Passion and Death of Jesus

Shalom!

To help you in your review for the quiz tomorrow, I am posting the powerpoint slides (in PDF format) from our class discussions on the Passion and Death of Jesus. I only chose the slides that are useful and helpful in understanding the main points of our lesson.

Here are the links for downloading the files (hosted by Zendfile.com):
Accusations and Reasons behind Jesus' Passion and Death
Meaning of the Passion and Death of Jesus
Study well and God bless!

Miracles of Jesus

Miracles of Jesus

Almost every modern treatment of the miracles of Jesus is prefaced with some discussion of the problem that the very notion of “miracle” poses for the contemporary mind. There are many that disbelieve in the supernatural. Some will always look for a natural explanation for some things that have no natural explanation. Others will attribute a supernatural explanation when there is none. Such is that which we refer to as a “miracle” – a suspension of the laws of nature whereby an effect cannot be explained sufficiently by its most reasonable cause.

However, very few of us have witnessed something that we can confidently call a miracle in the strictest sense. Thus, many modern believers who turn to the pages of the gospels have stirrings of skepticism over the reality of miracles. But a believer of the first century did not think of miracles in such terms. Instead, a miracle is understood as a manifestation of God’s control over the world, not as a suspension of natural laws but as wonderful signs of God’s active reign in our lives.

The gospel portrait of Jesus would not be accurate or complete if our image of him were that of a mere teacher or dispenser of religious truth. A major part of the gospel material concentrates not on what Jesus says but on what Jesus does – his miracles of healing, of exorcism, of power over the forces of nature.

From the beginning we find Jesus' ministry having miracles. From changing the water to wine for the celebration of a marriage to increasing the amount of food from the sparse amount his disciples already had. In fact, the four gospels record about thirty-five separate miracles Jesus performed. In a way, these were not the only ones he did, but the specific ones the writers picked out under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to represent his ministry.

To round out our gospel portrait of Jesus, we need to examine this substantial point of the gospels – the miracles – to discover what it might tell us about him. The New Testament, particularly the gospels, understands miracles under two broad classifications:

1. Deeds of might and power

• Root: dynamis (Greek), meaning “power”
• The Jews believe that God has control over His creation. He shapes human destiny and rules the awesome forces of nature (e.g. Creation story, deluge in Noah’s story, plagues and parting of the Red Sea in Exodus, etc.). Hence, anyone who manifests a deed that shows God’s control over the world/nature/creation must have received such authority from God Himself.
• Evident on the miracles highlighted in the synoptic gospels.
• Under this classification are further sub-groups of miracles:
• Cures and healings - The largest group of miracle stories mentioned in the New Testament is that which concerned disease and disability. In the Bible, the vast array of ills that tortured human beings (e.g. sin, sickness, chaos, and death) was labeled ultimately as the work of evil. There was also the belief that each manifestation of sickness and death could be traced to the responsibility of personal sin, either on the part of the one who suffered the affliction or on the part of that person’s family or friends. The Gospels give varying amounts of detail for each episode, sometimes Jesus cures simply by saying a few words, or laying on of hands, and at other times employs elaborate rituals using material (e.g. spit or mud). As what we learned in our discussion on the human portrait of Jesus, it was the compassion and deep sense of justice on the part of Jesus that fueled his healing ministry.
• Exorcisms - The biblical mind acknowledged that the power of evil had nudged its way into daily life. There were moments, however, where this mystery of evil transcended individual choice as it could stifle the innocent as well as the guilty in its grip. The gospels give special attention to Jesus’ exorcisms, those acts of healing whereby Jesus liberates the victim from an evil spirit. The exorcisms in the gospels are central to Jesus’ ministry as they are further signs of the unique authority and power of God’s son who reveals in what he says and does the compassionate love of God for us.
• Nature miracles - These acts of power demonstrate Jesus’ mastery over the forces of creation (e.g. stilling of the storm on the Lake of Galilee, walking on water, miraculous catch of fish, or his feeding of the multitudes with just five loaves and two fish.)
  

2. Signs of deeper realities

• Root: semeion (Greek), meaning “sign”
• Exclusive in the gospel of John and featured in seven miracles in this gospel

1. Turning wedding water into wine (John 2:1-12)
2. Healing the Nobleman's Son (John 4: 46-54)
3. Healing of the lame man to walk (John 5:1-17)
4. Feeding the Thousands with Bread and Fish (John 6:1-13)
5. Jesus calms the disciples during a storm (John 6:16-21)
6. Blind eyes opened (John 9:1-41)
7. Resurrection of Lazarus from death to life (John 11:1-45)

• Besides demonstrating the power of God breaking into human history through Jesus’ miracles, these miracles always point toward some deeper or greater reality:

1. Turning wedding water into wine: The New Christian is now clean and becomes filled with the Holy Spirit
2. Healing the Nobleman's Son: Our cured Life and Nobility in Jesus Christ
3. Healing of the lame man to walk: The Christian can now walk a Christian lifestyle
4. Feeding the Thousands with Bread and Fish: Fellowship of strengthening, building up, and nourishment in the faith among the believers
5. Jesus calms the disciples during a storm: Jesus calms our fears during the storms of life
6. Blind eyes opened: Apostles with their eyes opened to the hopeless plight of humanity are sent out to non-believers
7. Resurrection of Lazarus from death to life: Resurrection of the believer from physical death to eternal life

The gospels seldom, if ever, portray Jesus as taking the initiative in using his healing powers. He does not roam around curing everyone in sight. In fact, the sick and the poor come to him. This reflects the active role of those who are healed in the gospels: they sought to be healed in order to be part of the community once again. Yet more than this, the miracles point out to the main point behind his mission and message: the time is fulfilled, the Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the Good News!

To summarize the discussion, the following points can be said about miracles:

1. All the miracles of Jesus pointed to him as the Messiah. Jesus did not just heal the sick and raise the dead for the express purpose of taking suffering away, but to produce the credentials of his kingdom. Yet he did have compassion on the people and felt their suffering enough to relieve them by showing his concern through love. More than just being a man who shows God’s control over the world/nature/creation, he used such healing power within the bounds of his own mission and purpose of his ministry. His words and works point out his role as the Messiah – not a political leader who would bring Israel to victory against the Romans, but a suffering servant who fulfills the will of his Father.

2. All the miracles ultimately point to the Kingdom of God. The four evangelical gospels are unanimous on this point: that Jesus was a healer, a man whom God sent with miracles, wonders, and signs that ultimately point to His own Kingdom. For the gospel tradition, all these miracles have the same basic significance. All of these have crises that manifest the threat of evil, and in all of these, Jesus’ response point to the central message of his mission and message: the Kingdom of God actively reigning in our lives – yesterday, today, and forever!

3. Our response to miracles is that of faith. There is a consistent link between miracles and faith. What Jesus demands of those who come to him, either to learn or to be cured, is that they should totally trust him and his message and act on it. The response of those who were cured and healed were that of faith – of trusting obedience to Jesus, the son of God. Those who came with faith, totally willing to accept Jesus and his mission and to act on that faith, are healed by the power of his love. To all, Jesus’ message is basically the same: “Your faith has been your salvation.” (Luke 7:50)

As the song goes, “There can be miracles when you believe.” Our response to miracles is that of faith – Jesus presents to us these miracles in order to strengthen and deepen our faith in him, our response to his mission and message as a disciple. Though miracles in the world today occur rather rarely, such should not hinder us from “making our own miracles.” In our own little way, we can make miracles, because miracles are our own little acts done with faith in response to Jesus’ call to us as his disciples in the present times.

Jesus and the Call of Discipleship

Jesus and the Call of Discipleship

One of the most touching and revealing aspects of the gospel story is that of Jesus in the company of his disciples. They are an almost constant presence, gaping in awe and power. They are confidantes of his most important teaching, at his side as his mission drove him through the crowds of Galilee. In a way, we learn much about Jesus in considering his followers.

In order for us to understand the meaning of discipleship in the mind of Jesus as well as the implications of such discipleship to those whom he called to follow, let us examine several characteristics of Jesus’ relationships with his closest followers: the twelve.

1. Jesus gathers his disciples
Mark 1:16-20 (Call of the First Disciples)
All the gospels relate that one of the first things that Jesus did was to gather disciples. In the scripture passage that we read, Mark states that as soon as Jesus began his public ministry in Galilee, he recruited Simon, his brother Andrew, and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John. As Jesus’ ministry progressed, more would join him.

Discipleship is understood as a process of learning or “being-with” a master. Taking its root from the Latin word discere (to learn), a disciple is a “learner” whose goal is to learn from a master who serves as his source of knowledge and wisdom.

By gathering disciples, Jesus again showed that he was a man of his time. It was common practice among the rabbis (teachers) of Jesus’ day to attract followers or disciples. In the Old Testament, the relationship between a disciple and a master can be seen in various stories. Joshua, for example, served as a faithful lieutenant and eventually the successor of Moses, just as Elisha was a disciple of the great prophet Elijah.

2. Jesus transforms the meaning of the disciple-master relationship
Traditionally, the ideal of the disciple was to choose a master from who one could learn genuine wisdom. The disciple subordinated himself to the master, learning from him and serving him. Discipleship, however, was not a permanent status. The goal of learning was that the disciple himself would be trained to be master, no longer dependent on his rabbi once he had absorbed the teacher’s wisdom.

In this story, we can see that being a disciple of Jesus was a result of a personal invitation. Unlike the case of discipleship in Rabbinic Judaism, the disciple did not choose the master; rather, Jesus called and chose his disciples. The initiative always comes from Jesus himself.

This call draws those whom he called to take a radical response: “Come after me and I will make you fishers of men.” The response is instant, complete, and unhesitating: “They immediately abandoned their nets and became his followers… they immediately abandoned boat and father to follow him.”

Interestingly, Jesus’ disciples followed him not simply to listen to a body of doctrine or skills of interpretation from a master, and then they “graduate” and leave the master to find his own disciples. Rather, it is a call to a relationship of being a lifelong “learner.” They are called not simply to be with Jesus but to observe what he does, to learn from him, so that they may share in his work of the kingdom.

Finally, the presence of the disciples as witnesses to Jesus’ ministry signals that they too will share in this work. Unlike rabbinic disciples whose concern was to study what the master teaches, the disciples shared in the ministry of Jesus. In that sense, what Jesus does in his healing and teaching ministry, so must the disciples do From this moment on, they are to be Jesus’ closest and constant companions – as someone who will walk with him and share his life of love and service as Jesus loved and served his people.

3. Jesus’ choice of disciples is far short of ideal
However, a close and careful look at the portrait of Jesus’ disciples according to the gospels gives us a different perspective of the disciples: they do not come off as recruitment poster models – flawless, handsome, and bigger than life. In fact, the disciples of Jesus are far short of ideal. To understand this we look at what sort of people did Jesus choose to join in his mission.

• The gospels are unanimous in presenting them as people who did not came from a flawless background: most of them belong to the lower class of the society (fishermen), a public sinner (tax collector) even joined his movement, two of them are nicknamed Boanerges or “hot heads”, another one apparently is a member of the zealot party, and who would not forget Judas – the one “who would betray him.”
• They were often presented as followers who lacked attention and comprehension when listening to Jesus’ teachings. They were often baffled upon hearing the parables and Jesus himself even chided them for their lack of faith.
• We should never forget that the same disciples of Jesus abandoned him during his death (see Mark 14:50). We only hear of three disciples during the passion of Jesus: Judas, who betrays him for 30 pieces of silver and led the armed band to the garden; and Peter, the leader of the disciples who denies Jesus and his apostleship; and John, the only disciple who stood with the mother of Jesus near the cross as Jesus dies (see John 19:26).
  

The response of the disciples to Jesus’ call and mission was obviously flawed by fear and imperfection. In more ways than one, the disciples’ record was not good. They complained, they misunderstood, they quarreled, they deserted, they denied. But such does not warrant the loss of the relevance and value of the apostles in the mission and message of Jesus. In the face of the master they failed, but they detected the infinite compassion of God through their experiences of the Risen Christ (which we shall see this topic when we shall study the resurrection appearances later this quarter).

The March of the Unqualified
In one of our lessons in the Old Testament, we are reminded of how God makes a choice. In the stories of the Patriarchs, especially Abraham and Jacob, even in the lives of important people of the Old Testament like Moses, David, Solomon, Jeremiah, we can see that God most of the time calls people who seem to be unqualified to fulfill the task. Nonetheless, God’s plan is carried out, not because of who they are but because of what God has done; not because of what they have done, but because of who God is.

God chooses people despite their weaknesses and individual character flaws. He chooses them by virtue of his unconditional love: we may be unfaithful, but God always remains faithful to us! Most of the time, His choice defies logic and expectation. But what we are sure of is that He will form whoever He chooses and provide grace to respond to His call.

Parables of Jesus

Shalom!

To help you in your review for the quiz tomorrow, I am posting the powerpoint slides (in PDF format) from our class discussions on the Parables of Jesus. I only chose the slides that are useful and helpful in understanding the main points of our lesson.

Here are the links for downloading the files (hosted by Zendfile.com):
The Parables of Jesus
The Lost Parables
Study well and God bless!