The Twelve: St. Philip

St. Philip

Meaning of the name: Philip is a Greek name. It comes from two words: phileo – “to love” or “to be fond of” or “to be friend of” (Philadelphia – Brotherly Love), and hippos – “horse.” Therefore, a person, who is fond of horses. The name got historical significance after Philip II – ruler of Macedon (northern part of modern Greece), father of Alexander the Great. I am not sure that the horse plays any role in the life of Philip, but the fact that he has Greek name (along with Andrew) will be an important fact duting the Triumphant Entry of Jesus to Jerusalem.

Life story: In all of the lists of apostles Philip always has 5^th place (Matthew 10:1-4; Mark 3:13-19; Luke 6:12-16). First, the list has the triumvirate of Peter, James, and John. Then Andrew (we talked about him first, for he was called first). Then – always – Philip. Jesus picked the Twelve out of many disciples. Some have more stories – some have less, but each of them has a special place in the ranks of His followers.

The Twelve: St. Peter

St. Peter

Meaning of his name: At his birth he got the name Shimon, which literally means “the one who was heard.” To some extend it is a reflection on the suffering of matriarch Leah who said “[God has] heard...” when she conceived and bore the second boy (Genesis 29:33). The apostle was named after the forefather – one of the sons of Jacob (which begs a question, maybe Andrew was the first and Simon – the second).

There is a famous passage (Matthew 16:18) that people identify as a moment when the apostle was renamed. (Close but no cigar). Actually, he was called Simon Peter prior to his confession, and after. But Jesus changed Simon's name – when the LORD called him as a disciple (John 1:41-42). Peter is a Greek word for “Rock” or a “jewel.”

Life story: The New Testament has many stories about St. Peter. I am not going to talk about his denial of Jesus, or cutting of an ear of the High priest servant, or multiple times in the prison, or conflict with St. Paul. We will pick a few of the most known ones to paint a picture of the apostle.

The Twelve: St. Andrew

St. Andrew

Meaning of the name: Let me begin with a quote from Origen of Alexandria – Church father of III century AD: a name is a designation that sums up and describes the particular character of the one named (ACCS NT, II:41).

Andrew means manly, brave. He had to be brave to switch allegiance from John the Baptizer to the One John was pointing to. He had to be brave to invite his brother. Also, his name is Greek, unlike Simon. This is an indicator that Jesus' mission has a worldwide direction from the very beginning.

Life Story: He was born in Bethsaida, Galilee (John 1:44). When Jesus called him, he lived in the same house with Simon' (Peter) family [note that Simon mentioned first] (Mark 1:29). According to the Gospel of John, he actually was called the first. Then he invited Simon, and then the rest of the disciples joined the band (John 1:37-42).

Gospel of Mark: The True Family

 True Family: Disciples and Immediate Family

Text: 3:7-35

Comments:

1. 3:7-12, Leaving the great crowd behind. Beginning from this point Jesus will concentrate His effort on His disciples. We used to think that He was available to anyone at any giving moment. Looks like Mark’s records identify the limits on Savior’s time with the crowds. On one hand, we see that all who had diseases were trying to touch Him (v. 10); on the other hand, Jesus ordered His disciples to get the boat ready (v. 9) – sounds like a story from a spy or detective movie. This creates a contrast or juxtaposition between His fame that covers a wide range of territories: Galilee [North] – for sure, He was raised there, that’s where the first miracle appeared; Judea and Jerusalem [Center] – people from the capital and capital region: that’s a pleasant surprise; Idumea [South] – that’s the country of Herod’s origine: a real surprise; looks like the real people recognized who is the real King of the Jews; beyond the Jordan [East] – He re-unites the 12 tribes, like no one before, cp. Numbers 32 and Joshua 22;10-35; and [the final ones on the list] Tyre and Sidon [West] – this is the lands that provided the cypress trees for the Temple building project. Now, they send people to acknowledge Messiah.            

2. 3:13-19, Selection of 12 apostles. Three things: (1) He calls them to the mountain and on the mountain; (2) the list of names; (3) the purpose of calling them or apostleship. So, the first. Notice the order: He goes to the mountain, then calls the ones He desires, they come. This is important in at least two aspects – Jesus reveals Himself as the LORD, as YHWH (once more). It is obvious (for example) from the title of the Book of Leviticus. Va-yikra – and He called (to Moses). Second, He is in charge, He calls, as later we will see the purpose of the call.

Names: We have 3+8+1 structure: Simon (comment on his name change), James and John (John is identified by his brother – interesting, right?), they are called brothers of Thunder. Three main guys Jesus will involve in His ministry, see Mark 9:2-8. Even though we know that Andrew is the brother of Simon, in Markian account he is detached from the higher leadership, from the brother… He is in the same list as the 8: Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot. The final guy – Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.       

The purpose (v. 14-15): so He can send them – they represent Him, like ambassadors, they don’t “play” on their own accord. They will be sent out to preach and have authority over demons – just like Jesus. Cp. John 20:21-23.      

3. 3:20-21, Family thinks He is off. Knowing that James (the brother of the LORD) converted (apparently, after resurrection 1 Corinthians 15:7), it’s interesting to see that initially all the members of the family (including the Mother) thought that He was mad… Overall, the passage is too complicated…  

4. 3:22-30, Scribes are accusing Him being demon possessed

There is an interesting structure to the passage:

vv. 22-30 overall:	Block b., 23-27
a. 3:22, Beelzebul   b. 3:23-27, separation of the kingdom and the house   b’. 3:28-29, the ultimate sin a’. 3:30, unclean spirit	a. 23, satan   b. 24, kingdom     c. 25, house a’. 26, satan     c’. 27, house

Main idea – unity within the house/home. See how the word is used. Therefore, the ultimate sin is an attempt to separate the work and persons of the Holy Trinity.   

5. 3:31-35, The true family. Note, that the Mother and brothers (who came to seize Him) are outside. Same as the Older Brother in the Prodigal Son parable (Luke 15:11-31). Jesus identifies his mother and brothers (v. 34) as the ones who do the will of God (v. 35). This is can be a strong argument for the authorship of Epistle of James being James, the brother of Jesus (who at this point stood outside but heard it). He insists that it is not a repetition of creed that saves, but creed realized in the works of sanctification (James 2:14-26). 

1 Timothy: on Christology

1 Timothy on Christology

1. Creedal confession, 3:16. Let us begin with the fundamentals. St. Paul wants to come to Timothy. Yet, preparing the younger pastor for a possible delay, he provides the confessional statement – what should the Church know about godliness. Before we go into text itself, let’s touch on two words: confession and mystery.   

Confession – Greek homologeon, means speaking together out loud. This is what the church should say as a statement of faith. This is what we believe – it should not be changed, adjusted, or improved. Later confessions: Apostle’s creed, Nicaean creed etc. used the very same form – a collection of short statements revealing the elements of doctrinal teaching about God, Christ, Holy Spirit, or Church. We repeat it TOGETHER every Sunday.

The word Mystery reflects the revelatory aspect of our faith. It is given to us, given from above. Therefore, we can recite it, we can study it, we can proclaim it. But we never will come to the full understanding of Who God is, and What exactly happened on the Cross, in the Tomb, and on Resurrection Sunday morning. Both Old and New Testament speak of the mystery – not magic, but mystery – something beyond our understanding (Proverbs 25:2, Psalm 131:1).           

Confession proper:

1. God (!) manifested in the flesh

2. Justified in the Spirit

3. Seen by the angels

4. Preached in/among the nations

5. Believed in the World/Cosmos

6. Taken up/received in glory.

2. Global function of the Christ, 2:3-7. Christ is the Savior of the world. All people are justified and should come to the knowledge of (this) truth. There is a need to differentiate between General and personal Justification. The difference is obviously seen in 1 Timothy 4:10 and 1 John 2:1-2. This passage talks about salvation and justification in a general way – what Jesus accomplished for the fate of the world on the Cross. Note the distinction of to be saved and to know. True knowledge follows salvation. Same as teaching follows baptism – Matthew 28:18-20. These elements of godliness should not be separated, but knowledge doesn’t HAVE TO precede salvation. That’s why we baptize infants – to be saved (1 Peter 3:21, AC V:1-2).      

3. Function of Christ on the personal level, 1:12-17. Regarding personal aspect of Justification, we can see St. Paul’s own example. He describes his actions toward the Church before his conversion as blasphemy etc. (v. 13). His resistance was conquered by the grace of our LORD, providing the faith and love in Christ Jesus. The apostle goes from general to personal – the task for Messiah is “to save the sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (v. 15). Knowing that people like Saul (former name of St. Paul) can be saved, gives us example of God’s patience and encourages us to pray for our “friends” who don’t know about salvation they can enjoy (v. 16).     

4. Christology is complete in training others in godliness, 4:6-11. Let me start with an example of Old Testament saint, Ezra (7:10): three steps – (1) he recognition of the WORD, given to the world; (2) personal “conversion” by studying and doing; (3) teaching others. St. Paul approaches teaching of Timothy in a similar way. We’ve talked about the first two, here is the third: command and teach these things (v. 11). 

Advent Readings: Luke 11

Luke 11

The chapter is part of a larger portion. Two parts of the central part of the block are dedicated (d) to the Lord’s prayer and prayer in general and (d’) to teaching on an unclean spirit. Many words have been said and written about prayer life. Jesus gives an exemplary prayer and a lesson on persistence in prayer.

In a parallel passage we see Jesus’ exorcism and teaching on the unclean spirits. The main lesson for today is persistence in the life of sanctification. When unclean spirit is cast out of life of a child of God through the Word and/or Sacrament of Baptism, the life of discipleship assumes a progress. It doesn’t mean that we constantly will go uphill only. For sure, there will be setbacks, but a Christian should keep his house filled with Holy Spirit to withstand attacks of the evil ones.

I am not talking about some kinda mystical non-biblical experiences. There are four main exercises any Christian should repeat on a regular basis. The Book of Acts 2:42 describes the regular life of a believer, following a four aspects pattern: being in the Word (teaching of the apostles), in fellowship with other believers, a regular participation in the Sacrament of the Altar (breaking of the bread), and in prayers.

As Jesus was teaching on the unclean spirits, a women raised a voice with a glorification of a mother who raised Him. In stead of concentrating on His family, He points out the true blessing: “Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!” (Lk. 11:28). Assuming Jesus was speaking with His disciples and the crowd in Judea on Hebrew or Aramean, the root shamar – to keep means not only keeping or observance, but also a guarding. We are encouraged by Jesus Himself to defend a purity of the Word proclaimed and practiced in our churches, in our homes, and in our lives. 

Advent Readings: Luke 7

Luke 7

One of the most controversial passages in the whole Gospel is the sending of the messengers by John the Baptizer. He sends them with a question: “are you the one? Or should we wait for another?” We know that he jumped in the womb of Elizabeth, he was the one who pointed to Jesus saying: “This is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world,” he was the one who baptized Jesus and saw the dove descending on the Messiah… There are so many facts describing faithfulness of John.

Then why did he send his disciples with the question. I believe we have one of the most glorious examples of a disciple promoting the Master, the LORD. John sent his followers to see for themselves Who is in front of them. The One who would help the blind to receive sight, the lame to walk, who cleansed the lepers, and deaf received their hearing, death were raised up and the good news was preached to the poor [of spirit] (Lk. 7:22). John tells them to ask the question from the first person: “should WE wait another?” And the answer is no, you shouldn’t for “blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Lk. 7:23).

Even in prison, even fighting for life, even under pressure St. John the Baptizer points everyone to Jesus the Messiah. Not to himself, not appointing the successor from among his followers, none of that. Living or dying he completes his task – helping the world to recognize and follow the One who came to save the world. 

LIFE of DISCIPLESHIP

Life of discipleship

We are at a regular time of the Church year. Regular time might sound like a boring idea – non-eventful, every Sunday our beautiful Zion altar is covered with green, many familiar faces left for their vacation places… On the other hand, it is a good time to think about the walk in Christ or life of the discipleship (Col. 2:6-7). When you read the Bible, you do not find a verse about napping in Christ or – take an another extreme – running in Christ. The discipleship is a walk in Christ – steady, sometimes non-eventful, sometimes with no familiar face around or even alone…

When you come to our Fellowship Hall, you’ll find a passage from the Book of Acts 2:42 on the back wall of the stage: and they devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the praying. “They” to be the members of the First Messianic congregation in Jerusalem – Jewish believers who recognized Jesus as the promised Christ, the foretold Messiah. They formed the community being moved by the Holy Spirit, for their hearts were pierced when St. Peter told them that the Messiah was killed because of their sins. Actually, he was more poignant: Let the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified (Acts 2:36). First congregation was built on this very message: every one of them and every one of us was a reason for the crucifixion, but God in Him won the battle with the death and devil, resurrecting Jesus, and reconciling the whole world to Himself. Whole world! Every one of us!   

This happened about 2000 years ago miles and miles away from our beloved Zion Lutheran church. How the Good News of Jesus was able to make it to the Central Coast? The answer is both simple and difficult. The difficult part is discussed in the books on the Church History – thousands upon thousands of names, places, and dates can and should be remembered, faith heroes honored (not worshiped), and great ideas that shaped our theology and practice commemorated. The simple option sounds like this: daily, weekly, monthly, every year in every century the Church of Christ continued in the same manner. They were studying the Holy Scriptures, meeting with one another, partaking in the sacrament at the Table of the LORD, and spending time in prayer (both communal and private).

The thing is – the reach of Good News to the Central Coast is not a matter of milage only, it is a generational challenge – I’ll repeat myself, 2000 years. So, the life of the discipleship is a life of acquiring deep Biblical convictions, practicing them in daily life, teaching them to your children and to your children’s children or – as psalmist put it – “from generation to generation” (Ps. 78:6), and also sharing these convictions with others.

Therefore, there are three basic challenges to godly discipleship. First, a church can stop sharing the Good News with others, living comfortably as a good family of believers. The second one, is stopping to teach our children. And the third one, going through gestures and motions with no reflection on what the deep conviction of forgiveness is about.

Life at Zion IS a life of overcoming these challenges – we share the love of Jesus distributing the gifts provided via Harvest Bag, Zion Preschool should become a center of godliness. LWML is reaching out to organizations like Fort Hope that look for the lost and/or abandoned. Our Sunday School is full of laughing, singing, and studying children of our families. And we have many opportunities for adults to dive into the Word, enjoy the Fellowship and Communion of the Saints. Recently, the Bord of Elders decided to begin a prayer service – every Wednesday at 11:30. We will hold them in the sanctuary, but if you are unable to attend – join us wherever you are, praying to the needs of the church, giving thanks for the outpouring of His love in our lives, and praising His holy name, giving glory to God, creator, redeemer, and provider. 

Gospel of Mark chapters 2 and 3

Gospel of Mark 2 and 3

Sometime ago I wrote about a possibly of 7 days of creation pattern in the Gospel of Mark chapter 1. Here are some thoughts on structure of the next block of the narrative – chapters 2-3.