Bible Topics

I am firmly convinced that Jesus was only human. He and JB discussed the coming of the Messiah as did everybody at the time.

Jesus saw the plight of the ordinary people and how they were being ignored or sold out by the leaders. So he developed his ideas as to what should be done. There was nothing bombastic about his ideas or style. Out of all his friends and followers he picked twelve young men to continue his work.

The word "miracle" in the sense of the "unusual" or "beyond nature" is not used in the NT. The word "simeion" or "sign" is used most of the time.

The whole judgment scene according to the gospels in Christ's own words was the Fatherhood of God expressed in the Brotherhood of man by the way in which they shared with each other. This was the Holy Spirit.

God is not sitting there as some stern judge. Christ's picture was simple. Answer the one question, "How did you respond to the needs of the people around you?" This sharing or harmony determines how much you could enjoy all of eternity. This point is crystal clear in all of the Gospels. It is spelled out in detail in Luke, Matthew and John.

The OT Kingdom, in practice, fell far short of the ideal and was gradually wiped out in 587 B.C. Then the people and prophets started to look to the future restoration. The people were sure the revival would be a temporal world-wide supremacy. This was still the expectation in the time of Christ. So Christ presented a completely different notion as developed in Matthew and somewhat in John.

Matthew's Gospel is the only one to mention the visit of the Wise Men. Scientists looked for evidence of this special star. Yet it is clear they are talking about the sun. This is the star that rises in the east and moves to the west. The Wise Men simply followed the lead of nature to find the New King. Then they gave him the gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. What really happened is guess work.

Abraham had traveled from the east with the migrations of his day. He had settled in Palestine as did all the other travelers because it was the first habitable land they entered. Some went north and on toward Rome. Some went south and on to Egypt. Others stayed in Palestine and Abraham was one of these.

To fulfill that trip of Abraham in the life of Jesus, we have the story of the Magi. It is a story full of symbolic meaning for the later life of Jesus. What the actual event was, is hard to say. The meaning is clear in the conclusion of the Gospel writer.

Matthew had been a tax collector for Rome in his home town. He was hated by his own people as a traitor. He was despised by the Romans as socially inferior but tolerated as long as he paid his share on time. It was an easy way to make money because the collector could keep all that was over his quota.

I thought of Matthew as older than the others but the fact is that Rome hired tax collectors in their late teens and early twenties. They were easier to control. Older men hesitated to work for the enemy.

Matthew had the mind of a financier. His Gospel follows this pattern. He describes what was said or done by Jesus or the crowds. He draws on texts from the OT to show how this had happened before. Then he drew his conclusions. I contrast him with John who was a young person with high emotions.

Most of the known religions prior to Judaism made man a minion of the gods and subject to their whims. The picture of Yahweh is different from the start.

Yahweh was the source of the whole universe. Everything in it has a purpose which will gradually unfold. The role of mankind is to bring about that unfolding by work and harmony.

Gradually, the picture of this God unfolded as a Surrounding Presence who was always waiting for people to take the next step forward. Often, because of greed or selfishness, they took many steps backward through murders and wars.

Finally, one man, named Jesus, came up with a plan that would achieve the "telos" — the purpose of all creation. We will see the full Fatherhood of God in the Brotherhood of Man.

That's why Jesus Christ sums up the whole meaning of life in the one word "Koinonia" or sharing. "As often as you did it to anyone of these, my people, you did it to me!" He meant what he said and this will be the measure in which you share in the next life.

The "James" who authored the Letter is a puzzle since we have no idea what James it is. Because of content, I think it is James, the brother of John, the apostle. His key idea is the necessity of "good works" to make your Faith real. John says the same thing about love. The letter of James was given a backseat because of the controversy with Luther and his use of the letter at Trent.

As I looked at the bright sun on the way to the PO, I thought of the Magi and their visit to Nazareth. They said "We saw the Star in the east and we have followed it here."

For centuries, scientists have tried to locate that special Star. It's been there every day. The "Star in the East" is the sun. This was Matthew's way of saying that the whole universe pointed everyone to the new King. Matthew says explicitly they were living in a "house" in Nazareth at the time of the visit.

Who were these "Wise Men" and where did they come from? I think they are an allegory or story developed to show what kind of kingship Jesus would establish. Gold says there will be wealth beyond compare. Incense says there will be sacrifice and oblation. Myrrh says there will be work and hardship.

This is the introduction to the Matthew story. Later, in Chapter 13, Matthew gives the basic qualities of this Kingship: its power, its ideals, its extent, and its way of being established in daily life.