the events

February 7, 2019

Jesus goes to Nain (Lk 7:11-7:11)

“Soon afterward,

Jesus went

To a town

Called Nain.

His disciples

And a large crowd

Went with him.”

 

Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ ἑξῆς ἐπορεύθη εἰς πόλιν καλουμένην Ναΐν, καὶ συνεπορεύοντο αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ ὄχλος πολύς.

 

Luke has this unique story about the town of Nain, a small Galilean town about 23 miles southwest of Capernaum and about 6 miles southeast of Nazareth.  This took place the day after the events with the centurion (Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ ἑξῆς).  Jesus went to a town called Nain (ἐπορεύθη εἰς πόλιν καλουμένην Ναΐν).  His disciples (οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ) with a large crowd (καὶ ὄχλος πολύς) also went with him (καὶ συνεπορεύοντο αὐτῷ).  There is no indication why they went to this small town that is not mentioned elsewhere in the biblical works, but only here in Luke.  Have you ever lived in a small town?

February 15, 2018

Intellectual attacks on the Bible

Until the 18th century, there never was any question about the historical validity of the Bible.  Both Protestants and Catholics took it for granted that whatever the Bible said happened, actually happened.  The only dispute was as to the meaning and significance of the stories.  A new historical skepticism from the French Enlightenment and the German Rationalism began to question whether the events as described in the Bible ever took place.  First there were questions about events in the Old Testament, about Adam and Eve, Abraham, and Moses.  Then in the 19th century, the problem of Jesus and his miracles came into question.

February 6, 2018

History versus story

In what sense are these biblical books literal interpretations of what was happening?  History means different things to differ people.  History is always an interpretation.  In fact, our concept of what is history is always changing.  The result is that a literal interpretation means that you have to understand what they were trying to say about God, not the incidentals surrounding the events.  The idea of footnoting has become a general practice that was not known over a thousand years ago.  History sometimes refers to a good story.  Even in our own lifetime we can still argue about the events surrounding the death of President John Kennedy or the victims at the OJ Simpson house.  Thus, it does not seem out of place to question events that supposedly took place either pre-historically or thousands of years ago.  They did not have to happen exactly as detailed by men writing about them years after the described events.

October 14, 2016

Remember the wilderness (Jer 2:2-2:3)

“Thus says Yahweh.

‘I remember

The devotion of your youth.

I remember

Your love as a bride.

You followed me in the wilderness,

In a land not sown.

Israel was holy to Yahweh.

She was the first fruits of his harvest.

All who ate of it were held guilty.

Disaster came upon them.’

Says Yahweh.”

Yahweh wanted them to remember the days of their youth when they were devoted to him like a young bride. They followed Yahweh in the sparse wilderness. Israel was holy to Yahweh like the first fruits of his harvest. However, things have changed since the events of hundreds of years ago in the Exodus. All who ate became guilty and disaster came to them. Thus Jeremiah proclaimed this oracle of Yahweh.

June 24, 2016

Isaiah (Sir 48:22-48:25)

“King Hezekiah followed

What the prophet Isaiah

Had commanded.

Isaiah was great.

Isaiah was trustworthy

In his visions.

In Isaiah’s days,

The sun went backward.

He prolonged

The life of the king.

By his dauntless spirit

He saw the future.

He comforted the mourners

In Zion.

He revealed

What was to occur

To the end of time.

He revealed the hidden things

Before they happened.”

Sirach may have had 2 sources for his information about the prophet Isaiah (approximately 772-698 BCE). Besides, the mention of Isaiah in 2 Kings, chapters 17-20, there is a whole biblical Book of Isaiah with 66 chapters about and supposedly from this prophet Isaiah. He consulted with a number of kings, but especially King Hezekiah. He is generally considered one of the most important of the Israelite prophets both for age and time, because he was faithful to Yahweh. He made the sun turn around when he cured King Hezekiah, by lengthening his life. He also was a seer or predicator of things to come, but some of these visions may have been written after the events had already happened. He revealed many hidden things. Suffice it to say, his impact on Judaism and early Christianity was enormous.