key

June 6, 2019

The crushing stone (Lk 20:18-20:18)

“Everyone who falls

On that stone

Will be broken

To pieces.

It will crush anyone

On whom it falls.”

 

πᾶς ὁ πεσὼν ἐπ’ ἐκεῖνον τὸν λίθον συνθλασθήσεται· ἐφ’ ὃν δ’ ἂν πέσῃ, λικμήσει αὐτόν.

 

Luke indicated that Jesus said that anyone who fell on that cornerstone (πᾶς ὁ πεσὼν ἐπ’ ἐκεῖνον τὸν λίθον) would be broken or shattered into pieces (συνθλασθήσεται).  This cornerstone would crush or grind anyone into powder (λικμήσει αὐτόν) on whom it fell (ἐφ’ ὃν δ’ ἂν πέσῃ).  This is exactly the same in some manuscripts of Matthew 21:44.  However, there is nothing like this in Mark.  Matthew indicated that Jesus came back to his cornerstone idea.  If anyone fell on this key stone (καὶ ὁ πεσὼν ἐπὶ τὸν λίθον), they would be broken or shattered into pieces (τοῦτον συνθλασθήσεται).  If this corner stone fell on anyone (ἐφ’ ὃν δ’ ἂν πέσῃ), it would crush and grind them into powder (λικμήσει αὐτόν).  You had to be careful with this cornerstone, Jesus.  Have you ever noticed cornerstones in public buildings?

March 30, 2019

The lawyers take away knowledge (Lk 11:52-11:52)

“Woe to you!

Lawyers!

You have taken away

The key of knowledge.

You did not enter yourselves.

But you hindered

Those who were entering.”

 

οὐαὶ ὑμῖν τοῖς νομικοῖς, ὅτι ἤρατε τὴν κλεῖδα τῆς γνώσεως· αὐτοὶ οὐκ εἰσήλθατε καὶ τοὺς εἰσερχομένους ἐκωλύσατε.

 

Luke indicated that Jesus cursed these Mosaic lawyers (οὐαὶ ὑμῖν τοῖς νομικοῖς) who had taken away the key to knowledge (ὅτι ἤρατε τὴν κλεῖδα τῆς γνώσεως).  They never entered the knowledge themselves (αὐτοὶ οὐκ εἰσήλθατε), but they also hindered others from entering (καὶ τοὺς εἰσερχομένους ἐκωλύσατε) into this knowledge.  This is similar to Matthew, chapter 23:13, perhaps a Q source, where Jesus said woe to these (Οὐαὶ δὲ ὑμῖν) Scribes and the Pharisees.  Here in Luke, Jesus cursed just the Pharisees and the lawyers, without any mention of the Scribes.  In Matthew, there was no doubt that Jesus was cursing the Scribes and the Pharisees (γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι), who he also called hypocrites (ὑποκριταί).  Jesus said that they locked people out of the kingdom of heaven (ὅτι κλείετε τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων).  Although they could not get into or enter heaven themselves (ὑμεῖς γὰρ οὐκ εἰσέρχεσθε), they were stopping or not allowing others to enter (οὐδὲ τοὺς εἰσερχομένους ἀφίετε εἰσελθεῖν) the kingdom of heaven.  Not only were they not going to heaven, they were stopping others from going to heaven, a serious charge.  Here Luke was the against the lawyers who kept knowledge away from people.  Was this knowledge of the kingdom, that they did not enter, and even hindered others from entering?  Have you hindered other people from gaining knowledge?

January 1, 2019

Abraham (Lk 3:34-3:34)

This is where the genealogy of Matthew ends with Abraham.  Luke continued further back.  He said that Judah was the son of Jacob (τοῦ Ἰακὼβ), who had 12 sons with 4 different women, that become the 12 tribes of Israel.  Jacob was the son of Isaac (τοῦ Ἰσαὰκ), the son of Abraham (τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ), who was the son of Terah (τοῦ Θάρα), the son of Nahor (τοῦ Ναχὼρ).  Throughout the Torah, there was a continual reference to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  These 3 generations were key to Hebrew and Jewish history.  Their stories can be found in the book of Genesis, chapters 12-35.  Remember that Abraham had a son with his wife’s maid, Hagar, who was called Ishmael.  However, both were sent away.  Jacob had a twin brother named Esau, whom he tricked out of his father’s inheritance.  Terah and Nahor can be found in 1 Chronicles, chapter 1:26, and Genesis, chapter 11:24-32.  Nahor was the name of Abram’s grandfather and his brother.  Abram, appeared to be the oldest, took a wife named Sarai, who was barren.  Later it will be revealed that Sarai is his half-sister, since Terah had a concubine.  They all lived at Ur in the Chaldeans, probably in northwest Mesopotamia.  Terah took his son Abram and his wife, Sarai, and his grandson Lot, and left Ur and went to Canaan.  However, they settled in a place that had the same name as his dead son, Haran.  This may have been part of a huge migration in the early second millennium, about 2000 years before the common Christian era.