glimpse

March 5, 2019

Peter and the others see the glory (Lk 9:32-9:32)

“Now Peter

And his companions

Were weighed down

With sleep.

But since they

Had stayed awake,

They saw his glory

And the two men

Who stood with him.”

 

ὁ δὲ Πέτρος καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ ἦσαν βεβαρημένοι ὕπνῳ· διαγρηγορήσαντες δὲ εἶδαν τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς δύο ἄνδρας τοὺς συνεστῶτας αὐτῷ.

 

Luke uniquely said that Peter (ὁ δὲ Πέτρος) and his 2 companions (καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ) were weighed down with sleep (ἦσαν βεβαρημένοι ὕπνῳ).  However, since they had stayed fully awake (διαγρηγορήσαντες), they saw the glory of Jesus (δὲ εἶδαν τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ) and the 2 men (καὶ τοὺς δύο ἄνδρας) who stood with him (τοὺς συνεστῶτας αὐτῷ).  This is another unique statement by Luke about Peter during the transfiguration, since the other synoptics did not mention this.  Peter with his 2 companions were almost asleep, like they did later in the Garden of Gethsemane.  However, Peter, James, and John stayed awake long enough to catch a glimpse of the glory of the transfigured Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, as they watched them talk together.  There was no indication what language was being spoken, but the assumption might be that it was Hebrew or Aramaic.  Have you ever fallen asleep so that you missed an important event?

February 11, 2018

The Early Growth of Christianity

Under the leadership of the apostles Peter and Paul, who both died around the year 64 CE, the early Christian community grew from Jerusalem to Rome, from a Palestinian Jewish sect to a more universal group that included Gentile non-Jewish people, all around the Mediterranean area.  The travels of Paul as found in the Acts of the Apostles and his letters give a glimpse into what was happening back then.  The followers of Jesus Christ began to differentiate themselves from the Rabbinic Judaism that was developing at the same time.

January 2, 2017

Baruch was to read from the scroll (Jer 36:5-36:7)

“Jeremiah ordered Baruch!

Saying!

‘I am prevented

From entering

The house of Yahweh.

So you go yourself!

On a fast day,

In the hearing

Of the people,

In Yahweh’s house,

You shall read

The words of Yahweh

From the scroll

That you have written

At my dictation.

You shall read them also

In the hearing

Of all the people of Judah

Who come up

From their towns.

It may be

That their plea

Will come before Yahweh.

It may be

That all of them

Will turn

From their evil ways.

Great is the anger.

Great is the wrath

That Yahweh

Has pronounced

Against this people.’”

Jeremiah told Baruch to go the Temple, since he was not allowed there. However, there was no reason given why Jeremiah could not go to the Temple. Baruch was to go there when they were fasting, probably to pray to stop King Nebuchadnezzar from advancing into the Judah territory. Jeremiah wanted Baruch to read the scroll that he had written from his dictation about the words that Yahweh had spoken to him. This is a glimpse on how some of the Bible was written. Thus, in the hearing of the people of Judah, who would have come from the various towns, Baruch was to read this scroll. The reading of the biblical scroll was to become a staple of later Jewish worship. Yahweh once again hoped, as earlier, that the people of Judah might turn from their evil ways. Thus they could avoid Yahweh’s anger and wrath that he had pronounced against them, his people.

December 22, 2016

The watchful eye of Yahweh (Jer 31:28-31:28)

“‘Just as I have watched

Over them

To pluck up,

To break down,

To overthrow,

To destroy,

To bring evil,

So I will watch

Over them

To build

And to plant.’

Says Yahweh.”

Yahweh in this oracle says that he watches over the Israelites. Just as he plucked them up, broke them down, overthrew them, destroyed them, and brought evil to them, so too he would watch over them as he builds them up and plants them again. There is a glimpse of hope here.

July 22, 2015

Where does this wisdom come from? (Job 28:20-28:22)

“Whence then does wisdom come from?

Where is the place of understanding?

It is hid from the eyes of all living.

It is concealed from the birds of the air.

Abaddon and Death say.

‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’”

The biblical author keeps posing the same question. Where does this wisdom come from? Where is there any understanding? No living eyes, even birds, have ever seen wisdom.   However, we do get a glimpse of where we might find this wisdom. Abaddon, which is another name for Sheol or perdition, with death itself have heard rumors about this wisdom. Perhaps death and the afterlife will be the source of wisdom.

July 15, 2015

The hymn to the all powerful God (Job 26:5-26:14)

“The shades below tremble.

The waters and their inhabitants tremble.

Sheol is naked before God.

Abaddon has no covering.

He stretches out Zaphon over the void.

He hangs the earth upon nothing.

He binds up the waters in his thick clouds.

The cloud is not torn open by them.

He covers the face of the full moon.

He spreads over it his cloud.

He has described a circle on the face of the waters.

He has described a circle at the boundary between light and darkness.

The pillars of heaven tremble.

They are astounded at his rebuke.

By his power he stilled the sea.

By his understanding he struck down Rahab.

By his wind the heavens were made fair.

His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.

These are indeed but the outskirts of his ways.

How small a whisper do we hear of him!

But the thunder of his power,

Who can understand?”

Then Job broke into a hymn about the all powerful God. Could this be from Bildad?   In very explicit colorful language, he describes the power of God over all things. This is the vision of earth, Sheol, and heaven. Sheol and Abaddon are similar, like a bottomless pit. Abaddon will become a person in the Christian book of Revelation. Here it is like another name for Sheol, so that even those below must recognize the power of God since they have no place to hide or cover up. Zaphon is the northern mountain area of the Canaanite gods, something like the Greek Mount Olympus. The earth was suspended over an abyss. The water in the clouds was still accepted today as the cause of rain. Only God could make it rain and break the clouds. He also had control of the moon creating eclipses. God was of course responsible for the boundary between water and earth as well as light and darkness. There were even pillars in heaven that were afraid of him. Perhaps these pillars are the mountains that seem to reach up into the heavens. Obviously he controlled the sea and the mythical sea monster Rahab. Rahab was also the name of the prostitute, who helped the troops of Joshua, chapter 2. God then pierced the fleeing serpent, perhaps a reference to Genesis, chapter 3. We mortals only catch a glimpse of his power like a whisper when he thunders. The idea that God spoke through thunder was prevalent. However, we cannot understand all this.