Orioles 10, Evil Empire 5

This may be the highlight of what will probably end up being a very long season.

But it was Opening Day, when all hope springs eternal. O's are in first place, and the Evil Empire, aka Yankees, are in last.

So let me enjoy it.

Breaking the Cycle

(This is part 5 of a discussion that began with "Freedom and Forgiveness." If you haven't read the previous parts you will want to scroll down to catch up.)

When Jesus came announcing, “The Kingdom of God is at hand,” he was invoking at once all of the expectations that a 1st century Jew had for the end of the Exile. His hearers would have understood that he was announcing that Yahweh had forgiven Israel of her sins—notice the collective sense of this--that messiah was coming and with him Yahweh was returning to rule, the nations who had oppressed Israel would be judged, and Israel would be restored.

But there was a twist. If this new kingdom was truly to be an eternal kingdom, then God had to do something about this addiction to sin that was afflicting his people—indeed, all peoples. Something needed to be done to break the power that sin had over the people, otherwise this kingdom would end like all the others, with Israel once again becoming unfaithful. Then God would have to judge or at least threaten of judgment, then the people would repent and he would forgive, and the cycle would continue.

So Jesus, the messiah, went up against the forces of sin, but he refused to play by their rules. He refused to establish his kingdom the way that the empires of this world establish their kingdoms—through violence, fear, oppression, and subjugation. As he told Pilate, “If my kingdom were from this world (this age, this aeon) my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.” (John 18:36) They were ready to fight, but he wouldn’t let them. And when you go up against the principalities and powers of this world and aren’t willing to pick up a sword, they are going to kill you.

And they did. They crucified him as a rebel leader, between two other rebels. To the followers of Jesus, to those who believed that he was the messiah, that the Exile really was ending and the Kingdom of God really was coming, this was the end. Nothing had changed. God hadn’t forgiven Israel. The messiah hadn’t arrived. Rome (and its gods) was still in charge.

And then the resurrection. The resurrection was the vindication of Jesus and of his way of being Israel. He really was the messiah and his way really could be trusted. And his way was the way of the cross. Only through the cross could humanity’s addiction to sin and violence be broken.

The resurrection vindicated the cross. In the cross all of Israel’s hopes found their fulfillment—their hopes for forgiveness and restoration, specifically, but with an added bonus: the cross ended their slavery to sin.

That’s why Jesus could speak of forgiveness in the past tense or in the present tense as a continuous state of being: because Yahweh had forgiven Israel and was setting in motion events leading to the Kingdom of God.

© 2009 by Larry L. Eubanks

The Exile: Would it Ever End?

(This is part 4 of the essay, "Freedom and Forgiveness." If you've not read the previous posts, scroll down so you can catch up.)

Israel's repeated unfaithfulness to their covenant with Yahweh led to its demise. The nation was utterly destroyed, it's major cities and institutions torn down, it's people deported.

Yahweh had promised David, however, that there would always be one of his descendants on the throne. And the prophets who announced the judgment to come frequently spoke of a “remnant” who would return and reconstitute a new nation, a new Israel upon whose hearts the Law of Yahweh would be written. “The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down. On that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on the one who struck them, but will lean on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people Israel were like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will return. Destruction is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.” (Isaiah 10:19-22) In these verses we see both the determination of Yahweh to destroy Israel regardless of whatever they might or might not do to prevent it, but also the inability of Yahweh to finally and ultimately give up on his people. This more than anything speaks to the compassion of Yahweh. Though they deserve it, he just can't finally bring himself to utterly destroy them. He'll eventually give them another chance.

So, Israel was destroyed and the people sent away in exile, yet there remains a hope: Yahweh would not always hold Israel’s sin against her, but would eventually forgive them and restore the kingdom. It would be a different kingdom, one in which Yahweh ruled through his Anointed One, the descendent of David who would be a righteous king and would not forsake the ways of Yahweh. The coming of the Anointed One—messiah in Hebrew, christus in Greek—would be a sign that Yahweh had forgiven Israel and was ready to end the Exile and restore his kingdom. When that happened, Israel would be free from foreign oppression, and the Kingdom of God would be established forever.

In the 1st century, no Jew would have claimed that this had happened yet. Though the remnant had indeed returned to Israel about 50 years after Jerusalem was destroyed in order to rebuild, this was done with the permission of and under the vassalage of the Persians, who replaced the Babylonians as the ruling empire of the area. After the Persians came the Greeks, who occupied Israel and forced their culture on the Jews. There was a brief period of independence when the Maccabee family led a successful rebellion against the Greeks, but this could not have signified the end of the Exile because there was no descendant of David to take over the throne, and because it didn’t last. In 63 B.C.E the Romans conquered and occupied the land of the Jews.

So here’s what every Jew in the 1st century who still looked forward to the end of the Exile and the establishment of Yahweh’s kingdom understood needed to happen for that to be true: Yahweh had to forgive Israel of the sins that had led to the Exile; he had to send the messiah to be their king; and the kingdom had to be restored, not the least of which involved full and final independence from Rome. These events would put an end to the age of the Exile and would usher in a new age—“the age to come” that Jesus and others referred to—in which all the world would recognize that the God of Israel was just and merciful and compassionate and forgiving.

This hadn't happened yet, but it was into this worldview and set of expectations that Jesus of Nazareth was born.

© 2009 by Larry L. Eubanks

The Exile: Yahweh's Irresistible Judgment

(This is part 3 of a discussion that began with "Freedom and Forgiveness." If you haven't read the previous parts you will want to scroll down to catch up.)

The book of Judges records a series of stories that follow a certain pattern: Israel would be unfaithful to their covenant with Yahweh, and judgment would follow, usually in the form of defeat and oppression at the hands of another nation. God would raise up a charismatic leader (a judge) who would remind Israel of the need to be faithful to Yahweh, they would repent, God would forgive, and the nation would be restored after a military victory over their oppressors. This cycle of sin/judgment, repentance, forgiveness, and restoration, repeats itself six times in the book of Judges; however, it is not confined to the period of the judges. This pattern actually defined the relationship between Israel and Yahweh. When Israel was faithful, they prospered; when they were unfaithful, things went bad for them until they repented. Whenever they repented, God forgave and restored them. Always. It was something they counted on. Sometimes God would send prophets to the Israelites to warn them of the judgment and give them time to repent. And if they repented, he always forgave them and withheld the judgment.

Until Yahweh got tired of it. The Israelites always counted on repentance leading to forgiveness and restoration. In fact, they counted on it so much that they took it for granted that Yahweh would always forgive and restore. And they needed it, because their unfaithfulness became habitual. It was like there was something in their DNA that had a power over them such that they almost couldn’t help themselves. They were addicted to unfaithfulness, and any addiction exerts a power over the addict such that they aren’t free, and can’t free themselves.

Eventually Yahweh had had enough. He decided that no matter how much they repented, how much they begged, how much they brought their sacrifices and tithes to the temple, he was going to punish them, and this time there was no turning back.

God calls Isaiah and tells him, “And he [Yahweh] said, ‘Go and say to this people: 'Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.' Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed.’ Then I said, ‘How long, O Lord?’ And he said: ‘Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is utterly desolate; until the LORD sends everyone far away, and vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land. Even if a tenth part remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains standing when it is felled.’ The holy seed is its stump.” (Isaiah 6:9-13)

Yahweh has decided that judgment had to come, and no amount of praying and repenting, sackcloth and ashes, fasting and sacrificing, would make him change his mind. In fact, he didn’t want to hear their empty promises anymore. It just made him sick. “I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps.” (Amos 5:21-23)

So the judgment came. First the Assyrians came in 722 B.C.E. and attacked the northern kingdom (called Israel), overrunning all the Israelite lands in Galilee and the Transjordan, deporting parts of the population to exile in Assyria, and totally destroying numerous cities. Judah, the southern kingdom of Israelites, was able to hold out a bit, becoming a vassal state to Assyria. When Hezekiah was king of Judah he rebelled against the Assyrians and was able to withstand a siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib, so that Judah somewhat maintained her independence. But all that changed when a new empire, the Babylonians, supplanted the Assyrians as the power in the region. Judah held out as long as it could, but in 586 B.C.E. Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah, destroying Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple, and deporting a large portion of the population.

There was nothing left. David’s kingdom was gone. The Israel of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was gone. This was Yahweh’s judgment.

And it lasted for over 500 years.

© 2009 by Larry L. Eubanks

Freedom and Forgiveness Pt. 2: Forgiveness from the Lips of Jesus

“Jesus came announcing that the Kingdom of God was at hand, i.e. that God had forgiven Israel of her sins and that he was returning to be her King and her God.”

Someone asked me to provide the scriptural basis for that, particularly for the “God had forgiven Israel of her sins” part, which is fair. It’s just not simple; to understand that statement requires us to delve into the full sweep of Israel’s relationship with Yahweh recorded in the Old Testament. But that's what we're here for, so let's give it a shot.

First of all, that statement refers to collective sin, collective judgment, and collective forgiveness, and that is not a concept that we as Americans understand very well. With our individualist mindsets, we understand sin as something the individual commits, and forgiveness as something the individual must seek and receive.

There is such a thing, however, as national sin and national judgment. Lincoln referred to it in his second inaugural address: “Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

What is interesting is how little Jesus speaks of forgiveness in the gospels, particularly with regard to God forgiving people of their sins. There are the two incidents I mentioned in the last post, the healing of the paralytic (Matthew 9:1-8 Luke 5:17-26; Mark 2:1-12) and the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her hair (Luke 7:36-50), where Jesus says to them both, “Your sins are forgiven.” There is Jesus statement about the unavailability of forgiveness for blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matt. 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-29; Luke 12:10). There is Matthew’s account of the Lord’s Supper, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matt. 26:27-28) Interestingly, Matthew is the only gospel writer who has the words about forgiveness; in Mark and Luke Jesus simply says that it is the blood of the covenant poured out for you (Luke) or for many (Mark.) Paul also does not include the words “for the forgiveness of sins” but simply echoes Mark’s wording (or the other way around, since Paul was probably already martyred before Mark was written). There is Jesus’ prayer on the cross found in Luke 23:34, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” There is Jesus’ statement in the Lord’s Prayer “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive the trespasses of others”, found in basically the same form in both Matthew and Luke. Matthew adds, however, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses,” tying our forgiveness from God with our willingness to forgive others. The rest of the times we see Jesus speaking about forgiveness, it is about the need for us to forgive one another, and he often links God’s forgiveness to our willingness to forgive others (Matt. 18-21-35; Mark 11:25; Luke 6:37).

You will notice that I’ve not referenced John’s gospel; that is because in John Jesus speaks of forgiveness only once, in 20:23, in a post-resurrection appearance to the disciples: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

There are a couple of other passages where forgiveness is either implied or assumed without the word being used: Matthew 18:15: "If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one”; and John 8:24: “I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he."

But that’s it. That’s all that Jesus had to say about God’s forgiveness. He only spoke about it seven times. The rest of the times he speaks about forgiveness it’s in reference to forgiving one another.

So, if the forgiveness of humanity’s sins by God was such a big part of Jesus’ mission, one is forced to ask why he spoke of it so seldom. Well, as I indicated in my opening statement, I think it was included in the many things that Jesus’ announcement of the Kingdom of God would have meant for a 1^st century Jew. And to understand that you need a big-picture understanding of the Old Testament.

© 2009 by Larry L. Eubanks

Freedom and Forgiveness

At the risk of a little heresy, I want to suggest that the cross of Jesus has more to do with freedom than with forgiveness. Bear with me for a second while I try my best to explain.

Jesus came announcing that the Kingdom of God was at hand, i.e. that God had forgiven Israel of her sins and that he was returning to be her King and her God. Furthermore, this forgiveness was not just for Israel and her sins but for the sins of the whole world. This forgiveness was a precursor to coming of the Kingdom, not a result of its coming. Every Jew of Jesus’ day knew that the Exile would not, could not ever end until God decided to forgive Israel of the unfaithfulness that led to the Exile in the first place. Once God had decided to forgive, he would return to Israel, restore his people, and establish (or re-establish to be more exact) his kingdom.

So when Jesus came proclaiming that the Kingdom of God was “at hand,” he was saying that all the above had occurred: God had forgiven them of their sins, he was now beginning the process of restoring his people and returning to Jerusalem. That’s why Jesus ate with tax collectors, prostitutes, and others classified under the general heading of “sinners.” There was no longer any need to exclude “sinners” from mainstream religious society; God had forgiven them and was restoring them to himself and his people. It’s why Jesus, when some men brought him a paralyzed man, said to him, “Your sins are forgiven.” (Matthew 9:2) Present tense, denoting current status. Not future tense: “You sins will be forgiven when I die on the cross and am raised from the dead.” Present tense. Right now, your sins are forgiven.

Similarly, when a woman who was called “a sinner” cleaned Jesus’ feet with her hair and tears and anointed them with ointment, Jesus told his Pharisee host that her sins had been forgiven (past tense), and said to her, “Your sins are forgiven,” (present tense, current status) (Luke 7:48)

God had forgiven, just like he had done so many times before. The book of Judges records a repeated pattern of sin/judgment/repentance/forgiveness. So the issue isn’t so much forgiveness as breaking the cycle. Sin had a power over humanity that seemingly couldn’t be broken. As Paul puts it, we were slaves to sin, which leads to death (Romans 6:16).

The cross was Jesus subjecting himself to the forces of sin and death—the domination systems of our world which use violence, cruelty, and torture to lead people into lifelong subjection. These domination systems—in Jesus’ day the Roman Empire, Herod’s complicity with the Romans, and the corrupt Temple cult—use the language of religion, peace, and divine rights, but are really forces of hatred, violence, and enslavement.

At the cross, Jesus exposed these forces for who they really are, and also exposed their impotence in the face of a loving, merciful, and forgiving Father. The cross defeated the forces of sin, and the resurrection defeated the forces of death. In their defeat, we became free. Forgiven, yes, but not just forgiven from sin, but freed from the power of sin and death. Once again, as Paul puts it, “But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” (Romans 6:17-18)

We sin still, and God forgives us, but the cross broke the power that sin and death had over us. To paraphrase author/speaker Shane Claiborne, Jesus didn’t come so much to make bad people good as to make dead people alive.

To make dead people alive. That is the power of the cross.

© 2009 by Larry L. Eubanks

Biblical Languages Pt. 2

OK, decided to translate Matthew. I had already done all of Mark, most of Romans, and all of Philippians. So, you know, start at the beginning, right?

So the difference between Hebrew and Greek: it took me about 10 minutes to translate the first verse of Joshua, "After the death of Moses the servant of Yahweh, Yahweh began to speak to Joshua son of Nun, minister to Moses, saying,"

Took thirty seconds to translate Matthew 1:1, without cracking open the lexicon: "The book of the generations of Jesus the Messiah, son of David, son of Abraham."

OK, familiar names, easy words. But this is how it is going to be. Hebrew is just different.

But I also forgot that Matthew opens up with a genealogy. No challenge there, but rather tedious. Got through six verses in 10 minutes, from Abraham to David. (Matthew starts his genealogy with Abraham, whereas Luke starts his with Adam, but that's because Matthew's gospel seeks to establish that Jesus is the true king of the Jews, the true messiah--which are two ways of saying the same thing. So he starts with Abraham, the father of the Jews, and goes through David, the father of the true kings of Israel.)

Anyway, my rate will be one Hebrew verse a day, and multiple Greek verses a day, but equal time given to each.