Saturday, February 20, 2016

Pharisees, Fox, Fearless, Followers


Utter Pharisee and friends may think you mean their least favorite politician. Mention fox and people may think you mean a news channel. Say fearless and they will imagine a Taylor Swift song. Because few would match your words with our Gospel, allow me, fellow followers, a moment for each word: Pharisees who came to Jesus, Herod the fox, Fearless Jesus and His followers today.
First, Pharisees. During Jesus’ time, Palestinian Jews were not a united people. In their attitude to the law and the Temple, differences existed among them, compounded by varying political allegiances and intrigues. The first-century historian, Josephus, mentioned three ‘sects’ among the Jews: Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes, and in Palestine, Samaritans.[1]
Pharisees were a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought in the Holy Land. After the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, their beliefs became the foundational, liturgical and ritualistic basis for Judaism.[2]
The first mention of the Pharisees and their beliefs came in the four gospels and the book of Acts, where we find their meticulous adherence to their interpretation of the Torah as well as their view of salvation and the end time.
We derive Pharisee from the Ancient Greek meaning “set apart or separated.” Opponents dubbed them the “Separated Ones” because of their strict avoidance of Gentiles, unclean persons, sinners and Jews less observant of the Torah.
Now, the goal of all Jews was that Israel be a nation holy, sacred and dedicated to God. The Pharisees sought to achieve this by education, knowledge and a strict interpretation of the Torah. This attitude separated them from everyone else whom they considered rabble ignorant of the law.[3] Yet, because they were meticulous observers of the Law, this rabble viewed Pharisees as liberals.
We do not credit the Pharisees for being the most constructive force in Jewish spirituality. We base our negative view primarily on what we read in Matthew 23, where Jesus criticized them for their separatism.
Next, foxes. Foxes are small-to-medium-sized, omnivorous mammals that are pests because they attack rabbits, hens and small livestock.
Throughout Scripture, God’s people considered foxes pests and predators. In Nehemiah, we read, “Tobiah the Ammonite … said, ‘Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!’”[4] Lost in translation is the fact that foxes and jackals infested ruined and desolate places on the mount and city of Zion.[5]
The Book of Lamentations ends with, “Mount Zion … lies desolate; jackals prowl over it.”[6] The Prophet Ezekiel cried, “O Israel, your prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.”[7] And Solomon sang, “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin our vineyards that are in bloom.”[8]
The fox Jesus referenced in our Gospel was Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee. Josephus described Herod as a crafty and incestuous prince. Our Lord saw him as one who prowled and ruined lives that were in bloom.
In Luke 3, we read that Herod locked John in prison because John admonished him for his illicit affair with his sister-in-law.[9]
After he beheaded John,[10] “Herod … heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead. … Herod said, ‘John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?’ And he sought to see [Jesus].”[11]
“When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had long desired to see him, because he had heard about him, and he was hoping to see some sign done by him. So he questioned him at some length, but he made no answer. … Herod and his soldiers treated him with contempt and mocked him. Then, arraying him in splendid clothing, he sent him back to Pilate.”[12]
Herod the Tetrarch was an enemy of Jesus, but not the terrorist his father was. In today’s gospel Jesus was teaching about the coming upheaval where the “first will be last and the last will be first” when Pharisees interrupted to warn him to flee because Herod sought to kill him. 
An unusual moment between Jesus and the Pharisees because we think Jesus and the Pharisees were always at odds. After all, earlier in Luke, Jesus stated the Pharisees were full of greed and wickedness. Here, they seem to be genuinely concerned. Most likely, they were wishing Jesus would leave and stop attracting crowds.
Jesus responded as if they reported to Herod, and ordered them to tell that fox He was casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and would finish His work on the third day. I imagine Herod wanted to be referred to as a lion or a tiger for a fox is weak, sly and sneaky; but Jesus made it clear that the work of preaching the kingdom and healing the broken must culminate in Jerusalem and from that he will not retreat, for Jesus, unlike the Pharisees and the fox, was fearless.
Fearless, obviously means without fear. The words fear and experiment stem from the same Latin words meaning to try or press forward – as in experiment or trial. One who experimented or pressed forward was fearless.[13]
In Luke, Jesus pressed forward when, in 9:51, he “set his face toward Jerusalem.” As he traveled toward his ultimate fate, he preached, taught and healed. “Yet today, tomorrow and the next day,” the third day was always a foreshadowing in the gospels, just as we heard “on the third day there was a wedding at Cana of Galilee.”[14] Jesus told the Pharisees he would not leave. He would not be detoured, deterred or daunted. He would press forward to Jerusalem because they did not kill prophets outside the city.
It was almost as if saying the word “Jerusalem” broke Jesus’ heart. He sobbed a lament that echoed every prophet’s broken heart from Isaiah to Malachi, and then shared a tender image. I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”[15]
The image of God as a hen lays bare God’s vulnerability. The mother hen opens her wings wide and gathers as many as she can; but even a mother hen cannot make the chicks come in regardless of how open the invitation.[16]
Jesus called Herod a fox, and then imaged himself as mother hen. Even though 2000 years ago “fox in the henhouse” was not a common phrase, Luke’s readers, and we, get the message.
Jesus had disciples. Herod had soldiers. Jesus served. Herod ruled. Jesus prayed for his enemies. Herod killed his. In a contest between a fox and a chicken, whom would you bet on?[17] Jesus’ mission challenged the status quo, which is dangerous business[18] for the fearless and the follower.
Finally, follower. Some simple definitions of follower include someone who supports and is guided by another person or by a group or religion. A person who likes and admires (someone or something) very much or someone who does what other people say to do.[19]
We derive the noun follower from the verb follow. It means to accompany or move in the same direction. It also means to obey a rule or law, conform to, act in accordance with, or apply oneself to a practice, trade, or calling.[20]
Christians are followers. Leadership books, courses and summits aside, Christians are followers of the Way. The world knew Christians first as Followers of the Way because they followed Jesus who identified himself as the way.[21] In Acts 9, we read how Saul sought followers of the Way, those following in this way, or followed the way of Christ.[22]
After his conversion, Paul stated, “I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison. … I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way.[23]
Are you a follower of the Way? A follower of the Way of Christ? … Richard de Wych, better known as Richard of Chichester, wrote a prayer 800 years ago that reads:
Thanks be to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ
For all the benefits Thou hast given me,
For all the pains and insults Thou hast borne for me.
O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother,
May I know Thee more clearly,
Love Thee more dearly,
Follow Thee more nearly.[24]

Stephen Schwartz adapted and embellished Richard’s prayer into a song we know as Day by Day from Godspell.
Day by day, Day by day
Oh Dear Lord, three things I pray:
To see thee more clearly,
Love thee more dearly,
Follow thee more nearly,
Day by Day.[25]

Schwatrz’s song and Richard’s prayer came to mind as a result of a book of poetry I am reading for my Lenten meditation.[26] In a reflection on Simon of Cyrene, the author cites the verse, “They found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross.”[27] He then writes:
A new unforeseen encounter on the Way of the Cross.
He emerges out of nowhere, this complete stranger.
Chosen to be Jesus’ helper.
Compelled to be his companion.
Cut out of the multitude …
The soldiers force him to follow Jesus,
To be his follower and friend. …
Simon does not choose the cross.
It is already there.
Without a word,
He lifts it upon his shoulder. …
Grateful, Christ turns around
And lifts his gaze upon Simon.
He shows him the face of the Father.
Only God can look like that: up and back at a human being.
Jesus’ eyes rest upon him.
Just like the other day, with the searching young man.

He then cites Mark 10:21: “Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treaure in heaven; and come, follow me.’” The poem continues.
Perhaps Simon is this rich man
Who came back to follow him.
Perhaps it is not him.
In any case, Jesus takes time
To broaden any brief instant to unforgettable eternity.
Jesus looks back and calls him:
“Simon, do you really want to follow me?”
Carrying the cross, Simon will become Jesus’ closest friend.
Carrying the cross, Simon will become Christian. …

Then, reflecting on Simon Peter, and the parable of the father who asked his two sons to work the vineyard, the poem concludes.
I recognize both dynamics in me.
When everything goes fine,
I eagerly take up my cross. …
When everything goes wrong,
It is precisely my cross that becomes my love.
From now on, for the rest of his life,
Jesus will not walk alone.
Simon follows him, faithful and hidden.
Adopting his unlikely rhythm,
We will not hear from him anymore.
But he is there, in the shadow of his Lord.

Friends, this Lent, embrace the cross and follow Jesus. Whether you encounter Pharisees or foxes, stubborn people with the best intentions or vicious perpetrators with bloodthirsty tastes, embrace the cross like Simon and follow Jesus. Let his eyes rest upon you. And when they do, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.[28] Amen.


[1] JBC - 1243
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharisees
[3] John 7:49
[4] Nehemiah 4:3
[5] http://biblehub.com/nehemiah/4-3.htm
[6] Lamentations 5:18
[7] Ezekiel 13;4
[8] Song of Solomon 2:15
[9] Luke 3:19-20
[10] Mark 6:21-28
[11] Luke 9:7-9
[12] Luke 23:8-11
[13] http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=fear
[14] John 2:1
[15] Luke 13:34
[17] http://www.fourthchurch.org/sermons/2001/040801.html
[18] http://www.nextsundayworship.com/february-21-2016/
[19] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/follower
[20] http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=follow
[21] John 14:6
[22] http://biblehub.com/acts/9-2.htm
[23] Acts 22:4, 14 NIV
[24] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_of_Chichester
[25] http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/godspell/daybyday.htm
[26] Bert Daelemans, An Ignatian Journey of the Cross: Exercises in Discernment. Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN (2015), 32ff.
[27] Matthew 27:32
[28] Philippians 4:7

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Rely upon Yourself or Any Power but God, You Lose!



Today, I examine Lent, Luke’s account of how Satan tempted Jesus throughout his life, and how this relates to us.
Lent is a solemn religious observance that begins on Ash Wednesday and covers approximately six weeks or 40 days before Easter Sunday.
In Latin, Lent is referred to by the term Quadragesima, meaning fortieth, referring to the fortieth day before Easter. In English, the word Lent initially meant spring, from the Germanic root for long, because in spring the days visibly lengthen.[1]
The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer through prayer, penance, and repentance of sins, almsgiving, atonement and self-denial.[2]
During Lent, our worship assumes a penitential character. The color for the season is purple, a color associated with penitence. By omitting the Hymn of Praise and Alleluia, we distinguish Lent from the rest of the year, and form a powerful contrast with the festive celebration of Jesus' resurrection when our alleluias ring loud and clear.
The Lutheran perspective of “giving up something for Lent” is a matter of Christian freedom. Our church has no law requiring members to “give up something,” since the Scriptures do not require this. If a Christian wants to give something up for Lent as a way of remembering and personalizing the sacrifice Christ made on the cross for our sins, then he is free to do so, as long as he does not judge others who opt not to do this.[3]
The penitential character of Lent is not its sole purpose. In the ancient Church, the period leading up to Easter was a time of intense preparation for the candidates baptized at the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday. This time is appropriate for Baptism because of the relationship between Christ's death and resurrection and our own in the sacrament.[4] This suggests that Lent serves as a time to meditate on the suffering that Christ endured on our behalf, and an opportunity to reflect our own Baptism and what it means to live as a child of God.[5]
That you may grow as a child of God, I encourage you to read Lutheran Indian Ministries Lenten Devotional or another devotional plan from Lutheran Hour Ministries.
We base our 40-day Lenten observance on Christ’s 40 days in the wilderness. In Luke, we read that Jesus was “in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by the devil.”[6] Satan tempted Jesus throughout his life and even onto the cross.
Before his wilderness experience, John baptized Jesus.[7] It may initially appear problematic that Jesus accepted John’s baptism. After all, it called for a change of heart in view of the forgiveness of sins. How could Jesus, who was not a sinner, have accepted such a baptism? I will save the answer for later.
As Jesus emerged from the baptismal waters, “the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove.”[8]
This is a response to Isaiah’s prayer that God “rend the heavens and come down” to bring his flock up from the sea, put his Holy Spirit in the midst of his people and guide them in a new exodus.[9]
At Jesus’ baptism, the rending of the heavens announced the beginning of the end; and as he breathed his last, the Temple’s sanctuary veil, decorated to look like the heavens, tore from top to bottom, symbolizing that in the end-time, the holy of holies and ancient sacrifices would be no more.
The image of the dove, a symbol for Israel, revealed Jesus as the personal embodiment of a new Israel. As the Christ, the Anointed One, Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s prayer.[10]
Immediately after Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit that descended on him drove him into the wilderness, where he was tested as Israel was tested in their exodus wilderness. This 40-day test evoked the days and nights Moses spent with God on the mountain as he received the Covenant,[11] and called to mind Elijah’s 40-day walk to the mountain of God.[12]
Jesus’ 40 days represented his entire baptismal life, ending with his passion. Sent into the wilderness by the Spirit to lead people in a new exodus, Satan tested Jesus. Satan, the adversary of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, represented the power of evil. Satan was the obstacle Jesus had to overcome.
The setting for Jesus’ baptismal test was simple. Angels ministered to him while he was among wild beasts, symbolic of the world’s evil forces. The scene evoked numerous Old Testament passages, particularly the story of Daniel in the lion’s den,[13] and the primal contest of creation where human beings dominated wild beasts.[14]
As the one anointed by the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ life was an ongoing conflict with Satan, the spirit of evil. It began in the wilderness, but reappeared throughout the Gospel.
In the Capernaum synagogue, a man with an unclean spirit engaged Jesus in a verbal skirmish.[15] This showed the battle between the unclean spirit that possessed the man and the Holy Spirit that possessed Jesus. In another case, no one was strong enough to bind the Gerasene man possessed by a demonic spirit until Jesus appeared. And after Peter rebuked Jesus, because he could not imagine a Messiah who would suffer and die, Jesus, in turn rebuked Peter as Satan because he too acted as an obstacle to the cross.[16]
The point is that throughout his life, Jesus battled Satan. Satan was and is a strong man.[17] He affected demon-possession and physical maladies, created disorder in the natural world, and snatched up the Word of God sown on the path.[18] He tempted people to abandon God’s will and inspired them to adopt hearts and minds set on human ways. His activity extended to Jesus’ enemies, the Lord’s followers and Jesus himself. Satan tested Jesus in the wilderness, in Gethsemane and on Golgotha.
Satan’s activity was implicit when Jesus asked God to “take this cup from me.”[19] And when Jesus exhorted his disciples to imitate him by watching and praying lest they enter into a test, the same language used in the wilderness account, this too confirmed the moment was Satan’s test.[20] Bound and hung on the cross, Jesus’ opponents declared he could not save himself – Satan’s final test to abandon God’s will.
Finally, upon his death, Jesus cried out in a loud voice that recalled the cries of those from whom he cast unclean spirits. As he died, the Holy Spirit that descended from a violently torn heaven and possessed Him at the start of the gospel, left His body as the Temple veil tore. The Spirit’s departure implied that it completed its work. Jesus’ death marked victory, not defeat, in His conflict with Satan.
At that moment, the centurion, upon seeing Jesus breathe his last, confirmed His divinity, just as our Heavenly Father declared Jesus to be his beloved Son. Now, instead of rising from the waters of baptism to declare the nearness of God’s Kingdom, his Resurrection from the tomb declared God’s victorious Kingdom.[21]
How does this relate to us? Lent is an appropriate time to remember our Baptism and its relationship to Christ's death and resurrection.[22] It is also a fitting time to meditate on the suffering Christ endured on our behalf and what it means to live as a child of God.[23]
Although Christ broke Satan’s power, God never promised a conflict-free world, but a world in which the risen Christ meets and restores errant followers so that they may imitate him in their struggles against satanic powers, and like him, endure to the end, empowered by the Holy Spirit.[24]
As we leave here, children of God filled with grace, love, mercy and the Holy Spirit, we enter a world of conflict, corruption and evil that both blinds and blind-sides us. Satan’s temptations are open and blatant, as well as secretive and surreptitious.
I may not be tempted to murder, but may be silently complicit over one million children aborted annually. I may not be tempted to break the Sixth Commandment, but may peruse inappropriate material. I may not steal from my neighbor, but may never open a generous hand to feed the poor. I may never swear false testimony in court, but may never speak kindly about others. I may never treat people as God treats me – with kindness, mercy and compassion – but may consider myself a good Christian.
As a good Christian, the commandment most difficult to keep is the First: You shall have no other gods. Of this, Martin Luther wrote plainly.
“Many a one thinks that he has God and everything in abundance when he has money and possessions; he trusts in them and boasts of them with such firmness and assurance as to care for no one. Such a man also has a god, Mammon by name, that is, money and possessions, on which he sets all his heart, and which is the most common idol on earth. He who has money and possessions feels secure, and is joyful and undismayed as though he were sitting in the midst of Paradise. On the other hand, he who has none doubts and is despondent, as though he knew of no God. For very few are to be found who are of good cheer, and who neither mourn nor complain if they have not Mammon. This care and desire for money sticks and clings to our nature, even to the grave.
So, too, whoever trusts and boasts that he possesses great skill, prudence, power, favor, friendship, and honor has also a god, but not this true and only God. This appears again when you notice how presumptuous, secure, and proud people are because of such possessions, and how despondent when they no longer exist or are withdrawn. Therefore, I repeat that the chief explanation of this point is that to have a god is to have something in which the heart entirely trusts.”[25] Unquote.
Each week I confess I am a miserable sinner addicted to my things and ways of doing things. Still, I think highly of my bad ideas and overinflated opinions. I marry my feelings and divorce myself from others’ sensitivities. In short, I need to be saved.
The good news is, Christ saved me. Through no merit of my own, He saved me. He who conquered Satan, sin and death saved me from the tyranny of that trio.
That brings me full-circle to my earlier question. “How could Jesus, who was not a sinner, have accepted such a baptism?”
John’s baptism of Jesus revealed His humanity and His solidarity with and commitment to sinners. What occurred when Jesus emerged from the water revealed His divinity and His solidarity with and commitment to God His Father.[26]
If I approach life’s challenges in individualistic terms (me against the world), the baptism of a sinless person is senseless because baptism has no meaning beyond the individual who is baptized. If, however, I view life’s challenges in interpersonal terms (we are all in this together), the baptism of a sinless person makes a lot of sense.[27]
Jesus did not have to be a sinner to accept John’s baptism. All he needed was to be in personal solidarity with men and women who are sinners in need of salvation. Jesus’ baptism by John presented him as a person in solidarity with all human beings, and it demonstrated his willingness to bear the weight of our sins on his sinless shoulders.[28]
Friends, as he tempted Jesus, Satan will tempt you until you exhaust your last gasp. You will be tempted to commit heinous sins and victimless crimes. If you rely upon yourself or any power but God to free yourself from his grip, you lose. Satan will bind you. Only Christ can free you … and He has!
Brothers and sisters, you will always have the Holy Spirit to guide you in the wilderness of life just as Jesus did, but as Paul exhorted the freed Christians of Rome, I beg you not to be addicted to yourself and your ways, your ideas and feelings. Forgiven fully by Christ, surrender to the Holy Spirit. Be a slave of the Holy Spirit, an addict of the Third Person of the Trinity and the means of God’s grace.
When you are, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.[29] Amen.


[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lent
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Romans 6:1-11
[5] Frequently Asked Questions, Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod website
[6] Luke 4:1-2
[7] Although Luke does not record explicitly that John baptized Jesus.
[8] Luke 3:21-22
[9] Isaiah 64:1
[10] Eugene LaVerdiere, The Beginning of the Gospel: Introducing the Gospel According to Mark, Volume 1. Collegeville MN: The Liturgical Press (1999), 34.
[11] Exodus 34:27-38
[12] 1 Kings 19:8
[13] Daniel 6:23
[14] Genesis 1:24-28
[15] Elizabeth Shively, “Characterizing the Non-Human: Satan in the Gospel of Mark,” Character Studies and the Gospel of Mark. Edited by Christopher W. Skinner and Matthew Ryan Hauge. London: Bloomsbury (2014),  139ff.
[16] Shively, 144f
[17] Mark 3:27
[18] Mark 4:1ff
[19] Mark 14:36
[20] Shively, 146
[21] Shively, 148
[22] Romans 6:1-11
[23] Frequently Asked Questions, LC-MS.
[24] Shively, 151.
[25] http://bookofconcord.org/lc-3-tencommandments.php
[26] LaVerdiere, 34
[27] Ibid.
[28] Ibid.
[29] Philippians 4:7