9/28 :What's on the test?

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• What's on Test #1 (10/5)

More on the Testations

Just as we might see the theme of "subversion of empire" (remember Matthew 2:1 and  the video, "In The Shadow of Herod") being repeated, recast and remixed throughout Matthew's gospel..


We might also suggest that the same threetemptations Jesus faced in Chapter 4 were repeated, recast and remixed throughout the rest of the gospel, at different points in Jesus' life...


We noted today that the baptism of Jesus  (chapter 3) and the temptations (chapter 4) should be read together as one literary unit or paragraph (we called this a "coupling" as two items are connected, not three, as in "intercalation").


-  Remember how important repeated words are..in this case,  "SON":

-The segue is direct..."Then after his baptism, Jesus was led by the Spirit  into the desert for temptation by the devil."  (Matt. 4:1)


-In light of that, ask In what other ways do the baptism and temptation connect?
How does baptism prepare for temptation?


See the sermon by Nadia Bolz-Weber, "How To Say Defiantly, ‘I am Baptized!’"for a contemporary world application.


Start reading chapters 1-4 of your Kraybill  UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM text, and note that has a unique way of categorizing the three temptations:


(1=  Bread into stones: Economic
 2=Jump from temple and test God:Religious
  3=Own all kingdoms: Political; 

• Also: see Henri Nouwen's helpful take on the temptations here.
• Also: Why do I call the temptations "testations"? See class notes or stay tuned...we'll deal in depth with this next time
• Also: What did you think about the Lord's prayer, in which Jesus clearly instructs disciples to pray "lead us not into temptation"  VS. Matt 4:1, where the Spirit (God) leads Jesus into temptation?  Hmm, stay tuned..-------------------------------------------------

The Ray Vander Laan video we watched  ( "Jesus Our Desert – The Three Temptations")  is new, and unfortunately not summarized or viewable online yet, so do get notes from a classmate if you had to miss.


VanDer Laan suggested that the three "temptations" Jesus met in Matthew 4 were the same three  that show up  (repackaged, revisited) throughout Jesus' timeline on earth...right up to, and especially including the cross (as in, not avoiding it) .Several examples:

 

• Jesus put God ahead of family ("Who are my brothers and sisters?"  "Whoveer loves father and mother more than me cannot be my disciple."-Matthew 12:46-48...in fact, how many ways can you find in that whole chapter  where Jesus re-encounters versions of one of the testations?
• When people reported Herod wanted to kill him, he was not concerned (Luke 13)
• When people wanted to make him king by force, he walked away  (John 6:15)
• When the crowds were hungry, the disciples  wanted Jesus to feed them.  He refused (Feeding of the Multitude)
• The "get behind me, Satan" comment to Peter when Peter suggested Jesus should bypass the cross (Matthew 18)
• "go ahead and use Your power; the cross is going to hurt" 

The video offered lots of help on how the Testations of Jesus are related to/equated to/hyperlinked to the Testations of Israel in Exodus, Numbers. Deuteronomy.  We noted that it is no accident that all three testations of Jesus were found in different form in the OT, as well as the Scriptures Jesus used to counter the testations.


It is important that though it is obvious who "The Son (of God)" is in Matthew (Jesus), unless we know the literary/historical background, we miss that in the Old Testament, that phrase is used for Israel/God's people.   (see  Exodus 4:22-23 and especially the way Matt 2:15 quotes Hosea 11:1) Thus...remember this chart :

Now we realize that God tested/the devil tempted the first "SON" in a similar way.
Jesus the Son succeeds (in 40 days) in "reversing the curse" that Israel the Son inherited by not passing it (in 40 years). 


Jesus is not only (in a sense) the 
New Moses,
 but (in a sense) the New Israel
 (for help on that important point, see this  article,
and this).




VanDer Laan suggested that the heart of Jesus' "success" was consistently  and persistently keeping the "Shema,"   and not caving into a (mis)use of power.  This is the "binder" of the testations: Love God and neighbor.Thus

Q).Who is Jesus in Matthew?

A.) The One who, unlike Israel, passed the wilderness testations by loving God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength....and refusing to give into using "right-handed"  (more on that phrase next time) power.

We noted that VanderLaan prefers to translate "tests" instead of "temptations."
You have seen that I have coined the word "testations"  It would seen that in Scripture that God tests, and the devil tempts...and sometimes both are going on simultaneously. 


HERE are some helpful questions you might think about if you want to pursue this topic, OR if you's consider writing your second "Three Worlds" assignment on this passage:

• 1)What were the three temptations of Jesus in Matthew 4:1-11, Compare any ways Mark's account,  Mark 1:12-13  and  Luke's account, Luke 4:1-13 differ, and suggest any reasons why.
• 2)How does Nouewen summarize the three temptations(1=to be relevant  2=to be spectacular 3=to rule over). H?  How do you (use your own words)?
• 3)How do the three temptations connect to the historical and literary world of the Hebrew ("Old')Testament?
• 4)How do the three temptations connect to the contemporary world of Jesus and the disciples?
• 5)List and discuss several possible ways that versions of the three temptations reoccur and are revisited  throughout Jesus' life in Matthew's gospel?  (How is Jesus tested/tempted elswhere in Matthew, and how are the temptations versions of a similar one (two, or three) that he faced in the original temptation passage?
• 6)What are the three core temptations you face, and how have they revisited you  throughout your timeline?  How would you categorize them using Nouwen's categories?  Using the three categories of the "Shema"  (heart/mind/might) a la  Vander Laan'?  Using Kraybill's three categories (1=Economic 2=Religious  3=Political; see chapters 1-4 of "Upside Down Kingdom")
• 7)What have you learned about passing these tests/resiisting these temptations?
• 8)What does all of this  (the Matt 4 Scripture, and testing/tempting) have to do with the Kingdom?
• 9)Discuss how the passages that deal with Jesus not being immune to temptation( Hebrews 2:17-18, Hebrews 4:14-16,  and Hebrews 5:7-9) affect your views of  "Who is Jesus?" and of Jesus' divinity and humanity.
• 
  

He

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PS.My Dack Rambo story?  Click here  to read all about it, and for the sequel click:
" I Deny the Resurrection and I am not straight."

Parties and Culture, Fuzzy Sets, 3 Testations. Service Project

Get used to  scriblink.com

               we'll use it today...See the tab at top of this blog if you ever forget the URL.

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Before watching the video below, answer three quick questions:

• Fill in the blank:"In England, they drive on the ______________ side of the road"
• How do you define "culture?"
• Name your favorite musical group or singer, and then click to see if they are similar to  this group

:


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Since we have spent so much time discussing the various "parties" of Jesus day, it is helpful to our discussion of culture to hear how one writer views and succinctly characterizes each group's approach to culture (even though the following is overstatement:

• "Pharisees  separated from culture
•  Sadducees blended into the culture

• Zealots ruled over culture/misused it

• Essenes ignored culture....

The Pharisees were sectarian, developing an unending number of laws to separate themselves from the common people. 

The Sadducees were syncretists, compromising their beliefs in order to blend into the culture.

 The Zealots misused culture as they attempted to usher in God’s kingdom through the use of force.

 The Essenes ignored culture altogether, retreating from society where they could seek mystical encounters with God in monkish privacy...

And so we see that sectarians love God but fail to love their neighbors,

 And so we see that sectarians
love God but fail to love their neighbors, 
              while syncretists love their neighbors,
               but fail to love God."


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Here are some Jewish presentations on three of the parties.. we did not show these in class, but it all helps (especially for the final..remember the party you were assigned to last week)








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We introduced the third (and final) "set" of "set theory:

-When does a mountain begin?
-Is it about predestination or free will?
-When  did Peter become a believer?


These can be debated...as the border can be fuzzy...Thus :
"Fuzzy sets"

Here below is some help on Fuzzy Sets. These readings will help, but if you missed class today, you may want to talk to a classmate about some of the biblical and other examples.... to get a handle on this):

• new nets: bounded sets, fuzzy sets, or centered-sets?

• Rock or Reef:..scroll to page 6-9
• The Attractional Church
• Changing Worldview (scroll to pages 9-12)

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Just as we might see the theme of "subversion of empire" (remember Matthew 2:1 and  the video, "In The Shadow of Herod") being repeated, recast and remixed throughout Matthew's gospel..


We might also suggest that the same three temptations Jesus faced in Chapter 4 were repeated, recast and remixed throughout the rest of the gospel, at different points in Jesus' life...



We noted today that the baptism of Jesus  (chapter 3) and the temptations (chapter 4) should be read together as one literary unit or paragraph (we called this a "coupling" as two items are connected, not three, as in "intercalation").


-  Remember how important repeated words are..in this case,  "SON":

-The segue is direct..."Then after his baptism, Jesus was led by the Spirit  into the desert for temptation by the devil."  (Matt. 4:1)


-In light of that, ask In what other ways do the baptism and temptation connect?
How does baptism prepare for temptation?


See the sermon by Nadia Bolz-Weber, "How To Say Defiantly, ‘I am Baptized!’"for a contemporary world application.


Start reading chapters 1-4 of your Kraybill  UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM text, and note that has a unique way of categorizing the three temptations:


(1=  Bread into stones: Economic
 2=Jump from temple and test God:Religious
  3=Own all kingdoms: Political; 

• Also: see Henri Nouwen's helpful take on the temptations here.
• Also: Why do I call the temptations "testations"? See class notes or stay tuned...we'll deal in depth with this next time
• Also: What did you think about the Lord's prayer, in which Jesus clearly instructs disciples to pray "lead us not into temptation"  VS. Matt 4:1, where the Spirit (God) leads Jesus into temptation?  Hmm, stay tuned..-------------------------------------------------

Here is a video some of my previous freshman made for JCC..See if they (or the settings) look familiar.
It may inspire some of you to make a video at some point in this class...particularly related to the Parable Assignment:


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SERVICE PROJECT:

It's time to choose a Service Project...your choice of project is due OCT 3.
See the tab at top of this blog titled "Service Project" for lots of ideas.

Remember, the quiz questions (and links to the answers) are all on the "Homewofk Help" section of our post from last class.

By next time, have carefully read:

• Matthew, chapters 3-4
• Kraybill, Upside Down Kingdom, Chapters 1-2 (and read Chapters 3-4 by next Mon).
  

Party Time/Quiz Prep

 One can't help but find, in Matthew, the "common history" of two pivotal events in the history of Israel.
Both  ended with homecoming "parties"
    Event       Date            Location                Deliverer       Result
1)Exodus      1000s BC          Egypt   400 years           Moses               Dance Party on the Beach
2) Exile           500s BC            Babylon 70 years          Cyrus   :            4 Parties

1)Today's video on The Exodus and the "Dance Party on the Beach" is not online in any form (though you can buy it as episode 5 on this DVD).    The points to remember are how this was the seminal/foundational/formative microcosmic event of   (perhaps all) Scripture, in that:

--It presents a pattern and prototype of any deliverance from bondage/slavery; and every "way out" (Ex-Odus)
from an old way/world to a new way/world.  We had some good discussion about "in-between times" in our lives that we recognized  (maybe only in retrospect) as pivotal  and formative.  Crossing the sea is often meant to call to mind crossing a barrier (remember the Jordan River video from Week One) into a while new world, creation  or order; from allegiance to forbidden gods to The One God.  Jesus is seen in Matthew as the New Moses in that just as Moses led God's people out of bondage to an oppressive ruler/"king" (Pharoah) and an empire that infected them (Egypt), so Jesus leads God;s people out of spiritual bondage to an oppressive ruler/"king" (Herod) and an empire that infected them (Rome).  This is a classic intertexting/hyperlinking/parallelism.

--It is really the first time God's people are formed/forged into a community; they have "been through stuff together" and are inevitably bonded and changed through a corporate experience.  Thus:

---Also, remember  (for the test) the Jewish tradition that the Kingdom of God functionally, and for all practical purposes began (or landed in a foundational way on earth) when God's people there on the beach danced and sang, "The Lord is reigning" ( Exodus 15:18 )...remembering that "reigning" could be translated "King" or "Reigner".  Thus, God's Kingship "began" when God's people publicly recognized it after seeing God in action in dramatic way as King.  Vander Laan: "The Kingdom begins when God acts"
...Exodus 15:18:

• "The Lord is                           reigning from this point onward."
• "The Lord is   King      from this point onward."

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2)Hauer and Young call the return  a "new exodus".   Amazing that the "deliverer" who" let then go"  back home was a Cryrus, a pagan king; so used of God that Scripture calls him "Anointed One"/"Messiah"!  (Isaiah 45:1. comment see Hauer and Young p. 198)......For a "journal entry of what it must have felt like to be in exile, read this

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
   when we remembered Zion.
There on the poplars
   we hung our harps,
for there our captors asked us for songs,
   our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
   they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

  How can we sing the songs of the LORD
   while in a foreign land?
 If I forget you, Jerusalem,
   may my right hand forget its skill.
⁶May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
   if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
   my highest joy.

  Remember, LORD, what the Edomites did
   on the day Jerusalem fell.
“Tear it down,” they cried,
   “tear it down to its foundations!”
 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,
   happy is the one who repays you
   according to what you have done to us.
 Happy is the one who seizes your infants
   and dashes them against the rocks. 

(Psalm 137) 

Many changes ocurred as the Jews fret  (new temple , synagogues, etc.  But key for understanding Matthew are four "parties," groups, sects that emerged.  These are discussed in detail in Hauer/Young, Chapter 10, particularly pp. 221-227

Pharisees .lay scholars/ middle class   Oral and Written Torah    angels, demons, resurrection........
 Sadduccees   priestly/aristocratic         Written Torah only               no angels, demons, resurrection 


Essenes:  quiet, communal, prob connected to Dead Sea Scrolls 
Zealots    advocated armed rebellion against Rome

Read more on each from Ray VannDer Laan:

•  Pharisees
• Sadducees

• EssenesZealots

If you missed class today,  everyone was assigned to a "party" your group will be decided by last name:

• A-H  Pharisees
• I-M  Sadducees
• N-S  Essenes
• T-Z  Zealots

We began discussing these four groups in depth today; this will be important information
because:

-For the next quiz (Wed) you'll be asked to "say as much as you can about the four key parties"
-For the paper "Who is Jesus to Them?," you can use the discussion about the first two parties as the basis of your paper or video (see the updated syllabus for complete instructions).
-For the final , you'll be asked to respond to/critique certain sections of "The Upside Down Kingdom" as if you were a member of the party you were assigned to today.

In this video, a rabbi summarizes the four:







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Quiz next Wed covers the following material:

Matthew chapters 1 and 2

Hauer and Young, Chapters 4, 6. 8, 10, 11, and these pages (only) from Chapter 12:  pp. 269-272

Quiz questions and answers posted below

>>>If you did the Matthew "Overview/Impressions" assignment, you can opt out of this quiz (only) for full credit..or go ahead and take this one for a few points extra credit:

1. Give a brief explanation of the "three worlds". (answer, class post 8/28 and pp. 3-5)
2. What is a "text"? (class post 8/28)
3.  Give two examples of irony in the Exodus account (answer, page 95)
4. What is the significance of the Dance Party on the Beach, or what your book calls (p, 94) "Song of the Sea"?  (answer, 9/14 class post)
5. Which of the four parties was upper class, aristocratic and priestly?  (Answer 9/14 class post, and page 221-227)
6. The Pharisees believed only in Written Torah.    True__  False___(Answer 9/14 class post, and page 221-227)
7. What was Jesus' favorite term of self-reference in the gospels?  (Answer, p. 255 (not 225 as previously posted)
8. The fivefold division (five sermons or teaching blocks) in Matthew seem to be intentional, to call to mind  _______________ (Answer. p. 269 and class notes 9/1).
9. What is an inclusio, and what is an example of one that covers all of Matthew's gospel (Answer 8/31 class post  Clues: p, 270, 271)
10. Matthew's geneology includes five women.  What's radical about that, and what do the women have in common? (Answer, p.270 and Class notes  9/12