Questioning Jesus

For 8/6/2011
All Scriptures are from The Message Version

Today two of Jesus' teachings which raise some interesting questions for us and teach us that we need to look closely at what he said and consider some troubling issues his words convey. Jesus has just been chastised by the Pharisees (possibly including the future Apostle Paul???) for repeated violations of the Jewish law including dietary and cleanliness laws. Jesus responds:

Matthew 15:10-11 He then called the crowd together and said, "Listen, and take this to heart. It's not what you swallow that pollutes your life, but what you vomit up."
12Later his disciples came and told him, "Did you know how upset the Pharisees were when they heard what you said?"
13-14Jesus shrugged it off. "Every tree that wasn't planted by my Father in heaven will be pulled up by its roots. Forget them. They are blind men leading blind men. When a blind man leads a blind man, they both end up in the ditch."
15Peter said, "I don't get it. Put it in plain language."
16-20Jesus replied, "You, too? Are you being willfully stupid? Don't you know that anything that is swallowed works its way through the intestines and is finally defecated? But what comes out of the mouth gets its start in the heart. It's from the heart that we vomit up evil arguments, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, lies, and cussing. That's what pollutes. Eating or not eating certain foods, washing or not washing your hands—that's neither here nor there."

· What is your picture of Jesus as he responds to the Pharisee’s questions – his emotion, his tone, his body language? Have you ever reacted, even internally, to someone who was correcting you based on their understanding of correct thinking or behavior?
· Consider the Pharisees – they believed that a specific standard of behavior and choices were needed in order to be right with God. Is it a problem that they express their feelings and reactions to practices which seems to violate these beliefs?
· Do contemporary Christians display the same behavior – do they all come from the same place theologically - when is it appropriate to voice our opinions? Do we know the mind of God or are we drawing conclusions based on our interpretations. What does this say about what it is appropriate for us to be vocal about when taking our faith public?
· What is Jesus’ problem with the Pharisees? What does he foresee will happen to them? Does it seem fair that they should be condemned because of the way in which they understood God should be worshipped?
· What does his caution about blind guides say to us about the people we should believe are credible in spiritual matters? Is a blind guide necessarily only a person or are there other kinds of blind guides? How do we choose? In the end who is responsible for the content of our spiritual lives?
· In this paraphrase Jesus makes some indelicate allusions in making his point about what emanates from us. What is his point?
· In dismissing what we swallow as irrelevant Jesus seems to be referring to dietary and hand washing laws. But does this extend to other outside influences. Can we be influenced by our culture with inappropriate attitudes and beliefs? What are some ways that we can bring balance to those things we “swallow”, what can we turn to that we can have confidence is nurturing our hearts?
· Do you think that there are elements of our religious practices that might fall into Jesus’ evaluation “that's neither here nor there" or does observing custom and tradition have spiritual value for us? What do we need to careful about in observing them to keep them from being subject to the same criticism Jesus made of the Pharisees?

The second scripture raises even more troubling questions as he encounters a woman after a time of intense teaching and healing:

Matthew 15:21-22 From there Jesus took a trip to Tyre and Sidon. They had hardly arrived when a Canaanite woman came down from the hills and pleaded, "Mercy, Master, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit."
23Jesus ignored her. The disciples came and complained, "Now she's bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She's driving us crazy."
24Jesus refused, telling them, "I've got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel."
25Then the woman came back to Jesus, went to her knees, and begged. "Master, help me."
26He said, "It's not right to take bread out of children's mouths and throw it to dogs."
27She was quick: "You're right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master's table."
28Jesus gave in. "Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!" Right then her daughter became well.

· What is your reaction to this story, what do you like and dislike about it?
· Being both gentile and a woman would make it inappropriate for Jesus to speak or deal with her according to Jewish religious practices. Does this seem to fly in the face of the criticism that he just made of the Pharisees? What are some possible reasons he might have fallen back so seemingly easily into this practice?
· Do you think that this story might point to the human component of Jesus’ complex presence on earth? Can you think of any other examples of human reactions or actions? Jesus agonizing prayer at Gethsemane seems to be one (Matthew 26:36-46).
· Across the Christian spectrum there are categories of people who for religious and real or perceived moral issues are condemned and given a status that Jesus gave to the woman. What does this story tell us about dealing with those we consider outsiders?
· What is the key to the woman being heard, what tactic did she use? Do you think that there is any parallel for us in approaching God with our problems?
· Jesus responded to the woman because of what he perceived to be her faith. What did she have faith in? Does it say she declared herself to be a faithful follower of Jesus or of God? What is your minimum requirement for someone to be understood as being faithful?
· What do you take away today as things you learned from these two stories? Do you leave with more questions than answers? If we look closely that is one of the purposes of scriptures - invitingt us to explore them in depth and try to apply them to our life today.

Closing Litany (from Psalm 67)
God, mark us with grace and blessing! Smile!
The whole country will see how you work, all the godless nations see how you save. Let all far-flung people become happy and shout their happiness because
You judge them fair and square, you tend the far-flung peoples.
God! Let people thank and enjoy you. Let all people thank and enjoy you.
Amen

Next Week’s Lectionary Scriptures: Matthew 16:13-20, Romans 12:1-8, Psalm 124 or Psalm 138, Exodus 1:8 - 2:10 or Isaiah 51:1-6

Crucifixion and Me

For 4/17/2011
Some churches celebrate this day as Palm Sunday, the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem to begin his final day on earth, and others as Passion Sunday the beginning of Jesus’ trials and suffering through those final days. You can read all of the events of that last week in the Passion Sunday Lectionary scripture Matthew 26:14-27:66. But today we will look at the Passion Sunday Lectionary scripture by Paul in his letter to the church at Philippi which speaks to the meaning of those last days. But to set the stage we need to address the nature of this Jesus who died on the cross. So we first read from Matthew about the time Jesus spent in prayer at Gethsemane as it makes a connection to Paul’s thoughts:

Matthew 26:36-38 Then Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told his disciples, "Stay here while I go over there and pray." Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he plunged into an agonizing sorrow. Then he said, "This sorrow is crushing my life out. Stay here and keep vigil with me." 39Going a little ahead, he fell on his face, praying, "My Father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want?" … 42He then left them a second time. Again he prayed, "My Father, if there is no other way than this, drinking this cup to the dregs, I'm ready. Do it your way." 43-44When he came back, he again found them sound asleep. They simply couldn't keep their eyes open. This time he let them sleep on, and went back a third time to pray, going over the same ground one last time. 45-46When he came back the next time, he said, "Are you going to sleep on and make a night of it? My time is up, the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the hands of sinners. Get up! Let's get going! My betrayer is here."

·What gets your attention as you read about Gethsemane, what reactions do you have to it?

·What can we learn about his feelings as he faced the events that were to come?

Our understanding of who Jesus is complex and can be somewhat mysterious. John 1 describes him in these terms:

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

·Without getting into deep theological ideas what do these two scriptures highlight about our understanding of who Jesus (the Word) is? What are some of the ideas about him as “the Word was God? Are there any other ideas you would add to his description as being God?
·The second scripture tells us that Jesus became flesh and dwelled among us? What would you cite as examples of him acting as a human being?
·Does the Gethsemane story emphasize his human or his godly nature? What do you see as examples of his human nature? Are there any glimpses of his godly nature?
·Two men who were very close to him slept during this time of agony. What does it say about them and possibly their understanding of what was to come? What are you including in your Lenten preparations to stay awake to the magnitude of the events of this coming week?

Let’s take a look as some reflections that Paul had about the example Jesus set during that final week :

Phillipians 2:5-8 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

·How does Paul characterize Jesus in what is probably a hymn from the earliest days of the Christian faith? Make a list of the attributes describing him. How does Paul present the dual nature of Christ?
·How does this scripture expand our understanding of the Gethsemane experience? What does Paul think that we should remember as we travel through this week?
·What do you see as the most important points of this scripture? Why did he “set aside the privileges of deity” and instead was selfless and obedient? What can we learn from this about living a vibrant spiritual life?

Skipping ahead Paul gives us his take on the example Jesus set for us:

12-13 …Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.
·Jesus acted in obedience to God as he faced the cruelty and agony of the coming crucifixion. How does he urge us to act in response to Jesus’ example? What word describes the nature of our response? What is the source of the energy in our spiritual lives? What can we be assured of if we tap into God’s energy?
·Is there any new insight for you into how we should understand the events of this coming week? Our demeanor during Lent can be one of darkness and sorrow which is certainly appropriate for the crucifixion to come. What does Paul suggest should accompany that demeanor and how do you think we can include it in our personal preparations.

If you would like to comment click on comments by the envelope at the bottom of this posting.

Closing Prayer
For the life of Christ within us, turning all our fears to freedom, helping us to live for others: Father, Son and Holy Ghost we praise you. Amen

The Oxford Book of Prayer

Next Week’s Lectionary Scriptures:
Matthew 28:1-10, Acts 10: 34-43, Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24, Colossians 3:1-4, Philippians 2:5-8, 12-13