Peace Be With You

John 20: 19-31 (May 1, 2011)

1) The Text

19When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” 24But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

26A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” 30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

2) The Context

In John, and throughout the New Testament, the English word "life" translates three different Greek words: psychē, bios, and zoē. When John speaks, on the one hand, of psychē or bios, these words refer to what one possesses simply by virtue of being a living creature. This is the life possessed from birth to death by animals and by humans, whether they be good or bad, righteous or wicked, founders of charities or perpetrators of genocide.

On the other hand, "life" as used at the end of this passage, is spoken of with the word zoē. This is eternal life (literally "life of the age"), life given to those who believe; life given to those who are born of God; life that, in John, transforms us from merely existing to living in the abundance and eternity of God. This life was present from the beginning and lies at the core of creation ("in him was life (zoē), and the life (zoē) was the light of all people" (1:4)). This life connects the deepest purposes of God with the ultimate purpose of John's gospel: "these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah ... and that believing you may have life (zoē) in his name." This zoē does not replace psychē; we are still the same creatures we were before. It does, however, bring us into the fullness of grace; so that we are, also, not still, the same creatures we were before—at least potentially not the same.

3) Interpretation

In this passage, we find the disciples demonstrating more psychē than zoē, hunkered down behind locked doors, fearful of what might happen to them at the hands of those who killed Jesus. The risen Christ steps into the room, into the midst of their fears with the first of a three-fold "Peace be with you." This is the peace that comes when our worst fears are not realized; the profound realization that out of the blood, the nails, the thorns, the beating, and the cross has come this life, this zoē of God, right into their midst.

When Christ shows them his hands and side, they rejoice with the euphoria, the adrenaline rush that follows the miraculous—the crucified one is the risen one. Jesus then speaks a second "Peace be with you", maybe this time a "not so fast" kind of peace, a kind of peace that lasts beyond the initial rush, that abides even when one remembers the cost and the challenges that still lie ahead. "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." Sobering words, even when they see the living Christ, since they have also just been shown his wounds. Christ's victory will be theirs as well, but in order to get there, they will need the kind of peace that abides even when—in the midst of their own blood, thorns, and cross—victory seems a dim and distant possibility.

The third "Peace be with you" follows a famous interlude with the disciples and Thomas, who was absent during the previous appearance. Although he is famous as "Doubting" Thomas, he asks for no more than what the rest of them, including Mary Magdalene, have already received. As we will see, Thomas' words do not seem particularly troubling to Jesus, but one might imagine the existence of significant tension between Thomas and the other disciples in the room. After all, Thomas has in so many words called them liars to their face. "I won't believe you until I see for myself." However, despite what might have transpired during the rather awkward week that followed the first appearance, they are still together.

Jesus again appears among them, and says again, "Peace be with you," perhaps this time the peace of reconciliation—"peace be among you," the peace that follows when one forgives (a task given to the disciples at Jesus' previous appearance). This is the gospel that most emphasizes oneness and unity among the disciples, a oneness that shows the world that this message of life is true. So, this third peace, within the community, might be the most significant of all.

Jesus does not admonish Thomas but invites him to satisfy his doubt by seeing for himself. He is welcomed into the peace of Christ before he can either apologize or defend himself. Churches and communities of faith often do not do as well with dissidents and challenges in their midst. But Christ calls them and us to live into his peace as a way of reaching our own peace with each other. Christ seems less concerned than we often are about adherence to one interpretation of his life and resurrection. He sends Thomas, doubters, and all of us to continue his work.

Thomas' response stands as the highest affirmation of Christ by anyone in the gospel, "My Lord and my God!" What the narrator stated in the prologue ("and the Word was with God and the Word was God"), this non-doubting Thomas speaks with his own lips. Whether we have the faith of Thomas or the faith described at the end of this passage, the goal is that we find our life, our zoē, within the life of the crucified and risen Christ, who sends us out as his Father also sent him.

4) Thought Exercise

What doubts do you have about the resurrection?

How are you continuing Jesus’ work?

Retelling the Resurrection Story

John 20: 1-18 (April 24, 2011)

1) The Text

20Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples returned to their homes.

11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

2) The Context

John’s version of the Easter story reflects traditions that are also in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. One of the unique characteristics of the resurrection story in John is the central place given to Mary Magdalene. She is a witness not only to the resurrection of Jesus but also to his death. But who is this Mary Magdalene? Luke 8:1-3 tells us that Jesus had expelled seven demons from her and that she along with other women accompanied Jesus and the disciples as they traveled through cities and villages proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. These women were serving "them" out of their resources. The Greek word for "serve" is diakoneo, which implies ministry. According to Mark, Mary Magdalene "used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee." The Greek word for "follow" is akoloutheo, which is the verb used to describe a disciple. Thus there is evidence that Mary Magdalene was a faithful disciple.

Another unique feature of the story in John is the role of the Beloved Disciple. The Beloved Disciple must have had a significant role in the Johannine community and appears at significant points in the Gospel. He is first mentioned in the account of the Last Supper. He is the disciple who was reclining next to Jesus and asks Jesus who it was that was going to betray Jesus. This is the disciple who was known to the high priest and after Jesus’ arrest he follows Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. When he sees that Peter is delayed at the gate, the Beloved Disciple speaks with the woman who was guarding the gate and brings Peter in.

The Gospel never makes explicit the identity of the Beloved Disciple. Although traditionally the Beloved Disciple has been identified with John the son of Zebedee, there is no indication of it at all in the Gospel. This may be because the Johannine community knew who the Beloved Disciple was. He had a crucial role in the Johannine church.

3) Interpretation

This resurrection story tells not so much what happened to Jesus or how the resurrection took place but who were the witnesses to the resurrected Lord. A related question that this passage raises is how to tell the resurrection story. Is there only one way to tell it? This is not to suggest that we change the resurrection accounts in the New Testament to make them fit our own worldviews, desires and wishes. Rather, it is to suggest that we plug our own story into the resurrection story. Under the illuminating guidance of the Spirit, this "old, old story" must continually become the good news that addresses us where we are. It must become our story.

This resurrection story acknowledges that the response to the Christ event may vary from one Christian to another. Peter unhesitatingly enters the tomb. The Beloved Disciple is more cautious, but once he sees the undisturbed grave clothes, his perceptiveness leads to faith in the resurrection. Mary is outside weeping and will experience the resurrection of Jesus yet another way. It is no wonder then that there is not a single gospel written but four. Despite the central reality of the resurrection of Jesus, the story can be told in so many different ways because the resurrection is a reality that is experienced existentially by believers in a wide variety of ways. The Beloved Disciple believes when he sees the abandoned linen wrappings. Mary believes when she hears the Lord call her name. Thomas believes when he is given a chance to put his fingers in the nail-scarred hands of Jesus. How do I believe? How do you believe? Our faith rests more on conviction than on concrete fact. In the end our faith rests on little tangible evidence.

John makes use of the traditions that have come down to him but he retells the story in his own way. How will the story of the resurrection of Jesus be told today? What difference will it make in the nitty-gritty of life for us as individual believers and as a church? The reason we need the Easter story is that it provides the possibility of a future for those who have lost hope. People who have faced the cul-de-sacs of life have nowhere to go. When that marriage is dead, when cancer takes its toll, when calamity strikes, when gang warfare or bombs claim the lives of loved ones, can there be a tomorrow? The resurrection story is God’s address to us as we face life in our present circumstances. The Gospel of John bears witness to the possibility of taking the old story and retelling so that it becomes our own story, the living story of a community of believers.

4) Thought Exercise

What do you believe to be true about the resurrection?

What evidence do you have to support your belief?

A Different Kind of King

Matthew 21: 1-11 (April 17, 2011)

1) The Text

21When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” 4This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, 5“Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” 6The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; 7they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. 8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” 10When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” 11The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

2) The Context

This story is found in all four gospels, indicating its importance to the early church: Mark 11:1-11a; Luke 19:28-38; John 12:12-19. Matthew records Jesus' Palm Sunday ride into Jerusalem. Actually it is John who tells us that it took place on the Sunday before Jesus' crucifixion, cf. Jn.12:1. Matthew records that after deliberate and careful preparation, Jesus rides into Jerusalem and in so doing fulfills prophecy, revealing the full extent of his Messianic character.

Only Matthew mentions two donkeys. Mark, along with Luke, tells us that "no one has ever ridden" the animal. The prophecy tells us that it was a colt, a young animal. Matthew gives us the full details. Jesus rides the young colt with its mother tagging alone. The Lord who stills the storm, stills the unbroken animal.

The spreading of cloaks on the road by the crowd acknowledges Jesus' kingship. The cutting of branches and spreading them before Jesus is a gesture similar to that offered to Simon Maccabaeus when he entered Jerusalem, 1Macc.13:51, 2Macc.10:7. Both acts are a gesture of respect. Jesus' stay in Bethany most likely allowed the news of his approach to spread throughout Jerusalem. Along with bands of pilgrims, Jesus moves toward the city. The crowd starts singing a pilgrims' chant. The chant comes primarily from Psalm 118:25-26. "Hosanna" is an acclamation of praise. "Son of David", and "He who comes in the name of the Lord", are both messianic titles. "Hosanna in the highest" is equivalent to "Glory to God in the highest." The disciples may understand the significance of these words, but it is unlikely the crowd does.

Mark has Jesus weeping over the city while Matthew focuses on the entry. Jesus probably enters the city near the north entrance to the outer court of the temple. By this time many in the city are caught up in the event, but of course question what it all means. They are not actually asking "Who is this?", but are rather questioning "Who is this Jesus?" For many in the crowd Jesus is just a local prophet, certainly not the messiah.

3) Interpretation

There are reasons that we tend to like candidates who we're convinced are outsiders to politics. One of them is that we're dissatisfied with the games of politics as they're currently played. We don't want someone who works well within the system; we want a system that works, and on some level, we know that the system as it's been running isn't working for a lot of people. I think a dynamic with some similarities to that is at work in Matthew's presentation of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. Matthew has the crowd proclaiming Jesus as the king in Jerusalem who has come as an outsider, a prophet from Galilee (Matthew 21:11). This is not a case of "meet the new boss, same as the old boss": things are going to change, and in the biggest of ways, when Jesus is king -- starting with how kings rule.

Matthew wants people to know that when he says that Jesus is king, we're not talking about kingship as it's usually conceived, or kingship as it's usually used by those who have it. Jesus is a king who restores the glory of God's people, but not with military victories. Jesus triumphs, but not with the might of the sword. Jesus rides into the city not on a war horse, but "humble and riding on a donkey," a beast of trade rather than of war, because this is a different kind of king.

There are at least two points that are central in the Christian proclamation of Jesus as Lord. The first is that the position has been filled, fully and forever -- no other candidates need apply. Jesus, and not any earthly ruler, nor any power or principality, is Lord of all that is. The second is that the Lord Jesus is not like other kings. Jesus did not come to be "king of the hill," but to fulfill our longing that “every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level and the rough places a plain (Isaiah 40:4).

That's what the writer of the Gospel According to John meant when he wrote that Jesus said to Pilate, "my kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). It's not that Jesus is uninterested in what happens on earth. Quite the opposite is true. Jesus didn't come to tell us to give up on the earth, any more than he came to rule it like Pilate. Jesus came to redeem it. Jesus didn't come to take over Pilate's system; he came to replace it. When we confess that Jesus is Lord and Christ, the anointed king, we are leaving no room for the Pilates of this world. When we confess Jesus as Lord – not in some distant world or only in the future, but of all that is, and of here and now – we are proclaiming the Good News that it is possible, with Jesus as Lord, for all those with power to use it as he used his, for the vision of the prophets to find flesh among us who proclaim Christ the king.

That is the vision and the reality we proclaim when we honor Jesus, the outsider of Nazareth, as king in Jerusalem. Jesus brings more than a new face under the crown, a new point on the calendar: it is a new world.

4) Thought Exercise

How would you describe Jesus’s vision for our world?

What basic things can we do to inch toward that vision?

The Spirit of Christ

Romans 8: 6-11 (April 10, 2011)

1) The Text

6To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, 8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

10But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

2) The Context

In Romans 7, Paul has sought to demonstrate that perverted human nature is such that it subverts the Law. Confronting human nature with the demands of the Law does not bring about change. It tends to ensconce people in their rebelliousness. The Law does not then bring life but death.

The situation seems quite hopeless, but for divine intervention. Paul sees that divine intervention in Christ. Its effect is to offer a relationship of love which includes forgiveness of sin, the overcoming of alienation, and the power to begin anew and to keep on going (8:1-4). What the Law could not achieve because of the state of human nature (8:3a) God has achieved in another way, through sending his Son right into this hopeless situation of humanity to deal with it (8:3b). 8:4 then reinforces Paul's claim. Rather than showing disrespect for the Law of God, enshrined in scripture, he is proclaiming a gospel that liberates people to live in ways that fulfill what the Law asks of them. They do so not by trying harder but by becoming engaged in a relationship which has the effect of changed behavior.

In 8:5 Paul then explains the contrast. People live according to "the flesh" or according to the Spirit. They are two mindsets. By the first Paul means trying to improve yourself by your own efforts and remaining focused on yourself. By the latter he means opening yourself to the transforming reality of love through the Spirit. "Flesh" is not neutral here nor does it mean our human nature in itself, let alone our sexual nature as if to be human is bad. "Flesh" is a certain way of living, a perversion of our true selves.

3) Interpretation

Our passage comes in at 8:6 where Paul elaborates further. If you set your mind or focus just on yourself in a selfish kind of way, you will not succeed. It is the way of death. The way to liberation is to let go of focusing only on yourself and making yourself self-sufficient. It is to open yourself to being loved.

We give up the struggle of justifying ourselves to ourselves and to others and to God and we accept our human frailty and sinfulness and we accept God's love. We can stop fighting. We can find peace (8:6). It is OK to let go and be loved. Sometimes it takes a lot of courage especially when we have spent our lives trying to maintain our own construction of ourselves, which has often meant kidding ourselves and others. We stop trying to make ourselves feel better by doing good. We give it away and accept grace.

Fighting to sustain our identity apart from God and by all this effort at achieving worth sets us on collision course with those who just want to look us in the eye with love and embrace us. We are then our own worst enemies and it also means we resist being loved. That includes resisting God (8:7). Sometimes our fear of love can even be violent, because love sees us as we are - we can't stand that. Such a mindset sets us heading not to life but death, even though we think it is the way we shall save ourselves, it is certainly debilitating. Even when we acknowledge God's law as good we won't be able to keep it because we lack the inner resources (8:7). We just can't please God like that and we also do no good to those around us and to ourselves (8:8).

Paul celebrates that love liberates people. It gives them hope. Here in 8:9 he speaks of God's Spirit entering people. In the same verse he speaks of Christ's Spirit entering us. It is really all the same. The God who meets in compassion in Christ is there for us in the present. We stop being isolated. We become God's (8:9). Much earlier Paul spoke of the glory which humanity has lost by its alienation and sin (3:23). Now we can become what we were made to be.

8:10 could mean one of two things: the body, the old state of affairs, has come to an end. Then it reflects an answer to the cry of liberation from the body of death in 7:25. Or it may be that Paul wants to say we still have to live with these negative dynamics entrenched in our psyche but we don't have to be overwhelmed by them because the Spirit of love can set us on a new path. The latter fits more into our notions of gradual and dynamic change. Certainly Paul thinks change is possible in the here and now, but he also knows that we keep having to realize this potential and keep focused. It doesn't just happen automatically. The statement is so dense that it is hard to tell. Like a set of notes Paul contrasts: body/death/sin with Spirit/life/goodness. He knows we can choose the second cluster. Its result is goodness: love begets love.

Paul has a big-picture understanding of what love does. It more than enables him to respond to the quibbles of those who think he is abandoning scripture because it is grounded in the bigness of God and is as defiant as Christ's resurrection to which Paul keeps returning. There can be change now and there needs to be change in the future. How else can one understand the movement of radical love?

4) Thought Exercise

Are there times you feel isolated from God?

Are there times you have let God in and felt less isolated?