1 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Feast was near.
5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7 Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"
8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 9 "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"
10 Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
14 After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
The Monster Under Megan's Bed
John 6:1-21
Sermon
by Leonard Sweet
A child saved the day for Jesus. Could it be that ourchildren save the day for us? Is it time for us to sit at the feet of ourchildren?
Meet a 5-year-old girl named Megan. Like many kids her age forgenerations before her, Megan was terrified of a monster that lived under herbed. What to do? But unlike any previous generation before her, Megan didsomething about the monster under her bed.
She sat down at her computer and used a software package forchildren to tell her story about how scary the monster who lived under the bedwas, about how she wanted it to go away, and about how she solved her problem she put the monster under her brother's bed. She included in her storypictures of herself, her bed, her brother, her brother's bed and the monster.These were pictures she drew on her computer.
When she was done with her little storybook, she decided toshare it with some of her friends. You see, Megan has friends around the worldshe communicates with all the time friends Megan has never seen. So she senther storybook by phone to an electronic bulletin board, where kids from aroundthe globe could read and hear her tell her story. A CD-ROM multimedia magazinecalled Nautilus picked up her story and published it. Two of the most respectedbusiness consultants in the world, Stan Davis and Jim Botkin,ran across it through a digital butler that was prowling the Internet for itemsthey had programmed it to look for.
When they found it, they couldn't stop watching it. Butdon't listen to me. Listen to them. "We watched it five times. Here was a5-year-old child who had accomplished all the major tasks of moviemaking. Shewas the star, wrote the screenplay, created the visuals, did the editing, wasproducer and director, and even did her own distribution. Her learning wasintegrated into the realities of her life. And to her it was all play." Infact, Davis and Botkin were so struck by Megan'sstory that they titled their text on how to transition into a knowledge-basedbusiness: The Monster Under the Bed: How Business IsMastering the Opportunity of Knowledge for Profit (NewYork: Simon & Schuster, 1994). Pages 13-14 tell the story of Megan.
How did Megan do it? Children (like all young creatures) arenaturally fearless, fun-loving and full of curiosity. These traits encouragethem to pick up the remote control and start messing with the "Menu"button. Those same traits keep Megans clicking awayat the mouse, moving from screen to screen, as they "feel" their waythrough a new CD-ROM game. The ease with which even the youngest children seemto pick up and master the most advanced technological gadgetry suggests thatthese Megan mks (millennial kids) may be developingin the human species a kind of automatic electronic intuition. Unlike adults,the Megans of the world seem to know instinctivelyhow to work the microchip. Children "save the day" for us adults aswe try to lumber alongside them into the millennium-III, 21-C future.
In today's story of feeding the 5,000, there is one personwhose vision and faith go unsung by John. As the disciples are worrying aboutJesus' inquiry "Where are we to buy bread for these people?" one small solution steps forward. A little child offers asan answer to the food question a new possibility five barley loaves and twofish. With childlike trust, the lad offers all that he has to Jesus and thedisciples. Andrew has enough presence of mind (and perhaps a small flicker ofhope) to offer these childish gifts to Jesus. But his hard-nosed adultrationality gets in the way, for even as Andrew offers the loaves and fish withone hand, he pulls them back with a defeatist, "What are they among somany?" dismissal.
Jesus likes the child's solution. He uses the little boy'sgift to feed the people. While the text does not say that the child had faithin Jesus' ability to create a miracle, this child's heartfelt gift doesindicate that his vision and hope were not limited by the accepted norms of theday. He saw possibility, not puniness, in those five loaves and two fish. Thechild taught the disciples a lesson: They should have been looking for ways tosucceed, not looking for excuses to fail. In the words of John Belushi (Animal House), "Nothing is impossible for theperson who will not listen to reason."
Of course, the child himself did not have the power tomultiply the loaves and fish. But his gift opened a way for Jesus and thedisciples to achieve their goal. What if Andrew had turned away the boy withthe small food offering dismissing his gift as worthless and impossible? Wherewould Jesus have obtained the raw material for this feeding miracle if both heand the disciples had not opened up to this unlikely, infantile source ofrescue?
Children can "save the day" if we are open to themand treat their presence and input with the dignity, respect and importancethey deserve. Jesus railed angrily against any who would erect a"stumbling block" before the "little ones" because thefuture of the world lies in their childish faith.
A woman's 3-year-old daughter asked several times over aperiod of months if she might be left alone with her new baby brother. Afraidof the possibility of sibling rivalry, the parents of the two childrenconsulted a therapist. Should they acquiesce to the child's request?
After being assured that the 3-year-old was a nonaggressive and well-adjusted child, the therapistindicated that she thought the little girl should be given the chance to bealone with her brother. She did, however, suggest that the parent might want tolisten on the intercom in the baby's room, aware that they could go to the babyin a second if there were any difficulty. So the parents left their 3-year-olddaughter with the new baby and went to their own bedroom to listen on thespeaker.
They heard the 3-year-old close the door to the nursery andwalk over to the crib. Then, after a moment, they heard her say, "Baby,baby, tell me about God. I think I'm forgetting"(Stephen Levine and Ondrea Levine, Embracing the Beloved [New York: Doubleday,1995]).
This morning's texts call us to tiptoe back into thenursery, or the classroom, and ask our children to "tell us aboutGod" to remind us about what is important for life and faith in ourworld today and for their world tomorrow.
"I raised up some of yourchildren to be prophets" (Amos 2:11).
There are three areas where it's easiest to see how much wehave to learn from our Megans in technology, theenvironment and peacemaking. In each of these areas, we have the tools and thetalents to begin transforming our world but need to open our minds and heartsand spirits to the fresh insights our children have to offer.
1. Technology We adults stand amazed at how easy it isfor our children to use and understand all the electronic wizardry andrazzmatazz gadgetry now commonly found in our homes. Probably the biggestdifference between the way we approach our new microchip housemates and the wayour children deal with them is based on the "awe factor." We stand inawe of them, and our children do not. All these computers, VCRs, CD-ROMs, allthis Internet-networking, modem-uplinking andvirtual-reality gaming is new and alien territory to us. My generation (theboomers) claims the television as our old familiar buddy, but all this otherhardware and software is as new to us as it is to our parents' (the"booster") generation.
For young school-age children, sitting down at a computer islike sitting down at the dinner table. It's just something you do in the courseof your day. Because they interact with computers and learn to think the waycomputer programs think, our kids really do have their brains "wired"differently than their parents. Interactive video games, split-screen options,the ability to print, communicate via modem, chat and cruise all at the sametime are options that are natural and normal to our youngest kids. They arelearning to think on many different levels all at once, to see multiple tasksand interrelated processes, and to visualize solutions that yet lie many steps down the path they are treading. This is thetechnologically inspired vision we must sit at our children's feet to learn.Our old "one-step-at-a-time," "one-problem-at-a-time" wayof dealing with the world simply won't cut it anymore.
It's time to sit at the feet of our children.
2. Environment Our 6-year-old, Thane, loves going to"the dump," not just because of the smells and the mess, but becausehe gets to fling the green, brown and clear glass containers into theirappropriate recycling dumpsters. What kid could resist a legitimate reason tobreak glass with such panache and abandon?
We still have to remind ourselves to put bottles and cansand paper into the recycling container instead of in the trash. Thane wouldnever even think of doing such a thing. His sensibilities have been tuned in adifferent direction. Like most mks (millennial kids),he is "green."
The use-it-once-then-throw-it-away mentality that hassaturated our mindset has resulted in a kind of global holocaust. It seems asthough we have been caught up in a frenzy to destroy and ravage all the naturalresources, all the natural diversity, all the natural beauty of our God-createdplanet Earth, and especially TurtleIsland(what the natives called North America). Belatedly,boomers and boosters have begun to worry about the condition of this planet andthe physical quality of the future we are leaving our children. But lookingaround at the pollution, the devastation, the decimation we have wrought, ourgenerations tend to be like Andrew. When solutions or sacrifices are raised, wewring our hands and moan, "What are they among so many?"
Our children choose to see what they can do instead ofseeing the overwhelming nature of what yet must be done. It was a handful ofchildren who campaigned to make "dolphin safe" the only tuna theywould eat, or their parents would buy. It was children who turned the movietitle "Free Willy" into a reality for the dismally kept Orca whale Keiko.
The Megans, the Thanes, have neverhad the luxury of taking their natural world, and the creatures they share itwith, for granted. They carry a sense of its fragility and their ownresponsibility for its well-being deep in their souls.
It's time to sit at the feet of our children.
3. Peacemaking The sensibility and connectedness ourchildren feel toward the natural world is carried over into a realization ofthe connectedness and interdependence all people share with one another. Ourkids' technological savvy has also served to shrink the diameter of the globeand erase the boundary lines between nations, races, countries and continents.(You may want to refer to the MCI commercial "There are no races ..."here, or project it on your screen.) This unified vision of the world makes ourchildren prime peacemakers.
Before giving thanks for the bread, Jesus instructs thewhole milling crowd to "sit down" together. Only as the throng sat down as one great family were they able to passthe loaves from hand to hand until all were fed. What do you think? When theyfirst looked at the five loaves and two fish Jesus was blessing, did anyone inthat crowd really think they had come together for any real purpose? Perhapsthey did, for they knew of Jesus' healing powers. All the text tells is that thosewho had enough faith to "sit down" received all they could possiblywant from Jesus' hands.
Children don't yet see generations of hatred and animosity.They see common needs, common desires, common hungers.Remember Yitzhak Rabin's funeral? What do you remember? The tears and testimonyof his young grand-daughter spoke the most eloquently and passionately for thedream of peace for which her grandfather had just given his life. Her wordsbreathed life back into that dream and gave renewed vision and hope to agrieving country.
As we sit at the feet of our children, however, ourgeneration must resist the urge to stop being the adult, the grown-up.Responsibility-shy boomers must not use our kids' unique abilities as an excusefor us to abdicate our ultimate accountability. While we may have to rely onour 8-year-old to get the clock set on the VCR, our 8-year-olds are relying onus for a lot more. There are millions of kids floundering helplessly in theirchildhoods because no one in their household has committed to being thegrown-up.
Just as we need the freshness of their insights, ourchildren need to hear the wisdom of our experience.
Just as we need to learn new ways to process information,our children need to be protected from too much, too soon.
Just as we need to hear our children voice the plight ofthe earth, we need to help them learn to listen for the voice of their soul.
Just as we need our children to help us see oursimilarities, we need to help them discern between good and evil.
Let's not give the monsters under our beds to our children.Let's sit at their feet as they teach us how to get rid of those monsters thatare threatening this world God created and loved.
[Note: "Sitting at the Feet of Our Children" wouldmake a good alternative sermon title.]
ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Collected Works, by Leonard Sweet
The feeding of the five thousand, walking on water, and the teaching on bread from heaven all occur during the Jewish Passover and connect to how God once deli…
The Baker Bible Handbook by , Baker Publishing Group, 2016
1 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Feast was near.
5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7 Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"
8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 9 "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"
10 Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
14 After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
Jesus and Passover are the focus of chapter 6. The scene now shifts to Galilee, where in the springtime festival of Passover (6:4) Jesus miraculously feeds a multitude of five thousand people. This is the only miracle of Jesus that appears in all four Gospels; it must have been deemed very important by the early church (Matt. 14:13–21; Mark 6:31–44; Luke 9:10–17). John’s Gospel follows the Synoptic account closely. But John also echoes Matthew and Mark in that the feeding miracle is followed by the story of Jesus walking on the sea (6:16–21; cf. Matt. 14:22–33; Mark 6:45–52).
But this is where the comparisons end. Two typically Johannine literary features that we have witnessed elsewhere stand out. First, the symbolic elements of the festival are emphasized in order to highlight their christological significance. Passover spoke of Moses, who not only fed the Israelites in the wilderness (Exod. 16:4–36) but also became the ideal messianic figure in Judaism. Jesus is therefore depicted as the prophet like Moses (6:14; cf. Deut. 18:15) who exceeds the manna miracle of Moses (6:30–34, 48–51). Second, the Johannine discourse is the vehicle used to advance this comparison. When questioned by the Jews, Jesus presses home the spiritual meaning of this event in what may be the longest public discourse in the Gospel (6:25–65).
The Sea of Galilee was often called the Sea of Tiberias, in honor of Herod Antipas’s founding of the new provincial center of Tiberias in AD 26 (cf. John 21:1). The Passover is probably a year after the one mentioned in 2:13. During the intervening year, Mark notes, John the Baptist was arrested, and by the time of the feeding of the five thousand he has been executed (Mark 6:14–29, where the Baptist is beheaded). This lapse of time explains Jesus’s growing popularity (6:2–3).
Jesus’s charge to Philip to feed the people (6:5) recalls the conversation of 4:31–38, in Samaria. Spiritual food is at issue. It is a test (6:6) because Jesus needs to elevate the disciples’ consciousness as to the manner of his ministry. Nevertheless, misunderstanding ensues. (Note the motif already in 3:4; 4:11, 33.) Hence, Philip inventories their savings (eight months’ wages, 6:7), and Andrew spots a boy with a few provisions (6:9). John alone records that the boy holds barley bread, which was the bread of the poor, but symbolically it may recall the great Old Testament feeding miracle of Elisha (2 Kings 4:42). John also notes that it is Jesus who distributes the bread (not the disciples) and that in his prayer of blessing, rather than using the Synoptic eulogeō (“to bless”), Jesus gives thanks (Greek eucharisteō; cf. 1Cor. 11:24). Is this a veiled symbol of the Eucharist or the Lord’s Supper? This use of symbolism seems natural to Jesus’s teaching in John, and in this chapter the eucharistic application will become more explicit (6:52–58).
The dangers of Jesus’s popularity and the perils of misunderstandings are shown in the crowd’s response (6:14). They have interpreted the sign: Jesus has enacted the “Moses miracle” of Passover. However, Jesus flees (6:15) because the crowd wishes to force on him a political definition of messiah (“make him king by force”). Mark records this same crisis: Jesus puts the disciples on a boat and personally disappears into the mountains (Mark 6:45–46).
The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary by Gary M. Burge, Baker Publishing Group, 2016
The indefinite connecting phrase some time after this (v. 1; cf. 5:1) introduces a narrative that abruptly locates Jesus in Galilee, crossing from one side of Lake Galilee to the other.
Such a beginning suggests that the Gospel writer is picking up a narrative source in the middle of things. The only real link to the two preceding incidents in John is the mention in verse 2 of the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick (cf. 4:43–54; 5:1–18). There is no way to be sure how much time has elapsed since the miracle and controversy of the previous chapter. If the “feast of the Jews” of 5:1 was the Passover, then at least a year has gone by, for it is again the Passover season (v. 4). The author’s interest at this point is not in chronology but in providing a sample glimpse of Jesus’ Galilean ministry (in addition to 2:1–12 and 4:43–54), and particularly of his Galilean synagogue teaching (cf. 6:59).
The story of the feeding of the five thousand is found in all four Gospels (cf. Mark 6:32–44; Matt. 14:13–21; Luke 9:10b–17), while the account of Jesus walking on the water is paralleled in Mark (6:45–52) and Matthew (14:22–33). The theme by which John’s Gospel draws this material together is the familiar synoptic theme of the pursuit of Jesus by large and persistent crowds (vv. 2–5, 14–15, 22–24; cf., e.g., Mark 1:35–37; Matt. 4:25–5:1). This pursuit becomes the occasion for Jesus to teach the crowds what “following” or coming toward him (vv. 2, 5) actually entails (6:26–59). Many turn back when they learn discipleship’s cost, but “the Twelve” (with Simon Peter as their spokesman) affirm their faith and are established as Jesus’ helpers and companions (6:60–71).
The reference to the Passover (v. 4) is in keeping with the author’s tendency to place Jesus’ deeds and discourses in the context of Judaism’s major religious festivals (cf. 2:13; 5:1; 7:2; 10:22; 11:55), but this is the only instance in which Jesus is not in Jerusalem for the occasion. Why is the season mentioned in a context that otherwise shows little interest in chronology? Is the reference intended to characterize the feeding of the five thousand as a kind of Christian Passover anticipating the Lord’s Supper? Does it set the stage for the subsequent controversy over Moses and the manna in the desert (6:30–32; cf. Exod. 16:4, 15)? The feeding of the crowd is indeed described in terms reminiscent of the institution of the Lord’s Supper: Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish (v. 11; cf., e.g., 1 Cor. 11:23–25). Moreover, the synagogue address on “Jesus the Bread of Life” (vv. 26–59) concludes with what many regard as a meditation explicitly on the Lord’s Supper as a Christian sacrament (6:52–58). Yet in itself, the mention of Passover in verse 4 carries no hint that the emphasis of the narrative is to be on the Passover meal as such or any adaptation of it.
In the two other places where the Passover is said to be near (i.e., 2:13; 11:55; cf. 12:1; 13:1), the statement introduces material that in some way points forward to Jesus’ death at the last Passover in Jerusalem (i.e., 2:14–22; 12:1–36). In the present passage the effect is similarly to introduce a reflection on Jesus’ death, but this time with particular focus on its implications for discipleship. The chapter as a whole functions in much the same way as Jesus’ first Passion prediction in the synoptic Gospels, with its accompanying call to discipleship (cf. Mark 8:31–9:1 and parallels).
John’s account of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes begins with the approach of a great crowd that had seen Jesus’ healings and with Jesus’ consequent withdrawal to a hill where he sat down, probably to teach his disciples (vv. 2–3; cf. Matt. 5:1–2). It ends with his solitary retreat to the same hill to escape the crowd’s attempt to make him king by force (vv. 14–15). Between the two withdrawals, Jesus encounters the crowd and ministers to its needs. As he looks out over the crowd (v. 5), Jesus looks at the same time into the future (cf. 4:35). He has already formed a plan (v. 6) in anticipation of a problem that in the other Gospels arises only later: How will the crowd be fed? (cf. Mark 6:35–36 and parallels). He elicits from Philip and Andrew, two of his first disciples (cf. 1:40–44), that it would be virtually impossible to provide food for so many (vv. 7, 9b). Andrew mentions in passing, however, a boy who has brought five barley loaves and two fish (v. 9a), and with these Jesus feeds the whole crowd (vv. 10–13). All the Gospels are specific about the five loaves and two fish, but only John tells the story of the anonymous youth who brought them. The human interest touch is most easily explained as an actual recollection of what happened. Though certain aspects of the narrative are reminiscent of the story of Elisha and twenty loaves of barley bread in 2 Kings 4:42–44 (e.g., the emphasis on what is left over), the OT incident is not a sufficient model to explain either Jesus’ actions or the Gospel writer’s account of them.
The story is recognizably the same in John’s Gospel as in the Synoptics. Jesus makes the crowd of five thousand recline on the grass and distributes bread and fish to them until they are all satisfied. The distinctive feature of John’s account is that Jesus distributes the food to the crowd directly, not through the hands of his disciples (v. 11; contrast Mark 6:41). The disciples do, however, gather the pieces of bread that are left over, twelve baskets full, “that nothing may be lost” (v. 12, RSV). The effect of the shift in the disciples’ role is to enhance the symbolism, already present in the Synoptics, of the twelve baskets of surplus bread (cf. Mark 6:43). The abundance of bread points to the abundance of life that Jesus supplies, but the detail that none of it is lost or wasted anticipates the symbolism of the eucharistic prayer found in the Didache, a second-century manual of church order. The prayer appears to be based on this very passage in John or on the incident it describes: “As this broken bread was scattered upon the mountains, but was brought together and became one, so let your church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom” (Didache 9.4). The twelve baskets of bread left over are here understood to represent the Christian church kept safe in the world by the power of God. As the bread is gathered in twelve baskets, so the church is personified in twelve apostles (cf. 6:70; 17:12; 18:9). As none of the bread is lost or wasted, so none of those who believe in Jesus will be left to wander from his saving care (cf. 6:39; 10:28).
Yet it is an oversimplification to say that the feeding of the five thousand symbolizes the Christian Eucharist. Though the distribution of the food is described in eucharistic terms (v. 11), the miracle points beyond the Eucharist to that which the Eucharist itself represents: the unity and security of Jesus’ followers as his body in the world. In his own way, Paul too sees the bread of the Lord’s Supper as the church: “Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf” (1 Cor. 10:17). The fact that Paul emphasizes the “oneness” of the bread while John emphasizes its “twelveness” should not obscure the similarity in what the two are saying. At most, however, the mention of the twelve baskets of leftover barley bread furnishes only a hint of the narrator’s intended meaning. The real theological interpretation of the feeding of the crowd comes in the synagogue discourse of verses 26–59 and in the concluding exchange between Jesus and his disciples (and would-be disciples) in verses 60–71. The unstated link between the twelve baskets of bread and the church kept safe in the world is the person of Jesus himself (cf. 6:35, 48). That the miracle says something about Jesus even the crowd could perceive (v. 14), but on its own terms. He must be the expected prophet like Moses because, like Moses, he had miraculously fed those who followed him (cf. 6:30–31). The custom of messianic pretenders in Jesus’ time was to seek credibility by either re-enacting or matching famous OT miracles (see, e.g., Josephus, Antiquities 20.97, 167–70). The men in the crowd saw in Jesus just such a potential messiah, one who fulfilled their political hopes and whom they thought they could use for their own political ends. Their intent was a violent one, perhaps nothing short of kidnapping Jesus to make him a puppet pretender to the long-vacant throne of David. But he knew their intent (cf. 2:24) and returned alone to the hill. For the time being, his manifestation to the Galilean crowd was at an end.
Additional Notes
6:1 That is, the Sea of Tiberias: The double name is striking. Tiberias appears to be the name preferred by the writer of this Gospel (cf. 21:1), while the more familiar Galilee has been retained alongside it from an oral or written source similar to the synoptic accounts.
6:5 Where shall we buy: Philip’s answer indicates that Jesus’ meaning is “How can we buy enough food? Where would we get the money?” The notion that they were in the desert, with no markets nearby, seems not to be an issue here, and there is no evidence in the text that this was the case.
6:6 To test him: Test is not used here in an ethical sense but means simply to elicit a response. Jesus wants to draw from the disciples a clear expression of the human impossibility of providing food for so many people. The purpose of the parenthetical remark is to ensure that Jesus’ question to Philip did not imply any uncertainty on his part about the outcome.
6:8 Another of his disciples: Unlike Philip, Andrew is introduced here as if he has not been mentioned before, yet cf. 1:40. In both passages he is identified as Simon Peter’s brother. Either (a) the terminology is that of John’s narrative source (which may not have included an account of Andrew’s call) or (b) the phrase should be translated, “the first of his disciples,” referring explicitly to the call mentioned in 1:40. The Greek word heis, translated as one, is occasionally used for the ordinal number “first” and it is perhaps noteworthy that some ancient manuscripts refer to Andrew as the “first” among Jesus’ disciples in 1:41 (see Additional Note on 1:41). The former alternative, however, is the more likely.
6:9 Boy: The Greek word paidarion means a child, a youth, or a young slave, and can refer to either a male or a female. A masculine relative pronoun confirms that in this instance a boy is in view.
6:10 People … men. The NIV preserves a distinction between a generic word for people (Gr.: anthrōpoi) and a word that usually (though not always) refers to adult males in particular (andres). This presupposes a situation described explicitly only in Matthew: “The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children” (Matt. 14:21; cf. 15:38). The group is thus assumed to be a mixed group, considerably larger than five thousand (even the boy who furnished the food was probably not counted among the five thousand!). It is uncertain whether or not the Gospel writer is conscious of such a distinction.
6:11 / Gave thanks: Gr.: eucharistēsas (cf. 6:23). From this word the term “Eucharist” is derived. The parallel passages (Mark 6:41; Matt. 14:19; Luke 9:16) use a different verb eulogein (lit., “bless,” but in NIV consistently translated “give thanks,” as here). The verb in John corresponds to the verb used in the second feeding (i.e., of the four thousand) in Mark (8:6) and Matthew (15:36). The giving of thanks plays a crucial part in the working of a miracle again in John 11:41. Thanksgiving becomes Jesus’ way of calling on the Father to display his power.
Understanding the Bible Commentary Series by J. Ramsey Michaels, Baker Publishing Group, 2016
Direct Matches
One of the twelve apostles and brother of Peter. Andrew came from Bethsaida in Galilee (John 1:44), though he lived and worked with Peter in Capernaum as a fisherman (Matt. 4:18). At first a disciple of John the Baptist, he, with an unnamed disciple (possibly John), transferred allegiance to Jesus (John 1:35 40). His first recorded act was to bring his brother to Jesus (John 1:41–42). Subsequently, he was called by Jesus to become a permanent follower (Matt. 4:19) and later was appointed as an apostle (Matt. 10:2).
Generally made of grain, this staple of foods has been known to be in existence since prehistoric days, being mentioned in the oldest literatures of humanity. Though usually made of wheat, it can be made of any grain and also some kinds of beans or lentils.
To make bread, grain must be ground into flour, mixed with salt and water, kneaded into a dough, and baked. Most breads included a leaven to add substance. As a food staple, it became a symbol of hospitality (Neh. 13:12; Matt. 14:15–21) and community as people ate together (Acts 2:42). Bread was considered a gift from God, so it was treated with special deference. Unleavened bread was required during Passover feasts and in most occasions related to the worship of God. The “bread of the Presence” (KJV: “shewbread”), representing the twelve tribes of Israel in the temple, was made of unleavened bread (Exod. 25:30) with special flour and was carefully eaten by the priests.
Jesus used bread in the Lord’s Prayer to represent asking God to meet our basic needs (Matt. 5:11), and he called himself the “bread of life” to show that he is the one who “gives life to the world,” our ultimate sustenance (John 6:33–35). During this exchange with the Jews about the bread of life, Jesus foreshadows what takes place at the Last Supper with his disciples, suggesting that believers must “eat [his] flesh” (represented by bread) and “drink [his] blood” (represented by wine) (John 6:53–59; cf. Luke 22:19). Additionally, bread was used symbolically to represent those things that were present in daily life (Pss. 127:2; 80:5; Prov. 4:17; 20:17).
The northern region of Israel. Determining the region’s precise boundaries is difficult, but in Jesus’ time it appears to have encompassed an area of about forty-five miles north to south and twenty-five miles east to west, with the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee forming the eastern border. Josephus divides the region into Upper and Lower Galilee. Upper Galilee contains elevations of up to about four thousand feet and is composed mostly of rugged mountains, while Lower Galilee reaches a maximum height of about two thousand feet and is characterized by numerous fertile valleys. Lower Galilee was the site of most of Jesus’ ministry.
Galilee appears several times in the OT (e.g., Josh. 20:7; 1Kings 9:11; 1Chron. 6:76). It was part of the land given to the twelve tribes (Josh. 19). Since Galilee was distant from Jerusalem, which played the most prominent part in Jewish history, much of its history is not mentioned in the OT. Many of the references that do occur are military references, such as Joshua’s defeat of the kings at the waters of Merom (Josh. 11:19) and the Assyrian removal of the northern kingdom of Israel (Isa. 9:1). However, its great beauty, particularly of mountains such as Carmel, Hermon, and Lebanon, was the source of numerous images and metaphors in the poetic and prophetic literature (e.g., Ps. 133:3; Isa. 33:9; 35:2; Jer. 46:18).
Galilee figures more prominently in the NT. Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and conducted much of his early ministry there. Luke specifically identifies Galilee as the place where Jesus’ ministry began before spreading to Judea (Luke 23:5; Acts 10:37). Galilee is also portrayed as the place where Jesus will reunite with his disciples following the resurrection (Mark 16:7) and where he gives them the Great Commission (Matt. 28:16–20).
A kingdom signifies the reality and extent of a king’s dominion or rule (Gen. 10:10; 20:9; Num. 32:33; 2Kings 20:13; Esther 1:22). Some kingdoms were relatively small; others were concerted attempts to gain the whole world.
A kingdom presupposes monarchy, rule by an individual, human authority. Although kings only have as much authority as their armies and the general populace allow, they nevertheless exercise an almost absolute power, which invites either profound humility or hubris. Royal arrogance, unfortunately, is the primary motif characterizing kings in the Bible (e.g., Dan.3).
God originally intended Israel to be governed as a theocracy, ruled by the one, true, living God (but see Gen. 17:6; Deut. 17:1420). Israel was to be a “kingdom of priests” (Exod. 19:6), but the people demanded a king (1Sam. 8:1–22). However, even when God granted their request, God remained King over the king and even retained ownership of the land (Lev. 25:23, 42, 55). The Israelite king was nothing more than God’s viceroy, with delegated authority. With few exceptions, most of the kings of Israel and Judah were corrupted by authority and wealth and forgot God (1Sam. 13:13–14; 15:28; Matt. 14:6–11). But God made a covenant with David, so that one of his descendants would become a coregent in a restored theocracy, the kingdom of God (2Sam. 7:1–29; Pss. 89:3; 132:11). In contrast to David’s more immediate descendants, this coming king would return to Jerusalem humble and mounted on a donkey (Zech. 9:9; cf. Isa. 62:11). The Gospels present Jesus Christ as this king (Matt. 21:1–9 pars.). Those who are likewise humble will inherit the land with him (Matt. 5:5).
Because Scripture sees all things as providentially arranged and sustained by God’s sovereign power at all times (Heb. 1:3), miracles are not aberrations in an otherwise closed and mechanical universe. Nor are miracles raw demonstrations of divinity designed to overcome prejudice or unbelief and to convince people of the existence of God (Mark 8:11 12). Still less are they clever conjuring tricks involving some kind of deception that can be otherwise explained on a purely scientific basis. Rather, God in his infinite wisdom sometimes does unusual and extraordinary things to call attention to himself and his activity. Miracles are divinely ordained acts of God that dramatically alert us to the presence of his glory and power and advance his saving purposes in redemptive history.
In the OT, miracles are not evenly distributed but rather are found in greater number during times of great redemptive significance, such as the exodus and the conquest of Canaan. Miracles were performed also during periods of apostasy, such as in the days of the ninth-century prophets Elijah and Elisha. Common to both of these eras is the powerful demonstration of the superiority of God over pagan deities (Exod. 7–12; 1Kings 18:20–40).
In the NT, miracles often are acts of compassion, but more significantly they attest the exalted status of Jesus of Nazareth (Acts 2:22) and the saving power of his word (Heb. 2:3–4). In the Synoptic Gospels, they reveal the coming of God’s kingdom and the conquest of Satan’s dominion (Matt. 8:16–17; 12:22–30; Mark 3:27). They point to the person of Jesus as the promised Messiah of OT Scripture (Matt. 4:23; 11:4–6). John shows a preference for the word “signs,” and his Gospel is structured around them (John 20:30–31). According to John, the signs that Jesus performed were such that only the one who stood in a unique relationship to the Father as the Son of God could do them.
Just as entrenched skepticism is injurious to faith, so too is naive credulity, for although signs and wonders witness to God, false prophets also perform them “to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matt. 24:24). Christians are to exercise discernment and not be led astray by such impostors (Matt. 7:15–20).
The relationship between miracles and faith is not as straightforward as sometimes supposed. Miracles do not necessarily produce faith, nor does faith necessarily produce miracles. Miracles were intended to bring about the faith that leads to eternal life (John 20:31), but not all who witnessed them believed (John 10:32). Additionally, Jesus regarded a faith that rested only on the miracle itself as precarious (Mark 8:11–13; John 2:23–25; 4:48), though better than no faith at all (John 10:38). Faith that saves must ultimately find its grounding in the person of Jesus as the Son of God.
It is also clear that although Jesus always encouraged faith in those who came to him for help (Mark 9:23), and that he deliberately limited his miraculous powers in the presence of unbelief (Mark 6:5), many of his miracles were performed on those who did not or could not exercise faith (Matt. 12:22; Mark 1:23–28; 5:1–20; Luke 14:1–4).
The fact that Jesus performed miracles was never an issue; rather, his opponents disputed the source of his power (Mark 3:22). Arguments about his identity were to be settled by appeal not to miracles but to the word of God (Matt. 22:41–46).
The Israelites gathered regularly to celebrate their relationship with God. Such festivals were marked by communal meals, music, singing, dancing, and sacrifices. They celebrated, conscious that God had graciously brought them into a relationship with him. Within this covenant he had committed himself to act on their behalf both in regular ways, such as the harvest, and in exceptional ways, such as deliverance from Egypt. At the festivals, Israel celebrated God’s work in its past, present, and future and reaffirmed its relationship with this covenant God.
We know of Israel’s festivals from several calendars in the Mosaic legislation (Exod. 23:1417; 34:18–23; Lev. 23; Num. 28–29; Deut. 16:1–17), calendars further clarified by the prophets (e.g., Ezek. 45:18–25; Zech. 14), and narrative material (e.g., 2Kings 23:21–23).
Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. Israel’s religious calendar began with Passover, the day set aside to commemorate deliverance from Egypt. Occurring in spring, this single day was joined with a weeklong celebration known as the Festival of Unleavened Bread, during which all males were required to make a pilgrimage to the sanctuary and offer the firstfruits of the barley harvest (Lev. 23:9–14). Israel observed Passover with rituals that reactualized the night God’s destroyer spared the Israelites in Egypt. A lamb was killed, and its blood was put on the doorposts of the homes and on the bronze altar in the sanctuary. The lamb was roasted and served with unleavened bread and bitter herbs while those partaking—dressed in their traveling clothes—listened to the retelling of the exodus story. No yeast was to be found anywhere among them, no work was to be done on the first and last days of the festival, and offerings were to be brought to the sanctuary (Num. 9:1–5; Josh. 5:10–11; 2Kings 23:21–23; 2Chron. 30; 35:1–19).
Early Christians associated Jesus’ death with that of the Passover (Paschal) lamb (1Cor. 5:7–8), encouraged by Jesus’ comments at the Last Supper (described by the Synoptic Gospels as a Passover meal [e.g., Matt. 26:17–30]). Perhaps Jesus meant to emphasize that just as Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread reminded God’s people of his deliverance and provision, his followers would find true freedom and full provision in him.
The Festival of Weeks. Also known as the Festival of Harvest, the Day of Firstfruits, or Pentecost (because it occurred fifty days after Passover), the Festival of Weeks took place on the sixth day of the third month (corresponding to our May or June). This marked another occasion when all Jewish men were required to come to the sanctuary. They were to bring an offering of the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, abstain from work, and devote themselves to rejoicing in God’s goodness.
Early in the NT period, if not before, this festival also became associated with the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. The Jews who assembled in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost as described in Acts 2 came to celebrate not only God’s provision but also the revelation of his nature and will. Significantly, God chose this day to send the Holy Spirit, the One who would produce a harvest of believers and reveal God more fully to the world.
The Festival of Tabernacles. So important was the Festival of Tabernacles (also known as the Festival of Ingathering or the Festival of Booths) that Israel sometimes referred to it as “the festival of the Lord” (Judg. 21:19) or simply “the festival” (cf. 1Kings 8:65). Held from the fifteenth to the twenty-first of the seventh month (September–October), this was the third of the three pilgrimage festivals. For that week, Israel lived in booths to remind them of their ancestors’ time in the wilderness. They also celebrated the fruit harvest. They were to “take the fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice” before God for seven days (Lev. 23:40 NRSV). Avoiding all work on the first and last days of the festival, they were to mark the week with sacrifices, celebration, and joy. Also, every seventh year the law was to be read at this festival (Deut. 31:10–11).
John 7 records Jesus’ secretive departure to Jerusalem for the Festival of Tabernacles, where he spent several days teaching in the temple courts. It was on the last and greatest day of the festival when Jesus invited those thirsty to come to him and drink.
The Festival of Trumpets. Occurring on the first day of the seventh month (September–October), this feast marked the beginning of the civil and agricultural year for the Jews; it was also referred to as Rosh Hashanah (lit., “head/beginning of the year”). Observed as a Sabbath with sacrifices and trumpet blasts, this day was intended for rest and to begin preparations for the coming Day of Atonement. The Mishnah makes this connection more explicit by identifying the Festival of Trumpets as the day when “all that come into the world pass before [God] like legions of soldiers” or flocks of sheep to be judged (m.Ros.HaSh. 1:2).
The Day of Atonement. Some festivals, like Passover, looked back to what God had done or was doing for his people; other festivals, like Trumpets and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), focused on the relationship itself. The latter was marked by repentance and rituals designed to remove the nation’s sins and restore fellowship with God. Coming ten days after the Festival of Trumpets, this was a solemn occasion during which the Israelites abstained from eating, drinking, and other activities. This was the only prescribed annual fast in the Jewish calendar, though other fasts were added in the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months to mourn the Babylonian exile (Zech. 7:3, 5; 8:19).
In Leviticus, God clarified the purpose of this day: “On this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins” (16:30). Not only would the people be purified but so also would the sanctuary, so that God could continue to meet his people there. Sacrifices were offered for both priest and people, and the blood was taken into the most holy place. Only on Yom Kippur could this room be entered, and only by the high priest, who sprinkled blood on the cover of the ark of the covenant. Leaving that room, he also sprinkled blood in the holy place (16:14–17) and then on the bronze altar in the courtyard.
Yom Kippur was marked by another ritual that symbolized the removal of Israel’s sins, this one involving two goats. One goat, chosen by lot, was offered as a sacrifice to God. The high priest placed his hands on the other goat and transferred to it the sins of the nation. He then released the goat into the wilderness, for “the goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place” (Lev. 16:22).
The book of Hebrews uses the symbols of Yom Kippur to describe Jesus’ death. As the high priest entered the most holy place, so Jesus entered God’s presence, carrying not the blood of bull and goat but his own. His once-for-all death at the “culmination of the ages” (Heb. 9:26) not only allows him to remain in God’s presence (10:12) but also gives us access to God’s presence as well (10:19–22).
Sabbath Year. Every seven years, the Israelites were to observe a “Sabbath of the land” (Lev. 25:6 ESV), a time for the land to rest. They could not sow fields or prune vineyards, but they could eat what grew of itself (25:1–7). Deuteronomy 15:1–11 speaks of all debts being canceled (some would say deferred) every seventh year, presumably the same year the land was to lie fallow. When Israel was gathered at the Festival of Tabernacles during this Sabbath Year, the law of Moses was to be read aloud. The Chronicler described the seventy years of Babylonian exile as “sabbaths” for the land, perhaps alluding to the neglect of the Sabbath Year (2Chron. 36:21; cf. Lev. 26:43). Those returning from exile expressed their intent to keep this provision (Neh. 10:31), and it appears to have been observed in the intertestamental period (see 1Macc. 6:48–53; Josephus, Ant. 14.202–10).
This year seems intended to maintain the fertility of the land and to allow Israel’s economy to “reset,” equalizing wealth and limiting poverty. Observing such a provision took great faith and firm allegiance, for they had to trust God for daily bread and put obedience above profit. Rereading the law at the Festival of Tabernacles reminded the Israelites of God’s gracious covenant and their required response.
Jubilee. God instructed Israel to count off seven “sevens” of years and in the fiftieth year, beginning on the Day of Atonement, to sound a trumpet marking the Jubilee Year. As in the Sabbath Year, there was to be no sowing and reaping. Further, the land was released from its current owners and returned to those families to whom it originally belonged. Individual Israelites who had become indentured through economic distress were to be freed. The assumption underlying the Jubilee Year was that everything belonged to God. He owned the land and its occupants; the Israelites were only tenants and stewards (Lev. 25:23, 55). As their covenant Lord, he would provide for their needs even during back-to-back Sabbath Years (Lev. 25:21). The year began on the Day of Atonement, perhaps to emphasize that the best response to God’s redemptive mercy is faith in his provision and mercy to others. Although the Jubilee Year is commanded in the Mosaic law and spoken about by the prophets (Isa. 61:1–2; Ezek. 46:17), rabbis, and Jesus (Luke 4:18–19), Scripture is silent on how or if Israel observed this year.
New Moon. The beginning of each month was marked with the sounding of trumpets, rejoicing, and sacrifices (Num. 10:10; 28:11–15). There is some indication that work was to be suspended on this day, as on the Sabbath (Amos 8:5), and that people gathered for a meal (1Sam. 20:5, 18, 24, 27). By faithfully observing this day, Israel was in a position to properly observe the remaining days, set up, as they were, on the lunar calendar. Paul learned of some in Colossae who were giving undue attention to New Moon celebrations (Col. 2:16).
Purim. Beyond the festivals commanded in the law of Moses, the Jews added two more to their sacred calendar, one during the postexilic period and one between the Testaments. Both commemorated God’s deliverance of his people from their enemies. A wave of anti-Semitic persecution swept over the Jews living in Persia during the reign of Xerxes (486–465 BC). God delivered his people through Esther, and the Jews celebrated this deliverance with the festival of Purim. Their enemies determined when to attack by casting lots, so the Jews called this festival “Purim,” meaning “lots.” It was celebrated on the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the twelfth month (February–March) with “feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor” (Esther 9:22).
Festival of Dedication. During the inter-testamental period, the Jews came under great persecution from the Seleucids, who outlawed the practice of Judaism and desecrated the Jerusalem temple. After recapturing the temple, the Jews began the process of purification. On the twenty-fifth day of their ninth month, in the year 164 BC, the Jews rose at dawn and offered a lawful sacrifice on the new altar of burnt offering which they had made. The altar was dedicated, to the sound of hymns, zithers, lyres and cymbals, at the same time of year and on the same day on which the gentiles had originally profaned it. The whole people fell prostrate in adoration and then praised Heaven who had granted them success. For eight days they celebrated the dedication of the altar, joyfully offering burnt offerings, communion and thanksgiving sacrifices.... Judas [Maccabees], with his brothers and the whole assembly of Israel, made it a law that the days of the dedication of the altar should be celebrated yearly at the proper season, for eight days beginning on the twenty-fifth of the month of Chislev [December], with rejoicing and gladness. (1Macc. 4:52–56, 59 NJB)
This festival is also called “Hanukkah” (from the Hebrew word for “dedicate”) or the Festival of Lights, to recall the lighting of the lamps in the temple. The rabbis told how these lamps were lit from a small quantity of oil that miraculously lasted eight days until more could be consecrated. John 10:22–39 describes events from Jesus’ life that took place at the Festival of Dedication.
Simon Peter is the best-known and the most colorful of Jesus’ twelve disciples. The name “Peter” means “rock” in Greek. In some biblical texts, he is also called “Cephas,” which is the Aramaic word for “rock” (see esp. John 1:42). Despite the ups and downs of Peter’s spiritual life, God was able to use him as the foundational apostle for the establishment of the NT church.
(1)The tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, regions northeast of Palestine, at the time when John the Baptist’s public ministry began (Luke 3:1). (2)One of Jesus’ twelve apostles (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14; John 1:43). Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from Bethsaida (John 1:44). It was Philip who introduced Nathanael to Jesus (John 1:4548). John’s Gospel mentions Philip three times subsequent to chapter 1 (6:5–7; 12:20–22; 14:6–10), in the last instance recording Philip’s shortsighted request for Jesus to show the Father to the apostles. (3)One of seven men selected by the Jerusalem church to care for the distribution of food to its widows (Acts 6:1–6). This man, also known as Philip the evangelist (21:8), shared the message of Jesus Christ in a city of Samaria, performing great miracles (8:5–13). Philip later explained the good news of Jesus to an Ethiopian eunuch whom he encountered (8:26–38). After Philip baptized the eunuch, “the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away” (8:39). Philip then preached in several towns, finally arriving at Caesarea, where he settled (8:40). Years later, Paul stayed in Caesarea with Philip and his four prophesying daughters (21:8–9).
A large, freshwater lake in the northern, Galilee region of Israel measuring thirteen miles long, eight miles wide, and between 80 and 150 feet deep. Because it is shaped like a harp, the OT refers to it as the “Sea of Kinnereth,” which comes from the Hebrew word for “harp” (Num. 34:11; Deut. 3:17; Josh. 13:27; 19:35). It is also called “Lake of Gennesaret,” which derives from the lush Plain of Gennesaret nearby (Matt. 14:34), and the “Sea of Tiberias,” which comes from the name of the most prominent city on its banks (John 6:1; 21:1).
The Sea of Galilee is located about sixty miles north of Jerusalem and is fed by the Jordan River. It is surrounded by mountain peaks and cliffs, except on the southern side, where the Jordan River flows out of it. These peaks form a valley and make for strong, frequent, and unexpected storms as the Mediterranean winds blow down the western slopes and swirl across the sea. Jesus demonstrated his power over nature as he calmed such violent storms (Matt. 14:2233; Mark 6:45–51; John 6:16–21).
The Sea of Galilee boasted a large fishing industry, which provided the ideal location for Jesus to call his first disciples—Peter, Andrew, James, and John, who were fishermen (Mark 1:16–20). Much of Jesus’ ministry in the Synoptic Gospels took place in the towns around the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee provided an abundance of fishing illustrations (Matt. 13:48) and lessons on discipleship. Its shore may have provided a convenient location for the feeding of the five thousand (Matt. 14:13–21; Mark 6:35–44; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–13). After Jesus’ resurrection, his disciples briefly returned to their fishing nets on this lake, resulting in the miraculous catch of 153 fish (John 21:11).
Signs are visible, typically being an object, a mark, an event, or a custom. In addition, signs are symbolic, pointing to things not seen. Signs often reveal or share some quality with the unseen reality to which they point, and so they are a token of that reality. In the Bible, signs typically are caused or instituted by God, and in many cases they are miraculous. However, in a few cases signs are set forth as the work of other gods (as in Deut. 13:12) or as being instituted by merely human design (as in Num. 2:2). In summary, a sign may be defined as something seen that points to something unseen, and that is instituted or created to do so by someone’s intention.
Several examples support this definition. Keeping the Sabbath is a sign of God’s rest after creating the world (Exod. 31:15); the Sabbath rest itself imitates God’s rest. Circumcision is a sign of God’s promise to both Abraham and his descendants; circumcision is also a physical mark that is related to human fertility (Gen. 17:11). The rainbow is a sign of God’s promise not to destroy the world by water and rain; rainbows appear only with rain (Gen. 9:13). (In the original Hebrew text, both the custom of circumcision and the rainbow that appears after the great flood are called “signs.”) The early Passover plagues both bring and warn of judgment, while the healing miracles of Jesus both bring and promise blessing. While signs point to unseen realities, these realities do not diminish the value or importance of the visible world. Instead, the unseen realities themselves are ultimately expressed in the visible world.
(1)One of the original twelve apostles (Matt. 10:2), also called “Peter.” Simon Peter was the brother of Andrew and a fisherman by trade (Matt. 4:18). (See also Peter.) (2)The Zealot, one of the original twelve apostles (Matt. 10:4). (3)One of the brothers of Jesus, along with James, Joseph, and Judas (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3). (4)A leper who lived in Bethany. In his house the precious bottle of ointment was poured upon Jesus in preparation for his burial (Matt. 26:6). (5)A man from Cyrene who carried Jesus’ cross on the way to crucifixion (Matt. 27:32). (6)A Pharisee who invited Jesus for a meal (Luke 7:40). Jesus was anointed with ointment in his house. He perhaps is the same individual as in Matt. 26:6. (7)The father of Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus (John 6:71). (8)A sorcerer who believed the gospel and was baptized. However, he became enamored with the miraculous power of Philip and with the ability of the apostles to impart the Holy Spirit, and he offered them money to give him that ability (Acts 8:925). (9)A tanner with whom Peter stayed in Joppa before traveling to the house of Cornelius (Acts 9:43).
A city founded on the western coast of the Sea of Galilee in AD 20 by Herod Antipas to replace Sepphoris as the new capital of Galilee. It was the administrative center of one of the five toparchies in Galilee. The city was named after the Roman emperor Tiberius, the successor of Augustus. The Gospel of John mentions Tiberias only in passing, noting that people from Tiberias traveled in boats to search for Jesus (John 6:23; cf. references to the Sea of Galilee as the “Sea of Tiberias” in John 6:1; 21:1). Herod built the city on top of a gravesite, rendering it unclean, and he had to compel people to settle there. He included non-Jews, poor people, and former slaves as part of its inhabitants.
Direct Matches
An annual cereal grass (genus Hordeum). Barley was consideredone of the blessings of the Promised Land (Deut. 8:8), but when thebarley crop failed, it produced devastating results (Exod. 9:31; Joel1:11). Barley was among the grain offerings (Num. 5:15; cf. Ezek.45:13) and was used for livestock feed (1 Kings 4:28), eatenraw, or made into bread (2 Kings 4:42). Gideon’s surpriseattack against the Midianites was symbolized in a dream by barleybread (Judg. 7:13), and Hosea used barley to purchase his wife (Hos.3:2). Jesus used barley bread to feed the multitude (John 6:9, 13).
A woven vessel of various materials and sizes. Of the five OTuses, the most common cane basket carried foodstuffs: baked goods(Gen. 40:16–18), unleavened bread, oiled cakes and wafers, theNazirite’s offering (Exod. 29:3, 23, 32; Lev. 8:2, 26, 31; Num.6:15, 17, 19), or meat (Judg. 6:19). A tapered basket was used forcarrying field products home (Deut. 28:5, 17) or firstfruits to thepriest (Deut. 26:2, 4). A different tapered basket was used for figs(Jer. 24:1–2), clay (Ps. 81:6), and for the heads of Ahab’ssons (2 Kings 10:7). The grape-gathering basket (Jer. 6:9) wasdifferentiated from a loosely woven fruit basket (Amos 8:1), whichwith a cover could be used to carry captive fowl (Jer. 5:27).
Thetwelve baskets used after feeding the five thousand (Matt. 14:20;Mark 6:43; Luke 9:17; John 6:13) are distinct from the larger typeused after the feeding of the four thousand (Matt. 15:37; 16:10; Mark8:8). This larger basket could also be the kind in which Paul escaped(Acts 9:25; 2 Cor. 11:33).
In the ancient Near East the type of cooking and heating utilized within a household depended upon the family’s socioeconomic status and lifestyle. A nomadic or seminomadic pastoral lifestyle demanded portability; permanent ovens or heating installations would have been impractical. A stable urban lifestyle made possible the construction of more complex heating and cooking equipment.
Cooking within the Seminomadic Lifestyle
Seminomadic groups, such as Abraham and his family or the Israelites before the settlement of Canaan, probably used an open fire or fire pit. A campfire was kindled on top of the ground or on flat stones. An open fire of this nature could also be ringed with a small stone circle. Shallow holes or fire pits were also dug into the ground near the front of a tent or outside, in the encampment. Since tents did not have chimneys, the smoke from a fire would escape through the door. The seasonal climate dictated whether a fire was kindled inside or outside the tent.
Fires were ignited with twigs or kindling by friction or sparks (Isa. 50:11; 64:2; 2 Macc. 10:3), a skill learned during the early Stone Age. Once lit, the burning embers of the fire could be moved around, kept smoldering, and fanned into a blaze with fresh fuel (Isa. 30:14; cf. Lev. 6:13). Abraham carried some type of an ember or fire with him when he went to sacrifice Isaac (Gen. 22:6). The “smoking firepot with a blazing torch” that symbolized God’s presence before Abraham may refer to a portable device for transporting fire (15:17).
Fuel for fire was gathered from the materials most readily available to seminomadic groups. Potential fuels included thorns and briers (Isa. 10:17), dried grass (Matt. 6:30; Luke 12:28), charcoal (John 18:18 NRSV), twigs or sticks (Isa. 64:2), wood (Gen. 22:6), and dried animal dung (Ezek. 4:15). Fire pits provided some means for keeping a family warm, as well as being used for cooking.
Cooking within the Urban Lifestyle
The sedentary urban lifestyle of the monarchial period provided the opportunity to construct permanent cooking and heating installations. In the four-room Israelite house, cooking normally was done in a fire pit or clay oven in the courtyard of the home. The baking oven ordinarily was located outside, but archaeologists have found cooking utensils and ovens in the central room of the house. This indoor oven also served as a means of heat during the colder wet season. The family most likely utilized the courtyard oven during the hotter dry season.
Egyptian and Mesopotamian reliefs provide illustrations of the structure of ancient ovens. Archaeologists have uncovered scores of examples of different types and sizes all across the ancient Near East. Small domestic ovens (Exod. 8:3) were made of clay in two basic forms. The first had an open top and was cylindrical in shape. It ranged from two to three feet in height and was about two feet in diameter. The second, about the same size, was more egg-shaped, with small openings at the base and in the top.
Some ovens were covered with a plastered layer of potsherds on the outside to improve insulation. They could be embedded in the ground or raised above it. The oven floor was lined with pebbles, and the fire was built upon it. Commercial ovens were larger and were concentrated in specific areas of a city (Neh. 3:11; 12:38).
Ovens and fire pits were used for cooking and heating in the home. Other hearths or heating ovens were employed to warm larger buildings or to perform specific tasks not related to food preparation. A large oval hearth was discovered in the central room of an Iron Age II house at Shechem. Jeremiah 36:22–23 speaks about a “firepot” or hearth used by Jehoiakim to warm his winter apartment. This hearth may have been a raised copper or bronze basin on a three-legged stand. A “fire basin” (NIV: “firepot”) is also mentioned in Zech. 12:6.
Cooking Utensils
Many types of pottery utensils, which were undoubtedly associated with cooking and eating, have been discovered in archaeological excavations in the ancient Near East. Although rare, metal and stone implements have also been found. One area in the tent or the home would be employed as a “kitchen.” A kitchen in the palace of Ramesses III is depicted on an Egyptian wall, and Ezekiel mentions the kitchens located in the new temple (46:24). Cooking and serving vessels included platters, bowls, chalices, jugs, juglets, and cooking pots. Storage vessels and grain pits also were needed to contain spices, oils, grains, and other foodstuffs.
Larger bowls designed specifically for cooking were in common use during the Bronze and Iron Ages. These “cooking pots” often were placed directly into the fire or on hot coals and were used to boil meat or make soups and other similar types of food. Iron Age II cooking pots from Palestine generally bore the trademark of the potter. Cooking pots had a short life and were replaced often. Because the style of these types of pots changed systematically over time, they have become very important in helping archaeologists date the particular level or stratum of a tell in which they were found.
The Cooking of Food
The type of food eaten by families also depended on their socioeconomic status and lifestyle. Food staples included milk products, wine, bread, and occasionally meat. Richer families could afford vegetables, fruits, dates, figs, and other less common foods. All types of households ate bread.
Grains. The most common grains used in bread making were wheat, barley, and spelt (Isa. 28:25). Wheat grew wild in Palestine, and there is evidence that seminomadic people stayed in one place long enough to cultivate small plots of grain. Grain could also be acquired in trade for other agricultural products such as goat’s milk or wool. Grain was winnowed to separate the chaff from the kernels (Matt. 3:12; Luke 3:17). Roasted grain was grain that had been “popped” in the fire instead of being milled (1 Sam. 25:18).
After being winnowed, wheat and other grains were ground initially in a hand mill. Hand mills, or querns, were of two types. The first was a simple device of two stones. The base, or “saddle,” was a flat, elongated stone that became curved through the backward and forward motion of the upper stone. The upper, or “rider,” stone was flat on one side and curved on the top to allow the user to grip the stone with both hands. The grain was placed on the saddle, and the rider stone was run repeatedly over it to grind it. This was considered menial work (Lam. 5:13). This type of grinding may have been assigned to the blinded Samson (Judg. 16:21).
The second, later type of hand mill consisted of two stone disks approximately twelve inches in diameter. The lower stone, or base, had an upright wooden stake at the center. A hole in the upper stone allowed it to fit over the base, and a handle on the upper stone was used to rotate it against the lower stone (Matt. 24:41). Grain was fed through the central hole, and the milled flour exited along the sides. The millstone mentioned in Matt. 18:6; Mark 9:42; Luke 17:2 is a larger example of this type.
Milling grain was a necessary task of the household (Jer. 25:10). Course grain was further milled into fine flour with a mortar and pestle. Course grain could be used to make boiled porridge or gruel. Finely ground flour was used in sacrificial offerings (Exod. 29:40; Lev. 2:4).
The flour was mixed with water and kneaded (Gen. 18:6; 1 Sam. 28:24; 2 Sam. 13:8; Jer. 7:18), small amounts of leaven and salt were added, and then the bread was baked. Three methods of baking bread are mentioned in the OT: over hot coals (1 Kings 19:6; Isa. 44:19), on a griddle (Lev. 7:9; cf. Ezek. 4:3), and in an oven (Lev. 26:26). Leaven was withheld from the dough if the bread was to be made and eaten in haste (Exod. 12:39; Judg. 6:19; 1 Sam. 28:24). Griddle “cakes” were also made in this fashion (Hos. 7:8; cf. Ezek. 4:12).
Bread often was baked in different shapes. Thin bread was used to scoop food from a common pot (Matt. 26:23). Other breads were formed into loaves (John 6:9). In one man’s dream a round loaf of barley bread is described as rolling down a hill and striking and overturning a tent (Judg. 7:13). Both men and women baked bread (Gen. 19:3; 1 Sam. 28:24), and priests baked bread for ritual usage (Lev. 24:5). A king could afford to have men and women as professional bakers (Gen. 40:1; 1 Sam. 8:13). Professional bakers may also have served the larger urban population (Neh. 3:11; Jer. 37:21; Hos. 7:4) in Jerusalem.
Fruits and vegetables. After settling in Canaan, the Israelites made some additions to their diet. Foodstuffs grown in cultivated gardens were now available. These included foods such as cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic (Num. 11:5). Some of these vegetables were added to stews; others were eaten uncooked. Vegetable, bean, and lentil soups were prepared in large cooking pots placed directly on the fire. Esau particularly enjoyed lentil soup (Gen. 25:30). Herbs and spices (mint, dill, and cumin) were now accessible as well (Isa. 28:25, 27; Matt. 23:23). Salt came from the Dead Sea.
Fruits too were grown and harvested. Of particular interest was the olive. Olives were crushed in a press to render oil. Olive oil was used in cooking and baking. It was mixed with fine flour to make bread (1 Kings 17:12; Ezek. 16:13; cf. Num. 11:8).
Meat. When a guest arrived or when a special occasion called for it, meat was added to the stew. Meat often was boiled (2 Kings 4:38; Ezek. 24:3–5). Spices were also added (Ezek. 24:10). Since the meat was cut up to boil, this method had the advantage of avoiding the problem of ensuring that the blood was properly drained out of an animal before it could be roasted (Lev. 17:10–11). Milk could be used in the stew; however, cooking a kid in its mother’s milk was prohibited (Exod. 23:19; 34:26; Deut. 14:21).
Meat was roasted over an open fire on a spit. Meat was available from flocks and through hunting. Abraham served his guests veal (Gen. 18:7); Gideon and his guests ate goat meat (Judg. 6:19); Samuel appears to have served Saul a mutton leg (1 Sam. 9:24). Contrary to ritual regulations, Hophni and Phinehas demanded meat for roasting (1 Sam. 2:13–15). Meat certainly was roasted as a sacrifice on the altar of the tabernacle and the temple. It also normally was roasted on feast days such as Passover (Exod. 12:8–9).
Fish were counted among the foods given to Noah and his sons after the flood (Gen. 9:2–3). The Israelites ate fish in Egypt (Num. 11:15), and fishermen plied their trade along the Nile (Isa. 19:8). Fishermen could hook, spear, or net fish (Job 41:1, 7; Eccles. 9:12; Ezek. 29:4; 47:10). In Israel, fish were taken from the Sea of Galilee or the Mediterranean. Jerusalem had a “Fish Gate,” where fish were sold (2 Chron. 33:14; Neh. 3:3; 12:39; Zeph. 1:10). The Phoenicians most likely exported several varieties of edible fish to Israel. Fish with fins and scales were clean, but those without fins or scales were not (Lev. 11:9–12). In Nehemiah’s day Phoenicians were selling fish to the inhabitants of Jerusalem even on the Sabbath (Neh. 13:16).
In NT times, the Phoenicians continued to import much of the fish brought into Palestine. The ministry of Jesus revolved around the smaller fishing industry on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus called several fishermen to follow him as disciples (Matt. 4:18). On a number of occasions Jesus helped his disciples to ply their trade by directing them where to cast their nets (John 21:6, 11). Fish were caught in dragnets (John 21:8) and hand nets (Matt. 4:18). After his resurrection Jesus ate fish with his disciples in Jerusalem and on the Sea of Galilee (Luke 24:42; John 21:9).
Fish became a staple of the common people (Matt. 14:17; 15:34). The fish used to feed the multitudes probably were salted. Fish normally were grilled over an open fire (John 21:9).
A large, freshwater lake in the northern, Galilee region ofIsrael measuring thirteen miles long, eight miles wide, and between80 and 150 feet deep. Because it is shaped like a harp, the OT refersto it as the “Sea of Kinnereth,” which comes from theHebrew word for “harp” (Num. 34:11; Deut. 3:17; Josh.13:27; 19:35). It is also called “Lake of Gennesaret,”which derives from the lush Plain of Gennesaret nearby (Matt. 14:34),and the “Sea of Tiberias,” which comes from the name ofthe most prominent city on its banks (John 6:1; 21:1).
TheSea of Galilee is located about sixty miles north of Jerusalem and isfed by the Jordan River. It is surrounded by mountain peaks andcliffs, except on the southern side, where the Jordan River flows outof it. These peaks form a valley and make for strong, frequent, andunexpected storms as the Mediterranean winds blow down the westernslopes and swirl across the sea. Jesus demonstrated his power overnature as he calmed such violent storms (Matt. 14:22–33; Mark6:45–51; John 6:16–21).
TheSea of Galilee boasted a large fishing industry, which provided theideal location for Jesus to call his first disciples—Peter,Andrew, James, and John, who were fishermen (Mark 1:16–20).Much of Jesus’ ministry in the Synoptic Gospels took place inthe towns around the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee provided anabundance of fishing illustrations (Matt. 13:48) and lessons ondiscipleship. Its shore may have provided a convenient location forthe feeding of the five thousand (Matt. 14:13–21; Mark 6:35–44;Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–13). After Jesus’resurrection, his disciples briefly returned to their fishing nets onthis lake, resulting in the miraculous catch of 153 fish (John21:11).
A city founded on the western coast of the Sea of Galilee inAD 20 by Herod Antipas to replace Sepphoris as the new capital ofGalilee. It was the administrative center of one of the fivetoparchies in Galilee. The city was named after the Roman emperorTiberius, the successor of Augustus. The Gospel of John mentionsTiberias only in passing, noting that people from Tiberias traveledin boats to search for Jesus (John 6:23; cf. references to the Sea ofGalilee as the “Sea of Tiberias” in John 6:1; 21:1).Herod built the city on top of a gravesite, rendering it unclean, andhe had to compel people to settle there. He included non-Jews, poorpeople, and former slaves as part of its inhabitants.
Tiberiaswas a cosmopolitan city but still in its infancy of Hellenization.The city was governed by a polis, or council of six hundred men,administered by a group of ten, and headed by an elected leadercalled an “archon.” It had an agora, stadium, prayerhouse, and palace. According to rabbinic literature, the city wasknown for its fishing industry and textile production (y.Pesaḥ4.2; b.Sukkah 20b). During the First Jewish Revolt, Josephusmade Tiberias the base for his defense of Galilee (Josephus, J.W.2.572–73), and Vespasian spared the city when it surrenderedwithout resistance (Josephus, J.W. 3.453–61).
Secondary Matches
The following suggestions occured because
John 6:1-15
is mentioned in the definition.
Common and valuable for food, beans were cooked while green in the pods or after being dried. Dry beans were threshed and winnowed like cereals and other grains. Beans are mentioned twice in the NIV (2Sam. 17:28; Ezek. 4:9).
Bible Texts and VersionsThe NT and the OT have considerably different but partiallyoverlapping textual histories. For clarity, it is best to begin witha survey of the NT manuscripts and versions.
Greektexts.Although no autographs of the NT books survive, there exist more thanfive thousand Greek texts covering anywhere from a portion of a fewverses up to the complete NT. Traditionally, these texts have beenclassified into five groups: papyri, uncials, minuscules,lectionaries, and quotations in patristic texts. The most importantmanuscripts are listed below.
Theearliest texts of the NT are those written on papyrus. Ninety-eightof these manuscripts have been identified, and they are representedby a “P” with a numerical superscript. The earliest ofthese papyri is P52, which contains parts of four verses in John 18and dates to the early second century. For substantial portions ofthe NT text, the most important papyri are found in the ChesterBeatty and Bodmer collections. P45, P46, and P47, all from theChester Beatty collection, are from the third century and containlarge sections of the four Gospels, eight of the Pauline Epistles,Hebrews, and Revelation. Within the Bodmer collection in Geneva arefour very important codices. P66 dates to around AD 200 and preservesmost of the Gospel of John. P72 dates to the third century andcontains the earliest copies of 1–2 Peter and Jude, which arepreserved in their entirety, as well as Greek translations of Pss.33–34. P74 dates to the seventh century and contains portionsof Acts, James, 1–2 Peter, 1–3 John, and Jude. Finally,P75, which dates to the early third century, contains most of Lukeand John 1–15. It is the oldest extant copy of Luke. Among theremaining papyri, forty-three have been dated to the early fourthcentury or before.
Thesecond category of manuscripts is the uncials, which usually werewritten on parchment and span the fourth through the tenth centuries.About 270 uncials are known, and they range from a few verses up tocomplete copies of the NT or even the entire Bible. Uncialsoriginally were denoted by capital letters, but when the number ofmanuscripts grew beyond these limits, a new system was employedwhereby each manuscript was given a number always beginning withzero. However, the most important uncials are still usually known bytheir letter. Among the most important uncials are the following fivemanuscripts. Codex Sinaiticus (designated by the Hebrew letter à)dates to the fourth century and is the only uncial that contains theentire NT. It also has almost all of the OT as well as the earlyChristian writings the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd ofHermas. Dating from the fifth century, Codex Alexandrinus (designatedas A) contains the OT, most of the NT—lacking only portions ofMatthew, John, and 2 Corinthians—and 1–2 Clement.Along with Sinaiticus, the most important uncial is Codex Vaticanus(designated as B), which dates to the fourth century. It containsalmost all of the OT and the complete NT, except for substantialportions between Hebrews and Revelation. It has been in the Vatican’slibrary for over five hundred years. The fourth important uncial isCodex Bezae Cantabrigiensis (designated as D), which contains Greekand Latin copies of the four Gospels, most of Acts, and a few versesfrom 3 John. It dates from the late fourth or early fifthcentury. The fifth important uncial is Codex Washingtonianus(designated as W), which dates to the early fifth century andcontains virtually all of the four Gospels.
Thethird category of NT manuscripts is minuscules. These texts date fromthe ninth century and later and comprise approximately 2,800manuscripts, which are denoted by a number not beginning with zero.Among the more important minuscules are Codex 1, Codex 13, and Codex33, which, along with their relatives, are considered reliablewitnesses to early families of texts such as the Caesarean (1) or theAlexandrian (33). Codex 13 and its relatives are noteworthy forhaving the story of the adulterous woman at the end of Luke 21instead of in John 8. The final two groups of NT manuscripts, thelectionaries and quotations in patristic sources, are not manuscriptsin the strict sense of the term, but their use of portions of the NTpresents important witnesses for the practice of textual criticism.
Versions.With the spread of Christianity during the time of the Roman Empire,the NT was translated into the language of the native peoples. Theseversions of the NT are important both for textual criticism of the NTand for the interpretive decisions that are reflected in how the textwas rendered into a new language. Among the most important earlyversions of the NT are the following.
AsLatin began to displace Greek as the dominant language of the empire,there was a need for a Latin version of the Bible. The earliesttranslation, known as the Old Latin or Itala, was made probably inthe late second century, though the oldest manuscript (CodexVercellensis) is from the fourth century. With the proliferation ofLatin texts a standardized Latin translation became desirable, and inAD 382 Jerome was commissioned by Pope Damasus to provide a newtranslation known as the Vulgate.
Anotherfamily of NT versions is the Syriac texts. Around the late secondcentury the four Gospels were translated into a version known as theOld Syriac. It is extant in two incomplete manuscripts that areprobably fifth century. The translation that became the standardSyriac text is the Pesh*tta, which was produced in the early fifthcentury. It does not contain 2 Peter, 2–3 John, Jude, orRevelation because these were not considered canonical among theSyriac churches.
Otherimportant versions of the NT from antiquity are the Coptic, Armenian,Georgian, and Ethiopic translations.
OldTestament
Hebrewtexts.The text that has served as the basis for most modern editions andtranslations of the Hebrew OT is the Masoretic Text (MT), named afterthe Masoretes, the Jewish scribes who transmitted the text and addedvocalization, accentuation, and notes to the consonantal text. Themost important Masoretic manuscripts date from the end of the ninthcentury to the early eleventh century. Notable among these is theLeningrad Codex (AD 1008), denoted as L, which is the earliestMasoretic manuscript of the entire OT. Also important are the AleppoCodex (c. AD 925), denoted as A, which preserves all of the OT exceptfor most of the Pentateuch; the British Museum MS Or. 4445 (c. AD925), denoted as B, which contains most of the Pentateuch; and theCairo Codex (c. AD 896), denoted C, which contains Joshua throughKings and also the Prophets.
Althoughthese manuscripts are much later than the biblical period, theirreliability was largely confirmed with the discovery of the DSSbeginning in 1947. Among the Qumran library are many manuscripts ofbiblical books as well as biblical commentaries, apocrphyal andpseudepigraphal works, and sectarian literature. All the OT books arerepresented among the scrolls that were found except Esther andNehemiah, though the latter is usually presumed to have been at theend of Ezra but has not survived. The books with the most manuscriptsare, in order, Psalms, Deuteronomy, and Isaiah. One of the strikingcharacteristics of these scrolls is that they reflect a diversity oftext types. For example, there is a copy of Jeremiah that is close tothe Masoretic version, but also a manuscript of Jeremiah similar tothe much shorter version found in the Septuagint (the Greektranslation of the OT).
AnotherHebrew text of the OT is that of the Samaritan Pentateuch, which isthe text transmitted by the Samaritans. It is similar to the MT insome respects but also has differences that reflect theologicalinterests. The main manuscripts for the Samaritan Pentateuch are fromthe twelfth century.
Versions.Between the third and first centuries BC, the entire OT wastranslated into Greek. This version, known as the Septuagint(designated by the abbreviation LXX), became the main version of theOT used by the early church. Due to its adoption by the church, theLXX has been preserved in numerous manuscripts, including Sinaiticus,Alexandrinus, and Vaticanus. By the late first century BC or earlyfirst century AD, there were two revisions of the Greek text: theProto-Lucianic version and the Kaige recension. The latter aimed torevise the Greek toward closer conformity with the Hebrew text andderives its name from its peculiar tendency to translate the Hebrewword gam (“also”) with the Greek work kaige. In thesecond century AD three other Greek translations were made by Aquila,Theodotion, and Symmachus, all of which revised the Kaige recensionback toward the MT.
Anotherimportant early version of the OT consists of the Targumim, which areAramaic translations or paraphrases (and sometimes extensiveelaborations) of OT books. The official Targumim for Judaism areTargum Onqelos for the Pentateuch (c. second century AD), which isquite literal, and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan for the Prophets (sometimebefore the fourth century AD), which ranges from being quite literalto somewhat paraphrastic. Unofficial Targumim for the Pentateuchinclude Targum Neofiti and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. There are alsovarious unofficial Targumim for the Writings section of the OT,except for Daniel and Ezra-Nehemiah (which are already written partlyin Aramaic).
Besidesthe Greek and Aramaic translations, there are other importantversions of the OT. Sometime in either the third or fourth centuryAD, the Pesh*tta of the OT was produced, though there is evidencethat there were earlier Syriac translations of some books alreadycirculating. Also important is a group of Latin translations knowncollectively as the Old Latin. These versions were produced sometimeduring the second century AD and were primarily made from alreadyexisting Greek translations rather than Hebrew texts. As with the NT,a later Latin translation was made by Jerome for the Vulgate.
Bible Texts and VersionsThe NT and the OT have considerably different but partiallyoverlapping textual histories. For clarity, it is best to begin witha survey of the NT manuscripts and versions.
Greektexts.Although no autographs of the NT books survive, there exist more thanfive thousand Greek texts covering anywhere from a portion of a fewverses up to the complete NT. Traditionally, these texts have beenclassified into five groups: papyri, uncials, minuscules,lectionaries, and quotations in patristic texts. The most importantmanuscripts are listed below.
Theearliest texts of the NT are those written on papyrus. Ninety-eightof these manuscripts have been identified, and they are representedby a “P” with a numerical superscript. The earliest ofthese papyri is P52, which contains parts of four verses in John 18and dates to the early second century. For substantial portions ofthe NT text, the most important papyri are found in the ChesterBeatty and Bodmer collections. P45, P46, and P47, all from theChester Beatty collection, are from the third century and containlarge sections of the four Gospels, eight of the Pauline Epistles,Hebrews, and Revelation. Within the Bodmer collection in Geneva arefour very important codices. P66 dates to around AD 200 and preservesmost of the Gospel of John. P72 dates to the third century andcontains the earliest copies of 1–2 Peter and Jude, which arepreserved in their entirety, as well as Greek translations of Pss.33–34. P74 dates to the seventh century and contains portionsof Acts, James, 1–2 Peter, 1–3 John, and Jude. Finally,P75, which dates to the early third century, contains most of Lukeand John 1–15. It is the oldest extant copy of Luke. Among theremaining papyri, forty-three have been dated to the early fourthcentury or before.
Thesecond category of manuscripts is the uncials, which usually werewritten on parchment and span the fourth through the tenth centuries.About 270 uncials are known, and they range from a few verses up tocomplete copies of the NT or even the entire Bible. Uncialsoriginally were denoted by capital letters, but when the number ofmanuscripts grew beyond these limits, a new system was employedwhereby each manuscript was given a number always beginning withzero. However, the most important uncials are still usually known bytheir letter. Among the most important uncials are the following fivemanuscripts. Codex Sinaiticus (designated by the Hebrew letter à)dates to the fourth century and is the only uncial that contains theentire NT. It also has almost all of the OT as well as the earlyChristian writings the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd ofHermas. Dating from the fifth century, Codex Alexandrinus (designatedas A) contains the OT, most of the NT—lacking only portions ofMatthew, John, and 2 Corinthians—and 1–2 Clement.Along with Sinaiticus, the most important uncial is Codex Vaticanus(designated as B), which dates to the fourth century. It containsalmost all of the OT and the complete NT, except for substantialportions between Hebrews and Revelation. It has been in the Vatican’slibrary for over five hundred years. The fourth important uncial isCodex Bezae Cantabrigiensis (designated as D), which contains Greekand Latin copies of the four Gospels, most of Acts, and a few versesfrom 3 John. It dates from the late fourth or early fifthcentury. The fifth important uncial is Codex Washingtonianus(designated as W), which dates to the early fifth century andcontains virtually all of the four Gospels.
Thethird category of NT manuscripts is minuscules. These texts date fromthe ninth century and later and comprise approximately 2,800manuscripts, which are denoted by a number not beginning with zero.Among the more important minuscules are Codex 1, Codex 13, and Codex33, which, along with their relatives, are considered reliablewitnesses to early families of texts such as the Caesarean (1) or theAlexandrian (33). Codex 13 and its relatives are noteworthy forhaving the story of the adulterous woman at the end of Luke 21instead of in John 8. The final two groups of NT manuscripts, thelectionaries and quotations in patristic sources, are not manuscriptsin the strict sense of the term, but their use of portions of the NTpresents important witnesses for the practice of textual criticism.
Versions.With the spread of Christianity during the time of the Roman Empire,the NT was translated into the language of the native peoples. Theseversions of the NT are important both for textual criticism of the NTand for the interpretive decisions that are reflected in how the textwas rendered into a new language. Among the most important earlyversions of the NT are the following.
AsLatin began to displace Greek as the dominant language of the empire,there was a need for a Latin version of the Bible. The earliesttranslation, known as the Old Latin or Itala, was made probably inthe late second century, though the oldest manuscript (CodexVercellensis) is from the fourth century. With the proliferation ofLatin texts a standardized Latin translation became desirable, and inAD 382 Jerome was commissioned by Pope Damasus to provide a newtranslation known as the Vulgate.
Anotherfamily of NT versions is the Syriac texts. Around the late secondcentury the four Gospels were translated into a version known as theOld Syriac. It is extant in two incomplete manuscripts that areprobably fifth century. The translation that became the standardSyriac text is the Pesh*tta, which was produced in the early fifthcentury. It does not contain 2 Peter, 2–3 John, Jude, orRevelation because these were not considered canonical among theSyriac churches.
Otherimportant versions of the NT from antiquity are the Coptic, Armenian,Georgian, and Ethiopic translations.
OldTestament
Hebrewtexts.The text that has served as the basis for most modern editions andtranslations of the Hebrew OT is the Masoretic Text (MT), named afterthe Masoretes, the Jewish scribes who transmitted the text and addedvocalization, accentuation, and notes to the consonantal text. Themost important Masoretic manuscripts date from the end of the ninthcentury to the early eleventh century. Notable among these is theLeningrad Codex (AD 1008), denoted as L, which is the earliestMasoretic manuscript of the entire OT. Also important are the AleppoCodex (c. AD 925), denoted as A, which preserves all of the OT exceptfor most of the Pentateuch; the British Museum MS Or. 4445 (c. AD925), denoted as B, which contains most of the Pentateuch; and theCairo Codex (c. AD 896), denoted C, which contains Joshua throughKings and also the Prophets.
Althoughthese manuscripts are much later than the biblical period, theirreliability was largely confirmed with the discovery of the DSSbeginning in 1947. Among the Qumran library are many manuscripts ofbiblical books as well as biblical commentaries, apocrphyal andpseudepigraphal works, and sectarian literature. All the OT books arerepresented among the scrolls that were found except Esther andNehemiah, though the latter is usually presumed to have been at theend of Ezra but has not survived. The books with the most manuscriptsare, in order, Psalms, Deuteronomy, and Isaiah. One of the strikingcharacteristics of these scrolls is that they reflect a diversity oftext types. For example, there is a copy of Jeremiah that is close tothe Masoretic version, but also a manuscript of Jeremiah similar tothe much shorter version found in the Septuagint (the Greektranslation of the OT).
AnotherHebrew text of the OT is that of the Samaritan Pentateuch, which isthe text transmitted by the Samaritans. It is similar to the MT insome respects but also has differences that reflect theologicalinterests. The main manuscripts for the Samaritan Pentateuch are fromthe twelfth century.
Versions.Between the third and first centuries BC, the entire OT wastranslated into Greek. This version, known as the Septuagint(designated by the abbreviation LXX), became the main version of theOT used by the early church. Due to its adoption by the church, theLXX has been preserved in numerous manuscripts, including Sinaiticus,Alexandrinus, and Vaticanus. By the late first century BC or earlyfirst century AD, there were two revisions of the Greek text: theProto-Lucianic version and the Kaige recension. The latter aimed torevise the Greek toward closer conformity with the Hebrew text andderives its name from its peculiar tendency to translate the Hebrewword gam (“also”) with the Greek work kaige. In thesecond century AD three other Greek translations were made by Aquila,Theodotion, and Symmachus, all of which revised the Kaige recensionback toward the MT.
Anotherimportant early version of the OT consists of the Targumim, which areAramaic translations or paraphrases (and sometimes extensiveelaborations) of OT books. The official Targumim for Judaism areTargum Onqelos for the Pentateuch (c. second century AD), which isquite literal, and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan for the Prophets (sometimebefore the fourth century AD), which ranges from being quite literalto somewhat paraphrastic. Unofficial Targumim for the Pentateuchinclude Targum Neofiti and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. There are alsovarious unofficial Targumim for the Writings section of the OT,except for Daniel and Ezra-Nehemiah (which are already written partlyin Aramaic).
Besidesthe Greek and Aramaic translations, there are other importantversions of the OT. Sometime in either the third or fourth centuryAD, the Pesh*tta of the OT was produced, though there is evidencethat there were earlier Syriac translations of some books alreadycirculating. Also important is a group of Latin translations knowncollectively as the Old Latin. These versions were produced sometimeduring the second century AD and were primarily made from alreadyexisting Greek translations rather than Hebrew texts. As with the NT,a later Latin translation was made by Jerome for the Vulgate.
In the Bible chaos primarily refers to an opposite conditionto the orderliness of the creation or a mythical force oftenrepresented by the sea or the sea monster(s) (translated as “dragon,”“Leviathan,” or “Rahab”). The two relatedideas are based on the creation accounts recorded in Gen. 1–2and other places.
OldTestament.In Gen. 1:2 chaos is the state of darkness and desolation (note thephrase “formless and empty” [Heb. tohu wabohu], whichprobably refers to the state of desolation of water with nothing init; cf. Isa. 34:11; 45:18). The rest of the chapter describes how Godin his absolute sovereignty and power—only with hiswords—creates order in place of the chaos. God brings light tothe darkness, separates the land from the sea, and provides the landwith abundance. The portrayal of the garden of Eden (2:4–14)further describes God’s provision of orderliness, fertility,eternal life, and harmony in the original creation.
Althoughthe Genesis account does not directly mention any mythical elements(i.e., the primordial combat between the sea and the prime god),other passages describe creation as the event in which God calmed theraging sea and killed the sea monsters (Pss. 74:12–17; 89:9–12;Job 26:7–14). Still, nowhere are the chaotic forces presentedas an independent power that constantly challenges God’ssovereignty. Rather, God always does whatever he pleases with them,lifting up the waves of the sea (Ps. 107:25; Jer. 31:35; cf. Ps.146:6) and uncovering Death and Destruction (Job 26:6). Isaiahalludes to God’s slaying of the chaotic sea creature not onlyas the past event (51:9), but also as the promise to be realized inthe day of the Lord (27:1).
InGenesis, God’s judgment is frequently described by means of thechaos motif, as a precreation condition reversed—forexample, loss of harmony, fruitfulness, and eternal life (Gen.3:15–24), return of the waters over the land (Gen. 7–8),loss of communication (11:7–9), and desolation of the fruitfulland (19:23–28; cf. 13:10).
Thechaos motif also plays an important role in the propheticdescriptions of God’s judgment against his people and againstthe foreign nations. Noteworthy is Jer. 4:23–26, which depictsGod’s judgment upon his people in terms of chaos’sreturn—that is, the condition of “formless and empty,”without light, creatures, or fruitful land (cf. Hos. 4:3). In Isa.34:11 God’s judgment upon Edom is expressed with thecharacteristic phrase in Gen. 1:2: “God will stretch out overEdom the measuring line of chaos [tohu, ‘formless’] andthe plumb line of desolation [bohu, ‘empty’].” Inother places Isaiah frequently employs the imageries of desolation(5:6; 7:23–25; 13:19–22; 24:1–13; 34:8–17),darkness (5:30; 8:22; 13:10), and flood (8:7–8).
NewTestament.The concept of chaos developed in the OT provides an importantbackground for understanding the NT. The Gospel writers use the chaosmotif in describing Jesus’ person and work—for example,as light in the darkness (John 1:4–9; 3:19), as provider ofabundance and eternal life (John 3:16; 4:14; 5:51; 6:1–15), andas the sovereign ruler of the chaotic sea, who walks on the water(Matt. 14:22–36; Mark 6:47–55; John 6:16–21) andcalms the stormy sea with his words (Matt. 8:23–27; Mark4:35–41; Luke 8:22–25). Jesus’ resurrection is hisultimate demonstration of his reign over death (cf. 1 Cor. 15).
Paulfurther uses the chaos motif to describe the life of sinners or thesinful world. The identity of believers is changed from “darkness”to “light” or “children of light,” who nowmust shine the light in the world (Eph. 5:8; cf. Matt. 5:15–16;Phil. 2:15).
Inthe book of Revelation the ultimate restoration of the perfectcreation order is presented, making allusions to the OT mythicaldescriptions of the chaotic forces (e.g., Satan as the dragon[12:15–16], Death and Hades as the underground forces[20:13–14]). Particularly, the new Jerusalem is the place of nosea or darkness or death (21:1, 4, 23–25) but of fruitfulnessand eternal life (22:1–2).
The name of two places, possibly from the Hebrew word for“harp” due to the shape of the lake bearing its name orthe shape of the hill on which the city sat. (1)Alarge lake in northern Israel. It was the eastern border of Canaanand part of the western boundary of the tribal territory of Gad.Kinnereth (Deut. 3:17; Josh. 11:2; cf. NIV mg. for Num. 34:11; Josh.12:3; 13:27) was also known as the Sea of Gennesaret (Mark 6:53; Luke5:1), the Sea of Tiberius (John 6:1; 21:1), and the Sea of Galilee(Matt. 15:29; Mark 1:16). (2)Afortified city, and the region around it, allotted to the tribe ofNaphtali (Josh. 19:35). Ben-Hadad of Syria conquered the region afterKing Asa of Judah paid him a large amount of silver and gold to breakhis treaty with King Baasha of Israel (1Kings 15:20).
The name of two places, possibly from the Hebrew word for“harp” due to the shape of the lake bearing its name orthe shape of the hill on which the city sat. (1)Alarge lake in northern Israel. It was the eastern border of Canaanand part of the western boundary of the tribal territory of Gad.Kinnereth (Deut. 3:17; Josh. 11:2; cf. NIV mg. for Num. 34:11; Josh.12:3; 13:27) was also known as the Sea of Gennesaret (Mark 6:53; Luke5:1), the Sea of Tiberius (John 6:1; 21:1), and the Sea of Galilee(Matt. 15:29; Mark 1:16). (2)Afortified city, and the region around it, allotted to the tribe ofNaphtali (Josh. 19:35). Ben-Hadad of Syria conquered the region afterKing Asa of Judah paid him a large amount of silver and gold to breakhis treaty with King Baasha of Israel (1Kings 15:20).
OldTestament
Studentsof biblical history must work with several overlapping systems ofchronology. This section defines several approaches and describes howthey are interconnected.
Absoluteand relative dates.Absolute dates consist of a numerical value falling in one of twoeras, BC (“Before Christ”; also referred to as BCE,“Before the Common Era”) or AD (Anno Domini, “inthe year of our Lord”; also referred to as CE, “CommonEra”). For example, Samaria fell to the Assyrians in 722 BC.This system of absolute dating, a commonplace of modern life, wasdevised only in the sixth century AD, so it is unknown in biblicaland other ancient sources. Instead of absolute dates, the Bible andother ancient historiographic sources give relative dates; that is,events are dated in relation to other recorded events, as in 1 Kings15:1: “In the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam son ofNebat, Abijah became king of Judah.” The system of relativedates in the OT can be collated to form a single relative chronology.
Usingroyal histories.For the purposes of constructing a unified chronology, the royalhistory in Samuel-Kings and Chronicles is of central importance, withits tabulations of the ages of the kings at accession and the lengthsof their reigns. The biblical chronology can then be assigned toabsolute dates by establishing synchronisms with other historicalchronicles (most usefully, from Mesopotamia), which in turn can befixed to a handful of absolute dates. Of particular importance arerecords (all nonbiblical cuneiform texts) of observed astronomicalphenomena, the appearance of which in history can now be calculatedwith a high degree of mathematical certainty. Annalistic sources(documents that record an entry for each passing year, such as thecuneiform eponym chronicles) are particularly valuable. The Biblecontains no annalistic sources, but rather is made up of chronisticsources—that is, texts that record and quantify the passage oftime, but without a separate accounting of each year. Whenmiscalculations or textual corruptions affect chronistic records,they are difficult to correct (see 1 Sam. 13:1). The biblicaldata, consisting of summary figures, probably go back to annalisticsources that were compiled from year to year (perhaps the recordsmentioned in, e.g., 1 Kings 11:41; 14:19).
Theassembly of a unified biblical chronology on the basis of the royalhistories is further complicated by the fact that severalcalendars—royal, agricultural, cultic—were insimultaneous use. There may also have been a discrepancy betweenIsrael and Judah with regard to the reckoning of the cultic New Year.Added to this, in several cases the biblical data imply a period ofcoregency, during which the reigns of the outgoing king and hisappointed successor overlapped, creating the potential for the yearsof the coregency to be counted twice. In biblical times there weretwo systems of reckoning dates based on royal succession: the“accession-year” system, which omitted from the length ofa king’s reign any partial year from his accession to the firstNew Year, and the “nonaccession-year” system, which begancounting the years of a king’s reign as soon as he acceded. Innonaccession-year dating, any year in which there are two kings getscounted twice: once as the last year of the former king, and once asthe first year of the new king. The biblical chronologies appear touse both systems, with a movement from the nonaccession-year systemto the accession-year system in later centuries. Obviously, thechoice of systems dictates the significance of the figures presentedin the Bible and must be taken into account in the collation of data.
Combiningroyal regnal data and various genealogical tables (based on, e.g.,Gen. 5; 11; the summary figures in Exod. 12:41; 1 Kings 6:1), itis possible to reconstruct a putative world chronology from thecreation of Adam to the exile. Famously, in 1650 James Ussherfollowed this procedure, working backward from absolute dates knownfrom classical sources, to determine that the world was created onthe night before October 23, 4004 BC. In its day, this was a work ofimpressive scholarship, but Ussher’s chronology is too short toencompass not only archaeological findings (from the land of Israelitself, there are Neolithic and Chalcolithic artifacts going back tenthousand years), but also findings in all branches of the sciencesthat corroborate the age of the earth at about 4.5 billion years andthe appearance of modern humans approximately two hundred thousandyears before the present. Beginning in the first millennium BC,however, the Bible provides chronological data that, with modestadjustments, agree with other historical and archaeological findings.
Weighingthe sources.Because of the variety of materials in the OT, it is crucial todetermine which sources are of historical value, weighing each interms of internal and external coherence. As noted above, thebackbone of OT chronology is the series of regnal data for the kingsof Israel and Judah found in Samuel-Kings and Chronicles. These dataare useful because they provide a continuous chronology of severalhundred years that can be anchored at several points to datableevents in external historical sources. In addition, the history ofthe kings of Judah and Israel contains references to historicalfigures known from extrabiblical records. In contrast, the chronologyof the OT prior to the period of judges, while internally coherent,cannot be correlated to known absolute dates. Where non-Israelitefigures are mentioned, they are often unnamed (e.g., the pharaohs ofthe eras of Abraham and Moses), anachronistically described (e.g.,Abraham’s contacts with the Philistines [Gen. 21:34], a groupthat did not appear in Palestine until long after the ostensibleMiddle Bronze Age date of Abraham), or do not correspond to knownhistorical figures (e.g., Abimelek, Nimrod). Althoughcultural-historical investigation may shed light on the patriarchalnarratives and their historical setting, such an approach yieldsnothing more than vague chronological findings. In some cases, thelate date of the biblical texts has obscured chronologicalindicators, interfering with the project of cultural history. Settingaside questions of the historicity of the patriarchal narratives,apart from the reports of their ages, there is little data to workwith when it comes to constructing a chronology of the patriarchs.
Thestory of the exodus from Egypt presents an event that, in principle,should be datable on the basis of external data. The mass migrationof millions of persons, the destruction of the army of a geopoliticalsuperpower, and the subsequent conquest of a small but powerfulcountry are events that promise to provide a chronological anchor forthe beginning of Israel’s history. Unfortunately, the eventrecorded in the Bible has not left a clear mark, either in thehistoriography of Egypt or in the archaeology of Palestine. On closerinspection, the biblical text contains a number of features thatfrustrate any attempt to date the events on their basis. Unlike inthe histories of the biblical monarchs, the pharaoh of the Exodus, afigure of international stature in his own day, is never named in theBible. Some have attempted to fix a date to the exodus on the basisof the occurrence of the name “Rameses” in Exod. 1:11;12:37. This name was not current in Egypt before the thirteenthcentury BC. If it provides a clue as to the date of the exodus, itdoes so only at the expense of broader biblical chronology, accordingto which the exodus occurred in the fifteenth century BC (inparticular, based on the figures given in Exod. 12:41; 1 Kings6:1). It is not until we get into the monarchic period, when thehistory of Israel is intertwined with that of named internationalfigures, that absolute dates can be established with certainty.
Biblicalevents that can be assigned absolute dates based on cuneiformhistorical records include the following. Ahab was king of Israel atthe time of the battle of Qarqar in 853 BC. The Kurkh monolith ofShalmaneser III records his participation in the coalition ofHadadezer, though the event is not mentioned in the Bible. Jehu wason the throne of Judah in 841 BC, when Shalmaneser III recordedthat he gave tribute to Assyria. Joash was king of Israel in 796 BC,when he rendered tribute to Adad-nirari III. Menahem was king in740 and 738 BC (see 2 Kings 15:19), when he paid tribute toTiglath-pileser III (the biblical Pul). Ahaz paid tribute toTiglath-pileser in 734 BC, and Manasseh to Esarhaddon around 674 BC.These synchronisms provide in each case upper and lower limits forfixing the reign of the kings of Israel and Judah. In some cases, thechronology of the book of Kings must be adjusted to fit these dates,on the assumption that the Deuteronomistic Historian lacked firsthandknowledge about the history of the northern kingdom, was attemptingto work with conflicting sources, or made errors in calculation.Other important synchronisms include Hoshea’s coup againstPekah (2 Kings 15:30), dated based on an inscription ofTiglath-pileser III to 732 BC; the fall of Samaria (2 Kings17:6), dated based on the Babylonian Chronicle to 722 BC;Sennacherib’s Judean campaign in 701 BC (2 Kings18:13–19:36); the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC (Jer. 46:2);the capture of Jerusalem in 597 BC (2 Kings 24:12); and therelease of Jehoiachin from captivity in 561 BC, coinciding with theaccession of Amel-Marduk (2 Kings 25:27).
Periodizationof history.In addition to relative and absolute chronologies, biblical scholarsrefer to several schemes of periodization defined by technologicaland political developments.
Themost ancient scheme of periodization is implied in the Bible itself,which conceives of periods of judges (Judg. 17:6), united monarchy,divided monarchy, and exile. The transitions between phases in thisscheme are defined by dramatic social and political discontinuities.Another approach to the periodization of Israelite history involvesdefining the major transitions in terms of the material culture.Prior to the fall of Jerusalem, modern biblical scholars andarchaeologists divide Syro-Palestinian history into several periods,named for developments in metallurgical technology. While there issome variety of opinion among scholars regarding the exact datesused, the following scheme is widely used (given with roughcorrelations to the biblical periods):
EarlyBronze Age – 3300 to 2200 BC (Primeval period?)
MiddleBronze Age – 2200 to 1550 BC (Patriarch)
LateBronze Age – 1550 to 1200 BC (Period in Egypt, exodus)
IronAge – 1200 to 586 BC (Judges monarchy)
TheIron Age is further subdivided as follows:
IronAge – 1200 to 1000 BC (Judges)
IronAge IIA – 1000 to 900 BC (United monarchy)
IronAge IIB – 900 to 700 BC (Divided monarchy)
IronAge IIC – 700 to 586 BC (Fall of Samaria to fall of Jerusalem
Thedivisions between these periods are heuristic and do not correspondto precisely dated developments in metallurgy. For instance, someiron artifacts may be dated to the Bronze Age, though not widespreadiron metalworking on an industrial scale. Especially in the varioussubdivisions of the Iron Age, transitions begin to be defined bypolitical events rather than the metal sequence: Iron IAcorresponds to the biblical period of the judges, Iron IIA tothe united monarchy, Iron IIB to the divided monarchy, andIron IIC to the period between the falls of Samaria andJerusalem, when the southern kingdom alone had political autonomy.Some scholars round off the dates to avoid a periodization based onshort-term political events and to emphasize the gradual rate ofchange in material culture and technology (e.g., using the rounddates 900, 700, 600).
Forevents and dates after the fall of Jerusalem, historians employ ascheme of periodization based heavily on political factors. Theseries of periods are named for the dominant geopolitical powers inSyria-Palestine:
Neo-Babylonianperiod – 622 to 539 BC (Late Judean monarchy, exile)
Persianperiod – 539 to 330 BC (Return from exile)
Hellenisticperiod – 330 to 63 BC (Intertestamental)
Romanperiod – 63 BC to AD 324 (New Testament events
Althoughthere was significant redaction (and, according to some, composition)of biblical texts in the Hellenistic period, no biblical narrativesare ostensibly set in the period. Thus, the internal periodization ofhistory in the Hebrew Bible ends with the return from exile (thePersian period).
NewTestament
Thebirth of Jesus.According to Matt. 2:1 (see also Luke 1:5), Jesus was born during thelifetime of Herod the Great, who, as we know from Josephus, died in 4BC (see Matt. 2:15–19). In his attempt to kill Jesus, Herodordered the slaughter of male children up to the age of two, based oninformation that he obtained from the magi concerning the appearanceof the star heralding Jesus’ birth (Matt. 2:16). Thus,Matthew’s account implies a date no later than 4 BC, butpossibly several years earlier. Some scholars have attempted tocorrelate the magi’s observance of a star with one of severalstriking celestial phenomena, including a conjunction of Jupiter,Saturn, and Mars in 7 BC (so Johannes Kepler). Such attempts,however, are weakened by the fact that Matthew’s description ofthe star is vague, unnaturalistic, and difficult to identifycertainly with a planetary alignment or any other known phenomenon(in particular, the star is said to move and then come to rest overJesus’ location). Another line of investigation involves Luke’scorrelation of Jesus’ birth with a Roman census that he datesto the time of Quirinius (Luke 2:1–2). This report, however,contradicts the testimony of Josephus, according to whom Quiriniusbecame governor in AD 6 (a decade after the death of Herod). Mostlikely, Jesus was born shortly before 4 BC, during the reign ofHerod.
Thebeginning and duration of Jesus’ public ministry.According to Luke 3:23, Jesus was “about thirty years old”at the time of his baptism and the beginning of his public ministry.In John 8:57, Jesus is challenged: “You are not yet fifty yearsold.” These two round numbers provide reasonable limits for theage of Jesus during his ministry. Owing to a paucity of chronologicalindicators in the Synoptic Gospels, the ministry of Jesus as depictedin Matthew, Mark, and Luke could have taken place within the space ofa single year. In contrast, John narrates postbaptism events duringthree occurrences of the annual Passover festival (John 2:13; 6:4;11:55), suggesting that Jesus’ ministry lasted for three yearsor longer. Unfortunately, the chronology of John appears in someinstances to be at odds with the other Gospels. Most significantly,he places Jesus’ cleansing of the temple at the beginning,rather than the end, of his ministry (John 2:13–22; cf. Mark11:15–19 pars.). It is unclear to what degree strict chronologyhas been modified in the interest of other concerns in each of theGospels. According to John’s account, the cleansing of thetemple occurred forty-six years after the beginning of itsconstruction, an event that Josephus dates to either the eighteenthor the fifteenth year of Herod’s reign (John 2:20), placing theincident in the year AD 28 or 31. Ultimately, there are two sourcesof uncertainty pertaining to the chronology of Jesus’ ministry:the imprecise (and possibly symbolic) report of his age in Luke 3:23and the indeterminate length of his ministry.
Thedeath of Jesus.All four Gospels agree that Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator ofJudea, was instrumental in the trial and execution of Jesus. Pilategoverned from AD 26 to 36; this provides a latest possible date forthe death of Jesus. To refine the chronology beyond this, scholarshave attempted to date the end of Jesus’ life based on itsoccurrence during the Feast of Passover (15 Nisan in the Jewishcalendar) and by trying to determine in which year the feast wouldhave coincided with his crucifixion on a Friday. This approach iscomplicated by the discrepancy between John, according to whom thePassover meal was eaten in the evening following the crucifixion(John 19:14), and Mark, who appears to have an imperfect knowledge ofPassover customs (Mark 14:12–16) and thus describes Jesus’final supper with his disciples as a Passover meal (i.e., on 14Nisan). Following John’s chronology yields a date for thecrucifixion of Friday, April 7 (Nisan 14), AD 30, or Friday, April 3(Nisan 14), AD 33.
Ofthese two options, the AD 30 date conforms more closely to Luke 3:23,and it suggests that following a ministry of about three years, Jesuswas in his mid- to late thirties at the time of his crucifixion.
Paul’scareer.Thechronology of Paul’s career remains a difficult question inbiblical studies. There are two major sources for this chronology:the letters of Paul (esp. Galatians) and the book of Acts. Whenindependent chronologies are constructed from each of these sources,several difficulties arise, including the absence of absolute anchorsin Paul’s letters, lack of clear agreement between Acts and theletters regarding the number of visits to Jerusalem, and, byimplication, the periodization of Paul’s career into distinctphases of concerted activity or “missionary journeys.”These data must in turn be synchronized, sometimes requiring someingenuity, with other historically documented events such as thedating of Claudius’s edict (Acts 18:2), the dates of Aretas’scontrol of Damascus (2 Cor. 11:32–33), the death of HerodAgrippa in AD 44 (mentioned in Acts 12:23), the presence of SergiusPaulus in Cyprus during Paul’s first missionary journey (Acts13:7 [this figure is known from inscriptions, but none of themclearly bears on the question]), and Festus’s succession ofFelix as the procurator of Palestine (Acts 23–26), whichJosephus puts in AD 53.
Ifwe grant a fair measure of historical reliability to the outline ofActs, Paul experienced his conversion around AD 33, visited Jerusalemin AD 36 (Gal. 1:18), completed his first missionary journey and thenvisited Jerusalem to confer with the other apostles (Acts 15:1–29;Gal. 2:1) in the late 40s, conducted his second and third missionaryjourneys in the first half of the 50s before being finally arrestedin Jerusalem around AD 57, and was taken to Rome in AD 59–60.
A person exempted from military training and service on thebasis of deeply held religious convictions against participating inwarfare.
Jesus’call to “not resist an evil person” and to “turn tothem the other cheek” (Matt. 5:39; Luke 6:29–36) makesthe clearest case for Christian conscientious objection. Jesus alsoblessed peacemakers (Matt. 5:9), commanded love of enemy and neighbor(Matt. 5:44; 22:39; Mark 12:31), and refused to build his kingdom byforce (John 6:15; 18:36). Beyond violence, war may violate theChristian’s conscience because it often necessitates deceptionand breeds fear, hatred, greed, and pride, be it individual,national, ethnic, or otherwise.
Conversely,Christians are obligated to obey civil authorities (Rom. 13:1–6;Titus 3:1; 1 Pet. 2:13–14), for whom Scripture reservesthe right to wield the sword (Rom. 13:4). Some argue that theseverses allow or oblige believers to fight when called to duty.Furthermore, this sinful world may require loving one’sneighbors by using violence to protect them. If Christians enjoy thefreedoms and well-being defended by a military, should they notcontribute to it in combat, provided the war is just?
IfJesus condemns violence, however, the conscientious objector mayinvoke Peter’s claim, “We must obey God rather than humanbeings!” (Acts 5:29; cf. 4:19). Many nonviolent forms ofresistance exist, so conscientious objectors may still help defendtheir country by serving in the military or elsewhere in noncombatantroles.
In the ancient Near East the type of cooking and heating utilized within a household depended upon the family’s socioeconomic status and lifestyle. A nomadic or seminomadic pastoral lifestyle demanded portability; permanent ovens or heating installations would have been impractical. A stable urban lifestyle made possible the construction of more complex heating and cooking equipment.
Cooking within the Seminomadic Lifestyle
Seminomadic groups, such as Abraham and his family or the Israelites before the settlement of Canaan, probably used an open fire or fire pit. A campfire was kindled on top of the ground or on flat stones. An open fire of this nature could also be ringed with a small stone circle. Shallow holes or fire pits were also dug into the ground near the front of a tent or outside, in the encampment. Since tents did not have chimneys, the smoke from a fire would escape through the door. The seasonal climate dictated whether a fire was kindled inside or outside the tent.
Fires were ignited with twigs or kindling by friction or sparks (Isa. 50:11; 64:2; 2 Macc. 10:3), a skill learned during the early Stone Age. Once lit, the burning embers of the fire could be moved around, kept smoldering, and fanned into a blaze with fresh fuel (Isa. 30:14; cf. Lev. 6:13). Abraham carried some type of an ember or fire with him when he went to sacrifice Isaac (Gen. 22:6). The “smoking firepot with a blazing torch” that symbolized God’s presence before Abraham may refer to a portable device for transporting fire (15:17).
Fuel for fire was gathered from the materials most readily available to seminomadic groups. Potential fuels included thorns and briers (Isa. 10:17), dried grass (Matt. 6:30; Luke 12:28), charcoal (John 18:18 NRSV), twigs or sticks (Isa. 64:2), wood (Gen. 22:6), and dried animal dung (Ezek. 4:15). Fire pits provided some means for keeping a family warm, as well as being used for cooking.
Cooking within the Urban Lifestyle
The sedentary urban lifestyle of the monarchial period provided the opportunity to construct permanent cooking and heating installations. In the four-room Israelite house, cooking normally was done in a fire pit or clay oven in the courtyard of the home. The baking oven ordinarily was located outside, but archaeologists have found cooking utensils and ovens in the central room of the house. This indoor oven also served as a means of heat during the colder wet season. The family most likely utilized the courtyard oven during the hotter dry season.
Egyptian and Mesopotamian reliefs provide illustrations of the structure of ancient ovens. Archaeologists have uncovered scores of examples of different types and sizes all across the ancient Near East. Small domestic ovens (Exod. 8:3) were made of clay in two basic forms. The first had an open top and was cylindrical in shape. It ranged from two to three feet in height and was about two feet in diameter. The second, about the same size, was more egg-shaped, with small openings at the base and in the top.
Some ovens were covered with a plastered layer of potsherds on the outside to improve insulation. They could be embedded in the ground or raised above it. The oven floor was lined with pebbles, and the fire was built upon it. Commercial ovens were larger and were concentrated in specific areas of a city (Neh. 3:11; 12:38).
Ovens and fire pits were used for cooking and heating in the home. Other hearths or heating ovens were employed to warm larger buildings or to perform specific tasks not related to food preparation. A large oval hearth was discovered in the central room of an Iron Age II house at Shechem. Jeremiah 36:22–23 speaks about a “firepot” or hearth used by Jehoiakim to warm his winter apartment. This hearth may have been a raised copper or bronze basin on a three-legged stand. A “fire basin” (NIV: “firepot”) is also mentioned in Zech. 12:6.
Cooking Utensils
Many types of pottery utensils, which were undoubtedly associated with cooking and eating, have been discovered in archaeological excavations in the ancient Near East. Although rare, metal and stone implements have also been found. One area in the tent or the home would be employed as a “kitchen.” A kitchen in the palace of Ramesses III is depicted on an Egyptian wall, and Ezekiel mentions the kitchens located in the new temple (46:24). Cooking and serving vessels included platters, bowls, chalices, jugs, juglets, and cooking pots. Storage vessels and grain pits also were needed to contain spices, oils, grains, and other foodstuffs.
Larger bowls designed specifically for cooking were in common use during the Bronze and Iron Ages. These “cooking pots” often were placed directly into the fire or on hot coals and were used to boil meat or make soups and other similar types of food. Iron Age II cooking pots from Palestine generally bore the trademark of the potter. Cooking pots had a short life and were replaced often. Because the style of these types of pots changed systematically over time, they have become very important in helping archaeologists date the particular level or stratum of a tell in which they were found.
The Cooking of Food
The type of food eaten by families also depended on their socioeconomic status and lifestyle. Food staples included milk products, wine, bread, and occasionally meat. Richer families could afford vegetables, fruits, dates, figs, and other less common foods. All types of households ate bread.
Grains. The most common grains used in bread making were wheat, barley, and spelt (Isa. 28:25). Wheat grew wild in Palestine, and there is evidence that seminomadic people stayed in one place long enough to cultivate small plots of grain. Grain could also be acquired in trade for other agricultural products such as goat’s milk or wool. Grain was winnowed to separate the chaff from the kernels (Matt. 3:12; Luke 3:17). Roasted grain was grain that had been “popped” in the fire instead of being milled (1 Sam. 25:18).
After being winnowed, wheat and other grains were ground initially in a hand mill. Hand mills, or querns, were of two types. The first was a simple device of two stones. The base, or “saddle,” was a flat, elongated stone that became curved through the backward and forward motion of the upper stone. The upper, or “rider,” stone was flat on one side and curved on the top to allow the user to grip the stone with both hands. The grain was placed on the saddle, and the rider stone was run repeatedly over it to grind it. This was considered menial work (Lam. 5:13). This type of grinding may have been assigned to the blinded Samson (Judg. 16:21).
The second, later type of hand mill consisted of two stone disks approximately twelve inches in diameter. The lower stone, or base, had an upright wooden stake at the center. A hole in the upper stone allowed it to fit over the base, and a handle on the upper stone was used to rotate it against the lower stone (Matt. 24:41). Grain was fed through the central hole, and the milled flour exited along the sides. The millstone mentioned in Matt. 18:6; Mark 9:42; Luke 17:2 is a larger example of this type.
Milling grain was a necessary task of the household (Jer. 25:10). Course grain was further milled into fine flour with a mortar and pestle. Course grain could be used to make boiled porridge or gruel. Finely ground flour was used in sacrificial offerings (Exod. 29:40; Lev. 2:4).
The flour was mixed with water and kneaded (Gen. 18:6; 1 Sam. 28:24; 2 Sam. 13:8; Jer. 7:18), small amounts of leaven and salt were added, and then the bread was baked. Three methods of baking bread are mentioned in the OT: over hot coals (1 Kings 19:6; Isa. 44:19), on a griddle (Lev. 7:9; cf. Ezek. 4:3), and in an oven (Lev. 26:26). Leaven was withheld from the dough if the bread was to be made and eaten in haste (Exod. 12:39; Judg. 6:19; 1 Sam. 28:24). Griddle “cakes” were also made in this fashion (Hos. 7:8; cf. Ezek. 4:12).
Bread often was baked in different shapes. Thin bread was used to scoop food from a common pot (Matt. 26:23). Other breads were formed into loaves (John 6:9). In one man’s dream a round loaf of barley bread is described as rolling down a hill and striking and overturning a tent (Judg. 7:13). Both men and women baked bread (Gen. 19:3; 1 Sam. 28:24), and priests baked bread for ritual usage (Lev. 24:5). A king could afford to have men and women as professional bakers (Gen. 40:1; 1 Sam. 8:13). Professional bakers may also have served the larger urban population (Neh. 3:11; Jer. 37:21; Hos. 7:4) in Jerusalem.
Fruits and vegetables. After settling in Canaan, the Israelites made some additions to their diet. Foodstuffs grown in cultivated gardens were now available. These included foods such as cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic (Num. 11:5). Some of these vegetables were added to stews; others were eaten uncooked. Vegetable, bean, and lentil soups were prepared in large cooking pots placed directly on the fire. Esau particularly enjoyed lentil soup (Gen. 25:30). Herbs and spices (mint, dill, and cumin) were now accessible as well (Isa. 28:25, 27; Matt. 23:23). Salt came from the Dead Sea.
Fruits too were grown and harvested. Of particular interest was the olive. Olives were crushed in a press to render oil. Olive oil was used in cooking and baking. It was mixed with fine flour to make bread (1 Kings 17:12; Ezek. 16:13; cf. Num. 11:8).
Meat. When a guest arrived or when a special occasion called for it, meat was added to the stew. Meat often was boiled (2 Kings 4:38; Ezek. 24:3–5). Spices were also added (Ezek. 24:10). Since the meat was cut up to boil, this method had the advantage of avoiding the problem of ensuring that the blood was properly drained out of an animal before it could be roasted (Lev. 17:10–11). Milk could be used in the stew; however, cooking a kid in its mother’s milk was prohibited (Exod. 23:19; 34:26; Deut. 14:21).
Meat was roasted over an open fire on a spit. Meat was available from flocks and through hunting. Abraham served his guests veal (Gen. 18:7); Gideon and his guests ate goat meat (Judg. 6:19); Samuel appears to have served Saul a mutton leg (1 Sam. 9:24). Contrary to ritual regulations, Hophni and Phinehas demanded meat for roasting (1 Sam. 2:13–15). Meat certainly was roasted as a sacrifice on the altar of the tabernacle and the temple. It also normally was roasted on feast days such as Passover (Exod. 12:8–9).
Fish were counted among the foods given to Noah and his sons after the flood (Gen. 9:2–3). The Israelites ate fish in Egypt (Num. 11:15), and fishermen plied their trade along the Nile (Isa. 19:8). Fishermen could hook, spear, or net fish (Job 41:1, 7; Eccles. 9:12; Ezek. 29:4; 47:10). In Israel, fish were taken from the Sea of Galilee or the Mediterranean. Jerusalem had a “Fish Gate,” where fish were sold (2 Chron. 33:14; Neh. 3:3; 12:39; Zeph. 1:10). The Phoenicians most likely exported several varieties of edible fish to Israel. Fish with fins and scales were clean, but those without fins or scales were not (Lev. 11:9–12). In Nehemiah’s day Phoenicians were selling fish to the inhabitants of Jerusalem even on the Sabbath (Neh. 13:16).
In NT times, the Phoenicians continued to import much of the fish brought into Palestine. The ministry of Jesus revolved around the smaller fishing industry on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus called several fishermen to follow him as disciples (Matt. 4:18). On a number of occasions Jesus helped his disciples to ply their trade by directing them where to cast their nets (John 21:6, 11). Fish were caught in dragnets (John 21:8) and hand nets (Matt. 4:18). After his resurrection Jesus ate fish with his disciples in Jerusalem and on the Sea of Galilee (Luke 24:42; John 21:9).
Fish became a staple of the common people (Matt. 14:17; 15:34). The fish used to feed the multitudes probably were salted. Fish normally were grilled over an open fire (John 21:9).
In the ancient Near East the type of cooking and heating utilized within a household depended upon the family’s socioeconomic status and lifestyle. A nomadic or seminomadic pastoral lifestyle demanded portability; permanent ovens or heating installations would have been impractical. A stable urban lifestyle made possible the construction of more complex heating and cooking equipment.
Cooking within the Seminomadic Lifestyle
Seminomadic groups, such as Abraham and his family or the Israelites before the settlement of Canaan, probably used an open fire or fire pit. A campfire was kindled on top of the ground or on flat stones. An open fire of this nature could also be ringed with a small stone circle. Shallow holes or fire pits were also dug into the ground near the front of a tent or outside, in the encampment. Since tents did not have chimneys, the smoke from a fire would escape through the door. The seasonal climate dictated whether a fire was kindled inside or outside the tent.
Fires were ignited with twigs or kindling by friction or sparks (Isa. 50:11; 64:2; 2 Macc. 10:3), a skill learned during the early Stone Age. Once lit, the burning embers of the fire could be moved around, kept smoldering, and fanned into a blaze with fresh fuel (Isa. 30:14; cf. Lev. 6:13). Abraham carried some type of an ember or fire with him when he went to sacrifice Isaac (Gen. 22:6). The “smoking firepot with a blazing torch” that symbolized God’s presence before Abraham may refer to a portable device for transporting fire (15:17).
Fuel for fire was gathered from the materials most readily available to seminomadic groups. Potential fuels included thorns and briers (Isa. 10:17), dried grass (Matt. 6:30; Luke 12:28), charcoal (John 18:18 NRSV), twigs or sticks (Isa. 64:2), wood (Gen. 22:6), and dried animal dung (Ezek. 4:15). Fire pits provided some means for keeping a family warm, as well as being used for cooking.
Cooking within the Urban Lifestyle
The sedentary urban lifestyle of the monarchial period provided the opportunity to construct permanent cooking and heating installations. In the four-room Israelite house, cooking normally was done in a fire pit or clay oven in the courtyard of the home. The baking oven ordinarily was located outside, but archaeologists have found cooking utensils and ovens in the central room of the house. This indoor oven also served as a means of heat during the colder wet season. The family most likely utilized the courtyard oven during the hotter dry season.
Egyptian and Mesopotamian reliefs provide illustrations of the structure of ancient ovens. Archaeologists have uncovered scores of examples of different types and sizes all across the ancient Near East. Small domestic ovens (Exod. 8:3) were made of clay in two basic forms. The first had an open top and was cylindrical in shape. It ranged from two to three feet in height and was about two feet in diameter. The second, about the same size, was more egg-shaped, with small openings at the base and in the top.
Some ovens were covered with a plastered layer of potsherds on the outside to improve insulation. They could be embedded in the ground or raised above it. The oven floor was lined with pebbles, and the fire was built upon it. Commercial ovens were larger and were concentrated in specific areas of a city (Neh. 3:11; 12:38).
Ovens and fire pits were used for cooking and heating in the home. Other hearths or heating ovens were employed to warm larger buildings or to perform specific tasks not related to food preparation. A large oval hearth was discovered in the central room of an Iron Age II house at Shechem. Jeremiah 36:22–23 speaks about a “firepot” or hearth used by Jehoiakim to warm his winter apartment. This hearth may have been a raised copper or bronze basin on a three-legged stand. A “fire basin” (NIV: “firepot”) is also mentioned in Zech. 12:6.
Cooking Utensils
Many types of pottery utensils, which were undoubtedly associated with cooking and eating, have been discovered in archaeological excavations in the ancient Near East. Although rare, metal and stone implements have also been found. One area in the tent or the home would be employed as a “kitchen.” A kitchen in the palace of Ramesses III is depicted on an Egyptian wall, and Ezekiel mentions the kitchens located in the new temple (46:24). Cooking and serving vessels included platters, bowls, chalices, jugs, juglets, and cooking pots. Storage vessels and grain pits also were needed to contain spices, oils, grains, and other foodstuffs.
Larger bowls designed specifically for cooking were in common use during the Bronze and Iron Ages. These “cooking pots” often were placed directly into the fire or on hot coals and were used to boil meat or make soups and other similar types of food. Iron Age II cooking pots from Palestine generally bore the trademark of the potter. Cooking pots had a short life and were replaced often. Because the style of these types of pots changed systematically over time, they have become very important in helping archaeologists date the particular level or stratum of a tell in which they were found.
The Cooking of Food
The type of food eaten by families also depended on their socioeconomic status and lifestyle. Food staples included milk products, wine, bread, and occasionally meat. Richer families could afford vegetables, fruits, dates, figs, and other less common foods. All types of households ate bread.
Grains. The most common grains used in bread making were wheat, barley, and spelt (Isa. 28:25). Wheat grew wild in Palestine, and there is evidence that seminomadic people stayed in one place long enough to cultivate small plots of grain. Grain could also be acquired in trade for other agricultural products such as goat’s milk or wool. Grain was winnowed to separate the chaff from the kernels (Matt. 3:12; Luke 3:17). Roasted grain was grain that had been “popped” in the fire instead of being milled (1 Sam. 25:18).
After being winnowed, wheat and other grains were ground initially in a hand mill. Hand mills, or querns, were of two types. The first was a simple device of two stones. The base, or “saddle,” was a flat, elongated stone that became curved through the backward and forward motion of the upper stone. The upper, or “rider,” stone was flat on one side and curved on the top to allow the user to grip the stone with both hands. The grain was placed on the saddle, and the rider stone was run repeatedly over it to grind it. This was considered menial work (Lam. 5:13). This type of grinding may have been assigned to the blinded Samson (Judg. 16:21).
The second, later type of hand mill consisted of two stone disks approximately twelve inches in diameter. The lower stone, or base, had an upright wooden stake at the center. A hole in the upper stone allowed it to fit over the base, and a handle on the upper stone was used to rotate it against the lower stone (Matt. 24:41). Grain was fed through the central hole, and the milled flour exited along the sides. The millstone mentioned in Matt. 18:6; Mark 9:42; Luke 17:2 is a larger example of this type.
Milling grain was a necessary task of the household (Jer. 25:10). Course grain was further milled into fine flour with a mortar and pestle. Course grain could be used to make boiled porridge or gruel. Finely ground flour was used in sacrificial offerings (Exod. 29:40; Lev. 2:4).
The flour was mixed with water and kneaded (Gen. 18:6; 1 Sam. 28:24; 2 Sam. 13:8; Jer. 7:18), small amounts of leaven and salt were added, and then the bread was baked. Three methods of baking bread are mentioned in the OT: over hot coals (1 Kings 19:6; Isa. 44:19), on a griddle (Lev. 7:9; cf. Ezek. 4:3), and in an oven (Lev. 26:26). Leaven was withheld from the dough if the bread was to be made and eaten in haste (Exod. 12:39; Judg. 6:19; 1 Sam. 28:24). Griddle “cakes” were also made in this fashion (Hos. 7:8; cf. Ezek. 4:12).
Bread often was baked in different shapes. Thin bread was used to scoop food from a common pot (Matt. 26:23). Other breads were formed into loaves (John 6:9). In one man’s dream a round loaf of barley bread is described as rolling down a hill and striking and overturning a tent (Judg. 7:13). Both men and women baked bread (Gen. 19:3; 1 Sam. 28:24), and priests baked bread for ritual usage (Lev. 24:5). A king could afford to have men and women as professional bakers (Gen. 40:1; 1 Sam. 8:13). Professional bakers may also have served the larger urban population (Neh. 3:11; Jer. 37:21; Hos. 7:4) in Jerusalem.
Fruits and vegetables. After settling in Canaan, the Israelites made some additions to their diet. Foodstuffs grown in cultivated gardens were now available. These included foods such as cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic (Num. 11:5). Some of these vegetables were added to stews; others were eaten uncooked. Vegetable, bean, and lentil soups were prepared in large cooking pots placed directly on the fire. Esau particularly enjoyed lentil soup (Gen. 25:30). Herbs and spices (mint, dill, and cumin) were now accessible as well (Isa. 28:25, 27; Matt. 23:23). Salt came from the Dead Sea.
Fruits too were grown and harvested. Of particular interest was the olive. Olives were crushed in a press to render oil. Olive oil was used in cooking and baking. It was mixed with fine flour to make bread (1 Kings 17:12; Ezek. 16:13; cf. Num. 11:8).
Meat. When a guest arrived or when a special occasion called for it, meat was added to the stew. Meat often was boiled (2 Kings 4:38; Ezek. 24:3–5). Spices were also added (Ezek. 24:10). Since the meat was cut up to boil, this method had the advantage of avoiding the problem of ensuring that the blood was properly drained out of an animal before it could be roasted (Lev. 17:10–11). Milk could be used in the stew; however, cooking a kid in its mother’s milk was prohibited (Exod. 23:19; 34:26; Deut. 14:21).
Meat was roasted over an open fire on a spit. Meat was available from flocks and through hunting. Abraham served his guests veal (Gen. 18:7); Gideon and his guests ate goat meat (Judg. 6:19); Samuel appears to have served Saul a mutton leg (1 Sam. 9:24). Contrary to ritual regulations, Hophni and Phinehas demanded meat for roasting (1 Sam. 2:13–15). Meat certainly was roasted as a sacrifice on the altar of the tabernacle and the temple. It also normally was roasted on feast days such as Passover (Exod. 12:8–9).
Fish were counted among the foods given to Noah and his sons after the flood (Gen. 9:2–3). The Israelites ate fish in Egypt (Num. 11:15), and fishermen plied their trade along the Nile (Isa. 19:8). Fishermen could hook, spear, or net fish (Job 41:1, 7; Eccles. 9:12; Ezek. 29:4; 47:10). In Israel, fish were taken from the Sea of Galilee or the Mediterranean. Jerusalem had a “Fish Gate,” where fish were sold (2 Chron. 33:14; Neh. 3:3; 12:39; Zeph. 1:10). The Phoenicians most likely exported several varieties of edible fish to Israel. Fish with fins and scales were clean, but those without fins or scales were not (Lev. 11:9–12). In Nehemiah’s day Phoenicians were selling fish to the inhabitants of Jerusalem even on the Sabbath (Neh. 13:16).
In NT times, the Phoenicians continued to import much of the fish brought into Palestine. The ministry of Jesus revolved around the smaller fishing industry on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus called several fishermen to follow him as disciples (Matt. 4:18). On a number of occasions Jesus helped his disciples to ply their trade by directing them where to cast their nets (John 21:6, 11). Fish were caught in dragnets (John 21:8) and hand nets (Matt. 4:18). After his resurrection Jesus ate fish with his disciples in Jerusalem and on the Sea of Galilee (Luke 24:42; John 21:9).
Fish became a staple of the common people (Matt. 14:17; 15:34). The fish used to feed the multitudes probably were salted. Fish normally were grilled over an open fire (John 21:9).
In the ancient Near East the type of cooking and heating utilized within a household depended upon the family’s socioeconomic status and lifestyle. A nomadic or seminomadic pastoral lifestyle demanded portability; permanent ovens or heating installations would have been impractical. A stable urban lifestyle made possible the construction of more complex heating and cooking equipment.
Cooking within the Seminomadic Lifestyle
Seminomadic groups, such as Abraham and his family or the Israelites before the settlement of Canaan, probably used an open fire or fire pit. A campfire was kindled on top of the ground or on flat stones. An open fire of this nature could also be ringed with a small stone circle. Shallow holes or fire pits were also dug into the ground near the front of a tent or outside, in the encampment. Since tents did not have chimneys, the smoke from a fire would escape through the door. The seasonal climate dictated whether a fire was kindled inside or outside the tent.
Fires were ignited with twigs or kindling by friction or sparks (Isa. 50:11; 64:2; 2 Macc. 10:3), a skill learned during the early Stone Age. Once lit, the burning embers of the fire could be moved around, kept smoldering, and fanned into a blaze with fresh fuel (Isa. 30:14; cf. Lev. 6:13). Abraham carried some type of an ember or fire with him when he went to sacrifice Isaac (Gen. 22:6). The “smoking firepot with a blazing torch” that symbolized God’s presence before Abraham may refer to a portable device for transporting fire (15:17).
Fuel for fire was gathered from the materials most readily available to seminomadic groups. Potential fuels included thorns and briers (Isa. 10:17), dried grass (Matt. 6:30; Luke 12:28), charcoal (John 18:18 NRSV), twigs or sticks (Isa. 64:2), wood (Gen. 22:6), and dried animal dung (Ezek. 4:15). Fire pits provided some means for keeping a family warm, as well as being used for cooking.
Cooking within the Urban Lifestyle
The sedentary urban lifestyle of the monarchial period provided the opportunity to construct permanent cooking and heating installations. In the four-room Israelite house, cooking normally was done in a fire pit or clay oven in the courtyard of the home. The baking oven ordinarily was located outside, but archaeologists have found cooking utensils and ovens in the central room of the house. This indoor oven also served as a means of heat during the colder wet season. The family most likely utilized the courtyard oven during the hotter dry season.
Egyptian and Mesopotamian reliefs provide illustrations of the structure of ancient ovens. Archaeologists have uncovered scores of examples of different types and sizes all across the ancient Near East. Small domestic ovens (Exod. 8:3) were made of clay in two basic forms. The first had an open top and was cylindrical in shape. It ranged from two to three feet in height and was about two feet in diameter. The second, about the same size, was more egg-shaped, with small openings at the base and in the top.
Some ovens were covered with a plastered layer of potsherds on the outside to improve insulation. They could be embedded in the ground or raised above it. The oven floor was lined with pebbles, and the fire was built upon it. Commercial ovens were larger and were concentrated in specific areas of a city (Neh. 3:11; 12:38).
Ovens and fire pits were used for cooking and heating in the home. Other hearths or heating ovens were employed to warm larger buildings or to perform specific tasks not related to food preparation. A large oval hearth was discovered in the central room of an Iron Age II house at Shechem. Jeremiah 36:22–23 speaks about a “firepot” or hearth used by Jehoiakim to warm his winter apartment. This hearth may have been a raised copper or bronze basin on a three-legged stand. A “fire basin” (NIV: “firepot”) is also mentioned in Zech. 12:6.
Cooking Utensils
Many types of pottery utensils, which were undoubtedly associated with cooking and eating, have been discovered in archaeological excavations in the ancient Near East. Although rare, metal and stone implements have also been found. One area in the tent or the home would be employed as a “kitchen.” A kitchen in the palace of Ramesses III is depicted on an Egyptian wall, and Ezekiel mentions the kitchens located in the new temple (46:24). Cooking and serving vessels included platters, bowls, chalices, jugs, juglets, and cooking pots. Storage vessels and grain pits also were needed to contain spices, oils, grains, and other foodstuffs.
Larger bowls designed specifically for cooking were in common use during the Bronze and Iron Ages. These “cooking pots” often were placed directly into the fire or on hot coals and were used to boil meat or make soups and other similar types of food. Iron Age II cooking pots from Palestine generally bore the trademark of the potter. Cooking pots had a short life and were replaced often. Because the style of these types of pots changed systematically over time, they have become very important in helping archaeologists date the particular level or stratum of a tell in which they were found.
The Cooking of Food
The type of food eaten by families also depended on their socioeconomic status and lifestyle. Food staples included milk products, wine, bread, and occasionally meat. Richer families could afford vegetables, fruits, dates, figs, and other less common foods. All types of households ate bread.
Grains. The most common grains used in bread making were wheat, barley, and spelt (Isa. 28:25). Wheat grew wild in Palestine, and there is evidence that seminomadic people stayed in one place long enough to cultivate small plots of grain. Grain could also be acquired in trade for other agricultural products such as goat’s milk or wool. Grain was winnowed to separate the chaff from the kernels (Matt. 3:12; Luke 3:17). Roasted grain was grain that had been “popped” in the fire instead of being milled (1 Sam. 25:18).
After being winnowed, wheat and other grains were ground initially in a hand mill. Hand mills, or querns, were of two types. The first was a simple device of two stones. The base, or “saddle,” was a flat, elongated stone that became curved through the backward and forward motion of the upper stone. The upper, or “rider,” stone was flat on one side and curved on the top to allow the user to grip the stone with both hands. The grain was placed on the saddle, and the rider stone was run repeatedly over it to grind it. This was considered menial work (Lam. 5:13). This type of grinding may have been assigned to the blinded Samson (Judg. 16:21).
The second, later type of hand mill consisted of two stone disks approximately twelve inches in diameter. The lower stone, or base, had an upright wooden stake at the center. A hole in the upper stone allowed it to fit over the base, and a handle on the upper stone was used to rotate it against the lower stone (Matt. 24:41). Grain was fed through the central hole, and the milled flour exited along the sides. The millstone mentioned in Matt. 18:6; Mark 9:42; Luke 17:2 is a larger example of this type.
Milling grain was a necessary task of the household (Jer. 25:10). Course grain was further milled into fine flour with a mortar and pestle. Course grain could be used to make boiled porridge or gruel. Finely ground flour was used in sacrificial offerings (Exod. 29:40; Lev. 2:4).
The flour was mixed with water and kneaded (Gen. 18:6; 1 Sam. 28:24; 2 Sam. 13:8; Jer. 7:18), small amounts of leaven and salt were added, and then the bread was baked. Three methods of baking bread are mentioned in the OT: over hot coals (1 Kings 19:6; Isa. 44:19), on a griddle (Lev. 7:9; cf. Ezek. 4:3), and in an oven (Lev. 26:26). Leaven was withheld from the dough if the bread was to be made and eaten in haste (Exod. 12:39; Judg. 6:19; 1 Sam. 28:24). Griddle “cakes” were also made in this fashion (Hos. 7:8; cf. Ezek. 4:12).
Bread often was baked in different shapes. Thin bread was used to scoop food from a common pot (Matt. 26:23). Other breads were formed into loaves (John 6:9). In one man’s dream a round loaf of barley bread is described as rolling down a hill and striking and overturning a tent (Judg. 7:13). Both men and women baked bread (Gen. 19:3; 1 Sam. 28:24), and priests baked bread for ritual usage (Lev. 24:5). A king could afford to have men and women as professional bakers (Gen. 40:1; 1 Sam. 8:13). Professional bakers may also have served the larger urban population (Neh. 3:11; Jer. 37:21; Hos. 7:4) in Jerusalem.
Fruits and vegetables. After settling in Canaan, the Israelites made some additions to their diet. Foodstuffs grown in cultivated gardens were now available. These included foods such as cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic (Num. 11:5). Some of these vegetables were added to stews; others were eaten uncooked. Vegetable, bean, and lentil soups were prepared in large cooking pots placed directly on the fire. Esau particularly enjoyed lentil soup (Gen. 25:30). Herbs and spices (mint, dill, and cumin) were now accessible as well (Isa. 28:25, 27; Matt. 23:23). Salt came from the Dead Sea.
Fruits too were grown and harvested. Of particular interest was the olive. Olives were crushed in a press to render oil. Olive oil was used in cooking and baking. It was mixed with fine flour to make bread (1 Kings 17:12; Ezek. 16:13; cf. Num. 11:8).
Meat. When a guest arrived or when a special occasion called for it, meat was added to the stew. Meat often was boiled (2 Kings 4:38; Ezek. 24:3–5). Spices were also added (Ezek. 24:10). Since the meat was cut up to boil, this method had the advantage of avoiding the problem of ensuring that the blood was properly drained out of an animal before it could be roasted (Lev. 17:10–11). Milk could be used in the stew; however, cooking a kid in its mother’s milk was prohibited (Exod. 23:19; 34:26; Deut. 14:21).
Meat was roasted over an open fire on a spit. Meat was available from flocks and through hunting. Abraham served his guests veal (Gen. 18:7); Gideon and his guests ate goat meat (Judg. 6:19); Samuel appears to have served Saul a mutton leg (1 Sam. 9:24). Contrary to ritual regulations, Hophni and Phinehas demanded meat for roasting (1 Sam. 2:13–15). Meat certainly was roasted as a sacrifice on the altar of the tabernacle and the temple. It also normally was roasted on feast days such as Passover (Exod. 12:8–9).
Fish were counted among the foods given to Noah and his sons after the flood (Gen. 9:2–3). The Israelites ate fish in Egypt (Num. 11:15), and fishermen plied their trade along the Nile (Isa. 19:8). Fishermen could hook, spear, or net fish (Job 41:1, 7; Eccles. 9:12; Ezek. 29:4; 47:10). In Israel, fish were taken from the Sea of Galilee or the Mediterranean. Jerusalem had a “Fish Gate,” where fish were sold (2 Chron. 33:14; Neh. 3:3; 12:39; Zeph. 1:10). The Phoenicians most likely exported several varieties of edible fish to Israel. Fish with fins and scales were clean, but those without fins or scales were not (Lev. 11:9–12). In Nehemiah’s day Phoenicians were selling fish to the inhabitants of Jerusalem even on the Sabbath (Neh. 13:16).
In NT times, the Phoenicians continued to import much of the fish brought into Palestine. The ministry of Jesus revolved around the smaller fishing industry on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus called several fishermen to follow him as disciples (Matt. 4:18). On a number of occasions Jesus helped his disciples to ply their trade by directing them where to cast their nets (John 21:6, 11). Fish were caught in dragnets (John 21:8) and hand nets (Matt. 4:18). After his resurrection Jesus ate fish with his disciples in Jerusalem and on the Sea of Galilee (Luke 24:42; John 21:9).
Fish became a staple of the common people (Matt. 14:17; 15:34). The fish used to feed the multitudes probably were salted. Fish normally were grilled over an open fire (John 21:9).
In the ancient Near East the type of cooking and heating utilized within a household depended upon the family’s socioeconomic status and lifestyle. A nomadic or seminomadic pastoral lifestyle demanded portability; permanent ovens or heating installations would have been impractical. A stable urban lifestyle made possible the construction of more complex heating and cooking equipment.
Cooking within the Seminomadic Lifestyle
Seminomadic groups, such as Abraham and his family or the Israelites before the settlement of Canaan, probably used an open fire or fire pit. A campfire was kindled on top of the ground or on flat stones. An open fire of this nature could also be ringed with a small stone circle. Shallow holes or fire pits were also dug into the ground near the front of a tent or outside, in the encampment. Since tents did not have chimneys, the smoke from a fire would escape through the door. The seasonal climate dictated whether a fire was kindled inside or outside the tent.
Fires were ignited with twigs or kindling by friction or sparks (Isa. 50:11; 64:2; 2 Macc. 10:3), a skill learned during the early Stone Age. Once lit, the burning embers of the fire could be moved around, kept smoldering, and fanned into a blaze with fresh fuel (Isa. 30:14; cf. Lev. 6:13). Abraham carried some type of an ember or fire with him when he went to sacrifice Isaac (Gen. 22:6). The “smoking firepot with a blazing torch” that symbolized God’s presence before Abraham may refer to a portable device for transporting fire (15:17).
Fuel for fire was gathered from the materials most readily available to seminomadic groups. Potential fuels included thorns and briers (Isa. 10:17), dried grass (Matt. 6:30; Luke 12:28), charcoal (John 18:18 NRSV), twigs or sticks (Isa. 64:2), wood (Gen. 22:6), and dried animal dung (Ezek. 4:15). Fire pits provided some means for keeping a family warm, as well as being used for cooking.
Cooking within the Urban Lifestyle
The sedentary urban lifestyle of the monarchial period provided the opportunity to construct permanent cooking and heating installations. In the four-room Israelite house, cooking normally was done in a fire pit or clay oven in the courtyard of the home. The baking oven ordinarily was located outside, but archaeologists have found cooking utensils and ovens in the central room of the house. This indoor oven also served as a means of heat during the colder wet season. The family most likely utilized the courtyard oven during the hotter dry season.
Egyptian and Mesopotamian reliefs provide illustrations of the structure of ancient ovens. Archaeologists have uncovered scores of examples of different types and sizes all across the ancient Near East. Small domestic ovens (Exod. 8:3) were made of clay in two basic forms. The first had an open top and was cylindrical in shape. It ranged from two to three feet in height and was about two feet in diameter. The second, about the same size, was more egg-shaped, with small openings at the base and in the top.
Some ovens were covered with a plastered layer of potsherds on the outside to improve insulation. They could be embedded in the ground or raised above it. The oven floor was lined with pebbles, and the fire was built upon it. Commercial ovens were larger and were concentrated in specific areas of a city (Neh. 3:11; 12:38).
Ovens and fire pits were used for cooking and heating in the home. Other hearths or heating ovens were employed to warm larger buildings or to perform specific tasks not related to food preparation. A large oval hearth was discovered in the central room of an Iron Age II house at Shechem. Jeremiah 36:22–23 speaks about a “firepot” or hearth used by Jehoiakim to warm his winter apartment. This hearth may have been a raised copper or bronze basin on a three-legged stand. A “fire basin” (NIV: “firepot”) is also mentioned in Zech. 12:6.
Cooking Utensils
Many types of pottery utensils, which were undoubtedly associated with cooking and eating, have been discovered in archaeological excavations in the ancient Near East. Although rare, metal and stone implements have also been found. One area in the tent or the home would be employed as a “kitchen.” A kitchen in the palace of Ramesses III is depicted on an Egyptian wall, and Ezekiel mentions the kitchens located in the new temple (46:24). Cooking and serving vessels included platters, bowls, chalices, jugs, juglets, and cooking pots. Storage vessels and grain pits also were needed to contain spices, oils, grains, and other foodstuffs.
Larger bowls designed specifically for cooking were in common use during the Bronze and Iron Ages. These “cooking pots” often were placed directly into the fire or on hot coals and were used to boil meat or make soups and other similar types of food. Iron Age II cooking pots from Palestine generally bore the trademark of the potter. Cooking pots had a short life and were replaced often. Because the style of these types of pots changed systematically over time, they have become very important in helping archaeologists date the particular level or stratum of a tell in which they were found.
The Cooking of Food
The type of food eaten by families also depended on their socioeconomic status and lifestyle. Food staples included milk products, wine, bread, and occasionally meat. Richer families could afford vegetables, fruits, dates, figs, and other less common foods. All types of households ate bread.
Grains. The most common grains used in bread making were wheat, barley, and spelt (Isa. 28:25). Wheat grew wild in Palestine, and there is evidence that seminomadic people stayed in one place long enough to cultivate small plots of grain. Grain could also be acquired in trade for other agricultural products such as goat’s milk or wool. Grain was winnowed to separate the chaff from the kernels (Matt. 3:12; Luke 3:17). Roasted grain was grain that had been “popped” in the fire instead of being milled (1 Sam. 25:18).
After being winnowed, wheat and other grains were ground initially in a hand mill. Hand mills, or querns, were of two types. The first was a simple device of two stones. The base, or “saddle,” was a flat, elongated stone that became curved through the backward and forward motion of the upper stone. The upper, or “rider,” stone was flat on one side and curved on the top to allow the user to grip the stone with both hands. The grain was placed on the saddle, and the rider stone was run repeatedly over it to grind it. This was considered menial work (Lam. 5:13). This type of grinding may have been assigned to the blinded Samson (Judg. 16:21).
The second, later type of hand mill consisted of two stone disks approximately twelve inches in diameter. The lower stone, or base, had an upright wooden stake at the center. A hole in the upper stone allowed it to fit over the base, and a handle on the upper stone was used to rotate it against the lower stone (Matt. 24:41). Grain was fed through the central hole, and the milled flour exited along the sides. The millstone mentioned in Matt. 18:6; Mark 9:42; Luke 17:2 is a larger example of this type.
Milling grain was a necessary task of the household (Jer. 25:10). Course grain was further milled into fine flour with a mortar and pestle. Course grain could be used to make boiled porridge or gruel. Finely ground flour was used in sacrificial offerings (Exod. 29:40; Lev. 2:4).
The flour was mixed with water and kneaded (Gen. 18:6; 1 Sam. 28:24; 2 Sam. 13:8; Jer. 7:18), small amounts of leaven and salt were added, and then the bread was baked. Three methods of baking bread are mentioned in the OT: over hot coals (1 Kings 19:6; Isa. 44:19), on a griddle (Lev. 7:9; cf. Ezek. 4:3), and in an oven (Lev. 26:26). Leaven was withheld from the dough if the bread was to be made and eaten in haste (Exod. 12:39; Judg. 6:19; 1 Sam. 28:24). Griddle “cakes” were also made in this fashion (Hos. 7:8; cf. Ezek. 4:12).
Bread often was baked in different shapes. Thin bread was used to scoop food from a common pot (Matt. 26:23). Other breads were formed into loaves (John 6:9). In one man’s dream a round loaf of barley bread is described as rolling down a hill and striking and overturning a tent (Judg. 7:13). Both men and women baked bread (Gen. 19:3; 1 Sam. 28:24), and priests baked bread for ritual usage (Lev. 24:5). A king could afford to have men and women as professional bakers (Gen. 40:1; 1 Sam. 8:13). Professional bakers may also have served the larger urban population (Neh. 3:11; Jer. 37:21; Hos. 7:4) in Jerusalem.
Fruits and vegetables. After settling in Canaan, the Israelites made some additions to their diet. Foodstuffs grown in cultivated gardens were now available. These included foods such as cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic (Num. 11:5). Some of these vegetables were added to stews; others were eaten uncooked. Vegetable, bean, and lentil soups were prepared in large cooking pots placed directly on the fire. Esau particularly enjoyed lentil soup (Gen. 25:30). Herbs and spices (mint, dill, and cumin) were now accessible as well (Isa. 28:25, 27; Matt. 23:23). Salt came from the Dead Sea.
Fruits too were grown and harvested. Of particular interest was the olive. Olives were crushed in a press to render oil. Olive oil was used in cooking and baking. It was mixed with fine flour to make bread (1 Kings 17:12; Ezek. 16:13; cf. Num. 11:8).
Meat. When a guest arrived or when a special occasion called for it, meat was added to the stew. Meat often was boiled (2 Kings 4:38; Ezek. 24:3–5). Spices were also added (Ezek. 24:10). Since the meat was cut up to boil, this method had the advantage of avoiding the problem of ensuring that the blood was properly drained out of an animal before it could be roasted (Lev. 17:10–11). Milk could be used in the stew; however, cooking a kid in its mother’s milk was prohibited (Exod. 23:19; 34:26; Deut. 14:21).
Meat was roasted over an open fire on a spit. Meat was available from flocks and through hunting. Abraham served his guests veal (Gen. 18:7); Gideon and his guests ate goat meat (Judg. 6:19); Samuel appears to have served Saul a mutton leg (1 Sam. 9:24). Contrary to ritual regulations, Hophni and Phinehas demanded meat for roasting (1 Sam. 2:13–15). Meat certainly was roasted as a sacrifice on the altar of the tabernacle and the temple. It also normally was roasted on feast days such as Passover (Exod. 12:8–9).
Fish were counted among the foods given to Noah and his sons after the flood (Gen. 9:2–3). The Israelites ate fish in Egypt (Num. 11:15), and fishermen plied their trade along the Nile (Isa. 19:8). Fishermen could hook, spear, or net fish (Job 41:1, 7; Eccles. 9:12; Ezek. 29:4; 47:10). In Israel, fish were taken from the Sea of Galilee or the Mediterranean. Jerusalem had a “Fish Gate,” where fish were sold (2 Chron. 33:14; Neh. 3:3; 12:39; Zeph. 1:10). The Phoenicians most likely exported several varieties of edible fish to Israel. Fish with fins and scales were clean, but those without fins or scales were not (Lev. 11:9–12). In Nehemiah’s day Phoenicians were selling fish to the inhabitants of Jerusalem even on the Sabbath (Neh. 13:16).
In NT times, the Phoenicians continued to import much of the fish brought into Palestine. The ministry of Jesus revolved around the smaller fishing industry on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus called several fishermen to follow him as disciples (Matt. 4:18). On a number of occasions Jesus helped his disciples to ply their trade by directing them where to cast their nets (John 21:6, 11). Fish were caught in dragnets (John 21:8) and hand nets (Matt. 4:18). After his resurrection Jesus ate fish with his disciples in Jerusalem and on the Sea of Galilee (Luke 24:42; John 21:9).
Fish became a staple of the common people (Matt. 14:17; 15:34). The fish used to feed the multitudes probably were salted. Fish normally were grilled over an open fire (John 21:9).
In the ancient Near East the type of cooking and heating utilized within a household depended upon the family’s socioeconomic status and lifestyle. A nomadic or seminomadic pastoral lifestyle demanded portability; permanent ovens or heating installations would have been impractical. A stable urban lifestyle made possible the construction of more complex heating and cooking equipment.
Cooking within the Seminomadic Lifestyle
Seminomadic groups, such as Abraham and his family or the Israelites before the settlement of Canaan, probably used an open fire or fire pit. A campfire was kindled on top of the ground or on flat stones. An open fire of this nature could also be ringed with a small stone circle. Shallow holes or fire pits were also dug into the ground near the front of a tent or outside, in the encampment. Since tents did not have chimneys, the smoke from a fire would escape through the door. The seasonal climate dictated whether a fire was kindled inside or outside the tent.
Fires were ignited with twigs or kindling by friction or sparks (Isa. 50:11; 64:2; 2 Macc. 10:3), a skill learned during the early Stone Age. Once lit, the burning embers of the fire could be moved around, kept smoldering, and fanned into a blaze with fresh fuel (Isa. 30:14; cf. Lev. 6:13). Abraham carried some type of an ember or fire with him when he went to sacrifice Isaac (Gen. 22:6). The “smoking firepot with a blazing torch” that symbolized God’s presence before Abraham may refer to a portable device for transporting fire (15:17).
Fuel for fire was gathered from the materials most readily available to seminomadic groups. Potential fuels included thorns and briers (Isa. 10:17), dried grass (Matt. 6:30; Luke 12:28), charcoal (John 18:18 NRSV), twigs or sticks (Isa. 64:2), wood (Gen. 22:6), and dried animal dung (Ezek. 4:15). Fire pits provided some means for keeping a family warm, as well as being used for cooking.
Cooking within the Urban Lifestyle
The sedentary urban lifestyle of the monarchial period provided the opportunity to construct permanent cooking and heating installations. In the four-room Israelite house, cooking normally was done in a fire pit or clay oven in the courtyard of the home. The baking oven ordinarily was located outside, but archaeologists have found cooking utensils and ovens in the central room of the house. This indoor oven also served as a means of heat during the colder wet season. The family most likely utilized the courtyard oven during the hotter dry season.
Egyptian and Mesopotamian reliefs provide illustrations of the structure of ancient ovens. Archaeologists have uncovered scores of examples of different types and sizes all across the ancient Near East. Small domestic ovens (Exod. 8:3) were made of clay in two basic forms. The first had an open top and was cylindrical in shape. It ranged from two to three feet in height and was about two feet in diameter. The second, about the same size, was more egg-shaped, with small openings at the base and in the top.
Some ovens were covered with a plastered layer of potsherds on the outside to improve insulation. They could be embedded in the ground or raised above it. The oven floor was lined with pebbles, and the fire was built upon it. Commercial ovens were larger and were concentrated in specific areas of a city (Neh. 3:11; 12:38).
Ovens and fire pits were used for cooking and heating in the home. Other hearths or heating ovens were employed to warm larger buildings or to perform specific tasks not related to food preparation. A large oval hearth was discovered in the central room of an Iron Age II house at Shechem. Jeremiah 36:22–23 speaks about a “firepot” or hearth used by Jehoiakim to warm his winter apartment. This hearth may have been a raised copper or bronze basin on a three-legged stand. A “fire basin” (NIV: “firepot”) is also mentioned in Zech. 12:6.
Cooking Utensils
Many types of pottery utensils, which were undoubtedly associated with cooking and eating, have been discovered in archaeological excavations in the ancient Near East. Although rare, metal and stone implements have also been found. One area in the tent or the home would be employed as a “kitchen.” A kitchen in the palace of Ramesses III is depicted on an Egyptian wall, and Ezekiel mentions the kitchens located in the new temple (46:24). Cooking and serving vessels included platters, bowls, chalices, jugs, juglets, and cooking pots. Storage vessels and grain pits also were needed to contain spices, oils, grains, and other foodstuffs.
Larger bowls designed specifically for cooking were in common use during the Bronze and Iron Ages. These “cooking pots” often were placed directly into the fire or on hot coals and were used to boil meat or make soups and other similar types of food. Iron Age II cooking pots from Palestine generally bore the trademark of the potter. Cooking pots had a short life and were replaced often. Because the style of these types of pots changed systematically over time, they have become very important in helping archaeologists date the particular level or stratum of a tell in which they were found.
The Cooking of Food
The type of food eaten by families also depended on their socioeconomic status and lifestyle. Food staples included milk products, wine, bread, and occasionally meat. Richer families could afford vegetables, fruits, dates, figs, and other less common foods. All types of households ate bread.
Grains. The most common grains used in bread making were wheat, barley, and spelt (Isa. 28:25). Wheat grew wild in Palestine, and there is evidence that seminomadic people stayed in one place long enough to cultivate small plots of grain. Grain could also be acquired in trade for other agricultural products such as goat’s milk or wool. Grain was winnowed to separate the chaff from the kernels (Matt. 3:12; Luke 3:17). Roasted grain was grain that had been “popped” in the fire instead of being milled (1 Sam. 25:18).
After being winnowed, wheat and other grains were ground initially in a hand mill. Hand mills, or querns, were of two types. The first was a simple device of two stones. The base, or “saddle,” was a flat, elongated stone that became curved through the backward and forward motion of the upper stone. The upper, or “rider,” stone was flat on one side and curved on the top to allow the user to grip the stone with both hands. The grain was placed on the saddle, and the rider stone was run repeatedly over it to grind it. This was considered menial work (Lam. 5:13). This type of grinding may have been assigned to the blinded Samson (Judg. 16:21).
The second, later type of hand mill consisted of two stone disks approximately twelve inches in diameter. The lower stone, or base, had an upright wooden stake at the center. A hole in the upper stone allowed it to fit over the base, and a handle on the upper stone was used to rotate it against the lower stone (Matt. 24:41). Grain was fed through the central hole, and the milled flour exited along the sides. The millstone mentioned in Matt. 18:6; Mark 9:42; Luke 17:2 is a larger example of this type.
Milling grain was a necessary task of the household (Jer. 25:10). Course grain was further milled into fine flour with a mortar and pestle. Course grain could be used to make boiled porridge or gruel. Finely ground flour was used in sacrificial offerings (Exod. 29:40; Lev. 2:4).
The flour was mixed with water and kneaded (Gen. 18:6; 1 Sam. 28:24; 2 Sam. 13:8; Jer. 7:18), small amounts of leaven and salt were added, and then the bread was baked. Three methods of baking bread are mentioned in the OT: over hot coals (1 Kings 19:6; Isa. 44:19), on a griddle (Lev. 7:9; cf. Ezek. 4:3), and in an oven (Lev. 26:26). Leaven was withheld from the dough if the bread was to be made and eaten in haste (Exod. 12:39; Judg. 6:19; 1 Sam. 28:24). Griddle “cakes” were also made in this fashion (Hos. 7:8; cf. Ezek. 4:12).
Bread often was baked in different shapes. Thin bread was used to scoop food from a common pot (Matt. 26:23). Other breads were formed into loaves (John 6:9). In one man’s dream a round loaf of barley bread is described as rolling down a hill and striking and overturning a tent (Judg. 7:13). Both men and women baked bread (Gen. 19:3; 1 Sam. 28:24), and priests baked bread for ritual usage (Lev. 24:5). A king could afford to have men and women as professional bakers (Gen. 40:1; 1 Sam. 8:13). Professional bakers may also have served the larger urban population (Neh. 3:11; Jer. 37:21; Hos. 7:4) in Jerusalem.
Fruits and vegetables. After settling in Canaan, the Israelites made some additions to their diet. Foodstuffs grown in cultivated gardens were now available. These included foods such as cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic (Num. 11:5). Some of these vegetables were added to stews; others were eaten uncooked. Vegetable, bean, and lentil soups were prepared in large cooking pots placed directly on the fire. Esau particularly enjoyed lentil soup (Gen. 25:30). Herbs and spices (mint, dill, and cumin) were now accessible as well (Isa. 28:25, 27; Matt. 23:23). Salt came from the Dead Sea.
Fruits too were grown and harvested. Of particular interest was the olive. Olives were crushed in a press to render oil. Olive oil was used in cooking and baking. It was mixed with fine flour to make bread (1 Kings 17:12; Ezek. 16:13; cf. Num. 11:8).
Meat. When a guest arrived or when a special occasion called for it, meat was added to the stew. Meat often was boiled (2 Kings 4:38; Ezek. 24:3–5). Spices were also added (Ezek. 24:10). Since the meat was cut up to boil, this method had the advantage of avoiding the problem of ensuring that the blood was properly drained out of an animal before it could be roasted (Lev. 17:10–11). Milk could be used in the stew; however, cooking a kid in its mother’s milk was prohibited (Exod. 23:19; 34:26; Deut. 14:21).
Meat was roasted over an open fire on a spit. Meat was available from flocks and through hunting. Abraham served his guests veal (Gen. 18:7); Gideon and his guests ate goat meat (Judg. 6:19); Samuel appears to have served Saul a mutton leg (1 Sam. 9:24). Contrary to ritual regulations, Hophni and Phinehas demanded meat for roasting (1 Sam. 2:13–15). Meat certainly was roasted as a sacrifice on the altar of the tabernacle and the temple. It also normally was roasted on feast days such as Passover (Exod. 12:8–9).
Fish were counted among the foods given to Noah and his sons after the flood (Gen. 9:2–3). The Israelites ate fish in Egypt (Num. 11:15), and fishermen plied their trade along the Nile (Isa. 19:8). Fishermen could hook, spear, or net fish (Job 41:1, 7; Eccles. 9:12; Ezek. 29:4; 47:10). In Israel, fish were taken from the Sea of Galilee or the Mediterranean. Jerusalem had a “Fish Gate,” where fish were sold (2 Chron. 33:14; Neh. 3:3; 12:39; Zeph. 1:10). The Phoenicians most likely exported several varieties of edible fish to Israel. Fish with fins and scales were clean, but those without fins or scales were not (Lev. 11:9–12). In Nehemiah’s day Phoenicians were selling fish to the inhabitants of Jerusalem even on the Sabbath (Neh. 13:16).
In NT times, the Phoenicians continued to import much of the fish brought into Palestine. The ministry of Jesus revolved around the smaller fishing industry on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus called several fishermen to follow him as disciples (Matt. 4:18). On a number of occasions Jesus helped his disciples to ply their trade by directing them where to cast their nets (John 21:6, 11). Fish were caught in dragnets (John 21:8) and hand nets (Matt. 4:18). After his resurrection Jesus ate fish with his disciples in Jerusalem and on the Sea of Galilee (Luke 24:42; John 21:9).
Fish became a staple of the common people (Matt. 14:17; 15:34). The fish used to feed the multitudes probably were salted. Fish normally were grilled over an open fire (John 21:9).
The founder of what became known as the movement of Jesusfollowers or Christianity. For Christian believers, Jesus Christembodies the personal and supernatural intervention of God in humanhistory.
Introduction
Name.Early Christians combined the name “Jesus” with the title“Christ” (Acts 5:42; NIV: “Messiah”). Thename “Jesus,” from the Hebrew Yehoshua or Yeshua, was acommon male name in first-century Judaism. The title “Christ”is from the Greek christos, a translation of the Hebrew mashiakh(“anointed one, messiah”). Christians eventually werenamed after Jesus’ title (Acts 11:26). During the ministry ofJesus, Peter was the first disciple to recognize Jesus as the Messiah(Matt. 16:16; Mark 9:29; Luke 9:20).
Sources.From the viewpoint of Christianity, the life and ministry of Jesusconstitute the turning point in human history. From a historicalperspective, ample early source materials would be expected. Indeed,both Christian and non-Christian first-century and earlysecond-century literary sources are extant, but they are few innumber. In part, this low incidence is due to society’s initialresistance to the Jesus followers’ movement. The ancient Romanhistorian Tacitus called Christianity “a superstition,”since its beliefs did not fit with the culture’s prevailingworldview and thus were considered antisocial. Early literary sourcestherefore are either in-group documents or allusions in non-Christiansources.
TheNT Gospels are the principal sources for the life and ministry ofJesus. They consist of Matthew, Mark, Luke (the Synoptic Gospels),and John. Most scholars adhere to the so-called Four SourceHypothesis. In this theory, Mark was written first and was used as asource by Matthew and Luke, who also used the sayings source Q (fromGerman Quelle, meaning “source”) as well as their ownindividual sources M (Matthew) and L (Luke). John used additionalsources.
Theearly church tried to put together singular accounts, so-calledGospel harmonies, of the life of Jesus. The Gospel of the Ebionitesrepresents one such attempt based on the Synoptic Gospels. Anotherharmony, the Diatessaron, based on all four Gospels, was producedaround AD 170 by Tatian. Additional source materials concerning thelife of Christ are provided in the NT in texts such as Acts, thePauline Epistles, the General Epistles, and the Revelation of John.Paul wrote to the Galatians, “But when the time had fully come,God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law” (Gal. 4:4).The first narrative about Jesus by the Christian community was apassion narrative, the account of his death and resurrection. Thefirst extant references to this tradition are found in Paul’sletters (1Cor. 2:2; Gal. 3:1). The resurrection was recognizedfrom the beginning as the cornerstone of the Christian faith (1Cor.15:13–14).
Amongnon-Christian sources, the earliest reference to Jesus is found in aletter written circa AD 112 by Pliny the Younger, the Roman governorof Bithynia-Pontus (Ep. 10.96). The Roman historian Tacitus mentionsChristians and Jesus around AD 115 in his famous work about thehistory of Rome (Ann. 15.44). Another Roman historian, Suetonius,wrote around the same time concerning unrest among the Jews in Romebecause of a certain “Chrestos” (Claud. 25.4). Somescholars conclude that “Chrestos” is a misspelling of“Christos,” a reference to Jesus.
TheJewish author Josephus (first century AD) mentions Jesus in a storyabout the Jewish high priest Ananus and James the brother of Jesus(Ant. 20.200). A controversial reference to Jesus appears in adifferent part of the same work, where Josephus affirms that Jesus isthe Messiah and that he rose from the dead (Ant. 18.63–64). Themajority of scholars consider this passage to be authentic butheavily edited by later Christian copyists. Another Jewish source,the Talmud, also mentions Jesus in several places, but thesereferences are very late and of little historical value.
NoncanonicalGospels that mention Jesus include, for example, the Infancy Gospelof Thomas, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel ofJames, the Gospel of Judas Iscariot, the Gospel of the Hebrews, theEgerton Gospel, and the Gospel of Judas. Although some of these maycontain an occasional authentic saying or event, for the most partthey are late and unreliable.
Jesus’Life
Birthand childhood. TheGospels of Matthew and Luke record Jesus’ birth in Bethlehemduring the reign of Herod the Great (Matt. 2:1; Luke 2:4, 11). Jesuswas probably born between 6 and 4 BC, shortly before Herod’sdeath (Matt. 2:19). Both Matthew and Luke record the miracle of avirginal conception made possible by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:18;Luke 1:35). Luke mentions a census under the Syrian governorQuirinius that was responsible for Jesus’ birth taking place inBethlehem (2:1–5). Both the census and the governorship at thetime of the birth of Jesus have been questioned by scholars.Unfortunately, there is not enough extrabiblical evidence to eitherconfirm or disprove these events, so their veracity must bedetermined on the basis of one’s view regarding the generalreliability of the Gospel tradition.
Onthe eighth day after his birth, Jesus was circumcised, in keepingwith the Jewish law, at which time he officially was named “Jesus”(Luke 2:21). He spent his growing years in Nazareth, in the home ofhis parents, Joseph and Mary (2:40). Of the NT Gospels, the Gospel ofLuke contains the only brief portrayal of Jesus’ growth instrength, wisdom, and favor with God and people (2:40, 52). Luke alsocontains the only account of Jesus as a young boy (2:41–49).
Jesuswas born in a lower socioeconomic setting. His parents offered atemple sacrifice appropriate for those who could not afford tosacrifice a sheep (Luke 2:22–24; cf. Lev. 12:8). Joseph, Jesus’earthly father, was a carpenter or an artisan in wood, stone, ormetal (Matt. 13:55). From a geographical perspective, Nazareth wasnot a prominent place for settling, since it lacked fertile ground.Jesus’ disciple Nathanael expressed an apparently commonfirst-century sentiment concerning Nazareth: “Nazareth! Cananything good come from there?” (John 1:46).
Jesuswas also born in a context of scandal. Questions of illegitimacy weresurely raised, since his mother Mary was discovered to be pregnantbefore her marriage to Joseph. According to Matthew, only theintervention of an angel convinced Joseph not to break his betrothal(Matt. 1:18–24). Jesus’ birth took place in Bethlehem,far from his parents’ home in Nazareth. According to kinshiphospitality customs, Joseph and Mary would have expected to stay withdistant relatives in Bethlehem. It is likely that they were unwelcomebecause of Jesus’ status as an illegitimate child; thus Maryhad to give birth elsewhere and place the infant Jesus in a feedingtrough (Luke 2:7). A similar response was seen years later inNazareth when Jesus was identified as “Mary’s son”(Mark 6:3) rather than through his paternal line, thereby shaming himas one who was born an illegitimate child. Jesus was likewiserejected at the end of his life as the crowds cried, “Crucifyhim!” (Matt. 27:22–23; Mark 15:13–14; Luke 23:21;John 19:6, 15). When Jesus was arrested, most of his followers fled(Matt. 26:56; Mark 14:50–52), and a core disciple, Peter,vehemently denied knowing him (Matt. 26:69–74; Mark 14:66–71;Luke 22:55–60; John 18:15–17, 25–27). His ownsiblings did not believe in him (John 7:5) and were evidently ashamedof his fate, since from the cross Jesus placed the care of his motherinto the hands of “the disciple whom he loved” (19:26–27)rather than the next brother in line, as was customary.
Baptism,temptation, and start of ministry.After Jesus was baptized by the prophet John the Baptist (Luke3:21–22), God affirmed his pleasure with him by referring tohim as his Son, whom he loved (Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22).Jesus’ baptism did not launch him into fame and instantministry success; instead, Jesus was led by the Spirit into thewilderness, where he was tempted for forty days (Matt. 4:1–11;Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13). Mark stresses that thetemptations immediately followed the baptism. Matthew and Lukeidentify three specific temptations by the devil, though their orderfor the last two is reversed. Both Matthew and Luke agree that Jesuswas tempted to turn stones into bread, expect divine interventionafter jumping off the temple portico, and receive all the world’skingdoms for worshiping the devil. Jesus resisted all temptation,quoting Scripture in response.
Matthewand Mark record that Jesus began his ministry in Capernaum inGalilee, after the arrest of John the Baptist (Matt. 4:12–13;Mark 1:14). Luke says that Jesus started his ministry at about thirtyyears of age (3:23). This may be meant to indicate full maturity orperhaps correlate this age with the onset of the service of theLevites in the temple (cf. Num. 4:3). John narrates the beginning ofJesus’ ministry by focusing on the calling of the disciples andthe sign performed at a wedding at Cana (1:35–2:11).
Jesus’public ministry: chronology.Jesus’ ministry started in Galilee, probably around AD 27/28,and ended with his death around AD 30 in Jerusalem. The temple hadbeen forty-six years in construction (generally interpreted as thetemple itself and the wider temple complex) when Jesus drove out themoney changers (John 2:20). According to Josephus, the rebuilding andexpansion of the second temple had started in 20/19 BC, during theeighteenth year of Herod’s reign (Ant. 15.380). The ministry ofJohn the Baptist had commenced in the fifteenth year of Tiberius(Luke 3:1–2), who had become a coregent in AD 11/12. From thesedates of the start of the temple building and the correlation of thereign of Tiberius to John the Baptist’s ministry, the onset ofJesus’ ministry can probably be dated to AD 27/28.
TheGospel of John mentions three Passovers and another unnamed feast inJohn 5:1. The length of Jesus’ ministry thus extended overthree or four Passovers, equaling about three or three and a halfyears. Passover, which took place on the fifteenth of Nisan, came ona Friday in AD 30 and 33. The year of Jesus’ death wastherefore probably AD 30.
Jesus’ministry years may be divided broadly into his Galilean and hisJudean ministries. The Synoptic Gospels describe the ministry inGalilee from various angles but converge again as Jesus enters Judea.
Galileanministry.The early stages of Jesus’ ministry centered in and aroundGalilee. Jesus presented the good news and proclaimed that thekingdom of God was near. Matthew focuses on the fulfillment ofprophecy (Matt. 4:13–17). Luke records Jesus’ firstteaching in his hometown, Nazareth, as paradigmatic (Luke 4:16–30);the text that Jesus quoted, Isa. 61:1–2, set the stage for hiscalling to serve and revealed a trajectory of rejection andsuffering.
AllGospels record Jesus’ gathering of disciples early in hisGalilean ministry (Matt. 4:18–22; Mark 1:16–20; Luke5:1–11; John 1:35–51). The formal call and commissioningof the Twelve who would become Jesus’ closest followers isrecorded in different parts of the Gospels (Matt. 10:1–4; Mark3:13–19; Luke 6:12–16). A key event in the early ministryis the Sermon on the Mount/Plain (Matt. 5:1–7:29; Luke6:20–49). John focuses on Jesus’ signs and miracles, inparticular in the early parts of his ministry, whereas the Synopticsfocus on healings and exorcisms.
DuringJesus’ Galilean ministry, onlookers struggled with hisidentity. However, evil spirits knew him to be of supreme authority(Mark 3:11). Jesus was criticized by outsiders and by his own family(3:21). The scribes from Jerusalem identified him as a partner ofBeelzebul (3:22). Amid these situations of social conflict, Jesustold parables that couched his ministry in the context of a growingkingdom of God. This kingdom would miraculously spring from humblebeginnings (4:1–32).
TheSynoptics present Jesus’ early Galilean ministry as successful.No challenge or ministry need superseded Jesus’ authority orability: he calmed a storm (Mark 4:35–39), exorcized manydemons (Mark 5:1–13), raised the dead (Mark 5:35–42), fedfive thousand (Mark 6:30–44), and walked on water (Mark6:48–49).
Inthe later part of his ministry in Galilee, Jesus often withdrew andtraveled to the north and the east. The Gospel narratives are notwritten with a focus on chronology. However, only brief returns toGalilee appear to have taken place prior to Jesus’ journey toJerusalem. As people followed Jesus, faith was praised and fearresolved. Jerusalem’s religious leaders traveled to Galilee,where they leveled accusations and charged Jesus’ discipleswith lacking ritual purity (Mark 7:1–5). Jesus shamed thePharisees by pointing out their dishonorable treatment of parents(7:11–13). The Pharisees challenged his legitimacy by demandinga sign (8:11). Jesus refused them signs but agreed with Peter, whoconfessed, “You are the Messiah” (8:29). Jesus didprovide the disciples a sign: his transfiguration (9:2–8).
Jesuswithdrew from Galilee to Tyre and Sidon, where a Syrophoenician womanrequested healing for her daughter. Jesus replied, “I was sentonly to the lost sheep of Israel” (Matt. 15:24). Galileans hadlong resented the Syrian provincial leadership partiality thatallotted governmental funds in ways that made the Jews receive mere“crumbs.” Consequently, when the woman replied, “Eventhe dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table,”Jesus applauded her faith (Matt. 15:27–28). Healing a deaf-muteman in the Decapolis provided another example of Jesus’ministry in Gentile territory (Mark 7:31–37). Peter’sconfession of Jesus as the Christ took place during Jesus’travel to Caesarea Philippi, a well-known Gentile territory. The citywas the ancient center of worship of the Hellenistic god Pan.
Judeanministry.Luke records a geographic turning point in Jesus’ ministry ashe resolutely set out for Jerusalem, a direction that eventually ledto his death (Luke 9:51). Luke divides the journey to Jerusalem intothree phases (9:51–13:21; 13:22–17:10; 17:11–19:27).The opening verses of phase one emphasize a prophetic element of thejourney. Jesus viewed his ministry in Jerusalem as his mission, andthe demands on discipleship intensified as Jesus approached Jerusalem(Matt. 20:17–19, 26–28; Mark 10:38–39, 43–45;Luke 14:25–35). Luke presents the second phase of the journeytoward Jerusalem with a focus on conversations regarding salvationand judgment (Luke 13:22–30). In the third and final phase ofthe journey, the advent of the kingdom and the final judgment are themain themes (17:20–37; 19:11–27).
Socialconflicts with religious leaders increased throughout Jesus’ministry. These conflicts led to lively challenge-riposteinteractions concerning the Pharisaic schools of Shammai and Hillel(Matt. 19:1–12; Mark 10:1–12). Likewise, socioeconomicfeathers were ruffled as Jesus welcomed young children, who hadlittle value in society (Matt. 19:13–15; Mark 10:13–16;Luke 18:15–17).
PassionWeek, death, and resurrection. Eachof the Gospels records Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem with thecrowds extending him a royal welcome (Matt. 21:4–9; Mark11:7–10; Luke 19:35–38; John 12:12–15). Lukedescribes Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem as a time during whichJesus taught in the temple as Israel’s Messiah (19:45–21:38).
InJerusalem, Jesus cleansed the temple of profiteering (Mark 11:15–17).Mark describes the religious leaders as fearing Jesus because thewhole crowd was amazed at his teaching, and so they “beganlooking for a way to kill him” (11:18). Dismayed, each segmentof Jerusalem’s temple leadership inquired about Jesus’authority (11:27–33). Jesus replied with cunning questions(12:16, 35–36), stories (12:1–12), denunciation(12:38–44), and a prediction of Jerusalem’s owndestruction (13:1–31). One of Jesus’ own disciples, JudasIscariot, provided the temple leaders the opportunity for Jesus’arrest (14:10–11).
Atthe Last Supper, Jesus instituted a new Passover, defining a newcovenant grounded in his sufferings (Matt. 26:17–18, 26–29;Mark 14:16–25; Luke 22:14–20). He again warned thedisciples of his betrayal and arrest (Matt. 26:21–25, 31; Mark14:27–31; Luke 22:21–23; John 13:21–30), and laterhe prayed for the disciples (John 17:1–26) and prayed in agonyand submissiveness in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:36–42;Mark 14:32–42; Luke 22:39–42). His arrest, trial,crucifixion, death, and resurrection followed (Matt. 26:46–28:15;Mark 14:43–16:8; Luke 22:47–24:9; John 18:1–20:18).Jesus finally commissioned his disciples to continue his mission bymaking disciples of all the nations (Matt. 28:18–20; Acts 1:8)and ascended to heaven with the promise that he will one day return(Luke 24:50–53; Acts 1:9–11).
TheIdentity of Jesus Christ
Variousaspects of Jesus’ identity are stressed in the four NT Gospels,depending on their target audiences. In the Gospels the witnesses toJesus’ ministry are portrayed as constantly questioning andexamining his identity (Matt. 11:2–5; 12:24; 26:63; 27:11; Mark3:22; 8:11; 11:28; 14:61; Luke 7:18–20; 11:15; 22:67, 70;23:39; John 7:20, 25–27; 18:37). Only beings of the spiritualrealm are certain of his divinity (Mark 1:34; 3:11; Luke 4:41). AtJesus’ baptism, God referred to him as his Son, whom he loved(Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22). Likewise, when Jesus wastransfigured in the presence of Peter, James, and John, a voiceaffirmed, “This is my Son, whom I love” (Matt. 17:5; Mark9:7). At the moment of his death, the questioning of Jesus’identity culminated in a confession by a Roman centurion and otherguards: “Surely he was the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:54; cf.Mark 15:39).
Miracleworker.In the first-century setting, folk healers and miracle workers werepart of the fabric of society. Jesus, however, performed signs andmiracles in order to demonstrate the authority of the kingdom of Godover various realms: disease, illness, the spiritual world, nature,and even future events. Especially in the Gospel of John, Jesus’signs and miracles are used to show his authority and thus hisidentity.
Nochallenge superseded Jesus’ authority. Among his ample miraclesand signs, he changed water into wine (John 2:7–9), calmed astorm in the sea (Matt. 8:23–27; Mark 4:35–39; Luke8:22–25), exorcized demons (Matt. 9:32–34; Mark 5:1–13;Luke 9:42–43), healed the sick (Mark 1:40–44), raised thedead (Matt. 9:23–25; Mark 5:35–42; Luke 7:1–16;8:49–54; John 11:17, 38–44), performed miraculousfeedings (Matt. 14:17–21; 15:34–38; Mark 6:30–44;8:5–9; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:8–13), and walked onwater (Matt. 14:25–26; Mark 6:48–49; John 6:19).
ThePharisees requested miracles as evidence of his authority (Mark8:11–12). Jesus refused, claiming that a wicked and adulterousgeneration asks for a miraculous sign (Matt. 12:38–39; 16:1–4).The only sign that he would give was the sign of Jonah—hisdeath and resurrection three days later—a personal sacrifice,taking upon himself the judgment of the world (Matt. 12:39–41).
Rabbi/teacher.Jesus’ teaching style was similar to other first-century rabbisor Pharisees (Mark 9:5; 10:51; John 1:38; 3:2). What distinguishedhim was that he spoke with great personal authority (Matt. 5:22, 28,32, 39, 44; Mark 1:22). Like other rabbis of his day, Jesus gathereddisciples. He called these men to observe his lifestyle and to joinhim in his ministry of teaching, healing, and exorcism (Matt. 10:1–4;Mark 3:13–19; Luke 6:12–16).
Jesusused a variety of teaching methods. He frequently spoke in parables(Matt. 6:24; 13:24–52; 18:10–14, 23–35;21:28–22:14; 24:32–36, 45–51; 25:14–30; Mark4:1–34; 12:1–12; 13:28–34; Luke 8:4–18;12:41–46; 13:18–21; 14:15–24; 15:1–16:15,19–31; 18:1–14; 19:11–27; 20:9–19; 21:29–33),used figures of speech (John 10:9), hyperbole (Matt. 19:24; Mark10:25; Luke 18:25), argumentation (Matt. 26:11), object lessons(Matt. 24:32), frequent repetition (Matt. 13:44–47; Luke13:18–21), practical examples, and personal guidance.
Majorthemes in Jesus’ teaching include the kingdom of God, the costof discipleship, internal righteousness, the end of the age, hisidentity, his mission, and his approaching death. In his teachings,observance of Torah was given new context and meaning because God’skingdom had “come near” (Matt. 3:2). Jesus had come tofulfill the law (Matt. 5:17).
Jesus’teaching ministry often took place amid social conflict. Theseconflicts were couched in so-called challenge-riposte interactions inwhich the honor status of those involved was at stake. Jesus usedthese interactions as teachable moments. When questioned, Jesus gavereplies that reveal omniscience or intimate knowledge of God’swill, especially in the Gospel of John. In the Synoptic Gospels,Jesus’ answers are both ethical and practical in nature. TheSynoptics portray Jesus as challenged repeatedly with accusations ofviolating customs specified in the Jewish law. Jesus’ answersto such accusations often echoed the essence of 1Sam. 15:22,“To obey is better than sacrifice,” phrased by Jesus as“I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Matt. 9:13; 12:7). Anoverall “better than” ethic was common in Jesus’public teaching.
TheSermon on the Mount (Matt. 5–7) contains a “better than”ethic in which internal obedience is better than mere outwardobedience. For example, Jesus said that anger without cause is equalto murder (Matt. 5:21–22), that looking at a woman lustfullyamounts to adultery (Matt. 5:28), and that instead of revengingwrongs one must reciprocate with love (Matt. 5:38–48). Jesusvalued compassion above traditions and customs, even those containedwithin the OT law. He desired internal obedience above the letter ofthe law.
Jesus’teachings found their authority in the reality of God’simminent kingdom (Matt. 3:2; 10:7; Mark 1:15; Luke 10:9),necessitating repentance (Matt. 3:2), belief (Mark 1:15), dependence(Matt. 18:3–5; Mark 10:15), and loyalty to a new community—thefamily of Jesus followers (Mark 3:34; 10:29–30). Jesus urged,“Seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness”(Matt. 6:33). Preaching with such urgency was common among propheticteachers of the intertestamental period. Jesus, however, had his owngrounds for urgency. He held that God deeply valued all humans (Matt.10:31) and would bring judgment swiftly (Matt. 25:31–46).
Examplesof a “greater good” ethic in the Synoptics include theoccasions when Jesus ate with sinners (Mark 2:16–17). Jesusused an aphorism in response to accusations about his associationswith sinners, saying, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor,but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners”(Mark 2:17). He advocated harvesting and healing on the Sabbath (Mark2:23–28; 3:1–6), and when he was accused of breaking thelaw, he pointed to an OT exception (1Sam. 21:1–6) todeclare compassion appropriate for the Sabbath. Jesus also appliedthe “greater good” ethic in the case of divorce, sincewomen suffered the societal stigma of adultery and commonly becameoutcasts following divorce (Matt. 19:8–9; Mark 10:5–9).
Jesus’kingdom teachings were simultaneously spiritual, ethical, andeschatological in application. The teachings were aimed at internaltransformation (Matt. 5:3–9; 18:3; Mark 10:15) and spurring onlove (Matt. 5:44; 7:21). The Spirit of the Lord had called Jesus tobless the hurting ones as they aspired to a godly character. Jesustaught, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father isperfect” (Matt. 5:48), and “Be merciful, just as yourFather is merciful” (Luke 6:36). The “blessed” onesin Jesus’ teachings are poor of spirit, peace driven, mournful,and hungry for righteousness, consumed with emulating godlycharacter.
Somescholars believe that Jesus promoted an “interim ethic”for the kingdom, intended only for a short period prior to the end oftime. However, he was explicit regarding the longevity of histeachings: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words willnever pass away” (Matt. 24:35; Luke 16:17).
Messiah.The concept of an anointed one, a messiah, who would restore theglories of David’s kingdom and bring political stability wascommon in Jewish expectation. Both before and after the Babyloniancaptivity, many Jews longed for one who would bring peace andprotection. Israel’s prophets had spoken of a coming deliverer,one who would restore David’s kingdom and reign in justice andrighteousness (2Sam. 7:11–16; Isa. 9:1–7; 11:1–16;Jer. 23:5–6; 33:15–16; Ezek. 37:25; Dan. 2:44; Mic. 5:2;Zech. 9:9). Isaiah’s description of the servant (Isa. 53) whosesuffering healed the nation provided a slightly different angle ofexpectation in terms of a deliverer.
Jesus’authority and popularity as a miracle worker called up messianicimages in first-century Jewish minds. On several occasions hearerscalled him “Son of David,” hoping for the Messiah (Matt.12:23; 21:9). Simon Peter was the first follower who confessed Jesusas the Christ, the “Messiah” (Matt. 16:16; Mark 8:29). Inline with Isaiah’s model of the Suffering Servant, Jesusfocused not on political ends but rather on spiritual regenerationthrough his own sacrificial death (Mark 10:45).
Eschatologicalprophet.Many scholars claim that Jesus is best understood as a Jewishapocalypticist, an eschatological prophet who expected God tointervene in history, destroy the wicked, and bring in the kingdom ofGod. Central in this understanding are Jesus’ propheciesconcerning the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem (Matt. 24:1–2,15–22; Mark 13:1; Luke 21:5–24; John 2:19; Acts 6:14). Inaddition, it is noted that Jesus had twelve disciples, representativeof the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. 19:2–28; Luke 22:23–30).Certain of Jesus’ parables, those with apocalyptic images ofcoming judgment, present Jesus as an eschatological prophet (Matt.24:45–25:30; Luke 12:41–46; 19:11–27).
SufferingSon of God.Jesus’ first recorded teaching in a synagogue in Nazareth wasparadigmatic (Luke 4:16–21). He attributed the reading, Isa.61:1–2, to his personal calling to serve, and in doing so herevealed a trajectory of suffering. The Gospel of Mark likewise aptlyportrays Jesus as the suffering Son of God. Jesus’ ownteachings incorporated his upcoming suffering (Mark 8:31; 9:12–13,31; 10:33–34). He summarized his mission by declaring, “TheSon of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give hislife as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). His earthly careerended with a trial in Jerusalem consisting of both Roman and Jewishcomponents (Matt. 26:57–68; 27:1–31; Mark 14:53–65;15:1–20; Luke 22:54–23:25; John 18:19–24;18:28–19:16). He was insulted, scourged, mocked, and crucified.
Jesus’suffering culminated in his humiliating death by crucifixion (Matt.27:33–50; Mark 15:22–37; Luke 23:33–46; John19:16–30). Crucifixion was a death of unimaginable horror,bringing shame and humiliation to the victim and his family. Anyonehanging on a tree was considered cursed (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13).Thus, especially in a Jewish society, anyone associated with acrucified person bore the shame of following one who was executed asa lowly slave and left as a cursed corpse. The apostle Paul referredto this shame of the cross when he stated, “I am not ashamed ofthe gospel” (Rom. 1:16).
ExaltedLord.Jesus had prophesied that he would rise again (Matt. 16:21; 17:9, 23;20:19; 27:63; Mark 8:31; 9:9, 31; 10:34; Luke 9:22; 18:33; 24:7, 46).The testimony of the Synoptics is that the resurrection of JesusChrist indeed occurred on the third day, Christ having died on Friday(Mark 15:42–45; Luke 23:52–54; John 19:30–33) andrisen again on Sunday (Matt. 28:1–7; Mark 16:2–7; Luke24:1–7; John 20:1–16). The resurrected Jesus waswitnessed by the women (Matt. 28:8–9), the eleven disciples(Matt. 28:16–17; Luke 24:36–43), and travelers on theroad to Emmaus (Luke 24:31–32). According to Paul, he appearedto as many as five hundred others (1Cor. 15:6). He appeared inbodily form, spoke, showed his scars, and ate (Luke 24:39–43;John 20:27; Acts 1:4). After forty postresurrection days, Jesusascended into the heavenly realm (Acts 1:9).
Asmuch as Jesus’ death was the epitome of shame, his victory overdeath was his ultimate exaltation (Phil. 2:5–11). At Pentecost,Peter proclaimed that in the resurrection God fulfilled OT promises(Ps. 16:10) by raising his Son from the grave (Acts 2:30–31).Furthermore, Christ provided freedom from the law through hisresurrection (Rom. 5:13–14), God’s approval of his lifeand work (Phil. 2:8–9), and God’s designation of him asLord over all the earth, the living and the dead (Acts 17:30–31;Phil. 2:10; Heb. 1:3), and over all his enemies (Eph. 1:20–23).
Jesus’exaltation commenced the beginning of forgiveness and justification(Luke 24:46–47; Acts 13:30–39; Rom. 4:25) and hisintercession for the people of God (Rom. 8:34). His ascensionsignaled the coming of the Holy Spirit as comforter and teacher (John14:26; Acts 2:33) and was accompanied by the promise of his return inglory (Luke 24:51), at which time he will render judgment (Matt.19:28; 24:31; Rev. 20:11–15) and establish his eternal kingdom(1Cor. 15:24; 2Tim. 4:1; Rev. 11:15; 22:5).
Jesus’Purpose and Community
Inthe Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, whopreaches the good news of the kingdom, urging people to repent(4:17–23). Repentance and belief allow one to enter thekingdom. The call into the kingdom is a call into a new covenant, onemade in Jesus’ blood (26:28).
Inthe prologue to the Gospel of Mark, the narrator reveals the identityof Jesus (1:1). Jesus is presented as the one who brings good tidingsof salvation (cf. Isa. 40:9; 52:7; 61:1). The centrality of thegospel, the good news (Mark 1:14–15), is evident.
Lukelikewise presents the preaching of the good news as a main purpose ofJesus’ ministry (4:43). The content of this good news is thekingdom of God (4:43; 8:1; 16:16). When the disciples of John theBaptist asked Jesus if he was the one who was to come (7:20), Jesusanswered, “Go back and report to John what you have seen andheard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosyare cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good newsis proclaimed to the poor” (7:22). The kingdom of God, aspresented in Luke, brings freedom for the prisoners, recovery ofsight for the blind, and release for the oppressed (4:18). Jesus’healings and exorcisms announce the coming kingdom of God alreadypresent in the ministry of Jesus (4:40–44; 6:18–20;8:1–2; 9:2; 10:8–9).
Inthe Gospel of John, Jesus testifies to the good news by way of signsthroughout his ministry. These signs point to Jesus’ glory, hisidentity, and the significance of his ministry. Jesus is the Messiah,the Son of God, who offers eternal and abundant life. This abundantlife is lived out in community.
Inthe Gospel of John, the disciples of Jesus represent the community ofGod (17:21). The disciples did not belong to the world, but theycontinued to live in the world (17:14–16). Throughout hisministry, Jesus called his disciples to follow him. This was a callto loyalty (Matt. 10:32–40; 16:24–26; Mark 8:34–38;Luke 9:23–26), a call to the family of God (Matt. 12:48–50;Mark 3:33–35). Jesus’ declaration “On this rock Iwill build my church” (Matt. 16:18) was preceded by the call tocommunity. Jesus’ presence as the head of the community wasreplaced by the promised Spirit (John 14:16–18).
Jesus’ministry continued in the community of Jesus’ followers, God’sfamily—the church. Entrance into the community was obtained byadopting the values of the kingdom, belief, and through theinitiation rite of baptism (Matt. 10:37–39; 16:24–26;Mark 8:34–38; Luke 9:23–26, 57–62; John 1:12; 3:16;10:27–29; Acts 2:38; 16:31–33; 17:30; Rom. 10:9).
TheQuests for the Historical Jesus
Thequest for the historical Jesus, or seeking who Jesus was from ahistorical perspective, is a modern phenomenon deemed necessary byscholars who claim that the NT Gospels were written long after Jesus’death and were heavily influenced by the post-Easter understanding ofthe church.
Thebeginning of this quest is often dated to 1770, when the lecturenotes of Hermann Samuel Reimarus were published posthumously.Reimarus had launched an inquiry into the identity of Jesus thatrejected as inauthentic all supernatural elements in the Gospels. Heconcluded that the disciples invented Jesus’ miracles,prophecies, ritualistic religion, and resurrection. Reimarus’sconclusions were not widely accepted, but they set off a flurry ofrationalistic research into the historical Jesus that continuedthroughout the nineteenth century. This became known as the “firstquest” for the historical Jesus.
In1906 German theologian Albert Schweit-zer published The Quest of theHistorical Jesus (German title: Von Reimarus zu Wrede: EineGeschichte der Leben-Jesu-Forschung), a scathing indictment of thefirst quest. Schweitzer’s work showed that nineteenth-centuryresearchers re-created Jesus in their own image, transforming thehistorical Jesus into a modern philanthropist preaching aninoffensive message of love and brotherhood. Schweitzer’sconclusions marked the beginning of the end for this first quest.Schweitzer himself concluded that the historical Jesus was aneschatological prophet whose purposes failed during his last days inJerusalem.
Withthe demise of the first quest, some NT scholars, such as RudolfBultmann, rejected any claim to being able to discover the historicalJesus. This trend continued until 1953, when some of Bultmann’sformer students launched what has come to be known as the “newquest” for the historical Jesus (1953–c. 1970). Thisquest created new interest in the historical Jesus but was stilldominated by the view that the portrait of Jesus in the Gospels islargely a creation of the church in a post-Easter setting.
Asthe rebuilding years of the post–World WarII era wanedand scholars started to reap academic fruit from major archaeologicalfinds such as the DSS, research on the historical Jesus moved on towhat has been called the “third quest.” This quest seeksespecially to research and understand Jesus in his social andcultural setting.
The name of two places, possibly from the Hebrew word for“harp” due to the shape of the lake bearing its name orthe shape of the hill on which the city sat. (1)Alarge lake in northern Israel. It was the eastern border of Canaanand part of the western boundary of the tribal territory of Gad.Kinnereth (Deut. 3:17; Josh. 11:2; cf. NIV mg. for Num. 34:11; Josh.12:3; 13:27) was also known as the Sea of Gennesaret (Mark 6:53; Luke5:1), the Sea of Tiberius (John 6:1; 21:1), and the Sea of Galilee(Matt. 15:29; Mark 1:16). (2)Afortified city, and the region around it, allotted to the tribe ofNaphtali (Josh. 19:35). Ben-Hadad of Syria conquered the region afterKing Asa of Judah paid him a large amount of silver and gold to breakhis treaty with King Baasha of Israel (1Kings 15:20).
A large, freshwater lake in the northern, Galilee region ofIsrael measuring thirteen miles long, eight miles wide, and between80 and 150 feet deep. Because it is shaped like a harp, the OT refersto it as the “Sea of Kinnereth,” which comes from theHebrew word for “harp” (Num. 34:11; Deut. 3:17; Josh.13:27; 19:35). It is also called “Lake of Gennesaret,”which derives from the lush Plain of Gennesaret nearby (Matt. 14:34),and the “Sea of Tiberias,” which comes from the name ofthe most prominent city on its banks (John 6:1; 21:1).
TheSea of Galilee is located about sixty miles north of Jerusalem and isfed by the Jordan River. It is surrounded by mountain peaks andcliffs, except on the southern side, where the Jordan River flows outof it. These peaks form a valley and make for strong, frequent, andunexpected storms as the Mediterranean winds blow down the westernslopes and swirl across the sea. Jesus demonstrated his power overnature as he calmed such violent storms (Matt. 14:22–33; Mark6:45–51; John 6:16–21).
TheSea of Galilee boasted a large fishing industry, which provided theideal location for Jesus to call his first disciples—Peter,Andrew, James, and John, who were fishermen (Mark 1:16–20).Much of Jesus’ ministry in the Synoptic Gospels took place inthe towns around the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee provided anabundance of fishing illustrations (Matt. 13:48) and lessons ondiscipleship. Its shore may have provided a convenient location forthe feeding of the five thousand (Matt. 14:13–21; Mark 6:35–44;Luke 9:10–17; John 6:1–13). After Jesus’resurrection, his disciples briefly returned to their fishing nets onthis lake, resulting in the miraculous catch of 153 fish (John21:11).
The land of Israel is strategically located on a land bridgebetween significant geopolitical powers. About the size of NewJersey, it is geographically diverse, ranging from fertile mountainsin northern Galilee to the arid Negev steppe. It was indeed the“testing ground of faith” in which God planted hispeople.
The“Land Between”
TheMediterranean Sea to the west and the great Arabian Desert to theeast confined the flow of military and commercial traffic to thisland bridge. Throughout most of Israel’s history, Egypt and thesuccession of political entities in Mesopotamia were intent onexpanding their empires; Israel was in between. To a lesser extent,this also involved invaders coming from or through Anatolia (modernTurkey).
Thesea and the desert also affect the weather patterns as Israel isdependent on rainfall in the winter months and dew in the summer forits continued agricultural fertility. The promises regarding the“early and latter rains” (autumn and spring) indicateblessing (Deut. 11:14; Jer. 5:24; Joel 2:23). The prospects ofdrought and famine hover over the land. These vulnerabilities toenemy attack and potential lack of rainfall figure prominently inGod’s challenge to faithful obedience (Deut. 11:10–17;28:25).
GeographicalRegions
Thereare four north-south longitudinal zones that help to define thegeography of Israel. From west to east, they are the coastal plain,the hill country, the Jordan Rift Valley, and Trans-jordan. South ofthese zones lies the Negev, a marginal region between Israel properand Sinai.
Coastalplain.The coastal plain extends almost the entire length of Israel, withthe exception of Mount Carmel’s promontory, jutting out intothe Mediterranean Sea. Because of the straight coastline, there areno natural good harbors as there are farther north in Lebanon. Thisregion characteristically was controlled by more cosmopolitan andgenerally hostile non-Israelites, the most notable being thePhilistines in the south. As a result of these factors, theIsraelites generally were not a seafaring people, and in fact theyseemed to view the sea as a place of chaos and danger (e.g., Pss.42:7; 74:13–14; Jon. 2:2–7).
Muchof the coastal plain was swampy in antiquity due to calcifiedsandstone ridges along the coastline that prevented runoff from thehills from flowing unimpeded into the sea. In addition, sand dunesalong the coast were obstacles to travel. Because this region wasrelatively flat and easily traversed along the eastern edge, theInternational Coastal Highway skirted the swamps and dunes andcarried the major traffic through the land. Erosion from the hillcountry to the east brought excellent soil to the plain. Once theswamps were drained in the twentieth century, the plains becamefertile farming areas.
Thecoastal plain has significant subdivisions. To the north of MountCarmel, the Plain of Akko includes a crescent-shaped area around thecity of Akko and extends to Rosh HaNikra, a promontory at theboundary with Lebanon. Immediately south of Mount Carmel is the smallPlain of Dor, generally under the control of foreigners and notsignificant in the biblical text. The Crocodile River separates thePlain of Dor from the Sharon Plain. In the early first century AD,Herod the Great built Caesarea Maritima on the site of Strato’sTower along the coast of the Sharon Plain and constructed an immenseartificial harbor (Josephus, Ant. 15.331–41). It was Herod’sintent for Caesarea to serve as the entry point for Roman cultureinto what he considered to be the backwaters of Palestine. In God’splan, however, the process was reversed: Caesarea became a majorChristian center, and the gospel went out through the entire RomanEmpire.
TheYarqon River, with its source at Aphek, separates the Sharon and thePhilistine plains. Because this created a bottleneck for theInternational Coastal Highway, whoever controlled Aphek had amilitary and commercial advantage. It is significant that thePhilistines were at Aphek when the Israelites took the ark of thecovenant to battle (1Sam. 4). The Philistine Plain extendsfifty miles south to Besor Wadi (dry riverbed) in the western Negev(see below). Its width ranges from about ten miles in the north totwenty-five miles in the south. The five significant Philistinecities were Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron.
Hillcountry.A mountainous spine runs from the north to the south, with severalaberrations due to seismic activity in the distant geologic past. Thehill countries of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh are in thesouthern two-thirds of the country. Because the terrain is rugged,with steep V-shaped valleys, these regions are somewhat more isolatedand protected, especially in Judah and Ephraim. Travel in theinterior is along the north-south ridge, often called the “wayof the patriarchs” because Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob journeyedthis route, stopping at Shechem, Bethel, Salem (Jerusalem), Hebron,and finally Beersheba at the southern end of the mountain range.Agriculture in the hill country is excellent when there is sufficientrainfall. The hard limestone bedrock means that springs are bountifuland the eroded terra rossa soil is productive. The triad of cropsthat appears in the Bible includes grain (“bread”), newwine, and oil (Deut. 11:14; Joel 1:10), noted in the order in whichthey are harvested.
Westof the Judean hill country are lower, rolling foothills known as theShephelah. Cut through by five significant east-west valleys, thisregion was a buffer zone between the people living in the hillcountry and the Philistines or other foreign forces passing throughon the International Coastal Highway. When Israel was particularlyvulnerable, these valleys served as invasion routes into theheartland of Judah. The most famous of these, the Elah Valley, wasthe site of the face-off between David and the Philistine warriorGoliath (1Sam.17).
Onthe eastern side of the hill country, especially in the tribal areasof Judah and Benjamin, lies the wilderness. Because most of theprecipitation falls on the western slopes of the mountain range,rainfall for the regions right around the Dead Sea (in the “rainshadow”) is less than four inches per year. Sparsely inhabited,the wilderness was occasionally a place of refuge, as when David wasfleeing from Saul (1Sam. 23–26). Generally, it was viewedas a place to pass through. When the Israelites conquered the land,they traversed the wilderness to get to the central Benjamin Plateau(Josh. 10:9–10). David fled through the wilderness when Absalomtook over the kingdom (2Sam. 15–16). When Jesus traveledfrom Jericho (below sea level) to Jerusalem, he climbed through thewilderness to an elevation of about twenty-five hundred feet abovesea level. Shepherds grazed their flocks in this area during thewinter wet months and then migrated farther north and west as the dryseason advanced. Some chose to withdraw into the wilderness, mostnotably the Qumran community along the northwestern shore of the DeadSea and the later monastic communities.
Themajor city in the rugged hill country of Ephraim was Shiloh, awell-protected location for the tabernacle and the ark of thecovenant early in Israel’s history (Judg. 18:31; 1Sam.1–4). In fact, the decision to take the ark out to battleagainst the Philistines at Aphek was catastrophic. The tribalterritory of Manasseh, north of Ephraim, was more open to foreigninfluence. The major cities were Shechem, lying between Mount Gerizimand Mount Ebal, locations for the renewal of the covenant (Josh.8:30–35; 24:1), and Samaria, eventually the capital of thenorthern kingdom. When Omri moved the capital west to Samaria(1Kings 16:24), it was a bid for more connection withcosmopolitan coastal communities and particularly with the nation ofPhoenicia to the northwest. Omri’s son Ahab married thePhoenician princess Jezebel, cementing the alliance and bringing Baalworship to Israel with even greater force.
MountCarmel, to the northwest of Samaria, served as the effective boundarybetween Israel and the expanding power of the Phoenicians. It was theperfect stage for the confrontation between Elijah and the prophetsof Baal and Asherah (1Kings 18). Due to its elevation (overseventeen hundred feet at its highest point), it normally receivesabout thirty-two inches of rain per year. At Elijah’s word,however, the rain had ceased for more than three years (1Kings17:1; James 5:17), and the glory of Carmel had withered (cf. Isa.33:9; Amos 1:2; Nah. 1:4). This was a direct challenge to thesupposed powers of Baal, the god of storm and rain. The contestapparently took place near the heights of the promontory overlookingthe Mediterranean Sea (1Kings 18:42–43). There are,however, three sections in the entire twenty-four-mile range, eachseparated from the next by a chalk pass, providing access through themountain range. At the southeastern end of Mount Carmel lies theDothan Valley, location of one of the routes connecting theInternational Coastal Highway with the major Transjordanian highway(see Gen. 37; 2Kings 6:8–23).
TheDothan Valley rests between Mount Carmel and Mount Gilboa to theeast. These two mountains, along with the Jezreel and Harod Valleyson their northern flanks, create a natural barrier between thecentral hill country and Galilee. Because of the strategic importanceof this region, the Israelites fought early defensive battles againstthe forces of Jabin king of Hazor (Judg. 4) and against theMidianites camped in the Jezreel Valley (Judg. 7). Later, thePhilistines swept through this valley, dividing the southern tribesfrom those in the north. Saul and his sons lost their lives on MountGilboa in this confrontation (1Sam. 31). The night before thebattle, Saul was so troubled by God’s silence that he venturedbehind enemy lines on Mount Moreh (directly north of Mount Gilboa) tothe town of Endor and requested a medium to summon the prophet Samuel(1Sam. 28). The city of Megiddo, situated on the edge of theJezreel Valley at the base of Mount Carmel, guarded the mostimportant pass through the mountain and was the site of numerousbattles. It may be the basis for the name “Armageddon,”“Har Megiddo” in Hebrew (Rev. 16).
Northof the Jezreel and Harod Valleys, Galilee can be divided into lowerand upper Galilee. The latter is called “upper” becauseit is both farther north and significantly higher in elevation. UpperGalilee is rugged and relatively isolated. As a result, few biblicalevents unfolded there. In fact, Galilee is seldom mentioned in theOT, with the exception of Isa. 9:1, the passage that Matthew quotesin speaking of the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee(Matt. 4:13–16).
Thewestern part of lower Galilee has ridges that run east to west,providing natural conduits for the winds from the Mediterranean Seaas they sweep eastward. This contributes to sudden and strong stormson the Sea of Galilee. The town of Nazareth is nestled near the topof the southernmost ridge, overlooking the Jezreel Valley from thenorth. This would have afforded Jesus a panoramic view of ahistorical stage as he was growing up. Nearby was Gath Hepher,hometown of the prophet Jonah (2Kings 14:25). As Jesus lookedeast, he would have seen Mount Tabor (Judg. 4–5) and MountMoreh (Judg. 7; 1Sam. 31). The “brow of the hill”at Nazareth (Luke 4:29) is a sharp precipice overlooking the JezreelValley. Although not mentioned in the Gospels, the Roman city ofSepphoris was only about three miles northwest of Nazareth, and itmight have been the place where Joseph was employed as a builder.Eastern lower Galilee is characterized by beautiful rolling hills andvalleys that slope down toward the Jordan Valley. Just west of theSea of Galilee are the cliffs of Arbel, past which the InternationalCoastal Highway made its way as it ran from the Jezreel Valley aroundMount Tabor and down into the Jordan Rift Valley.
JordanRift Valley.The Jordan Rift Valley, ranging in width from about four to fourteenmiles, is a remarkable geological cleft in the earth that extendswell beyond the immediate area of Israel. The Arabah, the Dead Sea,the Sea of Galilee, and the Huleh Valley north of the Sea of Galileelie in the Jordan Rift Valley. In modern times, the Arava (Arabah)refers to the wasteland between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Eilat(Aqaba), but in the OT the term also included the barren desert northof and around the Dead Sea (Josh. 8:14; 11:2; 1Sam. 23:24;2Sam. 2:29; 4:7). The Dead Sea was called the “Sea of theArabah” in texts that indicate its role as a boundary marker(Deut. 3:17; 4:49; Josh. 12:3; 2Kings 14:25).
Inthe Hebrew Bible, the Dead Sea is called the “Sea of Salt.”The mineral content exceeds 30percent, compared to normal seasalinity of 3–5percent. These minerals include calcium,potassium, magnesium, and sodium chlorides. Nevertheless, some algaeand bacteria do survive in the sea. Bitumen (asphalt) also seeps fromthe sea floor, especially when there is more seismic activity in theregion. The salinity varies, depending on the level of the Dead Sea,which does fluctuate with variations in rainfall. The level iscurrently receding rapidly, at a rate of almost three feet per year.One reason for this is the increasing demand for water from theheadwaters of the Jordan River. The north end of the sea, at aboutthirteen hundred feet below sea level, is the lowest place on earth,and the depth of the water at that point is more than one thousandfeet.
TheJordan River Valley north of the Dead Sea is approximately sixty-fivemiles long, and the Jordan River winds for over 120 miles. The name“Jordan” comes from the Hebrew word yarad, which means“to descend.” The Sea of Galilee is 690 feet below sealevel, so there is a significant drop between that point and thenorth end of the Dead Sea.
Keycities in the Jordan Valley include Jericho, just north of the DeadSea, and Beth Shan, at the junction of the Harod and Jordan valleys.The first city to be conquered (Josh. 6), Jericho represented thevulnerable “underbelly” of Canaan and paved the way forthe campaigns that swept first through the south and then the north(Josh. 9–11). Beth Shan was under Philistine control in theearly Israelite period. Later, it became the one Decapolis city westof the Jordan River and was known as Scythopolis.
TheJordan Valley has three sections. The entire expanse is called the“Ghor,” an Arabic name. The river valley itself is calledthe “Zhor,” and it includes the “pride” orthickets of the Jordan, a dense tangle of lush underbrush in whichlions could be found in the biblical period (Jer. 12:5; 49:19; 50:44;Zech. 11:3). In between the Ghor and the Zhor is the Qatarra,lifeless marl terraces. In antiquity, during flood stage the JordanRiver could be a mile wide. The Israelites crossed the Jordan in thespringtime, near Passover, when the river was at flood stage (Josh.3:15; 5:10).
TheJordan River has its headwaters north of the Sea of Galilee at thebase of Mount Hermon. It provides a constant source of freshwatercoming into the seven-by-thirteen-mile body of water. In addition,there are salt springs in the northwestern corner. These contributeto the good fishing in that part of the sea. The Hebrew name is “Yam[Sea of] Kinnereth” (Num. 34:11; Josh. 12:3; 13:27). It wasalso known as the Sea of Tiberias (John 6:1; 21:1) and the Lake ofGennesaret (Luke 5:1). This last name comes from the fertile plainaround the northwestern corner of the lake and the city of Gennesareton that plain.
Theministry of Jesus unfolded around the Sea of Galilee after he movedhis base of operations from Nazareth to Capernaum (Matt. 4:13), atthe northern end of the sea. Nearby were the cities of Bethsaida andChorazin, which, along with Capernaum, Jesus condemned for notbelieving even though he worked miracles in their midst (Matt.11:20–24). The city of Capernaum profited from the industriesof fishing and oil pressing. It was also a likely place for a taxcollector, as it was close to the border between Herod Antipas’sGalilee and Herod Philip’s territories to the east. Across thelake, in non-Jewish territory, was the town of Gergesa, perhaps thesite where Jesus sent the legion of demons into a herd of pigs (Mark5:1–20pars.).
Justnorth of the Sea of Galilee is an elevated sill, formed by a basaltflow across the Golan Heights and over this section of the JordanRift Valley. Hazor, a major site of some two hundred acres, satastride the sill and dominated the northern region in the Late Bronzeand Israelite periods. Hazor is mentioned in texts from both Mari inMesopotamia and El Amarna in Egypt.
TheHuleh Valley, north of the sill, is twenty miles in length andreceives about twenty-four inches of rain per year, making it amarshland swamp in antiquity that was called “LakeSemechonitis.” The International Coastal Highway made its wayalong the western edge of the valley, turned eastward past MountHermon, and continued to Damascus.
Transjordan.On the eastern side of the Jordan Rift Valley, at the very northernextent of Israel, Mount Hermon rises to nine thousand feet. Abundantprecipitation percolating through the limestone results in prolificsprings at its base. These are the headwaters of the Jordan River,the two most important of which are at Dan and Caesarea Philippi.With the abundance of water and lush surroundings, it is notsurprising that Dan was a tempting location for the tribe of Dan toresettle, given their precarious position between the tribe of Judahand the Philistines to the west. The idols set up at that point(Judg. 18:30–31) established a precedent for Jeroboam’schoice to position one of the golden calves there as an alternativeto worship in distant Jerusalem (1Kings 12:29–30).Another name for Caesarea Philippi is “Panias” (modernArabic, “Banias”), in celebration of the god Pan. Therock face from which the spring poured forth is covered with nichesfor pagan gods; Herod the Great also built a temple to Augustus. Inthis context, Peter declared that Jesus was the Christ, the Son ofthe “living” God (Matt. 16:16).
Theregion south of Mount Hermon was Bashan in the OT period. In the NTera it consisted of a number of small provinces. One of those wasGaulanitis, which is recognizable in the modern name “Golan.”With significant annual rainfall (about forty inches per year), thenatural vegetation includes trees and rich pasture that supportslarge herds (cf. the “bulls of Bashan” in Ps. 22:12;Ezek. 39:18).
Separatingthe region of Bashan from Lower Gilead is the Yarmuk River Gorge, asignificant natural boundary. There was an ongoing contest betweenthe northern kingdom of Israel and Syria to the northeast to controlthe key site of Ramoth Gilead (1Kings 22; 2Kings 9).Cutting through the elevated Dome of Gilead is the Jabbok River, thesite of Jacob’s wrestling match with God (Gen. 32).
Thearea to the east and south of the Dead Sea includes the plains ofMoab (Mishor), extending north of the Arnon River Gorge; geopoliticalMoab, between the Arnon and the Zered rivers; and Edom, reaching fromthe Zered down to the northern end of the Gulf of Eilat (Aqaba). Tothe east of the Mishor lay the kingdom of Ammon. According to Gen.19, Moab and Ammon were descendants of Lot by his daughters. Whenthey fled eastward from Sodom and Gomorrah, this was the general areathey settled.
Transjordanwas significant in the OT as the Israelites skirted Edom, conqueredthe cities of the Amorites and the king of Bashan, and encounteredMoab enroute to the promised land (Num. 20–25). Thetribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh requested theright to settle in Transjordan after the conquest of the land wascompleted (Num. 32). In the ensuing centuries these tribes sufferedthe ravages of war on the eastern front (Judg. 10:8; 1Sam.11:1; 2Kings 15:29; 1Chron. 5:23–26). In theintertestamental period most of northern and central Transjordan cameunder Hellenistic control. Decapolis cities were located in Bashan,Gilead, and as far south as Philadelphia, at the site of modernAmman.
Negev.To the south of the Judean hill country lies the Negev, whose namemeans both “dry” and “south.” The biblicalNegev is a smaller region shaped somewhat like a bowtie, withBeersheba at the center, Arad in the eastern basin, and Gerarcontrolling the western basin. The south end of the Philistine plainmerges with the western Negev. In the patriarchal period there weretensions over water rights between the herdsmen of Abraham and Isaacand those of the Philistine king Abimelek (Gen. 21:22–34;26:12–33). Although the region only receives eight to twelveinches of rainfall per year, this was sufficient to sustain smallpopulations, especially if they conserved water. The soil of theNegev is loess, a windblown powder from which the water simply runsoff unless catch basins are constructed.
Thebiblical Negev is bounded by the greater Negev to the south, whererugged limestone ridges predominate. An artificial line drawn fromGaza to Eilat, at the northern end of the Gulf of Eilat, defines thesouthwestern boundary of the greater Negev; the Jordan Rift Valley isthe eastern boundary. The Negev was historically a corridor for spicetrade coming from southwestern Arabia and India on the “ship ofthe desert” (the camel) to reach the Mediterranean markets. TheNabateans, Arab commercial nomads who knew the secrets of the desert,flourished in the spice trade from the fourth to the first centuriesBC. Once the Romans co-opted the spice trade, the Nabateans builtcities, developed water conservation techniques, and grew extensivevineyards.
TheTesting Ground of Faith
Becausethe land is marginal in terms of both sufficient rainfall andnational security, God’s covenant people faced the constantchallenge of obedience. The temptations to worship the Canaanite godsfor agricultural fertility and to form alliances with more-powerfulneighbors instead of putting their trust in God were powerful. Oftenthey succumbed and then experienced God’s chastisem*nt thatthey might return to him (Lev. 26). Even the land itself wouldexperience pollution due to the sins of its inhabitants (Lev. 18:25).In sum, the land was much more than living space; it was an integralpart of the Israelites’ identity as God’s covenantpeople. When it was flowing with “milk and honey,” thepeople experienced the shalom of God.
The English word “messiah” derives from theHebrew verb mashakh, which means “to anoint.” The Greekcounterpart of the Hebrew word for “messiah” (mashiakh)is christos, which in English is “Christ.”
OldTestament
InEnglish translations of the Bible, the word “messiah”(“anointed one”) occurs rarely in the OT. In the OT,kings, prophets, and priests were “anointed” with oil asa means of consecrating or setting them apart for their respectiveoffices. Prophets and priests anointed Israel’s kings (1Sam.16:1–13; 2Sam. 2:4, 7). Samuel anointed Saul (1Sam.9:16; 10:1; 15:1) and David (1Sam. 16:12–13). Later,Nathan the prophet and Zadok the priest anointed Solomon, thesuccessor of King David (1Kings 1:34). The word “anoint”occurs even earlier, in the book of Judges, in a parable aboutAbimelek becoming king (Judg. 9:7–15). In 1–2 Samuel andPsalms the king is sometimes called “the Lord’s anointed”(1Sam. 16:6; 24:6; 26:9; Pss. 2:2; 18:50; 20:6). The anointingof priests occurs very early in Israelite tradition, in which Aaronand his sons are consecrated for their priestly service (Exod. 28:41;30:30). In Num. 35:25 the high priest is anointed with “holyoil.” Sacred objects for use in the tabernacle also wereanointed (Exod. 29:36; 30:26; Lev. 8:10–11). As for theanointing of prophets, God commanded Elijah to anoint Elisha as hissuccessor (1Kings 19:16). The prophet Isaiah also claimed to beanointed for his work of proclamation (Isa. 61:1–2).
Theexpectation for a “messiah,” or “anointed one,”arose from the promise given to David in the Davidic covenant (2Sam.7). David was promised that from his seed God would raise up a kingwho would reign forever on his throne. Hopes for such an ideal kingbegan with Solomon and developed further during the decline (cf. Isa.9:1–7) and especially after the collapse of the Davidickingdom.
Theharsh reality of exile prompted Israel to hope that God would rule insuch a manner. A number of psalms reflect the desire that an idealson of David would come and rule, delivering Israel from its currentplight of oppression. Hence, in Ps. 2 God declares that his son(v.7), who is the Lord’s anointed one (v.2), willreceive “the nations [as] your inheritance, the ends of theearth your possession” (v.8). God promises that “youwill rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieceslike pottery” (v.9; see NIV footnote). In Ps. 89 thepsalmist yearns for the establishment of David’s kingdombecause God has been “very angry with your anointed one”(v.38). Later, the psalmist pleads with God, “For thesake of your servant David, do not reject your anointed one”(Ps. 132:10). In the postexilic literature, Zerubbabel, for example,appears to be understood as a messianic figure. Speaking ofZerubbabel and Joshua, the angel says, “These are the two whoare anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth” (Zech. 4:14).
Apocryphaand Pseudepigrapha
Insome apocalyptic literature a messiah-like figure ushers in God’skingdom, overthrowing the current evil powers that oppress God’speople. In 1Enoch the “son of man” (46.1–3)is an anointed figure (52.6) who will judge the kings and the mightyfrom his heavenly throne and will champion the cause of the faithful(46.4–8; 62.5). In 2Baruch “my anointed”(39.7; 40.1) will reign over the remnant in a place chosen by God(40.2). Finally, in a nonapocalyptic Jewish text, Psalms of Solomon,the author expects deliverance from the Roman oppressors and thecorrupt Hasmonean dynasty by the “Lord Messiah” (18.7):“See, Lord, and raise up for them their king, the son of David,to rule over your servant Israel” (17.21). These texts confirmthe diversity of first-century messianic expectations. Yet the mostcommon hope centered on the “Davidic messiah,” the comingking from David’s line who would establish justice andrighteousness and reign forever on David’s throne.
NewTestament
Jesusdemonstrates great reticence in using the title “Messiah.”In the Synoptic Gospels he almost never explicitly claims it. The twokey Synoptic passages where Jesus accepts the title are themselvesenigmatic. In Mark’s version of Peter’s confession(8:29), Jesus does not explicitly affirm Peter’s claim, “Youare the Messiah,” but instead goes on to speak of the sufferingof the Son of Man. Later, Jesus is asked by the high priest Caiaphasat his trial, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”(Mark 14:60). In Mark 14:62, Jesus answers explicitly with “Iam,” while in Matt. 26:64, he uses the more enigmatic “Youhave said so.” Jesus then goes on to describe himself as theexalted Son of Man who will sit at Yahweh’s right hand.
Jesusno doubt avoided the title because it risked communicating aninadequate understanding of the kingdom and his messianic role.Although the Messiah was never a purely political figure in Judaism,he was widely expected to destroy Israel’s enemies and secureits physical borders. Psalms of Solomon portrays the coming “sonof David” as one who will “destroy the unrighteousrulers” and “purge Jerusalem from Gentiles who trampleher to destruction” (Pss. Sol. 17.21–23). To distancehimself from such thinking, Jesus never refers to himself as “sonof David” and “king of Israel/the Jews” as othercharacters do in the Gospels (Matt. 12:23; 21:9, 15; Mark 10:47;15:2; John 1:49; 12:13; 18:33). When Jesus was confronted by a groupof Jews who wanted to make him into such a king, he resisted them(John 6:15).
InMark 12:35–37, Jesus also redefines traditional understandingsof the son of David in his short discussion on Ps. 110:1: he issomething more than a mere human son of David. Combining Jesus’implicit affirmation that he is the Messiah in Mark 8:30 with histeaching about the Son of Man in 8:31, we see that Jesus is a Messiahwho will “suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, thechief priests, and the teachers of the law” (8:31) and throughwhom redemption will come (10:45). Jesus came not to defeat the Romanlegions, but to bring victory over Satan, sin, and death.
Inthe book of Acts, Peter reaffirms the messiahship of Jesus at theconclusion of his sermon: “Therefore let all Israel be assuredof this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord andMessiah” (2:36 [cf. 5:42; 9:22]). Since it is now apparent thatthrough suffering and death Jesus the Messiah would effect salvation,there is no risk of the Jews misunderstanding Christ’smessiahship. However, he is still a deliverer and savior like theLord’s anointed of the OT, but he brings about this salvationthrough unexpected means (3:18–20). Further, Jesus is now theascended and exalted messianic king in the style of Ps. 110:1 (cf.Acts 2:34–36), which he predicted during his earthly ministry(Mark 14:62). The reality of Jesus’ exalted messianic status isso pervasive in early Christian thinking that the title Christosbecomes a synonym for “Jesus” or is used in combinationwith “Jesus.” And indeed, the earliest followers of Jesusafter the resurrection become know as Christianoi (Acts 11:26).
On several occasions Jesus commanded demons or individuals torefrain from announcing his identity or making known a miracle thathe performed. These commands to keep silent are found in Luke andMatthew, but more frequently in Mark (1:25, 34, 44; 3:12; 5:43; 7:36;8:26, 30; 9:9). Since Jesus came to reveal himself as Israel’strue Messiah, these prohibitions against the public proclamation ofhis identity and certain miracles that he performed are puzzling.This feature in Mark’s Gospel has been called the “messianicsecret.” Several examples are as follows:
Mark1:24–25: Jesus silenced an evil spirit that identified him asthe “Holy One of God.”
Mark1:34: Jesus prohibited demons from speaking because they knew who hewas (see also 3:12).
Mark1:44: Jesus commanded a leper whom he healed not to tell anyone.
Mark5:43: Jesus commanded those present at the healing of Jairus’sdaughter not to tell anyone.
Mark7:36: After healing a deaf and mute man, Jesus ordered those presentnot to tell anyone.
Mark8:30: When Peter confessed Jesus to be the Christ, Jesus commandedhim not to tell anyone.
Mark9:9: After the transfiguration, Jesus commanded Peter, James, andJohn not to tell anyone what they saw until after his resurrection.
Severalexplanations have been proposed concerning the motive behind theso-called messianic secret and the commands to keep silent. Oneinterpretation, proposed by William Wrede in 1901 in his book TheMessianic Secret, attempted to explain why Jesus was not accepted asthe Messiah during his earthly ministry. Wrede argued that Jesusnever conceived of himself as the Messiah. Rather, the early churchdesignated him as such after the resurrection. Thus Mark, writing forthe church, fashioned his Gospel, inserting these passages to make itappear that Jesus privately taught the disciples that he really wasthe Messiah, even though he prohibited this proclamation in public.Others have proposed that Mark was actually attempting to softenJesus’ claims to be the Messiah.
Thereare, however, better explanations of why Jesus sometimes instructedindividuals not to broadcast his identity or tell of a miracle thathe performed. In each case or context the reason for silence isprobably slightly different. A frequent explanation is that Jesus didnot want to encourage false messianic expectations. Many Jewsimagined the Messiah to be a political and/or military figure whowould deliver the nation from its Gentile oppressors. Most Jews didnot expect or welcome a suffering Christ. From God’sperspective, hailing him as Messiah while rejecting or being ignorantof his redemptive plans would have been counterproductive to hispurpose. In light of this, some interpreters maintain that the veilof secrecy was lifted as Jesus neared Passion Week (Mark 10:47–48;12:6–7; 14:62).
Asecond reason for silence, regarding those cases where demonsproclaimed his identity, was that God had sovereignly chosen men andwomen to be his witnesses, not wicked spirits. Even in the caseswhere demonic announcements concerning Jesus were accurate, theiradvertisem*nt surely would skew the character of the message andhinder its reception.
Third,Jesus withheld further revelation of his identity and messianic powerfrom those who were rejecting his claims (Matt. 13:16; Mark 4:24–25).
Fourth,miracles sometimes conjured up the wrong kind of faith. Multitudessought miracles without embracing the Messiah (Mark 1:32–38;John 6:2, 14–15, 26).
Fifth,sometimes Jesus’ prohibitions against identifying him weredisobeyed, and in most cases the command to silence did not hinderthe amazement and wonder at what had taken place (Mark 1:27, 45;5:42; 7:36–37). This inability to keep quiet regarding whoJesus was and what he did reinforced the uniqueness of his identityand emphasized how remarkable the Messiah and his miracles were.
Finally,an overly zealous response to Jesus endangered his purpose ofcompleting his earthly ministry according to God’s timetable.This is most clearly stated in John’s Gospel (2:4; 7:6, 8, 30;8:20; 12:23, 27; 13:1; 16:32; 17:1). Jesus needed to fully proclaimhis message to the nation and prepare his disciples before his death(Mark 1:38). A premature arrest and trial would have defeated thispurpose.
The English word “messiah” derives from theHebrew verb mashakh, which means “to anoint.” The Greekcounterpart of the Hebrew word for “messiah” (mashiakh)is christos, which in English is “Christ.”
OldTestament
InEnglish translations of the Bible, the word “messiah”(“anointed one”) occurs rarely in the OT. In the OT,kings, prophets, and priests were “anointed” with oil asa means of consecrating or setting them apart for their respectiveoffices. Prophets and priests anointed Israel’s kings (1Sam.16:1–13; 2Sam. 2:4, 7). Samuel anointed Saul (1Sam.9:16; 10:1; 15:1) and David (1Sam. 16:12–13). Later,Nathan the prophet and Zadok the priest anointed Solomon, thesuccessor of King David (1Kings 1:34). The word “anoint”occurs even earlier, in the book of Judges, in a parable aboutAbimelek becoming king (Judg. 9:7–15). In 1–2 Samuel andPsalms the king is sometimes called “the Lord’s anointed”(1Sam. 16:6; 24:6; 26:9; Pss. 2:2; 18:50; 20:6). The anointingof priests occurs very early in Israelite tradition, in which Aaronand his sons are consecrated for their priestly service (Exod. 28:41;30:30). In Num. 35:25 the high priest is anointed with “holyoil.” Sacred objects for use in the tabernacle also wereanointed (Exod. 29:36; 30:26; Lev. 8:10–11). As for theanointing of prophets, God commanded Elijah to anoint Elisha as hissuccessor (1Kings 19:16). The prophet Isaiah also claimed to beanointed for his work of proclamation (Isa. 61:1–2).
Theexpectation for a “messiah,” or “anointed one,”arose from the promise given to David in the Davidic covenant (2Sam.7). David was promised that from his seed God would raise up a kingwho would reign forever on his throne. Hopes for such an ideal kingbegan with Solomon and developed further during the decline (cf. Isa.9:1–7) and especially after the collapse of the Davidickingdom.
Theharsh reality of exile prompted Israel to hope that God would rule insuch a manner. A number of psalms reflect the desire that an idealson of David would come and rule, delivering Israel from its currentplight of oppression. Hence, in Ps. 2 God declares that his son(v.7), who is the Lord’s anointed one (v.2), willreceive “the nations [as] your inheritance, the ends of theearth your possession” (v.8). God promises that “youwill rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieceslike pottery” (v.9; see NIV footnote). In Ps. 89 thepsalmist yearns for the establishment of David’s kingdombecause God has been “very angry with your anointed one”(v.38). Later, the psalmist pleads with God, “For thesake of your servant David, do not reject your anointed one”(Ps. 132:10). In the postexilic literature, Zerubbabel, for example,appears to be understood as a messianic figure. Speaking ofZerubbabel and Joshua, the angel says, “These are the two whoare anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth” (Zech. 4:14).
Apocryphaand Pseudepigrapha
Insome apocalyptic literature a messiah-like figure ushers in God’skingdom, overthrowing the current evil powers that oppress God’speople. In 1Enoch the “son of man” (46.1–3)is an anointed figure (52.6) who will judge the kings and the mightyfrom his heavenly throne and will champion the cause of the faithful(46.4–8; 62.5). In 2Baruch “my anointed”(39.7; 40.1) will reign over the remnant in a place chosen by God(40.2). Finally, in a nonapocalyptic Jewish text, Psalms of Solomon,the author expects deliverance from the Roman oppressors and thecorrupt Hasmonean dynasty by the “Lord Messiah” (18.7):“See, Lord, and raise up for them their king, the son of David,to rule over your servant Israel” (17.21). These texts confirmthe diversity of first-century messianic expectations. Yet the mostcommon hope centered on the “Davidic messiah,” the comingking from David’s line who would establish justice andrighteousness and reign forever on David’s throne.
NewTestament
Jesusdemonstrates great reticence in using the title “Messiah.”In the Synoptic Gospels he almost never explicitly claims it. The twokey Synoptic passages where Jesus accepts the title are themselvesenigmatic. In Mark’s version of Peter’s confession(8:29), Jesus does not explicitly affirm Peter’s claim, “Youare the Messiah,” but instead goes on to speak of the sufferingof the Son of Man. Later, Jesus is asked by the high priest Caiaphasat his trial, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”(Mark 14:60). In Mark 14:62, Jesus answers explicitly with “Iam,” while in Matt. 26:64, he uses the more enigmatic “Youhave said so.” Jesus then goes on to describe himself as theexalted Son of Man who will sit at Yahweh’s right hand.
Jesusno doubt avoided the title because it risked communicating aninadequate understanding of the kingdom and his messianic role.Although the Messiah was never a purely political figure in Judaism,he was widely expected to destroy Israel’s enemies and secureits physical borders. Psalms of Solomon portrays the coming “sonof David” as one who will “destroy the unrighteousrulers” and “purge Jerusalem from Gentiles who trampleher to destruction” (Pss. Sol. 17.21–23). To distancehimself from such thinking, Jesus never refers to himself as “sonof David” and “king of Israel/the Jews” as othercharacters do in the Gospels (Matt. 12:23; 21:9, 15; Mark 10:47;15:2; John 1:49; 12:13; 18:33). When Jesus was confronted by a groupof Jews who wanted to make him into such a king, he resisted them(John 6:15).
InMark 12:35–37, Jesus also redefines traditional understandingsof the son of David in his short discussion on Ps. 110:1: he issomething more than a mere human son of David. Combining Jesus’implicit affirmation that he is the Messiah in Mark 8:30 with histeaching about the Son of Man in 8:31, we see that Jesus is a Messiahwho will “suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, thechief priests, and the teachers of the law” (8:31) and throughwhom redemption will come (10:45). Jesus came not to defeat the Romanlegions, but to bring victory over Satan, sin, and death.
Inthe book of Acts, Peter reaffirms the messiahship of Jesus at theconclusion of his sermon: “Therefore let all Israel be assuredof this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord andMessiah” (2:36 [cf. 5:42; 9:22]). Since it is now apparent thatthrough suffering and death Jesus the Messiah would effect salvation,there is no risk of the Jews misunderstanding Christ’smessiahship. However, he is still a deliverer and savior like theLord’s anointed of the OT, but he brings about this salvationthrough unexpected means (3:18–20). Further, Jesus is now theascended and exalted messianic king in the style of Ps. 110:1 (cf.Acts 2:34–36), which he predicted during his earthly ministry(Mark 14:62). The reality of Jesus’ exalted messianic status isso pervasive in early Christian thinking that the title Christosbecomes a synonym for “Jesus” or is used in combinationwith “Jesus.” And indeed, the earliest followers of Jesusafter the resurrection become know as Christianoi (Acts 11:26).
Common and valuable for food, beans were cooked while green in the pods or after being dried. Dry beans were threshed and winnowed like cereals and other grains. Beans are mentioned twice in the NIV (2Sam. 17:28; Ezek. 4:9).
The founder of what became known as the movement of Jesusfollowers or Christianity. For Christian believers, Jesus Christembodies the personal and supernatural intervention of God in humanhistory.
Introduction
Name.Early Christians combined the name “Jesus” with the title“Christ” (Acts 5:42; NIV: “Messiah”). Thename “Jesus,” from the Hebrew Yehoshua or Yeshua, was acommon male name in first-century Judaism. The title “Christ”is from the Greek christos, a translation of the Hebrew mashiakh(“anointed one, messiah”). Christians eventually werenamed after Jesus’ title (Acts 11:26). During the ministry ofJesus, Peter was the first disciple to recognize Jesus as the Messiah(Matt. 16:16; Mark 9:29; Luke 9:20).
Sources.From the viewpoint of Christianity, the life and ministry of Jesusconstitute the turning point in human history. From a historicalperspective, ample early source materials would be expected. Indeed,both Christian and non-Christian first-century and earlysecond-century literary sources are extant, but they are few innumber. In part, this low incidence is due to society’s initialresistance to the Jesus followers’ movement. The ancient Romanhistorian Tacitus called Christianity “a superstition,”since its beliefs did not fit with the culture’s prevailingworldview and thus were considered antisocial. Early literary sourcestherefore are either in-group documents or allusions in non-Christiansources.
TheNT Gospels are the principal sources for the life and ministry ofJesus. They consist of Matthew, Mark, Luke (the Synoptic Gospels),and John. Most scholars adhere to the so-called Four SourceHypothesis. In this theory, Mark was written first and was used as asource by Matthew and Luke, who also used the sayings source Q (fromGerman Quelle, meaning “source”) as well as their ownindividual sources M (Matthew) and L (Luke). John used additionalsources.
Theearly church tried to put together singular accounts, so-calledGospel harmonies, of the life of Jesus. The Gospel of the Ebionitesrepresents one such attempt based on the Synoptic Gospels. Anotherharmony, the Diatessaron, based on all four Gospels, was producedaround AD 170 by Tatian. Additional source materials concerning thelife of Christ are provided in the NT in texts such as Acts, thePauline Epistles, the General Epistles, and the Revelation of John.Paul wrote to the Galatians, “But when the time had fully come,God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law” (Gal. 4:4).The first narrative about Jesus by the Christian community was apassion narrative, the account of his death and resurrection. Thefirst extant references to this tradition are found in Paul’sletters (1Cor. 2:2; Gal. 3:1). The resurrection was recognizedfrom the beginning as the cornerstone of the Christian faith (1Cor.15:13–14).
Amongnon-Christian sources, the earliest reference to Jesus is found in aletter written circa AD 112 by Pliny the Younger, the Roman governorof Bithynia-Pontus (Ep. 10.96). The Roman historian Tacitus mentionsChristians and Jesus around AD 115 in his famous work about thehistory of Rome (Ann. 15.44). Another Roman historian, Suetonius,wrote around the same time concerning unrest among the Jews in Romebecause of a certain “Chrestos” (Claud. 25.4). Somescholars conclude that “Chrestos” is a misspelling of“Christos,” a reference to Jesus.
TheJewish author Josephus (first century AD) mentions Jesus in a storyabout the Jewish high priest Ananus and James the brother of Jesus(Ant. 20.200). A controversial reference to Jesus appears in adifferent part of the same work, where Josephus affirms that Jesus isthe Messiah and that he rose from the dead (Ant. 18.63–64). Themajority of scholars consider this passage to be authentic butheavily edited by later Christian copyists. Another Jewish source,the Talmud, also mentions Jesus in several places, but thesereferences are very late and of little historical value.
NoncanonicalGospels that mention Jesus include, for example, the Infancy Gospelof Thomas, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel ofJames, the Gospel of Judas Iscariot, the Gospel of the Hebrews, theEgerton Gospel, and the Gospel of Judas. Although some of these maycontain an occasional authentic saying or event, for the most partthey are late and unreliable.
Jesus’Life
Birthand childhood. TheGospels of Matthew and Luke record Jesus’ birth in Bethlehemduring the reign of Herod the Great (Matt. 2:1; Luke 2:4, 11). Jesuswas probably born between 6 and 4 BC, shortly before Herod’sdeath (Matt. 2:19). Both Matthew and Luke record the miracle of avirginal conception made possible by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:18;Luke 1:35). Luke mentions a census under the Syrian governorQuirinius that was responsible for Jesus’ birth taking place inBethlehem (2:1–5). Both the census and the governorship at thetime of the birth of Jesus have been questioned by scholars.Unfortunately, there is not enough extrabiblical evidence to eitherconfirm or disprove these events, so their veracity must bedetermined on the basis of one’s view regarding the generalreliability of the Gospel tradition.
Onthe eighth day after his birth, Jesus was circumcised, in keepingwith the Jewish law, at which time he officially was named “Jesus”(Luke 2:21). He spent his growing years in Nazareth, in the home ofhis parents, Joseph and Mary (2:40). Of the NT Gospels, the Gospel ofLuke contains the only brief portrayal of Jesus’ growth instrength, wisdom, and favor with God and people (2:40, 52). Luke alsocontains the only account of Jesus as a young boy (2:41–49).
Jesuswas born in a lower socioeconomic setting. His parents offered atemple sacrifice appropriate for those who could not afford tosacrifice a sheep (Luke 2:22–24; cf. Lev. 12:8). Joseph, Jesus’earthly father, was a carpenter or an artisan in wood, stone, ormetal (Matt. 13:55). From a geographical perspective, Nazareth wasnot a prominent place for settling, since it lacked fertile ground.Jesus’ disciple Nathanael expressed an apparently commonfirst-century sentiment concerning Nazareth: “Nazareth! Cananything good come from there?” (John 1:46).
Jesuswas also born in a context of scandal. Questions of illegitimacy weresurely raised, since his mother Mary was discovered to be pregnantbefore her marriage to Joseph. According to Matthew, only theintervention of an angel convinced Joseph not to break his betrothal(Matt. 1:18–24). Jesus’ birth took place in Bethlehem,far from his parents’ home in Nazareth. According to kinshiphospitality customs, Joseph and Mary would have expected to stay withdistant relatives in Bethlehem. It is likely that they were unwelcomebecause of Jesus’ status as an illegitimate child; thus Maryhad to give birth elsewhere and place the infant Jesus in a feedingtrough (Luke 2:7). A similar response was seen years later inNazareth when Jesus was identified as “Mary’s son”(Mark 6:3) rather than through his paternal line, thereby shaming himas one who was born an illegitimate child. Jesus was likewiserejected at the end of his life as the crowds cried, “Crucifyhim!” (Matt. 27:22–23; Mark 15:13–14; Luke 23:21;John 19:6, 15). When Jesus was arrested, most of his followers fled(Matt. 26:56; Mark 14:50–52), and a core disciple, Peter,vehemently denied knowing him (Matt. 26:69–74; Mark 14:66–71;Luke 22:55–60; John 18:15–17, 25–27). His ownsiblings did not believe in him (John 7:5) and were evidently ashamedof his fate, since from the cross Jesus placed the care of his motherinto the hands of “the disciple whom he loved” (19:26–27)rather than the next brother in line, as was customary.
Baptism,temptation, and start of ministry.After Jesus was baptized by the prophet John the Baptist (Luke3:21–22), God affirmed his pleasure with him by referring tohim as his Son, whom he loved (Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22).Jesus’ baptism did not launch him into fame and instantministry success; instead, Jesus was led by the Spirit into thewilderness, where he was tempted for forty days (Matt. 4:1–11;Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13). Mark stresses that thetemptations immediately followed the baptism. Matthew and Lukeidentify three specific temptations by the devil, though their orderfor the last two is reversed. Both Matthew and Luke agree that Jesuswas tempted to turn stones into bread, expect divine interventionafter jumping off the temple portico, and receive all the world’skingdoms for worshiping the devil. Jesus resisted all temptation,quoting Scripture in response.
Matthewand Mark record that Jesus began his ministry in Capernaum inGalilee, after the arrest of John the Baptist (Matt. 4:12–13;Mark 1:14). Luke says that Jesus started his ministry at about thirtyyears of age (3:23). This may be meant to indicate full maturity orperhaps correlate this age with the onset of the service of theLevites in the temple (cf. Num. 4:3). John narrates the beginning ofJesus’ ministry by focusing on the calling of the disciples andthe sign performed at a wedding at Cana (1:35–2:11).
Jesus’public ministry: chronology.Jesus’ ministry started in Galilee, probably around AD 27/28,and ended with his death around AD 30 in Jerusalem. The temple hadbeen forty-six years in construction (generally interpreted as thetemple itself and the wider temple complex) when Jesus drove out themoney changers (John 2:20). According to Josephus, the rebuilding andexpansion of the second temple had started in 20/19 BC, during theeighteenth year of Herod’s reign (Ant. 15.380). The ministry ofJohn the Baptist had commenced in the fifteenth year of Tiberius(Luke 3:1–2), who had become a coregent in AD 11/12. From thesedates of the start of the temple building and the correlation of thereign of Tiberius to John the Baptist’s ministry, the onset ofJesus’ ministry can probably be dated to AD 27/28.
TheGospel of John mentions three Passovers and another unnamed feast inJohn 5:1. The length of Jesus’ ministry thus extended overthree or four Passovers, equaling about three or three and a halfyears. Passover, which took place on the fifteenth of Nisan, came ona Friday in AD 30 and 33. The year of Jesus’ death wastherefore probably AD 30.
Jesus’ministry years may be divided broadly into his Galilean and hisJudean ministries. The Synoptic Gospels describe the ministry inGalilee from various angles but converge again as Jesus enters Judea.
Galileanministry.The early stages of Jesus’ ministry centered in and aroundGalilee. Jesus presented the good news and proclaimed that thekingdom of God was near. Matthew focuses on the fulfillment ofprophecy (Matt. 4:13–17). Luke records Jesus’ firstteaching in his hometown, Nazareth, as paradigmatic (Luke 4:16–30);the text that Jesus quoted, Isa. 61:1–2, set the stage for hiscalling to serve and revealed a trajectory of rejection andsuffering.
AllGospels record Jesus’ gathering of disciples early in hisGalilean ministry (Matt. 4:18–22; Mark 1:16–20; Luke5:1–11; John 1:35–51). The formal call and commissioningof the Twelve who would become Jesus’ closest followers isrecorded in different parts of the Gospels (Matt. 10:1–4; Mark3:13–19; Luke 6:12–16). A key event in the early ministryis the Sermon on the Mount/Plain (Matt. 5:1–7:29; Luke6:20–49). John focuses on Jesus’ signs and miracles, inparticular in the early parts of his ministry, whereas the Synopticsfocus on healings and exorcisms.
DuringJesus’ Galilean ministry, onlookers struggled with hisidentity. However, evil spirits knew him to be of supreme authority(Mark 3:11). Jesus was criticized by outsiders and by his own family(3:21). The scribes from Jerusalem identified him as a partner ofBeelzebul (3:22). Amid these situations of social conflict, Jesustold parables that couched his ministry in the context of a growingkingdom of God. This kingdom would miraculously spring from humblebeginnings (4:1–32).
TheSynoptics present Jesus’ early Galilean ministry as successful.No challenge or ministry need superseded Jesus’ authority orability: he calmed a storm (Mark 4:35–39), exorcized manydemons (Mark 5:1–13), raised the dead (Mark 5:35–42), fedfive thousand (Mark 6:30–44), and walked on water (Mark6:48–49).
Inthe later part of his ministry in Galilee, Jesus often withdrew andtraveled to the north and the east. The Gospel narratives are notwritten with a focus on chronology. However, only brief returns toGalilee appear to have taken place prior to Jesus’ journey toJerusalem. As people followed Jesus, faith was praised and fearresolved. Jerusalem’s religious leaders traveled to Galilee,where they leveled accusations and charged Jesus’ discipleswith lacking ritual purity (Mark 7:1–5). Jesus shamed thePharisees by pointing out their dishonorable treatment of parents(7:11–13). The Pharisees challenged his legitimacy by demandinga sign (8:11). Jesus refused them signs but agreed with Peter, whoconfessed, “You are the Messiah” (8:29). Jesus didprovide the disciples a sign: his transfiguration (9:2–8).
Jesuswithdrew from Galilee to Tyre and Sidon, where a Syrophoenician womanrequested healing for her daughter. Jesus replied, “I was sentonly to the lost sheep of Israel” (Matt. 15:24). Galileans hadlong resented the Syrian provincial leadership partiality thatallotted governmental funds in ways that made the Jews receive mere“crumbs.” Consequently, when the woman replied, “Eventhe dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table,”Jesus applauded her faith (Matt. 15:27–28). Healing a deaf-muteman in the Decapolis provided another example of Jesus’ministry in Gentile territory (Mark 7:31–37). Peter’sconfession of Jesus as the Christ took place during Jesus’travel to Caesarea Philippi, a well-known Gentile territory. The citywas the ancient center of worship of the Hellenistic god Pan.
Judeanministry.Luke records a geographic turning point in Jesus’ ministry ashe resolutely set out for Jerusalem, a direction that eventually ledto his death (Luke 9:51). Luke divides the journey to Jerusalem intothree phases (9:51–13:21; 13:22–17:10; 17:11–19:27).The opening verses of phase one emphasize a prophetic element of thejourney. Jesus viewed his ministry in Jerusalem as his mission, andthe demands on discipleship intensified as Jesus approached Jerusalem(Matt. 20:17–19, 26–28; Mark 10:38–39, 43–45;Luke 14:25–35). Luke presents the second phase of the journeytoward Jerusalem with a focus on conversations regarding salvationand judgment (Luke 13:22–30). In the third and final phase ofthe journey, the advent of the kingdom and the final judgment are themain themes (17:20–37; 19:11–27).
Socialconflicts with religious leaders increased throughout Jesus’ministry. These conflicts led to lively challenge-riposteinteractions concerning the Pharisaic schools of Shammai and Hillel(Matt. 19:1–12; Mark 10:1–12). Likewise, socioeconomicfeathers were ruffled as Jesus welcomed young children, who hadlittle value in society (Matt. 19:13–15; Mark 10:13–16;Luke 18:15–17).
PassionWeek, death, and resurrection. Eachof the Gospels records Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem with thecrowds extending him a royal welcome (Matt. 21:4–9; Mark11:7–10; Luke 19:35–38; John 12:12–15). Lukedescribes Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem as a time during whichJesus taught in the temple as Israel’s Messiah (19:45–21:38).
InJerusalem, Jesus cleansed the temple of profiteering (Mark 11:15–17).Mark describes the religious leaders as fearing Jesus because thewhole crowd was amazed at his teaching, and so they “beganlooking for a way to kill him” (11:18). Dismayed, each segmentof Jerusalem’s temple leadership inquired about Jesus’authority (11:27–33). Jesus replied with cunning questions(12:16, 35–36), stories (12:1–12), denunciation(12:38–44), and a prediction of Jerusalem’s owndestruction (13:1–31). One of Jesus’ own disciples, JudasIscariot, provided the temple leaders the opportunity for Jesus’arrest (14:10–11).
Atthe Last Supper, Jesus instituted a new Passover, defining a newcovenant grounded in his sufferings (Matt. 26:17–18, 26–29;Mark 14:16–25; Luke 22:14–20). He again warned thedisciples of his betrayal and arrest (Matt. 26:21–25, 31; Mark14:27–31; Luke 22:21–23; John 13:21–30), and laterhe prayed for the disciples (John 17:1–26) and prayed in agonyand submissiveness in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:36–42;Mark 14:32–42; Luke 22:39–42). His arrest, trial,crucifixion, death, and resurrection followed (Matt. 26:46–28:15;Mark 14:43–16:8; Luke 22:47–24:9; John 18:1–20:18).Jesus finally commissioned his disciples to continue his mission bymaking disciples of all the nations (Matt. 28:18–20; Acts 1:8)and ascended to heaven with the promise that he will one day return(Luke 24:50–53; Acts 1:9–11).
TheIdentity of Jesus Christ
Variousaspects of Jesus’ identity are stressed in the four NT Gospels,depending on their target audiences. In the Gospels the witnesses toJesus’ ministry are portrayed as constantly questioning andexamining his identity (Matt. 11:2–5; 12:24; 26:63; 27:11; Mark3:22; 8:11; 11:28; 14:61; Luke 7:18–20; 11:15; 22:67, 70;23:39; John 7:20, 25–27; 18:37). Only beings of the spiritualrealm are certain of his divinity (Mark 1:34; 3:11; Luke 4:41). AtJesus’ baptism, God referred to him as his Son, whom he loved(Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22). Likewise, when Jesus wastransfigured in the presence of Peter, James, and John, a voiceaffirmed, “This is my Son, whom I love” (Matt. 17:5; Mark9:7). At the moment of his death, the questioning of Jesus’identity culminated in a confession by a Roman centurion and otherguards: “Surely he was the Son of God!” (Matt. 27:54; cf.Mark 15:39).
Miracleworker.In the first-century setting, folk healers and miracle workers werepart of the fabric of society. Jesus, however, performed signs andmiracles in order to demonstrate the authority of the kingdom of Godover various realms: disease, illness, the spiritual world, nature,and even future events. Especially in the Gospel of John, Jesus’signs and miracles are used to show his authority and thus hisidentity.
Nochallenge superseded Jesus’ authority. Among his ample miraclesand signs, he changed water into wine (John 2:7–9), calmed astorm in the sea (Matt. 8:23–27; Mark 4:35–39; Luke8:22–25), exorcized demons (Matt. 9:32–34; Mark 5:1–13;Luke 9:42–43), healed the sick (Mark 1:40–44), raised thedead (Matt. 9:23–25; Mark 5:35–42; Luke 7:1–16;8:49–54; John 11:17, 38–44), performed miraculousfeedings (Matt. 14:17–21; 15:34–38; Mark 6:30–44;8:5–9; Luke 9:10–17; John 6:8–13), and walked onwater (Matt. 14:25–26; Mark 6:48–49; John 6:19).
ThePharisees requested miracles as evidence of his authority (Mark8:11–12). Jesus refused, claiming that a wicked and adulterousgeneration asks for a miraculous sign (Matt. 12:38–39; 16:1–4).The only sign that he would give was the sign of Jonah—hisdeath and resurrection three days later—a personal sacrifice,taking upon himself the judgment of the world (Matt. 12:39–41).
Rabbi/teacher.Jesus’ teaching style was similar to other first-century rabbisor Pharisees (Mark 9:5; 10:51; John 1:38; 3:2). What distinguishedhim was that he spoke with great personal authority (Matt. 5:22, 28,32, 39, 44; Mark 1:22). Like other rabbis of his day, Jesus gathereddisciples. He called these men to observe his lifestyle and to joinhim in his ministry of teaching, healing, and exorcism (Matt. 10:1–4;Mark 3:13–19; Luke 6:12–16).
Jesusused a variety of teaching methods. He frequently spoke in parables(Matt. 6:24; 13:24–52; 18:10–14, 23–35;21:28–22:14; 24:32–36, 45–51; 25:14–30; Mark4:1–34; 12:1–12; 13:28–34; Luke 8:4–18;12:41–46; 13:18–21; 14:15–24; 15:1–16:15,19–31; 18:1–14; 19:11–27; 20:9–19; 21:29–33),used figures of speech (John 10:9), hyperbole (Matt. 19:24; Mark10:25; Luke 18:25), argumentation (Matt. 26:11), object lessons(Matt. 24:32), frequent repetition (Matt. 13:44–47; Luke13:18–21), practical examples, and personal guidance.
Majorthemes in Jesus’ teaching include the kingdom of God, the costof discipleship, internal righteousness, the end of the age, hisidentity, his mission, and his approaching death. In his teachings,observance of Torah was given new context and meaning because God’skingdom had “come near” (Matt. 3:2). Jesus had come tofulfill the law (Matt. 5:17).
Jesus’teaching ministry often took place amid social conflict. Theseconflicts were couched in so-called challenge-riposte interactions inwhich the honor status of those involved was at stake. Jesus usedthese interactions as teachable moments. When questioned, Jesus gavereplies that reveal omniscience or intimate knowledge of God’swill, especially in the Gospel of John. In the Synoptic Gospels,Jesus’ answers are both ethical and practical in nature. TheSynoptics portray Jesus as challenged repeatedly with accusations ofviolating customs specified in the Jewish law. Jesus’ answersto such accusations often echoed the essence of 1Sam. 15:22,“To obey is better than sacrifice,” phrased by Jesus as“I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Matt. 9:13; 12:7). Anoverall “better than” ethic was common in Jesus’public teaching.
TheSermon on the Mount (Matt. 5–7) contains a “better than”ethic in which internal obedience is better than mere outwardobedience. For example, Jesus said that anger without cause is equalto murder (Matt. 5:21–22), that looking at a woman lustfullyamounts to adultery (Matt. 5:28), and that instead of revengingwrongs one must reciprocate with love (Matt. 5:38–48). Jesusvalued compassion above traditions and customs, even those containedwithin the OT law. He desired internal obedience above the letter ofthe law.
Jesus’teachings found their authority in the reality of God’simminent kingdom (Matt. 3:2; 10:7; Mark 1:15; Luke 10:9),necessitating repentance (Matt. 3:2), belief (Mark 1:15), dependence(Matt. 18:3–5; Mark 10:15), and loyalty to a new community—thefamily of Jesus followers (Mark 3:34; 10:29–30). Jesus urged,“Seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness”(Matt. 6:33). Preaching with such urgency was common among propheticteachers of the intertestamental period. Jesus, however, had his owngrounds for urgency. He held that God deeply valued all humans (Matt.10:31) and would bring judgment swiftly (Matt. 25:31–46).
Examplesof a “greater good” ethic in the Synoptics include theoccasions when Jesus ate with sinners (Mark 2:16–17). Jesusused an aphorism in response to accusations about his associationswith sinners, saying, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor,but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners”(Mark 2:17). He advocated harvesting and healing on the Sabbath (Mark2:23–28; 3:1–6), and when he was accused of breaking thelaw, he pointed to an OT exception (1Sam. 21:1–6) todeclare compassion appropriate for the Sabbath. Jesus also appliedthe “greater good” ethic in the case of divorce, sincewomen suffered the societal stigma of adultery and commonly becameoutcasts following divorce (Matt. 19:8–9; Mark 10:5–9).
Jesus’kingdom teachings were simultaneously spiritual, ethical, andeschatological in application. The teachings were aimed at internaltransformation (Matt. 5:3–9; 18:3; Mark 10:15) and spurring onlove (Matt. 5:44; 7:21). The Spirit of the Lord had called Jesus tobless the hurting ones as they aspired to a godly character. Jesustaught, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father isperfect” (Matt. 5:48), and “Be merciful, just as yourFather is merciful” (Luke 6:36). The “blessed” onesin Jesus’ teachings are poor of spirit, peace driven, mournful,and hungry for righteousness, consumed with emulating godlycharacter.
Somescholars believe that Jesus promoted an “interim ethic”for the kingdom, intended only for a short period prior to the end oftime. However, he was explicit regarding the longevity of histeachings: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words willnever pass away” (Matt. 24:35; Luke 16:17).
Messiah.The concept of an anointed one, a messiah, who would restore theglories of David’s kingdom and bring political stability wascommon in Jewish expectation. Both before and after the Babyloniancaptivity, many Jews longed for one who would bring peace andprotection. Israel’s prophets had spoken of a coming deliverer,one who would restore David’s kingdom and reign in justice andrighteousness (2Sam. 7:11–16; Isa. 9:1–7; 11:1–16;Jer. 23:5–6; 33:15–16; Ezek. 37:25; Dan. 2:44; Mic. 5:2;Zech. 9:9). Isaiah’s description of the servant (Isa. 53) whosesuffering healed the nation provided a slightly different angle ofexpectation in terms of a deliverer.
Jesus’authority and popularity as a miracle worker called up messianicimages in first-century Jewish minds. On several occasions hearerscalled him “Son of David,” hoping for the Messiah (Matt.12:23; 21:9). Simon Peter was the first follower who confessed Jesusas the Christ, the “Messiah” (Matt. 16:16; Mark 8:29). Inline with Isaiah’s model of the Suffering Servant, Jesusfocused not on political ends but rather on spiritual regenerationthrough his own sacrificial death (Mark 10:45).
Eschatologicalprophet.Many scholars claim that Jesus is best understood as a Jewishapocalypticist, an eschatological prophet who expected God tointervene in history, destroy the wicked, and bring in the kingdom ofGod. Central in this understanding are Jesus’ propheciesconcerning the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem (Matt. 24:1–2,15–22; Mark 13:1; Luke 21:5–24; John 2:19; Acts 6:14). Inaddition, it is noted that Jesus had twelve disciples, representativeof the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. 19:2–28; Luke 22:23–30).Certain of Jesus’ parables, those with apocalyptic images ofcoming judgment, present Jesus as an eschatological prophet (Matt.24:45–25:30; Luke 12:41–46; 19:11–27).
SufferingSon of God.Jesus’ first recorded teaching in a synagogue in Nazareth wasparadigmatic (Luke 4:16–21). He attributed the reading, Isa.61:1–2, to his personal calling to serve, and in doing so herevealed a trajectory of suffering. The Gospel of Mark likewise aptlyportrays Jesus as the suffering Son of God. Jesus’ ownteachings incorporated his upcoming suffering (Mark 8:31; 9:12–13,31; 10:33–34). He summarized his mission by declaring, “TheSon of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give hislife as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). His earthly careerended with a trial in Jerusalem consisting of both Roman and Jewishcomponents (Matt. 26:57–68; 27:1–31; Mark 14:53–65;15:1–20; Luke 22:54–23:25; John 18:19–24;18:28–19:16). He was insulted, scourged, mocked, and crucified.
Jesus’suffering culminated in his humiliating death by crucifixion (Matt.27:33–50; Mark 15:22–37; Luke 23:33–46; John19:16–30). Crucifixion was a death of unimaginable horror,bringing shame and humiliation to the victim and his family. Anyonehanging on a tree was considered cursed (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13).Thus, especially in a Jewish society, anyone associated with acrucified person bore the shame of following one who was executed asa lowly slave and left as a cursed corpse. The apostle Paul referredto this shame of the cross when he stated, “I am not ashamed ofthe gospel” (Rom. 1:16).
ExaltedLord.Jesus had prophesied that he would rise again (Matt. 16:21; 17:9, 23;20:19; 27:63; Mark 8:31; 9:9, 31; 10:34; Luke 9:22; 18:33; 24:7, 46).The testimony of the Synoptics is that the resurrection of JesusChrist indeed occurred on the third day, Christ having died on Friday(Mark 15:42–45; Luke 23:52–54; John 19:30–33) andrisen again on Sunday (Matt. 28:1–7; Mark 16:2–7; Luke24:1–7; John 20:1–16). The resurrected Jesus waswitnessed by the women (Matt. 28:8–9), the eleven disciples(Matt. 28:16–17; Luke 24:36–43), and travelers on theroad to Emmaus (Luke 24:31–32). According to Paul, he appearedto as many as five hundred others (1Cor. 15:6). He appeared inbodily form, spoke, showed his scars, and ate (Luke 24:39–43;John 20:27; Acts 1:4). After forty postresurrection days, Jesusascended into the heavenly realm (Acts 1:9).
Asmuch as Jesus’ death was the epitome of shame, his victory overdeath was his ultimate exaltation (Phil. 2:5–11). At Pentecost,Peter proclaimed that in the resurrection God fulfilled OT promises(Ps. 16:10) by raising his Son from the grave (Acts 2:30–31).Furthermore, Christ provided freedom from the law through hisresurrection (Rom. 5:13–14), God’s approval of his lifeand work (Phil. 2:8–9), and God’s designation of him asLord over all the earth, the living and the dead (Acts 17:30–31;Phil. 2:10; Heb. 1:3), and over all his enemies (Eph. 1:20–23).
Jesus’exaltation commenced the beginning of forgiveness and justification(Luke 24:46–47; Acts 13:30–39; Rom. 4:25) and hisintercession for the people of God (Rom. 8:34). His ascensionsignaled the coming of the Holy Spirit as comforter and teacher (John14:26; Acts 2:33) and was accompanied by the promise of his return inglory (Luke 24:51), at which time he will render judgment (Matt.19:28; 24:31; Rev. 20:11–15) and establish his eternal kingdom(1Cor. 15:24; 2Tim. 4:1; Rev. 11:15; 22:5).
Jesus’Purpose and Community
Inthe Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, whopreaches the good news of the kingdom, urging people to repent(4:17–23). Repentance and belief allow one to enter thekingdom. The call into the kingdom is a call into a new covenant, onemade in Jesus’ blood (26:28).
Inthe prologue to the Gospel of Mark, the narrator reveals the identityof Jesus (1:1). Jesus is presented as the one who brings good tidingsof salvation (cf. Isa. 40:9; 52:7; 61:1). The centrality of thegospel, the good news (Mark 1:14–15), is evident.
Lukelikewise presents the preaching of the good news as a main purpose ofJesus’ ministry (4:43). The content of this good news is thekingdom of God (4:43; 8:1; 16:16). When the disciples of John theBaptist asked Jesus if he was the one who was to come (7:20), Jesusanswered, “Go back and report to John what you have seen andheard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosyare cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good newsis proclaimed to the poor” (7:22). The kingdom of God, aspresented in Luke, brings freedom for the prisoners, recovery ofsight for the blind, and release for the oppressed (4:18). Jesus’healings and exorcisms announce the coming kingdom of God alreadypresent in the ministry of Jesus (4:40–44; 6:18–20;8:1–2; 9:2; 10:8–9).
Inthe Gospel of John, Jesus testifies to the good news by way of signsthroughout his ministry. These signs point to Jesus’ glory, hisidentity, and the significance of his ministry. Jesus is the Messiah,the Son of God, who offers eternal and abundant life. This abundantlife is lived out in community.
Inthe Gospel of John, the disciples of Jesus represent the community ofGod (17:21). The disciples did not belong to the world, but theycontinued to live in the world (17:14–16). Throughout hisministry, Jesus called his disciples to follow him. This was a callto loyalty (Matt. 10:32–40; 16:24–26; Mark 8:34–38;Luke 9:23–26), a call to the family of God (Matt. 12:48–50;Mark 3:33–35). Jesus’ declaration “On this rock Iwill build my church” (Matt. 16:18) was preceded by the call tocommunity. Jesus’ presence as the head of the community wasreplaced by the promised Spirit (John 14:16–18).
Jesus’ministry continued in the community of Jesus’ followers, God’sfamily—the church. Entrance into the community was obtained byadopting the values of the kingdom, belief, and through theinitiation rite of baptism (Matt. 10:37–39; 16:24–26;Mark 8:34–38; Luke 9:23–26, 57–62; John 1:12; 3:16;10:27–29; Acts 2:38; 16:31–33; 17:30; Rom. 10:9).
TheQuests for the Historical Jesus
Thequest for the historical Jesus, or seeking who Jesus was from ahistorical perspective, is a modern phenomenon deemed necessary byscholars who claim that the NT Gospels were written long after Jesus’death and were heavily influenced by the post-Easter understanding ofthe church.
Thebeginning of this quest is often dated to 1770, when the lecturenotes of Hermann Samuel Reimarus were published posthumously.Reimarus had launched an inquiry into the identity of Jesus thatrejected as inauthentic all supernatural elements in the Gospels. Heconcluded that the disciples invented Jesus’ miracles,prophecies, ritualistic religion, and resurrection. Reimarus’sconclusions were not widely accepted, but they set off a flurry ofrationalistic research into the historical Jesus that continuedthroughout the nineteenth century. This became known as the “firstquest” for the historical Jesus.
In1906 German theologian Albert Schweit-zer published The Quest of theHistorical Jesus (German title: Von Reimarus zu Wrede: EineGeschichte der Leben-Jesu-Forschung), a scathing indictment of thefirst quest. Schweitzer’s work showed that nineteenth-centuryresearchers re-created Jesus in their own image, transforming thehistorical Jesus into a modern philanthropist preaching aninoffensive message of love and brotherhood. Schweitzer’sconclusions marked the beginning of the end for this first quest.Schweitzer himself concluded that the historical Jesus was aneschatological prophet whose purposes failed during his last days inJerusalem.
Withthe demise of the first quest, some NT scholars, such as RudolfBultmann, rejected any claim to being able to discover the historicalJesus. This trend continued until 1953, when some of Bultmann’sformer students launched what has come to be known as the “newquest” for the historical Jesus (1953–c. 1970). Thisquest created new interest in the historical Jesus but was stilldominated by the view that the portrait of Jesus in the Gospels islargely a creation of the church in a post-Easter setting.
Asthe rebuilding years of the post–World WarII era wanedand scholars started to reap academic fruit from major archaeologicalfinds such as the DSS, research on the historical Jesus moved on towhat has been called the “third quest.” This quest seeksespecially to research and understand Jesus in his social andcultural setting.
Common and valuable for food, beans were cooked while green in the pods or after being dried. Dry beans were threshed and winnowed like cereals and other grains. Beans are mentioned twice in the NIV (2Sam. 17:28; Ezek. 4:9).
Common and valuable for food, beans were cooked while green in the pods or after being dried. Dry beans were threshed and winnowed like cereals and other grains. Beans are mentioned twice in the NIV (2Sam. 17:28; Ezek. 4:9).
The most focused narrative of Jesus’ temptation followshis baptism, but the Gospels have not isolated Jesus’temptations to this one event. Rather, as Mark 8:33; Luke 22:28, andother texts indicate, Jesus knew temptations throughout his ministry(cf. Heb. 2:18; 4:15). References in John’s Gospel, which hasno account of Jesus’ temptation in the desert, suggest the same(John 6:15; 7:1–4).
Allthree Synoptic Gospels place the temptation narrative immediatelyfollowing Jesus’ baptism. Discussions of whether this event wasactual or merely visual, one that Jesus described to his disciples orone that they created from miscellaneous sayings after Jesus’death to parallel Deut. 8:2, will undoubtedly continue. As theSynoptics recount the event, Mark reduces it to one verse (Mark1:13), whereas Matthew and Luke give full accounts, delineating inthree acts the struggle between Jesus and Satan. Matthew and Lukerecount these acts in a different sequence, possibly due to Luke’sinterest in Jerusalem and the temple or to his desire to use Ps. 106as his outline (manna, golden calf, testing God [cf. Luke 4:1–13]).Matthew portrays a progression climaxing in a display of Satan’strue character, after which Jesus ends Satan’s attack and sendshim away with a clarifying quote from Deut. 6:13: “Worship theLord your God, and serve him only” (Matt. 4:1–11).Opposite the first Adam, who gave in to the temptation to stoptrusting God, the second Adam, Jesus, conquered his temptation withan affirmation that worship of God should remain undivided.
Theplacement of Jesus’ temptation at the outset of his ministry,immediately following his baptism, speaks to the significance of theevent. All three Synoptics emphasize that God’s Spirit ledJesus to the desert to be tempted by the devil. There is no sharpdistinction between testing and temptation; God uses Satan’stemptation to test Jesus. The desert setting as the preparatoryproving ground for extraordinary usability in God’s kingdomfollows the general wilderness motif that runs through Scripture(e.g., Abraham, Moses, Israel) and places Jesus squarely in thecenter of God’s salvation history. Jesus fulfills God’smessianic promise.
Introducingtwo of the three temptations by an affirmation of Jesus’ divinesonship gives the event a strong messianic character (Satan’sstatements are better understood as affirmations [“Since youare the Son of God...”] than as questions[“If you are the Son of God...”]).Since Jesus knows that he is the Son of God, he is tempted to disobeyfor his own benefit (cf. Gen. 3:4–6).
Noreader familiar with the stories of the OT can miss the way Jesus’temptations parallel major OT events. Not only does the devil try tolure Jesus to satisfy his personal needs by a misuse of his power, asbecomes obvious from Jesus’ answer quoting Deut. 8:3, but alsohe entices Jesus to display a power that replicates God’s mannamiracle in the desert. Furthermore, the connection between this firsttemptation to eat what he is not supposed to eat and the originaltemptation to eat the forbidden fruit (Gen. 3) seems too obvious tomiss.
Jesus’second temptation in Matthew (Luke’s third) portrays Satanbringing Jesus to the highest point of the temple to overlook KidronValley, where a fall meant certain death. From here, the devil quotesPs. 91:11–12, giving scriptural basis for his trap. Thesymbolic character of this setting proves powerful. Satan challengesJesus to test God’s faithfulness to his word in the context ofthe temple. If Jesus cannot trust God’s promise to protect hispeople even in the temple, then his very mission proves void. Again,the reference to the original temptation, Satan (mis)quoting God inGod’s own setting, sets the stage for the portrayal of Jesus’answer. Unlike the first Adam, Jesus unravels Satan’s scheme byexposing the mistake of confusing God’s promise to protectthose who stumble and fall with a deliberate act designed to forceGod’s hand. Such would be to test (tempt) God, which Scriptureexplicitly forbids (Deut. 6:16). Whether Jesus quoting Deut. 6:16speaks directly to his own self-understanding is uncertain butunlikely.
Matthewends his temptation account with Jesus on a high mountain,overlooking the kingdoms of the world, where Satan offers worldauthority in exchange for Jesus’ worship. There is noreflection on whether these kingdoms were Satan’s to give, andno explicit naming of Jesus as God’s Son (although a subtlereference to Ps. 2 is likely to echo in the reader’s mind [seeMatt. 3:17]). Matthew’s reference to a mountain (Matt. 4:8),which Luke does not mention (Luke 4:5), corresponds to his mountainmotif and functions here to parallel the location of Jesus’discipleship commission to bring God’s kingdom to all nations(Matt. 28:16–20), causing them to transfer their worship toGod. Rather than worshiping Satan, Jesus conquers Satan’stemptations and, as the second Adam, brings the nations back to theworship of God (Matt. 4:10).
Common and valuable for food, beans were cooked while green in the pods or after being dried. Dry beans were threshed and winnowed like cereals and other grains. Beans are mentioned twice in the NIV (2Sam. 17:28; Ezek. 4:9).
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1. John Stepped Over the Line
Illustration
Stephen Butler Murray
Back when I was a seminarian at Yale Divinity School, I had a discussion with a rabbi who was studying for his Ph.D. in New Testament, an unusual combination! He mused that if Christians had just stuck with the gospel of Mark, Jews (who are willing to recognize Jesus as a great teacher) and Muslims (who recognize Jesus as a great prophet, perhaps second only to Mohammed) could probably get along with us Christians a lot better. My rabbi friend suggested that while Matthew and Luke pushed the line, John stepped across the line with impunity by equating Jesus with God.
2. Andrew’s Life
Illustration
Daniel W. Brettell
Even at the end of life, Andrew continued in his own way to bring people to Christ. We have no historical evidence — he never wrote an Epistle; he never founded any churches we know of; he isn't mentioned in the book of Acts or in any of the Epistles. But Eusebius, the ancient church historian, passed on the oral tradition that Andrew carried the Gospel north, perhaps going as far as the British Isles and Scythia. Those travels may explain why he is considered the Patron Saint of both Scotland and Russia.
It was in Achaia, in southern Greece, near Athens, that Andrew's life ended. Tradition has it that he converted the wife of a provincial Roman Governor to Christianity. Infuriated, the governor demanded his wife recant. She refused, and the governor had Andrew crucified. But even during his agonies, as he hung on the X-shaped cross, Andrew continued to spread the Gospel, exhorting passersby to turn to Christ for salvation. So after a lifetime of serving Christ in the shadow of his brother, his fate was similar to theirs, and he remained faithful to the end, endeavoring to bring people to Christ—right to the end of his life.
3. The Comfort of Bread
Illustration
Eric Ritz
Immediately after fighting had stopped in World War II, American soldiers gathered up many hungry and homeless children and placed them in tent cities. Many of them were malnourished and in need of medical care. The soldiers shared their bread with them. However, the soldiers noticed the children were afraid to go to sleep at night. One of the soldiers tried an experiment; after dinner he gave the children a piece of bread to hold. The result was astounding. When they had the security of bread for tomorrow they slept like babies. It took away fear.
Bread! There is a surplus of meaning in this word. The word evokes strong emotions like security, fellowship, the presence of God, provisions for the journey. Bread is deemed holy by peoples everywhere, and the root word for bread in most languages can be translated "food," as it is in the Bible.
4. The Meaning of All Religion
Illustration
Staff
What do we see in the image the gospel writer presents? We are told "they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat". Certainly there is the man, Jesus, exercising a power no human has; there is the storm that presents such peril to those in the boat; there is the location distant from shore.
But what is behind what is told? What truth is present in the relation of the events?
Karl Barth expresses well what it is in "Der Romerbrief." We all "are encountered" by God.
"That we have found the Christ in Jesus of Nazareth is confirmed because all the manifestations of God's faithfulness are indications or prophecies of what has encountered us in Jesus. The hidden power of the law and the prophets is the Christ who encounters us in Jesus. The meaning of all religion is the redemption, the turn of the age, the resurrection, the invisibility of God that constrains us to silence in Jesus. The substance of all human happenings is the forgiveness under which they stand as it is proclaimed and embodied precisely in Jesus. No one need object that this power, this meaning, this substance is to be found not only in Jesus but elsewhere. For we ourselves affirm this very thing; indeed, precisely we can affirm it. What is known and found in Jesus is that God is found everywhere, that before and after Jesus mankind has been found by God; in him we have the criterion by which all finding and being found by God may be known as such and by which we can conceive this finding and being found as a truth of the eternal order. Many walk in the light of redemption, forgiveness, resurrection; but that we see them walk, that we have eyes for them, we owe to one. In his light we see light.
And that it is the Christ we have found in Jesus is confirmed because Jesus is the final word, which clarifies all the others and brings them to sharpest expression, of the faithfulness of God to which the law and the prophets bear witness."
5. Our Children Watch Us Closely
Illustration
James W. Moore
Andrew's act reminds us dramatically of how important children and their resources are to Christ and his church. Andrew's act shows us graphically how crucial it is for us in our words and deeds to bring children into the presence of Jesus.
Many years ago in Missouri, a minister made a bad mistake in moral judgment that later came back to haunt him and to hurt many others. Through trickery, conniving, and scheming, the minister stole a man's dog. That's bad enough, but to make matters worse, he included his two little boys in the deception. The two boys helped their dad disguise the dog so the rightful owner could not claim him. The boys enjoyed the trickery and plotting. The boys thought it was great fun to take away the man's dog.
Some years later, the minister realized that in that one deceitful act, he had taught his sons how to steal and turned them away from the Christ-like spirit of love and kindness and goodness and respect for others. And he said, regretfully: "it was a terrible mistake on my part. I was able to keep the dog, but I lost my sons."
Oh, by the way, the names of those two little boys were Frank and Jesse James! They grew up to become two of the most notorious outlaws and robbers of the old West. Their minister dad never forgave himself. That's a dramatic example, to be sure, but it is true, so true, that our children do indeed watch us closely and learn so much from what we do.
6. Whose Hands?
Illustration
Source Unknown
If I might paraphrase what some unknown writer penned a few years back: “A basketball in my hands is worth about $50. A basketball in LeBron James’ hands is worth about $100 million. It depends whose hands it’s in. A baseball in my hands is worth about $10. A baseball in former New York Yankees’ third baseman Alex Rodriguez’s hands is worth $30 million. It depends whose hands it’s in. A golf club might be worth $50 in my hands. In Phil Michelson’s hands it’s worth 100s of millions. It depends whose hands it’s in. A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal. A rod in Moses’ hands will part the mighty sea. It depends whose hands it’s in. A sling shot in my hands is a kid’s toy. A sling shot in David’s hand is a mighty weapon. It depends whose hands it’s in. Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches. Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in God’s hands will feed thousands. It depends whose hands it’s in.”
7. Lowered Expectation
Illustration
John Marks Templeton
Would it surprise you to learn that everything in your life right now is pretty much the way you made it? That from hundreds of options you chose your responses to whatever situations presented themselves? Would you agree that you have exercised the capacity to choose what you have received? If so, doesn't it stand to reason that if you made the choice in the first place, you can change it?
What a powerful notion! Whatever happens to you, you can say, "I am the master of my life."
But just as the good that comes to you is a demonstration of your mastery, so is the negative. Consider how hopping fleas are trained. The fleas are put into a glass jar. As they try and jump in the jar, they bump their heads on the lid. Over time, they forget they can jump and, for fear of bumping their heads, never go beyond the limits of the jar, even though the lids have been removed. Through continued failure they have become conditioned to confinement. So it is with us, if we let it be. Our self-made limitations sometimes cause us to forget that we can fly. We respond like the disciples, "We only have five small loaves of bread and two fish. We often needlessly confine ourselves to glass jars. We may yearn to use our lives creatively, but our invisible prisons remind us: "You can't do that. It isn't practical. You're not smart enough. It will cost too much. People will laugh at you. You're too young. You're too old. Your health won't allow it. Your parents won't allow it. It will take too long. You don't have the education."
But suppose we could remember that we were made to achieve? Suppose that we could remember that miracles do happen? Suppose we really believed that we are children and heirs of this magnificent universe? Would we then still allow our jars to limit us to hopping just so far and no further? Suppose we became aware that resentments, hurts, hates, grudges, illness, greed and the like are glass jars that have been, or can be, removed, that, indeed, we may be hampered by the illusion of our own self-imposed limitations? We attract to ourselves whatever our minds are focused upon.
Once aware, we can change and then we will no longer be confined to that glass jar. We will be ready and able to achieve.
8. How Much Is Enough?
Illustration
John P. Jewell
According to the old saying, enough is enough. When you have enough of anything, it means you have an adequate supply. If it is money it means you have sufficient funds to pay the bills. If it is food, it means you have an ample amount for the number of people who are going to eat.
If there is not enough of something, you could have trouble. Not enough money means you might have creditors hounding you. Not enough food might mean lots of complaints. In one scenario presented by Henry Kindall and David Pimentel in a journal of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, there is, "...little hope of providing adequate food for the majority of humanity by 2025-2050." [Ambio Vol. 23 No. 3, May 1994] It is almost frightening to think that there might not be enough to go around when the children in our nurseries are raising their families.
On the other hand there are people that enjoy much more than enough to get along. A while back, people in Michigan and Illinois shared the biggest lottery jackpot in U.S. history. They will each have $20,000 each week to spend as they wish. I guess you would call that way more than enough. This is especially true in light of the fact that a family of two, according to the federal guidelines on poverty, lives on just over half that amount in a year.
And yet, "enough" is a relative concept isn't it? There are countries in the third world where it would take almost 40 years for a family to make the equivalent of our poverty level income.
How much is enough?
9. What Are We To Do About This?
Illustration
J. Dudley Weaver
The telephone rings, you answer, it's someone from the church. After a bit of polite chit-chat, the caller gets to the point: "The reason I'm calling," she confesses, "is that we would really like it if you would consider teaching Sunday School next year, or serving as a Presbyterian Women's Ministry leader, singing in the choir, chairing a particular committee, whatever." And you think: "Dear God, they must really be scraping the bottom of the barrel," or "I already have so much to do," and all of the good, logical reasons for not saying "yes" come immediately to mind.
Someone asks you to lunch. You know each other, but then again, you really don't. He says, "I'll be honest with you. I'm about as lonely as I have ever been in my life. I need a friend, someone to talk with, and I was hoping you would be that person for me." And you think, "Oh, Lord, I'm not up to this."
A friend gives every evidence of addiction; a neighbor's child bears the marks of abuse but you're not sure. . . It would be easier, and probably smarter for you personally, just to stay out of it all, to mind your own business.
You may feel sorry for the person trying to recruit volunteers in the life of the church; sorry for the person who needs a friend; sorry for the friend with the addiction, for the child with the bruises and burns, but when you add it all up all you have to offer are five little loaves of bread and two scrawny fish. There is nothing that you can do. The task is simply beyond the scope of your ability, the limits of your time and energy, and so what you do is nothing. Jesus, though, keeps asking "what are we do to about this?" Why can't he leave well enough alone?
10. Fear Not
Illustration
William R. Boyer
Our fear is a hump we have to get over, and we have to get over it before we can go very far with Jesus. To help an alcoholic or a drug addict, we must first get him or her off the stuff. That is the first step, the first lesson (if you will): to stop drinking or using. Only then does it make sense to talk about other things. Jesus knew that people, from the day they are born, are slaves to fear, just as much slaves as a drunkard is to his bottle or an addict to his needle. And, until we can stop being afraid, and trust God, nothing else works. We are simply too consumed by fear and worry and anxiety to think about anything else. For that reason Jesus spent a great deal of time telling us not to be afraid telling us directly, and acting out God's grace by feeding people who were hungry and rescuing those in trouble on the sea. God will be there when we need him. Fear not. It the first lesson in the Christian primmer, the one on which all the others build.
11. The Overworked Church
Illustration
Chris Appleby
At a church meeting for representatives of small Anglican Churches, they met to discuss ways that churches can grow. One of the things that emerged from that meeting was how hard it is for small churches to do all the things that could be done, with the small resource base they have. Most Churches reported that they'd had to limit the range of their ministry focus so they could cope with the workload without wearing out their members. It's a common problem isn't it? In fact most of us are overworked in one way or another. It's a reality of the Christian life that none of us has the resources to do everything that needs to be done. Even those things we are doing, we probably feel inadequate to do. In the passage before us today we find two such instances, when the disciples were faced with situations that were beyond their capacity to cope and we see how the intervention of Jesus changes things.
12. Missing the Meaning of Success
Illustration
J. Ellsworth Kalas
We don't necessarily recognize success when we see it. When HamiltonCollege celebrated its centennial, one of its most famous alumni, Alexander Woolcott, was asked to give a major address. Woolcott opened his speech this way: "I send my greetings today to all my fellow alumni of Hamilton College, scattered all over the world. Some of you are successes, and some of you are failures only God knows which are which!"
It's hard to recognize success. We don't always know it when we see it.
Jesus was able to recognize success and he wasn't going to allow the crowds to define it for him.
13. Stone Soup
Illustration
Stephen M. Crotts
I love the story of a Christian missionary hiking the high Andean trails to a remote village in Peru. He found a rock along the road, a curious geode, and put it in his backpack as a souvenir. That evening he strode into the village to a very unfriendly welcome. No one offered him a bed. No one asked him to sit by their fire. He learned that a famine had plagued the Indians for over a month. And the people were starving. Each was simply afraid to share amidst so much deprivation.
Praying to Jesus how to help them, he got an idea. Calling the Indians around a campfire he preached God's loving care in Christ. Then he said, "I'm going to feed you by making some stone soup. Yummm! It's tasty! I grew up on it! And you'll like it just fine!" Then he opened his backpack and produced the rock he'd found that morning.
The Indians scoffed, "Stone soup! Why that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"
"Trust me," the missionary assured them. "See! I've brought the stone. But I'm going to need a pot to put it in." An Indian woman quickly volunteered her pot.
"And I'll need about two large buckets of water to boil the stone in." A man, shaking his head, brought the water. So, in went the stone, in went the water, and over the fire the pot was suspended. Curious now, the villagers began to gather around the pot, peering into its contents. The missionary began to stir the pot and drool. "You know, stone soup sure is good with carrots!" To which an Indian said, "I've got six carrots!" He quickly fetched them and they were cut up into the pot. Then the missionary smelled deeply of the bubbly broth and sighed, "Some potatoes sure would add to the flavor." From pockets and other hiding places came dozens of spuds. They were quickly added to the soup. Soon people were bringing onions, celery, and bits of meat to top off the pot of stone soup. And within the hour a community was formed around that stew pot. All ate. And all were filled and they heard the story of Jesus Christ.
14. Jesus Takes Command
Illustration
Phillip Yancy
Only one miracle made it into all four gospels. It transpired on the grassy hills by the shores of the Sea of Galilee at a time when Jesus' popularity and also his vulnerability was cresting. Wherever he went, a throng that included many deranged and afflicted trailed behind.
The day before the big miracle, Jesus crossed the lake to elude the masses. Herod had just executed John the Baptist, Jesus' relative, his forerunner and friend, and Jesus needed time alone to grieve. Doubtless, John's death provoked somber thoughts of the fate awaiting him.
Alas, there would be no secluded retreat. A huge swarm of yesterday's multitude made the ten-mile journey around the lake and soon hundreds, even thousands of people clamored around Jesus. "He had compassion on them," says Mark, "because they were like sheep without a shepherd." Instead of spending the day renewing his spirit, Jesus spent it healing the sick, always an energy drain, and speaking to a crowd large enough to fill a modern basketball arena.
The issue of food came up. What to do? There are at least five thousand men, not to mention the women and children! Send them away, suggested one disciple. Buy them dinner, said Jesus. What? Is he kidding? We're talking eight months' wages!
Then Jesus took command in a way none of them had seen before. Have the people sit down in groups of fifty, he said. It was like a political rally--festive, orderly, hierarchical--exactly what one might expect from a Messiah figure.
Unavoidably, we moderns read Jesus' life backwards, knowing how it turns out. That day, no one but Jesus had a clue. Murmurs rustled through the group on the packed hillside. Is he the one? Could it be? In the wilderness, Satan had dangled before Jesus the prospects of a crowd-pleasing miracle. Now, not to please a crowd but merely to settle their stomachs, Jesus took two salted fish and five small loaves of bread and performed the miracle everyone was waiting for.
Three of the Gospels leave it at that. "They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish," reports Mark with masterful understatement. Only John tells what happened next. Jesus got his time alone, at last. As the disciples rowed back across the lake, fighting a storm all the way, Jesus spent the night on a mount, alone in prayer. Later that night he rejoined them by walking across the water.
15. We Can't Afford It
Illustration
David G. Mullen
William Easum is a church leader who's dedicated his life work to helping churches thrive and engage in real mission. He thinks we ought to deal with things that get in the way of fullness of God and mission, he wrote a book called "Sacred Cows Make Gourmet Burgers". The title says a lot! He begins the book's first chapter with this statement, "Established churches worship at the feet of the sacred cow of CONTROL." Personally, one of the most often used controlling statements I've heard over the years in any church I've served is, "We can't afford it." That is merely the echo of Philip the disciple, who told Jesus there simply wasn't enough money to buy food for all those people. We don't have enough money. Or, there isn't leadership potential. Or, we just ordinary folks. Or, we can't do it. Or, we like things just the way they are. Leave us alone! I think that's what we really mean whenever we say, "We can't afford it".
16. An Exalted Christology
Illustration
Will Willimon
John's account of the miraculous feeding is curious, when compared to the synoptic gospels, for a number of reasons. John links the feeding to the story of Jesus' walking on water, and to Peter's confession of faith. Probably, John means thereby to make a strong point regarding the identity of Jesus as the exalted Christ.
Moreover, we should take note that this feeding is set by John in the context of Passover. In John's gospel, Jesus cleanses the temple at Passover and uses the occasion to speak of his impending death (John 2). Later, in John 13, Jesus will speak again of his death in the context of a Passover meal with his disciples.
Unlike Luke's account of the miraculous feeding, as well as Mark's, this meal is not presented by John as a sign of Jesus' compassion for the hungry multitudes. Rather, this feeding is used by Jesus as an opportunity to perform a sign that will be considerably greater than the crowds expected. This is a typical Johnannine moment. In John's gospel, they come to Jesus asking for "water," and he offers "living water." They come hankering for bread, and he gives them "bread from heaven." So again, in today's passage from John, we are alerted that "bread" means considerably more than what we mean when we say, "bread."
We come to Jesus with our bodily, carnal, immediate needs only to be surprised that Jesus seems to be about more than the meeting of our needs. Nothing so satisfies us as a good meal. After their miraculous meal, the crowd immediately thinks of monarchy. Moses earlier gave bread, manna, in the wilderness of the exodus (Deut. 18:18). They hail Jesus as the new king.
John offers us an exalted Christology. Jesus will not be controlled or utilized by the crowd for our purposes. He will not be jerked around in fulfillment of our wants.
17. No One Completes the Journey Solo
Illustration
John E. Harnish
The migration of the monarch butterfly is an amazing story, a lovely little creature who blesses our gardens and forests in the summer. Every autumn, millions of monarchs from all over the easternUnited StatesandCanadamigrate thousands of miles to a small handful of sites inMexicowhere they rest for the winter. Then in the spring, they begin their return trip to the north. The amazing thing is that no individual monarch ever makes the trip toMexicoand back.
A butterfly that leaves theAdirondack MountainsinNew Yorkwill fly all the way toMexicoand spend the winter. In March, it begins the trip northward, but after laying eggs in the milkweed ofTexasandFlorida, it will die. Those butterflies will continue northward, laying eggs along the way until some of them, maybe three or four generations removed from the original, make it back to mountains ofNew York. But when August comes, they will head south, aiming for the exact place their great grandparents visited, a place they have never been.
SueHalpernsays: "The monarchs always migrate in community and depend on each other. Although a single monarch may make it fromNew YorktoMexico, it is the next generation who completes the journey."
Now here is the word for the church. She says: "No one completes the journey solo. It is only as a community that we discover the fullness of God's plan for us."
18. Better Under Pressure
Illustration
James Merritt
I learned something fascinating about a pressure cooker, and that is pressure cooking can help you maintain a healthier lifestyle. First of all, it uses only 1/3 the energy of normal cooking methods, and because very little water is used in pressure cooking, and because the pressure cooker is a "closed system," few vitamins and minerals are lost to the cooking water, or dissipated into the air. Vegetables are not exposed to oxygen, and therefore they retain their vitamins, minerals, and color. In fact, the cooking times for most foods in the pressure cooker are approximately 1/3 the times for those same foods cooked in traditional manners and areeven faster than a micro-wave.
The reason that fascinates me is because oftentimes life really is just like a pressure cooker. If we respond to pressure in the right way, it can make us better, and it can make us stronger. Now, even the disciples knew what it was to be under pressure.
19. Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand - Sermon Starter
Illustration
Brett Blair
Philip stood looking out at the masses that were now approaching. I'm not sure what was on his mind, perhaps thrilled by the success they were having. Jesus, watching over Philip's shoulder, asks, "Philip, where shall we find bread for these people to eat?" Philips gives a realistic appraisal of the situation: Eight months wages would not be enough to feed everyone so much as a little nibble. But we are let in on a little secret. Jesus is testing and I think teasing Philip a bit here. Jesus already knows he will feed them by multiplying five small barley loaves and two small fish.
Jesus is ahead of Philip. He is the pacesetter. He is out in front of them all, minutes ahead sizing up the situation providing the solutions before we even know what the problems are. He is the unique one, the measure by which all others gauge their lives.
The feeding of the five thousand is a miracle on a grand scale but if we concentrate too hard on the miracle we will miss the message in the background.
1. What are we to learn from a small meal?
2. What are we to learn from this big miracle?
3. What are we to learn from the long awaited messiah?
20. Stress
Illustration
King Duncan
A lecturer on stress management raised a glass of water and asked his audience, "How heavy is this glass of water?" Various answers were called out. Then he replied, "The weight really doesn't matter. What matters is how long you try to hold it.
"If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem," he said. "If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.
"And that's the way it is with stress," he said. "If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavier, we won't be able to carry on. You have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. So, before you return home tonight," he continued, "put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can. Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy it!"
So Jesus said to Phillip, "Tell the folks to just sit down and relax for a minute or two."
21. Walking in Circles
Illustration
King Duncan
You may know the famous story of Jean Henri Fabre, the French naturalist, and his processional caterpillars. He encountered some of these interesting creatures one day while walking in the woods. They were marching in a long unbroken line front to back, front to back. What fun it would be, Fabre thought, to make a complete ring with these worms and let them march in a circle.
So, Fabre captured enough caterpillars to encircle the rim of a flowerpot. He linked them nose to posterior and started them walking in the closed circle. For days they turned like a perpetual merry-go-round.
Although food was near at hand and accessible, the caterpillars starved to death on an endless march to nowhere.
That seems to be the story of many people today. They are on a march that leads to nowhere, reluctant to break away from the rhythmic pattern of daily life. They don't want to be different. We must break away from the crowd, however, if we are to accept Jesus' invitation to "go off alone" with him in prayer.
Then we need to receive what Christ has to offer us, just as the multitude received the loaves and fish.
22. Don’t Drop the Baton
Illustration
King Duncan
In the 1988 Olympics, the world assumed that the United States would be victorious in the men's 400-meter relay. They simply were the best. The gun cracked and they were off and running. After the last curve the unthinkable happened. The United States was ahead by 10 meters with no real competition in sight. And then, with victory in their grasp, it happened. They dropped the baton. The thousands in the stands gasped in disbelief. The United States team sleek, muscular, and fast as leopards, lost the race. Why? Someone dropped the baton.
I would hate for us as a church to be the people who dropped the baton. What is God calling us to be and to do as God's people in this time and this place? It's not a question of resources but a question of faith.
23. We Have Nothing Here
Illustration
David E. Leininger
Lord, we have nothing here but five loaves and two fish. That is the response of the ages when people feel overwhelmed by the world around them. It is the response of the parent worried about her child. The child has so many peers who exert so much pressure and is with those peers at school and at play far more than he is with the parent. So many influences; so many temptations to face... Parents hungry for answers ask "What are we to do? We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish."
It is the response of the small business owner in the face of a changing economy. How can he compete with the big chain store that has just opened, one that advertises "Twenty thousand items under one roof?" He is hungry for answers about how he can keep the little family-owned store open? After all, he doesn't have 20,000 ANYTHING; he has "nothing here but five loaves and two fish."
It is the response of the employee whose boss makes life miserable and never has a good word for anyone. In fact, there are things going on around the office that just ought not to be. "Business ethics" has become an oxymoron. Should you blow the whistle? Feel free...if you do not want the job anymore. Does the word "downsize" strike a familiar note? What then? Good jobs are scarce out there - the bills keep coming in and the kids still have college to be paid for. A worker hungry for the chance to do the right thing says, "Nothing here but five loaves and two fish."
24. The Wounded Healers
Illustration
Ron Lavin
With all its imperfections, sins, blemishes, and warts, the Church of Jesus Christ is the intended healer of the world's wounds. Christians are called to be compassionate, wounded healers.
Perhaps, Henri Nouwen, the Roman Catholic theologian, has said this better than anyone else. The author of many books, Nouwen speaks of Christians as "wounded healers" who have compassion.
Compassion is not pity. Pity lets us stay at a distance. It is condescending.
Compassion is not sympathy. Sympathy is for superiors over inferiors.
Compassion is not charity. Charity is for the rich to continue in their status over the poor.
Compassion is born of God. It means entering into the other person's problems. It means taking on the burdens of the other. It means standing in the other person's shoes. It is the opposite of professionalism. It is the humanizing way to deal with people. "Just as bread without love can bring war instead of peace, professionalism without compassion will turn forgiveness into a gimmick."
25. God Lets Us Help
Illustration
Leonard Mann
Ethan Allen was a big, voluble, rather flamboyant Vermonter, Colonial patriot, a somewhat controversial hero of the American Revolution. He organized a rag-tag army of freedom-lovers known as the Green Mountain Boys. On May 10, 1775, Allen and his "Boys" captured from the British the strategic Fort Ticonderoga. Having returned from this successful venture, Allen did something which he was wont to do sometimes as the mood suited: on Sunday morning he attended church. During the service the pastor offered a long prayer, a great deal of which was an offering of praise to God for the liberation of Fort Ticonderoga. How great was God, and how good, to have wrested that fort from the enemy! Ethan Allen, having sat through as much of this as he could endure, interrupted the pastor, saying, "Parson Dewey ... Parson Dewey, please mention to the Lord thatthe Green Mountain Boys were there!"
The plain fact is, of course, that wherever God has done things in the world somebody has been there helping him do them. Yes, perhaps Jesus could have fed that multitude without the five loaves and two fish which the disciples brought to him, but he didn't. He let his disciples help, and he used what they brought.
26. Moving Fences
Illustration
Jerry Fuller
Many years ago, there was a woman who lived in a small village in France. Trained as a nurse, she devoted her life to caring for the sick and needy. After many years of kind and selfless service to the village's families, the woman died. She had no family of her own, so the townsfolk planned a beautiful funeral for her, a fitting tribute to the woman to whom so many owed their lives.
The parish priest, however, pointed out that, because she was a Protestant, she could not be buried in the town's Catholic cemetery. The villagers protested, but the priest held firm. It was not easy for the priest either, because he too had been cared for by the woman during a serious illness. But the canons of the Church were very clear; she would have to buried outside the fence of the cemetery.
The day of the funeral arrived, and the whole village accompanied the woman' s casket to the cemetery, where she was buried outside the fence.
But that night, a group of villagers, armed with shovels, sneaked into the cemetery. They then quietly set to work moving the fence.
More astounding than Jesus' feeding of the crowds with a few pieces of bread and fish is Jesus' transforming the crowd into a community, a community united in their need for one another, in the bread they share, in the love of Christ who has brought them together. Christ empowers each one of us to perform our own miracles of creating community when we "move the fences" to include outsiders, when we welcome the rejected and forgotten to our tables, when we give of what little we have, joyfully and gratefully, for the sake of others, when we welcome one another as we would welcome Jesus.
27. The Mystery and the Glory of the Kingdom of God
Illustration
Scott Hoezee
We live in a universe and in a world with huge threats to existence and with sickeningly large social and geopolitical problems. There are meteors hurtling through space, many of which would wipe out life on earth if they struck us. There are dictators harboring or seeking weapons of mass destruction, many of which threaten our survival as a species. In the Middle East but in so many other places, too, there are seemingly intractable hatreds and prejudices between and among various ethnic groups. There are diseases like virusesgalloping through continents, threatening to wipe out the tens-of-thousands if not hundreds.Hunger and poverty loom up like a whole mountain range of daunting problems whose heights we don't know how to scale.
Yet in the midst of all these threats from within and from without, in the face of great sin and evil, faced with maladies that are global in scope, we Christian people swing in with no more than that simplest of all messages: Jesus saves. A Jewish carpenter's son from halfway around the world and from over 2,000 years ago is the one we hold up as some kind of solution. And not a few folks today want to say, "Give me a break!"
To so much of our size-crazed culture, the gospel is too small for the task at hand. In the face of untold millions of starving people, we seem to offer just five loaves and two fish. In the face of trillion-dollar federal and international budgets, we seem to celebrate the widow's penny going into the collection plate. In the face of hostile terrorists and repressive regimes headed up by the hounds of hell itself, we dispatch lamb-like folks to China and the Sudan and Afghanistan as missionaries witnessing to the Lamb who was slain. None of it seems equal to the task of reaching, much less changing, this sorry and troubled old world. Yet as Mark 4 reminds us, hidden in the midst of all that is a smallmystery — hiding the uncontainableglory — of the kingdom of God.
28. Handicap's Triumphs
Illustration
Editor James S. Hewett
John Bartel was a healthy, athletic, twenty-year-old young man who was gradually taking full charge of the family dairy farm with all its multiple duties.
It was a beautiful spring day in the lusciously green Fraser Valley, British Columbia. The grass was just right for filling the huge silos for winter feed. John was busily unloading the heavy fodder into the silage cutter and blower when a large bunch momentarily stopped the conveyer belt. By sheer habit, John stepped on the guilty bunch to get it moving again while his eyes selected the next place to insert his pitchfork, when he felt a tug on his right leg and he watched in horror as his foot and then his leg were shredded and sent up into the silo.
When he finally extracted himself, all he had left was a three-inch stub. Praying earnestly all the while, he undid his pant belt and used it as tourniquet to stop the profuse bleeding. Painfully, he dragged himself into the milk parlor of the dairy and called for an ambulance.
A few days after the operation and cleanup, he sat in his wheelchair in the hospital sun room, feeling sorry for himself and wishing himself dead rather than handicapped for the rest of his life. He noticed another wheelchair enter the room. A middle-aged man sat there with a blanket around him and looked at John with some disdain and said, "Young man, shame on you whining away like that here. You should be thankful that you are alive and healthy!" John replied a bit tersely, "You don't understand .... My leg is gone forever!" "Well, then, look at this," replied the man as he threw off the blanket and revealed two stubs about as long as John's. He then continued, “Young man, get well; then go out there and prove to the world that you can do as much with one leg as anyone else who has his two legs."
John went back to the farm and after a number of fittings, had a mechanical leg and foot made to suit his needs. He milks up to seventy cows at a time for his livelihood. He has taken over full possession of the family farm. John swims and water-skis (he always slaloms), he was featured in a sports magazine a few years ago as an ardent downhill skier. John Bartel married my niece. When I officiated at the wedding, I suggested they could remain standing for the prayer of blessing, but John said, "No way, I can kneel down and get up like everyone else on my own when the prayer is over."
They have a fine family of three children. John takes the oldest boy, no weight, to the top of the five thousand foot Mount Cheam as they both ride their trail motor bikes along that mountain trail. John and his wife Margaret were the youth leaders in their church for a number of years. He is now about thirty-three and has proven that he can do everything with only one leg and more than others can do with two, at least nearly everything ... he can’t stand only on his mechanical leg. He has a good sense of humor and a living, practical faith in the determination to succeed. And he is successful in so many ways and an encouragement and example to everyone. John would say, "I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me."
29. Bread Is Wondrous
Illustration
Ladislas M. Orsy wrote: "There is something wondrous in the taste of bread. It is so ordinary yet it is so good. It is very democratic. It nourishes the poor and the rich. It goes well with meat or fish, with fruit or cheese. It may return three times a day to the table; it may even stay there all day long. Yet it never outstays its welcome." Jesus Christ said, "I myself am the bread of life. No one who comes to me shall ever be hungry; no one who believes in me shall ever thirst."
30. Compassion for the Suffering
Illustration
Glenn E. Ludwig
In England in the 1940s a young woman entered Oxford University with little focus. She had no idea what to do with her life. But she soon came under the influence of a colorful professor of English, a writer with a gift, named C.S. Lewis. She became a Christian through much of his influence.
She left Oxford, against the advice of friends and family, and began to study nursing. After five more years of rigorous training, she was certified as a nurse.
But her story doesn't end there, for her questing, Christian spirit would not let her rest with the way things were. You see, she ended up working on a cancer ward in a London hospital. Gradually, she came to realize that most of the doctors ignored the patients who were deemed terminally ill. As a result she watched many of them die virtually alone.
Greatly troubled she felt that Christian compassion needed to be expressed to these patients in a visible way. She approached the hospital administration with an idea she had for surrounding those dying of cancer with friends and loved ones during their last days, rather than isolating them in sterile rooms with strangers. Her radical ideas were quickly rejected.
But undaunted, she decided to enroll in medical school to try to make a difference even though she was already 33 years old and would not graduate until she was 39. This she did and later a movement soon grew around her ideas that made it possible for dying patients to live their days in a setting of love and support.
Cicely Saunders, out of Christian compassion and a sense of calling to help in a specific way, began this movement in England in the 1950s. It later moved to the Americas and is now used everywhere and in every town. It is called the Hospice Movement, and it draws its inspiration from Jesus' own passion and compassion for his children -- "as a hen gathers her brood under her wings."
My prayer is that God will continually come to us in new ways and in fresh images, so that more Cicely Saunderses among us can be moved and inspired to take risks to join in God's compassion for his children. Amen.
31. We Are Not Ghosts
Illustration
Keith Grogg
On Easter morning, before the sunrise service in Carolina Beach, I was standing next to my friend Steve Hall, the minister at St. Paul's Methodist. And the sun hadn't quite peeked out above the horizon, but there was a spectacular red glow all along the skyline, reflecting on the ocean. And I was just about to say, "Steve, I can't figure out why I'm not out here every morning," but he had started to speak first, and he said, "Why am I not out here every morning?"
John, the most sacramental of the four evangelists, puts this scene with the risen Jesus on the beach; and Jesus has built a little campfire, and he asks the disciples returning from their morning trawl to bring some fish to add to the ones he's already got on the grill, along with bread that he has provided.
But Luke has it happening in the house in Jerusalem where the disciples are gathered, and it is evening.
In both cases, Christ's presence is as real as it gets, and he is so alive that, like you and me and every human being in the world, he needs something to eat.
As you and I, members of the body of Christ, try to minister to the world around us, may we remember the real, tangible, physical needs of this world that God loved so much that God gave hisonly Son.
We are not ghosts. We can do things, build things, make things, share things. And occasionally, when we have done our daily work for the physical well-being of this absolutely real world, we will have the privilege of sitting at table together, in the presence of the one who opens our eyes, and makes our breaking bread together a sacrament.
32. Cook
Illustration
Stephen Stewart
1 Samuel 9:23 - "And Samuel said to the cook, ‘Bring the portion I gave you, of which I said to you, "Put it aside." ’ "
Cooking for the family was done by the woman, just as today, although, also as today, men occasionally did it. The only professional cooks were in the homes of the very wealthy, and the royalty, and these were probably female slaves. They were probably trained by a type of apprenticeship, and were usually very well treated.
The Jews liked eating in the open air, and would often take their meals in the courtyard; but in the winter they had to be indoors, usually in the one large room that served the family for all its needs. The times of meals were flexible - they ate when they were hungry. The great majority of the people had only two meals a day, the one very early before going to work; the other in the evening when work was done. The evening meal was the only one that required much preparation - the other was merely a snack affair.
A fire in the open air was often considered good enough for cooking: the custom was to hollow out a place and border it with two stones - indeed, the Hebrew word for a cooking fire comes from the same root as "to hollow." There were also little portable stoves with two holes, in which straw and grass were burned. Meat was roasted in an oven, cooked in oil, boiled in water, or cooked on a griddle. Most people preferred boiled meat and fowl. Fish was a staple of the Jews and was boiled or roasted on a wooden or iron spit over a charcoal fire. Many vegetables were eaten raw, but lentils and greens were boiled in oil or water.
The Jews liked their food strongly seasoned. They added not merely salt, but also mustard, capers, cumin, rue, saffron, coriander, mint, dill and jeezer (a kind of wild rosemary); all these were continually used, as well as garlic, onions, and shallots. Pepper was scarce and very expensive: it came in the caravans all the way from India.
Cooking utensils were a shallow iron plate and a frying pan, neither of which had handles until a later time. Cooking pots and dishes were of unbaked, unglazed clay. Deep-fat frying was done on a griddle. Copper kettles and pans were available in later times, but they were very costly.
Knives were made of flint and, later, bronze. Forks were used only in the preparation of food, not in the eating. A kind of flat, broad cup made of tinned metal served instead of a plate - metal because of the ritual uncleanness of earthenware - or else a flat cake of hard bread.
Of course, there were also obligations and restrictions connected with their food. There was the obligation of tithing the slightest thing that made part of any meal, so that the priests should have their due share. In the preparation of dishes, there were the following requirements: lamb had to be roasted over wood from the vine; halme, a kind of aromatic pickle, used for preserving fish, was so carefully regulated that a whole paragraph of the fourteenth chapter of the tractate Shabbath is devoted to it. But above all there were the laws concerning what might and might not be eaten, and it was exceedingly dangerous to disobey them. Pork was absolutely forbidden; the hare was considered an unclean animal; the rabbis disagreed about the camel, and some forbade use of its milk. There was a very rigorous prohibition against eating the flesh of any animal that had not been bled.
The cooks in wealthy households planned the menus, calculated the amount of food needed, bought the food, cut and boned meats and fowl, and the head cook supervised the preparation, cooking, and serving of the meal.\
Today’s cook or chef works in much the same way, depending, of course, on the type of home in which he serves. The most interesting change, perhaps, is the switch from women to men as the chefs and accepted masters of the cordon bleu of today.
33. It IS Enough
Illustration
Johnny Dean
In an article in The Christian Century magazine the problem of homelessness in America was being addressed.It was a long article, it was the cover story, discussing every possible aspect of the problem. And in this long article, this extensive examination of a serious problem, in a Christian publication, not one mention was ever made of the church and what the church could do to help. Homelessness? Sounds like a government problem to me! Send them away, Jesus.
But Jesus says, "No. You give them something to eat. You take care of their needs." And despite the protests of his followers that they just don't have enough to do that, Jesus takes what they have - a lunch basket brought by a small boy, containing only a couple of loaves of bread and some fish. And he blesses it, breaks it, and gives it back to them and - what do you know? - It IS enough!
34. The Negative Verses the Positive
Illustration
Bill Bouknight
Outside a small town in New Mexico is a sign that reads as follows: "Welcome to Portales, New Mexico, home of 12,493 friendly folks and 8 or 10 grouches."
Isn't that the way it is everywhere? There are always a few negative folks around to tell you that Murphy's laws will ruin everything. I like the story about the little boy who was trying to raise some money by collecting old bottles, going door-to-door in his neighborhood. When he came to the home of a woman who was the "town grouch," the little boy asked, "Do you have any co*ke bottles?" "No," she replied with a scowl. Then he said, "Do you have any old whiskey bottles?" "Young man," the woman replied, "Do I look like the type of person who would have old whiskey bottles?"
The little boy studied her for a moment and then asked, "Well, do you have any old vinegar bottles?"
Isn't it tragic that some people go through life so negative and sour and bitter? And if you don't watch out, they will infect you with their thinking.
How can we live positively in this world where much is discouraging? I think I see some clues in one of the miracle stories of the Bible. Jesus once fed 10,000 people with only five loaves of barley bread and two little fish. The disciples saw the negatives but Jesus understood the positive presence of a little food.
35. Too Easily Satisfied
Illustration
Scott Hoezee
Today as much as ever, people need to know that this kingdom is real and available. They need to see the joy and the possibilities of that kingdom in us. Because often people are too easily satisfied just to make do with what is quick and easy and cheap. People settle for sex or liquor or a rock band or the distractions provided by entertainment. They look to these things to save them, or at least to help them move forward in a grim world. But, as C.S. Lewis once wrote, we are far too easily satisfied. We're like a child who turns down an invitation for a day at the beach and chooses instead to stay sitting in a slum alley making mud pies just because the child really can't imagine how much better a day at the shore can be. "What could be better than making these slimy mud pies?" the child might think. Ah, if only he knew!
Or as Dallas Willard writes, when he was a boy, rural electrification was just happening and power lines were being strung throughout the countryside. But suppose even after the lines were up and running, suppose you ran across a house where the weary family still used only candles and kerosene lanterns for light, used scrub boards, ice chests, and rug beaters. A better life was waiting for them right outside their door, they were, not far from it, if only they would let themselves be hooked into the power lines. "My friends," you could proclaim, "electricity is at hand!" But suppose they just didn't trust it, thought it was too much of a hassle, and anyway didn't believe the promises that things might be easier with this newfangled juice running into their house. "If it's all the same to you, we'll stick with the old ways."
Maybe the kingdom is like that: it's here, not far away, it's real, it is right outside your door. The kingdom of God is at hand! A heart of love can help you draw near to it. Don't be so easily satisfied with the temporary pleasures of sex and money, power and food, cable TV and the wonders of technology. A better, exciting, hopeful, joyful kingdom of life is real. We need to be in the business of driving away the demons of doubt, despair, cynicism, arrogance, and anything else that hinders people from believing our message and so entering Jesus' kingdom. The kind of unclean spirits Jesus so routinely encountered have not gone off duty, my friends. Just look around. It is because they remain so real and powerful that we must proclaim and also live under the rule of God right now. The kingdom of God is at hand. We live knowing that this is true! We live to help others believe it, too.
36. A Model of Faith
Illustration
Jerry Goebel
It may come as a shock to most Christians today, but we would do better to use this woman as a model of faith even more than the disciples. After all, we are neither Jewish nor Galilean; we have no familial claim or geographical claim to Jesus.
While the woman learns that the power of faith lies internally, the disciples learn that faith can't be measured by proximity to Jesus. They are right next to the Lord and yet they see the woman as a bother. They don't lead her to Jesus or attempt to heal her daughter, her faith does that. They are too blinded by their social and religious prejudice to offer miracles to anyone.
Jesus words are obviously not meant to cut down the woman (her compassion runs too deep to care if she is insulted). The words of Christ are meant to reprimand the disciples—and us—when our politics and religious agenda blind us to compassion.
Which faith most resembles mine? Am I like the co*cksure disciples steeped in religious and cultural prejudice, deeply self-assured of my proximity to Jesus? Or, am I like the outcast woman of Lebanon, indentured by compassion and uncaring of insults if I can just save one soul?
37. A Power Higher Than I
Illustration
William B. Kincaid, III
After trying everything else, Shelly was present for her first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Skeptical and listening half-heartedly at first, the words of Martha caught her attention. Martha told the group, "I just knew that I could handle alcohol and my other problems on my own, but I couldn't. Seven years ago I came to my first A.A. meeting and since that time I have grown as a person beyond anything I could have ever imagined."
Martha exuded confidence and depth. She spoke of a power "higher than I," the God of Jesus Christ, and the way in which God now lived at the center of her life. Her words oozed with sincere encouragement and concern. Most of all, Martha exhibited a thankfulness which words could not express. Shelly, who came to the meeting doubtful that anything she would hear would change the way she felt or thought, made her way to Martha when the meeting was over. "I want what you have," Shelly told Martha, "I want what you have."
Shelly wanted the compassion and depth and hope which Martha knew, but she may not have realized fully how Martha came to know those things. Martha learned compassion from a time of deep personal suffering. She acquired spiritual depth from hours of praying when there was nowhere else to turn. She discovered hope by taking one step at a time because "one day at a time" was too much to be expected.
Shelly said, "I want what you have. Where do I get it?" And Martha told her, "It comes from being right where you are and doing just what you are doing." Martha went on to tell Shelly the oddest story about learning compassion when we are hurting, and learning love when we are excluded, and learning hope when we are helpless. In short Martha said that it is out of Egypt that we are called.
38. Pastoral Prayer for First Sunday of Lent
Illustration
Joel D. Kline
Gracious God, how blessed we are to live and serve as a community of Your people. Gifted with the beauty of creation surrounding us, lead us into significant relationships that nurture and challenge us, as we experience the promise of life, and are grateful.
Lead us now, O God, as we seek, in this season of Lent, to journey with our eyes fixed on Jesus.
Lead us in righteousness, that our journey might be a journey in which we embrace Christ's ways of compassion and justice, grace and mercy, hope and right living.
Lead us, God, in peace, as we seek to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.
Fill us with a peace that passes all human understanding, a peace the world cannot give to us, neither can it take away.
But, holy God, let us never be satisfied with personal peace alone. Lead us into paths of peacemaking and reconciliation. And God, we pray that You might soften the hearts of those world leaders who are far more inclined to wage war than to seek peace.
God, where there is brokenness, form us into instruments of forgiveness.
Where there is despair, make of us channels of Your hope.
Where there is division, may we be empowered to bring healing and wholeness.
Where darkness abounds, grant us courage to walk in the light, our eyes fixed on Jesus, the light of the world.
God of healing and compassion,
We hold before You now those in special need of Your healing touch …
God, make us mindful of those among us this day who silently hold hurts and brokenness within them. Teach us to look into one another's eyes and hearts.
We pray for those experiencing pain in their significant relationships, those who are yearning for new beginnings in life. We pray, O God, for young people facing untold pressures and challenges, and for older persons seeking to come to terms with limitations and losses. Whatever our life situations, O God, lead us in paths of right living, our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we pray. Amen.
39. Wash One Another's Feet
Illustration
Lee Griess
Sociologist Robert Wuthnow of Princeton University has explored how it is that people make everyday ethical decisions. Many people, he found, perform deeds of compassion, service, and mercy because at some point in their past someone acted with compassion toward them. He wrote, "The caring we receive may touch us so deeply that we feel especially gratified when we are able to pass it on to someone else."
He tells the story of Jack Casey, who was employed as an emergency worker on an ambulance rescue squad. When Jack was a child, he had oral surgery. Five teeth were to be pulled under general anesthetic, and Jack was fearful. What he remembers most, though, was the operating room nurse who, sensing the boy's terror, said, "Don't worry, I'll be right here beside you no matter what happens." When Jack woke up after the surgery, she was true to her word, standing right there with him.
Nearly 20 years later, Jack's ambulance team is called to the scene of a highway accident. A truck has overturned, the driver is pinned in the cab and power tools are necessary to get him out. However, gasoline is dripping onto the driver's clothes, and one spark from the tools could have spelled disaster. The driver is terrified, crying out that he is scared of dying. So, Jack crawls into the cab next to him and says, "Look, don't worry, I'm right here with you; I'm not going anywhere." And Jack was true to his word; he stayed with the man until he was safely removed from the wreckage.
Later the truck driver told Jack, "You were an idiot; you know that the whole thing could have exploded, and we'd have both been burned up!" Jack told him that he felt that he just couldn't leave him.
Many years before, Jack had been treated compassionately by the nurse, and because of that experience, he could now show that same compassion to another. Receiving grace enabled him to give grace. Jesus said, "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you should wash one another's feet."
40. How Do You Measure Success?
Illustration
James W. Moore
Some years ago, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote these powerful words. Listen…
"How do you measure success?
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better
whether by a healthy child,
a redeemed social condition,
or a job well done;
To know that even one life has
breathed because you lived…
that is to have succeeded."
I like that very much. It's a beautiful statement… but, somehow I want to add one more ingredient to the mix, namely... compassion! The spirit of compassion… the touch of compassion.
41. True Disciples
Illustration
Edward F. Markquart
I have a favorite quotation which is above my desk in my study. The years have passed, and the paper on which this quotation was written has become old, brown and brittle. I borrowed this quotation from Dietrich Bonhoeffer years ago. Bonhoeffer says in his book, The Cost of Discipleship, "True disciples are always few in number. Do not put your hopes in large numbers for true disciples will always be few." Every once in a while as a pastor, when I get caught up by sin and want to see large crowds on Sunday morning which imply (to the eyes of the world and worldly church) that I am a "successful pastor," I remember that Jesus ultimately found power in a small number of transformed lives rather than in the fickle crowds.
42. An Eyes Wide Open Dream
Illustration
Joel D. Kline
Prophets dreaman eyes-wide-open dream of that day when God's realm, God's kingdom shall completely unfold among us, and indeed, among all creation. Such dreams, thank God, are not easily put aside; they are not easily shaken.
In the aftermath of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s leadership of that 1963 March on Washington, Time magazine chose him as its Man of the Year. Asked later whether he was satisfied with the progress being made in the movement toward racial justice and concern for the poor, King responded that we can never be satisfied until the entire dream becomes reality. And is that not the very nature of dreams? As people of faith, we dare never rest content with business as usual, for the dream of life in the kingdom of God is ever before us. We dare never make too easy a peace with the existence of injustice and brokenness, of selfishness and sin, of racism and greed.
43. Get Your Hand off the Intercom!
Illustration
King Duncan
Would you mind a silly story from years gone by? At the end of their first date, a young man takes his favorite girl home. Emboldened by the night, he decides to try for that important first kiss. With an air of confidence, he leans with his hand against the wall and, smiling, he says to her, "Darling, how about a goodnight kiss?"
Horrified, she replies, "Are you mad? My parents will see us!"
"Oh come on!" he says, "Who's gonna see us at this hour?"
"No, please," she says, "Can you imagine if we get caught?"
"Oh come on," he persists, "there's nobody around, they're all sleeping!"
"No way," she says, "It's just too risky!"
"Oh please," he continues, "please, I like you so much!"
"No, no, and no. I like you too, but I just can't!"
"Oh yes you can. Please?"
"No, no. I just can't."
"Pleeeeease?"
Out of the blue, the porch light goes on, and the girl's sister shows up in her pajamas, hair disheveled. In a sleepy voice the sister says: "Dad says to go ahead and give him a kiss. Or I can do it. Or if need be, he'll come down himself and do it. But for crying out loud tell him to take his hand off the intercom button!"
There will come a time when all of us will push hard on God's intercom button, if not in our own behalf, certainly in behalf of someone we love. At that moment we will be thankful that we saw unlimited compassion in Christ. For there will come a time when we will rely on Christ's compassion.
44. Dealing with Heavy Questions
Illustration
Corrie Ten Boom
"Father, what is sex sin?"
My father turned to look at me, as he always did when answering a question, but to my surprise he said nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case from the rack over our heads, and set it on the floor.
"Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?" he said. I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning.
"It's too heavy," I said.
"Yes," he said. "And it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It's the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you."
And I was satisfied. More than satisfied. I was wonderfully at peace. There were answers to this and all my hard questions, but now I was content to leave them in my father's keeping.
Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place
45. There Is Always More Need
Illustration
Roger G. Talbott
You know how the disciples felt when the crowds showed up...
- The two of you haven't had a night out without the kids in weeks. You finally get away. The waiter has just brought your appetizer when the baby-sitter calls and tells you the youngest has a high fever and has started throwing up.
- You've been planning this vacation for six months. Your reservations are all made and three days before you are scheduled to go your mother calls and says your Dad is going to have a quadruple bypass as soon as the doctors can get his sugar stabilized.
- You haven't had a day off in three weeks. Friday morning your sister calls, says her father-in-law has died and wonders if you could take her kids for the weekend.
- It has been a very long day. You woke up before dawn because your arthritis hurt so much. You had to go to the grocery store and take your dog to the vet and on the way home your car started to act up and you had to leave it at the garage and get a taxi to take you home.
- All you want to do is go to bed when the phone rings and it's your friend who lost her husband last month and she just needs somebody to talk to.
And always, when we think we have given all we have to give there is always more need: the starving people in the midst of a famine; refugees from war; the devastation of floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes; to say nothing of our neighbors in our community who are hungry; the children who need someone to care about them; the youth in our community who have nowhere to go and nowhere to grow; and that pee-wee team that needs a new coach.
Yes, we know how the disciples felt. Matthew doesn't have to tell us. We know that they felt frustrated and maybe even angry. Matthew doesn't have to tell us how the disciples felt. He does have to tell us how Jesus felt. He felt "compassion" for the crowd. That is, he felt what they felt. He felt the pain and desperation that would drive people to come so far to such an inconvenient place in the hope that they might find healing for their bodies and spirits and maybe even some meaning for their lives.
I'm not asking you to be a spiritualsuperman. We will obviously always be more like the disciples than we are like Jesus, but that's not our calling. Let us be more like Jesus. In every way. That's my prayer.
46. Stronger after the Struggle
Illustration
Leonard Sweet
British naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace was without peer in the 19th century except for one name: Charles Darwin. One of Wallace's most astute observations about nature has gotten totally forgotten in the whole debate over the "survival of the fittest." Wallace made a surprising discovery about the saving nature of struggle.
One day Wallace was observing moths struggling to hatch out from their cocoons. One of the larger insects seemed to be having a particularly hard time getting out. After hours of watching this moth beat desperately with its yet undeveloped wings to break out of the cocoon, Wallace couldn't take it anymore. Moved by the creature's life-and-death struggle, Wallace decided to lend a helping hand. Gently, being careful not to injure the insect, Wallace used his sharp knife to cut open the remainder of the cocoon and freed the moth from that transformation chamber.
But something was wrong. The moth was not injured. It began beating its wings to pump them up. Its body unfolded and filled out. Yet in the ensuing days, compared to all the other moths that had struggled their way out of their cocoon captivity, Wallace's moth appeared smaller. Its movements were noticeably weaker. Even its wing and body color were less vivid, pale and dull. Over the course of its brief life span the "helped out" moth flew poorly, fed inefficiently, and finally died long before its time.
In this little experiment Wallace discovered that his compassion was actually cruelty. The struggle against the cocoon was nature's way of strengthening and developing the moth's wings so it could fly. The "easy-way-out," the struggle-free hatching, was a recipe for failure, not success. The struggle to break free from a cocoon was a necessary, life-enhancing, life sustaining part of a successful moth's existence. The struggle made the moths stronger, their shades of color more vivid, and increased their vitality.
Parents know this, but how hard is it for us to do this. One of the worst things we can do for our children is give them everything they want. Why? Because there will never be an end to "all we want." Give someone everything they want and they will simply want more.
One of the other worst things we can do for our children is to do everything for them. If you find yourself cutting your teenage son's meat for him, you know somewhere along the way you went too far, "helped out" too much. Doing everything for another, even out of love and compassion, insures the other will have a gray and dreamless life. Like the over-aided moth, they will have no strength, no vibrancy, no soaring spirit in their living.
In today's gospel text Jesus shows his great love for his disciples by sending them off, by themselves, without his help, to struggle alone.
47. Why Did The Cheering Stop? - Sermon Starter
Illustration
Brett Blair
Some years ago a book was written by a noted American historian entitled “When The Cheering Stopped.” It was the story of President Woodrow Wilson and the events leading up to and following WWI. When that war was over Wilson was an international hero, There was a great spirit of optimism abroad, and people actually believed that the last war had been fought and the world had been made safe for democracy.
On his first visit to Paris after the war Wilson was greeted by cheering mobs. He was actually more popular than their own heroes. The same thing was true in England and Italy. In a Vienna hospital a Red Cross worker had to tell the children that there would be no Christmas presents because of the war and the hard times. The children didn’t believe her. They said that President Wilson was coming and they knew that everything would be alright.
The cheering lasted about a year. Then it gradually began to stop. It turned out that after the war the political leaders in Europe were more concerned with their own agendas than they were a lasting peace. At home Woodrow Wilson ran into opposition in the United States Senate and his League of Nations was not ratified. Under the strain of it all the President’s health began to break. He suffered a stroke and in the next election his party was defeated. So it was that Woodrow Wilson, a man who barely a year earlier had been heralded as the new world Messiah, came to the end of his days a broken and defeated man.
It’s a sad story, but one that is not altogether unfamiliar. The ultimate reward for someone who tries to translate ideals into reality is apt to be frustration and defeat. There are some exceptions, of course, but not too many.
It happened that way to Jesus. When he emerged on the public scene he was an overnight sensation. He would try to go off to be alone and the people would still follow him. The masses lined the streets as he came into town. On Palm Sunday leafy palm branches were spread before him and there were shouts of Hosanna. In shouting Hosanna they were in effect saying “Save us now” Jesus. Great crowds came to hear him preach. A wave of religious expectation swept the country.
But the cheering did not last for long. There came a point when the tide began to turn against him. Oh, you didn’t notice it so much at first. People still came to see him, but the old excitement was missing, and the crowds were not as large as they had been. His critics now began to publicly attack him. That was something new. Earlier they had been afraid to speak out for fear of the masses, but they began to perceive that the fickle public was turning on him. Soon the opposition began to snowball. When they discovered that they could not discredit his moral character, they began to take more desperate measures. Before it was all over a tidal wave welled up that brought Jesus to his knees under the weight of a cross.
Why did the masses so radically turn against him? How did the shouts of Hosanna on Sunday transform into the shouts of crucify him on Friday? I am not just talking about the immediate events that may have brought it about, but the deeper root causes. What were the underlying issues? In five days it all fell apart. Why? That is the issue that I would like for us to concentrate on this morning. Why did the cheering stop?
1. Jesus Began to talk more and more about commitment.
2. Jesus dared to suggest that all people are worth loving.
3. Jesus began to talk more and more about a cross.
48. Our Lord's Abundant Table - Sermon Starter
Illustration
Brett Blair
Charles Swindol tells a funny story about a nine-year-old named Danny who came bursting out of Sunday school like a wild stallion. His eyes were darting in every direction as he tried to locate either mom or dad. Finally, after a quick search, he grabbed his Daddy by the leg and yelled, "Man, that story of Moses and all those people crossing the Red Sea was great!" His father looked down, smiled, and asked the boy to tell him about it.
"Well, the Israelites got out of Egypt, but Pharaoh and his army chased after them. So the Jews ran as fast as they could until they got to the Red Sea. The Egyptian Army was gettin' closer and closer. So Moses got on his walkie-talkie and told the Israeli Air Force to bomb the Egyptians. While that was happening, the Israeli Navy built a pontoon bridge so the people could cross over. They made it!
By now old dad was shocked. "Is THAT the way they taught you the story?"
Well, no, not exactly," Danny admitted, "but if I told you the way they told it to us, you'd never believe it, Dad."
With childlike innocence the little guy put his finger on the pulse of our sophisticated adult world where cool skepticism reigns supreme. It's more popular to operate in the black-and-white world of facts…and, of course, to leave no space for the miraculous.
And so when we read the story of the feeding of the five thousand, we tend to focus our attention on the question, "Did it really happen?" There have been a number of attempts to "explain" the miracle. One attempt says that the people were so moved by Jesus' generosity and the generosity of the little boy that they brought forth the food they had hidden under their clothes and in their traveling pouches. This way everyone was satisfied. Another theory says that the story is not really talking about physical hunger but spiritual hunger. When the small amount of food was passed around everyone tore off a minuscule symbolic fragment. In this Jesus is said to have satisfied the thirst of the soul not the stomach.
I think these questions say more about us than they do Jesus. If Jesus is the Messiah, and I believe he is, then there is no question but that he performed miracles, and on a regular basis. The point of the story of feeding of the five thousand is not to prove that miracles happen. The point of the story is to teach us three things:
1. Jesus is the Fulfillment of the Word.
2. We Are to Serve at the Table of the Lord.
3. We Can Use Our Abilities in Service.
49. Who Will Wash Your Sins?
Illustration
Alila stood on the beach holding her tiny infant son close to her heart. Tears welled in her eyes as she began slowly walking toward the river's edge. She stepped into the water, silently making her way out until she was waist deep, the water gently lapping at the sleeping baby's feet. She stood there for a long time holding the child tightly as she stared out across the river. Then all of a sudden in one quick movement she threw the six month old baby to his watery death.
Native missionary M.V. Varghese often witnesses among the crowds who gather at the Ganges. It was he who came upon Alila that day kneeling in the sand crying uncontrollably and beating her breast. With compassion he knelt down next to her and asked her what was wrong.
Through her sobs she told him, "The problems in my home are too many and my sins are heavy on my heart, so I offered the best I have to the goddess Ganges, my first born son." Brother Varghese's heart ached for the desperate woman. As she wept he gently began to tell her about the love of Jesus and that through Him her sins could be forgiven. She looked at him strangely. "I have never heard that before," she replied through her tears. "Why couldn't you have come thirty minutes earlier? If you did, my child would not have had to die."
Each year millions of people come to the holy Indian city of Hardwar to bathe in the River Ganges. These multitudes come believing this Hindu ritual will wash their sins away. For many people like Alila, missionaries are arriving too late, simply because there aren't enough of these faithful brothers and sisters on the mission field.
50. Imitate Generosity
Illustration
Douglas R. A. Hare
The climax of the parable occurs in verse 15: "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?" The vineyard owner claims the right to pay his workers not on the basis of their merits but on the basis of his own compassion. Why should such generosity be condemned as injustice? Underlying the parable is the Old Testament conception of God as the creator who is GOOD, that is, generous to all (see, e.g., Ps.145:9). Jesus reveled in the incredible magnanimity of God (see 5:45). Of course Jesus believed in the God of justice, but in his vision of God the divine compassion greatly outshone the divine justice. Those who worship such a God must imitate his generosity, not begrudge it.
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