Advent Readings: Luke 9. Transfiguration

Luke 9

The center of the chapter tells us a story of Transfiguration. Jesus goes to the top of the mountain taking along three of His disciples: Peter, James, and John. They see Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah about His exodus [ESV – departure] (Lk. 9:31). This is a unique feature of the Gospel of Luke, none of the Gospel writer pointed out this fact. There is an interesting thing – Moses is a leader of Exodus; Elijah had his own exodus experience (1 Kg. 19). Moses and Elijah had something to share with Jesus, Who was about to embark on His Exodus path toward Jerusalem.

Yet, the main point of the story of Transfiguration is an attack on the Sovereignty of the LORD. Peter’ suggestion, however good intentions guided him, presupposes that the glory of Moses, Elijah, and Jesus – the incarnate Word of God – is equal. Heavenly Father immediately intervenes, saying “This is my [beloved] Son, my Chosen One; listen to Him!” (Lk. 9:35). To visualize this intervention, the disciples saw no one when the voice from heaven had spoken.

Jesus only, Jesus of the cradle, Jesus of Transfiguration, Jesus of the Cross and Tomb, and Jesus of Resurrection and Ascension. 

Advent Readings: Luke 5

Luke 5

Well-structured chapter. Think about it. First Jesus calls Peter, James, and John as his first disciples. The story is structures by the usage of the word “boat(s)” – total usage 6 times! Fulness of manly impact on the world, as man was created on the sixth day.

Then Jesus heals two people – a leper (5:12-16) and a paralytic (5:17-26). Both of them re-gained access to the Temple. The first one was forbidden access for purity/cleanness reasons, while the paralytic simply couldn’t come on his own.

The third block is call of Levi – a tax collector. It is a unique call by itself – the Messiah invites as a disciple a person who collected money for the occupational forces of Rome. So scandalous! Especially taking into account the fact that he was from the tribe of Levi. He should’ve served as a local pastor of a synagogue, but the challenges of life made a correction of his path of life.

Then comes the conclusion – a parable about the Old and the New. Usually, the parable is interpreted as a strife for new things. Yet, the careful reading suggests that Jesus argues for the proper use of both. It is something new for Biblical history to call the fisherman (prior to Jesus, God more than often called shepherds: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David etc.), while calling a Levi “back” to ministry is an example of Old/good patterns (cp. Lk. 5:39). Change for a sake of change is not what Jesus is rooting for. What He introduced is an invitation of a new type of people as disciples, while maintaining the old flock close to Him. 

VISIONS: Cornelius and Simon

Visions of Cornelius and Simon  

The Passage: Acts 10:1-23

Structure:

a. 10:1-2, Cornelius, devout God-fearing man

  b. 10:3-6, angelic call to Cornelius

    c. 10:7-8, messengers are sent

      d. 10:9-16, the vision of Peter in a trans

    c’. 10:17-18, messengers arrive

  b’. 10:19-20, Holy Spirit addresses Peter

a’. 10:21-23a, Cornelius, devout God-fearing man  

Historical and geographical context:

Simon (St. Peter) stayed at the house of another Simon in Joppa – a tanner – for many days (Acts 9:43). The next two-part story is a part of St. Peter’s “pastoral vacation.”

Cornelius lives in Caesaria – about 40 miles north of Joppa, on the same Mediterranean shore. Note that the whole story takes 4 days. Day 1, Cornelius sees a vision and sends the men. His servants and a soldier arrive on the next day little after noon – at noon St. Peter was praying. The messengers stay overnight at Simon’s house, which makes it Day 2. Day 3, two servants, a soldier, Simon/Peter, and “some brothers from Joppa” went to Caesarea. (Acts 10:23). Day 4, the party arrived at Cornelius’ house (Acts 10:24).      

Theology:

Unity of the believers. The main point of these stories – visions of Cornelius and Peter, outpouring of the Holy Spirit during St. Peter’s sermon, and the reception of the news by Jerusalem congregation – is the unity of believers in God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob regardless of the national background.

Under the institutions of Torah there was a separation between Jews and God-fearing Gentiles. People were born or converted into Jewish lifestyle. Yet, a gentile who believed or trusted to God of Abraham, Isaak and Jacob did NOT have to convert – he or she could maintain a status of God-fearing believer. To be a God-fearing gentile is not the same as to have the fear of the LORD (cp. Pr. 1:7). This status had some ramifications – for example, a non–circumcised person could NOT participate in Passover ceremony – Seder. Later, in the times of the Second Temple, apparently there was a wall that would separate the “house of men” from “the house of women and gentiles”. It is possible that St. Paul mentions this partition in Eph. 2:14, building up his theological argument of universal grace.       

The most profound expression of the theology of unity is a meal together (apart for intimate relationship that reserved only for a husband-wife pair). Eating and drinking together creates a very special environment of companionship, trust, and ultimately love. Think about your own birthday parties – who do you want to see there? Or high school or college graduation? Or a wedding or wedding anniversary? Usually, you do not invite strangers there. No, you invite people who shared their lives with you, and you want this “togetherness” to go to another – deeper – level.  

That’s what triggered a harsh response on the side of the Jerusalem congregation – “you ate WITH them” (Acts 11:2-3), will talk about it in a couple of weeks. To be a God-fearing gentile would presuppose that a person would follow the dietary laws of Torah (Lev. 11). Therefore, the vision of Simon/Peter should be interpreted in this light – as a symbolic revelation of unity of brothers and sisters in Christ. Therefore, the vision of St. Peter is not about the food, it is about the communion of the saints where everyone has an equal part in the distribution of the Lord’s gifts because “God has no partiality” (Acts 10:34).       

Other themes:

Angel of God vs. the Angel of the LORD. The term angel (lit. messenger) in the Bible can be used in a variety of meanings. First – most obvious one – a specially created being (not a human) for a specific task God would require (cp. Geb 28:12). Second, it can be a human being who delivers a message of God. We have a whole Biblical book named after such a guy – Malichi, lit. my messenger (cp. Mal. 1:1; 3:1). Third, the Angel of the Lord – the Second person of the Trinity, appearing during the times of the Old Testament or technically before Incarnation (cp. Josh. 5:13-15; Judges 13:21-23; John 1:14). After the Incarnation in Christ humans are restored to their high position of creation leadership (cp. Ps. 8:3-5; 1 Cor. 6:1).

2 Peter

 The Second Letter of Peter  

Title: Both authorship (1:1) and the number (3:1) can be attested from the letter itself. The fact that he presents himself as Simeon Peter brings up the memories of the First Jerusalem counsel (Acts 15:14).      

Date of writing: Apparently, this is one of the later writings. There are few factors to consider: he never says anything bad about gentiles (unlike in the First Epistle); he mentions St. Paul – our beloved brother Paul (3:15) – and his writings; regularly he goes to the theme of Parousia (eminent and soon-to-be second coming of Christ). The idea of suffering is not dominant (thou present, cp. 2:9), while the notes on behavioral godliness can be found throughout the letter. Therefore, it should be dated around 64-65 AD.        

Structure:

a. 1:1-4 Greetings.

  b. 1:5-12, godly qualities

    c. 1:13-16, I send you a reminder.

      d. 1:17-21, glory of Christ and truth of the Biblical prophecy.

        e. 2:1-3, False prophets.

          f. 2:4, angels

            g. 2:5-10, salvation of the fallen world

          f’. 2:11, angels

        e’. 2:12-16, prophetic madness, like irrational animals.

      d’. 2:17-22, knowledge of Christ and the truth of the parable. 

    c’. 3:1-13, this is the second letter. 

  b’. 3:14-16, be without spot or blemish. 

a’. 3:17-18, conclusion.

Main themes: Getting ready for the Second Coming of Christ. This theme has two important parts: (1) the coming is imminent; (2) the evildoers will be judged.

The second important theme is the false teachers who deny the security of Second Coming. It can include the false prophets (old and new), disobedient angels, and preachers of lawlessness (those of propagate anti-nomism).

Assurance is the divine nature of the Scriptures – the words of godly man (authors of Old and New Testaments) were guided by the Holy Spirit. 

Main Characters: Peter; Jesus Christ (he refers both to the experience of Transfiguration [“we” should include also John and James (Mt. 17:1)] and his own deep understanding of Lord’s glory); Noah; Lot; Balaam, son of Beor, and his donkey; “our beloved brother Paul”.   

Reflection in other parts of the Bible: Old Testament – Noah, Lot, and Balaam (all three stories have moral degradation component); Proverbs 26:11 does not give a “wise saying” on a dog, but also delivers a teaching on foolish behavior.

Gospel texts – Transfiguration (Mt. 17:1-8; Mk. 8:2-8; Lk. 9:28-36).

Other NT: reference to St. Paul; morning star (cp. Rev. 22:16).       

Lutheran teaching:

The hallmark of the Lutheran church is salvation only by God’s grace without any of human works (Ap. XX:12-13; FC SD IV:1-22,33) based on 2 Pet. 1:10.  

The Doctrine of Free Will and Election (FC Epitome XI:14; SD II:49; XI:28, 83-84) is heavily based on the epistle.  

Lutheran hymnody:

LSB 873 – Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies

LSB 416 – Swiftly Pass the Clouds of Glory

Relevancy of the Book: The letter has at least two important messages for a modern man. The course of the world’s history sooner or later will come to its end. Christ will come to evaluate the deeds of people: righteous will be transformed into His glory and evil doers (especially false teachers) will reach their ugly end. The knowledge about this is based on written, inerrant, and inspired Word of God.     

Memory verses: 

2:19-21: And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamb shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

 

1 Peter

First Letter of St. Peter   

Title: First letter of St. Peter. There are doubts among liberal scholars. They are based on usage of complex theological and profound grammatical constructions. Taking into an account that he was “a simple fisherman”. Reading the Bible carefully, shows that this simple fisherman knew 4 languages (to some extent).        

Date of writing: TLSB tells before 67AD. It can be right. The reason for the date is also supported by the naming of Sylvanus (2 Cor. 1:19) and Mark (Acts. 12:35; 13:13; 15:36-40). On the other hand, the Gentiles in the letter are painted only negative. It is very difficult to imagen St. Peter doing this after the conversion of Cornelius (Acts 10 – 11). Therefore, it is better to place it at the beginning of Church history (30-33 AD).       

Structure:

a. 1:1-3a, Greetings

  b. 1:3b-9, faith and trials  

    c. 1:10-25, Good news and it’s impact on life   

      d. 2:1-10, put away deceit, hypocrisy, envy etc.

        e. 2:11-12, call to good conduct

          f. 2:13-17, obedience to the authorities (v 13 and 17 – emperor/king)

            g. 2:18-25, servants

            g’. 3:1-6, wives

          f’. 3:7, husbands

        e’. 3:8-22, zealous for good

      d’. 4:1-11, gentiles live in sensuality, passions, drunkenness etc..

    c’. 4:12-19, blessing in suffering for Christ

  b. 5:1-11, care and submission

a’. 5:12-14, Final greetings

Main themes: Faith in Christ (1:8 – without seeing, cp. John 20:24-29, story of Thomas). Apparently, St. Peter addresses people who have only heard about the Cross, Resurrection, and Pentecost. Therefore, he brings up the “job description for the Messiah” idea grounded in the words of the prophets (1:10-12).     

Sufferings as a participation in the sufferings of Christ. Three main reasons for suffering : (1) form us into the image of Christ; (2) devil’s hate of the Word effects those who are faithful to the Word; (3) keep us on our toes – disciple’s factor.   

Submission as the main paradigm of relationship. Social, trade, and family relationship are based on the example of Christ and godly people (Sarah, 3:6).   

Main Characters: Peter writing to the Elders – representatives of the churches in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia (very prominent settlements of Jews in the Roman empire). 

Reflection in other parts of the Bible: Call of the holy people is based on the story of Exodus and the Sinai covenant (Ex. Ch. 19 – 20; Lev. 11). The separation of the people of God is reflected in every aspect of life.   

Theology of Zion is very important part of the Letter. Zion as a fortress, place of worship etc. with the LORD Himself as the cornerstone (Isaiah + Psalms).

Lutheran teaching: The theme of repentance, faith, and love as the fulfillment of the Law is discussed with the support from the Second and Fourth chapters of the Letter (Ap. V (III):117, 118; XII (V):65; XXI (IX): 31; LC, I:272, 285).

At least twice we find the passages from 3^rd chanter of the epistle in the Large Catechism explaining the sacrament of the Holy Baptism (LC, IV: 24, 82). Main idea: baptism saves!

Lutheran hymnody:

LSB 616 – Baptismal Waters Cover Me

LSB 770 – What a Friend We Have in Jesus

Relevancy of the Book: Reading the First Letter of St. Peter is beneficial on at least three levels. First, the apostle presents very deep theological ideas connecting the sacrifice of Christ with the rituals of OT institutions. Second, he prepares us for the proper understanding of suffering (very important for our pain-avoiding culture). Third, the guidelines for godly conduct are described as a pattern of servitude – as Christ served us submitting to the Father, we can serve each other and the world. This is a radical teaching for our power struggle-based society.   

Memory verses:  

1:18-19: you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.