar reasons! But the story does not give us much time for reflection! It races on. Jonah mutely (but, possibly, expensively if, as the text may imply, he bought the ship!) casts himself among unbelievers and ventures into the supposed sphere of the powers that are opposed to the LORD (for so the sea was viewed in ancient times)… possibly at a time of year when the outcome was faught with danger. Does Jonah have a death-wish? Yet, for all his downward flight (note all the ‘down’ verbs in this part of the chapter), the LORD is the master of all, even the sea (4). However, while even the ship considers the seriousness of the situation (4b) and the seafarers, well aware of the danger, take remedial action (5a), Jonah sleeps deeply (5b). We are not told why, but the ship’s captain deems it inappropriate: he should pray (6). The reality is, however, that he cannot; as we cannot when we are in rebellion against God… cannot and will not! Or if we try there can be no answer: to the unhappiness of rebellion is added the impossibility of fellowship. Eventually the situation becomes so serious that the sailors conclude that the storm is divinely ordained (7): an intuition that proves correct and Jonah is forced out of his dumbness (he doesn’t speak until verse 9). Simply, and with apparent resignation, he ‘spills the beans’ (9,10). He is forced to acknowledge his calling but in the face of increasing danger suggests that the sailors provide him with an assisted suicide: clearly this is preferable, in his view, than repentance and obedience! (11,12) Are we intended to be struck by his shear folly… and ours? Ironically, Jonah’s refusal to speak as God’s prophet, brings about the salvation of those among whom he finds himself (14,16). Meanwhile, Jonah passively accepts his fate (15)… or is it, for there is one greater than Jonah and more ready to pursue him than he is to follow the LORD (17)? Yet the provision of the fish is ambiguous: in the ancient world the fish symbolised the anti-God: to us Satan, the serpent! Has the LORD consigned Jonah, alive, to Satan? At which point our story takes a deep breath… and so must we till next time! Yet there are lessons for us to learn even amid the ambiguities and lack of answers given in this chapter! When God speaks, we are expected to respond not to evade his call. Rebellion renders prayer futile and probably renders us mute and sometimes even non –beleivers recognise how stupid it is to run from God. Yet there is a greater theme that lies behind this chapter… it is that of the pursuing God: not yet, however, held out as a ground for hope but of urgent challenge. The LORD of heaven and earth (9) cannot, ultimately, be evaded by Jonah or you and me! An outline by Stephen Dray Ferndale Baptist Church, North Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS2 4ET. A recording of the spoken message may be obtained at: http://www.ferndalechurches.org.uk Sermon 2008-09-01T19:58:00+00:00 http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/the_gospel_of_mark_in_the_footsteps_of_the_master/ http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/the_gospel_of_mark_in_the_footsteps_of_the_master/#When:22:46:00Z An outline of the gospel of MarkThe Gospel of Mark: In the Footsteps of the Master 1:1-8 There are doubtless many different ways of answering the question, ‘Where does the story of the good news that comes with Jesus begin?‘ Matthew begins his account with the account of Jesus’ ancestors, Luke with the announcements of John and Jesus’ births and John traces it all back to the creation of the world (and even before then!). Each of these are correct in their own way. Mark, however, begins with the ministry of John the baptiser. Why and what point is he trying to convey to us? Mark is characteristically brief in his Gospel (it is far shorter than any of the other three). But his very brevity means that he weighs his words carefully. This means that what Mark does tell us is very important. Notice then, that in these verses Mark emphasises, first of all, the content of John’s message (4,7,8). The sum and substance of what he has to say is this: * As human beings we are beset by two fundamental problems: a) we are sinners. Confession of sin (5) and the possibility of forgiveness (4) lay at the heart of John’s message. For Mark, this is the beginning of the good news. It remains the heart of the Gospel today. Human beings have many needs and the Gospel meets all of them! As a result, it is tempting for us to put the emphasis other than in the place where the Bible puts it. The Gospel is intended to bring joy, self-esteem, etc. but this is the fruit of a relationship put right with God. The heart of the Gospel is the message of sinners saved by grace. b) we are morally and spiritually dead. John could make his appeal (as had many voices before him) and people might resolve and look for a new way. However, John realised that this is not enough. Without inner renewal (the baptism in the Spirit, 8) outward acts were relatively valueless. The Gospel is not simply a declaration of forgiveness to the penitent. It speaks of a new birth, of inner renewal, of the power to live a new life. Only where such an emerging life is seen can we speak of a truly Christian conversion. So, we begin to see why Mark begins at this point. What is the beginning of the Gospel? It is the declaration to fallen helpless sinners that forgiveness and renewal are available. * Our problem lacks an ultimate solution apart from the ministry of Jesus (1,8). This short passage begins and ends with Jesus. This is deliberate. It is also important to notice what Mark records about Jesus. He is altogether different from us. We are powerless to meet our own tragic needs. But Jesus is God (‘the Son of God’), qualitatively different from the greatest of men (7, the follower is greater than the master and the master unworthy of the most abjectly servile task on behalf of the ‘disciple’). As God incarnate he can save (the meaning OF ‘Jesus’) and cleanse and purify (8). No explanation of the ‘how’ is given here. That comes later. Here we are simply told that he alone can meet our deepest needs. Look to him! * Our response John was profoundly aware of the fact that he deserved no mercy from God. He was a slave, less than a slave of Jesus. Yet he willingly served and we catch a sense of awe and joy in his words in verse 7. We live in a cynical rationalistic world. Why should I believe? Mark emphasises that this is so because God planned and executed the impossible in the full face of human witnesses. We are not without evidence which bids us face the full reality of the message. 1:9-13 This is a remarkable passage and a vital one! In five short verses, Mark describes two of the most remarkable experiences in the short ministry of Jesus. Moreover, his language is highly allusive and, rather like with a child’s kaleidoscope, constantly changing images rush past. Why mention the heaven torn asunder, why is the Spirit described as a dove, what is the significance of the temptation taking place in the desert, why the reference to the wild animals? All this makes it almost impossible to preach on for the expositor can only touch the surface of the text; to offer a framework through which the hidden depths can be viewed. This is the task here. No comprehensive study is offered. But enough of vital importance shared to encourage further reflection and obedience. * Salvation is the work of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (9-11). The baptism of Jesus is introduced here in terms which appear to be intended to emphasise his willing identification with the sins of his people, symbolising the work that he had come to do. He comes to bear the sins of the world. This is the context in which we are reminded of three things: a) Jesus was committed to save us. Part of the meaning of baptism is it is a pledge. That cannot be absent from Mark’s thoughts here. Jesus’ baptism attests to his commitment to the task of being the sin-bearer. b) the Father was delighted with the task which his Son had pledged to undertake. If God hates sin, he is also the delighted author of salvation whose initiative draws us back to him. c) the Spirit was pleased to equip Jesus for his work. Just as the Spirit hovered with creative power over the first creation, so he appears with Jesus to help effect the work of new creation. This reminder of the Trinitarian work of God in salvation is not intended to be of interest merely to theologians. It is intended, rather, to: 1) remind us of the greatness of our salvation and how much we mean to God; 2) ensure we do not think of Jesus as interposing between us and an angry Father. It is the Father, Son and the Spirit who hate sin. It is the Father, Son and the Spirit who have saved us from our sins! * Jesus suffered greatly to win our salvation (12,13) Mark immediately moves on from the baptism to the temptation. If Jesus’ experience included rapturous experiences, it was characteristically beset by God-appointed trials that equipped Jesus perfectly for his ministry. Thus, his experience was one in which commitment was put to the test by God himself (It was the Spirit who drove Jesus out into the wilderness); it was also a costly obedience, subject to extended test. Mark seems to intend us to understand that it was a lonely, fearsome experience. If angels ministered to him, protecting and keeping him (13), there is no suggestion that this made the experience any easier. Perhaps there is even the suggestion that the ministry of the angels was the obverse side of the experience of trial. Was he aware they were there at the time? This should lead to awed worship and rededicated service. But there is one other important lesson that it is surely intended to emphasise: * Our discipleship is one in which we will often experience trials. The disciple is not above his master. If we sometimes experience moments of deep intimacy there is another side to the Christian’s experience; a darker side which Jesus has sanctified by willingly submitting to it himself. For we, too, experience events that may be ordained by God and where we (in hidden-ness?) have his support. Such experiences may be fearsome, unending, dark and (apparently) inexplicable. In our present evangelical world we need to be reminded that Jesus endured the cross. Yet there is comfort here. If the Spirit drives out and angels minister, the knowledge that we are in God’s plans and those who minister to him are sent by him to serve us gives reassurance (even though we may not see them!). * Conclusions: So with awe and wonder we catch a glimpse of what our salvation meant for the Triune God. Amazed we are encouraged to faithful service, like the master before us. Such service will sometimes lead us to the mountaintop; often it will leave us perplexed and apparently alone in the valley. Yet if our Master has passed this way we can follow his footsteps. And if glory lay at the end for him, no less awaits us! 1:14-20 In two brief incidents Mark describes to us the early ministry of Jesus (14f.) and the call of the first four disciples (16-20). Such brevity must not deceive us into thinking that the events described are insignificant. Rather, Mark’s intention is to set before us some lessons which are vital to us both individually and corporately. * The Gospel of Jesus is to be at the centre of our life and witness as the people of God (14f.). Mark provides us with a summary of Jesus’ teaching. He presents Jesus as a teacher whose (subsequently described) actions attest to the authority of his witness. It is this witness that is presented as the heart of the Christian ‘good news from God’ (14, end). What, then, is that ‘good news’? It is that, according to promise, Jesus is the one through whom God’s purposes for the fallen world are effected. This is the essential point of 15a. Our response? 15b spells it out. Trusting to its message (‘believe in’) we are to have a change of heart and make a turn round in our lives (‘repent’). Mark’s summary is brief to the point where it is almost incomplete. But it does highlight that Jesus is the answer to a world of need and that a radical response is demanded of each one of us. But why do we mention all this? Partly because there are always those who need to make the appropriate response. But partly because we need to judge the ministry among us and establish our priorities on the basis of this teaching. This naturally leads to our next point. * The community of faith is to be characterised by two things: a) a people single-minded and whole-hearted in their obedience to Jesus. Elsewhere in the Gospels we are given more detail as to Jesus’ knowledge of and relationship with the men mentioned here. Mark simply records one fact. When Jesus called them, they followed immediately and unreservedly. In a nutshell, they demonstrate what a truly repentant life is like. Not all are called to forsake a former livelihood as these men. But we are all called to put Jesus first. b) a people equipped and ready to extend the kingdom. In this story Jesus appears as a rabbi, inviting these men to learn from him so that they can represent him. There was a uniqueness about their call. But Mark is less interested (at this point) in such uniqueness as in the exemplary character of the event. Jesus trained to send out. ‘How does this apply to us?‘ Simply, it teaches us that individually and corporately we are to live as those committed to Jesus. We, not the pastor, are the church! Equally, the pastor’s role is to lead and equip not to do the work for us. A measure of his success will be the way he equips us to better fulfill our responsibilities. Together we have the responsibility to be as best equipped as we can be to use our distinctive gifts to advance his kingdom. 1:21-28 When the Gospel writers wrote their books they did not simply record the events that they describe. As with any writer they also interpreted what they recorded. Inspired by God’s Spirit, they had a point to make! Right at the beginning of his description of Jesus’ ministry, Mark records this incident. He has done so because he wants us to grasp some very basic and important lessons about Jesus. He realised that this incident sets before us some vital truths that we all need to grasp. So what did Mark want us to know? * When people truly encounter Jesus they are brought face to face with truth. When Jesus taught at Capernaum, the effect was dramatic. The people were stunned and awestruck. So much so was this, that Mark mentions it twice (22,27). And what struck them was not the manner of Jesus’ presentation (he used no clever rhetorical techniques nor does it appear that he raised his voice). No! What struck them was the authenticity of what he said. It rang staggeringly, self- authenticatingly, true. One would have loved to have been a fly on the wall of the synagogue of Capernaum! Yet we do have the written records of Jesus’ ministry and if only we have eyes to see and ears to hear they ought to have the same impact. None spoke as this man nor did those mighty acts that corroborated his testimony. Have you encountered Jesus yet? * When evil encounters truth it seeks to avoid it. This is the point of verses 23,24. As the people recognise (27), this one encounter is typical of all encounters between Jesus and the world of uncleanness and darkness. Faced with truth in the person of Jesus the demon understood very well the significance of the event: doom. Yet evil is not ready to easily release its grip. Notice the tactics this demon employs (for it is typical of the way in which evil all too often manipulates us and seeks to evade the truth). a) evil seeks to ridicule the truth (‘Jesus of Nazareth’); b) it seeks to deny the authority of truth in all areas (‘What has your sphere and mine in common?‘); c) it lies (‘us’) and exaggerates its power; In sum, evil brags and boasts and lies when faced with the truth of Jesus. There is truth here we need to grasp. How often when faced by the call of Jesus have we be willing to listen to ‘voices’ which variously do the same things? And how many of us are still evading the truth as a result of one excuse or another?! * When Jesus encounters evil, he destroys it. This is vividly portrayed in 25,26. The braggart demon is silenced and driven out by two short commands of Jesus! So how does this truth apply to us? There are, at least three applications: a) Jesus will one day destroy all evil. He will judge the world. Are we ready for that day? b) Jesus breaks the power of darkness in all those who look to him. Whether anew or afresh we can look for him to give us the power that we need. c) Jesus is sovereign over evil today. We need to avoid evangelical dualism. We readily see why Mark thought this incident so important to record. Wrapped up in it is the challenge to renounce the world and follow Jesus. Central to its message is the declaration that Jesus is the answer to an unclean world’s bondage to darkness. Fundamental to its teaching is that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Will you and I make him so? 1:29-34 * Reprise When Mark came to write his Gospel he did not simply write down all the things he could remember or that he had been told (by Peter and others?). No! He recounted the stories he told in order to communicate some truth about Jesus that he believed it was vital for us to learn. As we have studied carefully his story we have begun to perceive these things. And there is little doubt that they are vitally important to each one of us. * Jesus brings us Good News from God. We are so used to using the word ‘Gospel’ that we forget what it means! It was a word which (apparently) the first authors of the New Testament invented because it captured in a nutshell that the coming of Jesus into this world is ‘good news’; good news from God. This is why Mark began his story the way that he did (verse 1) and he gives the first summary of Jesus’ teaching by stressing that this was to heart of Jesus’ message (14). In addition, Jesus emphasised that this was the good news of all time; for it was good news from God (14). Certain of us cannot let a news bulletin past (even if we have heard it all before) and, at certain times when important news is awaited, we all anxiously await the next bringer of news. How much more should we be ready to hear this message and the repeated emphasis of the present section. * The Good News that Jesus brings us from God is that He brings to an end our bondage to the devil and effects of our fall into sin. In the immediately preceding verses verses (21-28) Mark has recorded the remarkable incident in which Jesus shows himself sovereign over the dark spiritual powers which sometimes possess human beings but have brought the whole world into bondage. Faced with the most severe form of such bondage Jesus is seen to be absolutely all powerful over it. But then in the first part of our passage (29-31) he shows the same effortless sovereignty over a severely sick (half-dead?) woman. With the minimum of fuss this woman is raised to full health without any need to convalescence. The Bible teaches that sickness and death are the (universal) result of bondage to sin. Here, Jesus is revealed as all powerful over the effects of sin. In this way Jesus’ ability to deal with mankind’s bondage to sin and its consequences is eloquently stated. Mark sees the incidents as ones which illustrate/demonstrate the great truths about Jesus; that demonstrate why his coming is ‘good news’. * The Good News that Jesus brings us from God is good news for everyone. This is the point of the final verses in the section we are studying together (32- 34). The other incidents might have been deemed to be ‘one-off’s’. However, the crowd realise that, if Jesus can meets such needs in individuals, he can meet such needs in everyone who comes to him. Their hopes are not disappointed. With the same authority as shown in the earlier incidents, Jesus heals many possessed and sick. The point is not lost on Mark, and he is anxious that we should grasp it too. Jesus is ready and willing to meet the deepest needs of all those who come to him. * Conclusion Very simply, then, Mark unfolds the good news to each one of us. The good news is simply this. In a world in bondage to sin, Jesus is God’s answer for he destroys the power of Satan and brings new life to all those who come to him. Doubtless we could fill out the picture (as Mark himself does later). But this is his message. With it, of course, comes a challenge. Have I come to him? And if I have, do I live as though the good news really is true? 1:35-39 Mark shows great care in the way in which he ‘writes up’ the stories of Jesus’ ministry; skillfully using them, he seeks to set before us, his readers, the challenge of the coming of Jesus into the world. Jesus’ coming is good news (1); good news from God (14). In his person Jesus came to destroy the spiritual powers of darkness which keep men and women in darkness (21-28) and to bring to an end the consequences of the fall (29-31). This ‘good news’ is available to all those who seek Jesus (32-34). Meanwhile, he calls one and another to follow him and share in his ministry (14- 20). This same invitation is repeated here (38) in a context which suggests that Mark’s point is to raise the question, ‘What does it mean for you and me to follow Jesus?‘. It is a vital question, and one we do well to ponder. * Following Jesus means more than basking in his glory. We can understand Peter’s enthusiasm in wanting to find Jesus and get him back to Capernaum where he would be able to bask in the reflected glory of his friend’s popular ministry (36). The temptation was there for Jesus to oblige such desires: it had been the same in the wilderness. On each occasion in which Jesus retires to pray in Mark’s gospel it is at those critical moments in which the question is, ‘What sort of Messiah is he going to be?‘. So it is here (35). But Jesus turns his back on such a path and bids his followers join him in a far more demanding role which will involve hardship, misunderstanding, unpopularity and (for some, including himself) death. For us, too, following Jesus means that such experiences may well be ours. We have to be ready to take up our cross to follow him. This is not the whole picture; but it is a part which we too easily fail to reckon with. It is tempting to want the glory without the suffering. * Following Jesus involves us in being co-workers in seeking to free men and women from the bondage to sin. At one and the same time Jesus offers these representative disciples an enormous privilege but a hugely demanding one. The privilege is that of sharing with him in the proclamation of God’s good news (is it significant that Mark omits a reference to ‘healing’ here?). But such (as is implied here) involves effort rather than relaxed enjoyment of his work. We are not all called to be preachers in the sense the disciples were but this passage reminds us that we all have an obligation to strain every nerve to ensure that Christ is made known. Such ought to be a priority in our corporate and individual agendas. Sadly, we have often failed and sometimes we have been failed by those who limit what this means to one or another task (or tasks). But the challenge remains….! * Following Jesus requires us to seek to reach the nations for God. Though Jesus began in the synagogues he went out to ‘Galilee of the Gentiles’; one of the most cosmopolitan areas in the ancient world (39). Mark, writing a book for the Gentiles, cannot have failed to make the connection. The Gospel is a gospel for all nations and, therefore, our concerns (again individual and corporate) must be global. It is a responsibility that rests on each of us to make the distant islands hear the good news. It was this that galvanised a cobbler in Kettering to heroic deeds for Jesus. His baton has been passed on to us. Practically, of course, we need to start where we are. As a church we are beginning an increasing involvement with Poland and Albania. This is the challenge God has put before us. How can we best meet it? And what other avenues has God revealed to us? * Conclusions The Gospel of Jesus is a glorious one. The more glorious in that we have been given the inestimable dignity to be co-workers with Jesus in sharing it with a world in need. The question we have to each face today is this: ‘Am I ready to face the demands of doing the best that I can do to make him known throughout the world?‘ And what about us as a church? 1:40-45 Mark wrote his Gospel with a purpose; a purpose not difficult to identify since, right at the beginning, he indicates it is to communicate good news from God in the person of Jesus (1, 14f.). In order to demonstrate this he describes a number of incidents in Jesus’ life; incidents which point beyond themselves to hint at who he is and what he has come to achieve. This is true of the two passages that are under consideration here. Simply, but powerfully, they communicate the relevance of Jesus’ ministry to you and me today. * Jesus is able to meet the deepest needs of all who come to him. The condition of the man described in this passage was palpable. Seriously infected by a leprous condition (‘full of leprosy’, Luke 5:12a), his condition was rendered worse by being socially and religiously ostracised (the laws of Leviticus 14,15 were rigorously applied in C1 Palestine). It is likely that his condition had awakened in this man a sense of his own sinfulness (though the Bible does not make a precise equation between the two) and it was freedom, not simply from his leprosy, but from his guilt that the man sought (He asked not simply for healing but for cleansing). Interestingly, he had no doubts as to Jesus’ ability. He had learned enough to have faith that Jesus could meet his need. Indeed such was his understanding that he believed that he could draw near to Jesus (within an arm-stretch) and not ‘contaminate’ him. Here then, was a man who was convinced that Jesus could deal with his need of guilt and restoration to the community of God’s people. Severe though his contaminated condition was, he believed that Jesus could restore him. This is surely good news from God! * Jesus is willing to show his compassion to all those who come to him. There was one doubt in the man’s mind (and only one); ‘was Jesus willing?‘ (40b). However, two remarkable things happened which indicated Jesus’ willingness to meet his need. a) Jesus was ‘angry’ (possibly 41a, where there is a textual variant) or deeply touched by the man’s condition (‘strong warning’ in 43 hides a very strong and highly emotional word perhaps not well translated in the NIV). b) Jesus showed deep compassion for the man (emphasised by his touch of a man who had probably lacked such human contact for years and by the NIV rendering ‘filled with compassion’). The need of this man touched a cord deep within Jesus and the very depth of his need evoked the Saviours’s response. Thus, he was both cured and cleansed (again NIV ‘cured’ misses the fact that the ‘cleansed’ word occurs again in the Greek). Here is good news from God. Jesus is able and he is willing to meet the needs of the most abject and needy who draw near to him. What a delightful picture of ‘gentle Jesus, meek and mild’. * Jesus is willing and able to meet us because he is the Messiah of God. Yet how is it that he can meet such needs so fully and compassionately? This narrative hints at the answer in several ways: 1) He doesn’t catch sin, he communicates cleansing! It is a remarkable fact that this man felt that Jesus would not be contaminated by his disease but destroy it without, himself, being contaminated. What ‘manner of man’ is this? 2) He does (even goes beyond) the actions of the promised Messiah! Isaiah 61 had promised that the Messiah would have a remarkable healing ministry; but there is no mention of curing leprousy (something contemporary Judaism considered as difficult as raising the dead). If the law bears testimony to such healing (44), then the testimony to who Jesus was/is is eloquent indeed. This, of course, was Jesus’ point (43,44); he wanted folk to face the challenge of his ministry not simply see him as a remarkable wonder-worker). Jesus is the promised saviour-redeemer. This he has demonstrated for the unprejudiced. * Conclusions: Very simply Mark has set before us the heart of the Gospel. Jesus demonstrated that he was the promised deliverer. Today, as then, he is ready to bring forgiveness and give new life to those who seek him out; however serious their condition. And this certainty exists whether we are seeking him for the first time or are coming anew to him. ‘Come and welcome to Jesus Christ!‘ Simply but graphically, Mark has set forth the Gospel in this action of Jesus. In Jesus God has declared his good news; forgiveness and renewed fellowship with God. 2:1-12 Mark’s account of Jesus’ ministry is good news from God (1:1,14,15): but what is the good news? As the first chapter unfolds Mark begins to hint that the good news is Jesus himself. But why? The present story is recorded by Mark to answer this question. * Jesus is good news from God because he came to meet fully our deepest needs (see, especially 1-5). The Bible’s silences are sometimes illuminating! We do not know if this man’s experience of suffering had brought an awareness of his unpreparedness to meet God. Perhaps he had no sense of need beyond the desired to be able to move, sit up, walk and run again. Whichever was true (could Scripture’s silence be deliberate?), Jesus went to the heart of the matter and identified his deepest need and dealt with it! Not that paralysis is not a serious condition: it is recorded precisely because it was little short of a living death. However, the story is intended to indicate the problem of our living unforgiven by God is far more serious. The very seriousness of the man’s condition makes this point starkly. * Jesus reveals himself as one fully able to deal with the problem. He is incarnate God (7; the scribes correctly recognised the claim!), able and willing to forgive (as the sequel demonstrated, 9-11) and to bring an end to guilt now (‘on earth’, 10) and restore us to a filial relationship to the Father (‘my son’, 5). Here is certainly good news since the same can be true for us; if we will receive it. This is demonstrated by two incidents in the story: a) simple and humble trust is emphasised; no words were uttered and the paralysed man could do no more than willingly accede to the actions of his friends. b) single-minded seeking Jesus is emphasised by the way in which the friends went to great lengths to ensure that their friend’s need was brought before Jesus. Thus those who single-mindedly and humbly bring their need to Jesus will find his answer no different today, ‘my child, your sins are forgiven’. However, not all reacted in the same way to Jesus. * Too often our closed minds and hearts prevent us from receiving Jesus (see especially 6-11). a) The religious and intellectual authorities (what an irony: so often it is they who stumble and shipwreck others) are faced with a theological and logical question to which they offer a correct answer. Either Jesus is God or he blasphemes (6,7)? It is worth noting this. C.S. Lewis recognised that Jesus was either who he claimed he was or a lunatic. At least these men did not resort to evasions that are not evasions (!). b) They were also correct in their (implied) assertion that actions speak louder than words. Jesus’ action is (of course) not absolute proof, but it is an answer in terms of their own assertion. At best they seem to have been awestruck: yet the folly is obvious (11). Even in Israel such experiences were unprecedented. Sometimes it is not the lack of evidence that is the problem. The world changes rapidly, but people don’t change much. The causes and the foolishness of unbelief are frequently the same today. So what about you and me? * Jesus is depicted here as the most kind and gracious of people. a) His grace is seen in the tender way in which he dealt with the paralytic; going directly to his greatest perceived need (forgiveness) and addressing him in terms of filial warmth (‘Son’). b) His grace is seen in his willingness to meet his opponents at the point of their foolishness and seek to awaken faith in them (10) Simply, all this illustrates vividly the foolishness of turning our back on such a lovely Saviour. So, this passage bids unbeliever and believer alike to pledge themselves to this gracious saviour. 2:13-17 There is much in this short section that is obscure because of the brevity with which two incidents (13f., 14-17) are recorded. The story is pared down to emphasise the essential elements within it. Jesus is about his customary business, with people coming and going and he teaching them (13). However, his ministry takes a surprising turn as the call of Levi=Matthew, (which echoes 1:16-20); emphasises that Levi (of all people!) was taken into the intimate inner-circle of Jesus. He demonstrates that the wealthy and wicked have a place at Jesus’ side! Thus, Levi is presented as a wealthy and important person (a senior tax official) who was a social and religious outcast (expelled from the synagogue) and hated as both a compromiser with imperial aggression and one who had taken advantage of his own people by siding with the aggressor. Yet he receives the same imperial command of Jesus and responds. Matthew’s renunciation of his past was greater than the four previously recorded. They could return to fishing but he burnt his boats utterly; there was no way back. In the second part of the story Levi’s wealth is reflected (15); not many could host a banquet (certainly not in ‘his house’). David Hewitt says, ‘We can imagine every [high-class] rogue in the district being there, shoulder to shoulder with Jesus. Levi wanted to honour his new-found master and give others the chance to meet him. It was the first evangelistic dinner!‘ However, the point of telling the story lies elsewhere. Thus, the ‘scribes of the Pharisees’ (probably refers to ‘young theologues’) are perturbed by Jesus’ conduct. Jesus’ reply, is the crux of this narrative. Very simply he states: * he is the great physician; * as such his ministry extends to the most needy; * self-righteousness (Jesus’ usage here appears to be ironic) blinds people to the calling of the people of God and obscures the need of persons who believe themselves to be superior to others. 2:18-22 This is one of the most puzzling passages in Mark’s Gospel and it seems to have almost as many interpretations as interpreters. Nevertheless, it is a passage that must be addressed; partly because it is in the Word of God and partly since it seems to tackle a fundamental issue: what are the nature and the marks of true Christianity? This question effectively lies behind verse 18. In response, two answers are offered by Jesus. * True Christianity is centred around living appropriately in the light of the fact that Christ has come (19-20). It is easy to miss the point here. This is not a discussion about when we should or should not fast or whether we should fast at all! That may well have been the context of the original question (18), but Jesus points out that there is a wider framework! In the OT the relationship between God and his people was seen as one analogous to that of a bride and groom (see Isaiah 50:1ff., 62:5; Jeremiah 2:32; Hosea 2:1 etc.). Such passages are also sometimes ‘eschatological’ (see especially Isaiah 62:5), looking forward to the messianic age. Implicitly, against this background, Jesus is claiming to be God present as the groom with his bride; the one who inaugurates the messianic age. A wedding feast is no time for a fast! The messianic age is one that should be an era of profound joy. We should not over-press verse 20. It is part of the illustration. Jesus’ main point, however, is that the coming of the bridegroom-king makes the present age one of joyful celebration. We live in the tension between two ages (present but not yet) and such brings great grief and pain, yet Jesus is here saying that ‘Since I have come I make a world of difference’. Thus, a characteristic mark of Christianity should be a deep sense of joy because Jesus has come. * True Christianity is incompatible with even the highest form of religion prior to Christ’s coming (21-22). The change that has occurred with Jesus’ coming means that structures/activities that characterised the former age of God’s dealings with his people may be inappropriate to the new situation. There are two aspects to Jesus’ teaching here: a) it is absurd to combine old and new (21): Doubtless Jesus exaggerates himself here to convey his point. Moreover, we do well to notice that he is not dealing with all old things but the difference between religious life before and after his coming. The difficulty here is that Jesus doesn’t spell out what he means! Tantalisingly, he leaves it for us to work out in the light of the full NT revelation. This can be hard work. At a superficial level we can see what he means; e.g. in our evangelical and protestant response to ‘priestcraft’ and the ‘mass’. But how often (even here) our actions can betray our words. We do not seem to realise the full implications, e.g. that we are a ‘kingdom of priests’. b) the old should not restrain the new (22): Simply, Jesus says, the old structures of Old Testament faith are not able to (should not) contain the fullness and power of the New Covenant revelation. Again we wish he had been specific! Even new wine needs skins; Jesus is not ‘anti-structure’ here! However, he does seem to emphasise that there needs to be a flexibility and appropriateness to the structures which are to ‘contain’ the new covenant life. Perhaps, as a minimum, Jesus is suggesting that Spirit-empowered people/fellowships will find that God does not always work ‘according to plan’ and that we need to be ready and able to respond to his initiatives. But surely there is more here…. * Conclusions Confused! Perhaps we are meant to be; for Jesus’ sayings here are enigmatic; intended to invite us to deeper reflection and to profound amendment of attitude and life in the light of his coming. However, one thing is very clear. With his coming things have changed. We now live in an age that should be characterised by profound joy and a delighted enjoyment of the treasures that are contained in new covenant faith and life. Let us be sure we live as children of the messianic age! 2:23-27 The connection with the preceding section is topical or logical rather than chronological; this indicates that Mark is developing the theme of growing opposition to Jesus. In this rather involved passage, it is important to explain before we apply! The significant features of this passage are: a) that the event recorded took place on a Sabbath and b) that the disciples were engaged in a task legitimate on other days (Deut. 23:25) but not (as verse 24 indicates) on the Sabbath since it was regarded as reaping (see Exodus 34:21). This arouses questions in the constantly attending crowd, especially for the insistent members of the Pharisaic party (caught by the use of imperfect verbs); the actions of Jesus’ disciples were ‘unlawful’. Jesus answers (25,26) with an appeal to Scripture (1 Samuel 21:1-6), answering appeal to Scripture with Scripture in a manner typical of rabbinic debates at the time. He picks up the word ‘unlawful’ demonstrating that the high priest (and guardian of the law) acted ‘unlawfully’ when there was a human need that took priority over ritual law. Traditionally, this event was thought to have happened on the Sabbath (since the change of bread occurred on this day). This makes Jesus’ appeal to the incident still more pointed and relevant. Jesus’ point (27) would have been conceded by some rabbis: though not extended to this situation. Jesus, thus far, appears as a radical rabbi! However, with verse 28 Jesus breaks new ground! It is not, however, clear as to what exactly he meant. It seems best to view it simply as an ambiguous and veiled messianic claim. But what does the latter part of the verse imply? Most seem to assume that Jesus is claiming that Jesus has the authority to determine the usage of the Sabbath or that in his service such laws may be abrogated or cancelled; but on what ground if the Sabbath is a moral requirement? The absence of the ‘even’ in Matt. and Luke may suggest that its presence here is emphatic; pointing to the fact that Jesus is the one to whom the sabbath pointed. This seems more in keeping with the understanding of the Sabbath elsewhere in the NT and with the fact that elsewhere in this section Jesus is making highly radical claims. So what do we make of this passage? * The importance of human need over ‘the way we do things’. * Jesus is the one through whom we enter the Sabbath ‘rest’.  The New Testament is not sabbatarian (nor does it reject the need for recreation and rest) but rather points to our experience as one in which we have entered the ‘eternal sabbath’, enjoying his daily fellowship and serving him at every moment… a far more radical challenge than ‘what should we do on a Sunday’! 3:1-6 These verses come at the end of a section of the Gospel which begins at 2:1. They describe a series of encounters between Jesus and the intellectual (and religious) leaders of his day which climax with the present passage. By the end of the present story, the final outcome of Jesus’ ministry is inevitable: death (6). For us, as for Mark’s original readers, these verses are a study in unbelief. As such, they are designed to help us understand unbelief when we encounter it and are a profound warning to us lest we, too, follow such a path. * The stubbornness of unbelief Earlier in this section the religious and intellectual leaders of Jesus’ day show an interest in assessing Jesus and his ministry (2:6), though already they seem predisposed to exclude the one possible explanation that was the true one (2:7). By 3:1-6 any such openness has long since disappeared; they are ‘watching him closely’ with a view to seeing whether they can find a ground to accuse him. Jesus is guilty until proven guilty! Thus, for these men, intellectual elite though they may well have been, there was no possibility that they could do anything else than find fault with Jesus. We need to reckon with this fact. There is a place for apologetics and for seeking to demonstrate the rationality of faith. However, men and women will seldom be won to Christ in this way. For at the heart of humankind is a bias which has closed minds, hearts and wills to receiving the truth. Men and women are stubborn and blind until God’s Spirit opens the eyes! For all the good we see in our world, spiritually the hearts and minds of men and women are blinded. * The absurdity of unbelief The story here is black-comedy. Looking to find a reason to accuse Jesus, they anxiously watch to see if Jesus ‘would heal’. Jesus’ question reveals the absurdity of it all (4). Implicitly, he says, ‘I am ready to do good..but you are planning evil. So good has become evil and evil good in your understanding’. One of the tragedies we experience when witnessing to unbelievers and in listening to or reading those who justify their unbelief is, so often, the sheer absurdity of it all. Truly, there are none so blind as those who cannot see. So clever and not so clever men and women today clothe their unbelief in the reasoning of which brute beasts would be ashamed! Time and again such absurdity is exposed, yet there always seems an ever more absurd reason which convinces them in their darkness to reject Jesus. As believers, however, we need to see this! Unbelief often tries to befuddle us with clever argument and try to impress us with our own naivety. Don’t you believe it! Remember the opponents of Jesus! C) The tragedy of unbelief There is something profoundly sad about verse 6. Intellectually countered by Jesus (4) and faced with the incontrovertible evidence of a miracle conducted before them while seated in the front row (!, verse 5), implacable enemies found common cause to remove Jesus from the scene. Small wonder Jesus’ mixture of grief and anger. Times change but little the common hostility to the Christian message. Strange bedfellows are found in common cause against the Gospel. Two consequences follow for us: a) as believers we should not be surprised when we witness such disunited opposition to Jesus. Greater is the world’s shared hostility to Jesus than the greatest divisions of mankind. b) those who are ‘bystanders’ do well to understand the dangers that beset us. The Devil is relectant to release his own and he is quick to confuse minds so that they cannot think straight. Yet we do well to recognise the absurdities of reasoning to which he is bound to descend before he can make a charge against Jesus. * Conclusions This passage might seem appropriate to an evangelistic occasion. But there are lessons, warnings and (above all) encouragements that we can all draw from this story. Faith in Jesus is not folly. The evidence is not lacking to offer us a secure basis for trust. We are not called to some sort of absurd leap into the dark. It is unbelief that stubbornly refuses to face facts, absurdly snatches at the most unlikely straws and tragically in wicked communion descends into the pit. 3:7-12 With these verses a new section begins in Mark’s gospel extending, probably, to 6:13, and describing the later stages of Jesus’  Galilean ministry. The section begins by offering a contrast with the previous story. There, the religious leaders had been aroused to plot against Jesus. By contrast a large crowd (7,9) coming from a vast area (8) welcome the teaching and the miracles of Jesus. The lesson to be learned from this is that often those without preconceived ‘hang-ups’ find it easier to respond positively to their encounters with Jesus. It is probably best to see Jesus’ ‘withdrawal’ as strategic (7). Jesus leaves the synagogue, and the learned religion of that place, and goes to where the ordinary people receive him gladly and are enriched by his ministry. Sometimes it is wise for us, too, to seek to bring Jesus to those who may be ready to receive him rather than continue to ‘bang our heads against a brick wall’. Nevertheless, verse 8 seems to suggest that the crowd came for the wrong reason; ‘they were fascinated and impressed by Jesus’ miracles’. They did not really understand who Jesus was; the paradoxical irony is that the evil spirits did grasp who he was (11)! Ironically, therefore, Mark contrasts religious leaders with the common people and the common people with demons! This is surely intended to give us pause for thought! Who is the Jesus we seek to present? What are the real evidence of a faith that saves?The connection with the preceding section is topical or logical rather than chronological; this indicates that Mark is developing the theme of growing opposition to Jesus. In this rather involved passage, it is important to explain before we apply! 3:13-19 This passage is strikingly different from much of Mark’s Gospel. It lacks the vivid detail characteristic of Mark’s story-telling elsewhere. Thus, the location and occasion is vague Yet this vagueness does not extend to the details offered regarding Jesus’ call and the naming of the apostles. Mark seems to have stripped the narrative bear to emphasise these features. Specifically, the present passage seems to describe the formal appointment of twelve persons to be apostles: although it is only an intermediate step toward the final responsibilities they will be given. But why was this so important to Mark and what does all this have to do with you and me? First of all, in view of the general lack of detail here, the reference to ‘twelve’ is surely significant. In the Old Testament there were twelve men who were the foundations upon which Israel was built. Here twelve others are chosen (they do not self-select or ‘opt in’) who are given a unique office as the foundations of the church. While the word ‘apostle’ is used differently elsewhere in the New Testament of (for example) church planters and church delegates there remains a recognition that these twelve (minus Judas and plus Paul and possibly Matthias) are special. In particular, they are regarded as the authorised recorders, interpreters and validators of Jesus’ ‘once for all’ ministry. For us, this means we should always ask the question, ‘What do the New Testament authors say?‘ Secondly, while the apostles were unique (and are here given a ministry of preaching and exorcism that is not delegated to all!), they are also an example for each one of us. They tell us that when God calls * his choice is not necessarily based upon our status and gifting (certainly not as far as the normal standards of such are concerned); * his choice brings together into a ‘family’ those who might otherwise have had little in common and much to encourage mutual antagonism; * he calls us to forsake all and follow Jesus; * he recognises that some will let him down badly. Not much more than a list… but a list clearly intended to provoke our reflection and to challenge our commitment to Scripture and the demands of true discipleship. 3:20-35 Throughout his Gospel, Mark shows a considerable interest in the different ways that people respond to Jesus. This is seen in one of the most important sections of the book (8:27-30) and that same concern is shown here. In these verses, therefore, Mark draws our attention to four different ways that men and women responded to Jesus. Their successors are with us today and the lessons which Mark drew from these incidents are no less relevant and vital for us to learn. * Tragically some people can deliberately refuse to face the challenge that Jesus brings (22-30). The Jerusalem authorities came to hear and see Jesus with a fixed, unshakeable view of him (22). Simply put, that position was intellectually absurd (23-27) and the result of spiritual darkness consequent upon their moral depravity (28-30). There are two lessons we ought to learn from this: a) those of us who are Christians need to be reminded that today the arguments used to dismiss Jesus are often absurd. However sophisticated they may sometimes seem, they invariably seem as threadbare as those of the ‘teachers of the law’ when carefully examined. In reality they are a smokescreeen designed to offer an excuse for rejecting Jesus. b) those of us who are not believers need to ask seriously whether our objections are really genuine questions. Sometimes in the pilgrimage to faith we can have genuine questions for which we seek answers. All too often, however, the very questions etc. can be advanced by us to ‘put off’ the challenge to faith. Stubbornly insisted on they lead to the eternal sin. c) Others can show an excited but undiscerning interest in Jesus (20). This was demonstrated by the crowd. Earlier in the chapter it is apparent that the crowds enthusiasm was the result of the stories told about Jesus (8) and the benefits they perceived that he could bring them (10). Yet both there and here they failed to perceive the truth and the challenge that truth was intended to bring (compare 11). In a self-centred world it is possible for us to fall into the same trap. A true search after Jesus will move beyond a mere interest in the benefits he can bring to us, to the point where, face to face with who he is, we are ready to respond in humble trust and obedience to him. d) Others can find themselves confused when faced with Jesus (21,31f.). This was true of Jesus’ family. He failed to meet the expectations they had of him; doubts and uncertainty surrounded them. Sometimes we too can be confused. Jesus seems such a strange ‘saviour’ figure, he doesn’t seem to follow the path we would expect of the ‘Son of God’. For Jesus’ family the challenge they had to face was that they needed, a radical shift in their understanding. All too often our problems, too, are the result of looking at Jesus in the wrong way. * Finally, there are those who enjoy a family relationship with Jesus because they humbly trust and follow him (33f.). Simply, this sets before us the end of every search and the quality of life which results from such a discovery. At one and the same time it is a glorious yet solemn truth. What a privilege! Do I ‘match up’ to it? Have I seen this as the end of my search? * The world may change but people seem much the same from generation to generation and age to age. What was true of men and women when brought face to face with Jesus is true of us too! So, we need to face the challenges of this passage; challenges to each one of us whether stubborn in our resistance, confused yet seeking, aroused to interest in Jesus or those who have welcomed him. 4:1-20 Already the clouds are lowering about Jesus’ ministry. Despite the fact that vast crowds are still seeking him out (1), he has been forthrightly rejected by the religious and intellectual elite of his day (see, especially, 3:6), is being sought out by the crowd for the wrong reason (3:7-11) and misunderstood by his family (3:20f.). Only the little band of disciples and adherents (10) seem to be standing by him for any length of time. For Jesus it must have been a lonely experience; for even his adherents were slow to understand (13). And for them the situation must have been shrouded in mystery; ‘If this is the promised king, where is the evidence of his rule? Why is it that men and women do not bend the knee before him?  When will we see his kingdom?‘ As disciples of Jesus we can often identify with such questions. The pressures on individual and church life can raise, even today, similar questions. Jesus answers his disciples and our questions by telling a number of stories; the first of which we are considering here. His simple point is that what is true at a natural level is also true at the spiritual. * The kingdom of God grows through the dispersal of the word of God Perhaps a brief word on the meaning of the ‘kingdom’ is in order here. It is simply ‘the rule of God’ in individual, community and world. That rule depends upon the ‘word of God’ being dispersed and received. Transformation at the individual level, in the church and nationally and internationally depends on our being ready to first receive the word and then make it known by lives and words. The applications to us are, it appears obvious! But why does the kingdom so often fail to grow or grow so slowly? * Hardness, shallowness and self-indulgence can prevent the kingdom of God growing Later (26-29), Jesus will tell a story that emphasises the almost ‘automatic’ nature of growth. Here, however, he focuses upon another truth. The tragedy is that so often the word of God seems to have no effect in others (as well, all too often in us!). Simply, he reminds us that it is all too often true that a) the word is given no chance at all; b) that it can be responded to (possibly enthusiastically) but shallowly or c) that legitimate pleasures become inordinate or difficulties are not seen as occasions for growth but as a reason to take offence at the truth. These and other things in us can so often lead to no growth or slow and stunted response. So the fault does not lie with the seed, nor with the sowing but with the response. This can be an encouragement when we see little response. Equally, we need to seek to identify areas in our individual or corporate lives where we are in danger of being hard, rocky or stony! * The kingdom of God has a sure and glorious end! The kingdom of God may sometimes be thwarted in its growth but, the emphasis here, an abundant harvest is assured (depending on how the ‘fold’ is understood it could emphasise a miraculous growth). There is every reason to be optimistic; personally and collectively. We can be sure that the kingdom will come. There is much to encourage us here and much to challenge, too. May we be people who learn the lessons well. 4:21-35 ‘Jesus is king’: or so we sing. But where is the evidence of his rule? We live in a highly ambiguous world where often the forces of darkness seem to be on ‘the victory’s side’; church life can appear to be a constant battle against the incursion of worldly attitudes and practices and even as individuals we can be all to aware of the dark forces that seem at work within! So where is Jesus’ rule to be seen? Such a question seems to lie behind these three parables that Jesus taught and which are recorded in our passage. The lessons which Jesus taught remain very relevant to us today. * The kingdom of God (= Jesus’ rule) is present and growing as his message works its inevitable work (26-29). The main point of this parable seems to lie in the words ‘all by itself’. The sown seed, almost automatically (Greek, automate), produces a fruitful harvest. The most nodding acquaintance with both church history and the present growth of the church bears eloquent testimony to the truth of Jesus’ words. Sometimes while enduring the ‘day of small things’ and caught up in our own little world and pressured by an ‘instant’ society we can lose sight of these things. But the rule of Jesus is to be seen now. Moreover, what is true internationally is true at a local level and in our own experience if we but stop and reflect for a moment! * The rule of Jesus will, one day, be seen in a worldwide and glorious kingdom (30-32). There are two significant points in this parable. There is the reference to the ‘birds of the air’ which may hint at the ‘Gentiles’ (see Daniel 4:12; Ezekiel 17:23; 31:6). Secondly, there is the contrast between the smallness of the seed and the size of the plant. The mustard seed was proverbial in ancient Palestine for its smallness among herb-seeds. But even today travellers report mustard growing to 12-15 feet and offering shelter from the winter storms for birds. So we need to fix our eyes on what will be and, even in the small tasks we undertake, to recognise that, in the hands of God, such work can bear fruit far greater than we could possibly imagine. Have we not individual testimonies to bear this out? * Nevertheless, the reign of Jesus is often hidden and requires perceptive faith to be seen (21-25). This parable is difficult to grasp. What is the point of comparison? In view of 24f. it would appear that Jesus intends to indicate that there are things that are hidden which will not always be so, and were not intended to be so. So the kingdom may seem mysteriously hidden (and divine providence may have planned it that way) but this will not always be the case. In the meanwhile, we need to carefully listen now and respond by faith though we do not presently see what we are looking for. So these parables are a call to confidence. A confidence born of what has been, is and will be. A confidence which is not blighted by the mysterious ‘non- appearance’ of Jesus’ rule but is bolstered by discerning faith. May each one of us find fresh confidence as we step out on the path of discipleship, as we look for downward and outward growth in our church and churches and as we look for the rule of Christ in our world. The Christ who died is also risen and will come again! 4:35-41 In 4:1-34 Mark has provided the reader with a selection of Jesus’ teaching. Now in 4:35-5:43 he proceeds to describe four great miracles that Jesus undertook. The present passage, bearing all the marks of an eye-witness account is included here to emphasise three great truths which are as relevant today as they ever were. * Jesus is our ‘down-to-earth’ companion. There is something profoundly touching about the portrait of Jesus which is painted in these verses. Here is someone who enjoys relaxing at the end of a busy day with his friends and someone who gets exhausted after the demands of his work are met (a day which here seems to have included blasphemous accusation (2:20-29), the visit of his family with a view to take him home (2:31- 35) and teaching both by the lakeside and at home (4:1-34). Indeed he got so exhausted he fell asleep (38)! At the same time, when roused from sleep by critical friends, he was ready to help them as best he could (39). All in all, here is a friend with whom we would surely have felt comfortable and ‘at home’. But this Jesus is indeed our Jesus: a gentle Jesus who knows our frailties and weaknesses (for he has experienced them); a friend indeed. How different from the overbearing taskmaster which we can so easily imagine him to be! * Jesus is our awesomely powerful friend. The storm which engulfed Galilee was one that made even experienced sailors frightened (38). It was one that Jesus addressed as though it was demonically inspired (39 and compare 1:25). Yet with a word the storm ceased and the sea’s agitated motion reverted to complete calm (39). Our gentle Jesus is not a weak Jesus. His authority is such that the created order and the spiritual powers opposed to God are powerless before him. The disciples had begun to understand who Jesus was; but they are staggered by this new revelation (41); their Jesus was one who they had circumscribed in a far smaller box! You and I, too, need reminding that not only is Jesus ‘meek and mild’ but he is our all-powerful friend, whose greatness far surpasses anything that we can imagine. * Jesus is our example of humble trust. Jesus was exhausted; small wonder he fell into a deep sleep. But not to be wakened by such a fierce storm…..! The reason for such a response is surely to be found in verse 40. The disciples lacked that humble trust in the Father that Jesus had displayed. For Jesus the knowledge that he was in the will and the hands of the Father meant that he could find a peace in the heart of the storm. For the disciples it proved a hard lesson to learn; we are little different. Yet the need to learn from Jesus is no less vital to us as we face the storms that sometimes surround our lives. Sometimes Jesus gives deliverance (for he knows what we can handle) but there are occasions when we, too, are called to place our hand in the hand of Father and Son and in humble and loving trust walk in the darkness and storm. This is a lovely passage for it reveals such a lovely Saviour; one we can love because he is so gentle and understanding, one we can trust because he is all-powerful (‘nothing is too difficult for him’) and one we can follow; knowing that the path we tread is one he has already walked! 5:1-20 In the section of his Gospel running from 4:35-5:43 Mark records three incidents in which Jesus demonstrated his miraculous powers. The present incident is carefully chosen to illustrate Jesus’ authority over the spiritual powers that are opposed to God (it is worth keeping this in mind as we approach this passage; since there are many tantalising questions that it raises but fails to answer. We do well not to become preoccupied with unanswerable questions and fail to learn the intended lessons!) * Our world is in the grip of spiritual powers which are organised in hostile array against Jesus. This truth is demonstrated in a number of ways in the present passage: * While we must be careful that we do not give credence to demonic lies, the appeal to the name ‘legion’ (9) may be a reference to irresistible power and unity. * The demons have no doubt who the enemy is (7). * The possessed man is described in terms that emphasise that his condition was serious (Mark’s account is emphatically elaborate); the man could be neither bound nor tamed (4a,b) and his condition was one which emphasised that the demonic world is out to destroy. * Yet here is the rub (!), the response of the people of the Gerasenes shows that materialism and the disturbance of a familiar way of thinking and living is just as much evidence of the bondage into which the world and its inhabitants falls. Our world is little different. Sometimes we encounter cases of demonic possession but they are merely an extreme example of the overall bondage in which the world (and even we ourselves) can find ourselves. * Jesus has supreme authority and power over all the hostile spiritual powers that besiege both us and our world. Even in Gentile territory (1), Jesus banishes Satanic darkness.  Despite their number (9 and 12 etc.) and their bluster (especially 7), the demons are seen as abject and powerless before Jesus (10). The very man who had been so much in their thrall is completely restored (15). Even resistant Decapolis is not impervious to the Gospel proclamation (compare 7:31-8:10). It is so easy for us to be dualistic or become fatalistic and pessimistic about our own progress and witness. But the ultimate victory is ours; and we are on the side of one who wishes even in the present world to demonstrate his power and authority. * Jesus is able to free us from those things that bind us individually and he wants us to remain as lights even in the darkest place. Jesus transformed the most unpromising materials (15 compare 2-5) and he left behind this transformed person as his ‘missionary’ (19,20). How much more comfortable it would have been with Jesus (18). Instead, it was his will that the man strive for all his might to be a light in the dark place (19,20). * Conclusions: Unrealistic idealism has no place in the Christian faith; such triumphalism is doomed to disappointment. However, though we live in a world besieged and indwelt by dark satanic powers which lurk even around the saints of God, we are to be confident in the one who has the power and authority to transform us and our world through our light-bearing as his children. 5:21-43 In the section of his Gospel running from 4:35-5:43 Mark records three incidents in which Jesus demonstrated his miraculous powers. This passage, therefore, contains the last of the three:  the calming of the storm (4:35-41, which demonstrated Jesus’ power and authority over nature), the healing of the demon- possessed man (5:1-20 which showed his authority over all spiritual powers opposed to God) and the present incident (5:21-43) in which his power over death is demonstrated. In this context we can see that the present passage is intended to teach us that: * Jesus is king of all! The final and great enemy which we all face is death, the result of sin in this world. However, here a hopelessly half-dead and ritually impure woman is restored to fullness of life and salvation (34, ‘peace’ and ‘healed’ [better, ‘saved’] seem to carry this thought) while Jesus’ sanctity is unimpared. And a child, struck down on the very threshold of youth is restored to life. Simply, Jesus shows that he has power over death and its consequences. * Jesus is ready to meet the needs of all! There could be no greater contrast than the penniless, nameless woman and the ruler of the synagogue. And yet, despite the fragility of each ones understanding of Jesus and faith in him, Jesus responded with great compassion to both of them when they sought his help. Jesus, is unchangeably the same. He is ready to meet your needs and mine today and every day. * We are called to trust in Jesus for all our needs. The emphasis in this passage is on personal faith (34,36). Both of these desperate people found that Jesus was able to help them when, in despair, they humbly asked for his help. So we are called to trust Jesus. In our day to day needs and in the great Commentary 2008-04-03T22:46:00+00:00 http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/the_enigma_code_an_outline_of_ecclesiastes/ http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/the_enigma_code_an_outline_of_ecclesiastes/#When:22:43:01Z An outline of the book of EcclesiastesTHE ENIGMA CODE: AN OUTLINE OF ECCLESIASTES 1:1-11 The Book of Ecclesiastes begins with the author boldly and baldly stating his view. His argument runs as follows: Human existence with all its efforts brings no lasting rewards (3): * one generation succeeds to the next leaving no significant impact on the world left behind (4); * all of the created order is subject to tedious, burdensome repetition (5); * freedom is a mere illusion that masks the senseless circularity of reality (6); * activity is expended without any recognisable effect (7); * the most zealous research never reaches definitive, lasting conclusions (8b); * in sum: the whole of human existence is inexpressibly wearisome (8a). Indeed, novelty is, itself, an illusion (9-11). The appearance of novelty (10a) is merely a reflection on the brevity of life and the shortness of memory (10b-11). In reality, human existence does not change (9). This is a bleak picture indeed… so we are, perhaps, bidden to enquire as to who is speaking and who are the intended recipients of his words. Who, then, is speaking? At first the answer seems clear: surely 1b implies the author is Solomon? But careful investigation suggests that it is not quite as simple as this since little is made of the allusion to the king throughout the Book and it seems more likely that this is a deliberate literary ‘fiction’ that the original readers were expected to recognise. Perhaps, therefore, rather than ask the question ‘Who?‘ we should ask ‘What sort of person is the implied author?‘ Here we can note several important points: * it is the ‘messianic’ king: the one appointed by God as his representative on earth; * it is one who speaks with discernment and wisdom: the term ‘Teacher’ implies someone with considerable ability in understanding reality; * it is a ‘prophetic’ voice: the initial words echoing the beginning of most of the prophetic books. To whom, then, are the words addressed? The critical phrase here is ‘in Jerusalem’. It implies that these words are addressed to those who were accustomed to gather in the place where the LORD ruled and where his word was customary heard and his wisdom revealed. In other words, it is a message addressed to the people of God… to us. And yet… such a message seems strangely out of kilter with what we might have been expected from a messianic prophet invested with divine wisdom. Indeed, when his summary is considered (2) it is even more strange! The word translated ‘meaningless’ has a range of meanings: insubstantial, transient, futile, enigmatic…. And he both excludes nothing and emphasises its extent. The temptation, of course, is to add a ‘gloss’ that begins with ‘But….‘. A variety of such expedients have been used over the centuries. But the passage will not allow this. Before we go any further into this book we have to bow before the inspired author’s judgement. Only then, he might suggest, are we likely to understand what the divine author intends us to learn in Ecclesiastes! 1:12-18 The writer of Ecclesiastes commenced his book with what appears a startling message. Addressing the people of God, he tells them, bluntly, that life is a complete enigma. Individuals come and go without any significant impact on the world they leave behind, nature itself proceeds in a wearyingly repetitive round, freedom is an illusion, much effort effects nil results, the more one knows the less one grasps, novelty is merely a consequence of corporate forgetfulness…. Such is the introduction to his book. It provokes many questions, prompts rebuttal .... But it is in Scripture and we must listen before we judge! So we come to the present passage which specifically addresses one of the characteristic features of his world and ours: the pursuit of knowledge. Clearly, the author is no anti-intellectual. He pursued the scholar’s path, so he tells us, wholeheartedly and with total thoroughness (13a). No stone was left unturned in his pursuit as he plunged into the task of the polymath and he clearly regarded his programme as superior to foolish ignorance (17). Bluntly, however, he tells us the results of his labours:  much effort (13b) resulted in meagre returns (14). Specifically, the complexities and contradictions of human existence remained unchanged and rendered remedial action impossible and adequate explanation out of reach (15)...: an untranslated exclamation at the begging of both 14 and in 16 emphasise that this was something of a surprise, but nevertheless true! It would, of course, be possible to reply by suggesting that the problem was his: perhaps he lacked adequate resources, opportunity, strength of inclination, simple ability for the task… a greater man might succeed where the lesser failed! But our author refuses such an ‘escape route’ from the dilemma he is posing. As king his resources were beyond the reach of others (12), his qualifications for the task impeccable (16), his commitment total and the subject matter comprehensive (17). No one could be better qualified to reach his conclusion: a conclusion reiterated by use of a proverb in verse 18.  Yet the proverb is interesting as it echoes Genesis 3 (as does 13b) and with that echo we begin to perceive the point to which our author is leading us. We live in a fallen world, the result of which is that, for all its value, intellectual activity cannot resolve the profoundest enigmas of life. And this, he argues is true even for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, God’s people (12). Several conclusions may, therefore, be drawn: * to seek ‘meaning’ in and through life through academic endeavour is folly; * to expect to resolve life’s ultimate enigmas (even as believers) is the height of stupidity: there are God-imposed limits on our creaturely (and fallen) natures that can never plumb the mysteries of God and his ways. Sometimes, the writer might suggest, agnosticism and doxology is the way of wisdom. 2:1-17 In chapter 1 the writer of Ecclesiastes suggests that life is inescapably enigmatic (1:2). He notes that individuals come and go without any significant impact on the world they leave behind, nature itself proceeds in a wearyingly repetitive round, freedom is an illusion, much effort effects nil results, the more one knows the less one grasps, novelty is merely a consequence of corporate forgetfulness. In particular, he concludes that, in a fallen world, the pursuit of knowledge (in and of itself and as the key to answering life’s enigmas and providing a sense of personal achievement) is an empty one! Thus, in chapter 2 he looks for answers and satisfaction elsewhere: in pleasure, material acquisition (1-17) and in work (18-26): three of the routes that human beings often take to find satisfaction and answers to life’s enigmas. He shares his discoveries with us. Here we address the first two. Pleasure is pleasurable but (again in and of itself) is merely a frivolous response to our deep-seated need for ‘reality’ (1-3). Whether the writer has baser pleasures of the binge-drinker or the ‘superior’ pleasures of the wine connoisseur in mind (!) is not clear and irrelevant to his application… it did not deliver (1b). We may enjoy ourselves but enjoy ourselves to death! The acquisition of wealth proves equally unable to fulfill our search (4-11). The pleasures of the bottle were exchanged, by our author for the more ‘productive’ life of material gain… as they so often are (is it a generational thing?). Growing capital (7) an expanding bank account (8a), the ‘fringe benefits’ of success (8b) accompanied by showy (and multiple) residences (4-6) and a large subservient work force (7) offered the author temporary satisfaction (10). But, when all was said and done, the enigma remained and the hollow sense of meaningless remained (11) ... so often seen in the bitterness and hardness of the ‘successful’.  The inescapable (interim) conclusion: death overshadows everything and underlines the ultimate enigma of life (12-17). On the one hand our author recognised, as the result of his all-embracing search (12) that wisdom is so much better than folly as light is to darkness (13-14a). He does not welcome fools gladly! But the undeniable reality is that they both end up in the grave (14b); the same fate overtakes them both and the merits of the wise will soon be forgotten (16). Little wonder the frustrated anger that is expressed in verse 17! With these illustrations we may detect that the writer has subtly shifted his ground from seeking answers to life’s ultimate questions to looking for personal fulfillment (though they are, of course, related). Addressing those who resort to pleasure and the acquisition of wealth and a ‘name’ he rams home the point that these neither ultimately satisfy nor make any sense in the face of death. So how do we apply this to ourselves? * If the pursuit for answers to life’s enigmas is ultimately beyond the ability of (fallen) humans, it is also true that the substitutes that we often construct to give ‘meaning’ to life are empty and ultimately valueless. * If death is the great leveler and reduces all human ambitions to the dust, true wisdom, the answers to life’s enigmas and the experience of ‘personal fulfillment’ must be found elsewhere than in those pursuits listed here! * Consequently, we begin to perceive the writer’s point, our lives are to be built upon his God. True wisdom is to know him and that fellowship that breaks through the barrier of death into eternal life… a vision that those of us who live the other side of Easter may be able to grasp a little more fully than the writer of Ecclesiastes. * A final word: this is more than saying we need to believe in Jesus for our eternal security. It is to say that the shape and goals of our lives, the values that we embrace and live by are those that find their foundation in him and him alone… all other choices are as empty and valueless for the believer as everyone else! 2:18-26 A Reminder: In chapter 1 the writer of Ecclesiastes concludes that life is inescapably puzzling (1:2): individuals come and go without any significant impact on the world they leave behind, nature itself proceeds in a wearyingly repetitive round, freedom is an illusion, much effort effects nil results, the more one knows the less one grasps, novelty is merely a consequence of corporate forgetfulness. In particular, in a fallen world, the pursuit of knowledge as an answer to life’s ‘big questions’ is an empty one! Without such answers, ‘meaning’ may be sought elsewhere: in pleasure, material acquisition (2:1-17) and in work (2:18-26). However, as to the former two, the author concludes that the substitutes that we often construct to give ‘meaning’ to life are empty and ultimately valueless since death is the great leveler and reduces all human ambitions to the dust! And so to Work So we come to work…. And, typically of the author, he offers his deeply personal but universal conclusion before offering his reasons:  if I am seeking satisfaction in life through my physical endeavours such can only lead to bitterness (18a). The reasons are (and the author is brutally and typically, even painfully, honest): * It is others who benefit from my physical and mental efforts (18b, 21): the pleasure is theirs! * Work is as unending as it is unrewarding and as painful as it is vain (23); * There is no certainty that my ‘foundational’ work will be well built upon (19); a fool may destroy my hard-won efforts; * So to seek satisfaction and ‘meaning’ through work can, if I am honest, only create deep disillusionment (20. The Sum of the Argument so Far Answers to life’s mysteries are unobtainable through the enquiries of finite human beings and (aiming lower) personal satisfaction in life cannot ultimately be found through pleasure-seeking, material acquisition or hard graft… in other words, it can be found nowhere! The world’s accelerating and unending hurry is vain. But the author is no pessimist ... as the following verses testify; for in the brief paragraph that follows (24-26) he begins to offer a hope that shines ever more brightly as the book proceeds. A Major Turning Point Life and its pleasures are not ends in themselves nor to be mastered or used to promote personal agendas… but, for all their perplexity, are to be received as divine gifts. Under such circumstances, that ‘satisfaction’ that the ‘sinner’ works and strives for is gifted to the person who ‘pleases God’. Conclusion A famous French spiritual classic is entitled The Sacrament of the Present Moment: it is a simple call to God’s people to re-orientate our lives away from the slavish pursuit of the goal that always lies just beyond our reach (or tarnishes when touched) and to recognize that life, for all its mysteries, is to be enjoyed as a moment-by-moment gift from God. The writer of Ecclesiastes would surely utter a loud ‘Amen’... as would the Saviour who lived his life in moment-by-moment enjoyment of fellowship with his Father. 3:1-15 A Reminder: The Argument so Far The writer of this book has made two major points in his introduction (chapters 1,2): * The in-built human need for answers to questions about the meaning of life cannot be met either through the enquiries of finite human minds nor through those activities with which we fill up our lives so as to give us a sense of purpose and self-worth. * ‘Meaning’ can only be found in that knowledge that God imparts and in receiving life as gifted from his hand.  However, the author is well-aware that his radical diagnosis goes so much ‘against the grain’ of human wisdom and activity and he recognises the need to emphasise and explain his point more thoroughly…like any good preacher… and so the book continues! A Problematic Poem (1-8) This passage is the most well-known in the book; for many of us as a result of the 1960’s ‘pop’ version by Joan Baez. But for all our familiarity with it no-one seems sure as to the meaning of its comprehensive description of the realities of life! Does the poem describe the wearying and meaningless cycle of life or does it hint, more positively, at a divine and purposeful ordering of the world? Yet, perhaps, that is the point…. Beginning with the ultimate realities of birth and death (2a), the same events and experiences are ambiguous in themselves and can be viewed differently from different perspectives and the poem may be designed to highlight this very fact. Only the sequel will reveal the correct perspective… A Provisional Conclusion (9-15) The last verses of this section help us answer the question and encourage the reader toward the author’s own conclusion (a conclusion that will be expounded throughout the book). Especially striking here is the fact that ‘God’ is mentioned or is the subject of virtually every verb! It helps us understand his point! St Augustine, one of the greatest Christians who has even lived (certainly one of its greatest minds), once said ‘our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you’. Our author agrees! Thus he makes four points: * Human beings have a God-shaped hole at the core of their being (11b); * The ways of the deity cannot be mastered by human reflection and action (11c). To attempt to ‘control’ God by comprehending him is unproductive and burdensome (9,10); * Lives lived in harmony with the will of God (12b) bring contentment (12a) and the simple experiences of life, received as from God, provide satisfaction that eludes all others (13). * Thus, the very (threatening) regularities of life may become a pathway to God himself (14) and a guarantee that God will call all to account and unravel current enigmas (15). Conclusions This is not the ‘full Gospel’ but, for many, the pathway charted by the author of Ecclesiastes is a necessary road to the Gospel… and, for the rest of us, is a constant challenge as to where we build our own ‘foundations’. Fundamentally, life cannot be mastered by thought or action. Such can only bring us face to face (if we will listen) with the inexplicable and burdensome round of human existence. But when we ‘step back’ and place not ourselves but God at the centre of our existence… then the picture changes and that for which we yearn and were created becomes reality in our experience. 3:16-22 Faced with the realities of life that he has already spelled out ‘letter by letter’ so that the point is not missed, the writer of Ecclesiastes has begun to hint that the only answers to both the enigmas of human existence and the deep-seated longing for a peace that meets our human restlessness, lies in God himself and the fact of life beyond death. The writer emphasises this point here with two illustrations: injustice (16-17) and death (18-22). Both the illustrations and the author’s response are as pointed and relevant today as they ever were. * Our world is characterised by the fact that ‘might is right’ (16). Those with power and authority should provide just judgment but the almost universal reality is the power is used to abuse (16). Such may extend from domestic violence, through to bullying at work, to the systematic use of the law to cloak the de-humanising oppression of the weak by the powerful. We see such violence everywhere, few of us escape it altogether and, for many, it can suddenly break forth to destroy us. Yet, argues our author, the answer to the problem of evil lies in the fact that there is a judge before whom all must stand and one whom will disburse justice with reference to all that has taken place amid the wearying round of human existence (17). Without belief in a just God human existence, not least the experience of evil, has no answer. * Our existence is haunted by the spectre of death (18-20). By his own version of Ilkley Moor, the author emphasises that all of us will return to dust (20), that the fate of humans appears no better than that of animals (18-19). Such, he feels, together with all humanity, makes no sense (19b). We recognise the force of what is being said: death, ever indiscriminate, is a ‘grim reaper’, bringing to an end knowledge, goodness, love… so much. So how does our author respond? His point appears to be this: attempts to control the future are a wasted pursuit (21, 22b: a better interpretation than to assume the author did not know about life after death) and while we have life it is best to enjoy it as from the hand of God (his ‘lot’ or ‘portion’). Such of course, only makes sense, if we share the author’s belief in a life beyond the grave where there will be ‘time for every activity, a time for every deed.‘ Once again, the author is not spelling out the full Christian message or even the complete Old Testament hope. But that is not his purpose here! He has a more modest but no less necessary aim: to make his readers/listeners recognise ‘life is a bummer’ and fails to satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart. Only the twin beliefs in the life to come and the justice of God can begin to offer a light in the darkness. All other philosophies and actions fall tragically, painfully short. It is this, at the present point, the author wishes us to take with all seriousness. As the book continues the light will become greater and offer a clearer perspective. Only the New Testament stories of Jesus will provide 20-20 vision. But before we reach those heady heights we must first grasp with our minds and hearts the solemn challenge brought before us here! 4:1-16 The message so far * The writer of Ecclesiastes, addressing God’s people as spokesperson and messianic representative (1:1) has concluded that human existence does not make sense (1:2-11). No human answers/philosophy can be conceived to answer life’s enigmas (1:13-18) and no strategies for ‘self-realisation’ adopted to ameliorate the situation (2:1-23). Certain regularities can be discerned that might be seen to offer a basis for human decision-making (3:1- 8) but injustice (3:16-17) and death (3:18-21) tend to make a nonsense of all human calculation.  * At the same time, an emerging and, at this point, secondary theme has begun to emerge. Hinted at in 2:24-26 it is more fully outlined in chapter 3. Simply put, the existence of a benevolent and just God and the fact of life beyond the grave means that life is to be received as God’s gift (3:9-15) and the enigmas of life faced in the knowledge that resolution alone lies in the fact of life beyond the grave (3:16-22). Without such convictions there are no final answers to life’s enigmas! The point of the present chapter All of which brings us to the present chapter that forms the concluding part of the first section of the book, the first twelve verses of which are self-consciously structured into three parallel parts (1-3,4-6,7-9) followed by a conclusion (10-12). 13-16 tie up the ‘loose ends’ at the end of the first part of the book. Recognising this structure will help understand the message. First of all, the author says: * The world is, for many, a miserable, comfortless and hopeless place (1,2) which, if possible, were better avoided (3). * The world is characterised by either a destructive, competitive ‘dog eats dog’ attitude (4) or the self-cannibalism of the drop-out (5) both of which are best rejected (6). * The world is dominated by irrational self-interest (7,8) whereas mutual help is preferable (9). This answer to all three sections is then embellished: * Companionship brings relief from life’s burdens and trials (10-12). The illustrations here may be metaphorical: adversity, temptation and grief is best faced in fellowship with others. But why does the author make these points at this juncture of his argument? The best answer would seem to be this: in an enigmatic world where such attitudes and actions prevail, those whose hope is in God and whose security lies beyond the grave will live by very different standards….  All of which brings us to the final three verses (13-16). Translation and interpretation of these verses is very difficult. However, what is clear is that it describes the short- term popularity of the ‘great’. It is an appropriate ending, a reminder that the world’s values offer only temporary satisfaction… far better to live for God and for others than for self. Conclusion It is easy to read Ecclesiastes as fundamentally directed to the ‘unbelieving’ world, offering a trenchant expose of the folly of a life apart from God. But is far more than that!  It addresses us as the people of God, reminding us of the on-going temptation to place the world and its values above trust in God and living in faithful obedience to him in the knowledge that only fellowship with him (both now and in eternity) can meet the deepest longings of the human heart. 5:1-7 The author of Ecclesiastes has sought to argue that life (and death) makes no sense apart from the twin beliefs in a God of justice and in an afterlife where the enigmas of our present experience find resolution. It might be supposed, therefore, that he would encourage the pursuit of religion. The present section, however, demonstrates that it is not as simple as that! Simply put, there is right and wrong religion and the author is anxious that his readers make the right choice! To encourage the correct choice he makes several, ever relevant, points: Thus, we need to be sure that: * We approach God with the right attitude and in the correct manner (1). Sacrifices lay at the heart of the religion with which our author was familiar. But sacrifices could be made unguardedly, thoughtlessly: that is, in breach of God’s word and in moral defiance of him. * Our prayers are uttered from the heart and with proper recognition that God cannot be manipulated (2). Thus hasty and impulsive language that lacks reflection can often descend into language that tries to get God ‘on-side’. The essence of prayer, however, lies elsewhere in bringing our needs to God and saying ‘your will be done’. It is to defer to divine wisdom not assert our own. * The language of our worship is not that of the deluded dreamer (3,7, beginning). The failure to listen leads to verbal dysentery and words empty of content and meaning. Before we speak to God (another controlling mechanism?) we do well to listen to him first; scary though this might be! * We are people of integrity (4,5). It is God who does not tolerate fools gladly and there are none so foolish as those who say one thing and do something else… especially in their dealings with God! This subject is of sufficient importance to our author that he expands his point, emphasising that our excuses will seem as lame as any hoaxers when called to account (6). In sum, then, we must be sure that: * We fear God (7,end). These last few words sum up all that has been said here. A proper recognition of the one before whom we come should prompt the correct attitude to worship and every approach to God and should ensure our obedient listening and faithful living. If we transpose these lessons into ‘New Testament’ language, we are reminded that: * God is far bigger than we are! We are not the boss and our business is not merely our own ends! * God makes himself known to us (by his Spirit) in Scripture when we are ready to listen; * He has set before us the one and only way to approach him through Jesus; * Through him, we are to live in integrity and obedience. Conclusion: In the context of this book the point our author makes is that only by such a path will the deepest longings of the human heart be met and the answers to life’s enigmas and strivings be realised. His message is timeless! 5:8-20 The author of Ecclesiastes has sought, thus far, to emphasise * That the human search for ‘meaning’ cannot be met even by the most thorough-going search or the various activities in which ‘satisfaction’ are so often sought. * That life and death are puzzles without answers apart a) from faith in a God who is just, b) in a life to come where inequities and enigmas are resolved and c) through receiving every experience in life as ‘from God’. * Most recently, that while ‘religion’ is the answer, it needs to be ‘true’ religion. In the present section, he returns again, but more fully, to stress the folly of the pursuit of possessions and the blessings that attend trust in God. Evidence for each is offered on the basis of personal observation and experience (with which it is not difficult to add our own testimonies!) The pursuit of wealth and honour as a path to ‘success’ is an empty one (8-16). * It is characterised by moral corruption as one level of the hierarchy after another abuse and manipulate to gain a maximum stake in the ‘profits’ (8-9). * It is self-consuming. It attracts parasites and creditors (10), brings sleeplessness and anxiety (11,12), its possession is uncertain and brief (13) and it guarantees neither ‘light’ nor ‘happiness’ nor ‘health’ nor ‘peace’ (16). * It is foolish. We can take from life no more than we received at birth (15,16). The enjoyment of God’s gifts amid the demands of life brings joy (17-20). Simply put, there is another way to experience life. * Life is God’s gift to us and its pleasures, even wealth, are to be enjoyed freely as from him (18,19). Rather than pursue the unreachable goal, everything is to be welcomed as from God’s gracious hand. * Life may be short (18,end) but not because it lacks meaning but because it is utterly satisfying and absorbing (20). These words need to be placed in the wider context, especially the immediately preceding verses. The true fear of God (5, end) no longer views life as something ‘I’ must master but the sphere in which he is glorified through our service and we are blessed through receiving his daily gifts of life. Success is not found in our achievements but enjoying his mercies. How then do we apply this to ourselves? * The pursuit of anything other than God is idolatry and reaps the fruits of all idolatry, moral corruption and selfish but failed ambition. * The enjoyment of life begins with the ‘fear’ of God and the willing welcome of his gifts… above all the merciful gift of his Son. 6:1-12 Despite the difficulty of translating much of this chapter (a fact reflected in the various translations) the main message is fairly clear and the fact that it concludes the first section of the book while preparing for the second half is generally agreed. Chapter 5 concluded with the author stressing the fact that life, with all its privileges and pains, can only be fully enjoyed when received, gratefully, from God. The point of chapter 6 is to convince the doubter that this is true! Life that is lived without the pleasure that God alone gives is no more than a hell- hole (1-6). Crucial to the understanding of these verses is 3b,4. In the ancient world the failure to experience life and generate offspring to preserve one’s name was regarded with horror and something of a curse. Our author does not deny this! However, he makes the point that something else is even worse: to experience life to the full and to fail to enjoy it is doubly tragic. The illustration(s) provided describe a person ‘blessed’ by God with ‘good’ things: wealth and status (2a), a large family (much cherished in the ancient world, 3a), a long life and a splendid funeral (3b: the translation is particularly difficult here but this seems the point). One thing, however, is missing: contentment is withheld by God (2b) and even a lifespan twice that of Methuselah (6) ends in the grave with this need un-met. Life lived in striving for the unattainable is a miserable existence (7-9). Again, the author makes his point by a ‘shocking’ example. Wisdom and wealth were treasured in the ancient world (as today). The author of Ecclesiastes does not demur. However, when such are pursued as ‘an end in themselves’ much effort results in nil rewards. Arduous endeavour (7), knowledge (8): an insatiable appetite for the ‘world’s’ riches and status (9) leaves an ‘aching void’. Life lived in antagonism with God is a fruitless endeavour (10-12). Here the author identifies the fundamental problem of much human existence. Foolish self-mastery characterises the experience of life of many (10): but neither actions (10) nor words (11) nor strategic planning (12) can provide an escape from the ordering of one who is ‘stronger’. It is by walking ‘hand in hand’ with God’s providential leading that satisfaction and pleasure is to be enjoyed. Those who live closest to God have ‘solid joys and lasting treasure’. Conclusions Once again the author probes painfully into the realities of life that we so often try to evade. We all are inclined to seek happiness in those ‘good’ things that only satisfy when enjoyed hand-in-hand with God. It is they that become an end in themselves rather than the God who liberally supplies them. However, divorced from the giver, they prove to be a ‘poisoned chalice’ that eternity itself cannot resolve! Powerfully, we are bidden to seek God and submit to him for, there alone, is true freedom and joy. 7:1-14 With these verses we are immediately alerted to the fact that the form of discussion changes: earlier discourse is replaced in 1-12 by short, pithy proverbs ... not unlike those found in the book bearing that name. And yet…. there appears to be a substantial difference. Here the sayings seem to be ‘subverted’ and traditional sayings (for example 1a) shockingly (!) qualified in the face of death (so, 1b). What then is this passage intended to teach us? * To be wise is preferable to fame: and wisdom is learned by facing death ‘in the face’ (1-6). There is no suggestion in verse 1 that fame is, in itself, bad or that its pursuit is necessarily wrong; nor that a ‘slap up’ meal (2) or fun and laughter (3-5) are rebuked here. The point that is made is that these can sometimes become ends in themselves and means to avoid the unpleasant but inevitable facts of life… and death. Such is mere noise and empty frivolity (6) that avoids reality and fails to ‘lay the lessons to heart’ and live appropriately. Our society offers many means to avoid taking life seriously… and offers short-cuts when facing reality proves uncomfortable and painful. Recognising the pitfalls and facing up to reality are the first steps to make the best use of life. * To be wise is preferable to wealth: yet even wisdom has its limitations (7-12). The point here is that, however beneficial wisdom (discernment) may be (11,12) it cannot expect answers to all of life’s questions. Tragically, the abuse of power and money (the author might have added, sex) can overthrow all sanity (7). Wisdom, however, recognises such limitations and avoids both premature conclusions (8,9) and the exaltation of the past (10). In our world the same enigmas exist and defeat all attempt to find adequate explanations… but: * The fear of the Lord is the beginning and end of wisdom (13,14). His ordering of his world transcends finite minds and human invention (13). Present reality and future experience, the good and the bad, are outside human control and are ‘gifted’ to encourage reflection and submission (14). A truly wise person, submits to God rather than usurp him and is ready to learn from experience rather than live ‘in denial’ and indulge in foolish self-driven manipulation of God. Conclusion The author of Ecclesiastes assumes the reality of God. He also has a sufficiently ‘big’ view of God such that he does not think it necessary to defend him. Further, he has a realistic view of humanity: finite, sinful, prone to self-assertion and unreality. Wisdom begins, he suggests, by getting our thinking straight on these matters… then life and death can be faced and the present life received and explored (within the parameters of God’s self-revelation) as a pathway to the life to come. 7:15-29 Students of this passage in Ecclesiastes have found it as confusing as any in the book. This is understandable: the author appears to say a number of apparently contradictory things… or things he contradicts elsewhere. However, the difficulties become less if we recognise that a) he may be deliberately confusing because he is describing a confusing situation and b) he may, in fact, quote a view that he then counters or qualifies. So what does he teach? * We live in a morally ambiguous world (15-18). An attempt to lead a good life appears to offer no benefits. Premature death may intervene in the case of a good life and a wicked life be prolonged (15). Ironically, the author comments that it might seem best to hedge ones bets (16,17). In fact, however, he recognises that while the fear of God may not offer all the answers, it is the preferable course. Since God is God, this ought to be an adequate answer! However, the author recognises our tendency to challenge deity and to want answers to proceed further. * We live in a morally perverted world (19-22). If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (18) and such wisdom is a genuine boon (19), fundamental to wisdom is the recognition that all human beings are morally skewed (20-22). Thus the problem of a disordered world lies not at the feet of God but of its corrupted inhabitants that have ‘skewed’ its proper functioning. Thus, the author concludes: * We live in a world where I am the problem that requires an answer! (23-29) The language here is reminiscent of the words with which the book started. It appears to suggest that something of a conclusion is reached at this point (23- 25). Two conclusions are emphasised: a) the enigmas of our world are the consequence of sin having entered the world and corrupted all its inhabitants… including me (27-29). The writer’s language here is heavily influenced by the first three chapters of Genesis. God’s world is good. Its corruption is down to the endless and devious stategies by which human beings live as a result. b) the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (26). To listen to God and follow his ways both pleases God and brings deliverance. For the writer, this meant to live in the light of the Old Testament promises. For us it means to trust in the one to whom they pointed. Either way, the enigmas of our world are best faced by facing ourselves and by seeking that help that only God himself can provide. Conclusion Too often we face the perplexities of the world and place God in the dock. The writer of Ecclesiastes recognises that this involves an arrogant failure to recognise that the roles of plaintiff and defendant are, in fact, reversed. Such ‘wisdom’ leads to a recognition of our condition and need and to seek the One who is God’s answer to our need. 8:1-17 The writer of Ecclesiastes has no doubt that there is a value in human reflection and in the appropriate use of the knowledge gained. Thus, though the book contains much irony, he may not be speaking anything other than his convinced belief in verse 1: there is a deep satisfaction to be gained from mastering an area of study or thought! Thus, the present chapter outlines two major conclusions reached by such reflection. Knowledge may offer us certain limited advantages (1-11).  Specifically, * Human reflection may assist us in discerning business practice (2-6): not least it is best not to antagonise one’s superior and to follow the protocols of the work place even if it does not produce personal happiness. Such examples of the benefits of knowledge may be deliberately banal. What is offered is scarcely ‘earth shaking’. Neither is the next point he makes: * Human reflection teaches that good sometimes effects self-damage while evil can prompt both adulation and copying (9-11). This is something of a negative conclusion as it exposes the limitations of ‘knowledge’ to master one’s environment and to explain experience adequately. Wisdom has its place but…. It follows, then, * Human reflection (at its best) does, indeed, warn against the arrogance of presumption (7-8). The future is as impossible to grasp as the wind and no actions can be undertaken to alter it. Such knowledge is beneficial but strictly limited. To claim more for human knowledge and insight is, the author implies, foolish (and as the sequel suggests) impious! By way of contrast, the author then points out that true wisdom teaches that: Faith prevails where wisdom fails (12-17) Thus: * Faith holds on to the fact that fearing God is a ‘wise move’ (12-13). There is a knowledge that transcends human enquiry and is confident of the final resolution of life’s enigmas. The puzzling nature of human experience that human thought cannot comprehend is best seen as a witness to the necessity of faith. * Faith recognises that despite the perplexing questions of human existence satisfaction can be experienced in receiving God’s gifts in life (14-15). Rather than seek to control life (and God!) it is best to enjoy that which God ordains. The world reveals both the finiteness of humanity and the incomprehensible greatness and merciful generosity of God, it testifies to God not humanity as sovereign. * Faith recognises the hand of God in his world despite human inability to master the knowledge of God (16-17). There is sufficient evidence of God’s presence to offer confirmation of his existence and power: but he does not reveal his all to humans and cannot be mastered by human enquiry or theorising. Conclusions Here is a believer not unaware of the perplexities of life. But where such perplexities are often used as a basis for unbelief, he sees the limitations of knowledge and the experiences of life as testimony to the reasonableness and necessity of faith. He invites us to submit to God, his ways and his self-revelation… a self-revelation that finds its centre in the Lord Jesus. 9:1-18 It will be difficult to understand this section if it is not read in its wider context. The author is a believer who struggles to find adequate answers to the great enigmas in life. Faith is not sight and fully satisfying answers are not forthcoming to those who live by faith. Thus, while faith affirms that the ‘earth is the Lord’s’ and acknowledges his sovereign rule (1a) this provides no foreknowledge to the believer as to how his or her life may turn out. Consequently, * life itself may be lived happily or under ‘darker skies’ unaffected by the inherent ‘goodness’ or other of that life (1b). * Further, the inevitable human destiny (the grave, 2a, 3a) is not apparently affected by a person’s conduct, religious observances or social values (2b). * Indeed, such might well (and does) encourage burgeoning evil, destructiveness and despair (3) in the face of death… * Even though there is something in the human make-up that makes us cling onto life and (paradoxically) recognise it inherent ‘rightness’ and value. The fact that life ends… with no further prospect of personal development (5a), the loss of the memory of even the good as the years pass (5b), the (sudden) ending of those things that enrich (and sometimes harm) life (6) seems an outrage. Perplexing (and painful and short) though life may be, faith lives in humble trust and, rather than question the future, where possible welcomes and enjoys the present; however enigmatic life may appear (9b). And blessings aplenty there are: * God’s favour is seen in his daily provision of our needs and in those supplies that bring a ‘mellowness’ and contentment to life (7); * To contentment is added (8) comfort: the pleasures of a new wardrobe (8)!; * Further companionship is emphasised (9a). * Finally, there is activity (10). Physical effort, mental reflection and the application of knowledge are all potentially deeply satisfying. Yet… preoccupation with the pleasures of life must not disguise life’s frustrations: * Talents and merit, physical and mental efforts seem to be ‘rewarded’ on the basis of mere chance (11); * The visit of disaster or the ‘grim reaper’ utterly unpredictable (12); * Fame and fortune (however much deserved) is fleeting (13-16). * And goodness and wisdom is a fragile plant (17,18). Conclusion While, as we know, the ultimate security of our author lies in the reality of life after the grave, he does not duck the perplexing realities of life… but for all their encouragements to abandon faith, he does not allow them to do so. God is greater than our experience and his blessings are present even in the midst of the severest buffetings. His shadow may be perceived as he passes but he always remains out of sight… but he IS there… as Jesus himself knew! 10:1-20 Throughout his book the author of Ecclesiastes has sought to demonstrate that: * A self-driven life will neither find all the answers to life’s ultimate questions nor bring lasting satisfaction. The complexities of life run well beyond human comprehension and a life lived without God leaves a ‘void’ nothing else can fill; * Life, with all its complex and unanswerable problems, is best received (and where possible) enjoyed but, humbly, as under God’s sovereign hand… in recognition that all those things that puzzle will find their complete answer in the age to come. All of which brings us to chapter 10 which, more than any other chapter in the book, reads like much of the book of Proverbs…. Wise words drawn from the experience of life. Thus, the writer implies, * While certain questions and answers lie beyond the grasp of the human mind this does not mean we cannot learn important lessons from our observation and experience (see, especially, 10,11). Folly is often self-evident, except to the person themselves (2,3) and foolishness is the result of laziness: a) mental laziness (15) is seen by its self-destructive, ignorant, boasting (12-14), while lacking the ability to plan wisely (14). Such mental laziness is often b) accompanied by moral failings (16,17) and c) general indolence (18) and d) is driven by carnal needs, stimulants and, above all, the pursuit of money (19). Meanwhile wisdom is accompanied by a) discretion (20) b) calm reflection (4) since a calm response to a situation can resolve many a problem where resort to anger is destructive * while guidance for life can be gained by such knowledge and experience, the existence of evil can destroy and undermine the wise choice and action. Perhaps this, especially, is mentioned here to avoid the reader slipping back into self-mastery. Thus, an individual can destroy much good by one foolish action and the wisdom of many can be undermined by the folly of one (1), we often live in a topsy-turvy world where folly is found where wisdom should exist, and wisdom where one might expect ignorance (5-7) and sometimes human effort appears to receive a poor reward (8-9).  All of which may be good, sound, advice. But where is God and the Gospel in a chapter that does not even mention his name? Perhaps in its stubborn refusal of self- mastery, in its insistence on humility in the face of life’s experiences, possibly in its expose of those traits that so often characterise society that has abandoned God, possibly in the encouragement to eschew indolent thinking and develop discretion. The implication may well be that where we come to a right mind, a proper humility, we are ready to look beyond ourselves to seek our creator and the one whom alone can make final ‘sense’ of a world that we can only sketchily and imperfectly grasp for ourselves… the message that the Book repeats over and over again! 11:1-12:8 With this passage the author begins to draw his argument to a conclusion. The language is highly poetic and (like much poetry) difficult to tie down the precise meaning. Yet, in the light of the book as a whole, it is perhaps not as perplexing as it might appear at first reading (and the allusive nature of the language may be because it is intended to encourage re-reading and reflection). God’s world is inscrutable (11:1-6): That God is at work in his world is apparent to the person who reflects on it but perceiving his purpose is beyond human comprehension (5). Thus, our experience of life reveals nothing is guaranteed (1), careful planning is no guarantee against mishap (2) since we are subject to ‘fate’ (3) and life has to be lived without guarantees (4,6). Life is to be lived in the ‘real world’ (11:7-10). * In itself there is much that is good, pleasant and to be enjoyed (7,8a). Equally, perplexing darkness is a fundamental fact of life with which only a fool fails to reckon (8b). * Both emotional and aesthetic pleasures are part of the joy of being human… (9a)  but they are to be appreciated within the moral bounds that God has placed upon them and under the awareness that God is our judge (9b). * The brevity of youth should not preclude the enjoyment of it (10)! The verse is difficult to translate but ‘vanity’ can be rendered ‘brief’ and produce this interpretation; one that is consistent with the passage as a whole. Life is to be lived in the awareness of God (12:1-8). The passage appears to invite the reader, in the face of the inevitable return of the ‘soul’ to its creator (7), to chart life, from its inception, upon the recollection of God (1). On the basis of all that God has done and provided for us (see above), this is entirely worthy and worthwhile. Verses 2-6 are the most graphic description of decay and dissolution until ‘earth’s dark shadows flee’ in the Bible; perhaps better ‘felt’ than ‘explained’. We feel the ‘cold draft’ and the encroaching darkness depicted here. The writer’s point surely being that, in the face of such inevitable and fast approaching (8) facts, we need to be prepared for the meeting with our Creator and live our lives happily, yet, solemnly on account of it.  Conclusion One is struck by the shear realism of our author. Our world is a good world, brim-ful of things to enjoy… and best enjoyed in recognition of God and in accordance with his purpose. Here then is no kill-joy! At the same time, there are no guarantees, except death and judgment. Life itself is precarious and puzzling and the inevitable fact of decline and death an ever present reality. So life is to be enjoyed as from the hand of God and death anticipated in fear of him. A final point: our author was a ‘believer’ and as we draw toward the close of his discussion we begin to recognise that his book is designed to ‘explode’ our self- sufficiency and our failure to face life and death ‘in the face’. There is a God who has lavished his blessings upon us not by ‘right’ but as a gift and who bids us reckon our lives in the light of the fact that he is our creator, benefactor and judge. But, herein, lies a challenge! We have noticed his apparent failure to ‘point us to Jesus’. We have explored several reasons for this in the course of our studies. Certainly the book can be read as ‘pre-evangelistic’. Yet there may be another reason: writing as a believer to believers, the redeemed to the redeemed, he may just be pointing out that we, too, can live in neglect of God and the realities of life! 12:9-14 Books often contain endorsements: these can both encourage our attention or offer ‘authorisation’ (as with the titles of a number of religious books which the authorities confirm are ‘orthodox’). The present verses offer both to the book that we have been reading. As such, they tell us both why we should read the book, why we should attend to its contents and provide a final challenge to us all to recognise the need to listen and respond to its message. Here is someone whose words demand our attention because: * He is well-qualified and his concerns were personal rather than professional (9a). There are people whose skills are entirely directed toward the realm of scholarship; but here is someone who was only interested in using his considerable abilities for the benefit of others. * He was thorough in his research and comprehensive in his analysis (9b). Here are no ‘half-baked’ ideas from an ill-equipped and ill-informed mind. He knew what he was talking about… his ability and knowledge were without parallel. * He was not merely interested in eloquence but in the integrity of what he wrote (10). Intellectual and pastoral qualifications, thoroughness of research and analysis and the integrity of the author are emphasised: here is someone whose advice merits our attention and action. * Here is one whose words were divinely authorised (11, end). Those who edited his works recognised that they came with divine authority; there was something ‘special’ and ‘supernatural’ about them. * Though his words bring pain they ensure we walk on the correct path (11a). Ancient drovers used nails and staffs to keep animals on a straight path. But before a final summary of his message is given we are given a warning: the author’s words are adequate to the purpose of challenging us to a response. * They do not need supplementation (13a) and * we should resist the temptation to ‘put off the decision’ on the grounds of the need for further, wearying, research (12). What, then, are we to learn from our study of this book: * To honour, submit and enjoy the friendship of God, in response to his kindness and mercy (13b). We may not understand all his ways but the author is convinced that enough can be known to respond to God with that worship that is the ‘chief end of man’. * To live before him in the recognition that he does care how we live and that we are answerable for our actions (14). Of course there are other things the author could have told us. But lest he fire too many bullets and miss the target, he has gnawed away at these particular truths. But he leaves us both challenged, and ready (if we have been listening) to ask further questions… above all, how can I grow in my knowledge of God and how may I discover his will for me? If his book has prompted such questions and encouraged this search, the author would (doubtless) be content, his work done. Commentary 2008-04-03T22:43:01+00:00 http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/women_in_church_history_an_excamination_of_pre_reformation_convictions_and/ http://ferndalechurches.org.uk/resources/detail/women_in_church_history_an_excamination_of_pre_reformation_convictions_and/#When:11:01:02Z Evangel 21:1 (Spring 2003)Women in Church History: an Excamination of pre-Reformation Convictions and Practice Evangel 21:1 (Spring 2003) The present essay is intended to offer a brief summary of pre-Reformational views and praxis in an area of considerable contemporary interest. It is offered with the hope that discussions on the role of women in the life of the church, especially when appeal is made to historical precedent, will be more nuanced in the future. Discussion focuses especially on 1 Timothy 2:8-15 since this is the passage where evangelical discussion is most frequently engaged.   The scarcity of the evidence and the Fathers’ ambivalent attitudes to women sometimes render interpreting the evidence of the early church difficult. For example, a ‘tension’ appears to exist in every patristic text that deals with women.1 Thus, Clark comments, Women were God’s creation, his good gift to men - and the curse of the world. They were weak in both mind and character - and displayed dauntless courage, undertook prodigious feats of scholarship. Vain, deceitful, brimming with lust - they led men to Christ, fled sexual encounter, wavered not at the executioner’s threats, adorned themselves with sackcloth and ashes…the Fathers praised and blamed, honored and disparaged the female sex.2   Consequently, what sometimes appears as an inconsistency, both in the appeal to Scripture and in articulating a coherent theology of women, may arise from the historical and cultural context, the possible use of hyperbole and the tension experienced between received dogma and the heroic way women faced martyrdom. Nevertheless, it appears that a traditional interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:8-15 prevailed during the first five centuries of the church.     This is illustrated in the most thorough treatment of the passage preserved from the period: that of John Chrysostom.3 He argues that Paul offers instructions on prayer, requiring that ‘in like manner (to the men]. . .women approach God without wrath or doubting, lifting up holy hands’ and that they ‘imitate not therefore the courtesans’. This command is addressed to wealthy wives but applies ‘much more . . . [to] those who have professed virginity.‘ Thus, all women are exhorted to, ‘transfer this care to thy soul, to the inward adorning’.4 While Chrysostom recognized that the historical context was one in which some women were endeavouring to ‘thrust themselves into ministry in the church’,5 he universalises the teaching of the passage. Consequently, he stresses the fact that Paul teaches that women are ‘not to speak at all in the church’, whether on worldly or sacred issues. This is because, according to a ‘divine law’, they ‘have not received a commission’.6     Three reasons are offered for this (and reappear throughout church history): female vulnerability, the order of creation and the fact that sin entered the human race through the actions of a woman. Thus, Chrysostom notes, firstly, that ‘the sex is naturally somewhat talkative’ and the ‘woman is softer of mind than a man and more subject to being flooded with emotion’. Secondly, he adds that ‘the male sex enjoy the higher honour. Man was formed first.‘ Finally, the man is to have precedence because the woman ‘made a bad use of her power over the man. . . The woman taught once, and ruined all.‘7 Thus the primal history concerns contemporary women since the ‘sex is weak and fickle, and he [Paul) is speaking of the sex collectively’.8     Nevertheless, women can still be saved even though their sex has incurred blame since, ‘God hath given her no small consolation, that of childbearing… if they [the children) continue in faith charity and holiness with sobriety’.9 Moreover, the wife is not a spiritual inferior and is of great service to her husband since, ‘she keeps the house, takes care of all things in the house, she presides over her handmaids, she clothes them with her own hands, she causes thee to be called the father of children, she delivers thee from brothels, she aids thee to live chastely, she puts a stop to the strong desire of nature.‘10     Chrysostom was fairly typical of the outlook of the Fathers. Thus, the Apostolic Constitutions11 refer to the ordination of deaconesses,12 permit women to prophesy13 and pray publicly but forbid teaching.14 In doing so, they appeal to 1 Corinthians l1:2ff and 1 Timothy 2:11-15 and specifically to the order of creation: ‘For if the “man be the head of the woman,“ and he be originally ordained for the priesthood, it is not just to abrogate the order of the creation, and leave the principal to come to the extreme part of the body. For the woman is the body of the man, taken from his side, and subject to him, from whom she was separated for the procreation of children.‘ 15     More generally, the Fathers assume 1 Timothy 2:8-15 refers to public worship16 and 2:8-11 requires prayer to be offered in innocence and,17 especially in the case of women, humbly.18 Women are to cultivate their ‘inner’ virtues19 and may, perhaps, prophesy,20 but are not to teach (even sound doctrine).21 Women are the spiritual equals of men. Thus, Cyprian of Carthage states in his Epistles ‘the mercy of Christ, and the heavenly grace that would subsequently follow, was equally divided among all; without difference of sex, without distinction of years, without accepting of persons, upon all people of God the gift of spiritual grace was shed.‘22 Moreover, Clement acknowledged that wives accompanied the apostles and ministered alongside of them23 This is confirmed in a statement which is reflective of early ascetic ideals, where he cites 1 Corinthians 9:5 and he says, ‘Dicit itaque in quadam ejbistola: ‘Non habemus potestatem sororem uxorem circumcendi, sicut et reliqui apostoli’. Sed hi quidem, Ut erat consentanteum, ininisterio, quod divelli not poterat, praedicationi scilicet, attendentes, non ut uxores, sed ut sorores circumducebant mulieres. ‘24 However, teaching is forbidden to women on grounds of both nature and law25 and the fact that the Fall occurred when the woman acted outside her appointed role.26 Further reasons are that she is to blame for the Fall and under the greater judgment as a result27 and women are an easy target for false teaching.28 Verse 15 teaches that the home is the sphere of a woman’s ministry29 and ‘the childbirth’ is often seen as a reference to Mary: ‘what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the virgin Mary set free through faith.‘30     Thus, the Fathers viewed 1 Corinthians 11:2ff, 14:33ff and, especially, 1 Timothy 2:8-15 as clear, universal and normative. Women were forbidden the teaching office on the grounds of divine law, the realities of created nature in which the woman was made to support the man and on the basis of deemed weaknesses in the female make up and ‘her’ responsibility for sin entering the world.     Nevertheless, leadership by women was especially prominent in early heretical sects (for example, Montanism)32 which bore a resemblance to similar movements in Protestantism,33 resisted ‘an increasingly rigid, ritualistic Catholicism’34 and subsequently appeared attractive to those with pietistic leanings.35     Thus women were actively involved in officially recognized and public speaking ministries by the middle of the second century.39 The office of deaconess developed37 and the Council of Chalcedon addressed positively the issue of their formal ordination.38 Other women, especially the high born, studied and taught the Bible. These included Jerome’s fellow-workers Paula, Eustochium and Marcella,39 the sister of Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa and Peter of Sebaste and Marcellina, who taught Ambrose and Satyrus.4ø Something of the perceived ambiguity of the situation was recorded by Jerome when he said of Marcella, In case of any dispute arising as to the testimony of scripture on any subject, recourse was had to her to settle it. And so wise was she and so well did she understand what philosophers call to prepon, that is, the becoming, in what she did, that when she answered questions she gave her opinion not as her own, but as from me or someone else, thus admitting that what she taught she had herself learned from others. For she knew that the apostle said: ‘suffer not a woman to teach,‘ and she would not seem to inflict a wrong upon the male sex, many of whom (including some priests) questioned her concerning obscure and doubtful points.41 A similar picture of active ministry by women is witnessed later. Thus, while there are difficulties associated with referring to the ‘Celtic’ church,42 most conclude that in ‘insular’ Christianity43 the role of women was one ‘which their sisters in the majority of other contemporary European societies did not have.‘44 This conclusion seems warranted by the recorded ministries of Ita of Kileedy,45 Hilda,4ø by the prominent place accorded to women’s names among church dedications in Cornwall that suggests an active missionary role by women7 and by the prominence of women in the Anglo-Saxon church.48 Later, women ascetics exercised a significant ministry of leadership and teaching: for example, Leoba45, Liutberga,5ø Birgitta of Sweden,51 Heloise, Mechtilde of Magdeberg and the famous preacher, Hildegard of Bingen52 Later still, Catherine of Siena was increasingly sought out as a confidante, teacher and public speaker,53 Theresa of Avila had a prominent public ministiy54 and engaged in active teaching ministry: often, as in the case of the Beguines, through writing.55 Again, women achieved prominence especially among lay-inspired movements such as the Catharii and Taborites.55 Others, often inspired by St. Antony,57 resorted to anchoritism:58 a role that offered them great influence as teachers and spiritual directors. The most famous Englishwoman was Julian of Norwich,59 who was sought out by many (including Margery Kempe) for her wisdom and teaching.øø Thus, while these developments can be exaggerated (and many of these women were consciously swimming against the tide)51 their existence cannot be denied.62   Thus, the historical evidence is not altogether unambiguous. It suggests that appeal to historical precedent as to the role of women in the church needs to be advanced with a greater degree of circumspection than has frequently been the case. Notes 1 M. G. Mara, ‘Woman’, in the Encyclopedia of the Early Church, ed. E. Ferguson (Chicago: St. James, 1990), 881. 2 B. A. Clark, Women in the Early Church (Wilmington: Michael Glazier, 1983), 15. 3 For a helpful analysis of the Fathers’ interpretative methods and the tendency of Chrysostom to adopt a moralistic and ‘flat’ method of interpretation, see M. Simonetti, Biblical Interpretation in the Early Church (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1994), 53-85. 4 John Chrysostom, Homilies on 1 Timothy, LoH, Vol. 12, Nos. VIII and IX, 62-75, esp., 63-66. 5 John Chiysostom, On the Priesthood, trans. G. Neville (London: SPCK, 1964), Chapter 3, Section 9, 78. 6 Chrysostom, Timothy, 69f, 78. 7 Chrysostom, Timothy, 70f; idem, Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, in LoF, Vol. 2, 348-368, esp., 353. 8 Chiysostom, Timothy, 71. 9 mid, 71f. 10 Chrysostom, Homilies on 2 Thessalonians, in LoF, Vol. 14, 512. 11 G. T. D. Angel, ‘Apostolic Canons’, in New Dictionary of the Christian Church, 2nd Edition, ed. J. D. Douglas (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978), 58. The Constitutions can be firmly dated to 381 but many reflect canons decreed at the Synod of Antioch in 341. 12 The Apostolic Constitutions, ANCL, Vol. XVII, Book 8, Sections XIX, XX, 239f. 13 Constitutions, Book 8, Section II. 211f. A similar view is expressed by Tertullian who, on the one hand, says that while ‘women should be under obedience’ they are not to speak in states, ‘they have the right of prophesying’. See Tertullian, Against Marcion, ANCL, Vol. VIII, Book V, Chapter, VIII, 410f. 14 Constitutions, Book 3, Section VI, 96. 15 Ibid, Book 3, Section IX, 100. 16 Basil the Great, Concerning Baptism, cited in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Vol. IX, ed. P. Gorday (Downers Grove: IVF, 2000), 162f; Origen, Editio Epistolarum Pauli, in PG, Vol. 85, 782. 17 Tertullian, On Prayer, ANCL, Vol. XI, chapters XIII and XVII, 188f, 191f; Augustine, De Vita Christiana, FL, Vol. 40, Chapter 40, 1041f; Jerome, Brevariarum in Psalmes, FL, Vol. 36, No. 21, 879-884; John Cassian, Conferences, trans., C. Luibheid, in John Cassian; Conferences (New York: Paulist, 1945), 9.3.3, 102, and Maximi Episcopi Tavriensis, Sermones (Brepols: Turnholti, 1962), 38, 3, 149, who argues the symbolic character of ‘lifting up holy hands’ is that cross-wise, the believer confesses the Lord’s suffering. 18 Ambrose, Duties of the Clergy, FL, Vol. 77, 70, and Origen, On Prayer, trans. R. A. Greer, in Origen (New York: Paulist, 1979), 83, 98f. 19 Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, ANCL, Vol. IV, II, XI, 260; Tertullian, On Female Dress, ANCL, Vol. XI, 304. 20 Tertullian,Against Marcion, AINCL, Vol. VII, II, XIII, 143. Despite the support of the Apostolic Constitutions this view does not seem to have been generally adopted in the patristic church. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Vol. VIII, ed. G. Bray (Downers Grove: IVP, 1999), 146, notes that Ongen, Commentary on .1 Corinthians, Ambrosiaster, Commentary on Paul’s Epistles and even the Montanist Oracles do not believe that women were permitted to corporately prophesy. 21 Tertullian, On Baptism, .A.NCL, Vol. XI, 1, 2311; idem, Baptism, 252, idem, On the Veiling of Virgins, ANCL, Vol. XVIII, 168. Pelagius, Commentary on the First Letter to Timothy, in Pelagius’Expositions of Thirteen Epistles of St. Paul, Vol. 2, trans. A. Souter (Cambridge: University Press, 1926), 487 (and compare 494f), says Paul nevertheless, ‘very much wants them to exercise their authority in the home as teachers of virtue.‘ See also, idem, Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, trans. T. de Bruyn, (Clarendon: Oxford, 1993), 151, where Pelagius notes that, at his time, women in the eastern Church could minister to their own sex in baptism and that Paul commends private tuition, even to men. See also Theodore of Mopsuestia, Commentary on 1 Timothy, as cited in Gorday, 167. 22 Cited in W. Bercot, ed., A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs (Peabody: Hendrikson, 1998), 693. See also Minucius Felix, The Octavius of Minucius Felix, ANCL, Vol. XIII, XVI, 473, and Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies, ANCL, Vol. XII, IV, XIX, 193. 23 Clement, Miscellanies, III, VIII, 112. 24 Ibid, III, VII, 112. 25 Ambrose, Letters, FL, Vol. 77, 1267-1269, Lactantius, The Divine Institutes, ANCL, Vol. XXI, III, XXII, 1931 and Clement, Miscellanies, IV, VIII, 166 26 Irenaeus, Against Heresies, ANCL, Vol. V, III, XXII, 4, 361. 27 Ibid, III, XXII, 4, 362, Tertullian, A Strain of the Judgement of the Lord, ANCL, Vol. XVIII, 304, and Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, in A Select Library of Nicene and Post -Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series, eds. H. Wace & P. Schaff (Oxford: James Parker, 1894), Vols. VII, XIII, 88. Augustine, City of God, ed. M. Dods (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1871), Vol. 2, Book 14, chapter 11 is more muted. While Eve believed the serpent, Adam did not wish to be separated from his partner even in sin. Nevertheless, his guilt is no less. Ambrose, Paradise, PL, Vol. 77, 10.47, 297f, and Gregory of Nyssa, KATA EUIVOMIOULOGOS, IB, PG, Vol. 45, also reflect a more positive attitude towards women. 28 Irenaeus, Heresies, ANCL, Vol. IX, I, XIII, 1, 51f, and V, XXI, 1, 111. However, elsewhere Irenaeus places the blame on the man being misled by Satan. See, for example, idem, Proof of the Apostolic Preaching, in Ancient Christian Writers, Vol. 16, trans. J. P. Smith (New York: Newman, 1952), 57. 29 Clement, Miscellanies, III, X, 310. 30 Theodore of Mopsuestia, Commentary and Cyril of Jerusalem, Lectures, XII, cited in Gorday, 165. 31 A similar picture appears in the medieval period. See, for example, R. B. Edwards, The Casefor Women’s Ministry (London: SPCK, 1989), 104-111. 32 K. Brownell, ‘Gender in the History of the Church’, MWA, 25. See P. Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol. 1 (New York, Charles Scribners, 1910) 417-427, and N. Bonwetsch, ‘Montanus’, in The New Schaff-Hertzog Encyclopaedia of Christian Knowledge, vol. VII, ed. S. M. Jackson, 485-487(New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1910). 285-287, and R. A. Tucker & W. Liefeld, Daughters of the Church (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1987), 100, 114f. 33 H. D. McDonald, ‘Montanism’, in Douglas, Dictionary, 674. 34 G. Bray, Holiness and the Will of God (London: Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1979), 54. 35 For example, J. Wesley, ‘The Real Character of Montanus’, The Works of John Wesley, vol. XI (London: Wesleyan Methodist Bookroom, 1872), 485f. 36 The Letters of the Younger Pliny, ed. & trans., B. Radice (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1963), 294. See also Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Try jho, ANCL, Vol. II, Chapter lxxxvii, 210. 37 As Brownell, 25, concedes. 38 Tucker & Liefeld, 110 39 Compare Select Letters of St. Jerome, trans. F. A. Wright (Lon. don: William Heinemann, 1954), 455, and see Jerome’s account of the life of Paula in his Letter 108, written to Eustochium. An English translation is to be found in S. L. Greenslade, ed. & trans., Early Christian Fathers (London: SCM, 1956), 348-382. 40 F. Corrigan, Benedictine Tapestry (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1991), 39, 43. 41 See Jerome, Epistles, in Select Library of Nicene and Post -Nicene Fathers, Vol. VI, eds. P. Schaff & H. Wace (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979), Epistle 127, 255f. 42 See, especially, I. Bradley, Columba: Pilgrim and Penitent (Glasgow: Wild Goose, 1996), 7-9; T. O’Loughlin, Journeys on the Edges (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 2000), 19-33; idem, Celtic Theology (London: Continuum, 2000), 1-24; D. E. Meek, The Quest for Celtic Christianity (Edinburgh, Handsel, 2000); 0. Davies, trans. & ed. Celtic Spirituality (New York: Paulist, 1999), 3-25, and P. Sheidrake, Living Between Worlds (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1995), 1-8. 43 For example, M. Mitton, Restoring the Woven Cord (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1995), 111-122, and R. Simpson, Exploring Celtic Spirituality (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1995), 73-82. 44 P. Beressford Ellis, Celtic Inheritance (London: Constable, 1992), 19. See also, idem, Celtic Women (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 14-19, and 267. See also the discussion in B. Cunliffe, The Ancient Celts (Oxford: University Press, 1997), 109f. 45 I. Bradley, The Celtic Way (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1993), 16, 41, 71. 46 Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People (New York: Washington Square, 1968), 221-226. Beressford Ellis, Women, 142-171, suggests there is evidence that some women (including Hilda) were ordained and even given episcopal rank. 47 See W. C. Borlase, The Age of the Saints (Truro: Joseph Pollard, 1893); T. Taylor, The Celtic Christianity of Cornwall (Felinfach: Llanerch, 1995), and, above all, G. H. Doble, The Saints of Cornwall, six volumes (Oxford: Holywell Press & Felinfach: Llanerch, various dates). N. Orme, Nicholas Roscarrock’s Lives of the Saints: Cornwall and Devon (Exeter: Devon & Cornwall Record Society, 1992) specifically mentions (and to give them their contemporary spellings): Buryan, Colomb, Dominic, Endelient, Enodoc, Erth, Gunnoda, Gwen, Ia (lye), Dilic, Ineda, Cynidr, Kew, Keyne, Mabyn, Morewenne, Nevidh, Nonn, Newlyn, Piala and Sapienta. Similar evidence could be given for Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany. 48 K. Moore, She for God (London: Allison & Busby, 1987), 21- 35, notes the outstanding abbesses (many of royal parentage) within the Saxon church. On the Anglo-Saxon church see, further, P. Cavill, Anglo-Saxon Christianity (London: Harper Collins, 1999). 49 See Rudolf of Fulda, Life of Leoba, Abbess of Bichofstein, in C. H. Talbert, and The Anglo-Saxon Missionaries in Germany (New York: Sheed & Ward, 1954). 50 The Life of St. Liutberga, trans., J. A. McNamara (Fordham: University Press, 1997). 51 Birgitta of Sweden, Life and Selected Writings, ed. & trans., M. T. Harris (New York: Paulist, 1990), 771, 86f. 52 S. Flanagan, Hildegard ofBingen: A Visionary Life (London: Routledge, 1989), 41-56, 158-178, esp., 172ff, and Scivias, eds. & trans., C. Hart & J. Bishop (New York: Paulist, 1990), 141. For Hildegard and Mechtilde, see also B. Ward, ‘The New Orders’, in The Study of Spirituality, eds. C. Jones, G. Wainwright & E. Yarnold (London: SPCK, 1986), 283-291; G. H. Tavard, ‘Apostolic Life and Church Reform’, in Christian Spirituality: High Middle Ages and Reformation, ed. J. Raitt (London: SCM, 1988): 4, and Corrigan, Benedictine, 57f, 83f. Selected writings from a number of medieval women (including the above) can be found in M. Furlong, Visions and Longings: Medieval Women Mystics (London: Mowbray, 1996). 53 See, generally, M. A. Fatula, Catherine of Sienna’s Way (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1987), and, more specifically, Catherine of Siena: The Dialogue, ed. & trans. S. Noffke (New York: Paulist, l9xx), 5, 7, and K. Foster & M. Ronayne, I, Catherine (London, Collins, 1980), 17, 23ff. 54 As described in S. de Boulay, Teresa of Avila (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1991). Theresa’s autobiography is in The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, I, eds. &. trans., K. Kavanaugh & 0. Rodriguez (Kalamazoo: ICS Publications, 1987). 55 See for example, Gertrude of Heifta: The Herald of Divine Love, ed. & trans. M. Winkworth (New York: Paulist, 1993), 811; Hadew(/ch, Works, ed. & trans. C. Hart (New York: Paulist, 1980), 1ff, and The Revelations of Mechtilde of Magdeburg, ed. & trans. L. Menzies (London: Longmans, Green, 1953), 58f, 98 and S. Murk-Jensen, Brides in the Desert (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1998). 56 Tucker & Liefeld, 1621. Often women resorted to writing (at the direct appointment of Christ) in order to exercise a ministry. 57 The inspiration was fostered by St Athanasius’ Life of Antony (see P. Schaff & H. Wace, eds. A Select Library of the 3Ticene and Post Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Vol. iv (London: T. & T. Clark, 1991), 195-221. 58 John of Ford’s Life of Wulfric of Haselbury in P. Matarsasso, ed., The Cistercian World (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1993), 235-2 73, describes a typical lifestyle. 59 Her fame rests on her Revelations of Divine Love, eds., H. Backhouse & R. Pipe (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1987). 60 The Book of Margery Kempe, trans. B. A. Windeatt (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1994), 77. 61 Furlong, 5-10. 62 In addition to the sources cited above, see also R. B. Edwards, The Case for Women’s Ministry (London: SPCK, 1989), 104-116. Evangelical Editorial 2008-04-01T11:01:02+00:00