12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) 16 and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus-- 17 he was one of our number and shared in this ministry."
18 (With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
20 "For," said Peter, "it is written in the book of Psalms, " 'May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,' and," 'May another take his place of leadership.' 21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection."
23 So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs." 26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
How Can I Know God's Will?
Acts 1:12-26
Sermon
by King Duncan
Wesley D. Tracy tells about a woman whom he calls Kate Dowd. That is not her real name, but she is a real person. Kate, a dedicated wife and mother, volunteered at her church, helped with Cub Scouts, tatted lace, and knitted scarves. Then she discovered something that was more exciting than all the rest of her activities combined riverboat gambling. Almost immediately her life was completely changed and not for the better.
Kate would cross the river daily to Illinois and board either the Alton Belle or the River Queen riverboats to indulge in her new passion. Soon she had emptied the family bank account and pawned her wedding ring. She was still gambling when the house payment was 17 months behind.
“The day they came to repossess the house, gambling lost its charm. She drove her 1988 Oldsmobile to a mall parking lot, climbed into the back seat, put the muzzle of a .357 Magnum behind her right ear, and pulled the trigger. Kate Dowd, university graduate, loving mother, and faithful church worker left a note, ‘To Whom It May Concern,’ and died with $2.58 in her purse.” (1)
Gambling can be a fatal disease. For most people it is certainly a losing proposition. We often hear about people who have gone to Las Vegas or Atlantic City and have won huge jackpots. We don’t hear about the majority of people who go to these places and lose sometimes just a little bit, but sometimes their house payment or their groceries. According to a report in the New York Times, gamblers in Las Vegas casinos lost $6.1 billion in one year alone. As someone familiar with the lure of gambling has said, the only way to double your money in Vegas is to fold it and put it in your pocket.
Of course you don’t have to go to Vegas to lose money gambling. I’m not going to ask if any of you have ever bought a lottery ticket. Someone has called the lottery a tax on the poor because so many people look at the lottery as their only hope of coming out of life ahead. What it does, of course, is put them deeper in a hole.
In an article in Time magazine writer Ginia Bellafonte told about a man, about 60, waiting in line outside a stationery shop in Greenwich, Connecticut to buy lottery tickets. The temperature was at least 95 degrees. Within a short time he keeled over onto the sidewalk. An ambulance came, but the man, still conscious, refused to leave the line without first buying $15 worth of tickets.
In that same line was a 25-year-old father of three, who drove two hours from Brooklyn to Greenwich to spend $175 mostly crumpled up fives and 10s on Powerball tickets. Could he afford it? “No comment,” he replied.
More disturbing still was the fact that a 28-year-old waiter was also in that line funneling all the money he had been saving for college $3,000 into Powerball tickets. (2) It is a form of madness, and we ought to be more concerned about it than we are. Television commercials tell us about the millions the lottery provides to education; nothing is said about the savings lost or the lives broken.
J. E. Bendenbaugh wrote to Reader’s Digest to tell about his grandmother, a staunch Southern Baptist, who had marched him off to Sunday School and church regularly. So when he switched to the Episcopal Church after marriage she challenged him: “What’s wrong with the Baptist Church, son?” she asked.
“Well,” he explained, “Carole and I flipped a coin to see if we would go to her church or mine, and I lost.”
“Serves you right,” said his grandmother. “Good Baptists don’t gamble.”
I’m tempted to say neither do good [Lutherans, good Methodists, good Presbyterians, etc]. I know some people regard it as a harmless form of recreation. “I can afford it,” many will argue. Think how much better it would make you feel, though, if you put that money to work, for example, feeding a hungry child.
Of course, some forms of gambling have always been with us. In the book of Acts, when the disciples were faced with a choice between two men to replace the disciple Judas after he had betrayed Christ and hung himself in despair, we read that the disciples “cast lots” to choose his successor. Casting lots in that day and time was a mild form of gambling. As I understand it, when used to decide elections, they would write the names of the candidates on pieces of stone or wood, etc., and put them in an urn. The names were then drawn at random and this settled the case. It’s certainly not a sinful way to go about making a decision. It’s not much different from flipping a coin. However, it seems a strange way for the disciples of Christ to choose a successor to carry on his work. I guess they couldn’t find any other way to choose. Both men were equally qualified and this was a quick, easy way to make a decision. So we should not be too critical. It just seems strange that they would seek the will of God this way.
But, then, how do you know the will of God? This is one of the most vexing questions in our faith. Many of us want to know God’s will for our lives so that we can make appropriate choices. A young man falls in love. “Is this the right person for me?” he asks himself. “Is it God’s will for me to marry?” Perhaps that is a question that isn’t asked much anymore. And maybe, from the looks of all the statistics on marriage and divorce, just maybe it ought to be.
Talk about a gamble. A young couple meets at a vulnerable time in their lives when hormones are bubbling, and their judgment has not quite matured, and we expect them to make a decision about the person they’re going to spend the rest of their lives with. No wonder so many marriages do not survive. Wouldn’t it be great if we could have God’s input in the matter?
One of the spiritual giants of the Christian faith had this battle once upon a time. His name was John Wesley. It was under his leadership that the Methodists, the Nazarenes and so many other Christian groups sprang. Wesley, early in his ministry as an Anglican priest, spent time as a missionary in Georgia. This was during the 1700s. Wesley’s ministry in Georgia was not a successful venture. For one thing, he was attracted to a young woman named Sophia Hopkey. They talked of marriage. Wesley struggled with this. Was it God’s will? He prayed about it, he sought the counsel of friends, he searched the scriptures and, finally, when he could not resolve it any other way, he cast lots. Yes, just as the disciples did in choosing a successor to Judas, Wesley cast lots. One lot had on it “not to marry.” One lot had on it “to marry.” And a third lot said to break off the relationship altogether, which is what he eventually did. Some of you may know the rest of the story. Sophia turned around and married someone else, and young Mr. Wesley refused to serve them communion. The matter ultimately ended up in court and Wesley made the wise decision that Georgia was not the place God was calling him to be after all.
This should caution us that even spiritual giants may not have a clue as to the will of God in matters of the heart. It is very difficult to know the will of God. It humbles us all.
A couple wants to start a business. They are a very religious couple of a strong evangelical background. They want to do God’s will. So they decide to “put out a fleece.” The concept of putting out a “fleece” is found in Judges 6, where Gideon is given a difficult task by God. Gideon starts wondering if he heard God right, so he “tests” God by putting out a fleece.
Gideon says to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew a bowlful of water. Meanwhile the ground around was dry.
Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request . . . with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” That night God performed another miracle. This time the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew (6: 37-40).
What a wonderful story. Gideon asked God to give him a sign that he was really in the will of God. When God did exactly as Gideon asked, Gideon asked for another sign just to make sure.
I really wish knowing the will of God was that easy for us. This very religious couple that put out a fleece about whether God wanted them to start a business were very certain that they had gotten a sign from God that starting a business was God’s will for them. They invested their life savings . . . and they lost their proverbial shirt. Can you imagine how devastating that was to them spiritually as well as financially?
Friends, it is very difficult to know God’s will in specific circ*mstances. The disciples cast lots because they were in a situation where they could not lose. Both candidates fit the requirements for being a disciple. The disciples just needed to make a decision. And so they decided by casting lots. Either choice would have worked out fine because God was going to use whomever they chose to accomplish His purposes. It didn’t matter if it was Matthias or Barsabbas, the other candidate. All that mattered was that God was involved. Still the question remains: How do you know the will of God? Let me suggest some better ways than casting lots.
First of all, be a person of prayer and a student of the scriptures. In other words, spend time daily with God. Do not wait until a moment of crisis or when you are facing a difficult decision. Pray daily to “have the same mind in you which was in Christ Jesus” as St. Paul writes in Philippians 2:5. It’s a simple starting point, but it will put you on solid ground.
According to a nationwide study by George Barna, only 13% of adults turn to the Bible for help in making moral decisions. About 14% of people rely on their parents’ advice and values when making a decision. And a full 25% of adults, 1 out of every 4 people, rely simply on their “feelings” to be their moral guide in a sticky situation. (3)
Friends, you can’t disregard your feelings, but they are a poor guide to knowing the will of God. People are continually being led into bad decisions by their feelings. Pray and study that you will discover the mind of Christ. That way you’re more apt to make better decisions in every situation, not just when you’re confronting an especially challenging choice.
Secondly, if you have a really difficult decision to make, consult someone who’s judgment you trust. Remember how Jesus said, “Whenever two or three of you agree, then it will be done” (Matthew 18:19). Sometimes we have too much invested in a decision personally to see clearly what God’s will may be. We need someone else’s viewpoint who is not as emotionally involved. If it is a matter of a relationship to a person of the opposite sex, do not ignore possible warnings of Christian friends or of parents or whomever. They can be wrong, but again I emphasize that feelings when you are head over heels in love cannot be trusted.
If you are starting a business, be diligent in your research. Do not act impulsively. Get the advice of people who understand how business works. Again the experts can be wrong, but at least listen to their input.
You know the old story about a person who bought a car that turned out to be a lemon. A friend who was very knowledgeable about cars asked, “Why didn’t you ask me for advice?” And the person said, “I was afraid you would tell me not to buy it.” That happens. The last thing some of us want to do is to ask for advice, particularly when our hearts are set on a certain course. But that is the very reason we need advice.
After you have done all that, pray that God will help you make the best decision possible. Then make your decision. Don’t look for a sign. Don’t consult the morning astrological forecast. Don’t put out a fleece. Take the three steps which we have listed, make your decision, and then take one more step the most important step of all.
After you have made your decision, trust God to help you turn that decision into the right decision. When we have to make a decision, the very reason it is difficult is that the future is unknowable. There is only one thing certain about the future and that is that God is in it. Even if your decision turns out not to be the best possible decision due to some unforeseeable circ*mstances, God will help you turn it into something good, even if it is only a necessary learning experience.
Remember, there are many desirable benefits that come only through failure. This is important. Everyone makes bad decisions sometimes. Don’t assume that because you are successful that you are in the center of God’s will. You may have only been lucky. Or maybe you are more talented or more intelligent than those who have not been so successful. And just because you fail at something doesn’t mean you are outside God’s will. The cross on which Christ died can hardly be considered a symbol of success. It is a symbol of love and sacrifice, not luxury and success.
It is no accident that so many successful people have failed miserably at some venture previously in their lives. They learned some things about themselves from that failure that made them successful later.
Leslie Weatherhead was one of the great preachers of the twentieth century, but sometimes thing did not turn out as he hoped. Here is what he wrote about that, “I can only write down this simple testimony. Like all [people], I love and prefer the sunny uplands of experience when health, happiness and success abound but I have learned more about God, life, and myself in the darkness of fear and failure than I have ever learned in the sunshine. There are such things as the treasure of darkness. The darkness, thank God, passes, but what one learns in the darkness, one possesses forever.”
If you’re facing a difficult decision, here’s what to do: Pray daily. Know the Scriptures. Consult with people whose opinion you respect and listen to their counsel. Pray over your specific decision and go ahead and make it. And finally, and most important, trust God to help you turn that decision into the right decision. Even if your decision turns out to be the wrong one, don’t give up. Trust God. After all, God made the ultimate gamble when God sent His Son to die in our behalf. Then God took that event the rejection of his Son by sinful humanity and used it to save the world.
So, follow these steps for all your decision making. They probably won’t help you at a Las Vegas roulette table except perhaps to keep you away from such gambling devices. What these steps will do is take much of the gamble out of life. Remember, roulette tables are for losers. Living according to the will of God always puts you on the winning side.
1. Herald of Holiness, July 1995, p. 2.
2. “The Lucky Thirteen” Aug. 10, 1998, p. 64.
3. “Poll Finds Church Scene ‘Back to Normal’ After Attack” by Jon Walker, Pulpit Helps, Feb. 2002, p. 9.
ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Dynamic Preaching Sermons Second Quarter 2012, by King Duncan
Overview: Many of the important themes of the entire book are introduced in the very first chapter (e.g., mission of the church, power of the Holy Spirit, importance of prayer). Luke notes that his first volume records “all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven” (1:1–2). The implication, therefore, is that Acts records what Jesus continued to do and to teach through his Spirit after his ascension. Following his crucifixion and resurrection, the risen Jesus appears to his apostles over a period of forty days, speaking about the kingdom and instructing them not to leave Jerusalem until they receive “the gift my Father promised ... the Holy Spirit” (1:2–5). In one of those postresurrection gatherings, they ask Jesus, “Lord, are you at this time going to…
The Baker Bible Handbook by , Baker Publishing Group, 2016
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) 16 and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus-- 17 he was one of our number and shared in this ministry."
18 (With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
20 "For," said Peter, "it is written in the book of Psalms, " 'May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,' and," 'May another take his place of leadership.' 21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection."
23 So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs." 26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
Restoration of God’s People in Jerusalem (1:12–7:60)
After the disciples witnessed the ascension of Jesus, they “went upstairs to the room where they were staying” (1:13). This room may remind the readers of the “large room upstairs” (Luke 22:12) where Jesus had his Last Supper with his disciples. After the Last Supper, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives to pray, but the disciples failed to be alert in prayers (Luke 22:45). After his ascension, however, these disciples also return from “the Mount of Olives” (1:12), but they are now “constantly in prayer” (1:14).
This section that describes the selection of Matthias to replace Judas is surprising in light of the fact that Matthias will never reappear in Luke’s narrative. The focus of this episode is not, however, on Matthias the individual but on the need to establish the number of the apostles as “twelve.” Luke emphasizes the significance of numbering (1:17) by concluding the description with the note that “Matthias ... was added to the eleven apostles” (1:26). The note that this group numbered “about a hundred and twenty” (1:15) points to the significance of the symbol “twelve,” and this was already emphasized by Luke earlier when he noted that the twelve disciples were to “sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:30). This use of “twelve” as a symbol of Israel is common in Second Temple (i.e., “intertestamental”) Jewish literature, and the organization of the community responsible for the Dead Sea Scrolls also builds on the principle of “twelve.” In this context, Luke emphasizes that the election of Matthias completes the circle of the Twelve, and this signals the beginning of the restoration of God’s people in an eschatological era (see also Acts 26:7). In this new era, the criterion for entering God’s people is no longer one’s ethnic identity but one’s relationship to the “Lord Jesus” (1:21).
Embedded within 1:20 are two quotations from the Old Testament: Psalms 69:25 and 109:8. In their original contexts, both verses point to the failure of those who oppose God to succeed in their evil plans. Here not only does Peter cite these verses to justify the election of an apostle to replace Judas, but he is also affirming a wider theological principle. This becomes a significant theological introduction to Acts: the enemies of this word will not deter its progression. The fate of Judas then becomes an exemplary event that points to the fate of all those who oppose the plan of God (cf. Matt. 27:1–10).
The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary by Gary M. Burge, Baker Publishing Group, 2016
The period between the ascension and Pentecost was one of waiting, but not of inactivity. Chiefly, for the disciples, it was a time of prayer, but it also saw them finding a replacement for Judas. In this connection, we have the first speech in Acts. Like most of the speeches in this book, it is probably only a summary of what Peter said. Nevertheless, behind Luke’s report we can still catch the original tones of the apostle.
1:12–14 As instructed, the apostles retraced their steps from the Mount of Olives to the city, there to await the Father’s gift (cf. vv. 4, 5). They were quartered in an upper room. This would have given them a degree of privacy that suited their purpose well, for much of their time was spent in prayer (cf. Dan. 6:10). The notice of verse 14 may include their regular attendance at the temple (cf. Luke 24:53; Acts 2:46; 3:1), for in this regard there was no sense of distinction between them and their fellow Jews. The believers saw themselves simply as fulfilled Judaism, the beginning of eschatological Israel. Their practice continued to be that of Jews. But in view of the fact that men and women are said to have prayed together, the reference here will be chiefly to their private meetings. This being the case, the Greek throws an interesting light on their practice, for it speaks of them as meeting for “the prayers,” as though a specific form of prayer was meant, though perhaps it means only a particular time of prayer (see disc. on 2:42).
It is characteristic of Luke that he should mention their meeting for prayer. Prayer was clearly something that he saw as most important. There are three things that we should notice in this connection: First, it was the practice of the early Christians to pray. As prayer had characterized the life of Jesus, so, too, it did the lives of his followers (cf. 2:42; 3:1; 4:24ff.; 6:4ff.; see further the disc. on 9:11). Luke is sure, moreover, that prayer always meets with a response (cf. vv. 24–26; 4:31; 9:40; 10:19f., 31; 12:5, 12; 22:10; 27:23–25; see further the disc. on 9:12). It therefore plays an integral, if undefined, part in the setting forward of God’s purpose. Nowhere is this more evident than in the distinctly implied connection between the disciples’ prayer before Pentecost and the pouring out of God’s Spirit on that day. Second, in developing that point, Luke emphasized the disciples’ persistence in prayer. They prayed constantly (v. 14), this word expressing the Greek imperfect, which points to repeated or habitual action. Third, their praying together was an expression of the unity that was a feature of the early church—they all joined together (v. 14). Their praying was probably also a factor in maintaining that unity (cf. 2:46; 4:24; 5:12; Rom. 15:6; Eph. 4:3).
It is also typical of Luke that he should draw attention to the part played by women in the church (cf. 5:14; 8:3, 12; 9:2; 12:12; 16:13; 17:4, 12; 22:4). Here he mentions their presence at these gatherings for prayer. The Greek is indefinite; it simply has “women,” as though introducing them for the first time. However, they may have included the women already mentioned in the Gospel as Jesus’ followers (Luke 8:2f.; 23:49, 55; 24:10). Others may have been the wives of the men. Mary, the mother of Jesus, is singled out as of special interest. This is the last mention of Mary in the New Testament, and significantly, our last glimpse of her is, as it were, on her knees. From the outset, women seem to have played a far greater part in the church than they ever did in the synagogue. But, for all that, they were not yet (if they have ever been) treated as equals (cf. Gal. 3:28), since they were evidently excluded from the meeting beginning at verse 15, which Peter addressed, “men, brothers” (so the Greek).
The reference to Mary leads to a mention also of Jesus’ brothers. Earlier they had been skeptical of his claims (John 7:5; cf. Mark 6:4), but they are now included among the disciples. How this came about we are not told, but in the case of James (assuming he is the James of 1 Cor. 15:7), as with Paul, it may have been through an encounter with the risen Jesus (see disc. on 12:17 and notes). He may have influenced his brothers.
1:15 One other matter claimed the disciples’ attention, namely, finding a replacement for Judas. A meeting was held at which Peter presided (cf. Luke 22:32), and about one hundred and twenty “brothers” were present. The number is apparently a real one, so that no particular significance attaches to it (had that precise number been important Luke would not have said about). It is interesting, however, that in Jewish polity, one hundred twenty men was the minimum number required to constitute a proper community entitled to appoint a full panel of twenty-three judges to its local court. A community of less than that number could appoint only three. Peter’s assumption of leadership is as we would expect from the Gospels, where he is clearly the dominant figure among the Twelve. The term “brothers” (NIV believers), used here for the first time in Acts, may have been the earliest Christian designation for church members.
1:16–17 Peter’s speech falls into two parts (vv. 16–20, 21–22), each introduced in the Greek by the same word (dei)—one that expresses a need, often a need that arises out of the will of God. The first necessity was that the Scripture had to be fulfilled (v. 16). The reference here is to Judas. He had been a member of the group, chosen to have a part in the work, and yet he had betrayed the Master (cf. John 13:18; 17:12). Peter’s description of Judas as the guide for those who arrested Jesus (v. 16) vividly recalls the scene in the garden, which must have been imprinted on his mind forever (cf. Matt. 26:47ff.). And yet the facts concerning Judas are stated with great reserve. Perhaps Peter was only too conscious of his own shameful conduct that night. Perhaps, too, he now understood that, in a sense, we are all implicated in Jesus’ death, so that no one person or group of persons was entirely to blame. The fact was that “Christ [had] died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3). Peter draws attention to the divine authorship of Scripture in his reference to the “Holy Spirit speaking through David” (v. 16; cf. 2:16; 3:18, 21, 25; 4:25; 15:7; 28:25).
1:18–19 As verse 19 shows with its reference, in the third person, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and their language, these verses are parenthetical, inserted by Luke to provide his readers with some background information. They give an account of Judas’ death that, on the face of it, is quite different from Matthew’s story. Matthew has it that Judas, overcome by remorse, threw down in the temple the money he had received for his act of betrayal and went out and hanged himself. The priests, unwilling to put “blood money” into the treasury, bought a potter’s field with it—a worked-out clay pit—for use “as a cemetery for foreigners.” This place came to be known as the “Field of Blood” (Matt. 27:3–9; cf. Zech. 11:12f.). Luke, on the other hand, asserts that Judas purchased the field himself, where he fell headlong (v. 18), literally, “became prone,” bursting open and his insides spilling out (cf. 2 Sam. 17:23; 2 Macc. 9:7–18). The two accounts are difficult to reconcile. As long ago as Augustine it was suggested that, if Judas hanged himself in the field and the rope gave way, perhaps some time after his death, when his body was decomposing, Luke’s account might be supplementary to Matthew’s. But this explanation seems somewhat forced and we may simply have to accept that there were varying accounts of how Judas met his end. However, that Luke’s account in Acts does go back to Peter may find some support in the fact that the expression, the reward he got for his wickedness, in almost identical form in the Greek, is found again in 2 Peter 2:13, 15 (cf. v. 24 and notes on v. 17). Two things at least are clear: Judas died a violent death, and in some way connected with him a plot of ground was bought that was called the Field of Blood. Tradition has located this field at the confluence of the Kidron, Tyropoean, and Hinnom valleys.
1:20 In referring to the Scripture, Peter had in mind two verses in particular from the Psalms. The first, Psalm 69:25, is given here in a form adapted from the LXX to suit its present application. “Their” in the original has become his and “their tents,” his place (that is, office or position). Such adaptation, whether it be Peter’s or Luke’s, may strike us as taking undue liberties with the text. But it was believed that all Scripture pointed to Christ or to the events attending his coming and that it was legitimate, therefore, to draw out the meaning in this way. Thus the psalmist’s imprecation against his enemies became a prophecy of Judas’ desertion. The second verse, in which the psalmist again utters an imprecation against his foes, became the warrant to appoint another in Judas’ place. It is quoted almost verbatim from LXX Psalm 109:8 (108:8). The idea that they should make such an appointment was not suggested by the Scripture, but having formed the idea, they found confirmation in these verses for what they wanted to do.
1:21–22 Therefore, said Peter, it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us (v. 21). This was the second “necessity” of Peter’s speech (see disc. on v. 16). When Jesus had chosen the Twelve, it was obviously with the twelve tribes of Israel in mind. The apostles were to be a living parable of the new eschatological Israel that he was establishing. His intention must have been clear to his followers, and for the present, they saw it as important to maintain the number as a witness to the Jews. But once the church was firmly established and itself an effective witness, they seem no longer to have felt that need, and we hear of no further attempts to perpetuate the Twelve (cf. 12:2). Even now it may have been more the manner of Judas’ loss than the loss itself that prompted them to seek a replacement.
But, having decided on this action, it was necessary now to state the qualifications that they would look for in his successor. Any candidate for the office would have to have been a close associate of the original Twelve from “the baptism of John” to the day when Jesus was taken up (v. 22). This requirement bears out the Johannine tradition that the first disciples had been drawn from among the followers of John the Baptist (cf. John 1:35, 43). In particular, the candidate would have to have been a witness … of (Jesus’) resurrection (v. 21f., cf. 1 Cor. 9:1; 15:8; Gal. 1:15f.) Obviously this last point was of critical importance since the resurrection would be the linchpin of their proclamation of Jesus as “Lord and Messiah” (2:36). But it is equally clear from these requirements that the apostolic testimony was not to be confined to the final events of Jesus’ life, but would include the whole of his ministry and, not least, his teaching (see disc. on 2:42; cf. Matt. 28:20). As for the candidate’s personal qualities, he had to be a man of faith. Hence their prayer for guidance to him who knows “everyone’s heart” (v. 24). The disciples themselves could tell whether he qualified in terms of verses 21 and 22, but they looked to God to judge his heart. For the candidate’s witness would be both to the historical facts of Jesus’ life and to the transforming effect of his grace in life of the believer. (For the title the Lord Jesus see notes on 11:20.)
1:23 There were probably many who could have filled the vacancy on these terms, bearing in mind that the Twelve had been chosen from a much wider group, which itself, hardly less than the Twelve, had remained close to Jesus (cf. Mark 3:13f.; Luke 10:1; 1 Cor. 15:6). But most of them may have been in Galilee (see disc. on 9:31). This may be why only two names were considered: Joseph called Barsabbas, meaning either “son of the Sabbath” (he may have been born on that day) or “son of Sabba.” Like many Jews, he also had a “secular” (in this case, Roman) name, Justus (see notes on 12:12). He should not be identified with Judas Barsabbas of 15:22, though they may have been related. The other nominee was Matthias.
1:24–25 With the two candidates before them, the disciples joined in prayer that the Lord, who knew everyone’s heart (v. 24), would show them which of the two should be taken. It is not clear to which person of the Godhead this prayer was addressed, but since the same verb “to choose” is used here as was used in verse 2 of Jesus’ choice of the apostles (also Luke 6:13; John 6:70; 13:18; 15:16, 19) and since Peter had just called Jesus “Lord” (v. 21), it is likely that the prayer was addressed to Jesus. But the same title and the same description—he knows the thoughts of the heart—is used elsewhere of the Father. This ambiguity, where “Lord” can mean Father or Son, speaks volumes for the estimate they had of Jesus. It is worth noticing also that as far as Acts is concerned this concept of divine percipience only comes to expression in Peter’s words (cf. 15:17f.; see also 1 Sam. 16:7; Jer. 17:10; John 2:25; 21:17). It is possible, then, that this is a genuine recollection of the apostle’s own distinctive turn of phrase. The office about which they were praying is described as a “service” (Gk. diakonia), as all Christian ministry is intended to be (cf. Mark 10:43ff.). The terrible indictment of Judas was that he had left this service to go where he belongs (v. 25)—a common euphemism for one’s final destruction. The apostle had become an apostate and a warning to us all.
1:26 They then set about discovering the Lord’s answer to their prayer by the time-honored means of “the lot” (cf. 1 Sam. 14:41). We should be clear that they did not conduct an election. It was not a case of each disciple casting his vote, but of the choice (humanly speaking) being made at random. The precise method used is not known for certain, but it seems to have been the shaking of two stones together in a container, on each of which was written one name (cf. Lev. 16:8), until one stone tumbled out. The name on that stone was taken to be the Lord’s choice. Luke’s expression is literally “the lot fell.” Thus Matthias was chosen and without further formality was numbered among the apostles. Much is made of the fact that neither he nor the method by which he was chosen is heard of again, as though the whole thing was later seen as a mistake. But neither is anything heard of most of the Twelve once their names had been listed in verse 13, and so the silence of Acts is hardly grounds to condemn the man. As for the method, the coming of the Spirit soon gave the church a more certain guide to God’s will, though at the time their use of the lot was quite legitimate. Their desire was to discover the man of God’s choice.
Additional Notes
1:12 The Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city, mg.: “That is, about ¾ mile (about 1,100 meters)”: This was the extent to which a pious Jew was allowed to travel on the Sabbath, two thousand cubits, ingeniously reckoned by interpreting Exod. 16:29 in the light of Num. 35:5. Luke’s intention was simply to show that the ascension took place near Jerusalem. But his use of this particular term “presupposes an amazingly intimate knowledge—for a Greek—of Jewish customs” (Hengel, Jesus, p. 107). Some difficulty may be felt with the reference of Luke 24:50 to Bethany, which is more than double a Sabbath day’s journey from Jerusalem, but if the words of the Gospel mean simply “toward Bethany” (Gk. pros Bethanian), that difficulty is overcome. In any case, it is hardly likely that Jesus would lead them into the village for the ascension.
1:13 Upstairs to the room where they were staying: The definite article (in the Greek) suggests that this was a place that should have been known to Luke’s readers. The reference may be, then, to the first book, Luke 22:11f., to the room of the Last Supper, though a different word is used in that passage. Traditionally this room has also been identified with that in which the church later met in the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, though this identification is not without problems (see disc. on 12:12). It may also have been their place of meeting in 2:1 and the place where they met for prayer in 4:23–31.
Peter, John … and Judas son of James: The names of the apostles are repeated, though they had already been given in the first volume (Luke 6:14ff.). This may have been to show that, though all of them, at the time of his arrest, had deserted the Master, only Judas had done so through deliberate defection. At heart, the rest had remained loyal. It may also have been to show that, though the separate works of each would not be chronicled in this book, they nevertheless all took their part in the work to which Jesus had called them. The two Lucan lists agree, except for the omission here of Judas Iscariot, and differ only from those of Matt. 10:2ff. and Mark 3:16ff. in having Judas son of James where they have Thaddaeus (or Lebbaeus in some texts of Matthew). These may be the same person and may be identified further with the “Judas” (not Judas Iscariot) of John 14:22.
Simon the Zealot (“the Canaanean,” [which is Aramaic for “zealous”] RSV Matt. 10:4; Mark 3:18), so-called either because of his zealous temperament or because of some association with the party of the Zealots. NIV appears to have adopted the latter interpretation (cf. GNB), but we should note that precisely the same word is used by Paul of himself in 22:3 (cf. Gal. 1:14) and by James of members of the church in Jerusalem in 21:20. In neither of these cases can it be supposed that “Zealot” in the narrower sense of the party is implied.
1:14 His brothers: Four men are described in the Gospels as the brothers of Jesus, namely, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3). Various views have been held as to the nature of their relationship with Jesus, but the most natural reading of the New Testament is that apart from the unique circ*mstances of Jesus’ conception, they were his brothers in the usual sense of the word, i.e., the younger children of Joseph and Mary. This view is supported by the prima facie meaning of “firstborn” in Luke 2:7 and by the natural inference of Matt. 1:25 that after the birth of Jesus normal marital relations between Joseph and Mary ensued.
1:15 A group numbering about a hundred and twenty: lit., “a crowd of names, about a hundred and twenty,” where “names” may signify “persons” without distinction of sex (see H. Bietenhard, “onoma,” TDNT, vol. 5, p. 270), though some argue on the basis of the Syriac and Arabic versions that it means men as distinct from women. Peter’s address implies that only men were present.
1:16 Brothers: lit., “men, brothers,” a rather formal mode of address indicating a sense both of the occasion and of the respect due to those present. Because this form of address recurs frequently throughout Acts (2:29, 37; 7:2; 13:15, 26, 38; 15:7, 13; 22:1; 23:1, 6; 28:17; cf. “men, Galileans,” 1:11; “men, Judeans,” 2:14; “men, Israelites,” 2:22; 3:12; 5:35; 13:16; “men, Athenians” 17:22; “men, Ephesians,” 19:35), it has been thought to reveal the hand of Luke. Even if this were so, it would be no objection to the essential historicity of any of the speeches in which it occurs.
1:17 Shared in this ministry, lit., “received the portion of this ministry,” or, perhaps, since the definite article is used, “his portion of this ministry.” The word “portion” (Gk. klēros) means literally that which is obtained by lot. Here it is used figuratively, though it is interesting that Judas’ successor was actually appointed by this means (cf. v. 26). It is also interesting that the same word is used in 1 Pet. 5:3, and in the same way, concerning an area of ministerial responsibility. Its use here, therefore, may be another echo of Peter’s actual words (see disc. on v. 24).
1:22 Beginning from John’s baptism: This can be understood in a general sense (cf. GNB), and on this view, the candidate would have to have been a witness of John’s ministry as well as of the ministry of Jesus. Such a requirement is consistent with the scope of the Christian message, which generally included the work of John the Baptist (cf., e.g., 10:37; 13:24f.). But some take the phrase as a reference only to John’s baptism of Jesus, thus limiting the apostolic witness to the ministry of Jesus alone, which effectively began with that event. This is the less likely of the two possibilities. See disc. on 10:37.
1:26 He was added to the eleven apostles to restore the number to twelve: Several writers have discussed the possibility of Essene influence in the role of the Twelve. They have been compared with 1QS 8.1: “In the council [?] of the community [where they are? or there shall be?] twelve men and three priests, perfect in all that is revealed in the Law.” It has been suggested that the mention of “twelve men” is “an analogue to the college of the twelve apostles of Jesus” (B. Reicke, “The Constitution of the Church,” in The Scrolls and the New Testament, ed. K. Stendahl, p. 151). But rather than a direct influence of Qumran on Jesus, the number in each case is better explained as derived independently from the number of Israel’s tribes. See further J. A. Fitzmyer, Studies, p. 247, and Ehrhardt, pp. 13f., for the eschatological association of this number in both Christian and Essene circles.
At first, the term “apostle” appears to have been restricted to the Twelve (1:6, 12; 2:43; 4:35, 37; 5:2, 12, 18; 8:1), but soon it came to be applied to a wider group, of which Paul and Barnabas were the most notable members. Paul frequently refers to his apostleship in his letters (e.g., Rom. 11:13; 1 Cor. 15:9; Gal. 1:1), and 1 Cor. 9:1f. and 2 Cor. 12:12 should be noted especially for what they add to our understanding of the office. The primary qualifications of an apostle were that he had been an eyewitness of the post-resurrection appearance of Jesus (Acts 1:21; 1 Cor. 9:1) and had received a distinct call and commission from the risen Lord. The primary function of an apostle was to be a delegate of the risen Lord, going as his representative and in his authority. The idea of an authoritative representative may derive from the Jewish institution of the šelûḥîm, the authorized messengers representing a person or group of persons (see K. H Rengstorf, “apostolos,” TDNT, vol. 1, pp. 414ff.). So the apostles were the personal representatives of Christ, appointed and sent by him to preach the gospel and to found churches (Rom. 1:1; 1 Tim. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:11). The new element here is the eschatological motive for the sending.
The authority of the apostles was confirmed by their “signs” (2 Cor. 12:12), but it was not something arbitrary or automatic that made them infallible. Paul was conscious of a distinction between his own opinion and the authoritative word of the Lord. The conflict between Peter and Paul (Gal. 2:11ff.) shows that even an apostle could act contrary to his convictions (Gal. 2:7–9; Acts 15:7ff.). The authority embodied in the apostles was one to which the apostles themselves were subject. Their authority was that of God (1 Thess. 2:13), and they themselves were subject to God (1 Cor. 4:1). It could be said that the authority of the apostles reposed in the gospel, so that even they could not with impunity preach another gospel (Gal. 1:16). In a sense, therefore, they were subject to the church, servants of Christ, administrators only of God’s gifts to his people (1 Cor. 4:1; 7:23; 2 Cor. 4:5). But their role was a key one, and therefore, they are named first in the lists of ministries in 1 Cor. 12:28f. and Eph. 4:11. On the fluidity of ministries in the early church, see notes on 13:1.
Understanding the Bible Commentary Series by David J. Williams, Baker Publishing Group, 2016
Direct Matches
The place where Judas Iscariot met his demise after betraying Jesus. According to the book of Acts, with the money he received for betraying Jesus to the chief priests, he bought a field, where “he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out”; the inhabitants of Jerusalem called the field “Akeldama,” an Aramaic name meaning “field of blood” (Acts 1:1819). According to Matt. 27:7–8, the field was purchased by the chief priests and subsequently used as a burial place for foreigners.
One of the twelve apostles and brother of Peter. Andrew came from Bethsaida in Galilee (John 1:44), though he lived and worked with Peter in Capernaum as a fisherman (Matt. 4:18). At first a disciple of John the Baptist, he, with an unnamed disciple (possibly John), transferred allegiance to Jesus (John 1:35 40). His first recorded act was to bring his brother to Jesus (John 1:41–42). Subsequently, he was called by Jesus to become a permanent follower (Matt. 4:19) and later was appointed as an apostle (Matt. 10:2).
The initiatory ritual of Christianity. This rite is of great significance in connecting the individual both to Christ and to the greater community of believers. Baptism carries an equal measure of symbolism and tradition, evoking a connection between OT covenantal circumcision and ritual cleansing and NT regeneration and redemption.
The immediate precursor of Christian baptism was the baptism of John the Baptist (Mark 1:4 pars.), a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, preparing the hearts of the people for the coming Messiah. But when Jesus himself was baptized by John to “fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15) and to allow Jesus to identify with sinful humanity, he became the firstfruits of the new covenant. John emphasized that his baptism with water was inferior to the baptism “with the Holy Spirit and fire” that Jesus would bring (Matt. 3:11). Jesus’ disciples continued John’s baptism during his earthly ministry (John 4:12).
Baptism was immediately important in the early church. Jesus commanded the disciples to “make disciples..., baptizing them” (Matt. 28:19). The disciples replaced Judas from among those “who have been with us the whole time ... from John’s baptism” (Acts 1:21–22). Peter’s first sermon proclaims, “Repent and be baptized” (2:38). The apostles baptized new believers in Christ immediately (8:12–13, 38; 9:18; 10:48; 16:15, 33; 18:8; 19:5; 22:16).
For the apostle Paul, baptism represents a participation in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul writes, “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death” (Rom. 6:3–4); “In him you were ... buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead” (Col. 2:11–12).
The family name of two men: (1)Joseph (Acts 1:23), having the necessary qualifications, was the unsuccessful candidate when lots were cast to replace Judas Iscariot as one of the twelve apostles (Acts 1:2126). (2)Judas, a leading Christian and prophet (Acts 15:32), was commissioned along with Silas to convey to the newly planted churches (13:1–14:28) the decision of the Jerusalem council not to require circumcision of Gentile believers (15:22).
A disciple of Jesus, and one of the twelve apostles. His name appears in the Synoptic lists of apostles (Matt. 10:24; Mark 3:16–19; Luke 6:13–16) and as a witness to Jesus’ ascension (Acts 1:13).
The word for “blood” in the Bible is used both literally and metaphorically. “Blood” is a significant biblical term for understanding purity boundaries and theological concepts. Blood is a dominant ritual symbol in biblical literature. Blood was used in sacrifices and purification rites, and it was inherently connected to menstruation, animal slaughter, and legal culpability. Among the physical properties of blood are the ability to coagulate, the liquid state of the substance (Rev. 16:34), and the ability to stain (Rev. 19:13). Blood can symbolize moral order in terms of cult, law, and power.
The usage of blood in the OT is predominantly negative. The first direct mention of blood in the biblical text involves a homicide (Gen. 4:10). Henceforward, the shedding of human blood is a main concern (Gen. 9:6). Other concerns pertaining to blood include dietary prohibitions of blood (Lev. 17:10–12), purity issues such as the flow of blood as in menstrual blood (Lev. 15:19–24), and blood as a part of religious rites such as circumcision (Gen. 17:10–11; Exod. 4:24–26).
Leviticus 17:11 contains a central statement in the OT concerning the significant role of blood in the sacrificial system: “The life of a creature is in the blood.” Blood was collected from all animal sacrifices, and blood was poured onto the altar (Lev. 1:5).
The covenant with Abraham was sealed with a covenantal ritual (Gen. 15:10–21). Moses sealed the covenant between the Israelites and God with a blood ritual during which young Israelite men offered young bulls among other sacrifices as fellowship offerings (Exod. 24:5). Moses read the words of the Book of the Covenant and sprinkled the blood of the bulls on the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words” (Exod. 24:7–8).
During the Passover observance at the time of the exodus, blood was placed on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the Hebrews (Exod. 12:7). Not only altars were sprinkled and thus consecrated with blood, but priests were as well. Aaron and his sons were consecrated by the application of blood to their right earlobe, thumb, and big toe, and the sprinkling of blood and oil on their garments (Exod. 29:20). On the Day of Atonement, the high priest entered the holy of holies and sprinkled blood on the mercy seat to seek atonement for the sins of the people (Lev. 16:15).
Many events in the passion of Christ include references to blood. During the Last Supper, Jesus redefined the last Passover cup: “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:28). Judas betrayed “innocent blood” (Matt. 27:4), and the money he received for his betrayal was referred to as “blood money” (Matt. 27:6). At Jesus’ trial, Pilate washed his hands and declared, “I am innocent of this man’s blood” (Matt. 27:24).
The apostle Paul wrote that believers are justified by the blood of Christ (Rom. 5:9). This justification or righteous standing with God was effected through Christ’s blood sacrifice (Rom. 3:25–26; 5:8). The writer of Hebrews stressed the instrumental role of blood in bringing about forgiveness (Heb. 9:22). In the picture of the ideal community of Christ, the martyrs in the book of Revelation are situated closest to the throne of God because “they triumphed over him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death” (Rev. 12:11). The blood of the Lamb, Christ, is the effective agent here and throughout the NT, bringing about the indirect contact between sinner and God.
A collection of 150 poems. They are the hymnbook of the OT period, used in public worship. Psalms contains songs of different lengths, types, and dates. The earliest psalm (Ps. 90) is attributed to Moses (mid-second millennium BC), while the content of Ps. 126 and Ps. 137 points to the latest periods of the OT (mid-first millennium BC). They continue to be used as a source of public worship and private devotion.
Although the psalms are not theological essays, readers can learn about God and their relationship with God from these poems. The book of Psalms is a bit like a portrait gallery of God, using images to describe who he is and the nature of our relationship with him. Some examples include God as shepherd (Ps. 23), king (Ps. 47), warrior (Ps. 98), and mother (Ps. 131), and the list could be greatly expanded. Each one of these picture images casts light on the nature of God and also the nature of our relationship with God. After all, the aforementioned psalms explicitly or implicitly describe God’s people as sheep, subjects, soldiers, and children.
An approximate literal meaning of Hebrew and Greek terms used to refer to the seat of the emotions (sometimes translated as “intestines” or “stomach”). The literal meaning is apparent in a few passages (Ezek. 7:19; 2Chron. 21:1519; Jon. 1:17; Acts 1:18). More often the terms are used to refer to a variety of strong emotions (Jer. 31:20; Lam. 1:20; 2Cor. 6:12; Phil. 1:8; Philem. 7). Elsewhere the words refer to the womb or are related to progeny (Gen. 25:23; 2Sam. 16:11; Isa. 49:1).
The second king of Israel (r. 1010970 BC), founder of a dynasty that continued with his son Solomon (r. 970–931 BC), who ruled all of Israel; subsequently the remaining “sons of David” ruled the southern kingdom, Judah, until 586 BC.
Human kingship is a late development in Israel, but a number of ancient texts anticipate the establishment of the institution (Gen. 17:6; Deut. 17:14–20) and specifically the rise of a king from Judah (Gen. 49:8–12; Num. 24:17). Thus, it is surprising that the first king of Israel is not from Judah, but from Benjamin. When the people ask Samuel for a king, he anoints Saul (1Sam. 8–12), who proves to be a tremendous disappointment. He forfeits the establishment of his dynasty when he shows a lack of confidence in God by rashly offering prebattle sacrifices (13:13–14). God then rejects Saul as king because he does not execute God’s full judgment against the Amalekites as he knows he should (15:23).
Eventually Saul’s moment of judgment comes. Saul’s final battle is against the Philistines, the major foreign force still inside the borders of the promised land. Both Saul and Jonathan meet their end on Mount Gilboa, and David sings songs that express his sadness over their deaths (1Sam. 31–2Sam. 1).
Even with Saul out of the way, David’s rise to kingship is not easy. He is immediately crowned king of Judah (2Sam. 2:1–7), but the northern tribes choose to follow Ish-Bosheth, the son of Saul. War erupts between the two kingdoms. Eventually, though, the powerful general Abner abandons his support of Saul’s son, sealing the end of that dynasty. Ish-Bosheth is killed by his own men, and soon David becomes king over all Israel (5:1–5).
David’s kingship leads to significant victories that, in essence, complete the conquest of Canaan by finally subduing all the internal enemies. His men take the city of Jerusalem from the Jebusites, and he makes it his capital (2Sam. 5:6–16). He also defeats the Philistines, who have been a thorn in the side of Israel for years (2Sam. 5:17–25; for other victories, see 8:1–14). In celebration, David brings the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem (2Sam. 6).
The David narrative reaches its apex when God enters into a covenant with him that establishes his dynasty (2Sam. 7; 1Chron. 17). After David dies, his son will succeed him, and indeed his dynasty lasts for many hundreds of years (see below).
David is a good king, but not a perfect king. A turning point in his reign comes in 2Sam. 11. Up to this point, David has been content with what God has given him. He does not grasp for anything that does not belong to him. However, when he sees the beautiful Bathsheba bathing, he sends messengers to bring her to his house, where the two have sexual intercourse and she becomes pregnant. In an attempt to conceal this sin of adultery, he orders the death of her husband, Uriah the Hittite. Thus, he adds the crime of murder to that of adultery.
David thinks that the sin is secret, but nothing is hidden from God, who sends his prophet Nathan to confront David (2Sam. 12; cf. Ps. 51). The difference between Saul and David is not that the latter is perfect but rather that David, as opposed to Saul, repents when he sins. Thus, God allows his reign to continue. Even so, David feels the consequences of his sin. First, the son that Bathsheba bears from her illicit union with David is struck with illness and dies. And ever afterward, David’s family life is troubled, with great impact on the political life of Israel. Son is pitted against son (Amnon and Absalom [2Sam. 13]), as well as son against father (Absalom and David [2Sam. 15–18]). Absalom temporarily deposes his father from the throne, but David eventually regains the kingship, though at the cost of the heartbreaking loss of his son.
Even at the very end, there is conflict within David’s house. When David has grown old, another son, Adonijah, attempts to take the throne, with support from powerful people such as Joab and Abiathar. At the instigation of Bathsheba and Nathan, however, David places the son of his choosing, Solomon, on the throne (1Kings 1). David then dies after a reign of forty-one years, seven in Hebron and the rest over all Israel (1Kings 2:10–12).
David’s greatest legacy is the dynasty that bears his name. Beginning with Solomon, however, his successors do not continue his spiritual legacy. Although a number of kings do some good, only Hezekiah (r. 727–698 BC) and Josiah (r. 639–609 BC) are given unqualified approval. Eventually, the Davidic rule comes to an end in Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians (586 BC). But God is not done with his redemptive purposes, and his promise to David is that he will have a ruler on the throne “forever” (2Sam. 7:16). The NT recognizes that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of this promise. He is the greater son of David, the one who is the Christ or Messiah, the anointed king. Jesus is the one who reigns forever in heaven. The life and the rule of David foreshadow the messianic rule of Jesus Christ.
Physiologically, the heart is an organ in the body, and in the Bible it is also used in a number of metaphors.
Metaphorically, the heart refers to the mind, the will, the seat of emotions, or even the whole person. It also refers to the center of something or its inner part. These metaphors come from the heart’s importance and location.
Mind. The heart refers to the mind, but not the brain, and in these cases does not involve human physiology. It is a metaphor, and while the neurophysiology of the heart may be interesting in its own right, it has no bearing on this use of language. Deuteronomy 6:5 issues the command to love God with all one’s heart, soul, and strength. When the command is repeated in the Gospels, it occurs in three variations (Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27). Common to all three is the addition of the word “mind.” The Gospel writers want to be sure that the audience hears Jesus adding “mind,” but this addition is based on the fact that the meaning of the Hebrew word for “heart” includes the mind.
The mental activities of the metaphorical heart are abundant. The heart is where a person thinks (Gen. 6:5; Deut. 7:17; 1Chron. 29:18; Rev. 18:7), where a person comprehends and has understanding (1Kings 3:9; Job 17:4; Ps. 49:3; Prov. 14:13; Matt. 13:15). The heart makes plans and has intentions (Gen. 6:5; 8:21; Prov. 20:5; 1Chron. 29:18; Jer. 23:20). One believes with the heart (Luke 24:25; Acts 8:37; Rom. 10:9). The heart is the site of wisdom, discernment, and skill (Exod. 35:34; 36:2; 1Kings 3:9; 10:24). The heart is the place of memory (Deut. 4:9; Ps. 119:11). The heart plays the role of conscience (2Sam. 24:10; 1John 3:2021).
It is often worth the effort to substitute “mind” for “heart” when reading the Bible in order to grasp the mental dimension. For example, after telling the Israelites to love God with all their heart, Moses says, “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts” (Deut. 6:6). Reading it instead as “be on your mind” changes our perspective, and in this case the idiom “on your mind” is clearer and more accurate. The following verses instruct parents to talk to their children throughout the day about God’s words. In order for parents to do this, God’s requirements and deeds need to be constantly on their minds, out of their love for him. Similarly, love for God and loyalty are expressed by meditation on and determination to obey his law (Ps. 119:11, 112). The law is not merely a list of rules; it is also a repository of a worldview in which the Lord is the only God. To live consistently with this truth requires careful, reflective thought.
Emotions and attitude. The heart, as the seat of emotion, is associated with a number of feelings and sentiments, such as gladness (Exod. 4:14; Acts 2:26), hatred (Lev. 19:17), pride (Deut. 8:14), resentment (Deut. 15:10), dread (Deut. 28:67), sympathy (Judg. 5:9), love (Judg. 16:15), sadness (1Sam. 1:8; John 16:6), and jealousy and ambition (James 3:14). The heart is also the frame of reference for attitudes such as willingness, courage, and desire.
Holiness is an attribute of God and of all that is fit for association with him. God alone is intrinsically holy (Rev. 15:4). God the Father is holy (John 17:11), as is the Son (Acts 3:14), while “Holy” is the characteristic designation of God’s Spirit (Ps. 51:11; Matt. 1:18). God’s name is holy (Luke 1:49), as are his arm (Ps. 98:1), ways (Ps. 77:13), and words (Ps. 105:42).
With reference to God himself, holiness may indicate something like his uniqueness, and it is associated with attributes such as his glory (Isa. 6:3), righteousness (Isa. 5:16), and jealousy—that is, his proper concern for his reputation (Josh. 24:19).
God’s dwelling place is in heaven (Ps. 20:6), and “holy” functions in some contexts as a virtual equivalent for heavenly (11:4). God’s throne is holy (47:8), and the angels who surround it are “holy ones” (89:5; cf. Mark 8:38).
A corollary of God’s holiness is that he must be treated as holy (Lev. 22:32)—that is, honored (Lev. 10:3), worshiped (Ps. 96:9), and feared (Isa. 8:13).
While “holy” is sometimes said to mean “set apart,” this does not appear to be its core meaning, though it is an associated notion (Lev. 20:26; Heb. 7:26). Holiness, as applied to people and things, is a relational concept. They are (explicitly or implicitly) holy “to the Lord” (Exod. 28:36), never “from” something.
The symbolic representation of God’s heavenly palace, the tabernacle (Exod. 40:9), and later the temple (1Chron. 29:3), and everything associated with them, are holy and the means whereby God’s people in the OT may symbolically be brought near to God. For God to share his presence with anything or anyone else, these too must be holy (Lev. 11:4445; Heb. 12:14).
The OT system of worship involved the distinction between unclean and clean, and between common and holy, and the means of effecting a transition to a state of cleanness or holiness (Lev. 10:10). People, places, and items may be made holy by a process of consecration or sanctification, whether simply by God’s purifying presence (Exod. 3:5) or by ritual acts (Exod. 19:10; 29:36).
God’s faithful people are described as holy (Exod. 19:6; 1Pet. 2:9). In the OT, this is true of the whole people of God at one level, and of particular individuals at another. Thus, kings (Ps. 16:10), prophets (2Kings 4:9), and in particular priests (Lev. 21:7) are declared to be holy. While the OT witnesses to some tension between the collective holiness of Israel and the particular holiness of its designated leaders (Num. 16:3), the latter were intended to act as models and facilitators of Israel’s holiness.
For Christians, God is the creator of the cosmos and the redeemer of humanity. He has revealed himself in historical acts—namely, in creation, in the history of Israel, and especially in the person and work of Jesus Christ. There is only one God (Deut. 6:4); “there is no other” (Isa. 45:5). Because “God is spirit” (John 4:24), he must reveal himself through various images and metaphors.
The OT refers to God by many names. One of the general terms used for God, ’el (which probably means “ultimate supremacy”), often appears in a compound form with a qualifying word, as in ’el ’elyon (“God Most High”), ’el shadday (“God Almighty”), and ’el ro’i (“the God who sees me” or “God of my seeing”). These descriptive names reveal important attributes of God and usually were derived from the personal experiences of the people of God in real-life settings; thus, they do not describe an abstract concept of God.
The most prominent personal name of God is yahweh (YHWH), which is translated as “the Lord” in most English Bibles. At the burning bush in the wilderness of Horeb, God first revealed to Moses his personal name in sentence form: “I am who I am” (Exod. 3:1315). Though debated, the divine name “YHWH” seems to originate from an abbreviated form of this sentence. Yahweh, who was with Moses and his people at the time of exodus, is the God who was with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. According to Jesus’ testimony, “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” is identified as the God “of the living” (Matt. 22:32). Hence, the name “Yahweh” is closely tied to God’s self-revelation as the God of presence and life.
Many of God’s attributes are summarized in Exod. 34:6–7: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
The Christian God of the Bible is the triune God. God is one but exists in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). The Son is one with the Father (John 10:30); the Holy Spirit is one with God (2Sam. 23:2–3). All three share the same divine nature; they are all-knowing, holy, glorious, and called “Lord” and “God” (Matt. 11:25; John 1:1; 20:28; Acts 3:22; 5:3–4; 10:36; 1Cor. 8:6; 2Cor. 3:17–18; 2Pet. 1:1). All three share in the same work of creation (Gen. 1:1–3), salvation (1Pet. 1:2), indwelling (John 14:23), and directing the church’s mission (Matt. 28:18–20; Acts 16:6–10; 14:27; 13:2–4).
Sin enters the biblical story in Gen. 3. Despite God’s commandment to the contrary (2:1617), Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil at the prompting of the serpent. When Adam joined Eve in eating the fruit, their rebellion was complete. They attempted to cover their guilt and shame, but the fig leaves were inadequate. God confronted them and was unimpressed with their attempts to shift the blame. Judgment fell heavily on the serpent, Eve, and Adam; even creation itself was affected (3:17–18).
In the midst of judgment, God made it clear in two specific ways that sin did not have the last word. First, God cryptically promised to put hostility between the offspring of the serpent and that of the woman (Gen. 3:15). Although the serpent would inflict a severe blow upon the offspring of the woman, the offspring of the woman would defeat the serpent. Second, God replaced the inadequate covering of the fig leaves with animal skins (3:21). The implication is that the death of the animal functioned as a substitute for Adam and Eve, covering their sin.
In one sense, the rest of the OT hangs on this question: How will a holy God satisfy his wrath against human sin and restore his relationship with human beings without compromising his justice? The short answer is: through Abraham and his offspring (Gen. 12:1–3), who eventually multiplied into the nation of Israel. After God redeemed them from their slavery in Egypt (Exod. 1–15), he brought them to Sinai to make a covenant with them that was predicated on obedience (19:5–6). A central component of this covenant was the sacrificial system (e.g., Lev. 1–7), which God provided as a means of dealing with sin. In addition to the regular sacrifices made for sin throughout the year, God set apart one day a year to atone for Israel’s sins (Lev. 16). On this Day of Atonement the high priest took the blood of a goat into the holy of holies and sprinkled it on the mercy seat as a sin offering. Afterward he took a second goat and confessed “all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and sending it away into the wilderness.... The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a barren region; and the goat shall be set free in the wilderness” (Lev. 16:21–22 NRSV). In order for the holy God to dwell with sinful people, extensive provisions had to be made to enable fellowship.
During the next four hundred years of prophetic silence, the longing for God to finally put away the sins of his people grew. At last, when the conception and birth of Jesus were announced, it was revealed that he would “save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). In the days before the public ministry of Jesus, John the Baptist prepared the way for him by “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3). Whereas both Adam and Israel were disobedient sons of God, Jesus proved to be the obedient Son by his faithfulness to God in the face of temptation (Matt. 2:13–15; 4:1–11; 26:36–46; Luke 3:23–4:13; Rom. 5:12–21; Phil. 2:8; Heb. 5:8–10). He was also the Suffering Servant who gave his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45; cf. Isa. 52:13–53:12). On the cross Jesus experienced the wrath of God that God’s people rightly deserved for their sin. With his justice fully satisfied, God was free to forgive and justify all who are identified with Christ by faith (Rom. 3:21–26). What neither the law nor the blood of bulls and goats could do, Jesus Christ did with his own blood (Rom. 8:3–4; Heb. 9:1–10:18).
After his resurrection and ascension, Jesus’ followers began proclaiming the “good news” (gospel) of what Jesus did and calling to people, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). As people began to experience God’s forgiveness, they were so transformed that they forgave those who sinned against them (Matt. 6:12; 18:15–20; Col. 3:13). Although believers continue to struggle with sin in this life (Rom. 8:12–13; Gal. 5:16–25), sin is no longer master over them (Rom. 6:1–23). The Holy Spirit empowers them to fight sin as they long for the new heaven and earth, where there will be no sin, no death, and no curse (Rom. 8:12–30; Rev. 21–22).
As even this very brief survey of the biblical story line from Genesis to Revelation shows, sin is a fundamental aspect of the Bible’s plot. Sin generates the conflict that drives the biblical narrative; it is the fundamental “problem” that must be solved in order for God’s purposes in creation to be completed.
The name “James” is a form of the name “Jacob” (Heb. Ya’aqob; Gk. Iakōbos), which was very popular in the first century. In the NT there are five individuals named “James.”
(1)James the son of Zebedee and the older brother of John. He was martyred by Herod AgrippaI in AD 40 (Mark 1:19; 3:17; Acts 12:2).
(2)James the son of Alphaeus we know very little about other than that he is consistently listed among the disciples (Mark 3:18; Matt. 10:3; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13).
(3)James “the younger” (Mark 15:40), whose mother, named “Mary,” appears in Mark 16:1 just as the “mother of James.” In church tradition, he is sometimes identified with James the son of Alphaeus.
(4)James the father of Judas (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13) is mentioned only to distinguish this Judas from Judas Iscariot.
(5)James the brother of Jesus was an early leader of the Jerusalem church (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3; Acts 12:17; 15:1331; 21:18; 1Cor. 15:7; Gal. 1:19; 2:9, 12; Jude 1). A number of Jesus’ family members became prominent leaders in the early Christian movement in Palestine, James being the most prominent.
The central city and capital of ancient Israel. Throughout its history, the city has also been referred to variously as Zion, Jebus, Mount Moriah, and the City of David.
The name “Jerusalem” occurs more than 650 times in the OT, particularly in the history of Israel, and in the NT more than 140 times. The OT prophets used the city as a symbol of God’s dealing with his people and his plan. Jerusalem is viewed collectively as God’s abode, his chosen place, and his sovereignty, while its destruction is also representative of God’s judgment on apostasy among his people (e.g., Jer. 7:115; 26:18–19; Mic. 3:12). The rebuilding of the city represents the hope and grace of God (e.g., Isa. 40:1–2; 52:1, 7–8; 60–62; Jer. 30:18–19; 31:38–39; Ezek. 5:5; Hag. 2:6–8; Zech. 8:3–8). Like the writers of the OT, the NT authors spoke of Jerusalem in metaphorical and eschatological terms. Paul used Jerusalem to contrast the old and the new covenants (Gal. 4:24–26), and the writer of Hebrews used it as the place of the new covenant, sealed through the blood of Jesus (Heb. 12:22–24). In Revelation the concept of a new Jerusalem is related to the future kingdom of God (Rev. 3:12; 21:1–22:5).
Jerusalem is located in the Judean hill country, about 2,700 feet above sea level. It borders the Judean desert to the east. The city expanded and contracted in size over various hills and valleys. There are two major ridges (Eastern and Western Hills) separated by the Tyropoeon Valley. The Eastern Hill contains a saddle, the Ophel Hill, and north of this is the traditional site of Mount Moriah, where later the temple was constructed. The Eastern Hill was always occupied, since the only water source is the Gihon spring, located in the Kidron Valley. Two other ridges were important for the city, as they were used for extramural suburbs, cemeteries, and quarries. To the east is the Mount of Olives, which is separated from the Eastern Hill by the Kidron Valley. To the west of the Western Hill is the Central Ridge Route, separated by the Hinnom Valley.
A common name in first-century Judaism. The Greek name Iōannēs comes from the Hebrew name “Yohanan.” (1)The Baptist or Baptizer, he was the son of the priest Zechariah and Elizabeth. (See John the Baptist.) (2)The son of Zebedee, he was an apostle originally belonging to the inner circle of the twelve main disciples of Jesus. (See John the Apostle.) (3) John Mark, a cousin of Barnabas (Col. 4:10) and the son of Mary (Acts 12:12). (See Mark, John.) (4)The elder. Both 2John and 3John claim authorship by “the elder” (2John 1; 3John 1). Traditionally, all three Johannine Letters, the Gospel of John, and sometimes the Revelation of John have been attributed to John the apostle. However, modern scholarship often attributes 2John and 3John, and sometimes 1John, to “the elder”—John the elder. (5)The seer, the author of the book of Revelation (see 1:1, 4, 9; 22:8). Some scholars ascribe the authorship of Revelation to John the apostle, in line with the view of the church father Irenaeus. Other scholars ascribe the writing of Revelation to a certain John the elder. The book of Revelation does not further identify the author. However, the author is among the prophets, a seer, and his name is “John”—hence, John the seer.
(1)The eleventh son of Judah and the first by Jacob’s beloved wife, Rachel (Gen. 30:24; 35:24).
Joseph was Jacob’s favorite, and so Jacob “made an ornate robe for him” (37:3). While shepherding with his brothers, Joseph had a dream indicating that he would one day rise to prominence over them. This was too much for his brothers to bear, and so they decided, after some deliberation, to throw him into a cistern and, rather than kill him, sell him to passing Ishmaelite/Midianite merchants (37:2528).
Upon arriving in Egypt, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh, and then thrown in jail after Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him of making sexual advances (chap. 39). While in jail, he accurately interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker (chap. 40). Two years later, he was called upon to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams (chap. 41). Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams plus his administrative skills saved Egypt from famine, which resulted in his elevation to being “in charge of the whole land of Egypt” (41:41).
It was the famine that brought Joseph’s family to Egypt to find food, which eventually led to their warm reunion, though not without some testing on Joseph’s part (chaps. 42–45). After Joseph made himself known to his brothers, they reconciled and sent for the elderly Jacob, who was awaiting news in Canaan. Thus, Jacob and his twelve sons lived in Egypt, and their descendants were eventually enslaved by a king “to whom Joseph meant nothing” (Exod. 1:8).
Joseph died in Egypt and was embalmed (Gen. 50:20–26). The exodus generation took his bones out of Egypt (Exod. 13:19), and he was later buried in Shechem (Josh. 24:32).
(2)The husband of Mary, mentioned only by name in Jesus’ birth stories in Matthew and Luke. According to Matt. 1:16, Joseph is a descendant of David, which establishes Jesus’ royal bloodline. Luke’s genealogy (3:23–38) downplays Jesus’ relationship to Joseph. In Matthew, Joseph is a recipient of several divine communications by means of dreams, announcing Mary’s conception (1:18–25) and commanding the flight to Egypt (2:13) and the return to Nazareth (2:19–23). In Luke, Joseph takes Mary to Bethlehem to give birth (2:4–7), presents Jesus in the temple for consecration (2:21–24), and brings Mary and Jesus to Jerusalem for the Passover feast when Jesus is twelve (2:41–52).
(3)A Jew from Arimathea, a secret follower of Jesus and member of the Sanhedrin who did not agree to put Jesus to death (Luke 23:50–51; John 19:38). He asked Pilate for Jesus’ body, wrapped it in linen, and placed it in his own tomb (Matt. 27:57–60). (4)Also known as Barsabbas or Justus, he was one of the two men proposed to take Judas Iscariot’s place among the disciples (Acts 1:23).
(1)One of the apostles identified as “Judas son of James” (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13) and “Judas (not Judas Iscariot)” (John 14:22), probably the same person as Thaddaeus (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18). (2)A leading Jerusalem believer and prophet, “Judas called Barsabbas” (i.e., “son of the Sabbath” or “son of Sabbas”; possibly a relative of “Joseph called Barsabbas” in Acts 1:23). Along with Silas, he was sent with Paul and Bar-nabas to add verbal testimony to the letter to the Gentile Christians from the apostles and elders after the Jerusalem council (Acts 15:22, 27, 32). (3)One of the twelve disciples chosen by Jesus, he betrayed Jesus. See Judas Iscariot.
(1)The most important Mary of the NT is the mother of Jesus, who becomes pregnant through the Holy Spirit while still a virgin. In contrast with Matthew’s birth narrative, where the emphasis falls on Joseph, Luke’s focuses on Mary. Luke’s Gospel introduces Mary as the one to whom God sends the angel Gabriel (1:2627). Gabriel announces that Mary will be the mother of the Messiah from David’s line, who will reign over the house of Jacob and have a unique father-son relationship with God. Mary responds in humble obedience as “the Lord’s servant” (1:29–38). When she visits her relative Elizabeth, Mary breaks forth in the Magnificat, a song praising God for caring for the humble, humbling the mighty, and remembering his covenant with Abraham (1:46–55).
After the birth of Jesus and the visit from the shepherds, Mary “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (2:19). An old man, Simeon, announces that although Jesus will be a light of revelation for the Gentiles and Israel’s glory, Mary will be deeply grieved, and her soul will be pierced by a sword (2:35). This is the first hint in Luke’s Gospel that Mary’s child, the Messiah, will suffer. In the only episode from Jesus’ childhood in the Gospel, Mary scolds her son for remaining in the temple while his family traveled back to Galilee (2:48). In Luke’s Gospel, Mary is a humble and obedient woman who reflects deeply about her experiences surrounding the birth of Jesus and cares greatly for him as well. Beyond the birth narratives, Mary does not figure as a prominent character in the Gospels. In John’s Gospel, Jesus speaks sternly to his mother when she wants him to perform a miracle before his “hour has ... come” (2:4); however, at the crucifixion, Mary is present, and Jesus places her into the care of the Beloved Disciple (19:25–27). Later traditions about Mary’s immaculate conception, perpetual virginity, sinlessness, and roles as co-mediator of salvation and answerer of prayer are not taught in the Bible.
(2)Another Mary mentioned in the Gospels is the sister of Martha, who is praised by Jesus for not busying herself with domestic duties as Martha does, but rather sits at the feet of Jesus, “listening to what he said” (Luke 10:39–40). This same Mary is mentioned on another occasion as the one “who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair” (John 11:1–2; cf. 12:1–8). The Synoptic Gospels record a similar event in which a woman, left unnamed, anoints either the feet of Jesus (Luke 7:36–50) or his head (Matt. 26:6–13; Mark 14:3–9). With the exception of Luke, it seems as though John, Matthew, and Mark are recording the same event. In each of these three, Jesus associates the anointing with the preparation of his body for burial.
(3)Mary Magdalene makes a brief appearance during the ministry of Jesus, and Luke describes her as one who had been cured of seven demons (Luke 8:2). It is quite unlikely that she is the “sinful” woman of the preceding narrative (7:37–50), an association that has given rise to the erroneous belief that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. She is the first to witness the empty tomb (John 20:1). Likewise, she is the first to see the resurrected Lord and is commanded to go and tell the disciples about his resurrection (John 20:11–18; cf. Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1–6; Luke 24:1–10). She is even present for the crucifixion (Matt. 27:56) and the burial of Jesus’ body (Matt. 27:61).
(4)Mary the mother of James and Joses (Matt. 27:56; Mark 15:40) is one of two other Marys who, like Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus, appear at the crucifixion. She may be the same person as #5.
(5)Mary the wife of Clopas (John 19:25) is the second of the two other Marys who, like Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus, appear at the crucifixion. She may be the same person as #4.
Matthew’s Gospel appears first in almost every extant witness to the NT, and it was considered the preeminent Gospel by the early church. It is the Gospel most quoted by the early church fathers. Of the four Gospels, Matthew’s is most oriented toward a Jewish audience.
The miraculous beginnings of Jesus (1:14:11). Jesus’ genealogy and childhood show him to be the fulfillment of OT prophecy. His baptism demonstrates this fulfillment; his forty days of testing in the desert identify him with Israel.
Ethical teachings and miracles (4:12–10:42). This section begins with a geographical change, as Jesus returns to Galilee. Having instructed his disciples, he sends them out as an extension of his own mission.
Confrontation and reactions (11:1–16:20). This section also involves a change of geography. Jesus first is questioned by John’s disciples, then by the Pharisees, and finally by the people in his own town. The questions are resolved by Peter’s confession.
The messiah must suffer (16:21–20:28). This is the third section that begins “from that time on Jesus began to....” Jesus explains to his disciples that he will die at the hands of the Jews but be raised on the third day. This section includes the transfiguration and many parables concerning judgment and reward. The climax is at the end, when Jesus declares that he has come “to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus claims authority and receives praise (20:29–25:46). Another geographical shift occurs, as Jesus and his disciples leave Jericho. Jesus acknowledges the title “Lord, Son of David,” cleanses the temple, and argues with the Pharisees about the source of his authority. The parables concern sonship and responses to authority. The Pharisees try to entrap Jesus. Jesus teaches about authority, then rebukes the Pharisees. Chapter 24 describes the consequences of the ultimate rejection of authority. The climax is the parable of the sheep and the goats.
The death of Jesus (26:1–27:66). Matthew’s Gospel has built-in intensity up to the passion narrative. This section builds again within itself, from the anointing of Jesus in Bethany to the hush as the tomb is closed and sealed.
The resurrection of Jesus (28:1–28:20). The accounts of the resurrection and postresurrection appearances are brief but significant and contain several details not found in the other Synoptics.
The apostle chosen to replace Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:1526). After Judas’s death, Peter called upon the approximately 120 believers in Christ to designate another apostle, one who had been with the apostles from the time of Jesus’ baptism by John to Jesus’ ascension. The choice of a new apostle would fulfill David’s words concerning Judas (see Pss. 69:25; 109:8b). After praying for God’s guidance, the believers cast lots, and Matthias was chosen over the other nominee, “Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus)” (v.23).
Meat Sacrificed to Idols – Meat, or food, sacrificed to idols refers to animal offerings to pagan deities. Consumption of this meat was prohibited for Gentile converts by the Jerusalem council (Acts 15:29; 21:25) because it was linked to pagan worship, especially when combined with sexual immorality (cf. Ezek. 18:5–6, 15; 22:9; Rev. 2:14, 20). However, the ban eventually created problems for Christians (e.g., dining out), as most meat markets in the Greco-Roman world obtained their inventory from local temples (Rom. 14:21; 1Cor. 8; 10:18–33). Paul therefore modified the teaching by upholding the prohibition in cases where eating the meat violated one’s conscience, harmed Christian witness, or caused a weaker Christian to stumble, but relaxing it in cases where partaking was a social courtesy or otherwise separated from pagan practice.
In the NT the most common word used for “minister” is diakonos (e.g., 2Cor. 3:6), and for “ministry,” diakonia (e.g., 1Cor. 16:15 [NIV: “service”]). These words function as umbrella terms for NT writers to describe the whole range of ministries performed by the church. They can describe either a special ministry performed by an official functionary (1Cor. 3:5) or one performed by any believer (Rev. 2:19). In the early church, ministry was based not on institutional hierarchies but on services performed (1Tim. 3:113).
The ministry of Jesus. The church’s mind-set flows out of the way in which Jesus understood his ministry. He described his ministry pattern as that of serving (Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45; John 13:4–17). Thus, he called his disciples to follow a model of leadership in the new community that did not elevate them above others (Matt. 20:20–28; 23:8–12; cf. 1Pet. 5:3).
Jesus’ ministry provides the paradigm for the ministry of the church. The NT writers describe the threefold ministry of Jesus as preaching, teaching, and healing (Matt. 4:23; 9:35; Mark 1:14, 21–22, 39; Acts 10:36–38). The disciples carried on the earthly ministry of Jesus by the power of the Spirit. They too engaged in preaching, teaching, and healing (Matt. 10:7–8; 28:19–20).
The ministry of the church. The church, because it is the body of Christ, continues these ministry responsibilities. In 1Pet. 4:10–11 is a summary of the overarching ministries of the church, which include speaking the words of God and serving. As a priesthood of believers (Exod. 19:4–6; 1Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:5–6), individual members took responsibility for fulfilling the various tasks of service. Thus, all Christians are called to minister (Rom. 15:27; Philem. 13; 1Pet. 2:16). Even when a member strayed, it was another believer’s responsibility to confront that wayward person and, if necessary, involve others in the body to help (Matt. 18:15–20).
Although ministry was the responsibility of all believers, there were those with special expertise whom Christ and the church set apart for particular leadership roles (Eph. 4:11–12). Christ set apart Apollos and Paul for special ministries (1Cor. 3:5; Eph. 3:7). The church called on special functionaries to carry out specific ministries. For example, the early church appointed seven individuals to serve tables (Acts 6:2). They appointed certain ones to carry the relief fund collected for the Jerusalem Christians (2Cor. 8:19, 23). As special functionaries, Paul, Apollos, Timothy, Titus, the elders, as well as others accepted the responsibility of teaching and preaching and healing for the whole church.
All the ministries of the church, whether performed by believers in general or by some specially appointed functionary, were based on gifts received from God (Rom. 12:1–8; 1Cor. 12:4–26). God gave individuals the abilities necessary to perform works of service (Acts 20:24; Eph. 4:11; Col. 4:17; 1Tim. 1:12; 1Pet. 4:11). The NT, however, makes it clear that when it comes to one’s relationship and spiritual status before God, all Christians are equal. Yet in equality there is diversity of gifts and talents. Paul identifies some gifts given to individuals for special positions: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Eph. 4:11). The description here is of special ministry roles that Christ calls certain individuals to fulfill based on the gifts given to them. The ones fulfilling these roles did not do all the ministry of the church but rather equipped the rest of the body to do ministry (Eph. 4:12–13). No one can boast in the gifts given to him or her because those gifts were given for ministry to others (1Cor. 4:7). Thus, gifts lead to service, and in turn service results in leadership.
It becomes the responsibility of those who lead to equip others for ministry. When others are equipped for ministry, they in turn minister and edify the whole body (Eph. 4:15–16; 2Tim. 2:1–2). The goal of all ministry, according to Paul, is to build up a community of believers until all reach maturity in Christ (Rom. 15:15–17; 1Cor. 3:5–4:5; Eph. 4:12–16; 1Thess. 2:19–20).
A ridge of peaks about two miles long running north-south to the east of Jerusalem. It may also refer to the middle two of these peaks directly east of the temple. Kidron and Gethsemane lie at the foot of the mount. It was so named for the large number of olive trees there in ancient times.
David wept here because of Absalom’s betrayal (2Sam. 15:30). Here the glory of the Lord rested after withdrawal from Jerusalem (Ezek. 11:23). The Lord will return to the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:4).
Sometimes Jesus spent the night here (Luke 21:37). He customarily withdrew to Gethsemane at the foot of this mount (John 18:2). Thus, on the evening before his trial Jesus and the disciples went to the Mount of Olives (specifically Gethsemane) after leaving the upper room (Matt. 26:30), and it was there that the betrayal by Judas took place.
Jesus’ triumphal entry began on the Mount of Olives (Matt. 21:1), and he discoursed about the future there (Matt. 24:3). After his resurrection, Jesus gathered and instructed his disciples on the Mount of Olives before ascending to heaven (Acts 1:12).
Simon Peter is the best-known and the most colorful of Jesus’ twelve disciples. The name “Peter” means “rock” in Greek. In some biblical texts, he is also called “Cephas,” which is the Aramaic word for “rock” (see esp. John 1:42). Despite the ups and downs of Peter’s spiritual life, God was able to use him as the foundational apostle for the establishment of the NT church.
(1)The tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, regions northeast of Palestine, at the time when John the Baptist’s public ministry began (Luke 3:1). (2)One of Jesus’ twelve apostles (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14; John 1:43). Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from Bethsaida (John 1:44). It was Philip who introduced Nathanael to Jesus (John 1:4548). John’s Gospel mentions Philip three times subsequent to chapter 1 (6:5–7; 12:20–22; 14:6–10), in the last instance recording Philip’s shortsighted request for Jesus to show the Father to the apostles. (3)One of seven men selected by the Jerusalem church to care for the distribution of food to its widows (Acts 6:1–6). This man, also known as Philip the evangelist (21:8), shared the message of Jesus Christ in a city of Samaria, performing great miracles (8:5–13). Philip later explained the good news of Jesus to an Ethiopian eunuch whom he encountered (8:26–38). After Philip baptized the eunuch, “the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away” (8:39). Philip then preached in several towns, finally arriving at Caesarea, where he settled (8:40). Years later, Paul stayed in Caesarea with Philip and his four prophesying daughters (21:8–9).
In the OT there is no language or understanding comparable to modern ways of talking about prayer as conversational or dialogical. Prayer does not involve mutuality. Prayer is something that humans offer to God, and the situation is never reversed; God does not pray to humans. Understanding this preserves the proper distinction between the sovereign God and the praying subject. Therefore, prayers in the OT are reverential. Some OT prayers have extended introductions, such as that found in Neh. 1:5, that seem to pile up names for God. These should be seen as instances not of stiltedness or ostentation, but rather as setting up a kind of “buffer zone” in recognition of the distance between the Creator and the creature. In the NT, compare the same phenomenon in Eph. 1:17.
A presupposition of prayer in the OT is that God hears prayer and may indeed answer and effect the change being requested. Prayer is not primarily about changing the psychological state or the heart of the one praying, but rather about God changing the circ*mstances of the one praying.
The depiction of prayer in the NT is largely consistent with that of the OT, but there are important developments.
Jesus tells his disciples to address God as “Father” (Matt. 6:9; cf. Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). Prayer to God is now to be made in the name of Jesus (Matt. 18:1920; John 14:13; 15:16; 16:23–26).
Prayer can also be made to Jesus (John 14:14), and such devotion to him in the early church is evidence of his being regarded as deity. Unlike anything prior in the OT, Jesus tells his followers to pray for their enemies (Matt. 5:44). Jesus and his followers serve as examples (Luke 23:34; Acts 7:60).
The Holy Spirit plays a vital role in prayers. It is by him that we are able to call out, “Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6). The Spirit himself intercedes for us (Rom. 8:26). Our praying is to be done in the Spirit (Eph. 6:18; Jude 20; possibly 1Cor. 14:15).
Jesus encourages fervent and even continual or repeated prayer (Luke 18:1–8), but not showy or repetitive prayer (Matt. 6:5–8).
Jesus becomes the model of prayer. He prays before important decisions (Luke 6:12–13) and in connection with significant crisis points (Matt. 14:23; 26:36–44; Luke 3:21; 9:29; John 12:27). He offers prayers that are not answered (Luke 22:41–44) and prayers that are (Heb. 5:7). Even as he tells his disciples to always pray and not give up (Luke 18:1 [which is also the meaning of the sometimes overly literalized “pray without ceasing” in 1Thess. 5:17 NRSV]), so he himself wrestles in prayer (Luke 22:41–44; Heb. 5:7). He has prayed for his disciples (John 17; Luke 22:32), and even now, in heaven, he still intercedes for us (Heb. 7:25). Indeed, our intercession before God’s throne is valid because his is (Heb. 4:14–16).
Christ’s resurrection is the foundational event for the Christian faith. Paul goes so far as to say that if Christ did not rise, then the Christian faith is futile and Christians are to be pitied more than all others (1Cor. 15:1719). Resurrection’s climaxing position in all four Gospel narratives yields the same understanding. Christ came not merely to die, as some claim, but to conquer death. Resurrection gives everything that Christ did before his death an “of God” significance, and it establishes everything that follows as a guarantee of God’s eschatological promises. Without the resurrection, Jesus would have been just another “prophet hopeful” who died a tragic peasant death in Jerusalem. However, as it is, evidenced by the resurrection, he is the Son of God. According to the NT, the resurrection is the triumphant cry that God indeed did come to visit his creation and conquer the power of sin and death.
Although the Gospels’ presentations of Jesus’ resurrection vary in some detail (probably due to purpose and audience), all of them treat the event as the theological centerpiece of the Gospel narrative. The resurrection story launches God’s eschatological work and opens the door, as the postresurrection appearances show, for a connection between the Jesus story and the church story. It is the foundation both for the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18–20) and for Pentecost (Luke 24:49). All people of all nations can now meet the living Christ.
The term “Scripture” (graphē) appears fifty-one times in the NT, used in reference to the OT. Sometimes the biblical writers cite a specific OT text as Scripture, while at other times they refer to Scripture in a more comprehensive manner.
(1)One of the original twelve apostles (Matt. 10:2), also called “Peter.” Simon Peter was the brother of Andrew and a fisherman by trade (Matt. 4:18). (See also Peter.) (2)The Zealot, one of the original twelve apostles (Matt. 10:4). (3)One of the brothers of Jesus, along with James, Joseph, and Judas (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3). (4)A leper who lived in Bethany. In his house the precious bottle of ointment was poured upon Jesus in preparation for his burial (Matt. 26:6). (5)A man from Cyrene who carried Jesus’ cross on the way to crucifixion (Matt. 27:32). (6)A Pharisee who invited Jesus for a meal (Luke 7:40). Jesus was anointed with ointment in his house. He perhaps is the same individual as in Matt. 26:6. (7)The father of Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus (John 6:71). (8)A sorcerer who believed the gospel and was baptized. However, he became enamored with the miraculous power of Philip and with the ability of the apostles to impart the Holy Spirit, and he offered them money to give him that ability (Acts 8:925). (9)A tanner with whom Peter stayed in Joppa before traveling to the house of Cornelius (Acts 9:43).
In the world of the Bible, a person was viewed as a unity of being with the pervading breath and thus imprint of the loving and holy God. The divine-human relationship consequently is portrayed in the Bible as predominantly spiritual in nature. God is spirit, and humankind may communicate with him in the spiritual realm. The ancients believed in an invisible world of spirits that held most, if not all, reasons for natural events and human actions in the visible world.
The OT writers used the common Hebrew word ruakh (“wind” or “breath”) to describe force and even life from the God of the universe. In its most revealing first instance, God’s ruakh hovered above the waters of the uncreated world (Gen. 1:2). In the next chapter of Genesis a companion word, neshamah (“breath”), is used as God breathed into Adam’s nostrils “the breath of life” (2:7). God thus breathed his own image into the first human being. Humankind’s moral obligations in the remainder of the Bible rest on this breathing act of God.
The OT authors often employ ruakh simply to denote air in motion or breath from a person’s mouth. However, special instances of the use of ruakh include references to the very life of a person (Gen. 7:22; Ps. 104:29), an attitude or emotion (Gen. 41:8; Num. 14:24; Ps. 77:3), the negative traits of pride or temper (Ps. 76:12), a generally good disposition (Prov. 11:13; 18:14), the seat of conversion (Ezek. 18:31; 36:26), and determination given by God (2Chron. 36:22; Hag. 1:14).
The NT authors used the Greek term pneuma to convey the concept of spirit. In the world of the NT, the human spirit was understood as the divine part of human reality as distinct from the material realm. The spirit appears conscious and capable of rejoicing (Luke 1:47). Jesus was described by Luke as growing and becoming “strong in spirit” (1:80). In “spirit” Jesus “knew” what certain teachers of the law were thinking in their hearts (Mark 2:8). Likewise, Jesus “was deeply moved in spirit and troubled” at the sickness of a loved one (John 11:33). At the end of his life, Jesus gave up his spirit (John 19:30).
According to Jesus, the spirit is the place of God’s new covenant work of conversion and worship (John 3:5; 4:24). He declared the human spirit’s dependence on God and ascribed great virtue to those people who were “poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3).
Human beings who were possessed by an evil spirit were devalued in Mediterranean society. In various places in the Synoptic Gospels and the book of Acts, either Jesus or the disciples were involved in exorcisms of such spirits (Matt. 8:2833; Mark 1:21–28; 7:24–30; 9:14–29; 5:1–20; 9:17–29; Luke 8:26–33; 9:37–42; Acts 5:16).
The apostle Paul pointed to the spirit as the seat of conversion (Rom. 7:6; 1Cor. 5:5). He described believers as facing a struggle between flesh and spirit in regard to living a sanctified life (Rom. 8:2–17; Gal. 5:16–17). A contradiction seems apparent in Pauline thinking as he appears to embrace Greek dualistic understanding of body (flesh) and spirit while likewise commanding that “spirit, soul and body be kept blameless” (1Thess. 5:23). However, the Christian struggle between flesh and Spirit (the Holy Spirit) centers around the believer’s body being dead because of sin but the spirit being alive because of the crucified and resurrected Christ (Rom. 8:10). Believers therefore are encouraged to lead a holistic life, lived in the Spirit.
One of Jesus’ original twelve apostles (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15), referred to as “Didymus,” meaning “twin” (John 11:16; 20:24; 21:2). The infamous title of “Doubting Thomas” comes from his refusal to believe in Jesus’ resurrection. Thomas said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). A week later the risen Jesus again appeared to the apostles, including Thomas. Thomas’s response was “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Despite his previous disbelief in Jesus’ resurrection, Thomas was present with the other apostles in the upper room (Acts 1:13).
A room on an upper story or roof of a building. King Ahaziah’s fall through the lattice of an upper room caused his death (2Kings 1:2). Jesus instructed his disciples to prepare their final meal together in an upper room (Mark 14:15; Luke 22:12). Tradition holds that the disciples met to pray in this room after Jesus’ ascension (Acts 1:13). Widows grieved over Dorcas in an upper room until Peter’s prayer restored her life (Acts 9:39). Paul revived Eutychus, who had died after dozing off and falling from an upper room to the ground (Acts 20:812).
The English term “witness” occurs in both Testaments numerous times, with a wide range of meanings. One common meaning relates to someone who gives legal testimony and to the legitimacy of that testimony (Num. 35:30; Deut. 17:6; 19:1516, 18; Prov. 12:17; Isa. 8:16, 20). Throughout the NT the term occurs primarily in the context of someone bearing witness—especially God—or testifying to something (Rom. 1:9; 2Cor. 1:23; Phil. 1:8; 1Thess. 2:5, 10), though it also has a forensic dimension in regard to one who establishes legal testimony (e.g., Acts 6:13; 7:58; 2Cor. 13:1; 1Tim. 5:19; Heb. 10:28).
Central to the concept of witness is the truthfulness of the witness. This was a vital component of the OT concept of witness. Thus, in legal proceedings a lone witness was insufficient to establish testimony against anyone (Deut. 17:6). This principle carries over into the NT (cf. Matt. 18:16; 2Cor. 13:1). Such truthfulness was so significant that the ninth commandment expressly forbids bearing false witness (Exod. 20:16; Deut. 5:20; cf. Prov. 19:5, 9).
Truth-telling was not something that the people of Israel were called to merely among themselves. They were to be God’s witnesses to the nations (Isa. 43:10; 44:8). As witnesses of God’s existence and holiness, they were called to be separate from the nations (Exod. 19:6) and to be a light to them (Isa. 49:6). Tragically, Israel failed in this responsibility and was deemed “blind” (Isa. 42:19).
The NT continues the concept that the people of God are to be God’s witnesses. John the Baptist is commissioned “to testify concerning that light” (John 1:7). It is in this context that Jesus later declares himself to be “the light of the world” (John 8:12; 9:5). Jesus himself is the exemplar of a “faithful witness” (Rev. 1:5). And his followers, whom he has designated as “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14), are then called to bear witness to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
“Witness” is also employed in terms of a legal testimony regarding what one has seen. That the disciples were intent on establishing such legal testimony is evident in their stipulation that the person to replace Judas Iscariot be someone from among those who had been with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry to his ascension, so that “one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection” (Acts 1:22). This forensic aspect of witness appears in the close of the Gospel of John: “This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true” (21:24). Paul demonstrates this forensic concern for witnesses when he references Peter, the Twelve, some five hundred others, and himself as among those who have witnessed the resurrection (1Cor. 15:3–8).
Throughout Revelation there resides a direct link between Christians bearing witness and suffering, and perhaps dying, as a consequence of this witness. This is evident in the mention of Antipas, who was martyred, and is then designated as “my faithful witness” (Rev. 2:13). Also, the two unnamed witnesses in 11:1–12, who explicitly function as witnesses, are the subject of attack and are eventually murdered. Their murder occurs only after they have finished “their testimony” (11:7).
It is this association of persecution and martyrdom that likely leads to the second-century employment of “martyr” as a designation for those who bear witness to Christ to the point of death.
Direct Matches
The place where Judas Iscariot met his demise after betrayingJesus. According to the book of Acts, with the money he received forbetraying Jesus to the chief priests, he bought a field, where “hefell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilledout”; the inhabitants of Jerusalem called the field “Akeldama,”an Aramaic name meaning “field of blood” (Acts 1:18–19).According to Matt. 27:7–8, the field was purchased by the chiefpriests and subsequently used as a burial place for foreigners. Thetwo passages may be harmonized by supposing that (1) in the Actsaccount Luke means that Judas indirectly purchased the field becausehis money was used to purchase it; (2) Judas hanged himself, asMatthew says, but the rapidly decaying body fell from the rope andburst open, as Acts asserts; or (3) as so often with placenames, the original of the name was understood differently bydifferent people. Perhaps the place was known as “Field ofBlood” because it was purchased with blood money, but thesubsequent suicide of Judas at that location caused some earlyChristians to associate the name with his gory death there.
This book, commonly referred to simply as Acts, is the sequelto the Gospel of Luke and records the exciting history of the firstthree decades of the early church. The book begins with the ascensionof Jesus, followed by his sending of the Holy Spirit, and ends withthe gospel message being proclaimed by Paul as a prisoner in thecapital city of the Roman Empire. In the pages in between, the readeris introduced to the key people, places, and events of this strategicand crucial time of Christian history. The book of Acts providesinsightful and inspiring reading. It forms the backdrop forunderstanding much of the NT (especially Paul’s letters), andit provides important models for the contemporary church.
HistoricalBackground
Inorder to understand the book of Acts, one must become familiar withits historical background. This includes understanding the book’sauthorship, recipients, and setting. In terms of authorship, the booktechnically is anonymous; however, there are good reasons for holdingto church history’s traditional view that its author is Luke.This tradition dates back to the early second century and issupported by internal evidence. This evidence further reveals thatLuke was a physician and close companion of the apostle Paul (infact, Luke was actually with Paul for some of the events that herecords in Acts; see the “we” passages, found in16:10–17; 20:5–15; 21:8–18; 27:1–28:16). Lukewas well educated, well traveled, and familiar with both the Jewishand the Greco-Roman worlds. He was a Hellenistic God-fearerand a Christian. He was also familiar with the Jewish Scriptures,Greco-Roman rhetoric, and ancient histories, thus making him theperfect candidate to write an accurate history of early Christianity.
Thespecific recipient of Acts is Theophilus (1:1). Theophilus could becharacterized as a relatively new believer of high social status, aperson educated in Greco-Roman rhetoric and history, and one whopossessed the financial means to promote and publish Luke’swork (both the Gospel of Luke and Acts). It is probable that in someway Theophilus served as a bridge to a wider readership. It seemslikely that Theophilus was Luke’s ideal reader (i.e., aninfluential Greco-Roman of high social standing).
Thespecific setting of Acts is difficult to determine; however, it seemsclear that the book was written during a time of crisis for thechurch. This crisis involved persecution and slander of Christians byboth Jews and Gentiles. Both groups were trying to persuade publicopinion against Christianity, including the opinion of Greco-Romanauthorities. The persecution and slander were taking their toll onthe church, and many Christians were demoralized and struggling toremain faithful as witnesses of Jesus. Christianity needed someone towrite a response to this crisis. This response had to do threethings: (1) accurately relate the history of the church toinfluential Greco-Romans of high social status; (2) show thatChristianity was an ancient religion (ancient religions wereconsidered to be legitimate by Roman authorities) and an asset to theRoman Empire, not a threat; (3) legitimize Christianity overagainst Judaism. The author of this reponse had to be someone who wasrespected both inside and outside of the Christian faith community,who knew the church’s history well, and who was educated inGreco-Roman rhetoric. What better authorial candidate than Luke?Finally, the church also needed a person of high social status andfinancial means to help publish and promote the work; thus,Theophilus was chosen.
Purpose
Thebook of Acts was written for a variety of purposes. These includeapologetics, legitimization, discipleship, and witness to salvation.The apologetic purpose of Acts focuses on how Christianity could berecognized as an ancient, honorable, and officially protectedreligion in the Roman Empire. Although Judaism had the status ofreligio licita (legal religion) with Roman authorities for most ofthe first century, Christianity encountered serious problems in thisrespect. Acts itself reveals a substantial amount of such evidence inthis regard. For example, 16:20–21 shows that at Philippi, Pauland Silas were charged with disturbing the peace by advocatingunlawful customs. In Thessalonica, the missionaries were accused ofdefying Caesar by promoting another king named “Jesus”(17:7). At Corinth, the charge was that of persuading the peopletoward unlawful worship (18:13). Later in Acts, Paul was charged bythe Jewish priestly leaders with being part of an unacceptable sectthat was stirring up riots in Jewish communities (24:5–9). In28:22, when Paul addressed the Roman Jews, they responded by sayingthat “people everywhere are talking against this sect[Christianity].” Such accusations, accompanied by the fact thatChristianity’s founder had been crucified by Roman authorities,made it difficult for the Christians to gain credibility.Christianity’s precarious position with Rome was furtherexacerbated by a strong Jewish campaign to separate from Christiansand to label them as sectarian. This strategy certainly intended forChristianity to be viewed by Rome as religio illicita (illegal orforbidden religion). Thus, Luke writes Acts to defend Christianity byshowing that it is not a replacement of Judaism, but rather itslegitimate continuation. Therefore, it should be accepted by theRoman authorities as a legal religion just as Judaism was accepted.
Luke’sapologetic message also appears to be directed inwardly, to astruggling church. This inward focus leads to Luke’s next mainpurpose: legitimization of the Christian faith for its adherents. Aspart of his defense, Luke intends to equip the church in the midst ofan identity crisis due to the constant threats of illegitimacy. Thisexplains Luke’s strategy of retelling the story of the church’sorigins so that followers of Christ would understand their trueposition from God’s perspective. Thus, Luke verifies fourthings: (1) the Jewish Scriptures prophesied a coming messiah,and Jesus matched these prophecies; (2) the resurrection wasforetold in Scripture and verified by eyewitnesses; (3) it wasGod’s plan all along for Gentiles to be included in God’sredemptive work; (4) Jews who rejected Jesus were acting in thesame way their ancestors did; therefore, believers should not besurprised by their negative reaction to Jesus. Luke uses stories suchas the one in Acts 2:41–47 to verify that salvation wasgenuinely being accomplished in the church and that Christians wereexperiencing the fulfillment of God’s ancient promises toIsrael. Luke’s writing is intended to encourage hiscontemporary church members to remain faithful in their service andwitness for the Lord. He reminds them that they are the true(legitimate) “people of God” and that God’s Spiritwill help them prevail and will give them abundant life even in themidst of hardship and persecution.
Anotherkey purpose of the book of Acts is to foster discipleship. Theprologues of both Luke’s Gospel and Acts verify that Luke iswriting to provide instruction and teaching for Theophilus (see Luke1:1–4; Acts 1:1–2). Part of this instruction reveals thatthe ascension of Jesus was not the end of his relationship with theworld, but rather a new beginning. Jesus’ departure did notmean abandonment; in fact, it meant just the opposite. Jesus verifieshis continuing presence and work in the world after his departurejust as he had lived and worked before. In other words, the sameSpirit who directed the ministry of Jesus is now going to direct theministry of Jesus’ followers. The rest of the book of Actsprovides instruction (with many personal examples) on how Christ canfulfill the ministry of believers through the power and direction ofthe Holy Spirit. Luke’s discipleship teaching includes helpingbelievers learn how to experience and follow God’s Spirit(chap. 2), to boldly witness for Christ in the midst of persecution(chaps. 3–4, 8, 14, 16–17, 19–28), to sacrificiallyshare resources with other Christians in need (chaps. 2, 4, 11), toresolve disputes within the church (chaps. 6, 15), and to take thegospel message of salvation to all people (chaps. 2, 11, 13–28).
Thebook of Acts places great emphasis on the message of salvation andthe responsibility given to believers to share this salvific messagewith all people. This salvation-witness concept is clearly one ofLuke’s key purposes for the book of Acts. The Pentecost eventof Acts 2 initiates the theme of salvation for all people and thussets the agenda for the rest of the book. In this passage, variousJews from many nations hear the good news in their own tongue, whichsuggests that this news is for peoples of all tongues and nations yetfor Jews first. The rest of Acts continues this theme of theuniversal scope of salvation. Luke makes it clear that this salvationcrosses all geographical, ethnic, and social boundaries. In Acts,Luke is bridging the gap between Jesus’ earthly ministry and alater generation of Christ followers who are to take the gospel to amuch wider geographical area with even greater ethnic diversity. Themessage of salvation should be joined with Luke’s emphasis onwitness. The centrality of the theme of witness in Acts is verifiedby Jesus’ words right before the ascension: “And you willbe my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and tothe ends of the earth” (1:8). The book of Acts tells the storyof how the early church received and obeyed the command of Jesus tobear witness of him to the ends of the earth.
LiteraryFeatures
Thesekey purposes of Acts are expounded through some distinctive literaryfeatures found in the book. One such literary feature is that thebook of Acts was written in a literary genre called “apologetichistoriography.” This genre can be defined as the story of asubgroup of people told by a member of the group who explains thegroup’s traditions and history while using Greco-Roman literaryfeatures. A good example of this literary genre is Josephus’sJewish Antiquities. Josephus tells the story of the Jews toGreco-Roman readers in hopes that they will better understand Jewishhistory and traditions and will accept the Jews in the largerGreco-Roman world. This appears to be exactly what Luke is doing inthe book of Acts for Christians. However, Luke is not giving adefense of a particular ethnic group; rather, he is defending amulticultural people who transcend ethnic and geographicalboundaries. In fact, this is a key part of Luke’s message.Throughout Acts, Luke is trying to explain why his religion is onethat crosses ethnic boundaries and is a universal religion inclusiveof all ethnicities. As Luke tells the story of Christianity, he iscareful to utilize Hellenistic literary features in order to connectwith his primary audience. Evidence of these Hellenistic literaryfeatures in the book of Acts includes a narrative style illustratingthe history through the personal experiences of key characters (Actstells the history of the early church through characters such asPeter and Paul), the frequent use of speeches, personal observationof at least part of the narrative while maintaining anonymity ofauthorship (the “we” passages of Acts), and the frequentuse of summaries to guide the narrative (Acts contains three majorsummaries [2:42–47; 4:32–37; 5:12–16] and a numberof minor summaries [6:7; 9:31; 12:24; 16:5; 19:20; 28:31]).
Outlineand Survey
Actscan be outlined according to Jesus’ final words, recorded in1:8: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea andSamaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
I.Witnesses in Jerusalem (1:1–8:3)II. Witnesses in Judeaand Samaria (8:4–12:25)III. Witnesses to the Ends of theEarth (13:1–28:31)
I.Witnesses in Jerusalem (Acts 1:1–8:3).Immediately following his ascension, Jesus tells his followers toreturn to Jerusalem and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. Theypromptly obey, and after ten days of waiting, the disciples aredramatically filled with the Holy Spirit and begin to share thegospel with those around them. This event occurs at the JewishPentecost festival, which was attended by Jews and Jewish proselytesfrom throughout the Roman Empire. After the Spirit comes atPentecost, Peter boldly preaches to the crowds, and over threethousand people respond with saving faith (2:41).
Lukenext provides an exciting summary of the Spirit-led life within theearly church. This life is characterized by the early believers’participation together in the sharing of worship activities, materialpossessions, and spiritual blessings (2:42–47). This summary isfollowed by several dramatic healing miracles accomplished throughPeter and the subsequent arrest of Christian leaders by Jewishreligious authorities. Instead of squelching the Christian movement,however, these arrests only enhance the spiritual revival and itsaccompanying miracles. This revival is characterized by extremegenerosity and unity within the early church (4:32–37).
Therevival joy, however, is marred by the deceitful actions of Ananiasand Sapphira, who lie to the church and to the Holy Spirit and arejudged by God with immediate death (5:1–11). This story provesthat God will go to extreme lengths to protect the unity of hischurch. Following more persecution and miracles, the disciples chooseseven men to oversee distribution of food to Hellenistic widows whohave been neglected in daily food distributions (6:1–7). One ofthese leaders, Stephen, is arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin.Stephen testifies boldly before the Jewish leaders and is promptlyexecuted by stoning (chap. 7). This execution is endorsed by Saul, azealous Pharisee who begins to lead fierce persecution against thechurch in Jerusalem (8:1–3).
II.Witnesses in Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:4–12:25).Saul’s persecution forces many of the early church believers toleave Jerusalem. These believers scatter throughout the surroundingareas of Judea and Samaria. As they scatter, however, they continueto preach the gospel (8:4). Philip preaches in Samaria and performsmany miraculous signs, producing a spiritual revival in the region.Hearing about this, the apostles send Peter and John to Samaria tominister to the Samaritans (8:18–25), thus confirming thecross-cultural nature of the gospel (Samaritans traditionally werehated by the Jews). Next Luke tells of Philip’s evangelizing ofan Ethiopian eunuch (8:26–40).
Followingthe Ethiopian’s belief in Jesus, the narrative tells of Saul’sdramatic conversion while traveling to Damascus to persecuteChristians there (9:1–19). Saul’s dramatic turnaround ismet with suspicion by the other disciples, but eventually he isaccepted by the believers with the help of Barnabas (9:27–30).Next Peter travels to the Judean countryside and heals the paralyticAeneas and raises Dorcas from the dead (9:32–42). Thesemiracles produce an exciting spiritual revival in the region.Following this, God gives Peter a vision to go to the coastal city ofCaesarea in order to minister to Cornelius, a Roman army officer.Cornelius is a God-fearer, and through Peter’s witness heresponds to the gospel message and receives the Holy Spirit (chap.10). Peter explains his actions with Cornelius to his concernedJewish companions and verifies that God has indeed included theGentiles in his plan of salvation (11:1–18).
Thisverification is followed by the report of what is happening in thechurch at Antioch, where Jews begin to share the gospel with largergroups of Gentiles (11:19–21). This cross-cultural evangelismproduces a spiritual revival in Antioch, causing the Jerusalem churchto send Barnabas to the large Syrian city to investigate (11:22–30).Barnabas confirms that God is indeed at work in Antioch and invitesSaul to come and help him disciple the new Gentile believers(11:25–26). Next Luke reports more persecution breaking outagainst Christians in Jerusalem, resulting in the arrest of James andPeter by King Herod. James is executed, but Peter miraculouslyescapes from prison with the help of an angel (12:1–19), andthe church continues to increase, spreading throughout the RomanEmpire.
III.Witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 13:1–28:31).Starting with chapter 13, the narrative shifts its focus from theministry of Peter to that of Paul (formerly Saul). The church atAntioch begins to take center stage over the church at Jerusalem.This church commissions Paul and Barnabas and sends them off on theirfirst missionary journey, accompanied by Barnabas’scousin John Mark. The missionaries first sail to Cyprus, where theypreach in synagogues and encounter a Jewish sorcerer, Bar-Jesus. Nextthey sail to Pamphylia, thus crossing into Asia Minor, and preach thegospel in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe (this area wasknown as part of the region of Galatia). In these cities, Godprovides numerous miracles, and the missionaries experience a greatresponse to the gospel as well as much persecution because of thegospel. On one occasion, Paul is actually stoned and left for dead(14:19–20).
Unfazed,Paul and his team boldly continue their mission. Eventually, theyretrace their steps, strengthen the churches that they have started,and sail back to Syrian Antioch, where they give an exciting reportto the church (14:26–28). Following this report, Luke tells ofan important meeting of church leaders in Jerusalem. The subject ofthe meeting involves whether or not the new Gentile Christians shouldbe required to follow the Jewish laws and customs. After debating theissue, the leaders side with Paul, determining that the Gentilesshould not be burdened with Jewish laws and traditions, but simplymust live moral lives and not eat food that has been sacrificed toidols (chap. 15).
Followingthis meeting, Paul and Barnabas decide to make a second missionaryjourney. Unfortunately, the two missionaries get into a dispute overwhether to take John Mark with them again. The argument is such thatthe missionaries decide to separate, and Paul chooses a new partner,Silas. They travel by land back to Galatia. Barnabas takes John Markand sails to Cyprus. Paul and Silas return to Derbe and Lystra andthen make their way to Macedonia and Greece. They spend significanttime in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Corinth before returning toCaesarea and Antioch (chaps. 16–18). Following his return, Paulmakes a third missionary journey, revisiting churches in Galatia andPhrygia and staying in Ephesus for three years before visitingMacedonia and Greece for a second time.
Paulconcludes his third missionary journey with a trip to Jerusalem,where he is falsely accused of bringing a Gentile into the temple.This accusation creates a riot, and Paul is rescued by Romansoldiers, who arrest him and transfer him to a prison in Caesarea,where he spends two years awaiting trial under the rule of Felix andFestus (23:34–25:22). Paul eventually exercises his right as aRoman citizen to have his case heard by the emperor. He is sent toRome by boat and is shipwrecked on the island of Malta. Eventually hemakes his way to the capital city, where he is placed under housearrest. While in Rome, Paul maintains a rented house and is free toreceive visitors and write letters. In fact, it is thought that Paulpenned his “prison letters” during this time of housearrest (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon). The narrativeof Acts ends with Paul ministering boldly in Rome while awaiting histrial.
Actsand the Contemporary Church
Thebook of Acts provides a model for today’s church on numeroustopics. These include understanding the role of the Holy Spirit,practicing community life within the church, dealing with hardshipand persecution, overcoming social injustices, and carrying outmissions.
Actsreveals that the key issue for Christians is learning to experienceand follow God’s Holy Spirit, who enables believers to be boldin their witness for Christ, generous in their physical and spiritualsupport of each other, and effective in their ministries. Actsconsistently reveals that one’s joy, power, and purpose comefrom the Holy Spirit. According to Acts, learning to follow anddepend upon God’s Holy Spirit is the key to having a healthychurch.
Actsalso shows that the Holy Spirit produces a unique community lifecharacterized by worship, generosity, blessing, and unity. Luke callsthis Spirit-led common life koinōnia, which is explained andillustrated in the first five chapters of Acts (see esp. 2:42–47).It should be the desire and goal of every church to re-create thiskoinōnia community first experienced by the primitive church inActs.
Inaddition to its koinōnia, the book of Acts serves as a model forthe church in overcoming persecution and hardship. The narrative ofActs consistently reveals the sovereign power of God in overcomingopposition. The early church found great joy and growth in the midstof hardship and persecution, and today’s church can do thesame.
Anotherimportant example for the church provided by Acts is in the area ofsocial justice. Luke’s primitive church consistently removedethnic prejudices, eliminated social hierarchy and status within thechurch, and elevated the role of women. Acts provides inspiration andguidance for today’s church in facing these same social issues.
Inaddition to overcoming social injustices, the church in Acts providesan excellent example of mission ministry. These believersconsistently revealed God’s heart for the nations and made it apriority to share the gospel with all people everywhere. Acts’emphasis on the universal nature of the gospel, the responsibility ofindividual Christians to witness for Christ, and the importance ofplanting new churches and discipling new believers sets a pattern fortoday’s church in the area of missions.
Theseexamples should serve to inspire and guide the contemporary church asit seeks to follow and experience the Holy Spirit, who is sopowerfully revealed in the book of Acts.
The place where Judas Iscariot met his demise after betrayingJesus. According to the book of Acts, with the money he received forbetraying Jesus to the chief priests, he bought a field, where “hefell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilledout”; the inhabitants of Jerusalem called the field “Akeldama,”an Aramaic name meaning “field of blood” (Acts 1:18–19).According to Matt. 27:7–8, the field was purchased by the chiefpriests and subsequently used as a burial place for foreigners. Thetwo passages may be harmonized by supposing that (1) in the Actsaccount Luke means that Judas indirectly purchased the field becausehis money was used to purchase it; (2) Judas hanged himself, asMatthew says, but the rapidly decaying body fell from the rope andburst open, as Acts asserts; or (3) as so often with placenames, the original of the name was understood differently bydifferent people. Perhaps the place was known as “Field ofBlood” because it was purchased with blood money, but thesubsequent suicide of Judas at that location caused some earlyChristians to associate the name with his gory death there.
(1) Thefather of the disciple James, who is always identified as “theson of Alphaeus” in order to distinguish him from James the sonof Zebedee (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). (2) Thefather of Levi the tax collector (Mark 2:14). Some have suggestedthat this individual is also the father of James the disciple, butthis is unlikely. Additionally, some have identified Cle(o)pas (Luke24:18; John 19:25) with one of the Alphaeus persons, but this isdoubtful.
A title designating members of the group of twelve disciples(Matt. 10:2–4; Mark 3:16–19; Luke 6:13–16) whor*ceived Jesus’ teaching (Luke 17:5) and to whom he grantedauthority (Mark 6:7, 30; Luke 9:1, 10). Matthias later replaced JudasIscariot (Acts 1:24). These apostles provided leadership to the earlychurch in Jerusalem (Acts 15:6), performed miracles (Acts 2:43;2 Cor. 12:12), and faced persecution (Acts 5:18) as theytestified to Jesus’ resurrection (Acts 4:33; 5:32). Broaderusage of the term includes witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection(1 Cor. 15:7), James the brother of Jesus (Gal. 1:19), Barnabasand Paul (Acts 14:14), and possibly Silas (1 Thess. 2:6) andAndronicus and Junias/Junia (Rom. 16:7). Paul regularly speaks of hiscalling in apostolic terms (Rom. 1:1; 1 Cor. 1:1; 2 Cor.1:1; Gal. 1:1; Eph. 1:1; Col. 1:1; 1 Tim. 1:1; 2 Tim. 1:1;Titus 1:1), while Peter similarly self-identifies (1 Pet. 1:1;2 Pet. 1:1). The word is once used of Jesus himself (Heb. 3:1).
The initiatory ritual of Christianity. This rite is of greatsignificance in connecting the individual both to Christ and to thegreater community of believers. Baptism carries an equal measure ofsymbolism and tradition, evoking a connection between OT covenantalcircumcision and ritual cleansing and NT regeneration and redemption.It is the visible response to the gospel, reflecting the internalresponse to the gospel: the climactic moment in the journey ofreconciliation of the believer with God.
Theword “baptism” (Gk. baptisma) carries with it the senseof washing by dipping (Gk. baptizō); the word can also carry thesense of being overtaken or subsumed, or of joining or entering intoa new way of life. In either sense, a distinct change in therecipient is envisioned. Through baptism, Christians both demonstratetheir desire for and symbolize their understanding of being washedclean of sin; they also proclaim their surrender to and subjugationby Christ. All this intellectual underpinning occurs in what can be adeeply emotional ceremony.
Baptismin the Bible
Theimmediate precursor of Christian baptism was the baptism of Johnthe Baptist (Mark 1:4 pars.), a baptism of repentance for theforgiveness of sins, preparing the hearts of the people for thecoming Messiah. But when Jesus himself was baptized by John to“fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15) and to allowJesus to identify with sinful humanity, he became the firstfruits ofthe new covenant. John emphasized that his baptism with water wasinferior to the baptism “with the Holy Spirit and fire”that Jesus would bring (Matt. 3:11). Jesus’ disciples continuedJohn’s baptism during his earthly ministry (John 4:1–2).
Baptismwas immediately important in the early church. Jesus commanded thedisciples to “make disciples . . . , baptizing them”(Matt. 28:19). The disciples replaced Judas from among those “whohave been with us the whole time . . . from John’sbaptism” (Acts 1:21–22). Peter’s first sermonproclaims, “Repent and be baptized” (2:38). The apostlesbaptized new believers in Christ immediately (8:12–13; 8:38;9:18; 10:48; 16:15, 33; 18:8; 19:5; 22:16).
Forthe apostle Paul, baptism represents a participation in thecrucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul writes, “Don’tyou know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus werebaptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him throughbaptism into death” (Rom. 6:3–4); “In him you were. . . buried with him in baptism, in which you were alsoraised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raisedhim from the dead” (Col. 2:11–12).
Thoughthe NT does not explicitly command baptism (the command in Acts 2:38is understood to be directed toward a specific group), it assumesthat all believers will be baptized (Acts 19:2–3). Theexpectation of baptism is as good as a command, and Christians shouldunderstand baptism as a matter of obedience. Accounts of baptism inActs are always preceded by reports of belief, and new believers areimmediately baptized. Baptism also carries the idea of conveyance: noone self-baptizes; rather, believers baptize others as an initiationinto the family of believers.
BaptismalPractices
Historicallyin the church, the manner of baptism involves the application ofwater to the recipient by pouring, sprinkling, or immersion. Thesepractices vary among Christians, but no one practice has a clearbiblical warrant above the others. Paul, however, appeals tosymbolism in his discussions of baptism. He describes those baptized“into Christ Jesus” as being “baptized into hisdeath,” “buried with him through baptism into death”that they might be raised to a new life “just as Christ wasraised from the dead” (Rom. 6:3–4; see also Col. 2:12).Immersion may be the best vehicle to retain this striking symbolismof Paul.
Thetiming of baptism has caused controversy within the church. Somechurches (especially Baptist) believe that baptism is for those whohave made a conscious decision for Christ—believer’sbaptism. Baptism is an expression of both the change in one’slife and one’s devotion. With this act, the person unites withthe church as well as with Jesus himself. This is a deeply movingexperience for the celebrant, one to be remembered forever. Thecelebrant metaphorically is buried with Christ in order to be raisedup with him. Baptism does not of itself convey salvation but ratheris an act of obedience, and obedience indicates active affirmation ofthe gospel.
Somechurches (e.g., Reformed, Presbyterian) practice infant baptism(paedobaptism). Baptism is at least partly a covenant act similar tocircumcision; by this act the child’s parents announce theirown membership in the body of Christ and their desire that the childbe considered a member as well. Baptism does not convey salvation,but it does convey a type of grace. Entering early adulthood, thechild will be given a chance to affirm his or her faith throughconfirmation. Obviously, the child will have no conscious memory ofthe original baptism, but the child will grow from infancy with theknowledge of having been entered conditionally into the church by hisor her parents. Infant baptism is an act of faith by the parents thatthe child must claim later, at which time some church traditions havea ritual of confirmation. The warrant for infant baptism is thepassages where a “household” or other unspecified groupis baptized (see Acts 2:38; 16:15, 31, 34). Also, Paul seems torelate Christian baptism to OT circumcision (Col. 2:11–12), anevent for the child performed at the parents’ request (Lev.12:3). (See also Infant Baptism)
Advocatesof believer’s baptism also see value in the ceremonialincorporation of infants into the church. These churches offer childdedication, a similar ceremony but without the water component.
Anothersource of debate is the concept of rebaptism. Some churches requirethat prospective members who were baptized as infants be baptizedanew as believing adults. It is claimed that the previous baptism isinvalid, since an infant cannot possess the proper faith. For otherchurches, rebaptism is strictly forbidden as unscriptural.
Notably,while most Christian groups see baptism as fundamental to theirfellowship, many groups also make allowances for baptism received inextraordinary ways. For instance, the Catholic Church allows for“baptism by blood” and “baptism by desire,”where in extreme cases baptism is credited though having never beenperformed. Catholic doctrine also allows for “extraordinaryministers” who may not even be Christians to perform baptism,as long as the intended goal is a valid Christian baptism.
TheFunction of Baptism
Baptismshould not be seen as a saving act; Paul tells a jailer, “Believein the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and yourhousehold” (Acts 16:31). It is later, after the jailer haswashed Paul’s and Silas’s wounds, that the family isbaptized. Paul does write to Titus about salvation, saying, “Hesaved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the HolySpirit” (Titus 3:5). But here Paul is invoking OT imageryrather than NT baptism, as he nowhere uses these terms to refer tobaptism. Peter writes, “And this water symbolizes baptism thatnow saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body butthe pledge of a clear conscience toward God” (1 Pet.3:21). It is not the baptism that saves, nor the washing, but ratherthe working of faith in relationship with God.
Itis a shame that baptism has become a source of division in today’schurches. Paul emphasizes that “we were all baptized by oneSpirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slaveor free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink”(1 Cor. 12:13). Having been baptized into Jesus Christ should bea unifying element among Christians, not a source of contention.
(1) Joseph,having the necessary qualifications, was the unsuccessful candidatewhen lots were cast to replace Judas Iscariot as one of the twelveapostles (Acts 1:21–26). (2) Judas,a leading Christian and prophet (Acts 15:32), was commissioned alongwith Silas to convey to the newly planted churches (13:1–14:28)the decision of the Jerusalem council not to require circumcision ofGentile believers (15:22).
A disciple of Jesus, and one of the twelve apostles. His nameappears in the Synoptic lists of apostles (Matt. 10:2–4; Mark3:16–19; Luke 6:13–16) and as a witness to Jesus’ascension (Acts 1:13). Nothing else is known of him unless, assuggested by a ninth-century tradition, his other name was“Nathanael,” a disciple mentioned in John’s Gospel(1:45). The evidence is not conclusive, but Nathanael was closelyassociated with the apostles before and after the resurrection (John1:35–51; 21:1–2); Jesus promised him divine revelation,which would accord well with apostolic status (1:50–51); and heis connected to Philip in John’s Gospel (1:45) just asBartholomew is in the Synoptic lists of the apostles (Matt. 10:3).
An approximate literal meaning of Hebrew and Greek terms usedto refer to the seat of the emotions (sometimes translated as“intestines” or “stomach”). The literalmeaning is apparent in a few passages (Ezek. 7:19; 2 Chron.21:15–19; Jon. 1:17; Acts 1:18). More often the terms are usedto refer to a variety of strong emotions (Jer. 31:20; Lam. 1:20;2 Cor. 6:12; Phil. 1:8; Philem. 7). Elsewhere the words refer tothe womb or are related to progeny (Gen. 25:23; 2 Sam. 16:11;Isa. 49:1).
Brotherhood and Israelite Identity
AncientIsraelite society was fundamentally organized along the lines ofkinship and family. As a result, relations among brothers figureprominently in the biblical construction of Israelite identity, whichis conceptualized through a series of fraternal relationships, oftenrife with conflict: Isaac and Ishmael; Jacob and Esau; and the twelvesons of Jacob, among whom the relationship between Joseph and hisbrothers is pivotal in the history of Israel. Long after thelifetimes of the patriarchs, the Israelites continued to understandthe structure of their society and the relationships between itsconstituent tribes as a complex of fraternal relationships. Thepatriarchal stories of Genesis were a mirror of later social andpolitical realities. If the sibling rivalries of antiquity explainedcompetition between later social groups, the memory of thebrotherhood of those groups also provided a basis for solidarity bothwithin Israel (“You may not put a foreigner over you, who isnot your brother” [Deut. 17:15 ESV]) and with near neighbors(“You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother”[Deut. 23:7 ESV]). Similarly, the fraternal relationship betweenMoses and Aaron endured in later Israelite society as a model forsynthesizing distinct strands of the religion into a coherent whole.
Forlater Israelite readers of the Bible, the brotherly relationships ofGenesis and Exodus were not simply stories about dead ancestors;rather, they provided a compelling account of the organization ofIsraelite society as they knew it (see Zech. 11:14) and of therelationship between Israel and its neighbors, several of which weredescended from the brothers of the Israelite patriarchs (see Ps.83:6; Amos 1:11; Obad. 10; Mal. 1:2–4). Even though Hiram andSolomon did not trace their relationship back to a common ancestor,they extended the language of the brother alliance to their own(1 Kings 9:12–13).
Biblicalliterature cultivates a predilection for the underdog, elevating along series of younger, disadvantaged brothers: the heroes of Israelincluded Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Gideon (Judg. 6:15), and David (1 Sam.16:11).
Thebrother’s wife represented a special case. Sexual relationswith a brother’s wife were strictly forbidden (Lev. 18:16;20:21; see also Mark 6:18), but under certain circ*mstances one wascompelled to marry a brother’s widow (Deut. 25:5–9; seevariations of this practice in Gen. 38:8; Ruth 4:5–6). Thiscustom underlay a question that Jesus was asked concerning sevenbrothers, each of whom died, repeatedly widowing the same woman(Matt. 22:24; Mark 6:17; Luke 14:26).
Brothersin the New Testament
AmongJesus’ twelve disciples were several pairs of brothers,including Peter and Andrew (Mark 1:16 pars.) and James and John thesons of Zebedee (Mark 1:19). Jesus himself had brothers (Mark3:31–35; John 7:3–5; Acts 1:14), including James, Joseph,Simon, and Judas (Mark 6:3; see also Gal. 1:19).
Inaddition to the story of seven brothers mentioned above, several ofJesus’ teachings drew illustrations from the relationship ofbrothers, including the stories of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32)and of the rich man and Lazarus (see Luke 16:28). Jesus singled outthe belittling of a brother as a particularly heinous sin (Matt.5:22). In the Sermon on the Mount and elsewhere, “brother”stands not only for a literal brother but also more generally forone’s fellow human.
Inlight of the OT conception of Israel as a nation of brothers (seeDeut. 17:15 and the discussion above), it is not surprising thatJesus and the NT authors adopted the language of brotherhood todescribe the Christian community. The “brotherhood ofbelievers” (1 Pet. 2:17 NIV 1984) derives from thecommon brotherhood of Christians with Christ himself. Brotherhoodwith Christ depends not on physical descent but on a sharedcommitment to obedience to God (Matt. 12:50; 23:8), and this loyaltyis deeper than that of the literal family, such that it can turn“brother against brother” (Mark 13:12).
Thepredominant form of address in the NT Epistles is “brothers,”and in Acts the Christians are most commonly designated as “thebrothers.” Paul also refers to fellow Jews, includingnon-Christians, as his “brothers” (Acts 22:1; Rom. 9:3ESV). See also Brotherly Love.
The Greek term for “disciple,” mathētēs,means “student.” Like other rabbis and religious figuresof the time, Jesus taught a group of such students (Matt. 9:14;22:16; Mark 2:16; John 1:35; 4:1). The forms of address that Jesus’disciples used for him reflect the nature of the relationship:“rabbi” (Mark 9:5), “teacher” (Mark 9:38),and “master” (Luke 5:5). In addition to receivinginstruction from Jesus, his disciples took care of his physical needs(Matt. 21:1; John 4:8), ate with him (Matt. 9:10; 26:18), performedexorcisms and healings (Matt. 10:1; Luke 10:17), baptized (John 4:2),controlled access to Jesus (Matt. 19:13; John 12:21), and traveledwith him (Luke 8:1; John 2:12). On one occasion Jesus visited thehouse of Peter and healed Peter’s mother-in-law (Matt. 8:14),which suggests that although the Gospels do not generally depict theprivate lives of Jesus or his disciples apart from their publicministry, the relationship among these men did not prevent thedisciples from maintaining their own homes, families, and, probably,occupations.
Inthe Gospels Jesus is depicted with variously sized groups ofdisciples and followers. A prominent tradition in the Gospelsindicates that there was an inner group of twelve (Matt. 10:1; 26:20;Mark 3:14; 4:10; 6:7; John 6:70), each of whom is known by name. Thisis the group most traditionally understood as “the disciples”of Jesus. As an authority, the group of twelve persisted beyond theascension of Jesus (Acts 6:2). Following the death of Judas Iscariot,Matthias was chosen to take his place among the Twelve (Acts 1:26).Other passages specify a group of seventy or seventy-two (Luke 10:1,16), and often the number of disciples is indeterminate. Severalpassages name disciples beyond the Twelve (Matt. 27:57; Luke 24:18;Acts 9:10; 9:36; 16:1; 21:16), and some later authors attempted tolist the names of the seventy by drawing names from the book of Acts,the Epistles, and other early Christian traditions (e.g., thethirteenth-century Syriac compilation The Book of the Bee). The bookof Acts often refers to any follower of Christ as “disciple,”including those in cities throughout the Roman Empire.
TheGospels tend to present Jesus as a charismatic teacher who couldattract adherents with little overt persuasion. The calling ofseveral disciples is narrated, including that of the brothers SimonPeter and Andrew, the brothers James and John the sons of Zebedee(Mark 1:16–20; John 1:40–41), Philip and Nathanael (John1:44–45), and Matthew/Levi (Mark 2:13–17 pars.). TheGospel of John presents Andrew as a former disciple of John theBaptist.
TheTwelve
Eachof the Synoptic Gospels has a list of the Twelve (Matt. 10:1–4;Mark 3:13–19; Luke 6:12–16; cf. the list of eleven inActs 1:13), and the Gospel of John mentions “the Twelve”several times without providing a list. With some slightharmonizations, it is possible to come up with a single list oftwelve disciples based on the three Synoptic lists.
(1)Allthree Synoptic Gospels agree in placing Simon Peter first in thelist. (2)His brother Andrew is second, though Mark has placedAndrew farther down the list and does not identify him as Peter’sbrother. (3)James the son of Zebedee and (4)John thebrother of James are next. Mark adds that the two were also named“Boanerges,” meaning “sons of thunder.” Theplacement of Peter, James, and John at the head of the listcorresponds with the prominence of these three disciples in the storyof Jesus’ arrest at Gethsemane, where these three were present(Matt. 26:37// Mark 14:33). Perhaps the order of Mark’slist reflects the prestige of these three disciples, with Matthew andLuke bringing Andrew to the head of the list not because of anyparticular importance but so that he is listed with his brotherPeter.
Thelists continue with (5)Philip, (6)Bartholomew, and(7)Matthew, further identified in Matt. 10:3 as a “taxcollector.” The calling of Matthew is narrated in Matt. 9:9–13and also in Mark 2:13–17; Luke 5:27–32, where Matthew iscalled “Levi.” (8)Thomas is next (Matt. 10:3 listsThomas before Matthew; in John 20:24 he is also called “Didymus”),followed by (9)James the son of Alphaeus (Mark 2:14 also callsLevi “son of Alphaeus”), so named to avoid confusion withJames the son of Zebedee. (10)Simon the Cananaean (Matt. 10:4;Mark 3:18 NRSV) or Zealot (Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13) is so designated toavoid confusion with Simon Peter. The precise meaning of the term“Cananaean” is uncertain (see Cananaean). (11)Thaddaeus(who precedes Simon the Cananaean in Matthew and Mark) probablyshould be identified with the eleventh disciple in Luke’s list,Judas the son of James. The names of Thaddaeus and Judas son of Jamesrepresent the greatest single discrepancy among the three lists, butit may be mitigated somewhat by the fact that some manuscriptsidentify “Thaddaeus” as a surname (though they give thisdisciple’s other name as “Lebbaeus,” not “Judas”).All three lists agree in listing (12)Judas Iscariot as the lastdisciple in the list, and all note that he betrayed Jesus or became atraitor. The fact that Judas Iscariot bears a second name(“Iscariot”) may suggest that there was another Judasamong the Twelve from whom it was necessary to distinguish him, as inthe case of the two Simons and the two Jameses. This observationlends some weight to the notion that Thaddaeus was also named“Judas.”
TheDisciples as Apostles
Atvarious points in his ministry Jesus sent out his disciples to preachand perform miracles, hence they are also referred to as “apostles”(i.e., emissaries). The connection between these two terms is madeclear in Luke 6:13: “When morning came, he called his disciplesto him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles.”In the NT Epistles the title “apostle” is applied toseveral individuals who were not among Jesus’ twelve disciples,most notably Paul. In sum, both “disciple” and “apostle”have narrow and broad meanings in the NT, though there is substantialcontinuity between “the Twelve” disciples or apostles ofJesus and the narrow definition of “apostle” in the earlychapters of Acts.
TheLater Careers of the Disciples
Afterhis resurrection, Jesus told his disciples (“the apostles hehad chosen” [Acts 1:2]) that they would be his witnesses “inJerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of theearth” (Acts 1:8). Stories about the subsequent careers of theTwelve exist in both the NT and other early Christian sources. Thefirst half of Acts largely focuses on the career of Simon Peter,before attention shifts to the career of Paul in the eastern RomanEmpire. Extracanonical books and local legends trace the latercareers of Jesus’ twelve disciples, placing them in Rome(Peter), Scythia (Andrew), Spain (James), Ephesus (John), Phrygia(Philip), Armenia (Bartholomew and Thaddaeus), India (Thomas),Ethiopia (Matthew), and North Africa (Simon the Cananaean). Piouslocal traditions attribute martyrdom to a number of the Twelve,though in the NT we know only of the deaths of Judas Iscariot (Matt.27:3–10; Acts 1:16–20) and James the son of Zebedee (Acts12:1–2).
The place where Judas Iscariot met his demise after betrayingJesus. According to the book of Acts, with the money he received forbetraying Jesus to the chief priests, he bought a field, where “hefell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilledout”; the inhabitants of Jerusalem called the field “Akeldama,”an Aramaic name meaning “field of blood” (Acts 1:18–19).According to Matt. 27:7–8, the field was purchased by the chiefpriests and subsequently used as a burial place for foreigners. Thetwo passages may be harmonized by supposing that (1) in the Actsaccount Luke means that Judas indirectly purchased the field becausehis money was used to purchase it; (2) Judas hanged himself, asMatthew says, but the rapidly decaying body fell from the rope andburst open, as Acts asserts; or (3) as so often with placenames, the original of the name was understood differently bydifferent people. Perhaps the place was known as “Field ofBlood” because it was purchased with blood money, but thesubsequent suicide of Judas at that location caused some earlyChristians to associate the name with his gory death there.
The place where Judas Iscariot met his demise after betrayingJesus. According to the book of Acts, with the money he received forbetraying Jesus to the chief priests, he bought a field, where “hefell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilledout”; the inhabitants of Jerusalem called the field “Akeldama,”an Aramaic name meaning “field of blood” (Acts 1:18–19).According to Matt. 27:7–8, the field was purchased by the chiefpriests and subsequently used as a burial place for foreigners. Thetwo passages may be harmonized by supposing that (1) in the Actsaccount Luke means that Judas indirectly purchased the field becausehis money was used to purchase it; (2) Judas hanged himself, asMatthew says, but the rapidly decaying body fell from the rope andburst open, as Acts asserts; or (3) as so often with placenames, the original of the name was understood differently bydifferent people. Perhaps the place was known as “Field ofBlood” because it was purchased with blood money, but thesubsequent suicide of Judas at that location caused some earlyChristians to associate the name with his gory death there.
The name“James” is a form of the name “Jacob” (Heb.Ya’aqob; Gk. Iakōbos), which was very popular in the firstcentury. In the NT there are five individuals named “James.”
(1)Jamesthe son of Zebedee and the older brother of John. He was martyred byHerod AgrippaI in AD 40 (Mark 1:19; 3:17; Acts 12:2). Eusebiusrecords a tradition from Clement of Alexandria that the individualwho brought James before Herod was so moved by James’stestimony that he converted on the spot and was martyred along withJames (Hist. eccl. 2.9).
(2)Jamesthe son of Alphaeus we know very little about other than that he isconsistently listed among the disciples (Mark 3:18; Matt. 10:3; Luke6:15; Acts 1:13).
(3)James“the younger” (Mark 15:40), whose mother, named “Mary,”appears in Mark 16:1 just as the “mother of James.” Inchurch tradition, he is sometimes identified with James the son ofAlphaeus.
(4)Jamesthe father of Judas (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13) is mentioned only todistinguish this Judas from Judas Iscariot.
(5)Jamesthe brother of Jesus was an early leader of the Jerusalem church(Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3; Acts 12:17; 15:13–31; 21:18; 1Cor.15:7; Gal. 1:19; 2:9, 12; Jude 1). A number of Jesus’ familymembers became prominent leaders in the early Christian movement inPalestine, James being the most prominent.
Althoughhe was not one of the twelve disciples and likely did not acceptJesus as the Messiah until after the resurrection (cf. John 7:5; Acts1:14), James quickly emerged as a key leader in the Jerusalem church,where he served until his death in AD 62. Because the Jerusalemchurch was the parent of all churches and thus granted a centralauthority by early Christians, James played an important role bygiving leadership and direction to the movement. According to Paul’saccount, Jesus singled James out following the resurrection (1Cor.15:7), and in Luke’s narrative James is described as the leaderof the church (Acts 12:17; 15:13; 21:18)—a depiction confirmedby Paul’s description of James as one of the three “pillars”of the church in Jerusalem (Gal. 2:9). During Paul’s firstvisit to Jerusalem, James’s standing was such that Paul felt itnecessary to name him along with Peter as having seen him there (Gal.1:19).
Fromthe influential position of leadership in the Jerusalem church, Jameswrote two letters that shaped the contours of early Christian life.According to Luke, after the pivotal meeting and decision regardingcircumcision in Acts 15, James, along with the “apostles andelders” (Acts 15:23), wrote to the Gentile believers to informthem that they would not have to follow the practice of circumcisionin order to become followers of Jesus Christ. During the negotiationsJames provided a key exegetical argument from the OT (Amos 9:11–12and Jer. 12:15, recorded in Acts 15:16–17) advocating theinclusion of Gentiles in the church. In the Letter of James, he wrotefrom this position of central authority in Jerusalem to JewishChristians throughout the Diaspora. Here James again demonstrates hisexceptional abilities as an interpreter of the OT regarding Jewishlegal (Lev. 19) and wisdom (Prov. 3:34) traditions through the lensof Christ in order to call his readers to wholehearted living.
Memoriesof James were preserved well into the second century because he wasviewed as the model of a pious person. Eusebius cites Hegesippus, asecond-century Jewish believer from Jerusalem, who recounts how Jameswas so often found kneeling in prayer for the people that his kneesgrew hard like a camel’s, and that “because of hisunsurpassable righteousness” he was called “the Just”(Hist. eccl. 2.23.4–7). The same passage records that becauseof his confession of Christ before the Jews, James was thrown fromthe parapet of the temple, stoned, and finally killed by a blow froma fuller’s club (Hist. eccl. 2.23.16–18). In addition tothese traditions there is a substantial body of apocryphal Christianwritings composed in the name of James by individuals during thesecond and third centuries. These, mainly gnostic, texts promote analmost legendary man of piety and ascetic lifestyle (e.g., FirstApocalypse of James, Second Apocalypse of James, Apocryphon ofJames).
John, along with his brother James, was a son of Zebedee anda fisherman, and a disciple of Jesus. He was first called to be adisciple when Jesus passed along the shore of Galilee (Matt. 4:21;Mark 1:19–20; Luke 5:10). The fishing boat belonging to John’sfamily contained hired men, indicating that he left behind aprofitable fishing trade (Mark 1:20). Jesus surnamed John and hisbrother James “Boanerges,” meaning “sons ofthunder” (Mark 3:17), likely a reflection of their boisteroustemperament.
John’spassionate temperament may be reflected in the Gospels in his attemptto confront potential opposition (Mark 9:38–41; Luke 9:49–50)and his desire to bring heavenly fire down upon those who rejectedJesus (Luke 9:54). James and John requested seats of honor in Jesus’kingdom (Mark 10:37–40). Matthew clarified this event by namingJames and John’s mother as the one voicing the request,something befitting the cultural setting (Matt. 20:20–22). Aspart of Jesus’ inner group of disciples, along with James andPeter, John was allowed to witness Jesus’ actions on certaincritical occasions: raising a child from the dead (Mark 5:37–43),his transfiguration (Matt. 17:1–2; Mark 9:2; Luke 9:28–30),and his agony in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:36–38; Mark14:32–34; Luke 22:39–40).
Inits account of Jesus’ passion, the Gospel of John highlightsthe actions of an unnamed disciple “whom Jesus loved.”John is the likeliest candidate. This disciple leaned on Jesus at thefinal supper (John 13:23), was given care of Jesus’ mother(19:26), arrived first at the empty tomb (20:2–4), firstrecognized the resurrected Jesus (21:7), was prophesied to live along life (21:23), and was an eyewitness of events in the Gospel(21:24).
Johnwas among the disciples who stayed in Jerusalem in the upper roomprior to Pentecost (Acts 1:13–14). John next was seen afterPentecost with Peter in accounts of the healing of a crippled beggar(3:1–11) and the two of them being arrested for proclaiming thegospel (4:1–23).
Johnis said to have authored the Fourth Gospel (John 21:20–24). TheGospel of John was written with a purpose stated explicitly by itsauthor: “That you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, theSon of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name”(20:31). This “believing” encapsulates several keyconvictions that the author sought to convey. First, Jesus is onewith God as preexistent and operative in creation (1:1–4, 10,18). Second, Jesus is the messianic Savior to God’s chosenpeople (1:41; 11:27) and all humankind (4:42). In the JohannineGospel, salvation is conceived in God’s love (3:16), formalizedby the sacrifice of his Son (1:29; 3:16), and received by thoseholding orthodox belief in Jesus’ divine identity (8:24) andorigin (12:44; 17:21). Finally, believing includes the convictionthat Jesus is one with God, expressed through sonship (1:19–2:11).In the Johannine Gospel, sonship is conveyed literarily andbuttresses the certainty that Jesus is sufficient to provide eternallife. Messianic realities mingled with sonship distinguish Jesus asthe ultimate revelation of God, thus complementing, whilesubordinating, previous Jewish religious convictions. In addition tothe Gospel of John, tradition attributes the Johannine Letters and,in some cases, the Revelation of John to the apostle John.
Johnthe apostle is understood in his older days to have been a member ofa community with disciples of his own, commonly known as theJohannine Community. Within this community the teachings of Johnabout Jesus were preserved and written down. In addition, hiscorrespondence was preserved—1John, 2John, and3John.
(1)Theeleventh son of Judah and the first by Jacob’s beloved wife,Rachel (Gen. 30:24; 35:24). The name comes from a Hebrew verb meaning“to add,” and the significance of his name is explainedin Gen. 30:24: “May the Lord add to me another son.” Hisstory begins in Gen. 37 and continues to Gen. 50, the end of thebook.
Josephwas Jacob’s favorite, and so Jacob “made an ornate robefor him” (37:3), although the precise meaning of the Hebrew isunclear. While shepherding with his brothers, Joseph had a dreamindicating that he would one day rise to prominence over them. Thiswas too much for his brothers to bear, and so they decided, aftersome deliberation, to throw him into a cistern and, rather than killhim, sell him to passing Ishmaelite/Midianite merchants (37:25–28).
Uponarriving in Egypt, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, an official ofPharaoh, and then thrown in jail after Potiphar’s wife falselyaccused him of making sexual advances (chap. 39). While in jail, heaccurately interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh’s cupbearer andbaker (chap. 40). Two years later, he was called upon to interpretPharaoh’s dreams (chap. 41). Joseph’s ability tointerpret dreams plus his administrative skills saved Egypt fromfamine, which resulted in his elevation to being “in charge ofthe whole land of Egypt” (41:41).
Itwas the famine that brought Joseph’s family to Egypt to findfood, which eventually led to their warm reunion, though not withoutsome testing on Joseph’s part (chaps. 42–45). AfterJoseph made himself known to his brothers, they reconciled and sentfor the elderly Jacob, who was awaiting news in Canaan. Thus, Jacoband his twelve sons lived in Egypt, and their descendants wereeventually enslaved by a king “to whom Joseph meant nothing”(Exod. 1:8).
Josephdied in Egypt and was embalmed (Gen. 50:20–26). The exodusgeneration took his bones out of Egypt (Exod. 13:19), and he waslater buried in Shechem (Josh. 24:32).
AlthoughJoseph was a son of Jacob, his descendants did not become one of thetwelve tribes of Israel. Instead, Jacob blessed Joseph’s twosons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and he blessed the younger Ephraim overthe older Manasseh just as Jacob himself had been blessed over hisolder brother Esau. The OT still refers occasionally to the house ortribe of Joseph as a general designation for Israel (e.g., Pss. 80:1;81:5).
(2)Thehusband of Mary, mentioned only by name in Jesus’ birth storiesin Matthew and Luke. According to Matt. 1:16, Joseph is a descendantof David, which establishes Jesus’ royal bloodline. Luke’sgenealogy (3:23–38) downplays Jesus’ relationship toJoseph. In Matthew, Joseph is a recipient of several divinecommunications by means of dreams, announcing Mary’s conception(1:18–25) and commanding the flight to Egypt (2:13) and thereturn to Nazareth (2:19–23). In Luke, Joseph takes Mary toBethlehem to give birth (2:4–7), presents Jesus in the templefor consecration (2:21–24), and brings Mary and Jesus toJerusalem for the Passover feast when Jesus is twelve (2:41–52).
(3)Thesecond brother to Jesus, after James (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3). In somemanuscripts, the name appears as “Joses” (so KJV).(4)Theson of one of the women who witnessed the crucifixion, Mary themother of James the younger and Joseph (Matt. 27:56; Mark 15:40; cf.15:47; KJV: “Joses”). John 19:25 may refer to this samewoman as Mary the wife of Clopas and the sister of Mary the mother ofJesus. If this is the case (the Greek is ambiguous), then this Josephcould be a cousin to Jesus.
(5)AJew from Arimathea, a secret follower of Jesus and member of theSanhedrin who did not agree to put Jesus to death (Luke 23:50–51;John 19:38). He asked Pilate for Jesus’ body, wrapped it inlinen, and placed it in his own tomb (Matt. 27:57–60). (6)Alsoknown as Bar-sab-bas or Justus, he was one of the two men proposed totake Judas Iscariot’s place among the disciples (Acts 1:23).(7)Alsoknown as Barnabas, he was a Levite from Cyprus who sold his field andbrought the money to the apostles (Acts 4:36).
The name “Judas” (Gk. Ioudas) is the Greekequivalent for the Hebrew name “Judah” (Yehudah). (1)Oneof Jesus’ brothers (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3), also known as Jude,author of the letter that bears his name (Jude 1). (2)Oneof the apostles identified as “Judas son of James” (Luke6:16; Acts 1:13) and “Judas (not Judas Iscariot)” (John14:22), probably the same person as Thaddaeus (Matt. 10:3; Mark3:18). (3)Adefunct revolutionary identified as “Judas the Galilean”(Acts 5:37), probably the same person as Judas the Galilean fromGamala in Gaulanitis, who led a revolt against Roman taxes in AD 6(Josephus, Ant. 18.4; 20.102; J.W. 2.118, 433–34; 7.253). (4)Aresident of Damascus, known simply as “Judas,” who had ahouse on Straight Street where the blinded Saul stayed (Acts 9:11).(5)Aleading Jerusalem believer and prophet, “Judas calledBarsabbas” (i.e., “son of the Sabbath” or “sonof Sabbas”; possibly a relative of “Joseph calledBarsabbas” in Acts 1:23). Along with Silas, he was sent withPaul and Barnabas to add verbal testimony to the letter to theGentile Christians from the apostles and elders after the Jerusalemcouncil (Acts 15:22, 27, 32). (6)Oneof the twelve disciples chosen by Jesus, he betrayed Jesus. See JudasIscariot.
(1)Joseph,called “Barsabbas,” also known by the name “Justus.”He, along with Matthias, was considered to take the place among theapostles vacated by Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:23). (2)Titius(in some manuscripts “Titus”) Justus, a “worshiperof God” in Corinth with whom Paul lodged in his home near thesynagogue (Acts 18:7). (3)JesusJustus, a Jewish Christian coworker with Paul who sent greetings toColossae (Col. 4:11).
OldTestament
TheHebrew word for “Lord,” yhwh (usually pronounced“Yahweh”), occurs more than 6,800 times in the OT and isin every book except Ecclesiastes and Esther. “Yahweh” isGod’s personal name and is revealed as such in Exod. 3:13–14.God tells Moses to declare to the Israelites in Egypt, “I amhas sent me to you” (3:14). The Hebrew behind “I am”connotes active being; the Lord is the one who is there for hispeople and, in the book of Exodus, does so through miraculous events(14:13–14). This demonstrates the close association betweenone’s name and one’s character in the ancient world.Yahweh is one who is with his people (Exod. 3:12; 6:2, 4; Isa. 26:4).Although the divine name is used before the exodus (Gen. 12:1; 15:1),it is not until the time of Moses that God reveals its redemptivesignificance. Nonetheless, the divine name is used in Genesis incontexts where the immanence of God is evident. In Gen. 3:8 “theLord God ... was walking in the garden in the cool of theday.” Further, the Lord makes a covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12;15; 17), and the Lord will remain faithful to his covenants for athousand generations (Deut. 7:9). Later in Israel’s history,Micah, in the face of those who worship other gods, reassures thepeople of Israel that Yahweh is distinct from all others, and thatthey will walk in his name because he will one day act to effectjustice for all (Mic. 4:3–5).
Thedivine name also occurs as a form of address in various prayersthroughout the OT (Gen. 15:2, 8; Exod. 5:22; 2Sam. 7:18;2Kings 6:17), most notably in the psalms, where it occurs overtwo hundred times. In the psalms an abbreviated form of the name isoften seen in an exclamation of praise, halleluyah, “praiseYah[weh]” (e.g., Pss. 149:1; 150:1).
Itis interesting to note the origin of the pronunciation of yhwh as“Jehovah.” To avoid breaking the third commandment,against misusing the name of God, pious Jews did not pronounce thedivine name yhwh, substituting the word ’adonay (“mymaster”) in its place. In medieval times Jewish scholars addedvowels to the consonantal text of the Hebrew Bible to aid in correctpronunciation. For yhwh, they used the vowels of ’adonay,which, when pronounced, creates a name unknown to the biblicalauthors, “Jehovah.”
Inthe postexilic period the appellation “Yahweh” occurs farless frequently, being replaced by adonay (Hebrew) or kyrios (Greek).The latter is used for Yahweh over six thousand times in the LXX. InHellenistic literature kyrios is used to describe various gods andgoddesses. The Roman emperors were also called kyrios, often withimplications of deity. Some argue that the early Christians employedthe title polemically to refer to Christ, the true kyrios. A clearexample is found in Phil. 2:11, where it is said that every tonguewill confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord” (cf. 1Cor.8:5–8). Kyrios was also used nonreligiously to refer to a“master” of a slave and as a term of respect to addresssomeone of superior status (“sir”). Peter addresses Jesusas “lord” when he washes Peter’s feet (John 13:6).
NewTestament
Inthe NT, the majority of occurrences of “Lord” (kyrios)appear in Luke-Acts and the writings of Paul, perhaps due to thepredominantly Hellenistic audiences of these texts, who would knowwell its Greco-Roman connotations. As for Paul, the use of “Lord”by Luke may point to the deity of Jesus. In the Lukan birthnarrative, Elizabeth wonders why “the mother of my Lord shouldcome to me?” (Luke 1:43; cf. 7:19; 10:1). In Acts 1:21 the name“Jesus” is preceded by the definite form of “Lord,”reflecting an oft-repeated confessional title in Acts and Paul (Acts15:11; 20:35; 2Cor. 1:2). According to some, if Matthew intendsa divine connotation by his use of the term “Lord,” it ismore oblique. For instance, in Matt. 4:7 Jesus quotes Deut. 6:16,where “the Lord” is Yahweh and not Jesus (cf. Matt.9:38). There are occasions in Mark where “lord,” althoughappearing to function in a nonreligious sense, does seem to point toYahweh. In Mark 2:28 Jesus claims that “the Son of Man is lordeven of the sabbath” (NRSV). Since the Sabbath belongs toYahweh and falls under his sovereign authority (Exod. 20:8–11),it is quite probable that Mark’s readers would now ascribe thatdominion to the Son of Man. This is not unlike his authority toforgive sins (Mark 2:10), which, as the scribes rightfully point out,is something that only Yahweh can do. In light of these usages, onecannot help but think that the use of the term in Mark 11:3, at thetriumphal entry, also carries divine significance. In John, there areexamples of both the nonreligious use of “lord,” as areverent form of address (5:7; 9:36), and the religious, divinesense, particularly after the resurrection (20:28; 21:7).
Itis quite likely that Jewish Christians, even before Paul, regardedJesus as one who shares in Yahweh’s divinity. In his letter tothe Corinthians, a Greek-speaking congregation, Paul uses theexpression maranatha (1Cor. 16:22), a Greektransliteration of an Aramaic phrase that means “Our Lord,come!” This term likely was a part of an early Jewish Christianliturgy. Further, there are places where Paul refers to Jesus simplyas “the Lord,” suggesting a common understanding of theappellation among the early Christians (Rom. 14:6; 1Cor. 3:5).In addition to Phil. 2:11, Paul expresses the divinity of Jesus byalluding to Deut. 6:4, the Shema, in 1Cor. 8:6: “Yet forus there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came andfor whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, throughwhom all things came and through whom we live.” In the book ofRevelation divine status is ascribed to Jesus. While in the vision ofGod in Rev. 4 the title is used of God (4:8, 11), at the conclusionof the book appears the invocation “Come, Lord Jesus”(22:20; cf. 22:21).
ForPaul, a particularly important component of the lordship of Jesus ishis resurrection, through which he becomes “the Lord of boththe dead and the living” (Rom. 14:9; cf. 1:4), and his returnmarks the “day of the Lord,” which in the OT was the dayof Yahweh (1Thess. 5:2; cf. 5:23). Exactly how JewishChristians could attribute such a status to Jesus and yet maintain astrict monotheism remains a matter of considerable debate. Is Christincluded in the identity of the Godhead, or is he an intermediaryfigure (of which Second Temple Judaism had many), possessing aquasi-divine status? If Jesus is an intermediary figure, then hisauthority to do that which only Yahweh can (such as forgiving sinsand fulfilling roles originally referring to God) suggests a veryclose identification between Yahweh and Jesus himself. See also Namesof God; YHWH.
Possibly made of stone or wood, lots apparently were shakenor tossed from a container to help make decisions, on the assumptionthat God(s) directed the outcome (Prov. 16:33). Many peoplesthroughout the ancient Near East cast lots. Surprisingly, availablesources do not make clear what exactly the lots were and how peoplecast them. Information from Mesopotamia and related terms in Arabicsuggest that the lots were made of stone, whereas ancient Sumerianlots apparently were made of wood. The numerous references toIsraelites casting lots give no indication of the material.Descriptions of the process in the Bible include the Hebrew terms for“cast” (Josh. 18:6), “make fall” (1Chron.24:31 [usually translated “cast”]), “be shaken”(Prov. 16:33 [also translated “cast”]), and “comeout” (Josh. 19:1), which suggests that the items were put intosome kind of container and shaken until the piece(s) chosen by Godcame out.
Thecasting of lots was one of several methods that ancient peoples usedto get information from God(s) about the past, present, or future.Many such practices—including astrology, use of a divining rod,and examination of animal livers—were forbidden to theIsraelites, apparently because these looked to other (supposed) godsfor wisdom or direction. A few such practices, including theinterpretation of dreams or the casting of lots, were allowed.
Onefinds the casting of lots in both Testaments in a number of differentsituations. Sometimes the lot was used to uncover truth about who hadcommitted some wrong in the past (Achan [Josh. 7:14, 18]; Jonathan[1Sam. 14:41–42]). Other times Israelites used lots todetermine God’s choice (Saul as king [1Sam. 10:20–21];Matthias as a disciple [Acts 1:26]) or to divide things, such astribal allotments of land (Num. 26:55–56). Tasks and servicescould be determined by casting lots (Levitical service at the temple[1Chron. 26:13–16]; who would live in rebuilt Jerusalem[Neh. 11:1]). Non-Israelites also cast lots to determine guilt (Jon.1:7), divide property captured in war (Nah. 3:10), and determine thebest date for an event (when to massacre Jews [Esther 3:7; 9:24]).The concept that God directed the course of events also led tofigurative use of the term “lot” as one’s fate inlife (Ps. 16:5; Jer. 13:25). See also Urim and Thummim.
The apostle chosen to replace Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:15–26).After Judas’s death, Peter called upon the approximately 120believers in Christ to designate another apostle, one who had beenwith the apostles from the time of Jesus’ baptism by John toJesus’ ascension. The choice of a new apostle would fulfillDavid’s words concerning Judas (see Pss. 69:25; 109:8b). Afterpraying for God’s guidance, the believers cast lots, andMatthias was chosen over the other nominee, “Joseph calledBarsabbas (also known as Justus)” (v.23).
A ridge of peaks about two miles long running north-south tothe east of Jerusalem. It may also refer to the middle two of thesepeaks directly east of the temple. Kidron and Gethsemane lie at thefoot of the mount. It was so named for the large number of olivetrees there in ancient times.
Davidwept here because of Absalom’s betrayal (2Sam. 15:30).Here the glory of the Lord rested after withdrawal from Jerusalem(Ezek. 11:23). The Lord will return to the Mount of Olives (Zech.14:4).
SometimesJesus spent the night here (Luke 21:37). He customarily withdrew toGethsemane at the foot of this mount (John 18:2). Thus, on theevening before his trial Jesus and the disciples went to the Mount ofOlives (specifically Gethsemane) after leaving the upper room (Matt.26:30), and it was there that the betrayal by Judas took place.
Jesus’triumphal entry began on the Mount of Olives (Matt. 21:1), and hediscoursed about the future there (Matt. 24:3). After hisresurrection, Jesus gathered and instructed his disciples on theMount of Olives before ascending to heaven (Acts 1:12).
Simon Peter is the best-known and the most colorful of Jesus’twelve disciples. The name “Peter” means “rock”in Greek. In some biblical texts, he is also called “Cephas,”which is the Aramaic word for “rock” (see esp. John1:42). Despite the ups and downs of Peter’s spiritual life, Godwas able to use him as the foundational apostle for the establishmentof the NT church. Peter first met Jesus immediately after Jesus’baptism, when Peter’s brother, Andrew, heard John the Baptist’sidentification of Jesus as the Lamb of God (John 1:35). In classicmissionary style, “the first thing Andrew did was to find hisbrother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ ”(John 1:41). Peter’s official call to ministry took placelater, when he was fishing on the Sea of Galilee and Jesus issued thewell-known invitation “Come, follow me, ... and Iwill send you out to fish for people” (Matt. 4:19).
Peterwas the chief spokesman for the disciples at Caesarea Philippi whenJesus asked them, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”(Matt. 16:13). Peter responded, “You are the Messiah, the Sonof the living God,” an insight given him by God the Father(16:16–17). Jesus promised him, “I tell you that you arePeter [petros], and on this rock [petra] I will build my church, andthe gates of Hades will not overcome it” (16:18). Yet Peteralmost immediately became a “stumbling block” to Jesuswhen he chided Jesus for saying that he must go to Jerusalem andsuffer many things and be killed (16:21–22). Another majorfailure by Peter came with his threefold denial of Jesus after Jesushad warned him, “This very night, before the rooster crows, youwill disown me three times” (Matt. 26:34). Fortunately, therewere tears of repentance, and Peter was forgiven and restored afterJesus’ threefold question (“Do you love me?” [John21:15–19]).
Jesus’death and resurrection, as well as the giving of the Holy Spirit onthe day of Pentecost, had stabilizing effects on Peter. After Jesus’ascension, Peter exercised primary leadership among the otherdisciples during the upper room prayer meetings and the choosing ofthe replacement for Judas (Acts 1). Peter clearly was the publicspokesman for the apostles on the day of Pentecost and a key playerin the establishment of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 2–5), inreceiving the first Samaritan converts (Acts 8:14–25), and inreceiving Cornelius as the first Gentile convert (Acts 10–11).Following Peter’s miraculous deliverance from prison in Acts12, he essentially disappears from recorded history. By the time ofthe Jerusalem council (Acts 15), Peter reappeared briefly, but bythis time he had been replaced by James as the leader of theJerusalem church. Peter apparently continued to live as a missionary(1Cor. 9:5), specifically “to the circumcised”(Gal. 2:7–8), for the rest of his life. Yet Peter was stillhuman, and on one occasion Paul gave him a stinging rebuke (Gal.2:11–21).
Duringhis travels, Peter undoubtedly visited the recipients of his laterletter 1Peter (and possibly 2Peter) in north central AsiaMinor (the regions of “Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia andBithynia” [1Pet. 1:1]), possibly Corinth (1Cor.1:12; 3:22), and, at least by the end of his life, Rome itself.According to tradition, he was put to death by Nero between AD 64 and68, apparently by being crucified upside down (cf. John 21:18–19).Peter’s life is a vivid illustration of the Christian’sfight for faith, God’s gracious provision, and Jesus’intercession on his behalf (“I have prayed for you, Simon, thatyour faith may not fail” [Luke 22:32]).
A Sabbath day’s walk or journey describes the maximumdistance a faithful Jew could walk on the Sabbath day withoutbecoming guilty of violating the fourth commandment, which prohibitsworking on the Sabbath (Exod. 20:8–11). This expression is useda single time in Scripture (Acts 1:12) to describe the distance fromthe city of Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives. Traditionally, theJewish rabbis considered a Sabbath day’s walk to be a distanceof no more than twelve hundred yards, or about two-thirds of a mile.
Theidea of a Sabbath day’s walk illustrates the mind-set of Jewishlegalism on matters where Scripture is silent. On the one hand, theJewish rabbis had a potentially legitimate concern to make theprinciples of God’s word practical and applicable to theaverage person in everyday life. On the other hand, they often endedup making arbitrary decisions that had no scriptural warrant. Evenworse, as Jesus pointed out, these Jewish leaders often became sopreoccupied with minor matters of the law that they “neglectedthe more important matters of the law—justice, mercy andfaithfulness” (Matt. 23:23), or in this case, on the positivecommand of keeping the Sabbath day holy.
Simon Peter is the best-known and the most colorful of Jesus’twelve disciples. The name “Peter” means “rock”in Greek. In some biblical texts, he is also called “Cephas,”which is the Aramaic word for “rock” (see esp. John1:42). Despite the ups and downs of Peter’s spiritual life, Godwas able to use him as the foundational apostle for the establishmentof the NT church. Peter first met Jesus immediately after Jesus’baptism, when Peter’s brother, Andrew, heard John the Baptist’sidentification of Jesus as the Lamb of God (John 1:35). In classicmissionary style, “the first thing Andrew did was to find hisbrother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ ”(John 1:41). Peter’s official call to ministry took placelater, when he was fishing on the Sea of Galilee and Jesus issued thewell-known invitation “Come, follow me, ... and Iwill send you out to fish for people” (Matt. 4:19).
Peterwas the chief spokesman for the disciples at Caesarea Philippi whenJesus asked them, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”(Matt. 16:13). Peter responded, “You are the Messiah, the Sonof the living God,” an insight given him by God the Father(16:16–17). Jesus promised him, “I tell you that you arePeter [petros], and on this rock [petra] I will build my church, andthe gates of Hades will not overcome it” (16:18). Yet Peteralmost immediately became a “stumbling block” to Jesuswhen he chided Jesus for saying that he must go to Jerusalem andsuffer many things and be killed (16:21–22). Another majorfailure by Peter came with his threefold denial of Jesus after Jesushad warned him, “This very night, before the rooster crows, youwill disown me three times” (Matt. 26:34). Fortunately, therewere tears of repentance, and Peter was forgiven and restored afterJesus’ threefold question (“Do you love me?” [John21:15–19]).
Jesus’death and resurrection, as well as the giving of the Holy Spirit onthe day of Pentecost, had stabilizing effects on Peter. After Jesus’ascension, Peter exercised primary leadership among the otherdisciples during the upper room prayer meetings and the choosing ofthe replacement for Judas (Acts 1). Peter clearly was the publicspokesman for the apostles on the day of Pentecost and a key playerin the establishment of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 2–5), inreceiving the first Samaritan converts (Acts 8:14–25), and inreceiving Cornelius as the first Gentile convert (Acts 10–11).Following Peter’s miraculous deliverance from prison in Acts12, he essentially disappears from recorded history. By the time ofthe Jerusalem council (Acts 15), Peter reappeared briefly, but bythis time he had been replaced by James as the leader of theJerusalem church. Peter apparently continued to live as a missionary(1Cor. 9:5), specifically “to the circumcised”(Gal. 2:7–8), for the rest of his life. Yet Peter was stillhuman, and on one occasion Paul gave him a stinging rebuke (Gal.2:11–21).
Duringhis travels, Peter undoubtedly visited the recipients of his laterletter 1Peter (and possibly 2Peter) in north central AsiaMinor (the regions of “Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia andBithynia” [1Pet. 1:1]), possibly Corinth (1Cor.1:12; 3:22), and, at least by the end of his life, Rome itself.According to tradition, he was put to death by Nero between AD 64 and68, apparently by being crucified upside down (cf. John 21:18–19).Peter’s life is a vivid illustration of the Christian’sfight for faith, God’s gracious provision, and Jesus’intercession on his behalf (“I have prayed for you, Simon, thatyour faith may not fail” [Luke 22:32]).
One of Jesus’ original twelve apostles (Matt. 10:3;Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15), referred to as “Didymus,” meaning“twin” (John 11:16; 20:24; 21:2). The infamous title of“Doubting Thomas” comes from his refusal to believe inJesus’ resurrection. Thomas said, “Unless I see the nailmarks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put myhand into his side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). A weeklater the risen Jesus again appeared to the apostles, includingThomas. Thomas’s response was “My Lord and my God!”(John 20:28). Despite his previous disbelief in Jesus’resurrection, Thomas was present with the other apostles in the upperroom (Acts 1:13).
A room on an upper story or roof of a building. KingAhaziah’s fall through the lattice of an upper room caused hisdeath (2Kings 1:2). Jesus instructed his disciples to preparetheir final meal together in an upper room (Mark 14:15; Luke 22:12).Tradition holds that the disciples met to pray in this room afterJesus’ ascension (Acts 1:13). Widows grieved over Dorcas in anupper room until Peter’s prayer restored her life (Acts 9:39).Paul revived Eutychus, who had died after dozing off and falling froman upper room to the ground (Acts 20:8–12).
The English term “witness” occurs in bothTestaments numerous times, with a wide range of meanings. One commonmeaning relates to someone who gives legal testimony and to thelegitimacy of that testimony (Num. 35:30; Deut. 17:6; 19:15–16,18; Prov. 12:17; Isa. 8:16, 20). Throughout the NT the term occursprimarily in the context of someone bearing witness—especiallyGod—or testifying to something (Rom. 1:9; 2Cor. 1:23;Phil. 1:8; 1Thess. 2:5, 10), though it also has a forensicdimension in regard to one who establishes legal testimony (e.g.,Acts 6:13; 7:58; 2Cor. 13:1; 1Tim. 5:19; Heb. 10:28).
Centralto the concept of witness is the truthfulness of the witness. Thiswas a vital component of the OT concept of witness. Thus, in legalproceedings a lone witness was insufficient to establish testimonyagainst anyone (Deut. 17:6). This principle carries over into the NT(cf. Matt. 18:16; 2Cor. 13:1). Such truthfulness was sosignificant that the ninth commandment expressly forbids bearingfalse witness (Exod. 20:16; Deut. 5:20; cf. Prov. 19:5, 9).
Truth-tellingwas not something that the people of Israel were called to merelyamong themselves. They were to be God’s witnesses to thenations (Isa. 43:10; 44:8). As witnesses of God’s existence andholiness, they were called to be separate from the nations (Exod.19:6) and to be a light to them (Isa. 49:6). Tragically, Israelfailed in this responsibility and was deemed “blind”(Isa. 42:19).
TheNT continues the concept that the people of God are to be God’switnesses. John the Baptist is commissioned “to testifyconcerning that light” (John 1:7). It is in this context thatJesus later declares himself to be “the light of the world”(John 8:12; 9:5). Jesus himself is the exemplar of a “faithfulwitness” (Rev. 1:5). And his followers, whom he has designatedas “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14), are then calledto bear witness to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
“Witness”is also employed in terms of a legal testimony regarding what one hasseen. That the disciples were intent on establishing such legaltestimony is evident in their stipulation that the person to replaceJudas Iscariot be someone from among those who had been with Jesusfrom the beginning of his ministry to his ascension, so that “oneof these must become a witness with us of his resurrection”(Acts 1:22). This forensic aspect of witness appears in the close ofthe Gospel of John: “This is the disciple who testifies tothese things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony istrue” (21:24). Paul demonstrates this forensic concern forwitnesses when he references Peter, the Twelve, some five hundredothers, and himself as among those who have witnessed theresurrection (1Cor. 15:3–8).
Whilelinguistically the Greek word martys(“witness”) has given rise to the English term “martyr,”at the time of the NT martysdid not connote physical martyrdom. Instead, it is likely that theuse of this term in the book of Revelation and its association withthe deaths of those who faithfully witnessed to Jesus Christ and thegospel in the face of persecution gave rise to its application in thetechnical sense of “martyr.”
ThroughoutRevelation there resides a direct link between Christians bearingwitness and suffering, and perhaps dying, as a consequence of thiswitness. This is evident in the mention of Antipas, who was martyred,and is then designated as “my faithful witness” (Rev.2:13). Also, the two unnamed witnesses in 11:1–12, whoexplicitly function as witnesses, are the subject of attack and areeventually murdered. Their murder occurs only after they havefinished “their testimony” (11:7).
Itis this association of persecution and martyrdom that likely leads tothe second-century employment of “martyr” as adesignation for those who bear witness to Christ to the point ofdeath. See also Martyr.
A revolutionary religious group made up of junior priestsfrom the Jerusalem temple and others who were anti-Roman. Theiractivities precipitated the war with Rome that led to the destructionof the temple in AD 70. Other revolutionary groups were brigands,Sicarii, and the Fourth Philosophy. Simon, one of Jesus’disciples, is identified as a “zealot” (Matt. 10:4; Mark3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13), but it is not known whether he had beena member of a revolutionary group or whether this was a general termfor zeal for his God and nation (cf. Acts 21:20). See also JewishParties.
The KJV transliteration of the Greek word zēlōtēs,applied to Simon the Zealot in Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13. The Greekrendering of the Aramaic equivalent, Kananaios,is used in Matt. 10:4; Mark 3:18 (KJV: “Canaanite”; NRSV:“Cananaean”; NIV: “Zealot”). See alsoZealots.
Secondary Matches
The following suggestions occured because
Acts 1:12-26
is mentioned in the definition.
It is difficult to imagine a world without consistentmetrological systems. Society’s basic structures, from economyto law, require a uniform and accurate method for measuring time,distances, weights, volumes, and so on. In today’s world,technological advancements allow people to measure various aspects ofthe universe with incredible accuracy—from nanometers tolight-years, milligrams to kilograms.
Themetrological systems employed in biblical times span the sameconcepts as our own modern-day systems: weight, linear distance, andvolume or capacity. However, the systems of weights and measurementsemployed during the span of biblical times were not nearly asaccurate or uniform as the modern units employed today. Preexistingweight and measurement systems existed in the contextual surroundingsof both the OT and the NT authors and thus heavily influenced thesystems employed by the Israelite nation as well as the NT writers.There was great variance between the different standards usedmerchant to merchant (Gen. 23:16), city to city, region to region,time period to time period, even despite the commands to use honestscales and honest weights (Lev. 19:35–36; Deut. 25:13–15;Prov. 11:1; 16:11; 20:23; Ezek. 45:10).
Furthermore,inconsistencies and contradictions exist within the written recordsas well as between archaeological specimens. In addition, significantdifferences are found between preexilic and postexilic measurementsin the biblical texts, and an attempt at merging dry capacity andliquid volume measurements further complicated the issue. This is tobe expected, especially when we consider modern-dayinconsistencies—for example, 1 US liquid pint= 0.473liters, while 1 US dry pint= 0.550 liters. Thus, all modernequivalents given below are approximations, and even the bestestimates have a margin of error of + 5percent or more.
Weights
Weightsin biblical times were carried in a bag or a satchel (Deut. 25:13;Prov. 16:11; Mic. 6:11) and were stones, usually carved into variousanimal shapes for easy identification. Their side or flat bottom wasinscribed with the associated weight and unit of measurement.Thousands of historical artifacts, which differ by significantamounts, have been discovered by archaeologists and thus have greatlycomplicated the work of determining accurate modern-day equivalents.
Beka.Approximately 1⁄5 ounce, or 5.6 grams. Equivalent to 10 gerahsor ½ the sanctuary shekel (Exod. 38:26). Used to measuremetals and goods such as gold (Gen. 24:22).
Gerah.1⁄50 ounce, or 0.56 grams. Equivalent to 1⁄10 beka, 1⁄20shekel (Exod. 30:13; Lev. 27:25).
Litra.Approximately 12 ounces, or 340 grams. A Roman measure of weight.Used only twice in the NT (John 12:3; 19:39). The precursor to themodern British pound.
Mina.Approximately 1¼ pounds, or 0.56 kilograms. Equivalent to 50shekels. Used to weigh gold (1Kings 10:17; Ezra 2:69), silver(Neh. 7:71–72), and other goods. The prophet Ezekiel redefinedthe proper weight: “Theshekel is to consist of twentygerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekelsequal one mina” (Ezek. 45:12). Before this redefinition, therewere arguably 50 shekels per mina. In Jesus’ parable of theservants, he describes the master entrusting to his three servantsvarying amounts—10 minas, 5 minas, 1 mina—implying amonetary value (Luke 19:11–24), probably of either silver orgold. One mina was equivalent to approximately three months’wages for a laborer.
Pim.Approximately 1⁄3 ounce, or 9.3 grams. Equivalent to 2⁄3shekel. Referenced only once in the Scriptures (1Sam. 13:21).
Shekel.Approximately 2⁄5 ounce, or 11 grams. Equivalent toapproximately 2 bekas. The shekel is the basic unit of weightmeasurement in Israelite history, though its actual weight variedsignificantly at different historical points. Examples include the“royal shekel” (2Sam. 14:26), the “commonshekel” (2Kings 7:1), and the “sanctuary shekel,”which was equivalent to 20 gerahs (e.g., Exod. 30:13; Lev. 27:25;Num. 3:47). Because it was used to weigh out silver or gold, theshekel also functioned as a common monetary unit in the NT world.
Talent.Approximately 75 pounds, or 34 kilograms. Equivalent to approximately60 minas. Various metals were weighed using talents: gold (Exod.25:39; 37:24; 1Chron. 20:2), silver (Exod. 38:27; 1Kings20:39; 2Kings 5:22), and bronze (Exod. 38:29). This probably isderived from the weight of a load that a man could carry.
Table12. Biblical Weights and Measures and Their Modern Equivalents:
Weights
Beka– 10 geraahs; ½ shekel = 1/5 ounce = 5.6 grams
Gerah– 1/10 beka; 1/20 shekel = 1/50 ounce = 0.56 grams
Litra– 12 ounces = 340 grams
Mina– 50 shekels = 1 ¼ pounds = 0.56 kilograms
Pim– 2/3 shekel = 1/3 ounce = 9.3 grams
Shekel– 2 bekas; 20 gerahs = 2/5 ounce = 11 grams
Talent– 60 minas = 75 pounds = 34 kilograms
Linearmeasurements
Cubit– 6 handbreadths = 18 inches = 45.7 centimeters
Day’sjourney = 20-25 miles = 32-40 kilometerse
Fingerbreadth– ¼ handbreadth = ¾ inch = 1.9 centimeterse
Handbreadth– 1/6 cubit = 3 inches = 7.6 centimeters
Milion– 1 mile = 1.6 kilometers
Orguia– 1/100 stadion = 5 feet 11 inches = 1.8 meters
Reed/rod– 108 inches = 274 centimeters
Sabbathday’s journey – 2,000 cubits = ¾ mile = 1.2kilometers
Span– 3 handbreadths = 9 inches = 22.8 centimeters
Stadion– 100 orguiai = 607 feet = 185 meters
Capacity
Cab– 1 omer = ½ gallon = 1.9 liters
Choinix– ¼ gallon = 0.9 liters
Cor– 1 homer; 10 ephahs = 6 bushels; 48.4 gallons = 183 liters
Ephah– 10 omers; 1/10 homer = 3/5 bushel; 6 gallons = 22.7 liters
Homer– 10 ephahs; 1 cor = 6 bushels; 48.4 gallons = 183 liters
Koros– 10 bushels; 95 gallons – 360 liters
Omer– 1/10 ephah; 1/100 homer = 2 quarts = 1.9 liters
Saton– 1 seah = 7 quarts = 6.6 liters
Seah– 1/3 ephah; 1 saton = 7 quarts = 6.6 liters
LiquidVolume
Bath– 1 ephah = 6 gallons = 22.7 liters
Batos– 8 gallons = 30.3 liters
Hin– 1/6 bath; 12 logs = 1 gallon; 4 quarts = 3.8 liters
Log– 1/72 bath; 1/12 hin = 1/3 quart = 0.3 liters
Metretes– 10 gallons = 37.8 literes
LinearMeasurements
Linearmeasurements were based upon readily available natural measurementssuch as the distance between the elbow and the hand or between thethumb and the little finger. While convenient, this method ofmeasurement gave rise to significant inconsistencies.
Cubit.Approximately 18 inches, or 45.7 centimeters. Equivalent to 6handbreadths. The standard biblical measure of linear distance, asthe shekel is the standard measurement of weight. The distance fromthe elbow to the outstretched fingertip. Used to describe height,width, length (Exod. 25:10), distance (John 21:8), and depth (Gen.7:20). Use of the cubit is ancient. For simple and approximateconversion into modern units, divide the number of cubits in half formeters, then multiply the number of meters by 3 to arrive at feet.
1cubit = 2 spans = 6 handbreadths = 24 fingerbreadths
Day’sjourney.An approximate measure of distance equivalent to about 20–25miles, or 32–40 kilometers. Several passages reference a singleor multiple days’ journey as a description of the distancetraveled or the distance between two points: “a day’sjourney” (Num. 11:31; 1Kings 19:4), “a three-dayjourney” (Gen. 30:36; Exod. 3:18; 8:27; Jon. 3:3), “sevendays” (Gen. 31:23), and “eleven days” (Deut. 1:2).After visiting Jerusalem for Passover, Jesus’ parents journeyedfor a day (Luke 2:44) before realizing that he was not with them.
Fingerbreadth.The width of the finger, or ¼ of a handbreadth, approximately¾ inch, or 1.9 centimeters. The fingerbreadth was thebeginning building block of the biblical metrological system forlinear measurements. Used only once in the Scriptures, to describethe bronze pillars (Jer. 52:21).
Handbreadth.Approximately 3 inches, or 7.6 centimeters. Equivalent to 1/6 cubit,or four fingerbreadths. Probably the width at the base of the fourfingers. A short measure of length, thus compared to a human’sbrief life (Ps. 39:5). Also the width of the rim on the bread table(Exod. 25:25) and the thickness of the bronze Sea (1Kings7:26).
Milion.Translated “mile” in Matt. 5:41. Greek transliteration ofRoman measurement mille passuum, “a thousand paces.”
Orguia.Approximately 5 feet 11 inches, or 1.8 meters. Also translated as“fathom.” A Greek unit of measurement. Probably thedistance between outstretched fingertip to fingertip. Used to measurethe depth of water (Acts 27:28).
Reed/rod.Approximately 108 inches, or 274 centimeters. This is also a generalterm for a measuring device rather than a specific linear distance(Ezek. 40:3, 5; 42:16–19; Rev. 11:1; 21:15).
Sabbathday’s journey.Approximately ¾ mile, or 1.2 kilometers (Acts 1:12). About2,000 cubits.
Span.Approximately 9 inches, or 22.8 centimeters. Equivalent to threehandbreadths, and ½ cubit. The distance from outstretchedthumb tip to little-finger tip. The length and width of the priest’sbreastpiece (Exod. 28:16).
Stadion.Approximately 607 feet, or 185 meters. Equivalent to 100 orguiai.Used in the measurement of large distances (Matt. 14:24; Luke 24:13;John 6:19; 11:18; Rev. 14:20; 21:16).
LandArea
Seed.The size of a piece of land could also be measured on the basis ofhow much seed was required to plant that field (Lev. 27:16; 1Kings18:32).
Yoke.Fields and lands were measured using logical, available means. Inbiblical times, this meant the amount of land a pair of yoked animalscould plow in one day (1Sam. 14:14; Isa. 5:10).
Capacity
Cab.Approximately ½ gallon, or 1.9 liters. Equivalent to 1 omer.Mentioned only once in the Scriptures, during the siege of Samaria(2Kings 6:25).
Choinix.Approximately ¼ gallon, or 0.9 liters. A Greek measurement,mentioned only once in Scripture (Rev. 6:6).
Cor.Approximately 6 bushels (48.4 gallons, or 183 liters). Equal to thehomer, and to 10 ephahs. Used for measuring dry volumes, particularlyof flour and grains (1Kings 4:22; 1Kings 5:11; 2Chron.2:10; 27:5; Ezra 7:22). In the LXX, cor is also a measure of liquidvolume, particularly oil (1Kings 5:11; 2Chron. 2:10; Ezra45:14).
Ephah.Approximately 3⁄5 bushel (6 gallons, or 22.7 liters).Equivalent to 10 omers, or 1⁄10 homer. Used for measuring flourand grains (e.g., Exod. 29:40; Lev. 6:20). Isaiah prophesied a day ofreduced agricultural yield, when a homer of seed would produce onlyan ephah of grain (Isa. 5:10). The ephah was equal in size to thebath (Ezek. 45:11), which typically was used for liquid measurements.
Homer.Approximately 6 bushels (48.4 gallons, or 183 liters). Equivalent to1 cor, or 10 ephahs. Used for measuring dry volumes, particularly ofvarious grains (Lev. 27:16; Isa. 5:10; Ezek. 45:11, 13–14; Hos.3:2). This is probably a natural measure of the load that a donkeycan carry, in the range of 90 kilograms. There may have existed adirect link between capacity and monetary value, given Lev. 27:16:“fifty shekels of silver to a homer of barley seed.” Alogical deduction of capacity and cost based on known equivalencesmight look something like this:
1homer = 1 mina; 1 ephah = 5 shekels; 1 omer = 1 beka
Koros.Approximately 10 bushels (95 gallons, or 360 liters). A Greek measureof grain (Luke 16:7).
Omer.Approximately 2 quarts, or 1.9 liters. Equivalent to 1⁄10ephah, 1⁄100 homer (Ezek. 45:11). Used by Israel in themeasurement and collection of manna in the wilderness (Exod.16:16–36) and thus roughly equivalent to a person’s dailyfood ration.
Saton.Approximately 7 quarts, or 6.6 liters. Equivalent to 1 seah. Themeasurement of flour in Jesus’ parable of the kingdom of heaven(Matt. 13:33; Luke 13:21).
Seah.Approximately 7 quarts, or 6.6 liters. Equivalent to 1⁄3 ephah,or 1 saton. Used to measure flour, grain, seed, and other various drygoods (e.g., 2Kings 7:1; 1Sam. 25:18).
LiquidVolume
Bath.Approximately 6 gallons, or 22.7 liters. Equivalent to 1 ephah, whichtypically was used for measurements of dry capacity. Used in themeasurement of water (1Kings 7:26), oil (1Kings 5:11),and wine (2Chron. 2:10; Isa. 5:10).
Batos.Approximately 8 gallons, or 30.3 liters. A Greek transliteration ofthe Hebrew word bath(see above). A measure of oil (Luke 16:6).
Hin.Approximately 4 quarts (1gallon, or 3.8 liters). Equivalent to1⁄6 bath and 12 logs. Used in the measurement of water (Ezek.4:11), oil (Ezek. 46:5), and wine (Num. 28:14).
Log.Approximately 1⁄3 quart, or 0.3 liter. Equivalent to 1⁄72bath and 1⁄12 hin. Mentioned five times in Scripture,specifically used to measure oil (Lev. 14:10–24).
Metretes.Approximately 10 gallons, or 37.8 liters. Used in the measurement ofwater at the wedding feast (John 2:6).
A rendering of Kananaios, which is a Greek transliteration ofthe Aramaic word for zealot, used as an epithet for the discipleSimon to differentiate him from Simon Peter (Matt. 10:4; Mark 3:18;cf. Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13 [NIV: “the Zealot”]). It is notknown whether Simon belonged to the Zealots, the Jewish sect thatopposed Roman rule in Palestine, or was zealously devoted to Jewishlaw (see Acts 21:20).
Simon Peter is the best-known and the most colorful of Jesus’twelve disciples. The name “Peter” means “rock”in Greek. In some biblical texts, he is also called “Cephas,”which is the Aramaic word for “rock” (see esp. John1:42). Despite the ups and downs of Peter’s spiritual life, Godwas able to use him as the foundational apostle for the establishmentof the NT church. Peter first met Jesus immediately after Jesus’baptism, when Peter’s brother, Andrew, heard John the Baptist’sidentification of Jesus as the Lamb of God (John 1:35). In classicmissionary style, “the first thing Andrew did was to find hisbrother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ ”(John 1:41). Peter’s official call to ministry took placelater, when he was fishing on the Sea of Galilee and Jesus issued thewell-known invitation “Come, follow me, ... and Iwill send you out to fish for people” (Matt. 4:19).
Peterwas the chief spokesman for the disciples at Caesarea Philippi whenJesus asked them, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”(Matt. 16:13). Peter responded, “You are the Messiah, the Sonof the living God,” an insight given him by God the Father(16:16–17). Jesus promised him, “I tell you that you arePeter [petros], and on this rock [petra] I will build my church, andthe gates of Hades will not overcome it” (16:18). Yet Peteralmost immediately became a “stumbling block” to Jesuswhen he chided Jesus for saying that he must go to Jerusalem andsuffer many things and be killed (16:21–22). Another majorfailure by Peter came with his threefold denial of Jesus after Jesushad warned him, “This very night, before the rooster crows, youwill disown me three times” (Matt. 26:34). Fortunately, therewere tears of repentance, and Peter was forgiven and restored afterJesus’ threefold question (“Do you love me?” [John21:15–19]).
Jesus’death and resurrection, as well as the giving of the Holy Spirit onthe day of Pentecost, had stabilizing effects on Peter. After Jesus’ascension, Peter exercised primary leadership among the otherdisciples during the upper room prayer meetings and the choosing ofthe replacement for Judas (Acts 1). Peter clearly was the publicspokesman for the apostles on the day of Pentecost and a key playerin the establishment of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 2–5), inreceiving the first Samaritan converts (Acts 8:14–25), and inreceiving Cornelius as the first Gentile convert (Acts 10–11).Following Peter’s miraculous deliverance from prison in Acts12, he essentially disappears from recorded history. By the time ofthe Jerusalem council (Acts 15), Peter reappeared briefly, but bythis time he had been replaced by James as the leader of theJerusalem church. Peter apparently continued to live as a missionary(1Cor. 9:5), specifically “to the circumcised”(Gal. 2:7–8), for the rest of his life. Yet Peter was stillhuman, and on one occasion Paul gave him a stinging rebuke (Gal.2:11–21).
Duringhis travels, Peter undoubtedly visited the recipients of his laterletter 1Peter (and possibly 2Peter) in north central AsiaMinor (the regions of “Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia andBithynia” [1Pet. 1:1]), possibly Corinth (1Cor.1:12; 3:22), and, at least by the end of his life, Rome itself.According to tradition, he was put to death by Nero between AD 64 and68, apparently by being crucified upside down (cf. John 21:18–19).Peter’s life is a vivid illustration of the Christian’sfight for faith, God’s gracious provision, and Jesus’intercession on his behalf (“I have prayed for you, Simon, thatyour faith may not fail” [Luke 22:32]).
Terminology
TheNT word for “church” is ekklēsia, which means“gathering, assembly, congregation.” In classical Greekthe term was used almost exclusively for political gatherings. Inparticular, in Athens the word signified the assembling of thecitizens for the purpose of conducting the affairs of the city.Moreover, ekklēsia referred only to the actual meeting, not tothe citizens themselves. When the people were not assembled, theywere not considered to be the ekklēsia. The NT records threeinstances of this secular usage of the term (Acts 19:32, 39, 41).
Themost important background for the Christian use of the term is theLXX (Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, dated c. 250BC), which uses the word in a religious sense about one hundredtimes, almost always as a translation of the Hebrew word qahal. Whileqahal does not indicate a secular gathering (in contrast to ’edah,the typical Hebrew word for Israel’s religious gathering,translated by Greek synagōgē), it does denote Israel’ssacred meetings. This is especially the case in Deuteronomy, whereqahal is linked with the covenant.
Inthe NT, ekklēsia is used to refer to the community of God’speople 109 times (out of 114 occurrences of the term). Although theword occurs in only two Gospel passages (Matt. 16:18; 18:17), it isof special importance in Acts (23 times) and the Pauline writings (46times). It is found 20 times in Revelation and in isolated instancesin James and Hebrews. Three general conclusions can be drawn fromthis usage. First, ekklēsia (in both the singular and theplural) applies predominantly to a local assembly of those whoprofess faith in and allegiance to Christ. Second, ekklēsiadesignates the universal church (Acts 8:3; 9:31; 1 Cor. 12:28;15:9; especially in the later Pauline letters: Eph. 1:22–23;Col. 1:18). Third, the ekklēsia is God’s congregation(1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 1:1).
TheNature of the Church
Thenature of the church is too broad to be exhausted in the meaning ofone word. To capture its significance, the NT authors utilize a richarray of metaphorical descriptions. Nevertheless, there are thosemetaphors that seem to dominate the biblical pictures of the church,five of which call for comment: the people of God, the kingdom ofGod, the eschatological temple of God, the bride of Christ, and thebody of Christ.
Thepeople of God.Essentially, the concept of the people of God can be summed up in thecovenantal phrase: “I will be their God, and they will be mypeople” (see Exod. 6:6–7; 19:5; Lev. 26:9–14; Jer.7:23; 30:22; 32:37–40; Ezek. 11:19–20; 36:22–28;Acts 15:14; 2 Cor. 6:16; Heb. 8:10–12; Rev. 21:3). Thus,the people of God are those in both the OT and the NT eras whor*sponded to God by faith and whose spiritual origin restsexclusively in God’s grace.
Tospeak of the one people of God transcending the eras of the OT andthe NT necessarily raises the question of the relationship betweenthe church and Israel. Modern interpreters prefer not to polarize thematter into an either/or issue. Rather, they talk about the churchand Israel in terms of there being both continuity and discontinuitybetween them.
Continuitybetween the church and Israel. Two ideas establish the fact that thechurch and Israel are portrayed in the Bible as being in a continuousrelationship. First, in the OT the church was present in Israel insome sense. Acts 7:38 suggests this connection when, alluding toDeut. 9:10, it speaks of the church (ekklēsia) in thewilderness. The same idea is probably to be inferred from theintimate association noted earlier existing between the wordsekklēsia and qahal, especially when the latter is qualified bythe phrase “of God.” Furthermore, if the church is viewedin some NT passages as preexistent, then one finds therein theprototype of the creation of Israel (see Exod. 25:40; Acts 7:44; Gal.4:26; Heb. 12:22; Rev. 21:11; cf. Eph. 1:3–14).
Second,Israel in some sense is present in the church in the NT. The many OTnames for Israel applied to the church in the NT establish that fact.Some of those are “Israel” (Gal. 6:15–16; Eph.2:12; Heb. 8:8–10; Rev. 2:14), “a chosen people”(1 Pet. 2:9), “the circumcision” (Rom. 2:28–29;Phil. 3:3; Col. 2:11), “Abraham’s seed” (Rom. 4:16;Gal. 3:29), “the remnant” (Rom. 9:27; 11:5–7), “theelect” (Rom. 11:28; Eph. 1:4), “the flock” (Acts20:28; Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 5:2), and “priesthood”(1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10).
Discontinuitybetween the church and Israel. The church, however, is not totallyidentical with Israel; discontinuity also characterizes therelationship. The church, according to the NT, is the eschatological(end-time) Israel incorporated in Jesus Christ and, as such, is aprogression beyond historical Israel (1 Cor. 10:11; 2 Cor.5:14–21). Indeed, significant discontinuity is introduced bythe fact that the church includes Gentiles as members of Israel,without requiring them to convert to Judaism first. Gentiles enter asGentiles. However, a caveat must be issued at this point. Althoughthe church is a progression beyond Israel, it does not seem to be thepermanent replacement of Israel (see Rom. 9–11, esp. 11:25–27).
Thekingdom of God.Many scholars have maintained that the life, death, and resurrectionof Jesus inaugurated the kingdom of God, producing the overlapping ofthe two ages. The kingdom has already dawned but is not yet complete.The first aspect pertains to Jesus’ first coming, and thesecond aspect relates to his second coming. In other words, the ageto come has broken into this age, and now the two existsimultaneously. This background is crucial in ascertaining therelationship between the church and the kingdom of God, because thechurch also exists in the tension that results from the overlappingof the two ages. Accordingly, one may define the church as theforeshadowing of the kingdom. Two ideas flow from this definition:first, the church is related to the kingdom of God; second, thechurch is not equal to the kingdom of God.
Thechurch and the kingdom of God are related. Not until after theresurrection of Jesus does the NT speak with regularity about thechurch. However, there are early signs of the church in the teachingand ministry of Jesus, in both general and specific ways. In general,Jesus anticipated the later official formation of the church in thathe gathered to himself the twelve disciples, who constituted thebeginnings of eschatological Israel—in effect, the remnant.More specifically, Jesus explicitly referred to the church in twopassages: Matt. 16:18–19; 18:17. In the first passage Jesuspromised that he would build his church despite satanic opposition,thus assuring the ultimate success of his mission. The notion of thechurch overcoming the forces of evil coincides with the idea that thekingdom of God will prevail over its enemies and bespeaks theintimate association between the church and the kingdom. The secondpassage relates to the future organization of the church, not unlikethe Jewish synagogue practices of Jesus’ day.
Thechurch and the kingdom of God are not identical. As intimatelyrelated as the church and the kingdom of God are, the NT does notequate the two, as is evident in the fact that the early Christianspreached the kingdom, not the church (Acts 8:12; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23,31). The NT identifies the church as the people of the kingdom (e.g.,Rev. 5:10), not the kingdom itself. Moreover, the church is theinstrument of the kingdom. This is especially clear from Matt.16:18–19, where the preaching of Peter and the church becomethe keys to opening up the kingdom of God to all who would enter.
Theeschatological temple of God.Both the OT and Judaism anticipated the rebuilding of the temple inthe future kingdom of God (e.g., Ezek. 40–48; Hag. 2:1–9;1 En. 90:29; 91:3; Jub. 1:17, 29). Jesus hinted that he wasgoing to build such a structure (Matt. 16:18; Mark 14:58; John2:19–22). Pentecost witnessed to the beginning of thefulfillment of that dream in that when the Spirit inhabited thechurch, the eschatological temple was formed (Acts 2:16–36).Other NT writers also perceived that the presence of the Spirit inthe Christian community constituted the new temple of God (1 Cor.3:16–17; 2 Cor. 6:14–7:1; Eph. 2:19–22; seealso Gal. 4:21–31; 1 Pet. 2:4–10). However,that the eschatological temple is not yet complete is evident in thepreceding passages, especially in their emphasis on the need for thechurch to grow toward maturity in Christ, which will be fullyaccomplished only at the parousia (second coming of Christ). In themeantime, Christians, as priests of God, are to perform theirsacrificial service to the glory of God (Rom. 12:1–2; Heb.13:15; 1 Pet. 2:4–10).
Thebride of Christ.The image of marriage is applied to God and Israel in the OT (seeIsa. 54:5–6; 62:5; Hos. 2:7). Similar imagery is applied toChrist and the church in the NT. Christ, the bridegroom, hassacrificially and lovingly chosen the church to be his bride (Eph.5:25–27). Her responsibility during the betrothal period is tobe faithful to him (2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:24). At the parousia theofficial wedding ceremony will take place, and with it the eternalunion of Christ and his wife will be actualized (Rev. 19:7–9;21:1–2).
Thebody of Christ.The body of Christ as a metaphor for the church is unique to thePauline literature and constitutes one of the most significantconcepts therein (Rom. 12:4–5; 1 Cor. 12:12–27; Eph.4:7–16; Col. 1:18). The primary purpose of the metaphor is todemonstrate the interrelatedness of diversity and unity within thechurch, especially with reference to spiritual gifts. The body ofChrist is the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45), the new humanity of theend time that has appeared in history. However, Paul’s usage ofthe image, like the metaphor of the new temple, indicates that thechurch, as the body of Christ, still has a long way to gospiritually. It is not yet complete.
Sacraments
Atthe heart of the expression of the church’s faith are thesacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The formersymbolizes entrance into the church, while the latter providesspiritual sustenance for the church.
Baptism.Baptism symbolizes the sinner’s entrance into the church. Threeobservations emerge from the biblical treatment of this sacrament.First, the OT intimated baptism, especially in its association ofrepentance of sin with ablutions (Num.19:18–22; Ps. 51:7; Ezek.36:25; cf. John 3:5). Second, the baptism of John anticipatedChristian baptism. John administered a baptism of repentance inexpectation of the baptism of the Spirit and fire that the Messiahwould exercise (Matt. 3:11 // Luke 3:16). Those who accept Jesusas Messiah experience the baptism of fire and judgment (which may bean allusion to undergoing the great tribulation/messianic woes thatlead into the messianic kingdom). Third, the early church practicedbaptism in imitation of the Lord Jesus (Matt. 3:13–17 //Mark 1:9–11 // Luke 3:21–22; see also John 1:32–34;cf. Matt. 28:19; Acts 2:38; 8:16; Rom. 6:3–6; 1 Cor.1:13–15; Gal. 3:27; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet. 3:21). Thesepassages demonstrate some further truths about baptism: baptism isintimately related to faith in God; baptism identifies the personwith the death and resurrection of Jesus; baptism incorporates theperson into the community of believers.
Lord’sSupper.The other biblical sacrament is the Lord’s Supper. This ritesymbolizes Christ’s spiritual nourishment of his church as itcelebrates the sacred meal. Two basic points emerge from the biblicaldata concerning the Lord’s Supper. First, it was instituted byChrist (Matt. 26:26–29; Mark 14:22–25; Luke 22:15–20;1 Cor. 11:23–25), probably as an adaptation of thePassover meal. If that is the case, then, Jesus will have introducedtwo changes into the Passover seder: he replaced the unleavened breadwith a reference to his body being given for us on the cross; hereplaced the cup of redemption with a reference to his shed blood onthe cross, the basis of the new covenant. Second, the early churchpracticed the Lord’s Supper probably weekly, in conjunctionwith the love feast (see 1 Cor. 11:18–22; cf. Jude 12). Atwofold meaning is attached to the Lord’s Supper by the NTauthors. First, it involves participation in Christ’s salvation(Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24–25), and in two ways:participating in the Lord’s Supper looks back to the death ofJesus, in which the believer now shares; participating in the Lord’sSupper looks forward to Christ’s return, the culmination pointof the believer’s salvation. Second, the Lord’s Supperinvolves identification with the body of Christ, the community offaith (1 Cor. 10:16–17; 11:27–33).
Worship
Theultimate purpose of the church is to worship God through Christ andin the power of the Holy Spirit (see, e.g., Rev. 4–5). Theearly church first worshiped in the Jerusalem temple (Acts 2:46; 3:1;5:42) as well as in the synagogue (Acts 22:19; cf. John 9:22; James2:2). At the same time, and into the near future, believers met inhomes for worship (Acts 1:13; 2:46; 5:42; cf. Rom. 16:15; Col. 4:15;Philem. 2; 2 John 10; 3 John 1, 6). Although many JewishChristians no doubt continued to worship God on the Sabbath, theestablished time for the church’s worship came to be Sunday,the day of Jesus’ resurrection (Acts 20:7; Rev. 1:10). Theearly church most probably patterned its order of worship after thesynagogue service: praise in prayer (Acts 2:42, 47; 3:1; 1 Thess.1:2; 5:17) and in song (1 Cor. 14:26; Phil. 2:6–11; Col.1:15–20), the expounding of Scripture (Acts 2:42; 6:4; Col.4:16; 1 Thess. 2:13; 1 Tim. 4:13), and almsgiving to theneedy (Acts 2:44–45; 1 Cor. 16:1–2; 2 Cor. 8–9;James 2:15–17).
Serviceand Organization
Fiveobservations emerge from the NT regarding the service andorganization of the early church. First, the ministry of the churchcenters on its usage of spiritual gifts, which are given to believersby God’s grace and for his glory as well as for the good ofothers (Rom. 12:3; Eph. 4:7–16). Second, every believerpossesses a gift of the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:7; Eph. 4:7). Third,it is through the diversity of the gifts that the body of Christmatures and is unified (Rom. 12:4; 1 Cor. 12:12–31; Eph.4:17–18). Fourth, although there was organized leadership inthe NT church, including elders (1 Tim. 3:1–7 [also called“pastors” and “bishops”; see Acts 20:17, 28;1 Pet. 5:1–4]) and deacons (1 Tim. 3:8–13),there does not seem to have been a gap between the “clergy”and the “laity” in the church of the first century;rather, those with the gift of leadership are called to equip all thesaints for the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:7–16). Fifth,spiritual gifts are to be exercised in love (1 Cor. 13).
First Peter is a concise handbook designed to prepare theChristian community to live faithfully and wisely as a minorityfacing an increasingly hostile community and government.
Outline
I.Greetings (1:1–2)
II.Who We Are in Christ (1:3–2:10)
III.How We Should Behave to Be Like Christ (2:11–3:12)
IV.How We Should Handle a Hostile Community (3:13–5:11)
V.Farewell (5:12–14)
Authorship
Theletter is written by Peter, apostle and leader of the original twelvedisciples of Jesus, who were with Jesus throughout his ministry fromhis baptism until his ascension (Acts 1:21–22).
Thestyle of the author’s Greek is very well developed for aGalilean fisherman. Early on, Peter had astonished hearers who couldnot explain his eloquence, given that he had had no formal rabbinictraining (Acts 4:13; cf. Luke 2:46–47). Examples of tinkers(John Bunyan), cobblers (William Carey), and teenagers (C.H.Spurgeon), not to mention authors excelling in their third language(Joseph Conrad), who write in polished styles suffice to reassure anydoubts concerning Peter’s ability.
Theauthor describes himself as a “fellow elder” and “witnessof Christ’s sufferings” (5:1), speaking in thefirst-person singular (2:11; 5:1, 12–13). He is with John Mark(5:13), and the letter is written “with the help of”Silvanus/Silas (5:12), who may have served as Peter’s scribe,or amanuensis.
Anumber of second-century authorities report that Peter ministered inRome, on and off, for up to twenty-five years prior to his executionby Nero in AD 65. Peter’s readers were suffering various trialsand abuse (5:9), although no mention is made of any such threat tothe church in Rome. It is therefore difficult to date 1Peter,although it must have been written between AD 50 and 64. If 2Pet.3:1 indicates a subsequent letter to the same community, as seemsprobable, a date closer to AD 64 would be more likely.
Destination
Theletter is addressed to “God’s elect, exiles scatteredthroughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia”(1:1). “Scattered” is a term used by the LXX to refer tothe dispersion of the Jews originating with the Babylonian exile andis taken up as such in the NT (John 11:52; James 1:1). “Exiles”(KJV: “strangers”) was the word used to designate peoplewho were not Roman citizens (1Pet. 2:11).
Scholarshave differed as to whether Peter was addressing a predominantlyJewish or Gentile community. The extensive allusions to the OTthroughout the letter—with particular reference to the exodus,Passover, the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, Ps. 34, andProverbs—assume that the readers have a good knowledge of allthree sections of the OT. On the other hand, Peter also speaks oftheir former “ignorance” (1:14), of the “empty wayof life handed down to you from your ancestors” (1:18), and ofpagans thinking it strange that they do not continue in their formerpagan lifestyle (4:3–4). All his citations are from the GreekOT.
Thefive areas listed were located in what is today central and northernTurkey. The order may reflect the courier’s route. Paul hadministered in some of these regions (Galatia and Asia), and Jews fromCappadocia, Pontus, and Asia were in Jerusalem earlier when Peterpreached his Pentecost sermon (Acts 2:9).
Theemperor Claudius (r. AD 41–54) established Roman colonies inthese five areas. It was Roman policy to extend the empire byestablishing cities as centers of Roman culture, government, andtrade. This often involved forced deportation of whole communities.In AD 49 Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome because “the Jewsconstantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus”(Suetonius, Claud. 25.14–15). There is good reason to thinkthat this may indicate the kind of disturbances also seen over thenext few years in Philippi (Acts 16:20–21), Thessalonica (Acts17:1–9), Corinth (Acts 18:12–17), and Ephesus (Acts 19).
Peterdoes not name any member of the community to which he is writing, noris there any indication that he had ever been there. These regionswere populated by Romans as part of a program of Roman colonization.As such, Christians who were not Roman citizens were in a veryvulnerable position. The threat here comes from Gentiles, not otherJews (2:12). There is no mention of false teachers or other internaldivisions.
Peterwrites from “Babylon” (5:13), probably a code word for“Rome” (cf. Rev. 17:5, 9). The references to Babylon hereand the Diaspora in 1:1 act as bookends designed to draw the parallelbetween the church’s present experience and that of the Jewsduring the exile (“fiery ordeal” [4:12]; cf. Dan. 1–6).
MainThemes
Peterstates that it is all about grace (5:12). The Christian’sidentity is grounded in the person and work of Jesus (1:2). Hissufferings are a model of what Christians are expected to endure(1:11, 19; 2:21–25; 3:1–18; 4:12–17; 5:1), so hisreaders should see this as normal. This suffering is also a refiningand testing process (1:6–7; 5:8–10). It fulfills God’splan as revealed in the Scriptures (1:10–12, 23–25); thusone can be sure that behind all such experiences stand the purposesof God (1:2–3, 20–21; 3:18–22; 4:19; 5:6–7).Things are not out of control but rather are leading to theaccomplishment of salvation for many (1:5, 9). Jesus has triumphedover all powers and authorities that might be fearfully rangedagainst his people (3:18–22) (see Descent into Hades). LikeNoah and those on the ark, Christ’s people will be deliveredthrough all events to an outcome of joy (1:6, 8).
Aknowledge of the Scriptures (1:10–12, 23–25) equips thosewho are being sanctified to rightly understand what is happening andso fear God, whose judgment approaches (1:17; 3:6; 5:5, 7), ratherthan people. The believer should look first to God’s approvalwhile being aware of the watching eye of those who would seek a basisfor a charge (2:12; 3:1, 17; 4:14–19). This involves puttingoff the pagan lifestyle (2:1, 11) and putting on obedience (1:2,14–16; 3:1–17). Peter surveys the behaviors most in needof attention: self-control, particularly in the way Christians speakwhen provoked (2:22–23; 3:4, 9–11), and family life,particularly when a woman is married to a threatening, unbelievinghusband (3:1–6). Christian husbands are admonished to set acounterexample by knowing and honoring their wives (3:7). It isespecially important that believers are seen to be submissive togovernment authorities (2:13–17) and to their masters(2:18–20). Within the church, sound leadership (5:1–4)supported by a new generation of respectful young men (5:5) isessential. Throughout all of this, Peter points the reader to thesanctifying work of the Holy Spirit (1:2).
Peterstrongly argues that the appropriate response to injustice andpersecution is grace given as received from Jesus. The Christian’sdefense is the gospel. Like Job, the believer’s mode ofresistance is to present the integrity of a holy, redeemed, priestlylifestyle (3:15–16). One endures through informed belief in thegospel and through faithfulness to the triune God, who keeps hispromises (1:9; cf. Hab. 2:4). The outcome is left in God’shands (5:6–7).
(1)Thestatus of an object that is suspended from a point situated above it(e.g., Ezek. 15:3). Objects that are described as hanging in theBible include curtains (Exod. 40:21), harps (Ps. 137:2), pieces ofarmor (Ezek. 27:10–11; cf. Song 4:4), a millstone (Matt. 18:6),a snake (Acts 28:4), and Absalom (2Sam. 18:9–10).
(2)Aform of capital punishment that involves suspending the condemnedsubject from a tree or gallows. In the OT, death by hanging can bethe fate of a captured enemy king, such as the king of Ai (Josh.8:29). Hanging also may be the fate of those who conspire against oroffend a king, such as possibly happened with Pharaoh’s chiefbaker (Gen. 40:19, 22). Traditionally, hanging was understood to bethe fate of the two officials who conspired against King Xerxes(Esther 2:23) and of Haman, who conspired against the Jews of Xerxes’kingdom (Esther 7:9–10; some recent interpreters understandtheir fate to be impalement). In the NT, the crucifixion of Jesus isdescribed as a hanging (Acts 5:30; 10:39; cf. Luke 23:39).
Thesignificance of hanging an offender transcends the act of killing.Hanging often involves humiliation and a public declaration. Forinstance, Joshua hangs five rival kings from trees after they havebeen executed (Josh. 10:22–27). When the Philistines find thedead bodies of Saul and his sons, they dismember them and hang thebodies on the wall of Beth Shan (1Sam. 31:8–13; 2Sam.21:12) and Saul’s head in the temple of Dagon (1Chron.10:10). After David orders the death of Recab and Baanah, he hastheir bodies hung by the pool in Hebron without hands and feet(2Sam. 4:12). After the ten sons of Haman are killed, Xerxesapproves Esther’s request that their corpses be hung in publicdisplay (Esther 9:12–14). Lamentations speaks of the disgracethat has befallen Jerusalem, including how princes are hung by theirhands (Lam. 5:12).
Hangingalso holds theological significance. In a case of capital offenseresulting in a hanging, Israel is instructed that the corpse must notbe left hanging overnight, but rather must be buried that same day toavoid desecrating the land, “because anyone who is hung on atree [NIV: “pole”] is under God’s curse”(Deut. 21:23; cf. Gal. 3:13).
(3)Aform of suicide performed by two individuals in the Bible. Ahithophelhangs himself after he sees that his advice to Absalom regarding therevolt against David has not been followed (2Sam. 17:23). JudasIscariot hangs himself after he realizes that he has betrayedinnocent blood by offering Jesus to the authorities (Matt. 27:5; cf.Acts 1:18–19).
A song of worship and praise to God. The NIV only uses theword once in the OT, in Ps. 40:3, referring to a “hymn ofpraise” to God. The Hebrew word behind this phrase is tehillah,which is common in the OT and is elsewhere translated simply as“praise,” especially in the psalms. Psalms were part ofIsrael’s worship, and so such “hymns of praise” toGod are more common than the English suggests.
Thecontent of these hymns is not laid out for modern readers, but itinvolves things such as thanksgiving, gratitude, or generally givingGod due recognition for who he is (e.g., Ps. 66:2) and what he hasdone (e.g., 106:2, 12).
Inthe NT, the word occurs only a handful of times in the NIV, and thereis very little indication what these hymns were about. Here too,generally we can say that a hymn is a particular type of song ofpraise to God.
InMatt. 26:30; Mark 14:26, Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn at theconclusion of the Lord’s Supper. Since this meal was patternedafter the Passover, it is likely that one or more of the Hallelpsalms (Pss. 111–118) were sung. (“Hallel” means“praise” in Hebrew and is related to tehillah). The Greekword behind this use in the Gospels, hymneō, is the origin ofthe English word “hymn.” In Acts 16:25 Paul and Silassang hymns at midnight while in prison, although we are told nothingabout their content.
In1 Cor. 14:26 Paul is instructing his readers about orderly worship.According to the NIV, one of the elements of worship includes hymns,although the Greek word here is psalmos (the word used to refer tothe book of Psalms in Luke 20:42; 24:44; Acts 1:20; 13:30), which theKJV renders there as “psalm.” There is certainlysignificant overlap between hymns and psalms, since both involvepraising God, but evidently there is some distinction too, as can beseen in Eph. 5:19 and Col. 3:16, where Paul makes a distinctionbetween “psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.”Perhaps these terms do not reflect clearly marked categories inPaul’s mind. In Eph. 5:19 all three are directed to God “from[the] heart,” and in Col. 3:16 they are sung with “gratitude,”both of which reflect the use of psalms in the OT.
Biblicalscholars also refer to other portions of the Bible as “hymns,”even though the word is not used. The Song of Moses (Exod. 15:1–18)and the Song of Hannah (1Sam. 2:1–10) are sometimescalled “hymns” simply as a convenient designation(although Hannah’s is more a prayer). The same goes for Mary’ssong, the Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55), which clearly is modeledafter Hannah’s song, and Zechariah’s song, the Benedictus(Luke 1:68–79), which reflects OT prophetic poems. Elsewherebiblical scholars detect the possibility of fragments of preexisting“hymns” that were incorporated into the NT (e.g., Phil.2:6–11). This suggests to some that there was some hymn-writingactivity in the early church.
Jesus’ brothers are mentioned several times in theGospels, Acts, and the Pauline Epistles. In Mark 6:3 (see also Matt.13:55–56) four brothers are named, and sisters are mentioned,though the name or number of sisters is not given. The people ofNazareth are offended by Jesus’ preaching in the synagogue andexpress surprise that Jesus, given the dramatic claims that he hasmade about himself in his sermon there (see Luke 4:16–30), isthe son and brother of local villagers (Mary and her sons James,Joses [named “Joseph” in Matthew], Judas, and Simon). Inthe crucifixion scene in Mark, one of the women present is identifiedas “Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph [NIVmg.: “Greek Joses”]” (Mark 15:40). It is unlikely,however, that this is Jesus’ mother and brothers, since itwould be strange to identify Mary as the mother of these twolesser-known siblings rather than of Jesus himself.
InMark 3:32–35 Jesus redefines what it means to be his brother,sister, or mother in the kingdom of God in response to being notifiedthat his earthly mother and brothers, who at this point in time didnot understand his mission (see 3:21), are waiting for him outsidethe house in Capernaum. Although Mary and Jesus’ brothersappear to have traveled around Galilee with him (see John 2:12),John’s Gospel makes explicit the brothers’ unbelief(7:2–10), which is only implicit in Matthew and Mark. Acts 1:14shows the dramatic reversal that has taken place in the response toJesus by his brothers after the resurrection. Mary and Jesus’brothers are gathered together with the entire body of Jesus’disciples in prayer, fellowship, and teaching.
James(apparently Jesus’ oldest sibling) became a key leader in theJerusalem church (Acts 12:17; 21:18) and pronounced the decision atthe Jerusalem council (Acts 15:13). He is also traditionallyidentified as the author of the NT letter that bears his name (James1:1). Another NT letter may also have been penned by a brother ofJesus, since Jude identifies himself as “a brother of James”(Jude 1), a probable reference to this same James.
In1 Cor. 9:5 Paul argues (through a rhetorical question) thatChristian missionaries have the right to take “a believingwife” along with them in their work, just as the other apostlesand Jesus’ brothers had done. Finally, while recounting hisfirst trip to Jerusalem after his conversion, Paul mentions a meetingwith James, “the Lord’s brother” (Gal. 1:19).
Accordingto the Jewish historian Josephus, Jesus’ brother James died amartyr’s death at the hands of the Jewish high priest Ananus(Ant. 20.197–200).
During the time of Jesus and in the couple of centuriesprior, Judaism was not a monolithic entity but was comprised ofdifferent groups with varying religious concerns and politicalinterests. This multifaceted nature of Judaism has caused scholars toquestion whether it would be better to speak of Judaisms rather thanJudaism. Was Judaism cut from a whole cloth, or was it a box offabric scraps? Perhaps it is best to speak of Judaism as a singleentity, but one comprised of various factions with diverse beliefsand interests. This conclusion is justified because the diversesentiments and interests were responses to the same religious andpolitical issues, such as Torah, the temple, and foreign occupiers.
Fiveof the important parties in ancient Judaism were the Pharisees, theSadducees, the Essenes, the Zealots, and the Herodians. The firstthree seem to have first emerged in reaction to the rise of theHasmonean priest-kings in the mid-second and first centuries BC, andthe other two in response to the occupation of Palestine by theRomans and their establishment of the Herods as the rulers of Israel.
Pharisees
Accordingto Josephus.The best source of information on the Pharisees, apart from theGospels themselves, is the Jewish historian Josephus, who discussesthe beliefs of various Jewish factions. In consideration of his Romanaudience, he depicts these groups as Jewish philosophical schools. Inhis Antiquities, Josephus indicates a rough outline of the beliefs ofthe Pharisees and their political position in relation to theSadducees and the general populace.
Josephusgives the following points in summation of the Pharisees’beliefs. (1)The Pharisees believed some things are the resultof fate, whereas other things are the result of human choice. (2)ThePharisees believed that the soul survives death in a place of eitherreward or punishment, and in the resurrection of the body.(3)Besides believing in the authority of Scripture, thePharisees also had an authoritative body of oral tradition.
ThePharisees and the Sadducees had a difficult relationship, due notonly to different religious beliefs but also to conflicting politicalaspirations. Josephus suggests that Jewish leaders gave patronage toone group or the other, or suppressed one group or the other,sometimes violently. In regard to the general populace, the Phariseeshad a much better relationship with them than did the Sadducees, tothe point that when Sadducees were magistrates, they had to ruleaccording to the beliefs of the Pharisees or else the people wouldnot listen to them.
Inthe New Testament.In the Synoptic Gospels, the Pharisees were one of the groups thatopposed Jesus. It seems that the Pharisees most strongly opposedJesus on issues related to their received tradition, which theyconsidered to be as binding as the OT law. Two such legal issues wereceremonial washings before meals and working on the Sabbath. Allthree Synoptic Gospels narrate the Pharisees questioning Jesusconcerning his and his disciples’ failure to follow thetradition of the elders by eating with “unclean,” thatis, “unwashed,” hands (Matt. 15:1–2; Mark 7:1–5;Luke 11:39–41). Concerning breaking the Sabbath, the Phariseesconfronted Jesus on various occasions, such as when Jesus healed onthe Sabbath (Matt. 12:9–14; Mark 3:1–5; Luke 6:6–11)and when his disciples picked grain while walking through a field(Matt. 12:1–8; Mark 2:23–28; Luke 6:1–5).
Inresponse to accusations concerning breaking the traditions of theelders, Jesus affirmed the priority of mercy in the face of humanneed that supersedes laws concerning the Sabbath by saying that theSabbath was made for humans, not humans for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27),or that the Son of Man (Jesus) was Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8;Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5). He also said that God desires mercy, notsacrifice (Matt. 12:7).
Jesus’critique of the Pharisees concentrated on their neglecting mercytoward fellow humans for the sake of their tradition. This isespecially clear in Matthew, where Jesus’ critique of thePharisees includes indictments against them for concentrating on thefine points of the law but neglecting justice and mercy (12:7;23:23).
Inthe Gospel of John, the Pharisees are again usually depicted asadversaries of Jesus and also in league with other Jewish authoritiesin plotting to arrest and kill Jesus (7:32; 11:47–57). Onepassage suggests that they were divided concerning Jesus (9:16). OnePharisee, Nicodemus, came to Jesus by night (John 3), defended Jesusbefore his peers (7:50), and brought spices to prepare Jesus’body for burial after his death (19:39).
ThePharisees were not always antagonistic toward Jesus. From time totime, they were on the same side of an issue, such as Jesus’confrontation with the Sadducees over the resurrection (Luke20:27–40). Nicodemus, mentioned above, was quite sympathetictoward Jesus. The apostle Paul identifies himself as a Pharisee inregard to keeping the law in Phil. 3:5; Acts 26:5, and in aconfrontation with Jerusalem authorities in Acts 23:6. Also, someearly Christians were said to be Pharisees (Acts 15:5).
Relationshipwith rabbinic Judaism.An issue concerning the Pharisees is their relationship with laterrabbinic Judaism. There are basically two viewpoints on this matter,and both involve the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in AD 70.One position maintains that when the dust settled from thedestruction of the temple, only the Pharisees remained standing, andrabbinic Judaism is their heir. Another view holds that after AD 70sectarian Judaism disappeared, and rabbinic Judaism emerged from acoalescence of various Jewish groups. Although one cannot be certain,it seems that the former view may be closer to the truth, since inthe Mishnah, Sadducean legal opinion is contrasted with Pharisaic,and the Pharisaic is invariably considered correct.
Sadducees
TheSadducees were an elite group of Jews connected with the priesthood.“Sadducee” probably means “Son of Zadok,” adescendant of the high priest Zadok from the time of David. Somemembers of the Qumran community used the term “Son of Zadok”as a self-designation as well, suggesting some common ancestry, ifnot direct identification, of the Sadducees and some members of theQumran community.
Alongwith the Pharisees, the Sadducees were a religious-political groupthat sought the support of the ruling powers. It is in the context ofthe patron-retainer relationship that we first hear of the Sadducees.Josephus relates how the Hasmonean ruler John Hyrcanus switched frombeing the patron of the Pharisees to that of the Sadducees. When thePharisee Eliezer suggested that Hyrcanus step down from the highpriesthood due to his uncertain lineage, Hyrcanus became very angryand wanted Eliezer to be executed. The rest of the Phariseessuggested that he merely be bound and whipped, since they had atradition of passing light sentences. A Sadducee suggested that theypassed such a light sentence because they agreed with Eliezer thatHyrcanus was unsuitable to be high priest. Hyrcanus then cast hissupport behind the Sadducees and abolished the laws that thePharisees had given to the populace.
Josephusgives the following general description of the Sadducees’beliefs and relationship with the general populace. (1)TheSadducees rejected fate; things are the result of human action alone.Along with this, God stands aloof from humans concerning good andevil actions. Good and evil are the result of human action. (2)TheSadducees believed that the soul dies along with the body. (3)Theyaccepted only the written law and had no oral tradition. Some takethis last point to mean that they accepted only the Pentateuch asScripture, but this goes beyond what Josephus says about them.
Josephusgoes on to write that Sadducees were as contentious in their disputeswith fellow Sadducees as with people outside the group, and they didnot hold their elders in esteem. They had influence over the elite,but no say with the populace at large.
TheSadducees are mentioned in the Synoptic Gospels, but not in John,although the “chief priests” who plotted against Jesuswith the Pharisees (e.g., John 11:46) probably were Sadducees. Allthree Synoptic Gospels relate the narrative in which the Sadduceesposed the hypothetical question concerning whose wife a woman wouldbe in the resurrection if she outlived seven husbands. Jesus answeredthat they understood neither the Scriptures nor the power of God, andthat God was the God of the living and not the dead (Matt. 22:23–33;Mark 12:18–27; Luke 20:27–40).
Thebook of Acts confirms that the Sadducees were closely connected tothe priesthood (Acts 4:1; 5:17), and that they disputed with thePharisees over the resurrection (Acts 23:6–8).
Essenes
TheEssenes are the third “philosophical school” mentioned byJosephus. Most scholars consider the Qumran sectarians who producedthe DSS to be Essenes. This has created a number of circulararguments, since the DSS are then used to confirm the nature ofEssene beliefs. That being said, there is good evidence that theQumran sectarians were at least in part Essene. The Essenes are notmentioned in the NT or in rabbinic literature, but they do appear inthe writings of Josephus, Philo of Alexandria, and Pliny the Elder.
Josephusdelineates the beliefs of the Essenes as follows. (1)Theyascribed every happening to God. (2)They believed in theimmortality of the soul.
Josephuswrites at great length concerning the Essenes’ way of life.They lived an ascetic lifestyle, avoided pleasure, and devotedthemselves to prayer. They shared all things in common and lived inharmony with one another. Some Essenes avoided marriage, whereasothers regarded marriage and procreation as too central to human lifeto avoid. Certain Essenes could predict the future and interpretdreams. Concerning sacrifices, Josephus mentions that although theysent offerings to the temple, they had their own, superiorsacrifices.
Philowrites that the Essenes were much admired due to their holy lives,living peaceably with one another and holding to the truth. Contraryto Josephus, Philo says that the Essenes did not sacrifice, butthrough study they kept their minds pure and holy.
TheEssenes, as Josephus and Philo describe them, seem similar to theQumran sectarians. The Qumran sectarians believed that God determinesthe fate of people (1QS 3:13–4:26). Although the sectariansbelieved in the immortality of the soul as well as divine reward andpunishment, this does not seem to be emphasized in their writings.
Zealots
Scholarstend to use “Zealots” as a general term to refer to threedifferent groups mentioned by Josephus: brigands, Sicarii, andZealots. The three groups have different political ideologies andemerged at different times in the first century. They can all bedescribed as revolutionaries.
Thebrigands were motivated not by religious or political ideology but bysurvival. Displaced from the traditional economic structure ofPalestine—the agricultural village—by the Romans, thebrigands stole from Jew and Roman alike. They hated the Romansbecause the Romans had driven them into poverty through taxation andtransformation of the economy from subsistence-based agriculture tocash crops that could be sold more readily. (Money could be shippedto Rome more easily than crops.)
Theother two groups, the Sicarii and the Zealots, fought the Romans andJewish collaborators for political and religious reasons. Theyemerged at different times during the first century, and they shouldnot be lumped together, for their methodologies and goals weresomewhat different.
Josephuswrites about what he calls the “fourth philosophy,” whichhe considers an alien element introduced into the religion andpolitics of Israel, begun in AD 6 by Judas the Galilean and Zadok thePharisee. Their slogan was “No king but God,” and theyengaged in a short-lived rebellion. It seems unclear whether thefourth philosophy should be a category that includes the brigands,the Sicarii, and the Zealots, or whether it is a group unto itself.Whatever the case, Josephus makes clear that this fourth philosophyis an anomaly in the history of Israel.
TheSicarii were a group of assassins who emerged in the AD 40s–50s.They specialized in mixing into Jerusalem crowds and murdering Jewswho were friendly with the Romans, mainly the wealthy. The highpriest Jonathan was one of their victims. At the start of the firstRoman war, they commanded Jewish troops but were driven out by fellowJews. They spent the rest of the war at Masada, conductinginconsequential exploits. They killed themselves in AD 73–74rather than be captured by the Romans. Josephus writes that theleader of the Sicarii at the beginning of the first Roman war wasMenahem, the son or grandson of Judas of Galilee. It has beenspeculated that Judas Iscariot’s surname may be derived fromSicarii, but the etymology is uncertain.
TheZealots emerged at the start of the first Roman war (AD 66–70).Josephus mentions them mainly in connection with the Roman war andseldom in other sections of his writings. They consisted mainly ofpeople displaced by Roman activity in Galilee. They targeted thearistocracy that collaborated with Rome, the Romans themselves, andother revolutionary groups. One of Jesus’ disciples was called“Simon the Zealot” (Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13), but this islikely a reference to his zealous faith.
Thefirst Roman war erupted when the Roman procurator Florus looted thetemple. When nothing was done concerning this, the lower priests, thecaptain of the temple guard, Eleazar, and other revolutionary leadersdecided to terminate the temple sacrifice made on the emperor’sbehalf. This essentially started the Roman war and gave rise to theZealots.
Herodians
TheHerodians are mentioned three times in the Gospels. They are reportedto have plotted, along with the Pharisees, to kill Jesus after hehealed a man with a withered hand (Mark 3:6). They are alsodescribed, along with the Pharisees, as trying to trap Jesusconcerning the lawfulness of paying taxes to Caesar (Matt. 22:16;Mark 12:13).
TheHerodians were aristocrats who supported the Herodian dynasty and theRomans, whose support made that dynasty possible. There seems to besome overlap between the Herodians and the Sadducees; Mark 8:15 hasJesus warning his disciples concerning the leaven of the Phariseesand the leaven of Herod (some ancient witnesses read “Herodians”),whereas the parallel in Matt. 16:6, 11 has Jesus warning hisdisciples concerning the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Their religiousbeliefs may have been similar to those of the Sadducees. Too littleinformation about them exists to permit drawing strong conclusions.One can safely say, however, that the Herodians were pro-Romanaristocrats who joined forces with the anti-Roman Pharisees inopposing Jesus.
One of the twelve disciples chosen by Jesus (Matt. 10:4). Heis identified beforehand as the one who would betray Jesus (Mark3:19) and is noted as having a devil (John 6:66–71). Johnfurther attributes his betrayal of Jesus to Satan (John 13:2, 27),and Luke asserts that before the betrayal Satan entered into Judas(Luke 22:3).
Muchhas been written about his motive for betraying Jesus, but a simplelook at the biblical text reveals Judas’s interest in gain.John notes that as the group’s treasurer, Judas regularly stolefrom the money box. His apparent concern for the poor at theanointing of Jesus was in fact self-serving (John 12:1–8). Itwas for gain that Judas betrayed Jesus to the chief priests. Afteragreeing to thirty pieces of silver, Judas sought an occasion tobetray Jesus, especially when there was no crowd (Matt. 26:14–16;Luke 22:3–5).
Atthe table on the night before the crucifixion, Jesus predicted hisbetrayal. After the disciples questioned who the betrayer might be,Jesus pronounced a woe on the betrayer and noted it would have beenbetter if that one had not been born. Jesus identified Judas as thebetrayer, though only Judas understood (Matt. 26:21–25; Mark14:17–21). John makes it clear that none of the other disciplesunderstood the real reason why Judas was leaving the upper room (John13:28–30).
SinceJudas knew that Jesus would later be in the garden of Gethsemane, heled the soldiers and religious leaders there (Luke 22:48). Jesusnoted the irony of Judas using a kiss, a sign of friendship, tobetray him (Mark 14:43–52).
Subsequently,Judas regretted the betrayal and proclaimed Jesus’ innocence tothe chief priests. The religious leaders had no concern for hisregrets. After casting the money to the floor, Judas left. Theleaders thought it unlawful to keep the money, so they bought a fieldfor the burial of strangers. Because the people knew that blood moneybought the “potter’s field,” that field wasthereafter called the “Field of Blood.” Matthew notesthis as fulfillment of prophecy (Matt. 27:9–10). As for Judas,he hanged himself; falling headlong, his body burst open and hisintestines gushed out (Matt. 27:3–10; Acts 1:18).
Peternotes that Judas’s punishment, death, and abandonment of officewere predicted by David in the psalms (Acts 1:15–20). Speakingeuphemistically, Peter remarks that Judas went to his own place, nodoubt a reference to hell (1:25).
Jude, whose name is another form of “Judah” or“Judas” (Heb. Yehuda; Gk. Ioudas), identifies himself as“a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James” (Jude1). Because the author does not elaborate on the identity of thisJames, many conclude that a well-known individual named “James”must be in mind, one whom the readers would be able to identifyeasily. Certainly this is James the brother of Jesus and leader ofthe Jerusalem church (James 1:1; Acts 15:13; Gal. 2:9). This wouldmake Jude the brother of Jesus, named among Jesus’ othersiblings in Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3. The brothers of Jesus were neverreferred to as “apostles” in the early church, whichmakes sense in light of the fact that Jude both appeals to hisauthority as a “servant” of Jesus rather than as an“apostle” and implies that he is not among the apostleswhose teaching he cites in Jude 17. The NT does not record any moredetails regarding Jude’s life other than what we can infer fromthe fact that Jesus’ brothers did not accept him as the Messiahduring his lifetime (John 7:5), and that only after the resurrectiondid they become followers (Acts 1:14). According to Hegesippus,quoted in Eusebius (Hist. eccl. 3.19.1–20.6), two grandsons ofJude were brought before the Roman emperor Domitian and were asked ifthey were descendants of David. But after finding that they werecommon farmers who posed no threat to Rome, he released them “asbeneath his notice.”
The keys of the kingdom picture the power and authorityentrusted to Simon Peter by Jesus immediately after Peter’sconfession of faith (Matt. 16:16). Jesus responded, “I tell youthat you are Peter [petros], and on this rock [petra] I will build mychurch, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Matt.16:18). It is at this point that Jesus tells Peter, “I willgive you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind onearth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth willbe loosed in heaven” (16:19). Roman Catholics have understoodthese keys, along with this symbolism of loosing and binding, torefer to a special authority in the forgiveness of sins and in thepractices of penance and absolution given to the apostle Peter, andby extension to the institution of the papacy as his spiritual heir.Protestants have often understood this power as involving theapostles in general, or perhaps even the entire church (see 18:18).
Thesymbolism of keys is normally used in the Bible to refer to a meansof entry. Jesus is addressing Peter in particular in Matt. 16:19, notthe apostles as a whole, since the “you” is singular inthe Greek text. Perhaps the best way to understand this phrase is tointerpret it in its original context of something that Peter was todo in the initial establishment of the NT church. Significantly,Peter is given an unparalleled initiatory role in the spread of thegospel. Peter is the one who takes on leadership in the upper roomprayer meeting in Acts 1 and also in the process of finding anotherapostle to replace Judas Iscariot. Peter is the spokesman for theapostles on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) as well as in thesubsequent events involving the Jerusalem church (Acts 3–5).Peter (along with John) goes down to Samaria to examine the newbelievers in Samaria and to be the human channel through which theywould receive the Spirit (Acts 8:14–17). Peter is the one whois entrusted by God with reaching out to Cornelius, the first Gentileconvert (Acts 10–11). At every step along the way, Peter is theone whom God used to open the door to new groups of people in thespread of the gospel.
The Letter of James has been hailed as possibly the earliest,most Jewish, and most practical of all NT letters. James 3:13 aptlycommunicates the book’s theme: “Who is wise andunderstanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, bydeeds done in humility that comes from wisdom.” The terms“wise” and “wisdom” occur five times in thebook (1:5; 3:13 [2×], 15, 17). Hence, the author instructed hisreaders on leading a life of faith that was characterized by a wisdomexpressed through speech and actions (2:12).
LiteraryFeatures
Theauthor’s employment of picturesque, concrete language has closeaffinities to OT wisdom literature and reflects Jesus’ teachingin the Sermon on the Mount.
James1:2 – Matthew 5:10-12
James1:4 – Matthew 5:48
James1:5; 5:15 – Matthew 7:7-12
James1:9 – Matthew 5:3
James1:20 – Matthew 5:22
James1:22 – Matthew 7:21
James2:5 – Matthew 5:3
James2:13 – Matthew 5:7; 6:14-15
James2:14-16 – Matthew 7:21-23
James3:12 – Matthew 7:16
James3:17-18 – Matthew 5:9
James4:4 – Matthew 6:24
James4:10 – Matthew 5:3-4
James4:11 – Matthew 7:1-2
James5:2 – Matthew 6:19
James5:10 – Matthew 5:12
James5:12 – Matthew 5:33-37
Likethe OT wisdom literature, the teaching in James has a stronglypractical orientation. Although the book contains some lengthierparagraphs, much of it consists of sequential admonishments andethical maxims that in some cases are only loosely related to oneanother. The sentences generally are short and direct. There arefifty-four verbs in the imperative. Connection between sentences issometimes created through repeated words. Yet the overall topic ofpractical faith and wisdom links these exhortations together.
Backgroundand Occasion
Afterthe death of Stephen, many disciples were scattered into the regionsof Judea and Samaria (Acts 7:54–8:3). In Acts 11:19 thenarrator notes, “Now those who had been scattered by thepersecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far asPhoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews.”James may have written this letter to instruct and comfort thosescattered believers, as he addressed his letter to “the twelvetribes dispersed abroad” (1:1 NET). These Jewish Christians nolonger had direct contact with the apostles in Jerusalem and neededto be instructed and admonished in their tribulations. Apparently,the rich were taking advantage of them (2:6; 5:1–6), and theirtrials had led to worldliness, rash words, and strained relationships(2:1; 4:1, 11; 5:9). In view of persecution, some may have beentempted to hide their faith (5:10–11). James exhorted them todemonstrate a lifestyle that would reflect their faith.
James’sView on Works and Salvation
Somereaders of this letter have observed a seeming contradiction betweenJames’s call for good works and Paul’s insistence onsalvation by grace through faith apart from works (cf. James 2:14–26with Eph. 2:8–10). The discussion is complicated by James’sargument that a faith without works cannot “save” and byhis observation that Abraham was justified by what he did, not byfaith alone (James 2:14, 20–24). Paul, by contrast, maintainsthat Abraham was justified exclusively by faith (Rom. 4:1–3).
Referringrhetorically to people who claim to have faith but have no deeds,James asks, “Can such faith save them?” (2:14). That is,can the kind of faith that results in no works be genuine? Theexpected answer is no. The kind of faith that produces no workscannot be genuine faith; rather, it is “dead” (2:17, 26)and “useless” (2:20). This kind of faith is “byitself,” meaning that it produces no lasting fruit (2:17).James’s point is that genuine faith will produce good works inthe believer’s life. By way of contrast, a mere profession isnot necessarily an indication of genuine faith. Even demons believein God, but they are not saved; the kind of belief that they exhibitis merely an acknowledgment of God’s existence (2:19).
Accordingto James, Abraham was justified not in the sense of first beingdeclared righteous, but rather in the sense that his faith wasdemonstrated as genuine when he offered up Isaac (2:21). Paul, on theother hand, argues that salvation is obtained not through works butrather by faith alone. He quotes Gen. 15:6 to show that Abrahamtrusted God and was declared righteous several years before heoffered up Isaac (Rom. 4:3).
Accordingto Paul, Abraham was justified (declared righteous) before God whenhe believed God’s promise (Gen. 15:6), but for James, he wasjustified in the sense of giving observable proof of salvationthrough his obedience to God. Whereas Paul refers to the point andmeans of positional salvation, James refers to a subsequent eventthat confirmed that Abraham was justified.
I.Faith
A.Paul (Romans 4:1-3):
1.Is personal trust in God
2.Justifies one before God
3.Is not proof of Salvation
B.James (2:14-26)
1.Is a mere claim if there is no resulting fruit
II.Works
A.Paul (Romans 4:1-3):
1.Precede salvation
2.Attempt to merit salvation
3.Cannot justify before God
B.James (2:14-26)
1.Follow conversion
2.Are evidence of salvation
3.Confirm one’s salvation
Itis important to keep in mind that each author wrote with a differentpurpose. Paul wrote against Judaizers, who taught that a man had tobe circumcised and keep the OT law to be saved. James was warningagainst a mere profession of faith that leads to self-deception(1:22). John Calvin correctly expressed the biblical teaching thatfaith alone saves, but that kind of faith does not remain alone; itproduces good works (cf. Rom. 3:21–6:14; Eph. 2:8–10;Titus 2:11–14; 3:4–7).
Authorship
Theauthor identifies himself as “James, a servant of God and ofthe Lord Jesus Christ” (1:1). The NT mentions five personshaving the name “James”: (1)James the son ofZebedee and the brother of John (Matt. 4:21); (2)James the sonof Alphaeus (Matt. 10:3); (3)James “the younger”(Mark 15:40); (4)James the father of the apostle Judas (notJudas Iscariot; Luke 6:16); and (5)James the brother of Jesus(Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3; Gal. 1:19).
Jamesthe brother of John was executed by Herod AgrippaI, who died inAD 44 (Acts 12:2). Since the Letter of James probably was writtenafter this date, the brother of John could not have written it.Neither James the son of Alphaeus, James the younger, nor James thefather of Judas was as prominent in the early church as the writer ofthis letter, who simply identified himself and assumed that hisreaders would know him (1:1). James the son of Alphaeus is mentionedfor the last time in Acts 1:13, and nothing is known of James thefather of Judas apart from the listing of his name in Luke 6:15; Acts1:13. (It is uncertain whether James the younger should be identifiedwith one of the other four or is a separate figure.) Thus, it isunlikely that any of them wrote the book. James the brother of Jesusis most likely the author of this letter.
Jamesthe Brother of the Lord
Atthe beginning of Jesus’ ministry, James, as well as hisbrothers Joses (Joseph), Judas, and Simon, did not believe that Jesuswas the Messiah (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3; John 7:5). However, they cameto believe in him after the resurrection (Acts 1:14; 1Cor.15:7). Paul called James, along with Peter and John, the “pillars”of the church (Gal. 2:9). James does not claim to be an apostle inthis letter; however, he is identified as one in Gal. 1:19. But therethe term “apostle” probably refers to a group of leadingdisciples outside the Twelve (cf. Acts 14:4, 14; 1Cor. 15:7;Gal. 2:9). Since the author of this letter employed many imperatives,his readers clearly accepted his authority. James, the brother ofJesus, who also became a key leader of the church in Jerusalem,possessed such authority (Acts 12:17; 15:13, 19; 21:18; Gal. 1:18–19;2:9).
Date
Somescholars hold that the Letter of James was written around AD 62,while others argue that James wrote this letter sometime in AD 45–50.Those who favor the earlier dates point out that the Jewish characterof this letter fits with this period when the church was mainlyJewish, based on the following criteria: (1)There is no mentionof Gentile Christians in the letter. (2)The author does notrefer to the teachings of the Judaizers. If the letter had beenwritten at a later date, we would expect the author to address theissue of circumcision among Christians. (3)The mention of“teachers” (3:1) and “elders” (5:14) as theleaders in the church reflects the structure of the primitive church.(4)The word “meeting” in 2:2 is the same Greek wordas for “synagogue.” It describes the gathering place ofthe early church. This implies a time when the congregation was stillprimarily Jewish (Acts 1–7).
Outline
I.Introduction (1:1)
II.The Wise Christian Is Patient in Trials (1:2–18)
A.How the Christian should face trials (1:2–12)
B.The source of temptations (1:13–18)
III.The Wise Christian Is a Practical Doer of the Word (1:19–2:26)
A.Hearers and doers of the word (1:19–25)
B.True religion (1:26–27)
C.Prejudice in the church (2:1–13)
D.Faith that works (2:14–26)
IV.The Wise Christian Masters the Tongue (3:1–18)
A.The power of the tongue (3:1–12)
B.The wisdom from above (3:13–18)
V.The Wise Christian Seeks Peace in Relationships (4:1–17)
A.The cause of quarrels (4:1–3)
B.Warning against worldliness (4:4–10)
C.Warning against slander (4:11–12)
D.Warning against boasting and self-sufficiency (4:13–17)
VI.The Wise Christian Is Patient and Prays When Facing Difficulties(5:1–20)
A.Warning to the rich (5:1–6)
B.Exhortation to patience (5:7–12)
C.The power of prayer (5:13–18)
D.The benefit of correcting those in error (5:19–20)
The Letter of Jude is a model of the Christian approach tothose who come preaching another gospel.
Outline
I.Greetings (vv. 1–2)
II.Occasion (vv. 3–4)
III.How to Identify False Teachers (vv. 5–19)
IV.Save Some (vv. 20–23)
V.Glory to the One Who Keeps Us until That Day (vv. 24–25)
Authorship
Theauthor identifies himself as “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christand a brother of James” (v.1). He was the brother ofJesus and the younger son of Mary and Joseph. Only James the brotherof Jesus (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3; John 7:5; Acts 1:14) could beunambiguously identified by his first name alone. Both James and Judecall themselves “servants” of Christ (cf. James 1:1), notapostles (cf. Rom. 1:1; Titus 1:1). After leading the church inJerusalem for over thirty years (cf. Acts 15), James was murdered inAD 62. Paul states that Peter and the brothers of Jesus traveled asmissionaries together and were known to the church in Corinth (1Cor.9:5). This would most likely include Jude and his family. Actsimplies that James never left Jerusalem.
Inthe third through the fifth centuries AD, some interpreters saw somedifficulty in Jude’s citation of 1Enoch, but the letterwas eventually accepted as authentic.
Destinationand Purpose
Thereis no indication of a destination. Our only clue is its associationwith 2Peter. If 2Pet. 3:1 refers to 1Peter, thenJude’s letter may well have been written to the same JewishChristians living in cities in northern Asia Minor (modern-dayTurkey).
Judesays that he started to write a general letter of encouragement buthad to write this letter instead due to the urgent situation createdby the infiltration of false teachers into these communities. Thesefalse teachers denied Jesus Christ and turned God’s grace intoan excuse to exceed God’s boundaries (v.4). This would bea particularly powerful charge against false teachers who professed ahigher law but whose personal lives were scandalous.
Judeidentified these false teachers with a long list of deviantindividuals from the past, establishing a pattern by which the readercould rightly evaluate them. This was directed to warn believersrather than persuade unbelievers. As such, it appears harsh. However,Jude’s passion was to see the believers stand firm, tostrengthen the undecided, and to evangelize the false teachers(vv.22–23). The overall goal was the salvation of all.
Opponents
Amidconsiderable speculation about the identity of Jude’sopponents, there have been few firm conclusions. The maincharacteristic of these false teachers is their immoral lifestyle andtheir tendency to turn the free grace of God into an excuse forlicentiousness (v.4). Some have suggested that they weregnostics, since some gnostic groups viewed the physical world asspiritually irrelevant and used this belief as an excuse forimmorality and debauchery. But gnosticism as a developed system isnot known to exist prior to the second century, and thecharacteristics that Jude describes were common to other groups aswell. Although it is possible that these false teachers were“proto-gnostics” of one sort or another, this proposalmust be viewed as tentative, and care should be taken not to(mis)interpret the letter on the basis of such a hypothesis.
MainThemes
Judeclearly asserts the sovereignty of God as a basis for Christianassurance, since it is God who keeps the believer (vv.1, 24).He speaks in absolute terms of the believer’s blamelessness inChrist on judgment day (v.24). By contrast, those who adhere toanother gospel are deviants who violate God’s created order.The Christian response is to hold firm to the gospel and reject falseteaching vigorously. Jude’s defense of the faith is exemplary.He has extensive knowledge of his opponents’ literature, myths,and teachings and is able to use this against them. Like Peter, hepoints his readers back to the eyewitness testimony of the apostles(vv.3, 17), who predicted such challenges as an ongoing issuefor Christians until Jesus returns. He urges believers to worktogether to maintain right doctrine, behavior, and an attitude oflove (vv.20–21) and to apply the grace of the gospel evento their opponents in hope of their salvation (vv.22–23).Jude’s final words (vv.24–25) constitute one of themost beautiful and reassuring doxologies of the Bible.
It is difficult to imagine a world without consistentmetrological systems. Society’s basic structures, from economyto law, require a uniform and accurate method for measuring time,distances, weights, volumes, and so on. In today’s world,technological advancements allow people to measure various aspects ofthe universe with incredible accuracy—from nanometers tolight-years, milligrams to kilograms.
Themetrological systems employed in biblical times span the sameconcepts as our own modern-day systems: weight, linear distance, andvolume or capacity. However, the systems of weights and measurementsemployed during the span of biblical times were not nearly asaccurate or uniform as the modern units employed today. Preexistingweight and measurement systems existed in the contextual surroundingsof both the OT and the NT authors and thus heavily influenced thesystems employed by the Israelite nation as well as the NT writers.There was great variance between the different standards usedmerchant to merchant (Gen. 23:16), city to city, region to region,time period to time period, even despite the commands to use honestscales and honest weights (Lev. 19:35–36; Deut. 25:13–15;Prov. 11:1; 16:11; 20:23; Ezek. 45:10).
Furthermore,inconsistencies and contradictions exist within the written recordsas well as between archaeological specimens. In addition, significantdifferences are found between preexilic and postexilic measurementsin the biblical texts, and an attempt at merging dry capacity andliquid volume measurements further complicated the issue. This is tobe expected, especially when we consider modern-dayinconsistencies—for example, 1 US liquid pint= 0.473liters, while 1 US dry pint= 0.550 liters. Thus, all modernequivalents given below are approximations, and even the bestestimates have a margin of error of + 5percent or more.
Weights
Weightsin biblical times were carried in a bag or a satchel (Deut. 25:13;Prov. 16:11; Mic. 6:11) and were stones, usually carved into variousanimal shapes for easy identification. Their side or flat bottom wasinscribed with the associated weight and unit of measurement.Thousands of historical artifacts, which differ by significantamounts, have been discovered by archaeologists and thus have greatlycomplicated the work of determining accurate modern-day equivalents.
Beka.Approximately 1⁄5 ounce, or 5.6 grams. Equivalent to 10 gerahsor ½ the sanctuary shekel (Exod. 38:26). Used to measuremetals and goods such as gold (Gen. 24:22).
Gerah.1⁄50 ounce, or 0.56 grams. Equivalent to 1⁄10 beka, 1⁄20shekel (Exod. 30:13; Lev. 27:25).
Litra.Approximately 12 ounces, or 340 grams. A Roman measure of weight.Used only twice in the NT (John 12:3; 19:39). The precursor to themodern British pound.
Mina.Approximately 1¼ pounds, or 0.56 kilograms. Equivalent to 50shekels. Used to weigh gold (1Kings 10:17; Ezra 2:69), silver(Neh. 7:71–72), and other goods. The prophet Ezekiel redefinedthe proper weight: “Theshekel is to consist of twentygerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekelsequal one mina” (Ezek. 45:12). Before this redefinition, therewere arguably 50 shekels per mina. In Jesus’ parable of theservants, he describes the master entrusting to his three servantsvarying amounts—10 minas, 5 minas, 1 mina—implying amonetary value (Luke 19:11–24), probably of either silver orgold. One mina was equivalent to approximately three months’wages for a laborer.
Pim.Approximately 1⁄3 ounce, or 9.3 grams. Equivalent to 2⁄3shekel. Referenced only once in the Scriptures (1Sam. 13:21).
Shekel.Approximately 2⁄5 ounce, or 11 grams. Equivalent toapproximately 2 bekas. The shekel is the basic unit of weightmeasurement in Israelite history, though its actual weight variedsignificantly at different historical points. Examples include the“royal shekel” (2Sam. 14:26), the “commonshekel” (2Kings 7:1), and the “sanctuary shekel,”which was equivalent to 20 gerahs (e.g., Exod. 30:13; Lev. 27:25;Num. 3:47). Because it was used to weigh out silver or gold, theshekel also functioned as a common monetary unit in the NT world.
Talent.Approximately 75 pounds, or 34 kilograms. Equivalent to approximately60 minas. Various metals were weighed using talents: gold (Exod.25:39; 37:24; 1Chron. 20:2), silver (Exod. 38:27; 1Kings20:39; 2Kings 5:22), and bronze (Exod. 38:29). This probably isderived from the weight of a load that a man could carry.
Table12. Biblical Weights and Measures and Their Modern Equivalents:
Weights
Beka– 10 geraahs; ½ shekel = 1/5 ounce = 5.6 grams
Gerah– 1/10 beka; 1/20 shekel = 1/50 ounce = 0.56 grams
Litra– 12 ounces = 340 grams
Mina– 50 shekels = 1 ¼ pounds = 0.56 kilograms
Pim– 2/3 shekel = 1/3 ounce = 9.3 grams
Shekel– 2 bekas; 20 gerahs = 2/5 ounce = 11 grams
Talent– 60 minas = 75 pounds = 34 kilograms
Linearmeasurements
Cubit– 6 handbreadths = 18 inches = 45.7 centimeters
Day’sjourney = 20-25 miles = 32-40 kilometerse
Fingerbreadth– ¼ handbreadth = ¾ inch = 1.9 centimeterse
Handbreadth– 1/6 cubit = 3 inches = 7.6 centimeters
Milion– 1 mile = 1.6 kilometers
Orguia– 1/100 stadion = 5 feet 11 inches = 1.8 meters
Reed/rod– 108 inches = 274 centimeters
Sabbathday’s journey – 2,000 cubits = ¾ mile = 1.2kilometers
Span– 3 handbreadths = 9 inches = 22.8 centimeters
Stadion– 100 orguiai = 607 feet = 185 meters
Capacity
Cab– 1 omer = ½ gallon = 1.9 liters
Choinix– ¼ gallon = 0.9 liters
Cor– 1 homer; 10 ephahs = 6 bushels; 48.4 gallons = 183 liters
Ephah– 10 omers; 1/10 homer = 3/5 bushel; 6 gallons = 22.7 liters
Homer– 10 ephahs; 1 cor = 6 bushels; 48.4 gallons = 183 liters
Koros– 10 bushels; 95 gallons – 360 liters
Omer– 1/10 ephah; 1/100 homer = 2 quarts = 1.9 liters
Saton– 1 seah = 7 quarts = 6.6 liters
Seah– 1/3 ephah; 1 saton = 7 quarts = 6.6 liters
LiquidVolume
Bath– 1 ephah = 6 gallons = 22.7 liters
Batos– 8 gallons = 30.3 liters
Hin– 1/6 bath; 12 logs = 1 gallon; 4 quarts = 3.8 liters
Log– 1/72 bath; 1/12 hin = 1/3 quart = 0.3 liters
Metretes– 10 gallons = 37.8 literes
LinearMeasurements
Linearmeasurements were based upon readily available natural measurementssuch as the distance between the elbow and the hand or between thethumb and the little finger. While convenient, this method ofmeasurement gave rise to significant inconsistencies.
Cubit.Approximately 18 inches, or 45.7 centimeters. Equivalent to 6handbreadths. The standard biblical measure of linear distance, asthe shekel is the standard measurement of weight. The distance fromthe elbow to the outstretched fingertip. Used to describe height,width, length (Exod. 25:10), distance (John 21:8), and depth (Gen.7:20). Use of the cubit is ancient. For simple and approximateconversion into modern units, divide the number of cubits in half formeters, then multiply the number of meters by 3 to arrive at feet.
1cubit = 2 spans = 6 handbreadths = 24 fingerbreadths
Day’sjourney.An approximate measure of distance equivalent to about 20–25miles, or 32–40 kilometers. Several passages reference a singleor multiple days’ journey as a description of the distancetraveled or the distance between two points: “a day’sjourney” (Num. 11:31; 1Kings 19:4), “a three-dayjourney” (Gen. 30:36; Exod. 3:18; 8:27; Jon. 3:3), “sevendays” (Gen. 31:23), and “eleven days” (Deut. 1:2).After visiting Jerusalem for Passover, Jesus’ parents journeyedfor a day (Luke 2:44) before realizing that he was not with them.
Fingerbreadth.The width of the finger, or ¼ of a handbreadth, approximately¾ inch, or 1.9 centimeters. The fingerbreadth was thebeginning building block of the biblical metrological system forlinear measurements. Used only once in the Scriptures, to describethe bronze pillars (Jer. 52:21).
Handbreadth.Approximately 3 inches, or 7.6 centimeters. Equivalent to 1/6 cubit,or four fingerbreadths. Probably the width at the base of the fourfingers. A short measure of length, thus compared to a human’sbrief life (Ps. 39:5). Also the width of the rim on the bread table(Exod. 25:25) and the thickness of the bronze Sea (1Kings7:26).
Milion.Translated “mile” in Matt. 5:41. Greek transliteration ofRoman measurement mille passuum, “a thousand paces.”
Orguia.Approximately 5 feet 11 inches, or 1.8 meters. Also translated as“fathom.” A Greek unit of measurement. Probably thedistance between outstretched fingertip to fingertip. Used to measurethe depth of water (Acts 27:28).
Reed/rod.Approximately 108 inches, or 274 centimeters. This is also a generalterm for a measuring device rather than a specific linear distance(Ezek. 40:3, 5; 42:16–19; Rev. 11:1; 21:15).
Sabbathday’s journey.Approximately ¾ mile, or 1.2 kilometers (Acts 1:12). About2,000 cubits.
Span.Approximately 9 inches, or 22.8 centimeters. Equivalent to threehandbreadths, and ½ cubit. The distance from outstretchedthumb tip to little-finger tip. The length and width of the priest’sbreastpiece (Exod. 28:16).
Stadion.Approximately 607 feet, or 185 meters. Equivalent to 100 orguiai.Used in the measurement of large distances (Matt. 14:24; Luke 24:13;John 6:19; 11:18; Rev. 14:20; 21:16).
LandArea
Seed.The size of a piece of land could also be measured on the basis ofhow much seed was required to plant that field (Lev. 27:16; 1Kings18:32).
Yoke.Fields and lands were measured using logical, available means. Inbiblical times, this meant the amount of land a pair of yoked animalscould plow in one day (1Sam. 14:14; Isa. 5:10).
Capacity
Cab.Approximately ½ gallon, or 1.9 liters. Equivalent to 1 omer.Mentioned only once in the Scriptures, during the siege of Samaria(2Kings 6:25).
Choinix.Approximately ¼ gallon, or 0.9 liters. A Greek measurement,mentioned only once in Scripture (Rev. 6:6).
Cor.Approximately 6 bushels (48.4 gallons, or 183 liters). Equal to thehomer, and to 10 ephahs. Used for measuring dry volumes, particularlyof flour and grains (1Kings 4:22; 1Kings 5:11; 2Chron.2:10; 27:5; Ezra 7:22). In the LXX, cor is also a measure of liquidvolume, particularly oil (1Kings 5:11; 2Chron. 2:10; Ezra45:14).
Ephah.Approximately 3⁄5 bushel (6 gallons, or 22.7 liters).Equivalent to 10 omers, or 1⁄10 homer. Used for measuring flourand grains (e.g., Exod. 29:40; Lev. 6:20). Isaiah prophesied a day ofreduced agricultural yield, when a homer of seed would produce onlyan ephah of grain (Isa. 5:10). The ephah was equal in size to thebath (Ezek. 45:11), which typically was used for liquid measurements.
Homer.Approximately 6 bushels (48.4 gallons, or 183 liters). Equivalent to1 cor, or 10 ephahs. Used for measuring dry volumes, particularly ofvarious grains (Lev. 27:16; Isa. 5:10; Ezek. 45:11, 13–14; Hos.3:2). This is probably a natural measure of the load that a donkeycan carry, in the range of 90 kilograms. There may have existed adirect link between capacity and monetary value, given Lev. 27:16:“fifty shekels of silver to a homer of barley seed.” Alogical deduction of capacity and cost based on known equivalencesmight look something like this:
1homer = 1 mina; 1 ephah = 5 shekels; 1 omer = 1 beka
Koros.Approximately 10 bushels (95 gallons, or 360 liters). A Greek measureof grain (Luke 16:7).
Omer.Approximately 2 quarts, or 1.9 liters. Equivalent to 1⁄10ephah, 1⁄100 homer (Ezek. 45:11). Used by Israel in themeasurement and collection of manna in the wilderness (Exod.16:16–36) and thus roughly equivalent to a person’s dailyfood ration.
Saton.Approximately 7 quarts, or 6.6 liters. Equivalent to 1 seah. Themeasurement of flour in Jesus’ parable of the kingdom of heaven(Matt. 13:33; Luke 13:21).
Seah.Approximately 7 quarts, or 6.6 liters. Equivalent to 1⁄3 ephah,or 1 saton. Used to measure flour, grain, seed, and other various drygoods (e.g., 2Kings 7:1; 1Sam. 25:18).
LiquidVolume
Bath.Approximately 6 gallons, or 22.7 liters. Equivalent to 1 ephah, whichtypically was used for measurements of dry capacity. Used in themeasurement of water (1Kings 7:26), oil (1Kings 5:11),and wine (2Chron. 2:10; Isa. 5:10).
Batos.Approximately 8 gallons, or 30.3 liters. A Greek transliteration ofthe Hebrew word bath(see above). A measure of oil (Luke 16:6).
Hin.Approximately 4 quarts (1gallon, or 3.8 liters). Equivalent to1⁄6 bath and 12 logs. Used in the measurement of water (Ezek.4:11), oil (Ezek. 46:5), and wine (Num. 28:14).
Log.Approximately 1⁄3 quart, or 0.3 liter. Equivalent to 1⁄72bath and 1⁄12 hin. Mentioned five times in Scripture,specifically used to measure oil (Lev. 14:10–24).
Metretes.Approximately 10 gallons, or 37.8 liters. Used in the measurement ofwater at the wedding feast (John 2:6).
It is difficult to imagine a world without consistentmetrological systems. Society’s basic structures, from economyto law, require a uniform and accurate method for measuring time,distances, weights, volumes, and so on. In today’s world,technological advancements allow people to measure various aspects ofthe universe with incredible accuracy—from nanometers tolight-years, milligrams to kilograms.
Themetrological systems employed in biblical times span the sameconcepts as our own modern-day systems: weight, linear distance, andvolume or capacity. However, the systems of weights and measurementsemployed during the span of biblical times were not nearly asaccurate or uniform as the modern units employed today. Preexistingweight and measurement systems existed in the contextual surroundingsof both the OT and the NT authors and thus heavily influenced thesystems employed by the Israelite nation as well as the NT writers.There was great variance between the different standards usedmerchant to merchant (Gen. 23:16), city to city, region to region,time period to time period, even despite the commands to use honestscales and honest weights (Lev. 19:35–36; Deut. 25:13–15;Prov. 11:1; 16:11; 20:23; Ezek. 45:10).
Furthermore,inconsistencies and contradictions exist within the written recordsas well as between archaeological specimens. In addition, significantdifferences are found between preexilic and postexilic measurementsin the biblical texts, and an attempt at merging dry capacity andliquid volume measurements further complicated the issue. This is tobe expected, especially when we consider modern-dayinconsistencies—for example, 1 US liquid pint= 0.473liters, while 1 US dry pint= 0.550 liters. Thus, all modernequivalents given below are approximations, and even the bestestimates have a margin of error of + 5percent or more.
Weights
Weightsin biblical times were carried in a bag or a satchel (Deut. 25:13;Prov. 16:11; Mic. 6:11) and were stones, usually carved into variousanimal shapes for easy identification. Their side or flat bottom wasinscribed with the associated weight and unit of measurement.Thousands of historical artifacts, which differ by significantamounts, have been discovered by archaeologists and thus have greatlycomplicated the work of determining accurate modern-day equivalents.
Beka.Approximately 1⁄5 ounce, or 5.6 grams. Equivalent to 10 gerahsor ½ the sanctuary shekel (Exod. 38:26). Used to measuremetals and goods such as gold (Gen. 24:22).
Gerah.1⁄50 ounce, or 0.56 grams. Equivalent to 1⁄10 beka, 1⁄20shekel (Exod. 30:13; Lev. 27:25).
Litra.Approximately 12 ounces, or 340 grams. A Roman measure of weight.Used only twice in the NT (John 12:3; 19:39). The precursor to themodern British pound.
Mina.Approximately 1¼ pounds, or 0.56 kilograms. Equivalent to 50shekels. Used to weigh gold (1Kings 10:17; Ezra 2:69), silver(Neh. 7:71–72), and other goods. The prophet Ezekiel redefinedthe proper weight: “Theshekel is to consist of twentygerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekelsequal one mina” (Ezek. 45:12). Before this redefinition, therewere arguably 50 shekels per mina. In Jesus’ parable of theservants, he describes the master entrusting to his three servantsvarying amounts—10 minas, 5 minas, 1 mina—implying amonetary value (Luke 19:11–24), probably of either silver orgold. One mina was equivalent to approximately three months’wages for a laborer.
Pim.Approximately 1⁄3 ounce, or 9.3 grams. Equivalent to 2⁄3shekel. Referenced only once in the Scriptures (1Sam. 13:21).
Shekel.Approximately 2⁄5 ounce, or 11 grams. Equivalent toapproximately 2 bekas. The shekel is the basic unit of weightmeasurement in Israelite history, though its actual weight variedsignificantly at different historical points. Examples include the“royal shekel” (2Sam. 14:26), the “commonshekel” (2Kings 7:1), and the “sanctuary shekel,”which was equivalent to 20 gerahs (e.g., Exod. 30:13; Lev. 27:25;Num. 3:47). Because it was used to weigh out silver or gold, theshekel also functioned as a common monetary unit in the NT world.
Talent.Approximately 75 pounds, or 34 kilograms. Equivalent to approximately60 minas. Various metals were weighed using talents: gold (Exod.25:39; 37:24; 1Chron. 20:2), silver (Exod. 38:27; 1Kings20:39; 2Kings 5:22), and bronze (Exod. 38:29). This probably isderived from the weight of a load that a man could carry.
Table12. Biblical Weights and Measures and Their Modern Equivalents:
Weights
Beka– 10 geraahs; ½ shekel = 1/5 ounce = 5.6 grams
Gerah– 1/10 beka; 1/20 shekel = 1/50 ounce = 0.56 grams
Litra– 12 ounces = 340 grams
Mina– 50 shekels = 1 ¼ pounds = 0.56 kilograms
Pim– 2/3 shekel = 1/3 ounce = 9.3 grams
Shekel– 2 bekas; 20 gerahs = 2/5 ounce = 11 grams
Talent– 60 minas = 75 pounds = 34 kilograms
Linearmeasurements
Cubit– 6 handbreadths = 18 inches = 45.7 centimeters
Day’sjourney = 20-25 miles = 32-40 kilometerse
Fingerbreadth– ¼ handbreadth = ¾ inch = 1.9 centimeterse
Handbreadth– 1/6 cubit = 3 inches = 7.6 centimeters
Milion– 1 mile = 1.6 kilometers
Orguia– 1/100 stadion = 5 feet 11 inches = 1.8 meters
Reed/rod– 108 inches = 274 centimeters
Sabbathday’s journey – 2,000 cubits = ¾ mile = 1.2kilometers
Span– 3 handbreadths = 9 inches = 22.8 centimeters
Stadion– 100 orguiai = 607 feet = 185 meters
Capacity
Cab– 1 omer = ½ gallon = 1.9 liters
Choinix– ¼ gallon = 0.9 liters
Cor– 1 homer; 10 ephahs = 6 bushels; 48.4 gallons = 183 liters
Ephah– 10 omers; 1/10 homer = 3/5 bushel; 6 gallons = 22.7 liters
Homer– 10 ephahs; 1 cor = 6 bushels; 48.4 gallons = 183 liters
Koros– 10 bushels; 95 gallons – 360 liters
Omer– 1/10 ephah; 1/100 homer = 2 quarts = 1.9 liters
Saton– 1 seah = 7 quarts = 6.6 liters
Seah– 1/3 ephah; 1 saton = 7 quarts = 6.6 liters
LiquidVolume
Bath– 1 ephah = 6 gallons = 22.7 liters
Batos– 8 gallons = 30.3 liters
Hin– 1/6 bath; 12 logs = 1 gallon; 4 quarts = 3.8 liters
Log– 1/72 bath; 1/12 hin = 1/3 quart = 0.3 liters
Metretes– 10 gallons = 37.8 literes
LinearMeasurements
Linearmeasurements were based upon readily available natural measurementssuch as the distance between the elbow and the hand or between thethumb and the little finger. While convenient, this method ofmeasurement gave rise to significant inconsistencies.
Cubit.Approximately 18 inches, or 45.7 centimeters. Equivalent to 6handbreadths. The standard biblical measure of linear distance, asthe shekel is the standard measurement of weight. The distance fromthe elbow to the outstretched fingertip. Used to describe height,width, length (Exod. 25:10), distance (John 21:8), and depth (Gen.7:20). Use of the cubit is ancient. For simple and approximateconversion into modern units, divide the number of cubits in half formeters, then multiply the number of meters by 3 to arrive at feet.
1cubit = 2 spans = 6 handbreadths = 24 fingerbreadths
Day’sjourney.An approximate measure of distance equivalent to about 20–25miles, or 32–40 kilometers. Several passages reference a singleor multiple days’ journey as a description of the distancetraveled or the distance between two points: “a day’sjourney” (Num. 11:31; 1Kings 19:4), “a three-dayjourney” (Gen. 30:36; Exod. 3:18; 8:27; Jon. 3:3), “sevendays” (Gen. 31:23), and “eleven days” (Deut. 1:2).After visiting Jerusalem for Passover, Jesus’ parents journeyedfor a day (Luke 2:44) before realizing that he was not with them.
Fingerbreadth.The width of the finger, or ¼ of a handbreadth, approximately¾ inch, or 1.9 centimeters. The fingerbreadth was thebeginning building block of the biblical metrological system forlinear measurements. Used only once in the Scriptures, to describethe bronze pillars (Jer. 52:21).
Handbreadth.Approximately 3 inches, or 7.6 centimeters. Equivalent to 1/6 cubit,or four fingerbreadths. Probably the width at the base of the fourfingers. A short measure of length, thus compared to a human’sbrief life (Ps. 39:5). Also the width of the rim on the bread table(Exod. 25:25) and the thickness of the bronze Sea (1Kings7:26).
Milion.Translated “mile” in Matt. 5:41. Greek transliteration ofRoman measurement mille passuum, “a thousand paces.”
Orguia.Approximately 5 feet 11 inches, or 1.8 meters. Also translated as“fathom.” A Greek unit of measurement. Probably thedistance between outstretched fingertip to fingertip. Used to measurethe depth of water (Acts 27:28).
Reed/rod.Approximately 108 inches, or 274 centimeters. This is also a generalterm for a measuring device rather than a specific linear distance(Ezek. 40:3, 5; 42:16–19; Rev. 11:1; 21:15).
Sabbathday’s journey.Approximately ¾ mile, or 1.2 kilometers (Acts 1:12). About2,000 cubits.
Span.Approximately 9 inches, or 22.8 centimeters. Equivalent to threehandbreadths, and ½ cubit. The distance from outstretchedthumb tip to little-finger tip. The length and width of the priest’sbreastpiece (Exod. 28:16).
Stadion.Approximately 607 feet, or 185 meters. Equivalent to 100 orguiai.Used in the measurement of large distances (Matt. 14:24; Luke 24:13;John 6:19; 11:18; Rev. 14:20; 21:16).
LandArea
Seed.The size of a piece of land could also be measured on the basis ofhow much seed was required to plant that field (Lev. 27:16; 1Kings18:32).
Yoke.Fields and lands were measured using logical, available means. Inbiblical times, this meant the amount of land a pair of yoked animalscould plow in one day (1Sam. 14:14; Isa. 5:10).
Capacity
Cab.Approximately ½ gallon, or 1.9 liters. Equivalent to 1 omer.Mentioned only once in the Scriptures, during the siege of Samaria(2Kings 6:25).
Choinix.Approximately ¼ gallon, or 0.9 liters. A Greek measurement,mentioned only once in Scripture (Rev. 6:6).
Cor.Approximately 6 bushels (48.4 gallons, or 183 liters). Equal to thehomer, and to 10 ephahs. Used for measuring dry volumes, particularlyof flour and grains (1Kings 4:22; 1Kings 5:11; 2Chron.2:10; 27:5; Ezra 7:22). In the LXX, cor is also a measure of liquidvolume, particularly oil (1Kings 5:11; 2Chron. 2:10; Ezra45:14).
Ephah.Approximately 3⁄5 bushel (6 gallons, or 22.7 liters).Equivalent to 10 omers, or 1⁄10 homer. Used for measuring flourand grains (e.g., Exod. 29:40; Lev. 6:20). Isaiah prophesied a day ofreduced agricultural yield, when a homer of seed would produce onlyan ephah of grain (Isa. 5:10). The ephah was equal in size to thebath (Ezek. 45:11), which typically was used for liquid measurements.
Homer.Approximately 6 bushels (48.4 gallons, or 183 liters). Equivalent to1 cor, or 10 ephahs. Used for measuring dry volumes, particularly ofvarious grains (Lev. 27:16; Isa. 5:10; Ezek. 45:11, 13–14; Hos.3:2). This is probably a natural measure of the load that a donkeycan carry, in the range of 90 kilograms. There may have existed adirect link between capacity and monetary value, given Lev. 27:16:“fifty shekels of silver to a homer of barley seed.” Alogical deduction of capacity and cost based on known equivalencesmight look something like this:
1homer = 1 mina; 1 ephah = 5 shekels; 1 omer = 1 beka
Koros.Approximately 10 bushels (95 gallons, or 360 liters). A Greek measureof grain (Luke 16:7).
Omer.Approximately 2 quarts, or 1.9 liters. Equivalent to 1⁄10ephah, 1⁄100 homer (Ezek. 45:11). Used by Israel in themeasurement and collection of manna in the wilderness (Exod.16:16–36) and thus roughly equivalent to a person’s dailyfood ration.
Saton.Approximately 7 quarts, or 6.6 liters. Equivalent to 1 seah. Themeasurement of flour in Jesus’ parable of the kingdom of heaven(Matt. 13:33; Luke 13:21).
Seah.Approximately 7 quarts, or 6.6 liters. Equivalent to 1⁄3 ephah,or 1 saton. Used to measure flour, grain, seed, and other various drygoods (e.g., 2Kings 7:1; 1Sam. 25:18).
LiquidVolume
Bath.Approximately 6 gallons, or 22.7 liters. Equivalent to 1 ephah, whichtypically was used for measurements of dry capacity. Used in themeasurement of water (1Kings 7:26), oil (1Kings 5:11),and wine (2Chron. 2:10; Isa. 5:10).
Batos.Approximately 8 gallons, or 30.3 liters. A Greek transliteration ofthe Hebrew word bath(see above). A measure of oil (Luke 16:6).
Hin.Approximately 4 quarts (1gallon, or 3.8 liters). Equivalent to1⁄6 bath and 12 logs. Used in the measurement of water (Ezek.4:11), oil (Ezek. 46:5), and wine (Num. 28:14).
Log.Approximately 1⁄3 quart, or 0.3 liter. Equivalent to 1⁄72bath and 1⁄12 hin. Mentioned five times in Scripture,specifically used to measure oil (Lev. 14:10–24).
Metretes.Approximately 10 gallons, or 37.8 liters. Used in the measurement ofwater at the wedding feast (John 2:6).
It is difficult to imagine a world without consistentmetrological systems. Society’s basic structures, from economyto law, require a uniform and accurate method for measuring time,distances, weights, volumes, and so on. In today’s world,technological advancements allow people to measure various aspects ofthe universe with incredible accuracy—from nanometers tolight-years, milligrams to kilograms.
Themetrological systems employed in biblical times span the sameconcepts as our own modern-day systems: weight, linear distance, andvolume or capacity. However, the systems of weights and measurementsemployed during the span of biblical times were not nearly asaccurate or uniform as the modern units employed today. Preexistingweight and measurement systems existed in the contextual surroundingsof both the OT and the NT authors and thus heavily influenced thesystems employed by the Israelite nation as well as the NT writers.There was great variance between the different standards usedmerchant to merchant (Gen. 23:16), city to city, region to region,time period to time period, even despite the commands to use honestscales and honest weights (Lev. 19:35–36; Deut. 25:13–15;Prov. 11:1; 16:11; 20:23; Ezek. 45:10).
Furthermore,inconsistencies and contradictions exist within the written recordsas well as between archaeological specimens. In addition, significantdifferences are found between preexilic and postexilic measurementsin the biblical texts, and an attempt at merging dry capacity andliquid volume measurements further complicated the issue. This is tobe expected, especially when we consider modern-dayinconsistencies—for example, 1 US liquid pint= 0.473liters, while 1 US dry pint= 0.550 liters. Thus, all modernequivalents given below are approximations, and even the bestestimates have a margin of error of + 5percent or more.
Weights
Weightsin biblical times were carried in a bag or a satchel (Deut. 25:13;Prov. 16:11; Mic. 6:11) and were stones, usually carved into variousanimal shapes for easy identification. Their side or flat bottom wasinscribed with the associated weight and unit of measurement.Thousands of historical artifacts, which differ by significantamounts, have been discovered by archaeologists and thus have greatlycomplicated the work of determining accurate modern-day equivalents.
Beka.Approximately 1⁄5 ounce, or 5.6 grams. Equivalent to 10 gerahsor ½ the sanctuary shekel (Exod. 38:26). Used to measuremetals and goods such as gold (Gen. 24:22).
Gerah.1⁄50 ounce, or 0.56 grams. Equivalent to 1⁄10 beka, 1⁄20shekel (Exod. 30:13; Lev. 27:25).
Litra.Approximately 12 ounces, or 340 grams. A Roman measure of weight.Used only twice in the NT (John 12:3; 19:39). The precursor to themodern British pound.
Mina.Approximately 1¼ pounds, or 0.56 kilograms. Equivalent to 50shekels. Used to weigh gold (1Kings 10:17; Ezra 2:69), silver(Neh. 7:71–72), and other goods. The prophet Ezekiel redefinedthe proper weight: “Theshekel is to consist of twentygerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekelsequal one mina” (Ezek. 45:12). Before this redefinition, therewere arguably 50 shekels per mina. In Jesus’ parable of theservants, he describes the master entrusting to his three servantsvarying amounts—10 minas, 5 minas, 1 mina—implying amonetary value (Luke 19:11–24), probably of either silver orgold. One mina was equivalent to approximately three months’wages for a laborer.
Pim.Approximately 1⁄3 ounce, or 9.3 grams. Equivalent to 2⁄3shekel. Referenced only once in the Scriptures (1Sam. 13:21).
Shekel.Approximately 2⁄5 ounce, or 11 grams. Equivalent toapproximately 2 bekas. The shekel is the basic unit of weightmeasurement in Israelite history, though its actual weight variedsignificantly at different historical points. Examples include the“royal shekel” (2Sam. 14:26), the “commonshekel” (2Kings 7:1), and the “sanctuary shekel,”which was equivalent to 20 gerahs (e.g., Exod. 30:13; Lev. 27:25;Num. 3:47). Because it was used to weigh out silver or gold, theshekel also functioned as a common monetary unit in the NT world.
Talent.Approximately 75 pounds, or 34 kilograms. Equivalent to approximately60 minas. Various metals were weighed using talents: gold (Exod.25:39; 37:24; 1Chron. 20:2), silver (Exod. 38:27; 1Kings20:39; 2Kings 5:22), and bronze (Exod. 38:29). This probably isderived from the weight of a load that a man could carry.
Table12. Biblical Weights and Measures and Their Modern Equivalents:
Weights
Beka– 10 geraahs; ½ shekel = 1/5 ounce = 5.6 grams
Gerah– 1/10 beka; 1/20 shekel = 1/50 ounce = 0.56 grams
Litra– 12 ounces = 340 grams
Mina– 50 shekels = 1 ¼ pounds = 0.56 kilograms
Pim– 2/3 shekel = 1/3 ounce = 9.3 grams
Shekel– 2 bekas; 20 gerahs = 2/5 ounce = 11 grams
Talent– 60 minas = 75 pounds = 34 kilograms
Linearmeasurements
Cubit– 6 handbreadths = 18 inches = 45.7 centimeters
Day’sjourney = 20-25 miles = 32-40 kilometerse
Fingerbreadth– ¼ handbreadth = ¾ inch = 1.9 centimeterse
Handbreadth– 1/6 cubit = 3 inches = 7.6 centimeters
Milion– 1 mile = 1.6 kilometers
Orguia– 1/100 stadion = 5 feet 11 inches = 1.8 meters
Reed/rod– 108 inches = 274 centimeters
Sabbathday’s journey – 2,000 cubits = ¾ mile = 1.2kilometers
Span– 3 handbreadths = 9 inches = 22.8 centimeters
Stadion– 100 orguiai = 607 feet = 185 meters
Capacity
Cab– 1 omer = ½ gallon = 1.9 liters
Choinix– ¼ gallon = 0.9 liters
Cor– 1 homer; 10 ephahs = 6 bushels; 48.4 gallons = 183 liters
Ephah– 10 omers; 1/10 homer = 3/5 bushel; 6 gallons = 22.7 liters
Homer– 10 ephahs; 1 cor = 6 bushels; 48.4 gallons = 183 liters
Koros– 10 bushels; 95 gallons – 360 liters
Omer– 1/10 ephah; 1/100 homer = 2 quarts = 1.9 liters
Saton– 1 seah = 7 quarts = 6.6 liters
Seah– 1/3 ephah; 1 saton = 7 quarts = 6.6 liters
LiquidVolume
Bath– 1 ephah = 6 gallons = 22.7 liters
Batos– 8 gallons = 30.3 liters
Hin– 1/6 bath; 12 logs = 1 gallon; 4 quarts = 3.8 liters
Log– 1/72 bath; 1/12 hin = 1/3 quart = 0.3 liters
Metretes– 10 gallons = 37.8 literes
LinearMeasurements
Linearmeasurements were based upon readily available natural measurementssuch as the distance between the elbow and the hand or between thethumb and the little finger. While convenient, this method ofmeasurement gave rise to significant inconsistencies.
Cubit.Approximately 18 inches, or 45.7 centimeters. Equivalent to 6handbreadths. The standard biblical measure of linear distance, asthe shekel is the standard measurement of weight. The distance fromthe elbow to the outstretched fingertip. Used to describe height,width, length (Exod. 25:10), distance (John 21:8), and depth (Gen.7:20). Use of the cubit is ancient. For simple and approximateconversion into modern units, divide the number of cubits in half formeters, then multiply the number of meters by 3 to arrive at feet.
1cubit = 2 spans = 6 handbreadths = 24 fingerbreadths
Day’sjourney.An approximate measure of distance equivalent to about 20–25miles, or 32–40 kilometers. Several passages reference a singleor multiple days’ journey as a description of the distancetraveled or the distance between two points: “a day’sjourney” (Num. 11:31; 1Kings 19:4), “a three-dayjourney” (Gen. 30:36; Exod. 3:18; 8:27; Jon. 3:3), “sevendays” (Gen. 31:23), and “eleven days” (Deut. 1:2).After visiting Jerusalem for Passover, Jesus’ parents journeyedfor a day (Luke 2:44) before realizing that he was not with them.
Fingerbreadth.The width of the finger, or ¼ of a handbreadth, approximately¾ inch, or 1.9 centimeters. The fingerbreadth was thebeginning building block of the biblical metrological system forlinear measurements. Used only once in the Scriptures, to describethe bronze pillars (Jer. 52:21).
Handbreadth.Approximately 3 inches, or 7.6 centimeters. Equivalent to 1/6 cubit,or four fingerbreadths. Probably the width at the base of the fourfingers. A short measure of length, thus compared to a human’sbrief life (Ps. 39:5). Also the width of the rim on the bread table(Exod. 25:25) and the thickness of the bronze Sea (1Kings7:26).
Milion.Translated “mile” in Matt. 5:41. Greek transliteration ofRoman measurement mille passuum, “a thousand paces.”
Orguia.Approximately 5 feet 11 inches, or 1.8 meters. Also translated as“fathom.” A Greek unit of measurement. Probably thedistance between outstretched fingertip to fingertip. Used to measurethe depth of water (Acts 27:28).
Reed/rod.Approximately 108 inches, or 274 centimeters. This is also a generalterm for a measuring device rather than a specific linear distance(Ezek. 40:3, 5; 42:16–19; Rev. 11:1; 21:15).
Sabbathday’s journey.Approximately ¾ mile, or 1.2 kilometers (Acts 1:12). About2,000 cubits.
Span.Approximately 9 inches, or 22.8 centimeters. Equivalent to threehandbreadths, and ½ cubit. The distance from outstretchedthumb tip to little-finger tip. The length and width of the priest’sbreastpiece (Exod. 28:16).
Stadion.Approximately 607 feet, or 185 meters. Equivalent to 100 orguiai.Used in the measurement of large distances (Matt. 14:24; Luke 24:13;John 6:19; 11:18; Rev. 14:20; 21:16).
LandArea
Seed.The size of a piece of land could also be measured on the basis ofhow much seed was required to plant that field (Lev. 27:16; 1Kings18:32).
Yoke.Fields and lands were measured using logical, available means. Inbiblical times, this meant the amount of land a pair of yoked animalscould plow in one day (1Sam. 14:14; Isa. 5:10).
Capacity
Cab.Approximately ½ gallon, or 1.9 liters. Equivalent to 1 omer.Mentioned only once in the Scriptures, during the siege of Samaria(2Kings 6:25).
Choinix.Approximately ¼ gallon, or 0.9 liters. A Greek measurement,mentioned only once in Scripture (Rev. 6:6).
Cor.Approximately 6 bushels (48.4 gallons, or 183 liters). Equal to thehomer, and to 10 ephahs. Used for measuring dry volumes, particularlyof flour and grains (1Kings 4:22; 1Kings 5:11; 2Chron.2:10; 27:5; Ezra 7:22). In the LXX, cor is also a measure of liquidvolume, particularly oil (1Kings 5:11; 2Chron. 2:10; Ezra45:14).
Ephah.Approximately 3⁄5 bushel (6 gallons, or 22.7 liters).Equivalent to 10 omers, or 1⁄10 homer. Used for measuring flourand grains (e.g., Exod. 29:40; Lev. 6:20). Isaiah prophesied a day ofreduced agricultural yield, when a homer of seed would produce onlyan ephah of grain (Isa. 5:10). The ephah was equal in size to thebath (Ezek. 45:11), which typically was used for liquid measurements.
Homer.Approximately 6 bushels (48.4 gallons, or 183 liters). Equivalent to1 cor, or 10 ephahs. Used for measuring dry volumes, particularly ofvarious grains (Lev. 27:16; Isa. 5:10; Ezek. 45:11, 13–14; Hos.3:2). This is probably a natural measure of the load that a donkeycan carry, in the range of 90 kilograms. There may have existed adirect link between capacity and monetary value, given Lev. 27:16:“fifty shekels of silver to a homer of barley seed.” Alogical deduction of capacity and cost based on known equivalencesmight look something like this:
1homer = 1 mina; 1 ephah = 5 shekels; 1 omer = 1 beka
Koros.Approximately 10 bushels (95 gallons, or 360 liters). A Greek measureof grain (Luke 16:7).
Omer.Approximately 2 quarts, or 1.9 liters. Equivalent to 1⁄10ephah, 1⁄100 homer (Ezek. 45:11). Used by Israel in themeasurement and collection of manna in the wilderness (Exod.16:16–36) and thus roughly equivalent to a person’s dailyfood ration.
Saton.Approximately 7 quarts, or 6.6 liters. Equivalent to 1 seah. Themeasurement of flour in Jesus’ parable of the kingdom of heaven(Matt. 13:33; Luke 13:21).
Seah.Approximately 7 quarts, or 6.6 liters. Equivalent to 1⁄3 ephah,or 1 saton. Used to measure flour, grain, seed, and other various drygoods (e.g., 2Kings 7:1; 1Sam. 25:18).
LiquidVolume
Bath.Approximately 6 gallons, or 22.7 liters. Equivalent to 1 ephah, whichtypically was used for measurements of dry capacity. Used in themeasurement of water (1Kings 7:26), oil (1Kings 5:11),and wine (2Chron. 2:10; Isa. 5:10).
Batos.Approximately 8 gallons, or 30.3 liters. A Greek transliteration ofthe Hebrew word bath(see above). A measure of oil (Luke 16:6).
Hin.Approximately 4 quarts (1gallon, or 3.8 liters). Equivalent to1⁄6 bath and 12 logs. Used in the measurement of water (Ezek.4:11), oil (Ezek. 46:5), and wine (Num. 28:14).
Log.Approximately 1⁄3 quart, or 0.3 liter. Equivalent to 1⁄72bath and 1⁄12 hin. Mentioned five times in Scripture,specifically used to measure oil (Lev. 14:10–24).
Metretes.Approximately 10 gallons, or 37.8 liters. Used in the measurement ofwater at the wedding feast (John 2:6).
One of Jesus’ disciples, mentioned by name only in John1:45–49; 21:2. He was from Cana in Galilee (21:2), where Jesuschanged water into wine. Nathanael was initially skeptical ofPhilip’s claims about Jesus because Jesus was from Nazareth(1:45–46), but his skepticism turned to belief when Jesus, whocalled Nathanael “truly . . . an Israelite in whom there is nodeceit,” demonstrated miraculous knowledge of where Nathanaelhad been sitting before he met Jesus (1:47–49). Nathanaelquickly declared his faith in Jesus. As a result of Nathanael’sready faith, Jesus promised him that he would be witness to Jesus’salvific work and the miraculous transformation of the brokenrelationship between God and humankind (John 1:50). Nathanael was oneof the first disciples to see the risen Jesus (John 21:1–4).
Nathanaelwas most likely the same person as Bartholomew (Matt. 10:3; Mark3:18; Luke 6:14; Acts 1:13), given that John never mentionsBartholomew and the Synoptic Gospels never mention Nathanael, andthat the Synoptic Gospels list Bartholomew’s name directlyafter Philip’s, while John connects Nathanael and Philip in hisnarrative.
An occupation or profession is the usual work or business inwhich a person engages for the sake of earning a living. In biblicaltimes, family or social standing most often determined occupation.This was particularly true for occupations tied to land, such asplanting crops and raising animals, since land in ancient Israel waspassed down within the tribe, normally from fathers to sons (Josh.14:9; Ezek. 46:18). Sometimes daughters also received a share in thefamily inheritance (Josh. 17:6). Most people gained their livelihoodfrom their family’s land, and those who did not have land hiredthemselves out to work for wages (Deut. 24:14). A son normallylearned his trade from his father (Gen. 47:3; 2Kings 4:18;Matt. 4:21) and continued in that occupation unless called into God’sservice (1Kings 19:19–21; Jer. 1:5; Matt. 4:22).
Cicero,writing around the time of the NT, considered occupations such as taxcollector, laborer, and fisherman to be vulgar. Conversely,professions such as teacher, doctor, and wholesale trader were morehonorable, with landowner being the most respectable and profitableprofession (Off. 1.42).
Agricultureand Farming
Farmingis the earliest recorded occupation in the Bible, as the first manwas called to work and keep the garden (Gen. 2:15). Even after theexile from Eden because of sin, Adam worked the ground for food, asdid Cain, his firstborn son (Gen. 3:17–18; 4:2). The openingchapters of the Bible establish a fundamental link between “man”(’adam) and the “ground” (’adamah). After theflood, Noah established himself as a “man of the soil”(’ish ha’adamah) by planting a vineyard (Gen. 9:20). KingUzziah “loved the soil” (’oheb ’adamah) andso employed people to work in his fields and vineyards (2Chron.26:10).
Goddemonstrated his covenant commitment to Isaac by blessing him with anincredible harvest (Gen. 26:12), and he promised to prosper Israel’sfarms if the people obeyed him (Deut. 28:4) and to curse the fruit oftheir ground if they disobeyed (Deut. 28:18). The OT ideal was foreveryone to live “under their own vine and under their own figtree” (1Kings 4:25; Mic. 4:4). According to Prov. 28:19,the diligent farmer would have abundant food.
Jesus’parables frequently employed agricultural imagery that would havebeen readily understandable in first-century Palestine, where manypeople were farmers (cf. Mark 4:1–9; 12:1–11) and someowned land (Acts 4:34). The people living around Jerusalem at thistime engaged in agriculture, soil cultivation, and cattle raising(Let. Aris. 107–112).
Herdingand Hunting
Herdinganimals is the second-oldest occupation recorded in Scripture (afterfarming), and raising flocks and herds continued to be one of themost common and important professions throughout biblical times. Abelis the first “keeper of sheep” in the Bible (Gen. 4:2NRSV). Several generations later, Jabal pioneered the nomadic herdinglifestyle (Gen. 4:20). The patriarchs were shepherds (Gen. 47:3), aswere Moses (Exod. 3:1), David (1Sam. 17:34), and many others inthe OT. Josephus acknowledged that “feeding of sheep was theemployment of our forefathers in the most ancient ages”(Ag.Ap. 1.91). While men typically worked as shepherds andherdsmen, the occupation was also open to women, such as Rachel,whose fathers owned sheep (Gen. 29:9). Shepherds were present atJesus’ birth (Luke 2:8–20), and Jesus’ teachingsuggests that shepherding was a common occupation in Palestine (cf.Matt. 18:12; John 10:1–30).
Manypeople in biblical times hunted, either for food, sport, orprotection. The first recorded hunter is Nimrod, “a mightyhunter before the Lord” (Gen. 10:9). Ishmael was “anexpert with the bow” (Gen. 21:20 NRSV), while Esau was “askillful hunter, a man of the open country” who brought backwild game for food (25:27–28). The name of Pokereth-Hazzebaim,included in the genealogy of Solomon’s servants in Ezra 2:57,reflects his occupation as a “gazelle catcher” (cf.1Kings 4:23).
Buildersand Craftsmen
Cainwas the first person in the Bible to build a city (Gen. 4:17), andhis descendant Tubal-Cain was the first metalworker (4:22). Nimrodbuilt a number of cities (10:11–12), and the beginning ofNimrod’s kingdom was Babel (10:10), where the people gatheredtogether to build a city with brick (11:3). Builders in Mesopotamiaused baked brick and asphalt, while Israelite builders usuallypreferred the more readily available stone and mortar. After Joseph’sdeath, Israel was conscripted into forced labor in Egypt, whichinvolved building cities of brick and mortar (Exod. 1:11).
Therole of craftsmen in the construction of the tabernacle wasparticularly significant. Bezalel and Oholiab were “skilledworkers and designers” empowered by God for work on thetabernacle (Exod. 35:35). They engaged in “all kinds ofcrafts,” including artistic metalworking, masonry, carpentry,and weaving (Exod. 31:4–5; 38:23).
Kingsin Israel often commissioned important building projects (1Kings12:25; 15:22; 16:24; 2Chron. 26:9; Josephus, J.W. 1.401–2).Carpenters and stonemasons worked on David’s palace (2Sam.5:11). Solomon conscripted laborers to build the temple and alsoemployed carriers, stonecutters, craftsmen, and foremen to supervisethe work (1Kings 5:13–18). After the Babylonian exile,many Israelites were involved in rebuilding the temple and the wallof Jerusalem, which had been destroyed (Ezra 3:8; Neh. 4:16–18).These projects, directed by Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, utilized masons,carpenters, and other workers (Ezra 3:7).
Jesusis referred to as a tektōn (Mark 6:3) and as the son of a tektōn(Matt. 13:55), with tektōn usually translated “carpenter”by English versions. However,recent scholarshiphas demonstrated that Jesus was likely a builder, not a carpenter inthe modern sense of the term. In the LXX, the word tektōntypically translates a Hebrew word, kharash, used broadly to refer tocraftsmen working with stone, wood, or metal.
Musicians
Thefirst musician recorded in Scripture is Jubal, “the father ofall who play the stringed instruments and pipes” (Gen. 4:21).Musicians performed a variety of roles in ancient society, as they dotoday. Singers and instrumentalists were employed to celebratefestive occasions, often to provide accompaniment for dancing (Gen.31:27; Luke 15:25), to soothe the sick or distressed (1Sam.16:16), and to express lamentation (Job 30:31).
Musiciansplayed an important role in leading God’s people in worship.The “director of music” is mentioned in the headings offifty-five psalms and Hab. 3:19. The most famous musician inScripture is David, “the singer of Israel’s psalms”(2Sam. 23:1 GW), who played the harp (1Sam. 16:18) andwrote or inspired at least seventy-three canonical psalms. Solomonwas also a notable songwriter and lover of music (1Kings 4:32).David appointed many Levites as singers and musicians to lead Israelin worship (1Chron. 15:16; 23:5). The musicians played lyres,harps, cymbals, and trumpets (2Chron. 5:12).
Government,Politics, and Military
Beforethe monarchy, there were no formal government offices. Under Moses, agroup of seventy elders in Israel served as leaders and officials,and these men were to carry out Moses’ decrees and judge thepeople on most matters (Exod. 18:20–22; Num. 11:16). AfterJoshua’s death, God raised up judges to rescue Israel fromforeign enemies and lead the people (Judg. 2:16) until the time ofSamuel, when Saul was made king (1Sam. 11:15).
Kingsin Israel employed various officials. In 2Sam. 8:16–18,Joab is listed first among David’s officials, which suggeststhat the military commander was second in authority after the king.Under Solomon, the leader of the army is called “commander inchief” (1Kings 4:4). The royal cabinet included a numberof key advisers, including the recorder, the secretary, and the“confidant” of the king (cf. 2Sam. 16:16). The OTdoes not specify the precise roles of these officials. The recorderwas among the highest governmental positions and served as a royalcounselor. In Hebrew, mazkir (“recorder”) is a cognatenoun to the verb zkr (“to remember”), which suggests thatthis official may have managed and preserved public records (2Kings18:18; Isa. 36:22). The main task of the king’s secretary orscribe (sop̱er)was to write down (sapar) official state documents (2Sam.8:17), and he advised the king and also provided financial oversight(2Kings 12:10). Recorders and secretaries apparently were welleducated and multilingual, as was the palace administrator (2Kings18:18, 26). Solomon’s officials included supervisors of thepalace and the forced labor, as well as governors who suppliedprovisions for the king’s household (1Kings 4:6–7).The OT mentions cupbearers in Israel’s government and in otheradministrations (Gen. 40:1; 1Kings 10:5; Neh. 1:11). Thecupbearer served as the royal wine taster; he protected the king frombeing poisoned and had direct access to the monarch.
Inthe Roman Empire, the emperor was absolute ruler (1Pet. 2:17),with the senate next in authority. Proconsuls held judicial andmilitary authority over larger provinces (Acts 18:12), prefects(governors) administered smaller provinces (Matt. 27:2), withtetrarchs over one-fourth of a province (Luke 3:1).
Christiansin NT times engaged in civil service. Erastus was a financial officerin Corinth (Rom. 16:23), and he may be the same Erastus commemoratedin an inscription from this period who held the office of aedile. Theproconsul Sergius Paulus (Acts 13:7); Manaen, a close friend of HerodAntipas (Acts 13:1); and members of Caesar’s household (Phil.4:22) were also Christian public leaders.
Tradeand Economics
Fromearliest times, people have exchanged goods and property. WhenAbraham purchased Ephron’s field, his silver was measured“according to the weight current among the merchants”(Gen. 23:16), which suggests that a recognized system of publictrading was in place during the time of the patriarchs. Traders ofcommodities such as spices traveled along caravan routes betweensouthern Arabia and Egypt, and these traders often acquired slavesalong the way (Gen. 37:28). Solomon employed royal merchants to buyand sell goods (1Kings 10:28).
Inthe first century, Jews were engaged broadly in economic life aslandowners, artisans, merchants, traders, bankers, and slaves.Several of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen (Matt. 4:18). Lukewas a physician, a well-educated and respectable professional (Col.4:14). Lydia was a dealer in purple cloth (Acts 16:14). Paul, Aquila,and Priscilla worked as tentmakers (Acts 18:3). In the Roman Empire,commerce and pagan religion often intermingled. Merchants oftenformed trade guilds, where membership sometimes required religiousand moral compromise. In Ephesus, silversmiths and craftsmen inrelated trades turned significant profit through their connectionswith the local Artemis cult (Acts 19:24–27).
Jesusfrequently spent time with tax collectors, such as Levi (also called“Matthew”) (Matt. 9:9; Mark 2:14). Tax collectors were adespised group because often they became wealthy by taking advantageof the Roman taxation system, which allowed them to charge commissionon taxes collected (Luke 19:2, 8). Jesus’ parable of thetalents references bankers who offered interest on deposits collected(Matt. 25:27), and Rev. 3:17–18 alludes to the fact thatLaodicea was a financial center with a significant banking system.
Servantsand Slaves
Inthe OT, ’ebed most often designates a slave or servant, whoseoccupation involves work (’abad ) as a subordinate. Someservants held very important positions in their master’shousehold (Gen. 24:2), while many others toiled in hard labor (Job7:2). Israelites were not to enslave their kinfolk, but they couldtake slaves from other nations. Fellow Israelites who became poorcould serve as hired workers, but they were to be released along withtheir children at the Jubilee because God had brought Israel out fromEgyptian slavery and they belonged to God as his servants (Lev.25:39–46).
Slavesin the Roman world were property like goods or cattle, possessed byanother (Dio Chrysostom, 2Serv. lib. 24). Unlike modern slaverypractices, race played no factor in the Roman institution of slavery.Slaves were kidnapped and sold in NT times (1Tim. 1:10; Rev.18:13), but the majority of slaves were so by birth. The mostprominent slave in the NT is Onesimus, for whom Paul intercedes withhis master, Philemon (Philem. 10, 16). Believing slaves were to obeytheir earthly masters “as slaves of Christ” (Eph. 6:5–6),but the NT stressed the equality of slave and free in Christ (Gal.3:28). Paul called himself a “servant [doulos] of Christ Jesus”(Rom. 1:1).
ReligiousService
MostIsraelites engaged in professional religious service were Levites(Num. 3:12), including Moses, Aaron, and the priests in Aaron’sline (Exod. 6:19–20; 35:19). The priests offered sacrifices toGod on behalf of the people (Heb. 5:1). Under the priests’direction, the Levites were charged with caring for the tabernacleand its furnishings (Num. 1:49; 1Chron. 23:32) and carrying theark of the covenant (1Chron. 15:2). They were set apart toserve in God’s presence (Deut. 18:7) and to lead the people inworship (2Chron. 5:12). Further, priests often played animportant advisory role to Israel’s kings (2Sam. 8:17;1Kings 4:5; 2Kings 12:2).
InIsrael, people went to seers and prophets to inquire of God (1Sam.9:9), for they received and communicated God’s word (2Sam.24:11; Jer. 37:6). Sometimes individuals are mentioned as prophets,and other times the prophets are discussed as an organized group(1Sam. 19:20; 1Kings 22:6).
TheNT references a number of ministerial offices (1Cor. 12:28;Eph. 4:11; 1Tim. 3:1–12). Not all ministers were paid,though teachers and preachers had a right to “receive theirliving from the gospel” (1Cor. 9:14–15; cf. 1Tim.5:17). Apostles were those sent out by Jesus as his representatives.The term apostolos refers particularly to the twelve apostles whowere with Jesus during his earthly ministry and who were witnesses ofhis resurrection (Acts 1:21–22). Paul referred to himself as anapostle (Gal. 1:1; 1Cor. 1:1), and he calls Epaph-ro-di-tus andothers “messengers” (apostoloi) in the churches (2Cor.8:23; Phil. 2:25). Prophets have the spiritual gift of prophecy andspeak to strengthen, encourage, and comfort the church (Acts 15:32;1Cor. 14:3). Overseers (also called “elders” or“pastors”) are qualified leaders who teach, shepherd, andexercise authority in the church (1Tim. 3:1; 1Pet. 5:2).Evangelists and missionaries proclaim the gospel and aim to winconverts to Christ (Acts 21:8; 2Tim. 4:5). Those ministers whoare faithful to the gospel deserve support (3John8).
An occupation or profession is the usual work or business inwhich a person engages for the sake of earning a living. In biblicaltimes, family or social standing most often determined occupation.This was particularly true for occupations tied to land, such asplanting crops and raising animals, since land in ancient Israel waspassed down within the tribe, normally from fathers to sons (Josh.14:9; Ezek. 46:18). Sometimes daughters also received a share in thefamily inheritance (Josh. 17:6). Most people gained their livelihoodfrom their family’s land, and those who did not have land hiredthemselves out to work for wages (Deut. 24:14). A son normallylearned his trade from his father (Gen. 47:3; 2Kings 4:18;Matt. 4:21) and continued in that occupation unless called into God’sservice (1Kings 19:19–21; Jer. 1:5; Matt. 4:22).
Cicero,writing around the time of the NT, considered occupations such as taxcollector, laborer, and fisherman to be vulgar. Conversely,professions such as teacher, doctor, and wholesale trader were morehonorable, with landowner being the most respectable and profitableprofession (Off. 1.42).
Agricultureand Farming
Farmingis the earliest recorded occupation in the Bible, as the first manwas called to work and keep the garden (Gen. 2:15). Even after theexile from Eden because of sin, Adam worked the ground for food, asdid Cain, his firstborn son (Gen. 3:17–18; 4:2). The openingchapters of the Bible establish a fundamental link between “man”(’adam) and the “ground” (’adamah). After theflood, Noah established himself as a “man of the soil”(’ish ha’adamah) by planting a vineyard (Gen. 9:20). KingUzziah “loved the soil” (’oheb ’adamah) andso employed people to work in his fields and vineyards (2Chron.26:10).
Goddemonstrated his covenant commitment to Isaac by blessing him with anincredible harvest (Gen. 26:12), and he promised to prosper Israel’sfarms if the people obeyed him (Deut. 28:4) and to curse the fruit oftheir ground if they disobeyed (Deut. 28:18). The OT ideal was foreveryone to live “under their own vine and under their own figtree” (1Kings 4:25; Mic. 4:4). According to Prov. 28:19,the diligent farmer would have abundant food.
Jesus’parables frequently employed agricultural imagery that would havebeen readily understandable in first-century Palestine, where manypeople were farmers (cf. Mark 4:1–9; 12:1–11) and someowned land (Acts 4:34). The people living around Jerusalem at thistime engaged in agriculture, soil cultivation, and cattle raising(Let. Aris. 107–112).
Herdingand Hunting
Herdinganimals is the second-oldest occupation recorded in Scripture (afterfarming), and raising flocks and herds continued to be one of themost common and important professions throughout biblical times. Abelis the first “keeper of sheep” in the Bible (Gen. 4:2NRSV). Several generations later, Jabal pioneered the nomadic herdinglifestyle (Gen. 4:20). The patriarchs were shepherds (Gen. 47:3), aswere Moses (Exod. 3:1), David (1Sam. 17:34), and many others inthe OT. Josephus acknowledged that “feeding of sheep was theemployment of our forefathers in the most ancient ages”(Ag.Ap. 1.91). While men typically worked as shepherds andherdsmen, the occupation was also open to women, such as Rachel,whose fathers owned sheep (Gen. 29:9). Shepherds were present atJesus’ birth (Luke 2:8–20), and Jesus’ teachingsuggests that shepherding was a common occupation in Palestine (cf.Matt. 18:12; John 10:1–30).
Manypeople in biblical times hunted, either for food, sport, orprotection. The first recorded hunter is Nimrod, “a mightyhunter before the Lord” (Gen. 10:9). Ishmael was “anexpert with the bow” (Gen. 21:20 NRSV), while Esau was “askillful hunter, a man of the open country” who brought backwild game for food (25:27–28). The name of Pokereth-Hazzebaim,included in the genealogy of Solomon’s servants in Ezra 2:57,reflects his occupation as a “gazelle catcher” (cf.1Kings 4:23).
Buildersand Craftsmen
Cainwas the first person in the Bible to build a city (Gen. 4:17), andhis descendant Tubal-Cain was the first metalworker (4:22). Nimrodbuilt a number of cities (10:11–12), and the beginning ofNimrod’s kingdom was Babel (10:10), where the people gatheredtogether to build a city with brick (11:3). Builders in Mesopotamiaused baked brick and asphalt, while Israelite builders usuallypreferred the more readily available stone and mortar. After Joseph’sdeath, Israel was conscripted into forced labor in Egypt, whichinvolved building cities of brick and mortar (Exod. 1:11).
Therole of craftsmen in the construction of the tabernacle wasparticularly significant. Bezalel and Oholiab were “skilledworkers and designers” empowered by God for work on thetabernacle (Exod. 35:35). They engaged in “all kinds ofcrafts,” including artistic metalworking, masonry, carpentry,and weaving (Exod. 31:4–5; 38:23).
Kingsin Israel often commissioned important building projects (1Kings12:25; 15:22; 16:24; 2Chron. 26:9; Josephus, J.W. 1.401–2).Carpenters and stonemasons worked on David’s palace (2Sam.5:11). Solomon conscripted laborers to build the temple and alsoemployed carriers, stonecutters, craftsmen, and foremen to supervisethe work (1Kings 5:13–18). After the Babylonian exile,many Israelites were involved in rebuilding the temple and the wallof Jerusalem, which had been destroyed (Ezra 3:8; Neh. 4:16–18).These projects, directed by Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, utilized masons,carpenters, and other workers (Ezra 3:7).
Jesusis referred to as a tektōn (Mark 6:3) and as the son of a tektōn(Matt. 13:55), with tektōn usually translated “carpenter”by English versions. However,recent scholarshiphas demonstrated that Jesus was likely a builder, not a carpenter inthe modern sense of the term. In the LXX, the word tektōntypically translates a Hebrew word, kharash, used broadly to refer tocraftsmen working with stone, wood, or metal.
Musicians
Thefirst musician recorded in Scripture is Jubal, “the father ofall who play the stringed instruments and pipes” (Gen. 4:21).Musicians performed a variety of roles in ancient society, as they dotoday. Singers and instrumentalists were employed to celebratefestive occasions, often to provide accompaniment for dancing (Gen.31:27; Luke 15:25), to soothe the sick or distressed (1Sam.16:16), and to express lamentation (Job 30:31).
Musiciansplayed an important role in leading God’s people in worship.The “director of music” is mentioned in the headings offifty-five psalms and Hab. 3:19. The most famous musician inScripture is David, “the singer of Israel’s psalms”(2Sam. 23:1 GW), who played the harp (1Sam. 16:18) andwrote or inspired at least seventy-three canonical psalms. Solomonwas also a notable songwriter and lover of music (1Kings 4:32).David appointed many Levites as singers and musicians to lead Israelin worship (1Chron. 15:16; 23:5). The musicians played lyres,harps, cymbals, and trumpets (2Chron. 5:12).
Government,Politics, and Military
Beforethe monarchy, there were no formal government offices. Under Moses, agroup of seventy elders in Israel served as leaders and officials,and these men were to carry out Moses’ decrees and judge thepeople on most matters (Exod. 18:20–22; Num. 11:16). AfterJoshua’s death, God raised up judges to rescue Israel fromforeign enemies and lead the people (Judg. 2:16) until the time ofSamuel, when Saul was made king (1Sam. 11:15).
Kingsin Israel employed various officials. In 2Sam. 8:16–18,Joab is listed first among David’s officials, which suggeststhat the military commander was second in authority after the king.Under Solomon, the leader of the army is called “commander inchief” (1Kings 4:4). The royal cabinet included a numberof key advisers, including the recorder, the secretary, and the“confidant” of the king (cf. 2Sam. 16:16). The OTdoes not specify the precise roles of these officials. The recorderwas among the highest governmental positions and served as a royalcounselor. In Hebrew, mazkir (“recorder”) is a cognatenoun to the verb zkr (“to remember”), which suggests thatthis official may have managed and preserved public records (2Kings18:18; Isa. 36:22). The main task of the king’s secretary orscribe (sop̱er)was to write down (sapar) official state documents (2Sam.8:17), and he advised the king and also provided financial oversight(2Kings 12:10). Recorders and secretaries apparently were welleducated and multilingual, as was the palace administrator (2Kings18:18, 26). Solomon’s officials included supervisors of thepalace and the forced labor, as well as governors who suppliedprovisions for the king’s household (1Kings 4:6–7).The OT mentions cupbearers in Israel’s government and in otheradministrations (Gen. 40:1; 1Kings 10:5; Neh. 1:11). Thecupbearer served as the royal wine taster; he protected the king frombeing poisoned and had direct access to the monarch.
Inthe Roman Empire, the emperor was absolute ruler (1Pet. 2:17),with the senate next in authority. Proconsuls held judicial andmilitary authority over larger provinces (Acts 18:12), prefects(governors) administered smaller provinces (Matt. 27:2), withtetrarchs over one-fourth of a province (Luke 3:1).
Christiansin NT times engaged in civil service. Erastus was a financial officerin Corinth (Rom. 16:23), and he may be the same Erastus commemoratedin an inscription from this period who held the office of aedile. Theproconsul Sergius Paulus (Acts 13:7); Manaen, a close friend of HerodAntipas (Acts 13:1); and members of Caesar’s household (Phil.4:22) were also Christian public leaders.
Tradeand Economics
Fromearliest times, people have exchanged goods and property. WhenAbraham purchased Ephron’s field, his silver was measured“according to the weight current among the merchants”(Gen. 23:16), which suggests that a recognized system of publictrading was in place during the time of the patriarchs. Traders ofcommodities such as spices traveled along caravan routes betweensouthern Arabia and Egypt, and these traders often acquired slavesalong the way (Gen. 37:28). Solomon employed royal merchants to buyand sell goods (1Kings 10:28).
Inthe first century, Jews were engaged broadly in economic life aslandowners, artisans, merchants, traders, bankers, and slaves.Several of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen (Matt. 4:18). Lukewas a physician, a well-educated and respectable professional (Col.4:14). Lydia was a dealer in purple cloth (Acts 16:14). Paul, Aquila,and Priscilla worked as tentmakers (Acts 18:3). In the Roman Empire,commerce and pagan religion often intermingled. Merchants oftenformed trade guilds, where membership sometimes required religiousand moral compromise. In Ephesus, silversmiths and craftsmen inrelated trades turned significant profit through their connectionswith the local Artemis cult (Acts 19:24–27).
Jesusfrequently spent time with tax collectors, such as Levi (also called“Matthew”) (Matt. 9:9; Mark 2:14). Tax collectors were adespised group because often they became wealthy by taking advantageof the Roman taxation system, which allowed them to charge commissionon taxes collected (Luke 19:2, 8). Jesus’ parable of thetalents references bankers who offered interest on deposits collected(Matt. 25:27), and Rev. 3:17–18 alludes to the fact thatLaodicea was a financial center with a significant banking system.
Servantsand Slaves
Inthe OT, ’ebed most often designates a slave or servant, whoseoccupation involves work (’abad ) as a subordinate. Someservants held very important positions in their master’shousehold (Gen. 24:2), while many others toiled in hard labor (Job7:2). Israelites were not to enslave their kinfolk, but they couldtake slaves from other nations. Fellow Israelites who became poorcould serve as hired workers, but they were to be released along withtheir children at the Jubilee because God had brought Israel out fromEgyptian slavery and they belonged to God as his servants (Lev.25:39–46).
Slavesin the Roman world were property like goods or cattle, possessed byanother (Dio Chrysostom, 2Serv. lib. 24). Unlike modern slaverypractices, race played no factor in the Roman institution of slavery.Slaves were kidnapped and sold in NT times (1Tim. 1:10; Rev.18:13), but the majority of slaves were so by birth. The mostprominent slave in the NT is Onesimus, for whom Paul intercedes withhis master, Philemon (Philem. 10, 16). Believing slaves were to obeytheir earthly masters “as slaves of Christ” (Eph. 6:5–6),but the NT stressed the equality of slave and free in Christ (Gal.3:28). Paul called himself a “servant [doulos] of Christ Jesus”(Rom. 1:1).
ReligiousService
MostIsraelites engaged in professional religious service were Levites(Num. 3:12), including Moses, Aaron, and the priests in Aaron’sline (Exod. 6:19–20; 35:19). The priests offered sacrifices toGod on behalf of the people (Heb. 5:1). Under the priests’direction, the Levites were charged with caring for the tabernacleand its furnishings (Num. 1:49; 1Chron. 23:32) and carrying theark of the covenant (1Chron. 15:2). They were set apart toserve in God’s presence (Deut. 18:7) and to lead the people inworship (2Chron. 5:12). Further, priests often played animportant advisory role to Israel’s kings (2Sam. 8:17;1Kings 4:5; 2Kings 12:2).
InIsrael, people went to seers and prophets to inquire of God (1Sam.9:9), for they received and communicated God’s word (2Sam.24:11; Jer. 37:6). Sometimes individuals are mentioned as prophets,and other times the prophets are discussed as an organized group(1Sam. 19:20; 1Kings 22:6).
TheNT references a number of ministerial offices (1Cor. 12:28;Eph. 4:11; 1Tim. 3:1–12). Not all ministers were paid,though teachers and preachers had a right to “receive theirliving from the gospel” (1Cor. 9:14–15; cf. 1Tim.5:17). Apostles were those sent out by Jesus as his representatives.The term apostolos refers particularly to the twelve apostles whowere with Jesus during his earthly ministry and who were witnesses ofhis resurrection (Acts 1:21–22). Paul referred to himself as anapostle (Gal. 1:1; 1Cor. 1:1), and he calls Epaph-ro-di-tus andothers “messengers” (apostoloi) in the churches (2Cor.8:23; Phil. 2:25). Prophets have the spiritual gift of prophecy andspeak to strengthen, encourage, and comfort the church (Acts 15:32;1Cor. 14:3). Overseers (also called “elders” or“pastors”) are qualified leaders who teach, shepherd, andexercise authority in the church (1Tim. 3:1; 1Pet. 5:2).Evangelists and missionaries proclaim the gospel and aim to winconverts to Christ (Acts 21:8; 2Tim. 4:5). Those ministers whoare faithful to the gospel deserve support (3John8).
These church offices are God-given positions of leadershipwithin the early church designed to give it structure and direction.Some of these positions have ongoing application for today; othersare important primarily for understanding the historical developmentof the church.
Adefinite structure for church leadership is God’s idea. Eventhough the equality of all believers is a biblical principle (thepriesthood of all believers in 1Pet. 2:5, 9), God has alsochosen to give certain spiritual gifts of leadership (Rom. 12:8) oradministration (1Cor. 12:28) to a limited number within thechurch, not universally to everyone. Paul asks a series of rhetoricalquestions in 1Cor. 12:29, “Are all apostles? Are allprophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?” where theexpected answer in each case clearly is “No, not everyone hasevery gift.” Believers are also specifically instructed to“obey your leaders and submit to them” (Heb. 13:17 ESV,NRSV, NASB) and to respect those “who care for you in the Lordand who admonish you” (1Thess. 5:12). God’s plan isclearly that there be specific leaders. At the same time, the NT doesnot always answer all our questions or spell out every detail in thisarea of church leadership. The more significant offices in the NTchurch include the following:
Apostle.Apostles formed the earliest and most important leadership structure.Jesus, early in his ministry, “called his disciples to him andchose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles” (Luke6:13).The word “disciple” (mathētēs) means “student”or “learner” and indicates the role of these originaltwelve during Jesus’ earthly ministry. Following Jesus’death and resurrection, these same individuals(now minus Judas Iscariot) were typically called “apostles”(apostolos [lit., “sent-out one”), who were thenentrusted with Christ’s power and authority as his officialrepresentatives. Paul describes the foundational role of this officein Eph. 2:20. Their power and authority were without parallel in thehistorical development of the church. Some other observations roundout our understanding of this office. First, there are occasional(but limited) references to broader circles of apostles in the senseof other people being “sent out” by God for specificministry. Thus, Barnabas is apparently described as an apostlealongside Paul (Acts 14:14), and James the brother of Jesus isdescribed as an apostle (Gal. 1:19). However, Acts 1:21–22spells out the usual qualifications for an apostle: “men whohave been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us,beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was takenup from us.” Thus, the apostleship, especially understood inthe strict sense, is limited to original eyewitnesses from among thefirst generation of believers, and this office has not continued.
Prophet.The office of prophet (prophētēs) is another foundationalone at the time of the establishment of the church (Eph. 2:20).Agabus is described as a prophet (Acts 21:10), and Paul assumesthat there were prophets in the church in Corinth (1Cor.12:29). Although this is a controversial topic, many believe thatthis office no longer continues today.
Elder/presbyter.The office of elder or presbyter (presbyteros) is one of the mostcommon in the church. This office is based on the model of elders inthe Jewish synagogue. Paul and Bar-na-bas appointed elders in everychurch as early as their first missionary journey (Acts 14:23). Jamesinstructs the sick to call on the elders of the church to pray overthem (James 5:14). The best job description for elders is 1Tim.5:17, where there are two major emphases: first, directing theaffairs of the church, and second, preaching and teaching. Eldersapparently always functioned in a plurality in Scripture, never assolo leaders.
Overseer/bishop.The office of overseer or bishop (episkopos) is mentioned in Phil.1:1 as well as in 1Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:7 in the lists ofqualifications. Although by the second or third century the office ofoverseer/bishop had evolved into a singular office of one overseerpresiding over a number of elders, this was not true in the NT, wherethese two titles apparently were different names for the same office.Several passages indicate this relationship. In Acts 20:17 Paul callsspecifically for the “elders” of the church, yet in Acts20:28 he refers to them as “overseers.” In similarfashion, in Titus 1:5–9 Paul tells Titus to “appointelders in every town” but then apparently goes on to speak ofthem as “overseers.” Peter does the same thing in 1Pet.5:1–2, where he describes them first as “elders”and then as “overseers.” The key to understanding thisrelationship is to see that the term “elder” comes fromtheir Jewish heritage and reflects the qualifications for this office(someone who is older and more mature), whereas the term “overseer”comes from a Greek background and refers more to their jobdescription (they are to oversee and take responsibility forleadership).
Deacon.Deacons provide practical, hands-on ministry in the local church.Interestingly, the classic passage on this office, Acts 6:1–6,never uses the actualnoun “deacon” (diakonos). Instead, other forms of thisword are used: “to wait on tables” (diakoneō [v.2])and “the ministry [lit., ‘service’]of the word” (diakonia [v.4]). This word group is usedfrequently to refer to nonreligious service, such as Martha’smeal preparation (Luke 10:40) or in reference to a servant orattendant in one of Jesus’ parables (e.g., Matt. 22:13).Originally, the term “deacon” simply meant “servant.”In the development of the NT church, it gradually became a technicalterm used to refer to a specific office, such as in Paul’sgreeting in Phil. 1:1 and in the list of qualifications in 1Tim.3:8–13. The standard understanding of the deacons in the NTchurch structure is that they assisted the elders/overseers inpractical ways (probably on the model of the seven men in Acts 6).
Pastor.Pastors, surprisingly, show up only a single time in most Englishtranslations, in Eph.4:11, where Paul describes how Christ “gave ...pastors and teachers.” “Pastor” (poimēn) means“shepherd,” and although the noun appears in this senseof a church leader only here, the verb “to shepherd”(poimainō) occurs also in Acts 20:28; 1Pet. 5:2.This shepherding role is associated with the elders/overseers. We seethis in Paul’s address to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, wherehe calls them “elders” (v.17) and “overseers”(v.28) and tells them how they are to “be shepherds ofthe church of God” (v.28). Peter does the same thing in1Pet. 5:1–2, where he calls them “elders”(v.1) and then calls them “overseers” and tellsthem to “be shepherds of God’s flock” (v.2).
Teacher.Teachersare mentioned among those with various spiritual gifts in 1Cor.12:28–29 and are connected with pastors in Eph. 4:11,apparently as a single combined office.
Evangelist.Evangelists are mentioned in the list of specially gifted individualsin Eph. 4:11, in relationship to Philip the evangelist in Acts 21:8,and as part of the job description for Timothy in 2Tim. 4:5(“do the work of an evangelist”).
The act of election and appointment to positions ofleadership and service within religious communities.
OldTestament.In the OT, parties receiving such appointment include kings and otherleaders of the people (1Sam. 9), the Aaronide priests (Exod.29), and the Levites (Num. 8).
Divineinitiative stands behind the choice of a king. God expresses favorfor a candidate through prophets (1Sam. 9:16; 1Kings11:30–38), who have a role in ceremonies expressive of suchappointment. An essential component of the procedure is theanointment of the appointee with oil (1Sam. 10:1; 1Kings19:16). A consequence of such election and installation is thereception of a spirit from God, leading, in one case, to acts ofprophecy (1Sam. 10:10–13).
Divineinitiative also stands behind the appointment of individuals (Moses[Exod. 3:7–22], Joshua [Num. 27:15–23], the variousjudges [Judg. 3:15; 6:11–24]) for the leadership of Israelapart from the office of kingship. In such cases within the OT, God’scommunication may come directly (in the case of Moses) or through theagency of another human (Moses communicates divine intent to Joshua)or an angelic being (Judg. 6:11–24). In the case of Joshua,Moses lays his hands upon him as an expression of divine election(Num. 27:22); the action recognizes that a spirit from God has comeupon Joshua (27:18).
Mosesofficiates at the ordination of the first priests (Aaron and his sons[Lev. 8:6–9:24]) of the Israelite sacrificial cult. Anointmentwith oil, the application of blood from a sanctified animal, and thedonning of priestly vestments are part of the ritual of ordination.
Theelection of the Levites as assistants to the Aaronide priests,substitutes for the required offering of all firstborn males ofIsrael, comes from God (Num. 8:5–22). The laying on of hands byelders accompanies the consecration of the Levites (Num. 8:10),allowing them to handle the sanctified accoutrements of thesacrificial cult.
NewTestament.In the NT, Jesus’ initiative stands behind the appointment ofthe disciples (Matt. 10:1–8; Mark 3:13–19; Luke 6:12–16).The disciples and/or elders preside over the appointment of otherparties to positions of leadership and service in the community offaith. Such narrated acts of ordination cover appointments to avariety of tasks within the NT. These tasks include that of choosingan apostle to replace Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:15–26), thedistribution of food (6:1–6), and carrying the gospel tospecific destinations (13:1–3).
Themeans for direction in election include prayer (Acts 13:1–3),along with the casting of lots (1:24–26). Furthermore, thecombination of prayer and fasting within the context of worship maybecome the occasion for direction from the Holy Spirit (13:1–3).A summary statement concerning the selection of elders in Acts 14:23concurs with 13:1–3, listing prayer and fasting as the means todiscernment. Also witnessed is the judgment of the community infinding servants filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom (6:1–6).Thus, the ability of the community to recognize specificqualifications is enlisted in the process of election.
Thelaying on of hands may mark the commissioning of individuals tospecific tasks (Acts 13:3). Elsewhere, the same action, along with anact of prophecy, bestows “gifts” upon individuals (1Tim.4:14). The mention of “gifts” (healing, guidance,tongues, etc.), along with the specification of certain functionswithin the community of faith (prophets, apostles, teachers, etc.),occurs in Rom. 12:6–8; 1Cor. 12:27–30; Eph. 4:11.These passages offer an expansion of the list of functions and tasksdescribed in the narratives previously mentioned. All three passagesexhort the community to recognize the diversity of talent within thecommunity and to employ those gifts appropriately. These giftsinclude those of healing, miracles, guidance, and speech in strangetongues. The functions and offices mentioned include those ofprophet, apostle, and teacher. The collocation of such gifts andfunctions in these passages suggests, of course, that the appropriategift would accompany the ability to perform such functions in theappointment of an individual.
Summary.Although differences exist between the OT and the NT in the rolesprescribed by appointment and their attendant abilities, continuityacross both bodies of literature finds expression through theinitiative of God, the bestowal of a spirit of empowerment, and thepractice of the laying on of hands in acts of ordination.
A Pharisee commissioned by Jesus Christ to preach the gospelto Gentiles. His Jewish name was “Saul” (Acts 9:4; 13:9),but he preferred using his Roman name, especially when he signed hisletters. Actually, “Paul” was his last name. Romancitizens had three names; the last name was the family name, calledthe “cognomen.” We do not know Paul’s first andmiddle Roman name, but his last name is derived from the Latin Paulus(Sergius Paulus, the proconsul of Cyprus, had the same family name[13:7]). Most people were known and called by their last name becausegroup identity was more important in the first-century Mediterraneanworld than individual recognition. For example, when speakingpublicly, Paul did not use his favorite self-designations, “apostleto the Gentiles” or “slave of Christ Jesus”;instead, he identified himself as a Jew, a citizen of Tarsus, astudent of Gamaliel (21:39; 22:3). His social identity was embeddedin his ethnicity, his nativity, his religion. However, even thosecategories cannot adequately describe Paul. He was a Jew but also aRoman citizen. Tarsus was his home (11:25–26), but he claimedthat he was brought up in Jerusalem. He spoke Aramaic but wrote Greekletters. He was once a Pharisee but then preached a circumcision-freegospel to Gentiles. In many respects, Paul is an enigma. Who was he?What did he believe? Why did he think he had to leave his previouslife in Judaism to become the apostle to the Gentiles? Why is he oneof the major contributors to the NT even though he was not a followerof the historical Jesus?
Paul’sLife
Paulas a converted Pharisee.Paul spent the first half of his life as a Pharisee. The Phariseeswere a Jewish sect that emphasized obedience to the law of God as themeans of maintaining holiness. Practically all Jews believed thatthey should obey the law, but what made the Pharisees unique wastheir emphasis on applying all commandments, even those intended onlyfor Levites and priests, to all Jews. For example, priests wererequired to keep certain rituals of hand washing before they ate(Lev. 22:1–9; cf. Exod 30:19–21; 40:31–32). So thePharisees extended these requirements to all Israel in order to showGod how serious they were about obeying the law (Mark 7:3–4).Obedience was crucial to God’s blessing; disobedience broughtGod’s curse. Therefore, the Pharisees established manytraditions, going beyond the letter of the law, to ensure compliance.To what extent the Jewish people followed the example of thePharisees is debated, but certainly it appeared to the people that noone was more zealous for God and his law than the Pharisees—azeal that would compel them to join in the stoning of obviousoffenders (Lev. 24:14; Acts 7:58). As a Pharisee, Paul’s zealfor the law led him to persecute Jewish Christians, not only inJerusalem but also outside Israel, in places such as Damascus (Acts8:3; 9:1–3; 22:4–5; Gal. 1:13–14; Phil. 3:6).Neither Paul nor Luke explains what the Pharisees found objectionableabout this Jewish movement known as “the Way.” In fact,Paul’s teacher, Gamaliel, advised the Sanhedrin to ignoremembers of the Way and not make trouble for them (Acts5:34–39)—advice obviously not taken by Paul. Perhaps itwas Jesus’ reputation as a lawbreaker or the fact that he haddied a cursed death according to the law that convinced Paul toimprison Jesus’ disciples (Deut. 21:23). Whatever the reason,Paul saw his role as persecutor of the church as the ultimate proofof his blamelessness under the law (Phil. 3:6).
AfterChrist appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus, everything changed:his life, his mission, his worldview (Acts 9:3–30). Paul leftPharisaism and immediately began preaching the gospel (Gal. 1:11–17).Those whom he persecuted were now friends. His zeal for the law wasreplaced by his zeal for Christ. It was a radical reversal. The rumorspread quickly: “The man who formerly persecuted us is nowpreaching the faith he once tried to destroy” (Gal. 1:23). Whythe sudden change? Some think that it is what Paul saw—theglorified Messiah—that changed his perspective. Theresurrection of Christ turned the curse of the cross into a blessing,death into life, shame into honor. The appearance of Christ(Christophany) was a revelation, an apocalypse, an end-of-the-worldevent for Paul. Old things passed away; everything became new (2Cor.5:17). What was divided under the old age of the law—Jews andGentiles, male and female, slave and free—was united in Christ.Other scholars emphasize it is what Paul heard during theChristophany that changed the course of his life. Paul interpretedChrist’s charge, “Go, preach to the Gentiles,” as aprophetic calling, perhaps even fulfilling Isaiah’s end-timevision of salvation of the whole world (Isa. 49:1–7; Gal.1:15–16). Thus, Paul’s westward push to take the gospelto the coastlands (Spain) was by divine design (Rom. 15:15–24).God commissioned Saul the Pharisee of the Jews to become Paul theapostle to the Gentiles because “the culmination of the ageshas come” (1Cor. 10:11).
Paul’sministry.By our best estimates, Paul spent about thirty years preaching thegospel of Jesus Christ (AD 34–67)—a ministry that can bedivided roughly into three decades. The first decade of his ministry(AD 34–46) has been called the “silent years,” aswe have few details from Acts or the Pauline Epistles about hisactivities. For example, we know that he preached in Damascus for awhile and spent some time in Arabia (a total of three years [Gal.1:17–18]). He made a quick trip to Jerusalem to meet Peter andJames the brother of Jesus. Then he returned home to Tarsus,evidently preaching there for several years, until Barnabas broughthim to Antioch in Syria to help with the ministry of this mixedcongregation of Jews and Gentiles (Acts 9:26–30; 11:25–26).In the second decade of his ministry (AD 46–59), Paul spentmost of his life on the road, an itinerant ministry of preaching thegospel and planting churches from Cyprus to Corinth. For most of thethird decade (AD 59–67), Paul ministered the gospel fromprison, spending over two years imprisoned in Caesarea, another twoto three years in a Roman prison (Acts ends here), released for abrief time (two years?) before his final arrest and imprisonment inRome, where, according to church tradition, he was executed.
Duringhis itinerant ministry, Paul traveled Roman roads that led him tofree cities (Ephesus, Thessalonica, Athens) and Roman colonies(Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, Troas, Philippi, Corinth).Founding churches in urban centers afforded Paul more opportunitiesfor ministry and for his work of making and repairing tents.Traveling within the borders of the Roman Empire also provided abetter chance of protection as a citizen. At first, Paul and Barnabascovered familiar territory: Cyprus (Barnabas’s home region) andAnatolia (Paul’s home region). Then, with successive journeysPaul and other missionary companions branched out to Asia Minor,Macedonia, and Achaia. Some of the towns that Paul visited were smalland provincial (Derbe, Lystra); others were major cities of greateconomic and intellectual commerce (Ephesus, Corinth, Athens). In themidst of such cultural diversity, Paul found receptive ears among avariety of ethnic groups: Gauls, Phrygians and Lycaonians, Greeks,Romans, and Jews. Previously, Paul’s Gentile converts hadworshiped many gods (local, ethnic, and imperial), offered sacrificesat many shrines and temples, and joined in all the religiousfestivals (often involving immoral and ungodly practices). Afterbelieving the gospel, Paul’s predominantly Gentile churchesturned from their idolatrous ways to serve “the living and trueGod” (1Thess. 1:9). Their exclusive devotion to one Godquickly led to economic and political problems, for both Paul’sconverts and the cities of their residence. No more offerings forpatron gods, no more support for local synagogues or the imperialcult—Paul’s converts were often persecuted for theirnewly found faith by local religious guilds (idol makers!) and civicleaders courting Roman favor (Acts 17:6–9; 19:23–41;Phil. 1:27–30; 1Thess. 2:14–16). Indeed, Paul oftenwas run out of town as a troublemaker who preached a message thatthreatened both the Jewish and the Roman ways of life (Acts 16:19–24;Phil. 3:17–4:1). It is no wonder that Paul’s activitieseventually landed him in a Roman prison. It was only a matter of timebefore his reputation as a “lawbreaker” caught up withhim (Acts 21:21). But that did not stop Paul. Whether as a prisoneror a free man, Paul proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ until theday he died.
Paul’sGospel
Thesources of Paul’s gospel.Paul ministered his entire life without the benefit of literaryGospels. Most scholars think that the earliest Gospel, Mark, waswritten about the time that Paul was martyred. Since Paul was not adisciple of Jesus and probably never heard him speak or witnessed hisearthly ministry, how did Paul know what to preach? Where did Paulget his gospel? Paul mentioned four sources. First, he received oraltraditions about Jesus from other Christians (1Cor. 15:1–7).For him, hearing what happened during the Lord’s Supper fromthose who followed Jesus was the same as receiving it from the Lord(1Cor. 11:23). Second, the Hebrew Scriptures were a majorsource of Paul’s gospel (Acts 17:2). Illumined by the HolySpirit, Paul saw the gospel proclaimed in the law (Rom. 10:6–8)and predicted by the prophets (15:12). Third, in addition to theChristophany on the road to Damascus, Paul experienced revelations ofChrist as epiphanies of the gospel (Acts 18:9–10; 26:18). Thisgave Paul the authority to claim that he received his gospelpreeminently from Christ (Gal. 1:1, 16; 2:2). Fourth, Paul saw lifeexperiences as a resource for the gospel (2Cor. 12:7–10).As Paul made sense of what happened to him, he shared these insightswith his converts as proof that “Christ is speaking through me”(2Cor. 13:3–4). Indeed, Paul’s ways of doing thegospel were to be taught in all the churches as gospel truth (1Cor.4:17), because as far as Paul was concerned, the gospel of JesusChrist was the gospel according to Paul.
Thedeath and resurrection of Jesus Christ.The center of Paul’s gospel was the death and resurrection ofJesus. The essence of what he preached was “Jesus Christ andhim crucified” (1Cor. 2:2). Furthermore, the resurrectionof Christ was indispensable to the gospel that Paul proclaimed.Without the resurrection, Paul argued, faith in Christ would be vainbecause believers would still be dead in their sins with no hope oflife after death—the resurrection of their bodies (1Cor.15:13–19). Exploring the center, Paul used several metaphorsdrawn from everyday life to explain the significance of Christ’swork on the cross. Paul used legal terms such as“justification”/“righteousness,” “law,”and “condemnation” when he explained how sinners arejustified by faith in Christ. Paul described the implications ofChrist’s death in religious terms, using words such as“sacrifice,” “sin,”“propitiation”/“expiation” (NIV: “sacrificeof atonement”), and “temple,” which would makesense to both Jews and Gentiles. He also borrowed words from theworld of commerce, such as “redemption,” “purchase,”and “slave,” especially when he emphasized the obedienceof Christ, of Paul, of all believers. He even used military terms todescribe how God turned enemies into friends through the cross: the“reconciliation” that came through the “victory”of Christ’s death when he “disarmed” the “powers.”
Paulalso relied heavily on Jewish theology as he sorted out the work ofGod in Christ Jesus. Paul was a monotheist but attributed divinestatus to Jesus (Phil. 2:6). Paul believed that Israel was God’schosen people but maintained that his Gentile converts were theelect, calling them the “Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16). Paulaffirmed the law was holy but argued that holiness came only throughthe indwelling Spirit (Rom. 7:12; 1Thess. 4:7–8). Paulbelieved that the Messiah’s appearance would bring about theend of the world but looked forward to Christ’s parousia(“appearance”) at the end of time. In other words, theperson and work of Christ formed the lens through which Paulinterpreted the Bible and made sense of the world. Indeed, Paul’sgospel was built on a foundation of Jewish doctrine, Jesus tradition,and religious experience.
Away of life.For Paul, the gospel was more than a set of beliefs; it was a way oflife. To believe in Christ Jesus not only entailed accepting hissacrificial death as atonement for sin but also meant followingChrist by taking up his cross—a life of sacrifice. Paulbelieved that he experienced the cross of Christ every time heendured hardship, every time he was persecuted, every time hesuffered loss (Phil. 3:7–11). And it was in the crucified lifethat Paul found resurrection power (3:12–21). The gospel wasthe divine paradigm for living. What happened to Christ is whathappened to Paul, and what happened to Paul is what would happen toall his converts. “Follow my example,” he wrote, “asI follow the example of Christ” (1Cor. 11:1). In fact,Paul believed that all Christians were constantly being conformed tothe image of God’s Son (Rom. 8:29). He was convinced that Godwould finish what he had started: the perfecting of his convertsuntil the day of Christ’s return and the resurrection of everybeliever (Phil. 1:6; 3:21). The only thing that his converts neededto imitate Christ was the indwelling power of his Spirit (the HolySpirit), the example of Paul’s life, and a letter every now andthen from their apostle.
Paul’sLetters
Paulsent letters to churches and individuals to inform his converts ofhis situation, offer encouragement, answer questions, and addressproblems that developed while he was away. There are thirteen lettersof Paul in the New Testament. Nine were written to churches or groupsof churches (Romans; 1 and 2Corinthians; Galatians; Ephesians;Philippians; Colossions; 1 and 2Thessalonians) and four toindividuals (1 and 2Timothy; Titus; Philemon).
Paulthe apostle.In most of his letters, Paul was on the defense: defending hisapostleship, defending his itinerary, defending his gospel.Evidently, Paul’s opponents questioned whether Paul deserved tobe called “apostle,” since he had not followed thehistorical Jesus and used to persecute the church (1Cor.15:8–9). According to Acts, when the first Christians decidedto replace Judas Iscariot as one of the twelve apostles, theyestablished the following criterion: the candidate must have been afollower of Jesus from his baptism to his ascension (Acts 1:21–22).Two men were qualified; one was chosen by divine lot, implying thatthere could be only twelve. Did the early church’s decision torecognize only twelve apostles define apostleship once and for all?Paul did not think so. He recognized the significance of the Twelve,but he believed that there were other apostles as well: Bar-na-bas,James the brother of Jesus, and himself (1Cor. 15:5–9;Gal. 2:8–9). Paul knew that there were false apostles causingtrouble in the churches (2Cor. 11:13), some even carrying“letters of recommendation” (2Cor. 3:1). But onlythose who had seen the resurrected Christ and were commissioned byhim to preach the gospel were legitimate apostles (1Cor.9:1–2). The signs of apostleship were evident when thecommission was fulfilled: planting churches and dispensing the Spirit(2Cor. 3:2; 12:12; Gal. 3:5). Of all people, Paul’sconverts should have never questioned the authority of their apostle.They were the proof of his apostleship.
AlthoughPaul never mentioned this, the fact that he sent letters is evidenceof his apostleship. Paul believed that the obedience of Gentileconverts was his responsibility, a confirmation of his calling (Rom.15:18–19). So he sent letters to make sure that they werekeeping the traditions that he had taught them (1Cor. 11:2).Sometimes, all that his readers needed was a little encouragement tokeep up the good work (most of 1Thessalonians and 2Timothyare exhortations to keep doing what they were doing) or a moredetailed explanation of what they already knew (Ephesians,Philippians, 1Timothy, Titus). Many times, Paul sent letters tocorrect major problems within his churches. For example, some of theGalatians were submitting to the law and being circumcised (Gal.4:21; 5:2–7). Some of the Colossians were involved in strangepractices of asceticism and angel worship (Col. 2:16–23). Someof the Thessalonians had quit working for a living (2Thess.3:6–15). And, worst of all, the Corinthians were plagued withall kinds of problems: factions, lawsuits, incest, prostitutes,idolatry. Some of the Corinthians were also espousing falsetheological ideas, such as denying the resurrection (1Cor.15:12). Other churches had problems sorting out Paul’s theologyas well. For example, the Thessalonians were confused about lifeafter death, end times, and the return of Christ (1Thess.4:13–18; 2Thess. 2:1–12), and the Romans needed,among other things, instruction about the role of Israel in the lastdays (Rom. 9:1–11:32). The fact that Paul felt obliged to sendhis lengthiest letter, loaded with some of his most sophisticatedtheological arguments, to the church in Rome, which he did not startand had not visited, says much about the way Paul saw the authorityof his apostleship. Because he was the apostle to the Gentiles, Pauloperated as if he were the mentor of all churches with Gentilemembers.
Churchunity.Paul believed in the unity of the church. Indeed, he used severalmetaphors to help his readers see why it was important that one Lordand one faith should form one church. He described the church as atemple (1Cor. 3:16–17), a family (Eph. 2:19), and abody—his favorite metaphor (1Cor. 12:12–27). Hewarned of desecrating the temple with divisive teaching and immoralbehavior (1Cor. 3:1–6:20). He rebuked his children whenthey refused to obey him as their father (1Cor. 3:14–21)or mother (Gal. 4:19–20). And, more than any other analogy,Paul likened the church to a human body that could be maimed byprejudice and threatened by sickness (1Cor. 11:17–34). Tohim, a dismembered body was an unholy body; a segregated church meantthat Christ was divided (1Cor. 1:10–13). The ethnic,religious, social, political, geographical, and economic differencesevident in one of the most diverse collections of people in thefirst-century Mediterranean world made Paul’s vision of aunified church appear like an impossible dream. Yet the apostle tothe Gentiles believed that the unity of the body of Christ wasindispensable not only to his mission but also to the gospel of JesusChrist (Eph. 4:1–6). So he collected a relief offering amonghis Gentile converts to help poor Jewish Christians in Jerusalem(Rom. 15:26–27). He taught masters to treat their slaves likesiblings (Philem. 16). And he solicited Romans to fund his missiontrip to Spain (Rom. 15:24). As far as Paul was concerned, the gospelbrought down every wall that divides humanity because all people needsalvation in Christ (Eph. 2:14–18).
Conclusion
Paulwas a tentmaker, a missionary, a writer, a preacher, a teacher, atheologian, an evangelist, a mentor, a prophet, a miracle worker, aprisoner, and a martyr. His life story reads like the tale of threedifferent men: a devout Pharisee, a tireless traveler, an ambitiouswriter. He knew the Scriptures better than did most people. He sawmore of the world than did most merchants. He wrote some of thelongest letters known at that time. To his converts, he was afaithful friend. To his opponents, he was an irrepressibletroublemaker. But, according to Paul, he was nothing more or lessthan the man whom God had called through Jesus Christ to take thegospel to the ends of the earth.
A Pharisee commissioned by Jesus Christ to preach the gospelto Gentiles. His Jewish name was “Saul” (Acts 9:4; 13:9),but he preferred using his Roman name, especially when he signed hisletters. Actually, “Paul” was his last name. Romancitizens had three names; the last name was the family name, calledthe “cognomen.” We do not know Paul’s first andmiddle Roman name, but his last name is derived from the Latin Paulus(Sergius Paulus, the proconsul of Cyprus, had the same family name[13:7]). Most people were known and called by their last name becausegroup identity was more important in the first-century Mediterraneanworld than individual recognition. For example, when speakingpublicly, Paul did not use his favorite self-designations, “apostleto the Gentiles” or “slave of Christ Jesus”;instead, he identified himself as a Jew, a citizen of Tarsus, astudent of Gamaliel (21:39; 22:3). His social identity was embeddedin his ethnicity, his nativity, his religion. However, even thosecategories cannot adequately describe Paul. He was a Jew but also aRoman citizen. Tarsus was his home (11:25–26), but he claimedthat he was brought up in Jerusalem. He spoke Aramaic but wrote Greekletters. He was once a Pharisee but then preached a circumcision-freegospel to Gentiles. In many respects, Paul is an enigma. Who was he?What did he believe? Why did he think he had to leave his previouslife in Judaism to become the apostle to the Gentiles? Why is he oneof the major contributors to the NT even though he was not a followerof the historical Jesus?
Paul’sLife
Paulas a converted Pharisee.Paul spent the first half of his life as a Pharisee. The Phariseeswere a Jewish sect that emphasized obedience to the law of God as themeans of maintaining holiness. Practically all Jews believed thatthey should obey the law, but what made the Pharisees unique wastheir emphasis on applying all commandments, even those intended onlyfor Levites and priests, to all Jews. For example, priests wererequired to keep certain rituals of hand washing before they ate(Lev. 22:1–9; cf. Exod 30:19–21; 40:31–32). So thePharisees extended these requirements to all Israel in order to showGod how serious they were about obeying the law (Mark 7:3–4).Obedience was crucial to God’s blessing; disobedience broughtGod’s curse. Therefore, the Pharisees established manytraditions, going beyond the letter of the law, to ensure compliance.To what extent the Jewish people followed the example of thePharisees is debated, but certainly it appeared to the people that noone was more zealous for God and his law than the Pharisees—azeal that would compel them to join in the stoning of obviousoffenders (Lev. 24:14; Acts 7:58). As a Pharisee, Paul’s zealfor the law led him to persecute Jewish Christians, not only inJerusalem but also outside Israel, in places such as Damascus (Acts8:3; 9:1–3; 22:4–5; Gal. 1:13–14; Phil. 3:6).Neither Paul nor Luke explains what the Pharisees found objectionableabout this Jewish movement known as “the Way.” In fact,Paul’s teacher, Gamaliel, advised the Sanhedrin to ignoremembers of the Way and not make trouble for them (Acts5:34–39)—advice obviously not taken by Paul. Perhaps itwas Jesus’ reputation as a lawbreaker or the fact that he haddied a cursed death according to the law that convinced Paul toimprison Jesus’ disciples (Deut. 21:23). Whatever the reason,Paul saw his role as persecutor of the church as the ultimate proofof his blamelessness under the law (Phil. 3:6).
AfterChrist appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus, everything changed:his life, his mission, his worldview (Acts 9:3–30). Paul leftPharisaism and immediately began preaching the gospel (Gal. 1:11–17).Those whom he persecuted were now friends. His zeal for the law wasreplaced by his zeal for Christ. It was a radical reversal. The rumorspread quickly: “The man who formerly persecuted us is nowpreaching the faith he once tried to destroy” (Gal. 1:23). Whythe sudden change? Some think that it is what Paul saw—theglorified Messiah—that changed his perspective. Theresurrection of Christ turned the curse of the cross into a blessing,death into life, shame into honor. The appearance of Christ(Christophany) was a revelation, an apocalypse, an end-of-the-worldevent for Paul. Old things passed away; everything became new (2Cor.5:17). What was divided under the old age of the law—Jews andGentiles, male and female, slave and free—was united in Christ.Other scholars emphasize it is what Paul heard during theChristophany that changed the course of his life. Paul interpretedChrist’s charge, “Go, preach to the Gentiles,” as aprophetic calling, perhaps even fulfilling Isaiah’s end-timevision of salvation of the whole world (Isa. 49:1–7; Gal.1:15–16). Thus, Paul’s westward push to take the gospelto the coastlands (Spain) was by divine design (Rom. 15:15–24).God commissioned Saul the Pharisee of the Jews to become Paul theapostle to the Gentiles because “the culmination of the ageshas come” (1Cor. 10:11).
Paul’sministry.By our best estimates, Paul spent about thirty years preaching thegospel of Jesus Christ (AD 34–67)—a ministry that can bedivided roughly into three decades. The first decade of his ministry(AD 34–46) has been called the “silent years,” aswe have few details from Acts or the Pauline Epistles about hisactivities. For example, we know that he preached in Damascus for awhile and spent some time in Arabia (a total of three years [Gal.1:17–18]). He made a quick trip to Jerusalem to meet Peter andJames the brother of Jesus. Then he returned home to Tarsus,evidently preaching there for several years, until Barnabas broughthim to Antioch in Syria to help with the ministry of this mixedcongregation of Jews and Gentiles (Acts 9:26–30; 11:25–26).In the second decade of his ministry (AD 46–59), Paul spentmost of his life on the road, an itinerant ministry of preaching thegospel and planting churches from Cyprus to Corinth. For most of thethird decade (AD 59–67), Paul ministered the gospel fromprison, spending over two years imprisoned in Caesarea, another twoto three years in a Roman prison (Acts ends here), released for abrief time (two years?) before his final arrest and imprisonment inRome, where, according to church tradition, he was executed.
Duringhis itinerant ministry, Paul traveled Roman roads that led him tofree cities (Ephesus, Thessalonica, Athens) and Roman colonies(Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, Troas, Philippi, Corinth).Founding churches in urban centers afforded Paul more opportunitiesfor ministry and for his work of making and repairing tents.Traveling within the borders of the Roman Empire also provided abetter chance of protection as a citizen. At first, Paul and Barnabascovered familiar territory: Cyprus (Barnabas’s home region) andAnatolia (Paul’s home region). Then, with successive journeysPaul and other missionary companions branched out to Asia Minor,Macedonia, and Achaia. Some of the towns that Paul visited were smalland provincial (Derbe, Lystra); others were major cities of greateconomic and intellectual commerce (Ephesus, Corinth, Athens). In themidst of such cultural diversity, Paul found receptive ears among avariety of ethnic groups: Gauls, Phrygians and Lycaonians, Greeks,Romans, and Jews. Previously, Paul’s Gentile converts hadworshiped many gods (local, ethnic, and imperial), offered sacrificesat many shrines and temples, and joined in all the religiousfestivals (often involving immoral and ungodly practices). Afterbelieving the gospel, Paul’s predominantly Gentile churchesturned from their idolatrous ways to serve “the living and trueGod” (1Thess. 1:9). Their exclusive devotion to one Godquickly led to economic and political problems, for both Paul’sconverts and the cities of their residence. No more offerings forpatron gods, no more support for local synagogues or the imperialcult—Paul’s converts were often persecuted for theirnewly found faith by local religious guilds (idol makers!) and civicleaders courting Roman favor (Acts 17:6–9; 19:23–41;Phil. 1:27–30; 1Thess. 2:14–16). Indeed, Paul oftenwas run out of town as a troublemaker who preached a message thatthreatened both the Jewish and the Roman ways of life (Acts 16:19–24;Phil. 3:17–4:1). It is no wonder that Paul’s activitieseventually landed him in a Roman prison. It was only a matter of timebefore his reputation as a “lawbreaker” caught up withhim (Acts 21:21). But that did not stop Paul. Whether as a prisoneror a free man, Paul proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ until theday he died.
Paul’sGospel
Thesources of Paul’s gospel.Paul ministered his entire life without the benefit of literaryGospels. Most scholars think that the earliest Gospel, Mark, waswritten about the time that Paul was martyred. Since Paul was not adisciple of Jesus and probably never heard him speak or witnessed hisearthly ministry, how did Paul know what to preach? Where did Paulget his gospel? Paul mentioned four sources. First, he received oraltraditions about Jesus from other Christians (1Cor. 15:1–7).For him, hearing what happened during the Lord’s Supper fromthose who followed Jesus was the same as receiving it from the Lord(1Cor. 11:23). Second, the Hebrew Scriptures were a majorsource of Paul’s gospel (Acts 17:2). Illumined by the HolySpirit, Paul saw the gospel proclaimed in the law (Rom. 10:6–8)and predicted by the prophets (15:12). Third, in addition to theChristophany on the road to Damascus, Paul experienced revelations ofChrist as epiphanies of the gospel (Acts 18:9–10; 26:18). Thisgave Paul the authority to claim that he received his gospelpreeminently from Christ (Gal. 1:1, 16; 2:2). Fourth, Paul saw lifeexperiences as a resource for the gospel (2Cor. 12:7–10).As Paul made sense of what happened to him, he shared these insightswith his converts as proof that “Christ is speaking through me”(2Cor. 13:3–4). Indeed, Paul’s ways of doing thegospel were to be taught in all the churches as gospel truth (1Cor.4:17), because as far as Paul was concerned, the gospel of JesusChrist was the gospel according to Paul.
Thedeath and resurrection of Jesus Christ.The center of Paul’s gospel was the death and resurrection ofJesus. The essence of what he preached was “Jesus Christ andhim crucified” (1Cor. 2:2). Furthermore, the resurrectionof Christ was indispensable to the gospel that Paul proclaimed.Without the resurrection, Paul argued, faith in Christ would be vainbecause believers would still be dead in their sins with no hope oflife after death—the resurrection of their bodies (1Cor.15:13–19). Exploring the center, Paul used several metaphorsdrawn from everyday life to explain the significance of Christ’swork on the cross. Paul used legal terms such as“justification”/“righteousness,” “law,”and “condemnation” when he explained how sinners arejustified by faith in Christ. Paul described the implications ofChrist’s death in religious terms, using words such as“sacrifice,” “sin,”“propitiation”/“expiation” (NIV: “sacrificeof atonement”), and “temple,” which would makesense to both Jews and Gentiles. He also borrowed words from theworld of commerce, such as “redemption,” “purchase,”and “slave,” especially when he emphasized the obedienceof Christ, of Paul, of all believers. He even used military terms todescribe how God turned enemies into friends through the cross: the“reconciliation” that came through the “victory”of Christ’s death when he “disarmed” the “powers.”
Paulalso relied heavily on Jewish theology as he sorted out the work ofGod in Christ Jesus. Paul was a monotheist but attributed divinestatus to Jesus (Phil. 2:6). Paul believed that Israel was God’schosen people but maintained that his Gentile converts were theelect, calling them the “Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16). Paulaffirmed the law was holy but argued that holiness came only throughthe indwelling Spirit (Rom. 7:12; 1Thess. 4:7–8). Paulbelieved that the Messiah’s appearance would bring about theend of the world but looked forward to Christ’s parousia(“appearance”) at the end of time. In other words, theperson and work of Christ formed the lens through which Paulinterpreted the Bible and made sense of the world. Indeed, Paul’sgospel was built on a foundation of Jewish doctrine, Jesus tradition,and religious experience.
Away of life.For Paul, the gospel was more than a set of beliefs; it was a way oflife. To believe in Christ Jesus not only entailed accepting hissacrificial death as atonement for sin but also meant followingChrist by taking up his cross—a life of sacrifice. Paulbelieved that he experienced the cross of Christ every time heendured hardship, every time he was persecuted, every time hesuffered loss (Phil. 3:7–11). And it was in the crucified lifethat Paul found resurrection power (3:12–21). The gospel wasthe divine paradigm for living. What happened to Christ is whathappened to Paul, and what happened to Paul is what would happen toall his converts. “Follow my example,” he wrote, “asI follow the example of Christ” (1Cor. 11:1). In fact,Paul believed that all Christians were constantly being conformed tothe image of God’s Son (Rom. 8:29). He was convinced that Godwould finish what he had started: the perfecting of his convertsuntil the day of Christ’s return and the resurrection of everybeliever (Phil. 1:6; 3:21). The only thing that his converts neededto imitate Christ was the indwelling power of his Spirit (the HolySpirit), the example of Paul’s life, and a letter every now andthen from their apostle.
Paul’sLetters
Paulsent letters to churches and individuals to inform his converts ofhis situation, offer encouragement, answer questions, and addressproblems that developed while he was away. There are thirteen lettersof Paul in the New Testament. Nine were written to churches or groupsof churches (Romans; 1 and 2Corinthians; Galatians; Ephesians;Philippians; Colossions; 1 and 2Thessalonians) and four toindividuals (1 and 2Timothy; Titus; Philemon).
Paulthe apostle.In most of his letters, Paul was on the defense: defending hisapostleship, defending his itinerary, defending his gospel.Evidently, Paul’s opponents questioned whether Paul deserved tobe called “apostle,” since he had not followed thehistorical Jesus and used to persecute the church (1Cor.15:8–9). According to Acts, when the first Christians decidedto replace Judas Iscariot as one of the twelve apostles, theyestablished the following criterion: the candidate must have been afollower of Jesus from his baptism to his ascension (Acts 1:21–22).Two men were qualified; one was chosen by divine lot, implying thatthere could be only twelve. Did the early church’s decision torecognize only twelve apostles define apostleship once and for all?Paul did not think so. He recognized the significance of the Twelve,but he believed that there were other apostles as well: Bar-na-bas,James the brother of Jesus, and himself (1Cor. 15:5–9;Gal. 2:8–9). Paul knew that there were false apostles causingtrouble in the churches (2Cor. 11:13), some even carrying“letters of recommendation” (2Cor. 3:1). But onlythose who had seen the resurrected Christ and were commissioned byhim to preach the gospel were legitimate apostles (1Cor.9:1–2). The signs of apostleship were evident when thecommission was fulfilled: planting churches and dispensing the Spirit(2Cor. 3:2; 12:12; Gal. 3:5). Of all people, Paul’sconverts should have never questioned the authority of their apostle.They were the proof of his apostleship.
AlthoughPaul never mentioned this, the fact that he sent letters is evidenceof his apostleship. Paul believed that the obedience of Gentileconverts was his responsibility, a confirmation of his calling (Rom.15:18–19). So he sent letters to make sure that they werekeeping the traditions that he had taught them (1Cor. 11:2).Sometimes, all that his readers needed was a little encouragement tokeep up the good work (most of 1Thessalonians and 2Timothyare exhortations to keep doing what they were doing) or a moredetailed explanation of what they already knew (Ephesians,Philippians, 1Timothy, Titus). Many times, Paul sent letters tocorrect major problems within his churches. For example, some of theGalatians were submitting to the law and being circumcised (Gal.4:21; 5:2–7). Some of the Colossians were involved in strangepractices of asceticism and angel worship (Col. 2:16–23). Someof the Thessalonians had quit working for a living (2Thess.3:6–15). And, worst of all, the Corinthians were plagued withall kinds of problems: factions, lawsuits, incest, prostitutes,idolatry. Some of the Corinthians were also espousing falsetheological ideas, such as denying the resurrection (1Cor.15:12). Other churches had problems sorting out Paul’s theologyas well. For example, the Thessalonians were confused about lifeafter death, end times, and the return of Christ (1Thess.4:13–18; 2Thess. 2:1–12), and the Romans needed,among other things, instruction about the role of Israel in the lastdays (Rom. 9:1–11:32). The fact that Paul felt obliged to sendhis lengthiest letter, loaded with some of his most sophisticatedtheological arguments, to the church in Rome, which he did not startand had not visited, says much about the way Paul saw the authorityof his apostleship. Because he was the apostle to the Gentiles, Pauloperated as if he were the mentor of all churches with Gentilemembers.
Churchunity.Paul believed in the unity of the church. Indeed, he used severalmetaphors to help his readers see why it was important that one Lordand one faith should form one church. He described the church as atemple (1Cor. 3:16–17), a family (Eph. 2:19), and abody—his favorite metaphor (1Cor. 12:12–27). Hewarned of desecrating the temple with divisive teaching and immoralbehavior (1Cor. 3:1–6:20). He rebuked his children whenthey refused to obey him as their father (1Cor. 3:14–21)or mother (Gal. 4:19–20). And, more than any other analogy,Paul likened the church to a human body that could be maimed byprejudice and threatened by sickness (1Cor. 11:17–34). Tohim, a dismembered body was an unholy body; a segregated church meantthat Christ was divided (1Cor. 1:10–13). The ethnic,religious, social, political, geographical, and economic differencesevident in one of the most diverse collections of people in thefirst-century Mediterranean world made Paul’s vision of aunified church appear like an impossible dream. Yet the apostle tothe Gentiles believed that the unity of the body of Christ wasindispensable not only to his mission but also to the gospel of JesusChrist (Eph. 4:1–6). So he collected a relief offering amonghis Gentile converts to help poor Jewish Christians in Jerusalem(Rom. 15:26–27). He taught masters to treat their slaves likesiblings (Philem. 16). And he solicited Romans to fund his missiontrip to Spain (Rom. 15:24). As far as Paul was concerned, the gospelbrought down every wall that divides humanity because all people needsalvation in Christ (Eph. 2:14–18).
Conclusion
Paulwas a tentmaker, a missionary, a writer, a preacher, a teacher, atheologian, an evangelist, a mentor, a prophet, a miracle worker, aprisoner, and a martyr. His life story reads like the tale of threedifferent men: a devout Pharisee, a tireless traveler, an ambitiouswriter. He knew the Scriptures better than did most people. He sawmore of the world than did most merchants. He wrote some of thelongest letters known at that time. To his converts, he was afaithful friend. To his opponents, he was an irrepressibletroublemaker. But, according to Paul, he was nothing more or lessthan the man whom God had called through Jesus Christ to take thegospel to the ends of the earth.
It is difficult to imagine a world without consistentmetrological systems. Society’s basic structures, from economyto law, require a uniform and accurate method for measuring time,distances, weights, volumes, and so on. In today’s world,technological advancements allow people to measure various aspects ofthe universe with incredible accuracy—from nanometers tolight-years, milligrams to kilograms.
Themetrological systems employed in biblical times span the sameconcepts as our own modern-day systems: weight, linear distance, andvolume or capacity. However, the systems of weights and measurementsemployed during the span of biblical times were not nearly asaccurate or uniform as the modern units employed today. Preexistingweight and measurement systems existed in the contextual surroundingsof both the OT and the NT authors and thus heavily influenced thesystems employed by the Israelite nation as well as the NT writers.There was great variance between the different standards usedmerchant to merchant (Gen. 23:16), city to city, region to region,time period to time period, even despite the commands to use honestscales and honest weights (Lev. 19:35–36; Deut. 25:13–15;Prov. 11:1; 16:11; 20:23; Ezek. 45:10).
Furthermore,inconsistencies and contradictions exist within the written recordsas well as between archaeological specimens. In addition, significantdifferences are found between preexilic and postexilic measurementsin the biblical texts, and an attempt at merging dry capacity andliquid volume measurements further complicated the issue. This is tobe expected, especially when we consider modern-dayinconsistencies—for example, 1 US liquid pint= 0.473liters, while 1 US dry pint= 0.550 liters. Thus, all modernequivalents given below are approximations, and even the bestestimates have a margin of error of + 5percent or more.
Weights
Weightsin biblical times were carried in a bag or a satchel (Deut. 25:13;Prov. 16:11; Mic. 6:11) and were stones, usually carved into variousanimal shapes for easy identification. Their side or flat bottom wasinscribed with the associated weight and unit of measurement.Thousands of historical artifacts, which differ by significantamounts, have been discovered by archaeologists and thus have greatlycomplicated the work of determining accurate modern-day equivalents.
Beka.Approximately 1⁄5 ounce, or 5.6 grams. Equivalent to 10 gerahsor ½ the sanctuary shekel (Exod. 38:26). Used to measuremetals and goods such as gold (Gen. 24:22).
Gerah.1⁄50 ounce, or 0.56 grams. Equivalent to 1⁄10 beka, 1⁄20shekel (Exod. 30:13; Lev. 27:25).
Litra.Approximately 12 ounces, or 340 grams. A Roman measure of weight.Used only twice in the NT (John 12:3; 19:39). The precursor to themodern British pound.
Mina.Approximately 1¼ pounds, or 0.56 kilograms. Equivalent to 50shekels. Used to weigh gold (1Kings 10:17; Ezra 2:69), silver(Neh. 7:71–72), and other goods. The prophet Ezekiel redefinedthe proper weight: “Theshekel is to consist of twentygerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekelsequal one mina” (Ezek. 45:12). Before this redefinition, therewere arguably 50 shekels per mina. In Jesus’ parable of theservants, he describes the master entrusting to his three servantsvarying amounts—10 minas, 5 minas, 1 mina—implying amonetary value (Luke 19:11–24), probably of either silver orgold. One mina was equivalent to approximately three months’wages for a laborer.
Pim.Approximately 1⁄3 ounce, or 9.3 grams. Equivalent to 2⁄3shekel. Referenced only once in the Scriptures (1Sam. 13:21).
Shekel.Approximately 2⁄5 ounce, or 11 grams. Equivalent toapproximately 2 bekas. The shekel is the basic unit of weightmeasurement in Israelite history, though its actual weight variedsignificantly at different historical points. Examples include the“royal shekel” (2Sam. 14:26), the “commonshekel” (2Kings 7:1), and the “sanctuary shekel,”which was equivalent to 20 gerahs (e.g., Exod. 30:13; Lev. 27:25;Num. 3:47). Because it was used to weigh out silver or gold, theshekel also functioned as a common monetary unit in the NT world.
Talent.Approximately 75 pounds, or 34 kilograms. Equivalent to approximately60 minas. Various metals were weighed using talents: gold (Exod.25:39; 37:24; 1Chron. 20:2), silver (Exod. 38:27; 1Kings20:39; 2Kings 5:22), and bronze (Exod. 38:29). This probably isderived from the weight of a load that a man could carry.
Table12. Biblical Weights and Measures and Their Modern Equivalents:
Weights
Beka– 10 geraahs; ½ shekel = 1/5 ounce = 5.6 grams
Gerah– 1/10 beka; 1/20 shekel = 1/50 ounce = 0.56 grams
Litra– 12 ounces = 340 grams
Mina– 50 shekels = 1 ¼ pounds = 0.56 kilograms
Pim– 2/3 shekel = 1/3 ounce = 9.3 grams
Shekel– 2 bekas; 20 gerahs = 2/5 ounce = 11 grams
Talent– 60 minas = 75 pounds = 34 kilograms
Linearmeasurements
Cubit– 6 handbreadths = 18 inches = 45.7 centimeters
Day’sjourney = 20-25 miles = 32-40 kilometerse
Fingerbreadth– ¼ handbreadth = ¾ inch = 1.9 centimeterse
Handbreadth– 1/6 cubit = 3 inches = 7.6 centimeters
Milion– 1 mile = 1.6 kilometers
Orguia– 1/100 stadion = 5 feet 11 inches = 1.8 meters
Reed/rod– 108 inches = 274 centimeters
Sabbathday’s journey – 2,000 cubits = ¾ mile = 1.2kilometers
Span– 3 handbreadths = 9 inches = 22.8 centimeters
Stadion– 100 orguiai = 607 feet = 185 meters
Capacity
Cab– 1 omer = ½ gallon = 1.9 liters
Choinix– ¼ gallon = 0.9 liters
Cor– 1 homer; 10 ephahs = 6 bushels; 48.4 gallons = 183 liters
Ephah– 10 omers; 1/10 homer = 3/5 bushel; 6 gallons = 22.7 liters
Homer– 10 ephahs; 1 cor = 6 bushels; 48.4 gallons = 183 liters
Koros– 10 bushels; 95 gallons – 360 liters
Omer– 1/10 ephah; 1/100 homer = 2 quarts = 1.9 liters
Saton– 1 seah = 7 quarts = 6.6 liters
Seah– 1/3 ephah; 1 saton = 7 quarts = 6.6 liters
LiquidVolume
Bath– 1 ephah = 6 gallons = 22.7 liters
Batos– 8 gallons = 30.3 liters
Hin– 1/6 bath; 12 logs = 1 gallon; 4 quarts = 3.8 liters
Log– 1/72 bath; 1/12 hin = 1/3 quart = 0.3 liters
Metretes– 10 gallons = 37.8 literes
LinearMeasurements
Linearmeasurements were based upon readily available natural measurementssuch as the distance between the elbow and the hand or between thethumb and the little finger. While convenient, this method ofmeasurement gave rise to significant inconsistencies.
Cubit.Approximately 18 inches, or 45.7 centimeters. Equivalent to 6handbreadths. The standard biblical measure of linear distance, asthe shekel is the standard measurement of weight. The distance fromthe elbow to the outstretched fingertip. Used to describe height,width, length (Exod. 25:10), distance (John 21:8), and depth (Gen.7:20). Use of the cubit is ancient. For simple and approximateconversion into modern units, divide the number of cubits in half formeters, then multiply the number of meters by 3 to arrive at feet.
1cubit = 2 spans = 6 handbreadths = 24 fingerbreadths
Day’sjourney.An approximate measure of distance equivalent to about 20–25miles, or 32–40 kilometers. Several passages reference a singleor multiple days’ journey as a description of the distancetraveled or the distance between two points: “a day’sjourney” (Num. 11:31; 1Kings 19:4), “a three-dayjourney” (Gen. 30:36; Exod. 3:18; 8:27; Jon. 3:3), “sevendays” (Gen. 31:23), and “eleven days” (Deut. 1:2).After visiting Jerusalem for Passover, Jesus’ parents journeyedfor a day (Luke 2:44) before realizing that he was not with them.
Fingerbreadth.The width of the finger, or ¼ of a handbreadth, approximately¾ inch, or 1.9 centimeters. The fingerbreadth was thebeginning building block of the biblical metrological system forlinear measurements. Used only once in the Scriptures, to describethe bronze pillars (Jer. 52:21).
Handbreadth.Approximately 3 inches, or 7.6 centimeters. Equivalent to 1/6 cubit,or four fingerbreadths. Probably the width at the base of the fourfingers. A short measure of length, thus compared to a human’sbrief life (Ps. 39:5). Also the width of the rim on the bread table(Exod. 25:25) and the thickness of the bronze Sea (1Kings7:26).
Milion.Translated “mile” in Matt. 5:41. Greek transliteration ofRoman measurement mille passuum, “a thousand paces.”
Orguia.Approximately 5 feet 11 inches, or 1.8 meters. Also translated as“fathom.” A Greek unit of measurement. Probably thedistance between outstretched fingertip to fingertip. Used to measurethe depth of water (Acts 27:28).
Reed/rod.Approximately 108 inches, or 274 centimeters. This is also a generalterm for a measuring device rather than a specific linear distance(Ezek. 40:3, 5; 42:16–19; Rev. 11:1; 21:15).
Sabbathday’s journey.Approximately ¾ mile, or 1.2 kilometers (Acts 1:12). About2,000 cubits.
Span.Approximately 9 inches, or 22.8 centimeters. Equivalent to threehandbreadths, and ½ cubit. The distance from outstretchedthumb tip to little-finger tip. The length and width of the priest’sbreastpiece (Exod. 28:16).
Stadion.Approximately 607 feet, or 185 meters. Equivalent to 100 orguiai.Used in the measurement of large distances (Matt. 14:24; Luke 24:13;John 6:19; 11:18; Rev. 14:20; 21:16).
LandArea
Seed.The size of a piece of land could also be measured on the basis ofhow much seed was required to plant that field (Lev. 27:16; 1Kings18:32).
Yoke.Fields and lands were measured using logical, available means. Inbiblical times, this meant the amount of land a pair of yoked animalscould plow in one day (1Sam. 14:14; Isa. 5:10).
Capacity
Cab.Approximately ½ gallon, or 1.9 liters. Equivalent to 1 omer.Mentioned only once in the Scriptures, during the siege of Samaria(2Kings 6:25).
Choinix.Approximately ¼ gallon, or 0.9 liters. A Greek measurement,mentioned only once in Scripture (Rev. 6:6).
Cor.Approximately 6 bushels (48.4 gallons, or 183 liters). Equal to thehomer, and to 10 ephahs. Used for measuring dry volumes, particularlyof flour and grains (1Kings 4:22; 1Kings 5:11; 2Chron.2:10; 27:5; Ezra 7:22). In the LXX, cor is also a measure of liquidvolume, particularly oil (1Kings 5:11; 2Chron. 2:10; Ezra45:14).
Ephah.Approximately 3⁄5 bushel (6 gallons, or 22.7 liters).Equivalent to 10 omers, or 1⁄10 homer. Used for measuring flourand grains (e.g., Exod. 29:40; Lev. 6:20). Isaiah prophesied a day ofreduced agricultural yield, when a homer of seed would produce onlyan ephah of grain (Isa. 5:10). The ephah was equal in size to thebath (Ezek. 45:11), which typically was used for liquid measurements.
Homer.Approximately 6 bushels (48.4 gallons, or 183 liters). Equivalent to1 cor, or 10 ephahs. Used for measuring dry volumes, particularly ofvarious grains (Lev. 27:16; Isa. 5:10; Ezek. 45:11, 13–14; Hos.3:2). This is probably a natural measure of the load that a donkeycan carry, in the range of 90 kilograms. There may have existed adirect link between capacity and monetary value, given Lev. 27:16:“fifty shekels of silver to a homer of barley seed.” Alogical deduction of capacity and cost based on known equivalencesmight look something like this:
1homer = 1 mina; 1 ephah = 5 shekels; 1 omer = 1 beka
Koros.Approximately 10 bushels (95 gallons, or 360 liters). A Greek measureof grain (Luke 16:7).
Omer.Approximately 2 quarts, or 1.9 liters. Equivalent to 1⁄10ephah, 1⁄100 homer (Ezek. 45:11). Used by Israel in themeasurement and collection of manna in the wilderness (Exod.16:16–36) and thus roughly equivalent to a person’s dailyfood ration.
Saton.Approximately 7 quarts, or 6.6 liters. Equivalent to 1 seah. Themeasurement of flour in Jesus’ parable of the kingdom of heaven(Matt. 13:33; Luke 13:21).
Seah.Approximately 7 quarts, or 6.6 liters. Equivalent to 1⁄3 ephah,or 1 saton. Used to measure flour, grain, seed, and other various drygoods (e.g., 2Kings 7:1; 1Sam. 25:18).
LiquidVolume
Bath.Approximately 6 gallons, or 22.7 liters. Equivalent to 1 ephah, whichtypically was used for measurements of dry capacity. Used in themeasurement of water (1Kings 7:26), oil (1Kings 5:11),and wine (2Chron. 2:10; Isa. 5:10).
Batos.Approximately 8 gallons, or 30.3 liters. A Greek transliteration ofthe Hebrew word bath(see above). A measure of oil (Luke 16:6).
Hin.Approximately 4 quarts (1gallon, or 3.8 liters). Equivalent to1⁄6 bath and 12 logs. Used in the measurement of water (Ezek.4:11), oil (Ezek. 46:5), and wine (Num. 28:14).
Log.Approximately 1⁄3 quart, or 0.3 liter. Equivalent to 1⁄72bath and 1⁄12 hin. Mentioned five times in Scripture,specifically used to measure oil (Lev. 14:10–24).
Metretes.Approximately 10 gallons, or 37.8 liters. Used in the measurement ofwater at the wedding feast (John 2:6).
A burial ground for foreigners outside Jerusalem. The landwas purchased with the thirty pieces of silver that Judas receivedfor betraying Jesus (Matt. 27:3–10; Acts 1:18–19), thoughit is unclear whether it was the priests or Judas who made thepurchase. The silver was “blood money” because it hadbeen used to arrange for Jesus’ death, and so it could not goback into the temple treasury. Therefore, it was used to purchase theplot of land, most likely from a potter. It is identified with the“Field of Blood” (Matt. 27:8; Acts 1:19 [Aram.“Akeldama”]).
An occupation or profession is the usual work or business inwhich a person engages for the sake of earning a living. In biblicaltimes, family or social standing most often determined occupation.This was particularly true for occupations tied to land, such asplanting crops and raising animals, since land in ancient Israel waspassed down within the tribe, normally from fathers to sons (Josh.14:9; Ezek. 46:18). Sometimes daughters also received a share in thefamily inheritance (Josh. 17:6). Most people gained their livelihoodfrom their family’s land, and those who did not have land hiredthemselves out to work for wages (Deut. 24:14). A son normallylearned his trade from his father (Gen. 47:3; 2Kings 4:18;Matt. 4:21) and continued in that occupation unless called into God’sservice (1Kings 19:19–21; Jer. 1:5; Matt. 4:22).
Cicero,writing around the time of the NT, considered occupations such as taxcollector, laborer, and fisherman to be vulgar. Conversely,professions such as teacher, doctor, and wholesale trader were morehonorable, with landowner being the most respectable and profitableprofession (Off. 1.42).
Agricultureand Farming
Farmingis the earliest recorded occupation in the Bible, as the first manwas called to work and keep the garden (Gen. 2:15). Even after theexile from Eden because of sin, Adam worked the ground for food, asdid Cain, his firstborn son (Gen. 3:17–18; 4:2). The openingchapters of the Bible establish a fundamental link between “man”(’adam) and the “ground” (’adamah). After theflood, Noah established himself as a “man of the soil”(’ish ha’adamah) by planting a vineyard (Gen. 9:20). KingUzziah “loved the soil” (’oheb ’adamah) andso employed people to work in his fields and vineyards (2Chron.26:10).
Goddemonstrated his covenant commitment to Isaac by blessing him with anincredible harvest (Gen. 26:12), and he promised to prosper Israel’sfarms if the people obeyed him (Deut. 28:4) and to curse the fruit oftheir ground if they disobeyed (Deut. 28:18). The OT ideal was foreveryone to live “under their own vine and under their own figtree” (1Kings 4:25; Mic. 4:4). According to Prov. 28:19,the diligent farmer would have abundant food.
Jesus’parables frequently employed agricultural imagery that would havebeen readily understandable in first-century Palestine, where manypeople were farmers (cf. Mark 4:1–9; 12:1–11) and someowned land (Acts 4:34). The people living around Jerusalem at thistime engaged in agriculture, soil cultivation, and cattle raising(Let. Aris. 107–112).
Herdingand Hunting
Herdinganimals is the second-oldest occupation recorded in Scripture (afterfarming), and raising flocks and herds continued to be one of themost common and important professions throughout biblical times. Abelis the first “keeper of sheep” in the Bible (Gen. 4:2NRSV). Several generations later, Jabal pioneered the nomadic herdinglifestyle (Gen. 4:20). The patriarchs were shepherds (Gen. 47:3), aswere Moses (Exod. 3:1), David (1Sam. 17:34), and many others inthe OT. Josephus acknowledged that “feeding of sheep was theemployment of our forefathers in the most ancient ages”(Ag.Ap. 1.91). While men typically worked as shepherds andherdsmen, the occupation was also open to women, such as Rachel,whose fathers owned sheep (Gen. 29:9). Shepherds were present atJesus’ birth (Luke 2:8–20), and Jesus’ teachingsuggests that shepherding was a common occupation in Palestine (cf.Matt. 18:12; John 10:1–30).
Manypeople in biblical times hunted, either for food, sport, orprotection. The first recorded hunter is Nimrod, “a mightyhunter before the Lord” (Gen. 10:9). Ishmael was “anexpert with the bow” (Gen. 21:20 NRSV), while Esau was “askillful hunter, a man of the open country” who brought backwild game for food (25:27–28). The name of Pokereth-Hazzebaim,included in the genealogy of Solomon’s servants in Ezra 2:57,reflects his occupation as a “gazelle catcher” (cf.1Kings 4:23).
Buildersand Craftsmen
Cainwas the first person in the Bible to build a city (Gen. 4:17), andhis descendant Tubal-Cain was the first metalworker (4:22). Nimrodbuilt a number of cities (10:11–12), and the beginning ofNimrod’s kingdom was Babel (10:10), where the people gatheredtogether to build a city with brick (11:3). Builders in Mesopotamiaused baked brick and asphalt, while Israelite builders usuallypreferred the more readily available stone and mortar. After Joseph’sdeath, Israel was conscripted into forced labor in Egypt, whichinvolved building cities of brick and mortar (Exod. 1:11).
Therole of craftsmen in the construction of the tabernacle wasparticularly significant. Bezalel and Oholiab were “skilledworkers and designers” empowered by God for work on thetabernacle (Exod. 35:35). They engaged in “all kinds ofcrafts,” including artistic metalworking, masonry, carpentry,and weaving (Exod. 31:4–5; 38:23).
Kingsin Israel often commissioned important building projects (1Kings12:25; 15:22; 16:24; 2Chron. 26:9; Josephus, J.W. 1.401–2).Carpenters and stonemasons worked on David’s palace (2Sam.5:11). Solomon conscripted laborers to build the temple and alsoemployed carriers, stonecutters, craftsmen, and foremen to supervisethe work (1Kings 5:13–18). After the Babylonian exile,many Israelites were involved in rebuilding the temple and the wallof Jerusalem, which had been destroyed (Ezra 3:8; Neh. 4:16–18).These projects, directed by Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, utilized masons,carpenters, and other workers (Ezra 3:7).
Jesusis referred to as a tektōn (Mark 6:3) and as the son of a tektōn(Matt. 13:55), with tektōn usually translated “carpenter”by English versions. However,recent scholarshiphas demonstrated that Jesus was likely a builder, not a carpenter inthe modern sense of the term. In the LXX, the word tektōntypically translates a Hebrew word, kharash, used broadly to refer tocraftsmen working with stone, wood, or metal.
Musicians
Thefirst musician recorded in Scripture is Jubal, “the father ofall who play the stringed instruments and pipes” (Gen. 4:21).Musicians performed a variety of roles in ancient society, as they dotoday. Singers and instrumentalists were employed to celebratefestive occasions, often to provide accompaniment for dancing (Gen.31:27; Luke 15:25), to soothe the sick or distressed (1Sam.16:16), and to express lamentation (Job 30:31).
Musiciansplayed an important role in leading God’s people in worship.The “director of music” is mentioned in the headings offifty-five psalms and Hab. 3:19. The most famous musician inScripture is David, “the singer of Israel’s psalms”(2Sam. 23:1 GW), who played the harp (1Sam. 16:18) andwrote or inspired at least seventy-three canonical psalms. Solomonwas also a notable songwriter and lover of music (1Kings 4:32).David appointed many Levites as singers and musicians to lead Israelin worship (1Chron. 15:16; 23:5). The musicians played lyres,harps, cymbals, and trumpets (2Chron. 5:12).
Government,Politics, and Military
Beforethe monarchy, there were no formal government offices. Under Moses, agroup of seventy elders in Israel served as leaders and officials,and these men were to carry out Moses’ decrees and judge thepeople on most matters (Exod. 18:20–22; Num. 11:16). AfterJoshua’s death, God raised up judges to rescue Israel fromforeign enemies and lead the people (Judg. 2:16) until the time ofSamuel, when Saul was made king (1Sam. 11:15).
Kingsin Israel employed various officials. In 2Sam. 8:16–18,Joab is listed first among David’s officials, which suggeststhat the military commander was second in authority after the king.Under Solomon, the leader of the army is called “commander inchief” (1Kings 4:4). The royal cabinet included a numberof key advisers, including the recorder, the secretary, and the“confidant” of the king (cf. 2Sam. 16:16). The OTdoes not specify the precise roles of these officials. The recorderwas among the highest governmental positions and served as a royalcounselor. In Hebrew, mazkir (“recorder”) is a cognatenoun to the verb zkr (“to remember”), which suggests thatthis official may have managed and preserved public records (2Kings18:18; Isa. 36:22). The main task of the king’s secretary orscribe (sop̱er)was to write down (sapar) official state documents (2Sam.8:17), and he advised the king and also provided financial oversight(2Kings 12:10). Recorders and secretaries apparently were welleducated and multilingual, as was the palace administrator (2Kings18:18, 26). Solomon’s officials included supervisors of thepalace and the forced labor, as well as governors who suppliedprovisions for the king’s household (1Kings 4:6–7).The OT mentions cupbearers in Israel’s government and in otheradministrations (Gen. 40:1; 1Kings 10:5; Neh. 1:11). Thecupbearer served as the royal wine taster; he protected the king frombeing poisoned and had direct access to the monarch.
Inthe Roman Empire, the emperor was absolute ruler (1Pet. 2:17),with the senate next in authority. Proconsuls held judicial andmilitary authority over larger provinces (Acts 18:12), prefects(governors) administered smaller provinces (Matt. 27:2), withtetrarchs over one-fourth of a province (Luke 3:1).
Christiansin NT times engaged in civil service. Erastus was a financial officerin Corinth (Rom. 16:23), and he may be the same Erastus commemoratedin an inscription from this period who held the office of aedile. Theproconsul Sergius Paulus (Acts 13:7); Manaen, a close friend of HerodAntipas (Acts 13:1); and members of Caesar’s household (Phil.4:22) were also Christian public leaders.
Tradeand Economics
Fromearliest times, people have exchanged goods and property. WhenAbraham purchased Ephron’s field, his silver was measured“according to the weight current among the merchants”(Gen. 23:16), which suggests that a recognized system of publictrading was in place during the time of the patriarchs. Traders ofcommodities such as spices traveled along caravan routes betweensouthern Arabia and Egypt, and these traders often acquired slavesalong the way (Gen. 37:28). Solomon employed royal merchants to buyand sell goods (1Kings 10:28).
Inthe first century, Jews were engaged broadly in economic life aslandowners, artisans, merchants, traders, bankers, and slaves.Several of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen (Matt. 4:18). Lukewas a physician, a well-educated and respectable professional (Col.4:14). Lydia was a dealer in purple cloth (Acts 16:14). Paul, Aquila,and Priscilla worked as tentmakers (Acts 18:3). In the Roman Empire,commerce and pagan religion often intermingled. Merchants oftenformed trade guilds, where membership sometimes required religiousand moral compromise. In Ephesus, silversmiths and craftsmen inrelated trades turned significant profit through their connectionswith the local Artemis cult (Acts 19:24–27).
Jesusfrequently spent time with tax collectors, such as Levi (also called“Matthew”) (Matt. 9:9; Mark 2:14). Tax collectors were adespised group because often they became wealthy by taking advantageof the Roman taxation system, which allowed them to charge commissionon taxes collected (Luke 19:2, 8). Jesus’ parable of thetalents references bankers who offered interest on deposits collected(Matt. 25:27), and Rev. 3:17–18 alludes to the fact thatLaodicea was a financial center with a significant banking system.
Servantsand Slaves
Inthe OT, ’ebed most often designates a slave or servant, whoseoccupation involves work (’abad ) as a subordinate. Someservants held very important positions in their master’shousehold (Gen. 24:2), while many others toiled in hard labor (Job7:2). Israelites were not to enslave their kinfolk, but they couldtake slaves from other nations. Fellow Israelites who became poorcould serve as hired workers, but they were to be released along withtheir children at the Jubilee because God had brought Israel out fromEgyptian slavery and they belonged to God as his servants (Lev.25:39–46).
Slavesin the Roman world were property like goods or cattle, possessed byanother (Dio Chrysostom, 2Serv. lib. 24). Unlike modern slaverypractices, race played no factor in the Roman institution of slavery.Slaves were kidnapped and sold in NT times (1Tim. 1:10; Rev.18:13), but the majority of slaves were so by birth. The mostprominent slave in the NT is Onesimus, for whom Paul intercedes withhis master, Philemon (Philem. 10, 16). Believing slaves were to obeytheir earthly masters “as slaves of Christ” (Eph. 6:5–6),but the NT stressed the equality of slave and free in Christ (Gal.3:28). Paul called himself a “servant [doulos] of Christ Jesus”(Rom. 1:1).
ReligiousService
MostIsraelites engaged in professional religious service were Levites(Num. 3:12), including Moses, Aaron, and the priests in Aaron’sline (Exod. 6:19–20; 35:19). The priests offered sacrifices toGod on behalf of the people (Heb. 5:1). Under the priests’direction, the Levites were charged with caring for the tabernacleand its furnishings (Num. 1:49; 1Chron. 23:32) and carrying theark of the covenant (1Chron. 15:2). They were set apart toserve in God’s presence (Deut. 18:7) and to lead the people inworship (2Chron. 5:12). Further, priests often played animportant advisory role to Israel’s kings (2Sam. 8:17;1Kings 4:5; 2Kings 12:2).
InIsrael, people went to seers and prophets to inquire of God (1Sam.9:9), for they received and communicated God’s word (2Sam.24:11; Jer. 37:6). Sometimes individuals are mentioned as prophets,and other times the prophets are discussed as an organized group(1Sam. 19:20; 1Kings 22:6).
TheNT references a number of ministerial offices (1Cor. 12:28;Eph. 4:11; 1Tim. 3:1–12). Not all ministers were paid,though teachers and preachers had a right to “receive theirliving from the gospel” (1Cor. 9:14–15; cf. 1Tim.5:17). Apostles were those sent out by Jesus as his representatives.The term apostolos refers particularly to the twelve apostles whowere with Jesus during his earthly ministry and who were witnesses ofhis resurrection (Acts 1:21–22). Paul referred to himself as anapostle (Gal. 1:1; 1Cor. 1:1), and he calls Epaph-ro-di-tus andothers “messengers” (apostoloi) in the churches (2Cor.8:23; Phil. 2:25). Prophets have the spiritual gift of prophecy andspeak to strengthen, encourage, and comfort the church (Acts 15:32;1Cor. 14:3). Overseers (also called “elders” or“pastors”) are qualified leaders who teach, shepherd, andexercise authority in the church (1Tim. 3:1; 1Pet. 5:2).Evangelists and missionaries proclaim the gospel and aim to winconverts to Christ (Acts 21:8; 2Tim. 4:5). Those ministers whoare faithful to the gospel deserve support (3John8).
The safety and endurance of a Christian’s salvation.Theologians over the centuries have debated whether salvation can belost, but several lines of argument taken from Scripture support theteaching that salvation by its very nature is eternal.
Electionand Grace
Passageson divine election reveal that those who come to faith do so notmerely out of personal choice, but ultimately because they have beenchosen by God (Eph. 1:4). God draws those whom he chooses, and theyrespond to his call (John 6:37, 44, 65). If genuine believers couldlose their salvation, it would imply that God’s purpose andplan in election had been ineffective, an idea that contradictsScripture (John 6:39).
Theapostle Paul maintains that salvation is bestowed by God as a gift ofhis grace (Rom. 3:24; 6:23; Eph. 1:7; 2:8–9). This free giftcannot be merited or earned. It is not granted or withheld on thebasis of a person’s moral character, no matter how noble orwicked, and it is never merited or forfeited through anything aperson does, no matter how good or evil. Rather, it is granted due tosomething that lies within the nature of God—his graciouscharacter, his purpose, and his free choice. Salvation endures due tothe same perfections in God that cannot change (Mal. 3:6; James1:17). Although salvation is bestowed as a matter of God’sgrace, faith is the means by which it is received (Rom. 3:21–25).Yet faith is not a work and is never said to earn God’s grace(Eph. 2:8). Good works are the evidence of a life that hasexperienced the grace of God.
Rebirthand Eternal Life
Scripturereveals that salvation is imparted through regeneration or rebirth.Jesus describes it as being “born again” (John 3:3, 7).Paul uses a related concept when he writes that we are saved “throughthe washing of rebirth” (Titus 3:5). Peter teaches essentiallythe same thing: “He has given us new birth” (1Pet.1:3). The life that is imparted is “eternal” (John 3:16;10:28; 17:2; Rom. 6:23). Paul maintains that God’s gifts andcall are irrevocable (Rom. 11:29). Thus, there is no notion in theScriptures that a regenerated follower of Christ ever becomesunregenerate, nor does eternal life ever morph into somethingtemporal. In praying to the Father, Jesus notes that believers are agift from the Father to the Son, and that none of them would be lost(John 17:2, 12). Judas Iscariot’s perdition clearly was part ofGod’s sovereign plan (John 17:12; Acts 1:16).
Protectionof the Believer
TheHoly Spirit is said to seal or be the seal of believers. Paul writes,“When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, thepromised Holy Spirit” (Eph. 1:13). This refers to the divineownership and protection granted to the believer, who has been given“the Spirit as a deposit,” guaranteeing that God willfinish the work that he began (2Cor. 5:5; Phil. 1:6). Jesustaught the same truth regarding the believer’s security: “Noone will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them tome, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’shand” (John 10:28–29). Peter maintained this sameconfidence when he wrote that the believer is shielded through faith“by God’s power” (1Pet. 1:5). One of thestrongest arguments for the security of the believer is found in Rom.8:38–39: “Neither death nor life, neither angels nordemons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neitherheight nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able toseparate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”Something greater than God would be needed to wrestle salvation fromthose to whom he has granted it.
Notall Christians believe that the Bible teaches eternal security,citing passages that seem to imply that a saved individual can againbecome lost and suffer eternal judgment, most likely referring to thesevere yet temporal discipline of God directed toward his erringchildren or toward those who depart from the faith because they weremerely professing believers (Matt. 13:20–21, 24–30; John15:6; 1Cor. 11:30–32; 2Cor. 11:13–15; 2Tim.4:10, 14; Heb. 6:4–9; 10:26–31; 2Pet. 2:1, 22;1John 2:19; 5:16; 2John 9; Rev. 2:5, 16). But those whodefend the doctrine believe these passages do not contradict thisteaching; they merely reveal that God purposes to accomplish thiswork with the cooperation of the believer (1John 5:4; Rev. 2:7,11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21).
Thewriter to the Hebrews, who lays down some of the most severe warningsin the NT, nevertheless maintains that God is “able for alltime to save,” and that his readers did not belong to those who“shrink back and so are lost” (Heb. 7:25; 10:39 NRSV).Jude asserts that God is able to present the believer “withoutfault” before his presence (Jude 24). Essentially, this is whatJesus says in John 10:28–29: “They shall never perish”(cf. 17:12). The loss of one sheep would impugn the power andcharacter of God, who not only saves by grace but also keeps us byhis grace and in his grace (Rom. 5:2).
A song of worship and praise to God. The NIV only uses theword once in the OT, in Ps. 40:3, referring to a “hymn ofpraise” to God. The Hebrew word behind this phrase is tehillah,which is common in the OT and is elsewhere translated simply as“praise,” especially in the psalms. Psalms were part ofIsrael’s worship, and so such “hymns of praise” toGod are more common than the English suggests.
Thecontent of these hymns is not laid out for modern readers, but itinvolves things such as thanksgiving, gratitude, or generally givingGod due recognition for who he is (e.g., Ps. 66:2) and what he hasdone (e.g., 106:2, 12).
Inthe NT, the word occurs only a handful of times in the NIV, and thereis very little indication what these hymns were about. Here too,generally we can say that a hymn is a particular type of song ofpraise to God.
InMatt. 26:30; Mark 14:26, Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn at theconclusion of the Lord’s Supper. Since this meal was patternedafter the Passover, it is likely that one or more of the Hallelpsalms (Pss. 111–118) were sung. (“Hallel” means“praise” in Hebrew and is related to tehillah). The Greekword behind this use in the Gospels, hymneō, is the origin ofthe English word “hymn.” In Acts 16:25 Paul and Silassang hymns at midnight while in prison, although we are told nothingabout their content.
In1 Cor. 14:26 Paul is instructing his readers about orderly worship.According to the NIV, one of the elements of worship includes hymns,although the Greek word here is psalmos (the word used to refer tothe book of Psalms in Luke 20:42; 24:44; Acts 1:20; 13:30), which theKJV renders there as “psalm.” There is certainlysignificant overlap between hymns and psalms, since both involvepraising God, but evidently there is some distinction too, as can beseen in Eph. 5:19 and Col. 3:16, where Paul makes a distinctionbetween “psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.”Perhaps these terms do not reflect clearly marked categories inPaul’s mind. In Eph. 5:19 all three are directed to God “from[the] heart,” and in Col. 3:16 they are sung with “gratitude,”both of which reflect the use of psalms in the OT.
Biblicalscholars also refer to other portions of the Bible as “hymns,”even though the word is not used. The Song of Moses (Exod. 15:1–18)and the Song of Hannah (1Sam. 2:1–10) are sometimescalled “hymns” simply as a convenient designation(although Hannah’s is more a prayer). The same goes for Mary’ssong, the Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55), which clearly is modeledafter Hannah’s song, and Zechariah’s song, the Benedictus(Luke 1:68–79), which reflects OT prophetic poems. Elsewherebiblical scholars detect the possibility of fragments of preexisting“hymns” that were incorporated into the NT (e.g., Phil.2:6–11). This suggests to some that there was some hymn-writingactivity in the early church.
A song of worship and praise to God. The NIV only uses theword once in the OT, in Ps. 40:3, referring to a “hymn ofpraise” to God. The Hebrew word behind this phrase is tehillah,which is common in the OT and is elsewhere translated simply as“praise,” especially in the psalms. Psalms were part ofIsrael’s worship, and so such “hymns of praise” toGod are more common than the English suggests.
Thecontent of these hymns is not laid out for modern readers, but itinvolves things such as thanksgiving, gratitude, or generally givingGod due recognition for who he is (e.g., Ps. 66:2) and what he hasdone (e.g., 106:2, 12).
Inthe NT, the word occurs only a handful of times in the NIV, and thereis very little indication what these hymns were about. Here too,generally we can say that a hymn is a particular type of song ofpraise to God.
InMatt. 26:30; Mark 14:26, Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn at theconclusion of the Lord’s Supper. Since this meal was patternedafter the Passover, it is likely that one or more of the Hallelpsalms (Pss. 111–118) were sung. (“Hallel” means“praise” in Hebrew and is related to tehillah). The Greekword behind this use in the Gospels, hymneō, is the origin ofthe English word “hymn.” In Acts 16:25 Paul and Silassang hymns at midnight while in prison, although we are told nothingabout their content.
In1 Cor. 14:26 Paul is instructing his readers about orderly worship.According to the NIV, one of the elements of worship includes hymns,although the Greek word here is psalmos (the word used to refer tothe book of Psalms in Luke 20:42; 24:44; Acts 1:20; 13:30), which theKJV renders there as “psalm.” There is certainlysignificant overlap between hymns and psalms, since both involvepraising God, but evidently there is some distinction too, as can beseen in Eph. 5:19 and Col. 3:16, where Paul makes a distinctionbetween “psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.”Perhaps these terms do not reflect clearly marked categories inPaul’s mind. In Eph. 5:19 all three are directed to God “from[the] heart,” and in Col. 3:16 they are sung with “gratitude,”both of which reflect the use of psalms in the OT.
Biblicalscholars also refer to other portions of the Bible as “hymns,”even though the word is not used. The Song of Moses (Exod. 15:1–18)and the Song of Hannah (1Sam. 2:1–10) are sometimescalled “hymns” simply as a convenient designation(although Hannah’s is more a prayer). The same goes for Mary’ssong, the Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55), which clearly is modeledafter Hannah’s song, and Zechariah’s song, the Benedictus(Luke 1:68–79), which reflects OT prophetic poems. Elsewherebiblical scholars detect the possibility of fragments of preexisting“hymns” that were incorporated into the NT (e.g., Phil.2:6–11). This suggests to some that there was some hymn-writingactivity in the early church.
It is difficult to imagine a world without consistentmetrological systems. Society’s basic structures, from economyto law, require a uniform and accurate method for measuring time,distances, weights, volumes, and so on. In today’s world,technological advancements allow people to measure various aspects ofthe universe with incredible accuracy—from nanometers tolight-years, milligrams to kilograms.
Themetrological systems employed in biblical times span the sameconcepts as our own modern-day systems: weight, linear distance, andvolume or capacity. However, the systems of weights and measurementsemployed during the span of biblical times were not nearly asaccurate or uniform as the modern units employed today. Preexistingweight and measurement systems existed in the contextual surroundingsof both the OT and the NT authors and thus heavily influenced thesystems employed by the Israelite nation as well as the NT writers.There was great variance between the different standards usedmerchant to merchant (Gen. 23:16), city to city, region to region,time period to time period, even despite the commands to use honestscales and honest weights (Lev. 19:35–36; Deut. 25:13–15;Prov. 11:1; 16:11; 20:23; Ezek. 45:10).
Furthermore,inconsistencies and contradictions exist within the written recordsas well as between archaeological specimens. In addition, significantdifferences are found between preexilic and postexilic measurementsin the biblical texts, and an attempt at merging dry capacity andliquid volume measurements further complicated the issue. This is tobe expected, especially when we consider modern-dayinconsistencies—for example, 1 US liquid pint= 0.473liters, while 1 US dry pint= 0.550 liters. Thus, all modernequivalents given below are approximations, and even the bestestimates have a margin of error of + 5percent or more.
Weights
Weightsin biblical times were carried in a bag or a satchel (Deut. 25:13;Prov. 16:11; Mic. 6:11) and were stones, usually carved into variousanimal shapes for easy identification. Their side or flat bottom wasinscribed with the associated weight and unit of measurement.Thousands of historical artifacts, which differ by significantamounts, have been discovered by archaeologists and thus have greatlycomplicated the work of determining accurate modern-day equivalents.
Beka.Approximately 1⁄5 ounce, or 5.6 grams. Equivalent to 10 gerahsor ½ the sanctuary shekel (Exod. 38:26). Used to measuremetals and goods such as gold (Gen. 24:22).
Gerah.1⁄50 ounce, or 0.56 grams. Equivalent to 1⁄10 beka, 1⁄20shekel (Exod. 30:13; Lev. 27:25).
Litra.Approximately 12 ounces, or 340 grams. A Roman measure of weight.Used only twice in the NT (John 12:3; 19:39). The precursor to themodern British pound.
Mina.Approximately 1¼ pounds, or 0.56 kilograms. Equivalent to 50shekels. Used to weigh gold (1Kings 10:17; Ezra 2:69), silver(Neh. 7:71–72), and other goods. The prophet Ezekiel redefinedthe proper weight: “Theshekel is to consist of twentygerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekelsequal one mina” (Ezek. 45:12). Before this redefinition, therewere arguably 50 shekels per mina. In Jesus’ parable of theservants, he describes the master entrusting to his three servantsvarying amounts—10 minas, 5 minas, 1 mina—implying amonetary value (Luke 19:11–24), probably of either silver orgold. One mina was equivalent to approximately three months’wages for a laborer.
Pim.Approximately 1⁄3 ounce, or 9.3 grams. Equivalent to 2⁄3shekel. Referenced only once in the Scriptures (1Sam. 13:21).
Shekel.Approximately 2⁄5 ounce, or 11 grams. Equivalent toapproximately 2 bekas. The shekel is the basic unit of weightmeasurement in Israelite history, though its actual weight variedsignificantly at different historical points. Examples include the“royal shekel” (2Sam. 14:26), the “commonshekel” (2Kings 7:1), and the “sanctuary shekel,”which was equivalent to 20 gerahs (e.g., Exod. 30:13; Lev. 27:25;Num. 3:47). Because it was used to weigh out silver or gold, theshekel also functioned as a common monetary unit in the NT world.
Talent.Approximately 75 pounds, or 34 kilograms. Equivalent to approximately60 minas. Various metals were weighed using talents: gold (Exod.25:39; 37:24; 1Chron. 20:2), silver (Exod. 38:27; 1Kings20:39; 2Kings 5:22), and bronze (Exod. 38:29). This probably isderived from the weight of a load that a man could carry.
Table12. Biblical Weights and Measures and Their Modern Equivalents:
Weights
Beka– 10 geraahs; ½ shekel = 1/5 ounce = 5.6 grams
Gerah– 1/10 beka; 1/20 shekel = 1/50 ounce = 0.56 grams
Litra– 12 ounces = 340 grams
Mina– 50 shekels = 1 ¼ pounds = 0.56 kilograms
Pim– 2/3 shekel = 1/3 ounce = 9.3 grams
Shekel– 2 bekas; 20 gerahs = 2/5 ounce = 11 grams
Talent– 60 minas = 75 pounds = 34 kilograms
Linearmeasurements
Cubit– 6 handbreadths = 18 inches = 45.7 centimeters
Day’sjourney = 20-25 miles = 32-40 kilometerse
Fingerbreadth– ¼ handbreadth = ¾ inch = 1.9 centimeterse
Handbreadth– 1/6 cubit = 3 inches = 7.6 centimeters
Milion– 1 mile = 1.6 kilometers
Orguia– 1/100 stadion = 5 feet 11 inches = 1.8 meters
Reed/rod– 108 inches = 274 centimeters
Sabbathday’s journey – 2,000 cubits = ¾ mile = 1.2kilometers
Span– 3 handbreadths = 9 inches = 22.8 centimeters
Stadion– 100 orguiai = 607 feet = 185 meters
Capacity
Cab– 1 omer = ½ gallon = 1.9 liters
Choinix– ¼ gallon = 0.9 liters
Cor– 1 homer; 10 ephahs = 6 bushels; 48.4 gallons = 183 liters
Ephah– 10 omers; 1/10 homer = 3/5 bushel; 6 gallons = 22.7 liters
Homer– 10 ephahs; 1 cor = 6 bushels; 48.4 gallons = 183 liters
Koros– 10 bushels; 95 gallons – 360 liters
Omer– 1/10 ephah; 1/100 homer = 2 quarts = 1.9 liters
Saton– 1 seah = 7 quarts = 6.6 liters
Seah– 1/3 ephah; 1 saton = 7 quarts = 6.6 liters
LiquidVolume
Bath– 1 ephah = 6 gallons = 22.7 liters
Batos– 8 gallons = 30.3 liters
Hin– 1/6 bath; 12 logs = 1 gallon; 4 quarts = 3.8 liters
Log– 1/72 bath; 1/12 hin = 1/3 quart = 0.3 liters
Metretes– 10 gallons = 37.8 literes
LinearMeasurements
Linearmeasurements were based upon readily available natural measurementssuch as the distance between the elbow and the hand or between thethumb and the little finger. While convenient, this method ofmeasurement gave rise to significant inconsistencies.
Cubit.Approximately 18 inches, or 45.7 centimeters. Equivalent to 6handbreadths. The standard biblical measure of linear distance, asthe shekel is the standard measurement of weight. The distance fromthe elbow to the outstretched fingertip. Used to describe height,width, length (Exod. 25:10), distance (John 21:8), and depth (Gen.7:20). Use of the cubit is ancient. For simple and approximateconversion into modern units, divide the number of cubits in half formeters, then multiply the number of meters by 3 to arrive at feet.
1cubit = 2 spans = 6 handbreadths = 24 fingerbreadths
Day’sjourney.An approximate measure of distance equivalent to about 20–25miles, or 32–40 kilometers. Several passages reference a singleor multiple days’ journey as a description of the distancetraveled or the distance between two points: “a day’sjourney” (Num. 11:31; 1Kings 19:4), “a three-dayjourney” (Gen. 30:36; Exod. 3:18; 8:27; Jon. 3:3), “sevendays” (Gen. 31:23), and “eleven days” (Deut. 1:2).After visiting Jerusalem for Passover, Jesus’ parents journeyedfor a day (Luke 2:44) before realizing that he was not with them.
Fingerbreadth.The width of the finger, or ¼ of a handbreadth, approximately¾ inch, or 1.9 centimeters. The fingerbreadth was thebeginning building block of the biblical metrological system forlinear measurements. Used only once in the Scriptures, to describethe bronze pillars (Jer. 52:21).
Handbreadth.Approximately 3 inches, or 7.6 centimeters. Equivalent to 1/6 cubit,or four fingerbreadths. Probably the width at the base of the fourfingers. A short measure of length, thus compared to a human’sbrief life (Ps. 39:5). Also the width of the rim on the bread table(Exod. 25:25) and the thickness of the bronze Sea (1Kings7:26).
Milion.Translated “mile” in Matt. 5:41. Greek transliteration ofRoman measurement mille passuum, “a thousand paces.”
Orguia.Approximately 5 feet 11 inches, or 1.8 meters. Also translated as“fathom.” A Greek unit of measurement. Probably thedistance between outstretched fingertip to fingertip. Used to measurethe depth of water (Acts 27:28).
Reed/rod.Approximately 108 inches, or 274 centimeters. This is also a generalterm for a measuring device rather than a specific linear distance(Ezek. 40:3, 5; 42:16–19; Rev. 11:1; 21:15).
Sabbathday’s journey.Approximately ¾ mile, or 1.2 kilometers (Acts 1:12). About2,000 cubits.
Span.Approximately 9 inches, or 22.8 centimeters. Equivalent to threehandbreadths, and ½ cubit. The distance from outstretchedthumb tip to little-finger tip. The length and width of the priest’sbreastpiece (Exod. 28:16).
Stadion.Approximately 607 feet, or 185 meters. Equivalent to 100 orguiai.Used in the measurement of large distances (Matt. 14:24; Luke 24:13;John 6:19; 11:18; Rev. 14:20; 21:16).
LandArea
Seed.The size of a piece of land could also be measured on the basis ofhow much seed was required to plant that field (Lev. 27:16; 1Kings18:32).
Yoke.Fields and lands were measured using logical, available means. Inbiblical times, this meant the amount of land a pair of yoked animalscould plow in one day (1Sam. 14:14; Isa. 5:10).
Capacity
Cab.Approximately ½ gallon, or 1.9 liters. Equivalent to 1 omer.Mentioned only once in the Scriptures, during the siege of Samaria(2Kings 6:25).
Choinix.Approximately ¼ gallon, or 0.9 liters. A Greek measurement,mentioned only once in Scripture (Rev. 6:6).
Cor.Approximately 6 bushels (48.4 gallons, or 183 liters). Equal to thehomer, and to 10 ephahs. Used for measuring dry volumes, particularlyof flour and grains (1Kings 4:22; 1Kings 5:11; 2Chron.2:10; 27:5; Ezra 7:22). In the LXX, cor is also a measure of liquidvolume, particularly oil (1Kings 5:11; 2Chron. 2:10; Ezra45:14).
Ephah.Approximately 3⁄5 bushel (6 gallons, or 22.7 liters).Equivalent to 10 omers, or 1⁄10 homer. Used for measuring flourand grains (e.g., Exod. 29:40; Lev. 6:20). Isaiah prophesied a day ofreduced agricultural yield, when a homer of seed would produce onlyan ephah of grain (Isa. 5:10). The ephah was equal in size to thebath (Ezek. 45:11), which typically was used for liquid measurements.
Homer.Approximately 6 bushels (48.4 gallons, or 183 liters). Equivalent to1 cor, or 10 ephahs. Used for measuring dry volumes, particularly ofvarious grains (Lev. 27:16; Isa. 5:10; Ezek. 45:11, 13–14; Hos.3:2). This is probably a natural measure of the load that a donkeycan carry, in the range of 90 kilograms. There may have existed adirect link between capacity and monetary value, given Lev. 27:16:“fifty shekels of silver to a homer of barley seed.” Alogical deduction of capacity and cost based on known equivalencesmight look something like this:
1homer = 1 mina; 1 ephah = 5 shekels; 1 omer = 1 beka
Koros.Approximately 10 bushels (95 gallons, or 360 liters). A Greek measureof grain (Luke 16:7).
Omer.Approximately 2 quarts, or 1.9 liters. Equivalent to 1⁄10ephah, 1⁄100 homer (Ezek. 45:11). Used by Israel in themeasurement and collection of manna in the wilderness (Exod.16:16–36) and thus roughly equivalent to a person’s dailyfood ration.
Saton.Approximately 7 quarts, or 6.6 liters. Equivalent to 1 seah. Themeasurement of flour in Jesus’ parable of the kingdom of heaven(Matt. 13:33; Luke 13:21).
Seah.Approximately 7 quarts, or 6.6 liters. Equivalent to 1⁄3 ephah,or 1 saton. Used to measure flour, grain, seed, and other various drygoods (e.g., 2Kings 7:1; 1Sam. 25:18).
LiquidVolume
Bath.Approximately 6 gallons, or 22.7 liters. Equivalent to 1 ephah, whichtypically was used for measurements of dry capacity. Used in themeasurement of water (1Kings 7:26), oil (1Kings 5:11),and wine (2Chron. 2:10; Isa. 5:10).
Batos.Approximately 8 gallons, or 30.3 liters. A Greek transliteration ofthe Hebrew word bath(see above). A measure of oil (Luke 16:6).
Hin.Approximately 4 quarts (1gallon, or 3.8 liters). Equivalent to1⁄6 bath and 12 logs. Used in the measurement of water (Ezek.4:11), oil (Ezek. 46:5), and wine (Num. 28:14).
Log.Approximately 1⁄3 quart, or 0.3 liter. Equivalent to 1⁄72bath and 1⁄12 hin. Mentioned five times in Scripture,specifically used to measure oil (Lev. 14:10–24).
Metretes.Approximately 10 gallons, or 37.8 liters. Used in the measurement ofwater at the wedding feast (John 2:6).
One of the twelve apostles (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18). Thaddaeuswas also called “Judas son of James” (Luke 6:16; Acts1:13) or “Judas (not Judas Iscariot),” whose onlyrecorded words appear in John 14:22.
A title designating members of the group of twelve disciples(Matt. 10:2–4; Mark 3:16–19; Luke 6:13–16) whor*ceived Jesus’ teaching (Luke 17:5) and to whom he grantedauthority (Mark 6:7, 30; Luke 9:1, 10). Matthias later replaced JudasIscariot (Acts 1:24). These apostles provided leadership to the earlychurch in Jerusalem (Acts 15:6), performed miracles (Acts 2:43;2 Cor. 12:12), and faced persecution (Acts 5:18) as theytestified to Jesus’ resurrection (Acts 4:33; 5:32). Broaderusage of the term includes witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection(1 Cor. 15:7), James the brother of Jesus (Gal. 1:19), Barnabasand Paul (Acts 14:14), and possibly Silas (1 Thess. 2:6) andAndronicus and Junias/Junia (Rom. 16:7). Paul regularly speaks of hiscalling in apostolic terms (Rom. 1:1; 1 Cor. 1:1; 2 Cor.1:1; Gal. 1:1; Eph. 1:1; Col. 1:1; 1 Tim. 1:1; 2 Tim. 1:1;Titus 1:1), while Peter similarly self-identifies (1 Pet. 1:1;2 Pet. 1:1). The word is once used of Jesus himself (Heb. 3:1).
(1)Joseph,called “Barsabbas,” also known by the name “Justus.”He, along with Matthias, was considered to take the place among theapostles vacated by Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:23). (2)Titius(in some manuscripts “Titus”) Justus, a “worshiperof God” in Corinth with whom Paul lodged in his home near thesynagogue (Acts 18:7). (3)JesusJustus, a Jewish Christian coworker with Paul who sent greetings toColossae (Col. 4:11).
The idea of unity has always been significant for God’speople and their relatedness to one another. In the OT, unitycentered on the covenant and on Yahweh, who is the heart of thecovenant. In 2Chron. 30:12 the hand of God was on the people togive them unity to carry out the tasks that had been ordered by theking at God’s command. In Ps. 133:1 the psalmist notes thegoodness of the unity of the extended family, no doubt also to beextended to the unity of God’s people, Israel.
Inthe NT, unity centers on Jesus Christ, who is the heart of the newcovenant. John emphasizes this unity as he records the teaching ofJesus on the relationship of the Father and the Son (John 14). TheFather is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father. In John 16 Jesusnotes that this is the standard by which oneness is to be compared;the disciples are to be one, just as the Father and theSon areone. There will also be oneness between the triune God and his peopleas the Holy Spirit comes to reside in the disciples. Unity and itsvarious outcomes are the subject of Jesus’ final prayer in thegarden (John 17).
InActs 1 Luke notes that the disciples were unified after theresurrection and ascension as they worshiped and prayed together inthe upper room (v.14 NASB, NET: “with one mind”[hom*othymadon]). Luke uses the same word in Acts 2:46 when he notesthe same unity for the early church as they gathered for the sake ofworship and praise to God in the temple (cf. 4:24 [unison prayer forpower from God]; 5:12 [meeting together at Solomon’sColonnade]; 15:25 [unanimity in a decision to send representatives toAntioch]). Indeed, the story of the beginning of the early church isthe story of the fulfillment of Christ’s command to be unified.It is sometimes supposed, probably correctly, that the apostles fromJerusalem went to the Samaritan church to lay on hands for thebestowal of the Spirit in order that the long-standingJewish-Samaritan rift might not destroy the unity of the growing body(see Acts 8:14–17).
InEph. 4:3 Paul commands the believers to be zealous to keep theirunity based in the Spirit as they are bound together by the peacethat Christ gives. Later, in 4:13, Paul notes that God has givengifted people to the body of Christ so that the believers may betrained for the ministry of building up that body. This has its goalin the unity of believers and maturity of the faith in the knowledgeof Christ—so that the body might be like him. So the unity ofbelievers here is linked to the ubiquitous NT goal of Christlikeness.This also entails rejecting false teaching (4:14).
It is difficult to imagine a world without consistentmetrological systems. Society’s basic structures, from economyto law, require a uniform and accurate method for measuring time,distances, weights, volumes, and so on. In today’s world,technological advancements allow people to measure various aspects ofthe universe with incredible accuracy—from nanometers tolight-years, milligrams to kilograms.
Themetrological systems employed in biblical times span the sameconcepts as our own modern-day systems: weight, linear distance, andvolume or capacity. However, the systems of weights and measurementsemployed during the span of biblical times were not nearly asaccurate or uniform as the modern units employed today. Preexistingweight and measurement systems existed in the contextual surroundingsof both the OT and the NT authors and thus heavily influenced thesystems employed by the Israelite nation as well as the NT writers.There was great variance between the different standards usedmerchant to merchant (Gen. 23:16), city to city, region to region,time period to time period, even despite the commands to use honestscales and honest weights (Lev. 19:35–36; Deut. 25:13–15;Prov. 11:1; 16:11; 20:23; Ezek. 45:10).
Furthermore,inconsistencies and contradictions exist within the written recordsas well as between archaeological specimens. In addition, significantdifferences are found between preexilic and postexilic measurementsin the biblical texts, and an attempt at merging dry capacity andliquid volume measurements further complicated the issue. This is tobe expected, especially when we consider modern-dayinconsistencies—for example, 1 US liquid pint= 0.473liters, while 1 US dry pint= 0.550 liters. Thus, all modernequivalents given below are approximations, and even the bestestimates have a margin of error of + 5percent or more.
Weights
Weightsin biblical times were carried in a bag or a satchel (Deut. 25:13;Prov. 16:11; Mic. 6:11) and were stones, usually carved into variousanimal shapes for easy identification. Their side or flat bottom wasinscribed with the associated weight and unit of measurement.Thousands of historical artifacts, which differ by significantamounts, have been discovered by archaeologists and thus have greatlycomplicated the work of determining accurate modern-day equivalents.
Beka.Approximately 1⁄5 ounce, or 5.6 grams. Equivalent to 10 gerahsor ½ the sanctuary shekel (Exod. 38:26). Used to measuremetals and goods such as gold (Gen. 24:22).
Gerah.1⁄50 ounce, or 0.56 grams. Equivalent to 1⁄10 beka, 1⁄20shekel (Exod. 30:13; Lev. 27:25).
Litra.Approximately 12 ounces, or 340 grams. A Roman measure of weight.Used only twice in the NT (John 12:3; 19:39). The precursor to themodern British pound.
Mina.Approximately 1¼ pounds, or 0.56 kilograms. Equivalent to 50shekels. Used to weigh gold (1Kings 10:17; Ezra 2:69), silver(Neh. 7:71–72), and other goods. The prophet Ezekiel redefinedthe proper weight: “Theshekel is to consist of twentygerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekelsequal one mina” (Ezek. 45:12). Before this redefinition, therewere arguably 50 shekels per mina. In Jesus’ parable of theservants, he describes the master entrusting to his three servantsvarying amounts—10 minas, 5 minas, 1 mina—implying amonetary value (Luke 19:11–24), probably of either silver orgold. One mina was equivalent to approximately three months’wages for a laborer.
Pim.Approximately 1⁄3 ounce, or 9.3 grams. Equivalent to 2⁄3shekel. Referenced only once in the Scriptures (1Sam. 13:21).
Shekel.Approximately 2⁄5 ounce, or 11 grams. Equivalent toapproximately 2 bekas. The shekel is the basic unit of weightmeasurement in Israelite history, though its actual weight variedsignificantly at different historical points. Examples include the“royal shekel” (2Sam. 14:26), the “commonshekel” (2Kings 7:1), and the “sanctuary shekel,”which was equivalent to 20 gerahs (e.g., Exod. 30:13; Lev. 27:25;Num. 3:47). Because it was used to weigh out silver or gold, theshekel also functioned as a common monetary unit in the NT world.
Talent.Approximately 75 pounds, or 34 kilograms. Equivalent to approximately60 minas. Various metals were weighed using talents: gold (Exod.25:39; 37:24; 1Chron. 20:2), silver (Exod. 38:27; 1Kings20:39; 2Kings 5:22), and bronze (Exod. 38:29). This probably isderived from the weight of a load that a man could carry.
Table12. Biblical Weights and Measures and Their Modern Equivalents:
Weights
Beka– 10 geraahs; ½ shekel = 1/5 ounce = 5.6 grams
Gerah– 1/10 beka; 1/20 shekel = 1/50 ounce = 0.56 grams
Litra– 12 ounces = 340 grams
Mina– 50 shekels = 1 ¼ pounds = 0.56 kilograms
Pim– 2/3 shekel = 1/3 ounce = 9.3 grams
Shekel– 2 bekas; 20 gerahs = 2/5 ounce = 11 grams
Talent– 60 minas = 75 pounds = 34 kilograms
Linearmeasurements
Cubit– 6 handbreadths = 18 inches = 45.7 centimeters
Day’sjourney = 20-25 miles = 32-40 kilometerse
Fingerbreadth– ¼ handbreadth = ¾ inch = 1.9 centimeterse
Handbreadth– 1/6 cubit = 3 inches = 7.6 centimeters
Milion– 1 mile = 1.6 kilometers
Orguia– 1/100 stadion = 5 feet 11 inches = 1.8 meters
Reed/rod– 108 inches = 274 centimeters
Sabbathday’s journey – 2,000 cubits = ¾ mile = 1.2kilometers
Span– 3 handbreadths = 9 inches = 22.8 centimeters
Stadion– 100 orguiai = 607 feet = 185 meters
Capacity
Cab– 1 omer = ½ gallon = 1.9 liters
Choinix– ¼ gallon = 0.9 liters
Cor– 1 homer; 10 ephahs = 6 bushels; 48.4 gallons = 183 liters
Ephah– 10 omers; 1/10 homer = 3/5 bushel; 6 gallons = 22.7 liters
Homer– 10 ephahs; 1 cor = 6 bushels; 48.4 gallons = 183 liters
Koros– 10 bushels; 95 gallons – 360 liters
Omer– 1/10 ephah; 1/100 homer = 2 quarts = 1.9 liters
Saton– 1 seah = 7 quarts = 6.6 liters
Seah– 1/3 ephah; 1 saton = 7 quarts = 6.6 liters
LiquidVolume
Bath– 1 ephah = 6 gallons = 22.7 liters
Batos– 8 gallons = 30.3 liters
Hin– 1/6 bath; 12 logs = 1 gallon; 4 quarts = 3.8 liters
Log– 1/72 bath; 1/12 hin = 1/3 quart = 0.3 liters
Metretes– 10 gallons = 37.8 literes
LinearMeasurements
Linearmeasurements were based upon readily available natural measurementssuch as the distance between the elbow and the hand or between thethumb and the little finger. While convenient, this method ofmeasurement gave rise to significant inconsistencies.
Cubit.Approximately 18 inches, or 45.7 centimeters. Equivalent to 6handbreadths. The standard biblical measure of linear distance, asthe shekel is the standard measurement of weight. The distance fromthe elbow to the outstretched fingertip. Used to describe height,width, length (Exod. 25:10), distance (John 21:8), and depth (Gen.7:20). Use of the cubit is ancient. For simple and approximateconversion into modern units, divide the number of cubits in half formeters, then multiply the number of meters by 3 to arrive at feet.
1cubit = 2 spans = 6 handbreadths = 24 fingerbreadths
Day’sjourney.An approximate measure of distance equivalent to about 20–25miles, or 32–40 kilometers. Several passages reference a singleor multiple days’ journey as a description of the distancetraveled or the distance between two points: “a day’sjourney” (Num. 11:31; 1Kings 19:4), “a three-dayjourney” (Gen. 30:36; Exod. 3:18; 8:27; Jon. 3:3), “sevendays” (Gen. 31:23), and “eleven days” (Deut. 1:2).After visiting Jerusalem for Passover, Jesus’ parents journeyedfor a day (Luke 2:44) before realizing that he was not with them.
Fingerbreadth.The width of the finger, or ¼ of a handbreadth, approximately¾ inch, or 1.9 centimeters. The fingerbreadth was thebeginning building block of the biblical metrological system forlinear measurements. Used only once in the Scriptures, to describethe bronze pillars (Jer. 52:21).
Handbreadth.Approximately 3 inches, or 7.6 centimeters. Equivalent to 1/6 cubit,or four fingerbreadths. Probably the width at the base of the fourfingers. A short measure of length, thus compared to a human’sbrief life (Ps. 39:5). Also the width of the rim on the bread table(Exod. 25:25) and the thickness of the bronze Sea (1Kings7:26).
Milion.Translated “mile” in Matt. 5:41. Greek transliteration ofRoman measurement mille passuum, “a thousand paces.”
Orguia.Approximately 5 feet 11 inches, or 1.8 meters. Also translated as“fathom.” A Greek unit of measurement. Probably thedistance between outstretched fingertip to fingertip. Used to measurethe depth of water (Acts 27:28).
Reed/rod.Approximately 108 inches, or 274 centimeters. This is also a generalterm for a measuring device rather than a specific linear distance(Ezek. 40:3, 5; 42:16–19; Rev. 11:1; 21:15).
Sabbathday’s journey.Approximately ¾ mile, or 1.2 kilometers (Acts 1:12). About2,000 cubits.
Span.Approximately 9 inches, or 22.8 centimeters. Equivalent to threehandbreadths, and ½ cubit. The distance from outstretchedthumb tip to little-finger tip. The length and width of the priest’sbreastpiece (Exod. 28:16).
Stadion.Approximately 607 feet, or 185 meters. Equivalent to 100 orguiai.Used in the measurement of large distances (Matt. 14:24; Luke 24:13;John 6:19; 11:18; Rev. 14:20; 21:16).
LandArea
Seed.The size of a piece of land could also be measured on the basis ofhow much seed was required to plant that field (Lev. 27:16; 1Kings18:32).
Yoke.Fields and lands were measured using logical, available means. Inbiblical times, this meant the amount of land a pair of yoked animalscould plow in one day (1Sam. 14:14; Isa. 5:10).
Capacity
Cab.Approximately ½ gallon, or 1.9 liters. Equivalent to 1 omer.Mentioned only once in the Scriptures, during the siege of Samaria(2Kings 6:25).
Choinix.Approximately ¼ gallon, or 0.9 liters. A Greek measurement,mentioned only once in Scripture (Rev. 6:6).
Cor.Approximately 6 bushels (48.4 gallons, or 183 liters). Equal to thehomer, and to 10 ephahs. Used for measuring dry volumes, particularlyof flour and grains (1Kings 4:22; 1Kings 5:11; 2Chron.2:10; 27:5; Ezra 7:22). In the LXX, cor is also a measure of liquidvolume, particularly oil (1Kings 5:11; 2Chron. 2:10; Ezra45:14).
Ephah.Approximately 3⁄5 bushel (6 gallons, or 22.7 liters).Equivalent to 10 omers, or 1⁄10 homer. Used for measuring flourand grains (e.g., Exod. 29:40; Lev. 6:20). Isaiah prophesied a day ofreduced agricultural yield, when a homer of seed would produce onlyan ephah of grain (Isa. 5:10). The ephah was equal in size to thebath (Ezek. 45:11), which typically was used for liquid measurements.
Homer.Approximately 6 bushels (48.4 gallons, or 183 liters). Equivalent to1 cor, or 10 ephahs. Used for measuring dry volumes, particularly ofvarious grains (Lev. 27:16; Isa. 5:10; Ezek. 45:11, 13–14; Hos.3:2). This is probably a natural measure of the load that a donkeycan carry, in the range of 90 kilograms. There may have existed adirect link between capacity and monetary value, given Lev. 27:16:“fifty shekels of silver to a homer of barley seed.” Alogical deduction of capacity and cost based on known equivalencesmight look something like this:
1homer = 1 mina; 1 ephah = 5 shekels; 1 omer = 1 beka
Koros.Approximately 10 bushels (95 gallons, or 360 liters). A Greek measureof grain (Luke 16:7).
Omer.Approximately 2 quarts, or 1.9 liters. Equivalent to 1⁄10ephah, 1⁄100 homer (Ezek. 45:11). Used by Israel in themeasurement and collection of manna in the wilderness (Exod.16:16–36) and thus roughly equivalent to a person’s dailyfood ration.
Saton.Approximately 7 quarts, or 6.6 liters. Equivalent to 1 seah. Themeasurement of flour in Jesus’ parable of the kingdom of heaven(Matt. 13:33; Luke 13:21).
Seah.Approximately 7 quarts, or 6.6 liters. Equivalent to 1⁄3 ephah,or 1 saton. Used to measure flour, grain, seed, and other various drygoods (e.g., 2Kings 7:1; 1Sam. 25:18).
LiquidVolume
Bath.Approximately 6 gallons, or 22.7 liters. Equivalent to 1 ephah, whichtypically was used for measurements of dry capacity. Used in themeasurement of water (1Kings 7:26), oil (1Kings 5:11),and wine (2Chron. 2:10; Isa. 5:10).
Batos.Approximately 8 gallons, or 30.3 liters. A Greek transliteration ofthe Hebrew word bath(see above). A measure of oil (Luke 16:6).
Hin.Approximately 4 quarts (1gallon, or 3.8 liters). Equivalent to1⁄6 bath and 12 logs. Used in the measurement of water (Ezek.4:11), oil (Ezek. 46:5), and wine (Num. 28:14).
Log.Approximately 1⁄3 quart, or 0.3 liter. Equivalent to 1⁄72bath and 1⁄12 hin. Mentioned five times in Scripture,specifically used to measure oil (Lev. 14:10–24).
Metretes.Approximately 10 gallons, or 37.8 liters. Used in the measurement ofwater at the wedding feast (John 2:6).
An occupation or profession is the usual work or business inwhich a person engages for the sake of earning a living. In biblicaltimes, family or social standing most often determined occupation.This was particularly true for occupations tied to land, such asplanting crops and raising animals, since land in ancient Israel waspassed down within the tribe, normally from fathers to sons (Josh.14:9; Ezek. 46:18). Sometimes daughters also received a share in thefamily inheritance (Josh. 17:6). Most people gained their livelihoodfrom their family’s land, and those who did not have land hiredthemselves out to work for wages (Deut. 24:14). A son normallylearned his trade from his father (Gen. 47:3; 2Kings 4:18;Matt. 4:21) and continued in that occupation unless called into God’sservice (1Kings 19:19–21; Jer. 1:5; Matt. 4:22).
Cicero,writing around the time of the NT, considered occupations such as taxcollector, laborer, and fisherman to be vulgar. Conversely,professions such as teacher, doctor, and wholesale trader were morehonorable, with landowner being the most respectable and profitableprofession (Off. 1.42).
Agricultureand Farming
Farmingis the earliest recorded occupation in the Bible, as the first manwas called to work and keep the garden (Gen. 2:15). Even after theexile from Eden because of sin, Adam worked the ground for food, asdid Cain, his firstborn son (Gen. 3:17–18; 4:2). The openingchapters of the Bible establish a fundamental link between “man”(’adam) and the “ground” (’adamah). After theflood, Noah established himself as a “man of the soil”(’ish ha’adamah) by planting a vineyard (Gen. 9:20). KingUzziah “loved the soil” (’oheb ’adamah) andso employed people to work in his fields and vineyards (2Chron.26:10).
Goddemonstrated his covenant commitment to Isaac by blessing him with anincredible harvest (Gen. 26:12), and he promised to prosper Israel’sfarms if the people obeyed him (Deut. 28:4) and to curse the fruit oftheir ground if they disobeyed (Deut. 28:18). The OT ideal was foreveryone to live “under their own vine and under their own figtree” (1Kings 4:25; Mic. 4:4). According to Prov. 28:19,the diligent farmer would have abundant food.
Jesus’parables frequently employed agricultural imagery that would havebeen readily understandable in first-century Palestine, where manypeople were farmers (cf. Mark 4:1–9; 12:1–11) and someowned land (Acts 4:34). The people living around Jerusalem at thistime engaged in agriculture, soil cultivation, and cattle raising(Let. Aris. 107–112).
Herdingand Hunting
Herdinganimals is the second-oldest occupation recorded in Scripture (afterfarming), and raising flocks and herds continued to be one of themost common and important professions throughout biblical times. Abelis the first “keeper of sheep” in the Bible (Gen. 4:2NRSV). Several generations later, Jabal pioneered the nomadic herdinglifestyle (Gen. 4:20). The patriarchs were shepherds (Gen. 47:3), aswere Moses (Exod. 3:1), David (1Sam. 17:34), and many others inthe OT. Josephus acknowledged that “feeding of sheep was theemployment of our forefathers in the most ancient ages”(Ag.Ap. 1.91). While men typically worked as shepherds andherdsmen, the occupation was also open to women, such as Rachel,whose fathers owned sheep (Gen. 29:9). Shepherds were present atJesus’ birth (Luke 2:8–20), and Jesus’ teachingsuggests that shepherding was a common occupation in Palestine (cf.Matt. 18:12; John 10:1–30).
Manypeople in biblical times hunted, either for food, sport, orprotection. The first recorded hunter is Nimrod, “a mightyhunter before the Lord” (Gen. 10:9). Ishmael was “anexpert with the bow” (Gen. 21:20 NRSV), while Esau was “askillful hunter, a man of the open country” who brought backwild game for food (25:27–28). The name of Pokereth-Hazzebaim,included in the genealogy of Solomon’s servants in Ezra 2:57,reflects his occupation as a “gazelle catcher” (cf.1Kings 4:23).
Buildersand Craftsmen
Cainwas the first person in the Bible to build a city (Gen. 4:17), andhis descendant Tubal-Cain was the first metalworker (4:22). Nimrodbuilt a number of cities (10:11–12), and the beginning ofNimrod’s kingdom was Babel (10:10), where the people gatheredtogether to build a city with brick (11:3). Builders in Mesopotamiaused baked brick and asphalt, while Israelite builders usuallypreferred the more readily available stone and mortar. After Joseph’sdeath, Israel was conscripted into forced labor in Egypt, whichinvolved building cities of brick and mortar (Exod. 1:11).
Therole of craftsmen in the construction of the tabernacle wasparticularly significant. Bezalel and Oholiab were “skilledworkers and designers” empowered by God for work on thetabernacle (Exod. 35:35). They engaged in “all kinds ofcrafts,” including artistic metalworking, masonry, carpentry,and weaving (Exod. 31:4–5; 38:23).
Kingsin Israel often commissioned important building projects (1Kings12:25; 15:22; 16:24; 2Chron. 26:9; Josephus, J.W. 1.401–2).Carpenters and stonemasons worked on David’s palace (2Sam.5:11). Solomon conscripted laborers to build the temple and alsoemployed carriers, stonecutters, craftsmen, and foremen to supervisethe work (1Kings 5:13–18). After the Babylonian exile,many Israelites were involved in rebuilding the temple and the wallof Jerusalem, which had been destroyed (Ezra 3:8; Neh. 4:16–18).These projects, directed by Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, utilized masons,carpenters, and other workers (Ezra 3:7).
Jesusis referred to as a tektōn (Mark 6:3) and as the son of a tektōn(Matt. 13:55), with tektōn usually translated “carpenter”by English versions. However,recent scholarshiphas demonstrated that Jesus was likely a builder, not a carpenter inthe modern sense of the term. In the LXX, the word tektōntypically translates a Hebrew word, kharash, used broadly to refer tocraftsmen working with stone, wood, or metal.
Musicians
Thefirst musician recorded in Scripture is Jubal, “the father ofall who play the stringed instruments and pipes” (Gen. 4:21).Musicians performed a variety of roles in ancient society, as they dotoday. Singers and instrumentalists were employed to celebratefestive occasions, often to provide accompaniment for dancing (Gen.31:27; Luke 15:25), to soothe the sick or distressed (1Sam.16:16), and to express lamentation (Job 30:31).
Musiciansplayed an important role in leading God’s people in worship.The “director of music” is mentioned in the headings offifty-five psalms and Hab. 3:19. The most famous musician inScripture is David, “the singer of Israel’s psalms”(2Sam. 23:1 GW), who played the harp (1Sam. 16:18) andwrote or inspired at least seventy-three canonical psalms. Solomonwas also a notable songwriter and lover of music (1Kings 4:32).David appointed many Levites as singers and musicians to lead Israelin worship (1Chron. 15:16; 23:5). The musicians played lyres,harps, cymbals, and trumpets (2Chron. 5:12).
Government,Politics, and Military
Beforethe monarchy, there were no formal government offices. Under Moses, agroup of seventy elders in Israel served as leaders and officials,and these men were to carry out Moses’ decrees and judge thepeople on most matters (Exod. 18:20–22; Num. 11:16). AfterJoshua’s death, God raised up judges to rescue Israel fromforeign enemies and lead the people (Judg. 2:16) until the time ofSamuel, when Saul was made king (1Sam. 11:15).
Kingsin Israel employed various officials. In 2Sam. 8:16–18,Joab is listed first among David’s officials, which suggeststhat the military commander was second in authority after the king.Under Solomon, the leader of the army is called “commander inchief” (1Kings 4:4). The royal cabinet included a numberof key advisers, including the recorder, the secretary, and the“confidant” of the king (cf. 2Sam. 16:16). The OTdoes not specify the precise roles of these officials. The recorderwas among the highest governmental positions and served as a royalcounselor. In Hebrew, mazkir (“recorder”) is a cognatenoun to the verb zkr (“to remember”), which suggests thatthis official may have managed and preserved public records (2Kings18:18; Isa. 36:22). The main task of the king’s secretary orscribe (sop̱er)was to write down (sapar) official state documents (2Sam.8:17), and he advised the king and also provided financial oversight(2Kings 12:10). Recorders and secretaries apparently were welleducated and multilingual, as was the palace administrator (2Kings18:18, 26). Solomon’s officials included supervisors of thepalace and the forced labor, as well as governors who suppliedprovisions for the king’s household (1Kings 4:6–7).The OT mentions cupbearers in Israel’s government and in otheradministrations (Gen. 40:1; 1Kings 10:5; Neh. 1:11). Thecupbearer served as the royal wine taster; he protected the king frombeing poisoned and had direct access to the monarch.
Inthe Roman Empire, the emperor was absolute ruler (1Pet. 2:17),with the senate next in authority. Proconsuls held judicial andmilitary authority over larger provinces (Acts 18:12), prefects(governors) administered smaller provinces (Matt. 27:2), withtetrarchs over one-fourth of a province (Luke 3:1).
Christiansin NT times engaged in civil service. Erastus was a financial officerin Corinth (Rom. 16:23), and he may be the same Erastus commemoratedin an inscription from this period who held the office of aedile. Theproconsul Sergius Paulus (Acts 13:7); Manaen, a close friend of HerodAntipas (Acts 13:1); and members of Caesar’s household (Phil.4:22) were also Christian public leaders.
Tradeand Economics
Fromearliest times, people have exchanged goods and property. WhenAbraham purchased Ephron’s field, his silver was measured“according to the weight current among the merchants”(Gen. 23:16), which suggests that a recognized system of publictrading was in place during the time of the patriarchs. Traders ofcommodities such as spices traveled along caravan routes betweensouthern Arabia and Egypt, and these traders often acquired slavesalong the way (Gen. 37:28). Solomon employed royal merchants to buyand sell goods (1Kings 10:28).
Inthe first century, Jews were engaged broadly in economic life aslandowners, artisans, merchants, traders, bankers, and slaves.Several of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen (Matt. 4:18). Lukewas a physician, a well-educated and respectable professional (Col.4:14). Lydia was a dealer in purple cloth (Acts 16:14). Paul, Aquila,and Priscilla worked as tentmakers (Acts 18:3). In the Roman Empire,commerce and pagan religion often intermingled. Merchants oftenformed trade guilds, where membership sometimes required religiousand moral compromise. In Ephesus, silversmiths and craftsmen inrelated trades turned significant profit through their connectionswith the local Artemis cult (Acts 19:24–27).
Jesusfrequently spent time with tax collectors, such as Levi (also called“Matthew”) (Matt. 9:9; Mark 2:14). Tax collectors were adespised group because often they became wealthy by taking advantageof the Roman taxation system, which allowed them to charge commissionon taxes collected (Luke 19:2, 8). Jesus’ parable of thetalents references bankers who offered interest on deposits collected(Matt. 25:27), and Rev. 3:17–18 alludes to the fact thatLaodicea was a financial center with a significant banking system.
Servantsand Slaves
Inthe OT, ’ebed most often designates a slave or servant, whoseoccupation involves work (’abad ) as a subordinate. Someservants held very important positions in their master’shousehold (Gen. 24:2), while many others toiled in hard labor (Job7:2). Israelites were not to enslave their kinfolk, but they couldtake slaves from other nations. Fellow Israelites who became poorcould serve as hired workers, but they were to be released along withtheir children at the Jubilee because God had brought Israel out fromEgyptian slavery and they belonged to God as his servants (Lev.25:39–46).
Slavesin the Roman world were property like goods or cattle, possessed byanother (Dio Chrysostom, 2Serv. lib. 24). Unlike modern slaverypractices, race played no factor in the Roman institution of slavery.Slaves were kidnapped and sold in NT times (1Tim. 1:10; Rev.18:13), but the majority of slaves were so by birth. The mostprominent slave in the NT is Onesimus, for whom Paul intercedes withhis master, Philemon (Philem. 10, 16). Believing slaves were to obeytheir earthly masters “as slaves of Christ” (Eph. 6:5–6),but the NT stressed the equality of slave and free in Christ (Gal.3:28). Paul called himself a “servant [doulos] of Christ Jesus”(Rom. 1:1).
ReligiousService
MostIsraelites engaged in professional religious service were Levites(Num. 3:12), including Moses, Aaron, and the priests in Aaron’sline (Exod. 6:19–20; 35:19). The priests offered sacrifices toGod on behalf of the people (Heb. 5:1). Under the priests’direction, the Levites were charged with caring for the tabernacleand its furnishings (Num. 1:49; 1Chron. 23:32) and carrying theark of the covenant (1Chron. 15:2). They were set apart toserve in God’s presence (Deut. 18:7) and to lead the people inworship (2Chron. 5:12). Further, priests often played animportant advisory role to Israel’s kings (2Sam. 8:17;1Kings 4:5; 2Kings 12:2).
InIsrael, people went to seers and prophets to inquire of God (1Sam.9:9), for they received and communicated God’s word (2Sam.24:11; Jer. 37:6). Sometimes individuals are mentioned as prophets,and other times the prophets are discussed as an organized group(1Sam. 19:20; 1Kings 22:6).
TheNT references a number of ministerial offices (1Cor. 12:28;Eph. 4:11; 1Tim. 3:1–12). Not all ministers were paid,though teachers and preachers had a right to “receive theirliving from the gospel” (1Cor. 9:14–15; cf. 1Tim.5:17). Apostles were those sent out by Jesus as his representatives.The term apostolos refers particularly to the twelve apostles whowere with Jesus during his earthly ministry and who were witnesses ofhis resurrection (Acts 1:21–22). Paul referred to himself as anapostle (Gal. 1:1; 1Cor. 1:1), and he calls Epaph-ro-di-tus andothers “messengers” (apostoloi) in the churches (2Cor.8:23; Phil. 2:25). Prophets have the spiritual gift of prophecy andspeak to strengthen, encourage, and comfort the church (Acts 15:32;1Cor. 14:3). Overseers (also called “elders” or“pastors”) are qualified leaders who teach, shepherd, andexercise authority in the church (1Tim. 3:1; 1Pet. 5:2).Evangelists and missionaries proclaim the gospel and aim to winconverts to Christ (Acts 21:8; 2Tim. 4:5). Those ministers whoare faithful to the gospel deserve support (3John8).
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1. You Do Have a Prayer - Sermon Opener
Illustration
James W. Moore
Some years ago, when Leonard Griffith was pastor of the famous City Temple in London, he wrote a fascinating book entitled Barriers to Christian Belief. In that book he dealt with some problems that have over the years been real obstacles and stumbling blocks for people in their faith pilgrimage… specific problems that hinder people, that burden people, that disturb people… and keep them away from the Christian faith. One of the barriers he listed was…"unanswered prayer." It does seem to be a fact of our experience that many people do get discouraged and they do give up and drop out on the faith because they feel a sense of failure in their prayer life.
This leads us to ask then… "How do you pray?" "Why pray at all?" "When do you pray?" "Is there a special formula or a sacred language that should be used?" One thing is clear. There are many questions and there is much misunderstanding about how you pray and why. In a Peanuts cartoon Charlie Brown is kneeling beside his bed for prayer. Suddenly he stops and says to Lucy, "I think I've made a new theological discovery, a real breakthrough. If you hold your hands upside down, you get the opposite of what you pray for."
Prayer must be more than an emergency magical lamp rubbed in a crisis. The truth is that many people give up on prayer because they never understand what prayer is. Much that passes for prayer is irrational, superstitious, and self-centered, and is therefore unworthy of the pattern of the prayer that Jesus offered to us his disciples.
How do you pray and why? We are not the first to ask. The disciples of Jesus came to Him one day and said, "Lord, teach us. Teach us to pray!" Notice something here. When did the disciples ask for this? When did they make this request? Was it after Jesus gave a lecture on prayer? No! Was it after Jesus led a seminar on prayer? No! Was it after Jesus preached a powerful sermon on prayer? No! None of these. Remember how it is recorded in Luke 11… "Jesus was praying in a certain place and when he finished, they said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray.'" They saw the power of prayer in Him. They saw how important prayer was to Him. See the point. Harry Emerson Fosdick stresses it in his book, The Secret of Victorious Living. "Note that this awakened interest in prayer came not at all from new arguments about it, but from a new exhibition of its power. Here, before their very eyes, they saw a personality in whom prayer was vital and influential! The more they lived with him, the more they saw that they could never explain him or understand him unless they understood his praying and so not at all because of new arguments, but because of amazing spiritual power released in him by prayer. They wanted him to tell them how to pray."
The disciples sometimes were slow on the uptake, but at this point they were quickly and precisely on target. They saw in Jesus the answer to this question: how do we pray and why do we pray? And they learned from Him (as we can) what the elements are that lead to a meaningful prayer life.
1. Jesus Prayed Regularly.
2. Jesus Prayed Sensibly.
3. Jesus Prayed Confidently.
2. 101 Ways to Spend Your Time
Illustration
Tim Kimmel
Becoming good at the things that build inner confidence and calm takes practice and a dash of creativity! The following list might provide some cloudseeding for a brainstorm or two of your own:
- Pay off your credit cards.
- Take off ten pounds or accept where you are without any more complaints.
- Eat dinner together as a family for seven days in a row.
- Take your wife on a dialogue date (no movie, guys).
- Read your kids a classic book (Twain's a good start).
- Memorize the Twenty-third Psalm as a family.
- Give each family member a hug for twenty-one days in a row (that's how long the experts say it takes to develop a habit).
- Pick a night of the week in which the television will remain unplugged.
- Go out for a non-fast food dinner as a family.
- Pray for your spouse and children every day.
- Plan a vacation together.
- Take a vacation together.
- Read a chapter from the Bible every day until it becomes a habit.
- Sit together as a family in church.
- Surprise your teenager. Wash his car and fill up his gas tank.
- Take an afternoon off from work; surprise your child by excusing him from school and taking him to a ball game.
- Take a few hours one afternoon and go to the library as a family.
- Take a walk as a family.
- Write each member of your family a letter sharing why you value them.
- Give your spouse a weekend getaway with a friend (same gender!) to a place of their choice.
- Go camping as a family.
- Go to bed early (one hour before your normal bedtime) every day for a week.
- Take each of your children out to breakfast (individually) at least once a month for a year.
- Turn down a promotion that would demand more time from your family than you can afford to give.
- Religiously wear your seat belts.
- Get a complete physical.
- Exercise a little every day for a month.
- Make sure you have adequate life insurance on both you and your spouse.
- Write out information about finances, wills, and important business information that your spouse can use to keep things under control in the event of your death.
- Make sure your family car is safe (tires, brakes, etc.) and get it tuned up.
- Replace the batteries in your smoke alarm.
- Put a security system in your house.
- Attend the parent/teacher meetings of each child as a couple.
- Help your kids with their homework.
- Watch the kids on Saturday while your wife goes shopping (but if a friend calls, don't say that you're "babysitting").
- Explain to your spouse exactly what you do for a living.
- Put together a picture puzzle. (One thousand pieces or more.)
- Take time during the week to read a Bible story to your children and then discuss it with them.
- Encourage each child to submit to you his most perplexing question, and promise him that you'll either answer it or discuss it with him.
- Finish fixing something around the house.
- Tell your kids how you and your spouse met.
- Tell your kids about your first date.
- Sit down and write your parents a letter thanking them for a specific thing they did for you. (Don't forget to send it!)
- Go on a shopping spree where you are absolutely committed to buying nothing.
- Keep a prayer journal for a month. Keep track of the specific ways that God answers your needs.
- Do some stargazing away from the city with your family. Help your children identify constellations and conclude the evening with prayer to the majestic God who created the heavens.
- Treat your wife to a beauty make-over (facial, manicure, haircut, etc.). I hear they really like this.
- Give the kids an alternative to watching Saturday morning cartoons (breakfast at McDonald's, garage sales, the park, chores, etc.).
- Ask your children each day what they did at school (what they learned, who they ate lunch with, etc.).
- After you make your next major family decision, take your child back through the process and teach him how you arrived at your decision.
- Start saying to yourself "My car doesn't look so bad."
- Call you wife or husband from work just to see how they're doing.
- Compile a family tree and teach your children the history of their ancestors.
- Walk through an old graveyard with your children.
- Say no to at least one thing a day even if it's only a second piece of pie.
- Write that letter to the network that broadcast the show you felt was inappropriate for prime-time viewing.
- Turn off the lights and listen to a "praise" tape as you focus your thoughts on the Lord.
- Write a note to your pastor praising him for something.
- Take back all the books in your library that actually belong in someone else's library.
- Give irritating drivers the right to pull in front of you without signaling and yelling at them.
- Make every effort to not let the sun go down on your anger.
- Accept legitimate criticism from your wife or a friend without reacting or defending yourself.
- If your car has a Christian bumper sticker on in drive like it.
- Do a Bible study on the "wise man" and the "fool" in Proverbs...and then apply what it takes to be wise to your life.
- Make a list of people who have hurt your feelings over the past year...then check your list to see if you've forgiven them.
- Make a decision to honor your parents, even if they made a career out of dishonoring you.
- Take your children to the dentist and doctor for your wife.
- Play charades with your family, but limit subjects to memories of the past.
- Do the dishes for your wife.
- Schedule yourself a free day to stay home with your family.
- Get involved in a family project that serves or helps someone less fortunate.
- As a family, get involved in a recreational activity.
- Send your wife flowers.
- Spend an evening going through old pictures from family vacations.
- Take a weekend once a year for you and your spouse to get away and renew your friendship.
- Praise your spouse and children in their presence to someone else.
- Discuss a world or national problem, and ask your children for their opinion on it.
- Wait up for your teenagers when they are out on dates.
- Have a "quiet Saturday" (no television, no radio, no stereo...no kidding).
- If your children are little, spend an hour playing with them but let them determine the game.
- Have your parents tell your children about life when they were young.
- Give up soap operas.
- De-clutter your house.
- If you have a habit of watching late night television, but have to be to work early every morning, change your habit.
- Don't accept unnecessary breakfast appointments.
- Write missionaries regularly.
- Go through your closets and give everything that you haven't worn in a year to a clothing relief organization.
- Become a faithful and frequent visitor of your church's library.
- Become a monthly supporter of a Third World child.
- Keep mementos, school projects, awards, etc. of each child in separate files. You'll appreciate these when they've left the nest.
- Read the biography of a missionary.
- Give regularly and faithfully to conscientious church endeavors.
- Place with your will a letter to each family member telling why you were glad you got to share life with him or her.
- Go through your old records and tapes and discard any of them that might be a bad testimony to your children.
- Furnish a room (or a corner of a room) with comfortable chairs and declare it the "disagreement corner." When conflicts arise, go to this corner and don't leave until it's resolved.
- Give each child the freedom to pick his favorite dinner menu at least once a week.
- Go over to a shut-in's house as a family and completely clean it and get the lawn work done.
- Call an old friend from your past, just to see how he or she is getting along.
- Get a good friend to hold you accountable for a specific important need (Bible reading, prayer, spending time with your family, losing a few pounds, etc.).
- Establish a budget.
- Go to a Christian marriage enrichment seminar.
3. A House of Prayer
Illustration
John R. Brokhoff
Leslie Weatherhead in his book, A Private House Of Prayer, suggests that the structure of the content of prayer be likened to a house of seven rooms. Each room is a division of prayer. There may be some duplication with ACTSS which we just discussed.
The first room is for the affirmation of God's presence. If prayer is a conversation with God, obviously it is necessary for him to be present. When we pray, are we aware of his presence or like Moses do we see only a burning bush? In a hymn Tersteegen sings, "God himself is present; let us now adore him and with awe appear before him." What applies to worship, applies also to prayer. When we pray, we are talking to a real person, not to an idea, or ideal, or ideology, or a theological concept. In prayer we are not talking to ourselves or to the ceiling. In spirit God is there to hear our prayer. We need to realize this and pray accordingly.
The next room is for the thanksgiving and praise. We have been blessed beyond measure and therefore to thank and praise God is in order. Before we begin our prayer, we need to review how good God has been to us. If we are bereft of blessings, our greatest gift is Jesus who loved us enough to die for us.
Go to the next room for the confession of sins. Sin separates us from God. Sin erects an impenetrable curtain which prevents us from seeing God. The separation prevents our hearing the voice of God. We come out of a dirty world with the dirt of sin clinging to us. Before we can be presentable to a holy God we need spiritual cleansing. Thus, in prayer we confess our sins and plead for his mercy.
The fourth room is labelled "Reception of God's grace." We have confessed our sins and begged for mercy. What is God's response? It is grace in terms of pardon and acceptance. At this time in our prayers we remember his promises to be with us always, to forgive us, and to bless us with the Holy Spirit.
Now it is time to go to the room of petition. We have the opportunity to tell God about our personal needs in our own lives, or in our family, or in our work. But, we have petitions not only for ourselves, but others want and need our prayers in their behalf. This takes us to the sixth room of prayer. When we pray for others, it is called intercessory prayer. When his co-worker, Melanchthon, was sick, Luther prayed for him: "I besought the Almighty with great vigor ... quoting from Scripture all the promises I could remember, that prayers should be granted and said that he must grant my prayer, if I was henceforth to put faith in his promises."
The effectiveness of a friend's prayer on our behalf depends on the relationship of the pray-er to God. James wrote, "The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective" (James 5:16). That is why we want a godly mother or a pious pastor to pray for us. Roman Catholics ask the saints and the Virgin Mary to pray for them. On the eve of a historic boxing match, a friend was visiting the champ in his hotel suite. During the conversation a murmuring feminine voice was heard. "That's my wife," the champ explained. "She's praying for me to win." "Oh, and I suppose you pray, too?" The champ replied, "My wife is more devout than I am. If God won't do it for her, He certainly won't do it for me."
The seventh room in the house of prayer is meditation. Some do not understand what meditation is and consequently do not know how to meditate. It is the act of reflecting, of silence, and listening to God. It calls for thinking about God and our relationship to him. It is a time to review past dealings with God. Then we reflect on how good God has been in those past dealings. After that, we remember God's promises to us: promises of peace, protection, and provision. Meditation can be summed up in three R's: review, reflect, and remember.
4. The Messiah Is Among You
Illustration
William White
There was a famous monastery which had fallen on very hard times. Formerly its many buildings were filled with young monks, and its huge chapel resounded with the singing of the choir. But now it was deserted. People no longer came there to be nourished by prayer. A handful of old monks shuffled through the cloisters and praised God with heavy hearts.
On the edge of the monastery woods, an old rabbi had built a tiny hut. He would come there from time to time to fast and pray. No one ever spoke with him, but whenever he appeared, the word would be passed from monk to monk: "The rabbi walks in the woods." And, for as long as he was there, the monks would feel sustained by his prayerful presence.
One day the abbot decided to visit the rabbi and open his heart to him. So, after the morning Eucharist, he set out through the woods. As he approached the hut, the abbot saw the rabbi standing in the doorway, his arms outstretched in welcome. It was as though he had been waiting there for some time. The two embraced like long-lost brothers. Then they stepped back and just stood there, smiling at one another with smiles their faces could hardly contain.
After a while, the rabbi motioned the abbot to enter. In the middle of the room was a wooden table with the Scriptures open on it. They sat there for a moment, in the presence of the Book. Then the rabbi began to cry. The abbot could not contain himself. He covered his face with his hands and began to cry, too. For the first time in his life, he cried his heart out. The two men sat there like lost children, filling the hut with their sobs and moistening the wood of the table with their tears.
After the tears had ceased to flow and all was quiet again, the rabbi lifted his head. "You and your brothers are serving God with heavy hearts," he said. "You have come to ask a teaching of me. I will give you a teaching, but you can only repeat it once. After that, no one must ever say it aloud again."
The rabbi looked straight at the abbot and said, "The Messiah is among you." For a while, all was silent. Then the rabbi said, "Now you must go." The abbot left without ever looking back.
The next morning, the abbot called his monks together in the chapter room. He told them that he had received a teaching from the rabbi who walks in the woods, and that this teaching was never again to be spoken aloud. Then he looked at each of his brothers and said, "The rabbi said that one of us is the Messiah."
The monks were startled by this saying. "What could it mean?" they asked themselves. "Is brother John the Messiah? No, he's too old and crotchety. Is brother Thomas? No, he's too stubborn and set in his ways. Am I the Messiah? What could this possibly mean?" They were all deeply puzzled by the rabbi's teaching. But no one ever mentioned it again.
As time went by, though, something unusual began to happen at the monastery. The monks began to treat one another with a very special reverence. There was a gentle, wholehearted, human quality about them now which was hard to describe, but easy to notice. They lived with one another as brothers who had finally found something. And yet, they prayed over the Scriptures together as those who were still looking for something. Visitors found themselves deeply moved by the genuine caring and sharing that went on among the brothers. Before long, people were again coming from far and wide to be nourished by the prayer life of these monks. And young men were asking, once again, to become part of the community.
In those days, the rabbi no longer walked in the woods. His hut had fallen into ruins. But somehow or other, the older monks who had taken his teaching to heart still felt sustained by his prayerful presence.
5. No Seagulls Came
Illustration
William B. Oglesby
There's a story fromWorld War II that's been told many times whichoccurred over the Pacific. Eddie Rickenbacker and some colleagues on an aircraft were shot down and managed to inflate a raft. The food and water were soon expended, and all hope for their rescue seemed to fade. As they related the story later, they described how together they had formed a prayer band and had prayed earnestly for deliverance. It was just at that time that a seemingly miraculous circ*mstance occurred. A seagull, clearly far off course, began to circle the raft, came lower and lower until at last they were able to capture it. They drank its blood and ate its flesh and were strengthened and sustained. The next day they were found and brought safely to shore. They told the story, and there was spread across the pages of the newspapers of the United States this answer to prayer.
Thestory then began to take a rather distorted turn. Without anyone really meaning to be judgmental or to cast aspersion on anyone else, there arose the notion that if only one had ample faith, a seagull would come. Now its a spiritualcause and effect; if onlywehad ample faith, ourseagull would come.What about the hundreds of young flierswho had gone off to the Pacific, had been shot down, and were never seen again. We shouldresistwith every fiber of ourbeing the notion that somehow these were persons who had little if any faith, else a seagull would most certainly have come. The presence of the seagull for the persons on thatraft was certainly a token that deliverance is always possible; at the same time, there was and is no indication in the New Testament that such deliverance on its own terms is promised. John dies in the prison; almost all the disciples are martyred. There were many persons in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria in the time of Jesus who were not healed. There were many fliers for whom no seagull came. "Blessed is he that taketh no offense."
And the meaning for us? The basic assurance is that all things are working together for good, as Paul reminds us in Romans 8, and that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. But this is no guarantee of deliverance from all of the difficulties which beset us. Indeed, we are reminded in John 16 that "in the world we will have tribulation; but we can be of good cheer, for he has overcome the world." The true meaning of faith, then, is the capacity to believe even when no seagull comes, to know that beyond the vicissitudes and tribulations of life there is life transcendent; there is no more suffering nor sorrow nor crying.
6. IN SEARCH OF HAPPINESS AND SUCCESS
Illustration
John H. Krahn
Often in counseling I ask the question, "Given all the positive and negative forces in your life, when you put it all together, are you basically happy?" When a person says, "No," I realize that we have work to do.
I believe that Jesus Christ is at the center of personal happiness and a successful life. To live a life favorable to him is to permit God’s Spirit to exert control over our lives. And if we permit his control of our lives, then his will becomes our will. And what is Christ’s will? Jesus once said, "I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly." His will is that we have happiness and purpose in life.
I would like to suggest what I call the three P’s to developing a relationship with God. They are: People, Prayer, and Pursuit. Sort of three P’s in a pod - the pod, or encompassing factor, is God himself.
Our first P is for People. It is difficult to discover God in a vacuum. On several occasions teenagers leaving for college have told me that they didn’t plan to attend church at college. They wanted to use the time in college to make up their own minds about God. Taking such a position, they cut off one of the surest ways to experience God - being around people whose lives are God-touched. If your faith ever becomes weak, that is the time when your church attendance and your activity with other Christians need to be the most intense. God will use his people to reach out to you if you don’t avoid them.
Our second P in a good relationship with God is prayer. God is not the Tooth Fairy who has an unlimited source of extra money to solve all problems. God is not an escape artist to invoke when all else fails. A powerful prayer life must also be a consistent prayer life as we try to discover God’s will for our lives. Let me try to illustrate. If you’re in a little boat approaching a sandy beach and you throw out the anchor, and it digs into the sand, and you pull on the anchor rope until the boat slides into the sand, what have you done? Have you moved the shore to the boat, or have you moved the boat to the shore? Of course, you’ve moved the boat to the shore. The purpose of prayer, likewise, is not to move God and heaven to you, but to move you until you want what God wants.
Our third P is pursuit. To know God and his will we must pursue our Christianity as we pursue any other worthwhile endeavor. We must be disciplined as Christians, not only in weekly worship, but also in studying his Word, and in taking the opportunity to touch others with his love. We do not pursue God in order to have God on our terms, but to discover his terms and follow them to a happy and successful life.
Make a very deep commitment of your life to Jesus Christ. People, prayer, and pursuit will help you along the way in your search for happiness and success.
7. Don’t Lose Heart
Illustration
Ron Ritchie
My teenage years were spent in an orphanage called Christ's Home located in a farming district some 30 miles north of Philadelphia. This home was run by some faithful German Christians who were greatly influenced by George Müller, a 19th century Christian who maintained an orphanage in Bristol, England. He lived by faith in God and taught others how to live their lives by totally trusting in the Lord for all their needs. So my life was surrounded by men and women who were always having private or public prayer meetings in which they would ask God in faith for every need, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, and then expect him to answer their prayers. They loved to tell all of us kids from time to time the story of how one dark snowy winter day several years earlier at our orphanage, they gathered all the children and workers together in the dining hall for prayer because they had no food. As they were praying to the Lord to provide food for the children, they heard the sound of sleigh bells, which were normally worn on horses that pulled large snow sleds. The ringing of the bells stopped for a few moments, then started up again and slowly drifted away. Finally the prayer session was finished, and one of the curious workers slipped out of the dining hall to look out on the front lawn. Suddenly there was a great cry of joy, and all the others quickly joined him to see sitting on the steps in the snow enough food for all of them. And the only sign of the giver was the tracks the horses and sled had left in the newly fallen snow.
For many years after that Christ's Home experience I was an observer of prayer, but as the years passed I discovered, as so many of you have, the need to become a participate in prayer. Why? Because I have been learning from the Lord the same spiritual principle he taught his disciples in Luke 18:1: "...that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart." I am finding that there are so many stresses and perplexing problems in my life and the lives of those around me, and that if I am not praying to our gracious and loving heavenly Father, I find myself fainting, simply losing heart.
8. God Knows What I Need
Illustration
Stephen M. Crotts
A little boy knelt down to say his bedtime prayers. His parents heard him reciting the alphabet in very reverent tones. When asked what he was doing, he replied, "I'm saying my prayers, but I cannot think of the exact words tonight. So, I'm just saying all the letters. God knows what I need, and he'll put all the words together for me."
Now, that is not far from a proper way to pray! In seeking prayer we are looking for Christ's mind. We are not sure quite how to word our prayer. So we ask God to take our words and fit them into the correct prayer. We ask him to edit our prayers by cutting out the unnecessary, making corrections, and adding the necessities. We ask God to take our minds and make them his. We ask the Holy Spirit to pray through us. And when we seek in prayer like that, Jesus assures us in the text, we shall find.
Note: An effective and humorous thing to add - if you use this story, at the end of the service start the benediction or prayer byslowly and reverently saying the first few letters of the Alphabet. Then add that God prefers a humble and simple heart. The right way to pray is from the heart.
9. TUNE IN WITH PRAYER
Illustration
John H. Krahn
In the Old Testament we often find God in conversation with his people. Conversational prayer entailed discussing the events of the day and seeking God’s will for the future. In these conversations with the Creator, we find the believer seeking to unite his will and the will of the nation with God’s will. God’s people tuned into him, listening for his direction.
In my freshman year at Concordia Preparatory School in New York, I can recall trying to tune my radio into WBAL in Baltimore, my home town. Under certain atmospheric conditions, I was successful. Often the static wasn’t too bad, and I could hear the familiar sounds of the way the king’s English was spoken at home. It was the sound of home, and it felt good.
Unfortunately, our lines of communication with the Almighty are often filled with static, and we hear God’s clear signal only infrequently. Static is sometimes produced when we have used the instrument of prayer sparingly. At other times, static comes when we are involved in an overtly sinful life. It is hard to pray in the middle of the act of sinning. Static is also caused by the busyness that fills every moment and leaves no time for prayer.
In the New Testament, prayer for Jesus was like breathing: a natural part of his life. It was a daily habit for him. He suggests that we approach the heavenly Father in prayer as earthly children approach their earthly fathers. We are to seek a oneness with God, to share a living union with him like that union which existed between the Father and the Son.
In his Tischreden (Table Talks), Martin Luther gives a beautiful example of the need for concentration in our prayer. "When Luther’s puppy happened to be at the table, he looked for a morsel from his master and watched with open mouth and motionless eyes (as Luther ate). Luther said, ‘Oh, if I could only pray the way this dog watches the meat! All his thoughts are concentrated on the piece of meat. Apart from that, he has no thought, wish or hope.’ " We are to keep in tune with prayer. This takes concentrated effort.
10. Pastoral Prayer
Illustration
Brett Blair
D-Day for WWII was June 6, 1944 — the day on which the Battle of Normandy began — commencing the Western Allied effort to liberate mainland Europe from Nazi occupation during World War II. President Roosevelt composed a prayer and delivered it on the radio that evening. What follows is the full text of that address:
My Fellow Americans,
Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.
And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:
Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.
Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.
They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.
They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.
For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.
Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.
And for us at home fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.
Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.
Give us strength, too strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.
And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.
And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in our sons; faith in each other; faith in our united crusade. Let not the keeness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.
With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.
Thy will be done, Almighty God.
Amen.
Note: We offer this as a possible pastoral prayer during times of war or conflict.We understand that current wars and WWII have many dissimilarities but there are at the same time similarities. Also we understand there are many differences of opinion regardingwar and conflict. So we will notattempted to contemporize or adapt the above prayer leaving that up toeach pastor. Or, you may simply wish to incorporate part or all into your sermon as an historical illustration.
11. Prayers for Strength
Illustration
King Duncan
Terry Anderson is no stranger to difficult times. He was held hostage longer than anyone else in Beirut: for seven long years. Not everyone would have been able to survive what Terry did, day after day, week after week, year after year. Terry will be the first to tell you that he survived because of prayer.
After a month of captivity, Terry and the other hostages were given Bibles. With nothing else to occupy his time, Terry read and reread the Bible. He was particularly drawn to the Apostle Paul. Paul struggled with his weakness and his pride just as Terry did. And through Paul's struggles, Terry drew closer to Christ and was able to express his love of God.
He was also given another book while being held as a hostage, a book on prayer. But it was not as helpful. The author claimed that prayer is always answered. But Terry says, "I'm not sure anymore that it is even right to ask for anything, except patience and strength to endure whatever comes, and help in understanding."
Terry's experience was extreme, of course. But he speaks as one with authority. The one prayer that God always answers is a prayer for the strength to endure. Jesus prayed for the apostles so that they would find strength during their times of suffering. That was a prayer that was answered time and time again. It's a prayer that some of us have prayed as well. God is faithful. He will not forget us in our time of need.
12. The Parable of Prayer and the Refueling Plane
Illustration
"Look at those two planes together," said the little boy. "It looks like one is towing the other."
"No," said the father, "the one plane is bringing more gasoline, so that the other plane does not have to come down and land. Without the refueling plane the great ship would have to stop its flight."
"Oh, that is good isn't it?" said the boy.
Prayer does its silent refueling of the soul. Many great persons have changed the course of history with dynamic leadership following the refueling of the soul.
Washington, amidst hunger and starvation, rose from prayer on his knees to lead his impoverished troops to a Christmas Eve victory over the Hessians.
Lincoln, from the loss of his dearest loved one, rose with greater understanding to lead a sorrowful nation from Civil War to peace.
Prayer is not the whispering of sweet nothings, but the communication of man and God. A resource which helps a sinner become good.
13. The Communion of Empty Hands
Illustration
Alex Gondola
There's a beautiful incident recorded by Thomas Pettepiece, a Methodist pastor who was imprisoned during WWII. He was a political prisoner, a prisoner of conscience. Pettepiece writes of his first Easter Sunday spent in prison. He was among 10,000 prisoners. Most of the men had lost everything: their homes, their jobs, their furniture, their contact with their families. It was Easter Sunday, and they wanted to celebrate Communion. But, they had no cup for Communion. They had no wine for Communion. They didn't even have water for Communion. Nor did they have any bread for the Sacrament.
So, they practiced the Communion of Empty Hands. "This meal in which we take part," Pettepeice said, "reminds us of the imprisonment, the torture, the death and final victory of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The bread is the body which he gave for humanity. The fact that we have none represents very well the lack of bread in the hunger of so many millions of human beings. The wine, which we don't have today, is his blood, and represents our dream of a united humanity, of a just society, without difference of race or class."
Then Pettepiece, the pastor, held out his empty hand to the next person on his right, and passed on the imaginary loaf. Each one took a piece and passed it on. Then he said, "Take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And together they ate the imaginary bread, trying to imagine tasting it.
After a moment they passed around the non-existent chalice, each imagining he was drinking from it. "Take, drink, this is the blood of Christ which was shed for you ... Let us give thanks, sure that Christ is here with us, strengthening us."
They gave thanks to God and then stood up and embraced each other. And a while later, one of the non-Christian prisoners came up to them and said, "You people have something special, which I would like to have." And the father of a girl who had died came up to Pettepiece and said, "Pastor, this was a real experience. I believe that today I discovered what faith is ..." (from Visions of a World Hungry, quoted in A Guide To Prayer, Rueben P. Job and Norman Shawchuck, editors, The Upper Room, p. 143).
14. Competition and Success
Illustration
Here is an example of power: Jesus, a young carpenter, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. His disciples vie for the best seats and he takes a towel and basin to wash their feet. On the cross he meets their evil with a prayer of forgiveness.
Methodist Bishop Jack Meadors of Mississippi tells a wonderful story of an incident that occurred during the Special Olympics. Nine children lined up for the 100 yard dash. The gun sounded and the race was off. But only a few yards into the race, one of the children fell and began to cry. For some reason these challenged children did not understand the world's concept of competition and getting ahead and taking advantage when a competitor was down. The other eight children stopped running and came back to their fallen comrade. A young girl with Down's Syndrome kissed him and brushed him off. The children lifted him up together, arm in arm, they ran over the finish line. The audience rose to their feet in applause. There was not one winner, there were nine winners.
For a fleeting moment these children showed us what the Kingdom of God is like. They challenged the world's concept that first place is everything.
The world says defeating, even destroying one's competitor is the way to go. The world says that competition and success is an indisputable law. Competition is touted. On Palm Sunday, and then again in the upper room, and then again on the cross, Jesus challenged the world's concept of power.
15. Nine Winners
Illustration
Here is an example of a different kind of power: Jesus, a young carpenter, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. His disciples vie for the best seats and he takes a towel and basin to wash their feet. On the cross he meets their evil with a prayer of forgiveness.
The one-time Methodist Bishop of Mississippi Jack Meadors tells a wonderful story of an incident that occurred during the Special Olympics. Nine children lined up for the 100 yard dash. The gun sounded and the race was off. But only a few yards into the race, one of the children fell and began to cry. For some reason these challenged children did not understand the world's concept of competition and getting ahead and taking advantage when a competitor was down. The other eight children stopped running and came back to their fallen comrade. A young girl with Down's Syndrome kissed him and brushed him off. The children lifted him up together, arm in arm, they ran over the finish line. The audience rose to their feet in applause. There was not one winner, there were nine winners.
For a fleeting moment these children showed us what the Kingdom of God is like. They challenged the world's concept that first place is everything.
The world says defeating, even destroying, one's competitor is the way to go. The world says that competition and success is an indisputable law. Competition is touted. On Palm Sunday, and then again in the upper room, and then again on the cross, Jesus challenged the world's concept of power.
16. Practice Your Passion
Illustration
Robert E. Lee
The prayer of Robert E. Lee: "Knowing that intercessory prayer is our mightiest weapon and the supreme call for all Christians today, I pleadingly urge our people everywhere to pray. Believing that prayer is the greatest contribution that our people can make in this critical hour, I humbly urge that we take time to pray to really pray. Let there be prayer at sunup, at noonday, at sundown, at midnight all through the day. Let us all pray for our children, our youth, our aged, our pastors, our homes. Let us pray for our churches. Let us pray for ourselves, that we may not lose the word 'concern' out of our Christian vocabulary. Let us pray for our nation. Let us pray for those who have never known Jesus Christ and redeeming love, for moral forces everywhere, for our national leaders. Let prayer be our passion. Let prayer be our practice."
17. NEITHER YOUR NOSE NOR YOUR NAVEL
Illustration
John H. Krahn
Christians have practiced meditation for centuries. In the book of Psalms we read, "I will meditate on all thy work, and muse on thy mighty deeds." In an effort to clear the mind of distractions during meditation, monks have focused on a crucifix. Other forms of meditation tell you to focus on the tip of your nose, or to comtemplate your navel. And some will tell you to use a chant or a mantra.
Since Yoga and Transcendental Meditation have their bases in the non-Christian religion Hinduism, we must be careful that we are not offending the name of the Triune God by practicing them. Better to do Christian meditation and achieve all the physical and psychological benefits of worshiping the Triune God.
Most people who practice meditation are seeking peace in a confused world. But only Jesus Christ is unequaled in ability to produce peace at the deepest level. Therefore, it makes great sense to meditate on him and the mighty acts of God. All other forms are second best. The psalmist has it together when he says, "I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord, yea I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate on all thy work and muse on thy mighty deeds."
Meditation has always been a form of prayer practiced by God’s people. It follows that each of us should consider Christian meditation as a means of encountering God and being blessed by him. Let me suggest several steps that might help you get into Christian meditation. First, find a time and a place where you can be alone with God. Maybe you’ll have to get up fifteen minutes earlier to do it. Be patient as you begin, you will get better at it with practice. Decide you’ll try it for a month before deciding if it is a helpful prayer form for you. Take several deep breaths and relax as you begin. Think, "I am alone with God, all is well." Next, cleanse your mind of any sins that may be separating you from God. Believe he is anxious to forgive you. Then confess them. Thank him for his forgiveness. Then think of God’s greatness and love. Now put your self-will in gear and say, "God, I’m ready to hear anything you want to say to me." Then listen. Dialogue with him about your life and ministry, for one of the purposes of meditation is to help you make your life and the world a more beautiful place.
Christian meditation really works. I commend it to you, for it creates a mind-set where God can send his signals through to you. Contemplate neither your nose nor your navel but meditate upon the Lord of every day. Invite his hand upon your life.
18. A Method of Praying
Illustration
Walter Rauschenbusch
Be simple and direct in your secret prayer. The grace of simplicity is not to be despised in public prayer; but when we call on God in secret, any formality or elaborateness in our petitions is an offense.
Pray audibly. You need not lift your voice to be heard in the street, but it is vastly better to pray not merely in your thoughts but also with words. The utterance of our wants helps to define them.
Be honest in your secret prayer. Do not express any want that you do not feel. Do not confess any fault that you do not mean to forsake. Do not keep anything back. Remember that it is He that searcheth the heart to whom you are speaking.
Pray earnestly. The words need not be loud, but the desire should be intense. "The fervent, energetic prayer of a righteous man availeth much." "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." No listless, drowsy petitioning will serve.
Do not mock God in your prayers. Do not beg him to come to you. You know that he is never far from any soul that seeks him. That prayer is answered before you utter it. Do not ask God to do for you that which he has expressly bidden you to do.
Pray always with special reference to the needs of the day and the hour—the warfare to be waged, the temptations to be resisted, the work to be done, the sorrow to be borne; put your life into your prayer; and let it be the most real and the most immediate business of your life.
19. Staying Open to God
Illustration
King Duncan
Dr. Carl Jung once said something that ought to cause every believer to reflect very carefully. What he said was this: "One of the main functions of formalized religion is to protect people against a direct experience of God." That hurts but it can happen. Theological and doctrinal pride can be buffers against a real experience of Christ's grace.
F. Kefa Sempangi, a Ugandan pastor who barely escaped death under Idi Amin's persecution in the early 1970s, beautifully captures this important truth in his wonderful book A Distant Grief. He writes about a hurtful change that came over him shortly after coming to the United States and enrolling in an evangelical seminary:
"In Uganda, [my wife] and I read the Bible for hope and life," he says. "We read to hear God's promises, to hear His commands and obey them. There had been no time for argument and no time for religious discrepancies or doubts.
"Now, in the security of a new life and with the reality of death fading from mind, I found myself reading Scripture to analyze texts and speculate about meaning. I came to enjoy abstract theological discussions with my fellow students, and, while these discussions were intellectually refreshing, it wasn't long before our fellowship revolved around ideas rather than the work of God in our lives. It was not the blood of Jesus Christ that gave us unity but our agreement on doctrinal issues. We came together not for confession and forgiveness but for debate."
This change in attitude towards God had its greatest impact in Kefa's prayer life: "God Himself had become a distant figure," he writes. "He had become a subject of debate, an abstract category. I no longer prayed to Him as a living Father but as an impersonal being who did not mind my inattention and unbelief."
When he realized how far he had drifted from God due to theological speculations, Kefa repented of his attitudes. Immediately his prayer life was renewed. Thereafter, he began consciously to submit himself moment by moment to the living God. People are people. Pride is pride. But fortunately, God is still God.
20. Learning God's Language
Illustration
Staff
God has many ways of speaking to his people. To Saul of Tarsus he spoke through a bright and shining light, to Job out of a whirlwind, to Moses from a burning bush. To Elijah he spoke in a still small voice, and to Jacob he spoke in a dream. To you and me he speaks in various ways. Some may have heard him speak in sunrises or sunsets, in bright stars on a summer night, in towering mountains or surging seas. Some may have heard him speak in the caress of caring friends, or in upswelling notes of song. Some may have heard him speak from the pages of the Bible, or in the holy hush of the sanctuary or the quiet time of prayer.
When God speaks he is always saying something, and it is of supreme importance that we understand what it is that he is saying. Our Bible book of Hebrews begins this way: "God, who at various times and in many ways spoke in time past to our fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son ..." Here is his supreme utterance: in Christ the heavenly Father gives us the ultimate expression of himself - his most wonderful and mighty word comes to us in the "Word-made-flesh." His own beloved Son is the language by which God speaks to us his most self-revealing word.
What is it our heavenly Father is saying to us in Christ? If we are to know this, we must know the language by which he speaks: we must know Christ. An old song says, "More about Jesus I would know ..." This, I am sure, is one of the great reasons for the high place the assembly of Christ's people has always had in Christian life and experience: a better perception of him. This, I would hope, is one of our main reasons for being together here this morning. "More about Jesus let me learn, more of his holy will discern." May this be our prayer today.
21. Three-in-one Oil
Illustration
Jef Olson
A faithful Christian couple had some bad news from their doctor. They couldn't have any children. On the way home from the doctor they went to see their pastor to ask for prayer. Being a small parish, and not well off, the pastor worked part time for the church and ran a car repair shop on the side, so they dropped by the shop. After they explained the situation, the pastor prayed for them on the spot. He looked around, grabbed a can of three-in-one oil and quickly blessed it to anoint them for healing.
About 9 months later they had triplets! The couple once again showed up at the pastor's study and as soon as the woman saw the pastor she ran up to him, threw her arms around him and gave him the biggest hug.
"What was that all about?" He asked.
She replied, "I'm just glad you used three-in-one oil and not WD-40!"
Prayer and motherhood go together like bread and wine. They are a necessary combination for us to begin, live, and successfully complete life.
22. Sermon Opener - A Strange New Math
Illustration
Glenn E. Ludwig
We have a wonderful mystery to contemplate this morning, and it is summarized in a strange formula. It's not really all that complicated, but it is worthy of reflection for it has implications for our lives together. Here is the formula, an equation, really: 1 + 1 + 1 = One.
Rather strange math, isn't it? Well, it's God's math, so let's see how it works.
That strange formula really comes from the gospel text for today. For the past several weeks during this Easter season, our gospel readings have come from that section of John's gospel known as the Final Discourse of Jesus.
This last speech, if you will, that Jesus makes to his disciples concludes with these verses from the 17th chapter. It is really a prayer of Jesus to his Father in heaven and has often been called the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus. In a sense, it is Jesus' last will and testament, his parting shot, his last effort to teach, to exhort, to encourage, to empower his disciples.
Now for the math part. Listen to Jesus' words: "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me." Did you hear it? 1 + 1 + 1 = One. It's not too difficult, once we understand the parts of the equation. Let's unravel the mystery slowly.
23. When The Light From Heaven Does Not Flash
Illustration
Richard A. Jensen
Dawn Hetland didn't move a muscle. The worship service was over. The choir had filed out. The pastor was at the back door greeting the worshippers. The pews were quickly becoming empty. But Dawn did not move. She sat silently, her hands folded, her head bowed in prayer. Bridget Glass was a life-long friend of Dawn Hetland. As she was leaving the sanctuary that Sunday morning she happened to see her friend Dawn with her head bowed low. Bridget thought something must be wrong. She went quickly to Dawn's side, tapped her on the shoulder, and asked if everything was all right. "Oh, yeah, sure," Dawn replied, orienting herself once again to her surroundings. "I was just praying. I've got an important decision to make and I need all the help and guidance I can get." "What decision is that?" Bridget asked. "About my future, Bridget. You know that I've just finished medical school. That's been my goal for any number of years now. So I've finished. So what? What do I do now? I never thought this would all seem so hard and complicated. I've got an offer to join a team of physicians in Tampa, Florida. But I've also been invited to do a residency program in Internal Medicine. I'm really torn between these two offers. All I've ever wanted to do was to be a doctor as a way of living out my Christian faith. Both of these offers open up an opportunity for me to serve God. But which one should I take? What does God want me to do with my life? That's the question I can't answer."
"And that's what you've been sitting here praying for?" Bridget asked."Yes," Dawn answered. "I really don't know what to do. So I pray. I don't think I've ever prayed for anything so much in my whole life. But I'm not getting any answers. God seems to be very silent!" "Have you asked for advice from people you trust?" Bridget asked. Dawn nodded her head in assent. "Have you made a list of all the positives and negatives with these two possibilities?" Bridget inquired further. Dawn nodded for a second time. "I don't know what else you can do then," Bridget said in a comforting voice. "You've just got to make a bold decision now and get on with your life." "That's easy for you to say," Dawn shot back. "How can I make a bold decision when I don't even know what to decide. Why can't I see a flash of light in the sky? Why doesn't a still, small voice speak to me?" "Now you're asking too much," Bridget replied. "Only a handful of people living or dead have received such signs from God. I don't know if you were here a couple of weeks ago when Pastor Hagedorn preached about discerning God's will for our lives. Make a list of the positives and negatives, he said. Talk to people you trust. Take the matter to God in prayer. Then decide with boldness which course to take." "But what if I choose the wrong thing?" Dawn wondered aloud. "The status of your life before God does not depend upon making right decisions," Bridget said firmly. "We live our lives under the canopy of God's forgiving love. Our God of grace will walk with you no matter what path you choose. And remember, 'God works all things together for good with those who love God.' Don't worry, Dawn. God will take your decision, whatever it is, and make the best of it.""
24. We Can't Contain God In Our Cups!
Illustration
Zan W. Holmes
One morning a little girl sat at a kitchen table to eat breakfast with her mother and father. As she listened to the prayer her father prayed before the meal, she was especially intrigued that he thanked God for God's presence everywhere.
After the father finished his prayer the little girl asked him, "Father, is it really true that God is everywhere?"
"Yes," said her father.
"Is God in this house?" she asked.
"Yes," her father said.
"Is God in this kitchen?"
"Yes," her father said.
"Is God on this table?" she asked.
"Yes," her father said.
The little girl hesitated and then asked, "Is God in this cup?"
Her father said, "Yes."
Upon hearing this the little girl quickly covered the cup with her hand and exclaimed, "I've got Him!"
In Job's attempt to make some sense out of his suffering, he tried desperately to figure God out by confining God to his own narrow conception of God. In other words, Job was trying to get God to respond within the limited confines of Job's own theological cup. In fact, Job was so certain of his theology that he believed he would prevail if his case were presented before God. To be sure, this is why he wanted to find God. He said, "Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? No; but he would give heed to me. There an upright person could reason with him, and I should be acquitted forever by my judge" (Job 23:6-7).
Finally in chapter 38 God appears before Job as a voice out of the whirlwind: Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements -- surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy? -- Job 38:2-7
As soon as God speaks, Job realizes that he can never have the luxury of saying: "I've got God!" Indeed Job now knows that God has exceeded Job's expectations and refuses to be contained and fit neatly into any theological box that Job has constructed. So God answers Job, but not according to Job's definition of the problem of suffering. Instead God transposes the issue to another level which emphasizes God's power and divine knowledge in contrast to the human weakness and ignorance of Job.[1] In response, Job now realizes how foolish he has been to propose that he understood everything that happens. In fact, Job answers God and says, "See, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but will proceed no further" (Job 40:4-5).
No longer does Job seek to arrange a debate where he can instruct God. He finally realizes that it is he and not God who is unaware of life's complete picture. When we too are tempted to believe that God is bound by our theologies, rituals, denominations, and traditions, like Job, we are called to remember that God is boundless and cannot be contained in any of our cups. We cannot put God in the cup of any ritual and say, "I've got God covered." We cannot put God in the cup of any theology and say, "I've got God covered." We cannot put God in the cup of any church tradition and say, "I've got God covered." We cannot put God in any ethnic or gender cup and say, "I've got God covered."
Job learned that God stands above all human systems and wisdom. The purpose behind it all is not to answer directly the problem of suffering, but to give Job a vision of God's glory and presence with Job in the midst of Job's suffering. Thus Job discovers that he can trust God's purposes even though he cannot clearly understand them. Indeed, he comes to see that his new relationship with God will sustain him in the midst of his suffering.
Our African American forefathers and foremothers in the midst of the suffering of slavery could identify with Job's predicament. Even in the face of sorrow and suffering in the absurdity of slavery they were able to sing praises to God through the spirituals. Even though their relationship with God did not bring an immediate end to their oppressive condition, they were sustained by the faith that the cup of slavery could not contain the God of their hope and liberation. By the grace of God, it was a faith that enabled them to sing: Nobody knows the trouble I see, Nobody knows but Jesus. Nobody knows the trouble I see, Glory, Hallelujah.
1. Beverly B. Gaventa, editor, Texts for Preaching, (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993), p. 551. "
25. Form and Substance
Illustration
Editor James S. Hewett
A devout Christian who had a cat used to spend several minutes each day at prayer and meditation in his bedroom. He read a portion of Scripture and a devotional book, followed by a period of silent meditation and prayer. As time went on his prayers became longer and more intense.
He came to cherish this quiet time in his bedroom, but his cat came to like it, too. She would cozy up to him, purr loudly, and rub her furry body against him. This interrupted the man's prayer time, so he put a collar around the cat's neck and tied her to the bedpost whenever he wanted to be undisturbed while at prayer. This didn't seem to upset the cat, and it meant that the man could meditate without interruption.
Over the years, the daughter of this devout Christian had noted how much his devotional time had meant to him. When she began to establish some routines and patterns with her own family, she decided she should do as her father had done. Dutifully she, too, tied her cat to the bedpost and then proceeded to her devotions. But time moved faster in her generation and she couldn't spend as much time at prayer as did her father.
The day came when her son grew up and wanted to make sure that he preserved some of the family traditions which had meant so much to his mother and his grandfather. But the pace of life had quickened all the more and there simply was no time for such elaborate devotional proceedings. So he eliminated the time for meditation, Bible reading, and prayer. But in order to carry on the religious tradition, each day while he was dressing he tied the family cat to the bedpost.
Thus forms become more important than the faith they are meant to convey.
26. Prayer Is a Relationship
Illustration
Brian Stoffregen
I remember being a part of an impromptu discussion among some high school kids. One of the boys had recently lost a sister in a car accident. Some in this group confessed that they had thought about going over to visit after the accident, but they didn't know what to do or what they should say. However, one of the friends didn't let his fears keep him away. He had spent most of that day with his friend. He admitted that he didn't know what to do or say either. The one who had lost his sister said that what was most important to him at that time was just somebody being there with him. He thanked the one who had visited. Even though he couldn't do anything or say anything that would change the tragedy, his presence was a great help and greatly appreciated.
I think that in many ways prayer is like that. It's a relationship. It's the presence of daddy or mommy, not always saying or doing things to change the situation, but their presence can often change you as it brings their comfort and love to the situation and perhaps you are better able to accept what lies in the future with their support. You can live with the uncertainty of the "we'll see" answer. Patiently waiting together to see what will happen.
Prayer is the presence of God not that God will always change the situation, but knowing that God is with you, that God is going through the tragedy or suffering or depression or even death with you, not as a far off God, way out in space, but as your very close and loving father. "When you pray," Jesus says, "say Father."
27. If I Live To Be A Hundred
Illustration
John E. Sumwalt
Sam Duncan lay in the semi-darkness of his nursing home room performing the only two activities of which he still considered himself capable: watching and waiting. Although his eyesight was dim, he could still make out the steady brightening of the light of dawn through the window next to his bed. And although his hearing was too far gone to catch the rumble of the medicine cart, as it worked its way up the hall toward his room, he could sense that the time for his morning pills was near. He waited for the nurse to push open the door and greet him and his roommate Arthur, who was still snoring loudly in the bed next to his.
Most of the accepted measures of quality of human existence no longer affected Sam. While time, in terms of years, seemed to slip away unnoticed, the hours of the day crept by in agonizing slowness. Time no longer meant anything to him. Schedules all belonged to the nurses and aides and family members who waited on him. He himself had no claim to time. The staff dieticians and cooks decided what he would eat, and when. The aides assigned to care for him on any given day decided when he would be bathed, dressed, shaved, and even toileted. His family decided what clothes he needed, what treats to bring to him, and when he should go out. The activity director decided when he needed exercise, stimulation and entertainment, and he was delivered into her hands by the aides upon request.
There were few days when Sam could tell you what had occurred the day before, or even the hour before. He had little memory for what he had eaten for dinner Tuesday or breakfast Saturday. He seldom knew the day of the week or the correct month, although seasons were still instinctively evident. The minutia of every day had ceased to have meaning for him even before his nursing home days had begun ten years earlier, and he felt no concern or remorse over loss of interest in such trivia. But if you asked him if he remembered Pearl Harbor, or the day Franklin Roosevelt died, or what he was doing the day JFK was assassinated, he could tell you with detailed clarity what had gone on. He recalled vividly his wedding day, the day he and Martha buried their firstborn infant son, the details of the funeral of his grandson Sam who was killed in Vietnam, and what the weather was like on the day Martha died.
Sam also remembered the friends who had been most dear to him. They had all been gone for many years: Boots Martin, who had served with him in Germany in WW I; Alvy Hankins, who had gone to school with him and farmed outside of town; Dick Travis, who had been his business partner for nearly forty years ... all dead and buried long ago. It hadn't seemed unnatural that he had outlived them all, just part of life. But when he had outlived all of his children, the burden of life had become heavy, cumbersome. And now, at 102, it was nearly unbearable.
Sam had never been a complainer. Life was what it was. He didn't second-guess nature or the Creator. When he and Martha lost that first baby son, they had grieved and comforted one another, and eventually gone on with their lives. And God had blessed them with six healthy children who had survived well into old age. The death and destruction he had seen in the trenches during "the war to end all wars" was etched in his memory for all time, and yet he had survived it, both physically and emotionally. But when his grandson, young Samuel Wilks Duncan III, had been killed in Vietnam at the tender age of nineteen, it had taken much prayer and effort to overcome his sense of anger and grief. And when Martha died in 1989, at the ripe old age of ninety, and his own heart beat on strong and steady, even though he knew it was broken, he had shaken a mental fist at God and demanded to know why. Why must he be left to bear the burdens of life alone? At 93, why couldn't he go home, too?
That had been ten years ago. Ten years of slowly declining health, gradual loss of sight, hearing, movement and body function. Ten years of being taken here and there, regardless of his own wishes, by those whose job it was to provide him with comfort, stimulation, and quality of life. His grandchildren became so busy with their own lives that they seldom visited. And when his last surviving daughter had died of cancer last year at the age of 75, Sam couldn't help but wonder if God was allowing him to be put to the test, as he did Job. He felt very keenly the truth of Jesus' words in the Gospel of John:
... when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.
And so Sam had formed a mental list of Psalms from which to pray in all of his various moods:
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? -- Psalm 13:1-2
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest. -- Psalm 22:1-2
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff -- they comfort me. -- Psalm 23:4
As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. -- Psalm 42:1
Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength is spent. For my enemies speak concerning me, and those who watch for my life consult together. -- Psalm 71:9-10
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning. -- Psalm 30:4-5
Joy comes with the morning ... Sam's litany came to an end as the nurse pushed through the door with the medications.
"Good morning, Sam. Wake up, Arthur! It's time for your pills. It's a special day, Sam. Do you remember what day it is?"
"I don't know. Tuesday, maybe?"
"No, Saturday. You're going to have a lot of company today. This is your birthday, Sam. Do you remember how old you are today."
"I guess I'd be about 103."
"That's right. One hundred and three years old. Everyone is coming for your birthday party today. All of your grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and I've heard you even have a couple of great-great grandsons."
"I think they even named one of them after me."
"Well, April will be in in another hour or so to give you your breakfast and bath. When you're all dressed and ready, we'll take some pictures with all of your friends. Happy Birthday, Sam!"
One hundred and three. As he swallowed his pills, Sam's mind drifted back to the lighthearted days of his youth, when he and his friends used to say things like, "I'll never understand that if I live to be a hundred." Things don't really change, Sam thought. I've lived to be more than a hundred, and there are so many things I still don't understand. "Do not cast me off in the time of old age." "Weeping may linger with the night, but joy comes in the morning." Sam sighed and laid back to watch and wait.
28. If I Should Die Before I Wake
Illustration
Brett Blair
You're are familiar with the childhood prayer "Now I lay me down to sleep, " but I was little surprised to learn that it is a shortened version of an Old English prayer, which goes like this:
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
bless the bed that I lie on.
Before I lay me down to sleep,
I give my soul to Christ to keep.
Four corners to my bed,
four angels there aspread,
two to foot, and two to head,
and two to carry me when I'm dead.
I go by sea, I go by land,
the Lord made me by his right hand.
If any danger comes to me,
Sweet Jesus Christ, deliver me.
He's the branch, and I'm the flower,
pray God send me a happy hour.
And if I die before I wake,
I pray that Christ my soul will take.
The prayer has an important refrain, that Christ is the keeper, the caretaker of our soul. And, when we slip into the unconsciousness of the night I suppose, on a daily bases, we are never nearer death. It was out of this fear of sleep that this prayer was written. At night, when we are vulnerable, we want someone watching over us. So, we prepare ourselves with a prayer: If I should die before I wake... Our text this morning asks us to be prepared, to be dressed ready for service. We are to keep our lamps burning for we do not know when our Lord returns.
29. Love and Marriage Poll
Illustration
Staff
A Gallup study of 657 married couples, which was conductedfor Psychology Today, isthe first "full-scale" national probability study of sexuality and fidelity in marriage. Many of the findings defy conventional wisdom and indicate that marriage in America is far healthier than we have been led to believe:
- Ninety percent of American couples have had only one sexual partner since they were married (and it is not because they are afraid of AIDS).
- Four-fifths say they would marry the same person if they had to do it over again.
- Over 80 percent of all married men, regardless of age, say their wife is good-looking.
- Three-quarters of married people say their spouse is their best friend.
- Three-quarters of those questioned say divorce is "not at all likely."
- Over 60 percent of American couples describe their marriage as "very happy."
- The best predictor of whether or not a couple is happy together is joint prayer. The study found, for example, that couples from two-income families that pray together are less likely to consider divorce than single-income families that do not pray together.
- People who live together before marriage are less likely than those who did not cohabit to say their marriage is very happy. Those who have had premarital sex are also less prone to say their marriage is very happy.
30. The Four Chaplains
Illustration
James Weekley
On a cold February 4, 1943, the American ship, the Dorchester, was carrying several hundred soldiers off the coast of Greenland. Suddenly, an enemy torpedo ripped into its hull. Within minutes the ship would go under. Amid the panic and confusion, four chaplains, Alex Good, Jewish; John Washington, Catholic; Clark Poling and George Fox, Protestants, stood together with their life belts on. Many of the soldiers had none. Without lifeboats, their chances for survival were nil. Quickly, the chaplains took off their belts and gave them to four men. As the ship sank, the chaplains, with hands firmly clasped, prayed the Lord's prayer. The chaplains gave their lives for the others, because One other had first stood in for them. "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:12) That's a tall order. Butnot so unreal, considering his love stands taller than life itself.
31. The Perfect Prayer
Illustration
Staff
It was Sunday morning in the mountain country of central Europe, and the church bells were ringing. A man walking a mountain path came upon a shepherd lad with his father's flock of sheep. The boy was kneeling, and, looking up, was reciting the alphabet.
The man asked, "What are you doing?" and the boy answered, "I am praying." Somewhat sternly, the man said, "Praying? What kind of praying is this? Just saying letters, no words at all?" The lad replied: "I've never learned any prayers, sir. But it's Sunday morning and the bells are ringing in the valley, and I thought I wanted to pray, and I thought maybe - well, maybe - if I just said all of the letters, God might hear them and put them together for me, and spell out what I ought to say."
This, my dear friend, is true worship - worship in its essence, worship at its purest and best: simply to place ourselves before God and turn it all over to him. This is the ultimate devotion, the first act of worship and the final one -here it begins and here it ends. Whatever else we may do - all our praying, all our preaching, all our singing - nothing ever surpasses this: simply to turn it all over to him and say, "Here it is, Lord; take it, and make it come together as it should; take it, and spell it out for me, if you please."
When we have done this, we will have prayed something pretty close to the perfect prayer.
32. The Spirit Bird
Illustration
John E. Sumwalt
One summer morning in a mission camp where I was serving as a teacher of Galatians to junior high youth, a bird appeared at morning devotions, and lighted on the head of one of the girls. From there the bird hopped to her arm and then onto the arm of another camper and then another. The bird seemed to be looking for someone. We learned later that it was indeed a tame bird, the pet of a camper in an adjoining camp. We were also told that some boys in our camp had thrown sticks at the bird and frightened it so much that it would not come out of the woods.
The following night, at campfire, one of the counselors got up during our sharing time and told this story. When the bird came among us yesterday morning I was reminded of another camp I attended many summers ago when we were visited by a bird in much the same way. It proved to be a most remarkable bird, and the wonders it worked among us I shall never forget.
It was larger than the bird we saw yesterday, about as big as a pigeon -- black on top with a snowy white breast -- with the most peculiar array of feathers I have ever seen. I have never seen one like it before or since. It came to bring us a blessing at a time when a blessing was very much needed. Our camp was full of dissension. The campers had little respect for the camp, for their fellow campers, or for the counseling staff. They wrote graffiti on the cabin walls and interrupted the counselors with obnoxious noises and giggling during evening devotions. Campers teased one another and called each other hateful names. The counselors had to break up several fights, including a food fight one day in the dining hall during lunch.
There was one boy who was older and bigger than the rest who was the instigator of much of the disharmony and fighting. His name was Johnny. He would start the teasing and then egg others on until a fight had erupted. He got the food fight going simply by daring one of the other boys to throw spaghetti at a group of girls. Conditions in the camp reached a low point when Johnny's cabin raided one of the other cabins. They dumped their luggage on the floor and threw their sleeping bags in the lake. The director tried everything she could think of to restore order, but nothing seemed to work. She was ready to call some of the parents and ask them to come and take their campers home. And then the bird appeared -- suddenly, as if out of nowhere -- on a cold and rainy evening as we were all gathered here around the campfire. It hopped softly and gently among us, flitting from one camper to another, lighting on a head here and an arm there, spreading joy and love as it went. The bird stayed with us for several days. Peace returned to our camp.
One of the counselors, a man in his 70s who had been coming to the camp for many years, told us one night at campfire that it was a spirit bird sent by God to show us how to live peacefully together. Johnny whispered to some of his friends that it wasn't true. He said it was an evil bird, and that if we didn't do something, it would spread disease and sickness throughout the camp. After the campfire Johnny's friends lured the bird into the woods with some bread left from their supper and then pelted it with sticks and stones until it was dead. Johnny watched from behind a tree, and later, when the director asked him what had happened to the bird, he claimed that he had had nothing to do with it.
The next day the old counselor and several of the campers carried the bird's body out to the meadow and laid it gently in a shallow grave beneath the shade of a small pine tree. Then they joined hands and prayed the Lord's Prayer. On the path back to the camp as the little band of faithful mourners sang "We Are One In The Spirit," Johnny and his friends jumped down from a tree from where they had been watching the burial and pelted them with water balloons.
Later that week Johnny plotted with his friends to raid one of the neighboring camps. They planned to soak their sleeping bags with water balloons. When they were about halfway down the path the spirit bird appeared suddenly over their heads, as if out of nowhere. It dove down and landed on Johnny's head with such force that he was knocked to the ground. Then the bird perched on his arm and spoke to him in a human voice. "Johnny, you cannot kill the spirit of God. Whenever I am struck down, I rise up with greater strength and power than before. I want you to go back to the camp and tell everyone that I am alive. Teach them to live by the Spirit."
Johnny went back to the camp and began immediately to tell everyone that the Spirit bird was alive. He became one of the most fervent followers of the Spirit, spreading love, joy and peace wherever he went. I know because I am Johnny. I am the one who caused the other campers to fight with each other and to kill the spirit bird. But since the spirit bird spoke to me, I have been living with the Spirit in my heart. I have not seen the spirit bird since that day on the path, but I see signs of its presence everywhere." Then the old counselor opened a pouch that he carried on his belt and took out a handful of black and white feathers. He walked around the fire circle and gave a feather to each camper and counselor. We closed our campfire that night by joining hands and singing, "We Are One In The Spirit."
Author's Note: This story is dedicated to the campers and counselors of the July 1990 Mission Camp at Lake Lucerne near Neshkoro, Wisconsin -- with special thanks to our director Karen King and my fellow teachers, Isabel Molina Jefferson and Dick and Pat Myer.
33. If Your Face Is Towards Me
Illustration
James W. Moore
Do you feel insecure as we enter this Advent season? You do if your marriage is less than solid. You do if your job is at risk. You might if you have medical problems. If you have lost a loved-one in the last year, insecurity could be part of your grief.
Pastor James Moore of Houston Texas tells a story about a young man whose wife had died, leaving him with a small son. Back home from the cemetery, they went to bed early because there was nothing else he could bear to do.
As he lay there in the darkness grief-stricken and heartbroken, the little boy broke the stillness from his little bed with a disturbing question, "Daddy, where is mommy?"
The father got up and brought the little boy to bed with him, but the child was still disturbed and restless, occasionally asking questions like "Why isn't she here?" and When is she coming back?"
Finally the little boy said, "Daddy, if your face is toward me, I think I can go to sleep now. And in a little while he was quiet.
The father lay there in the darkness, and then in childlike faith, prayed this prayer: "O God, I don't see how I can survive this. The future looks so miserable. But if your face is toward me, somehow I think I can make it."
That's what the Messiah came to teach us: that God's face is always towards us. Therefore, let the Messiah replace your insecurity this Advent with the following bedrock conviction: God and you are in this together. Nothing can happen that God and you together cannot manage. Nothing will ever be able to separate you from his love. Now, that's real security.
34. Every Day to Read the Scriptures and Pray
Illustration
Larry R. Kalajainen
Martin Luther, the great reformer of the church back in the 16th century, made the comment one morning when he got out of bed that his work load that day was so heavy, that he knew he would never get it all done unless he spent three hours in prayer first. Many of us find it difficult to set aside 15 minutes a day for prayer, let alone three hours, but then, not many of us are having the impact on the world that Martin Luther did either. It was in his prayer that all his energies were collected, and his action became focused and effective.
What was true of Luther has been true of all those who have been effective and faithful servants of Christ. Who can imagine the incredible success of the early Methodist movement without the disciplined prayer life of John Wesley and the early Methodist class meetings where people gathered to pray, to worship, to encourage and exhort one another in love? Wesley once wrote to a young preacher who was suffering from burn-out, "O begin! Fix some time every day to read the scriptures and to pray. It is for your life. Without this all else would be trifling and idleness." The list could go on and on. All who have been faithful witnesses and seemingly tireless in doing what is right have been sustained and inspired by their hope in God's new creation, and for all of them, that vision has been kept alive by a regular and disciplined habit of prayer.
35. Knee Work
Illustration
Staff
James Duncan, preaching with great unction and power, was asked what was the secret of such powerful preaching. "The secret," he said, was "thirteen hours of consecutive prayer."
When asked the secret of his spiritual power, Charles Spurgeon said: "Knee work! Knee work!"
Livingston of Shotts, on two different occasions, preached with such power that in each service 500 were converted. Both sermons were preceded by a night of prayer.
Charles Finney, after spending a day in the woods in prayer and fasting, preached that night in a phenomenally irreligious congregation. The sermon was accompanied by such divine power that the whole congregation, except one man, fell prostrate upon the floor, and voiced their agony under conviction of sin, in such loud outcries that the preacher was forced to stop.
Of "Uncle" John Vassar, The Tract Society colporteur, his pastor says: "He absolutely prayed day and night prayed about everything, prayed for almost everything, prayed with almost everybody he met. He prayed when he went out and when he came in. He prayed before every religious service, and then prayed all the way through it. I have occupied the same room with him night after night, and rarely went to sleep without hearing him in prayer, or awoke without finding him in prayer."
36. What Will You Do with Your Gift?
Illustration
Susan R. Andrews
There is a folk tale from India that summarizes our thoughts this morning. It seems that there was a good king who ruled wisely and who ruled well. One day the king called his three daughters together and told them he was leaving on a long journey. "I wish to learn about God, so I will need to go away and spend a long time in prayer. In my absence I will leave the three of you in charge. Before I leave I would like to leave each of you with a gift; a gift I pray will help you learn how to wisely use your power to rule." Then he placed in each of their hands a single grain of rice.
The first daughter tied a long golden thread around her grain of rice and placed it in a beautiful crystal box. Every day she looked at it and reminded herself that she was powerful. The second daughter took one look at the common grain of rice, and threw it away, thus squandering her father's mysterious gift. The third daughter just looked at her grain of rice for a long, long time - until she finally understood what to do with it. She went outside and planted it in the ground. And it became a seed, giving life beyond itself, eventually turning into vast fields of hope and nourishment for others.
When the father returned years later, he asked his three daughters what they had done with their grains of rice. Though he was polite to his first two daughters, he did not respond to their explanations with much enthusiasm. It was only after the king saw the fields of grain resulting from his third daughter's wisdom that he responded with delight. Taking the crown off his head, he placed it on hers, saying, "Beloved, you alone have learned the meaning of power." From that day forward, the youngest daughter ruled the kingdom. She ruled long, and she ruled wisely, and she ruled well.
Brothers and sisters, this day as we remember the blessings and power of our baptism, as we set apart brothers and sisters for particular tasks of ministry, I pray that all of us will continue to be God's delight - powerful servants - pouring out our power for the hope and nourishment of the world.
37. Rosie Lives!
Illustration
Bill Bouknight
There was a man named George who was accustomed to driving his wife, Rosie, to church. They had a long and happy marriage; their love for each other was monumental. They did everything together; everything, that is, except one thing. When George drove Rosie to church each Sunday, she went in but he did not. He remained in the car, reading the newspaper.
After 45 years of marriage, Rosie died. George was distraught with grief. On Sunday mornings George no longer made that drive to church, transporting Rosie. But several months after her death Easter Sunday rolled around. George drove to the church and he went in. The pastor delivered a stirring resurrection sermon and then closed with prayer.
Then there were a few moments of silence as the pastor prepared to announce the final hymn. Suddenly George stood up and with deep emotion declared loudly, "Rosie lives!" Then he began to sing with a deep, rich baritone voice that song that he had always associated with Rosie --"My Wild Irish Rose, the Sweetest Flower That Grows..." The congregation was stunned at first. But several people in the congregation knew George and how he was grieving for Rosie. They stood up and joined in the song. Then more and more people joined into the song. Finally, the whole congregation was joyfully and tearfully singing a glorious, secular Easter hymn.
38. How Wide Is Your Circle of Faith?
Illustration
Philip W. McLarty
There's a little scene in the Broadway musical, Shenandoah, in which this older mountain couple sit down to eat with their son and daughter-in-law. Before they break bread together, the father offers this prayer:
"Lord, bless me and my wife,
John and his wife;
us four, no more. Amen."
That's an expression of faith, all right, but it's not very inclusive. Its boundaries are pretty restricted. How wide is your circle of faith?
39. The Senility Prayer
Illustration
Brett Blair
Have you ever felt unprepared? I mean for Christ's second coming? At times I know that if the sky cracked open and the trumpet sounded for the saints to be called home I would not be ready. Reinhold Niebuhr was a famous theologian known to most all us clergy. You perhaps are not familiar with him but you are familiar with his prayer:
God grant me the serenity,
To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
The world has adopted this prayer and made it powerless. Here's the rest of it...
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will. [there's the power]
That I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.
We know it as the Serenity Prayer and it conveys an attitude I like very well. On many occasions I absolutely refuse to accept people I know I have no possibility of changing. On other occasions I don't have the courage to root out some sin from my life. Why? Cause I don't wanna'. And wisdom? Well, you know very well that's in short supply. The more I can adopt the attitude of the serenity prayer the more ready I know I will be for His coming.
But unfortunately many of us are like the elderly lady who in jest posted on her door in the retirement village the "Senility Prayer":
God, grant me the senility
To forget the people I've never liked,
The good fortune to run into the ones that I do like,
And the eyesight to tell the difference.
40. He treated me with dignity
Illustration
William B. Kincaid, III
Eugene Peterson, a Presbyterian minister who teaches at Regent College in Vancouver, tells the story of wanting to discuss some feelings and energies he was having that he believed had to do with God. It was the summer after Peterson's second year of college. His first two attempts at finding someone who would listen to him didn't work out very well. Peterson tried talking to his pastor, but after about five minutes his pastor diagnosed Peterson's problem as having to do with sex and began a lengthy lecture on the subject. Peterson decided after a couple of meetings that it was his pastor who had a problem with sex, so he began to look elsewhere for someone with whom he could talk about the things he was experiencing and feeling. Then Peterson talked with a man who was considered a saint in his home congregation. This man decided that they should study and discuss Ephesians together, but as it turns out there was no discussion to it. The man simply used Peterson as an audience and lectured endlessly about Ephesians to the young boy.
Finally, Peterson encountered one who treated his God-interest and prayer-hunger with dignity. Instead of trying to shovel Peterson full of pious wisdom or viewing him as a "project," a man named Rueben Lance prayerfully listened to Peterson and all his hopes and fears, questions and feelings. Years later Peterson would write, "He let me be. He didn't mess with my soul. He treated me with dignity. I felt a large roominess in his company -- a spiritual roominess, room to move around, room to be free."
Questions aren't bad, but not allowing them to be asked is. Questions are a way of loving God with our minds. Through questions we reach and explore and gain a better understanding of important matters.
41. Human Porcupines
Illustration
Randy Smith
The German philosopher Schopenhauer compared the human race to a bunch of porcupines huddling together on a cold winter's night. He said, "The colder it gets outside, the more we huddle together for warmth; but the closer we get to one another, the more we hurt one another with our sharp quills. And in the lonely night of earth's winter eventually we begin to drift apart and wander out on our own and freeze to death in our loneliness."
As humans we have been created with the need for companionship. It's fascinating how Adam, when He enjoyed sinless fellowship with His Creator, still had a desire for one of his own kind (Gen. 2:20). God has created institutions such as marriage and family and church to meet these needs for human intimacy and belonging….
Jesus was well aware of our need for intimate human companionship, and He was also well aware of the challenges and "sharp quills" we face in the process. So in His final prayer to the Father, just hours before He would be suspended on the cross, Jesus prayed for the unity of His church. Second only to the concern for His glory was this longing that His disciples would be united. He knew how much supernatural help we as sinners need in this area. He also knew how an ununified church would fail to bring Him the glory He so much desires.
42. Members of a Family
Illustration
John M. Braaten
The genius of God's plan is obvious. If we recognize that we are all members of the same family, if we acknowledge that God desires to hold us in a single peace then, ideally, we will stop fighting with each other and destroying one another and instead begin standing with one another and working together to bring people to Christ and to become an answer to prayer for those who cry out to God for help.
However, if your family is like my family, your day-today operation is not marked with constant good will and cooperation. Parents can disagree with each other, or the children, or the youngsters with each other. There are so many possibilities for dissension - goals will vary, opinions often differ and wills may clash. I think the reason for the popularity of the television cartoon "The Simpsons" is that it lays bare some of the battles which are fought in the arenas of many homes. Apparently there is some comfort in knowing that others experience problems similar to one's own. But if love is at the heart of our relationships, and forgiveness is liberally applied, there is still a family unity and loyalty which acts like a glue – unity holds family members together even when they are apart and loyalty brings them together again at times of crisis or joyful celebration.
The church as the family of God has characteristics similar to other family units but with infinitely more possibilities for disagreement and dissension. It is no wonder then that Paul saw the primary task of the church as one of reconciliation: "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us" (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
43. Surprise, It's Christmas! - Sermon Starter
Illustration
Brett Blair
The greatest thing about Christmas morning is the surprises. When else in life do you get to pile 10, 20, 30, 40 sometimes 50 surprises all together and sit for an hour enjoying each of them? One after another, surprise after surprise. Christmas Morning is wonderful in that way. I can remember still today the way I felt as a child, the amazement, the astonishment of Christmas morning.
Chuck Swindoll writes, "surprises come in many forms and guises: some good, some borderline amazing, some awful, some tragic, some hilarious. But there's one thing we can usually say surprises aren't boring." Surprises are woven through the very fabric of all our lives. They await each one of us at unexpected and unpredictable junctures.
I like the story about a professor who sat at his desk one evening working on the next day's lectures. His housekeeper had laid that days mail and papers at his desk and he began to shuffle through them discarding most to the wastebasket. He then noticed a magazine, which was not even addressed to him but delivered to his office by mistake. It fell open to an article titled "The Needs of the Congo Mission".
Casually he began to read when he was suddenly consumed by these words: "The need is great here. We have no one to work the northern province of Gabon in the central Congo. And it is my prayer as I write this article that God will lay His hand on one - one on whom, already, the Master's eyes have been cast - that he or she shall be called to this place to help us." Professor Albert Schweitzer closed the magazine and wrote in his diary: "My search is over." He gave himself to the Congo.
That little article, hidden in a periodical intended for someone else, was placed by accident in Schweitzer's mailbox. By chance he noticed the title. It leaped out at him. Chance? Nope. It was one of God's surprises.
This morning we focus on one of the greatest surprises that ever there was, the surprise that took place when an angel by the name of Gabriel appeared to a young teenager by the name of Mary. Gabriel piled one surprise upon another. Mary and Joseph's Christmas tree had more astonishing surprises than any couple on earth had ever experienced. Gabriel surprised Mary with the following…
1. "The Lord is with you, do not be afraid."
2. "You will conceive in your womb, and bear a son."
3. "He will be called the Son of God."
44. With God’s Help
Illustration
Michael B. Brown
A pastor was visiting with a church member one day. They sat together on the front porch of the man's home on a hot July afternoon. He was a recovering alcoholic who had been sober for over five years. That day he talked of his past of spending more adult years drunk than sober, of times when but for the grace of God he should have been killed in a fight or automobile accident, of the patience of his wife and the influence of the church and A.A. in turning things around. He spoke reverently of the role of prayer and the ever-present power of Christ. The pastor had not known him in those other years. He knew him only as a devoted member of his church, a hard worker and a good friend. So, the pastor remarked (perhaps too enthusiastically): "It must be satisfying after all those years to know that you've finally made it." The church member answered quickly: "I don't know that at all. Neither do you. All I know is that with God's help I will make it through today."
45. A Pentecostal Church - Sermon Starter
Illustration
Brett Blair
The well known author and preacher Fred Craddock tells a rather funny story about a lecture he was giving: A few years ago, when he was on the west coast speaking at a seminary, just before the first lecture, one of the students stood up and said, "Before you speak, I need to know if you are Pentecostal." The room grew silent. Craddock said he looked around for the Dean of the seminary! He was no where to be found. The student continued with his quiz right in front of everybody. Craddock was taken aback, and so he said, "Do you mean do I belong to the Pentecostal Church?" He said, "No, I mean are you Pentecostal?" Craddock said, "Are you asking me if I am charismatic?" the student said, "I am asking you if you are Pentecostal." Craddock said, "Do you want to know if I speak in tongues?" He said, " I want to know if you are Pentecostal." Craddock said, "I don't know what your question is." The student said, "Obviously, you are not Pentecostal." He left.
What are we talking about this morning? Is the church supposed to use the word Pentecost only as a noun or can it be used as an adjective? And so I ask you: Are you Pentecostal?
In spite of the fact that the church doesn't know what the adjective means, the church insist that the word remain in our vocabulary as an adjective. The church is unwilling for the word simply to be a noun, to represent a date, a place, an event in the history of the church, refuses for it to be simply a memory, an item, something back there somewhere. The church insists that the word is adjective; it describes the church. The word, then, is "Pentecostal."
If the church is alive in the world it is Pentecostal. And you thought we were Methodist! [Insert your own tradition here.]
How do we keep this aliveness, this fire burning, this spirit moving? What must exist in us, around us, and through us, if we are to be Pentecostal? Simply these three things:
1. We Are To Be Of One Accord
2. We Are To Join Together Constantly in Prayer
3. We Are To Repent
46. Be Opened
Illustration
Peter Marty
When Martin Luther put together a baptismal liturgy in 1523, the actual rite required the pastor to take some of his own saliva and touch the ears and lips of every child getting baptized. At the same instant, the pastor was to repeat the words of Jesus to the deaf man, that one with the speech impediment. The baptizing pastor was to say: Ephphatha - That is, be opened. We don't do this anymore in the Lutheran Church. And I'm not sure I'd be serving my congregation very long if I started using this saliva ritual.
But the idea isn't bad. From the very get-go in life, with a lot of help from parents and pastors and adult mentors, we need to find better ways to not be so bound-up with our lives and so tongue-tied with our faith. We need our ears, our tounges, our hearts and heads to "Be Opened!" Have courage. Grab hold to what is good. Loosen up and love a bit more freely. Support the weak. Strengthen the faint-hearted. Honor all people. And for Jesus' sake, keep looking for those ways to open your life to the power of the Holy Spirit … relying on that great prayer of the Psalmist if it helps: O Lord, open thou my lips, and let my tongue declare your praise.
47. The Kind of Church to Become
Illustration
Johnny Dean
In his marvelous book, The Kingdom of God is a Party, Tony Campolo tells a story that illustrates how I believe the church must begin to live out our witness in the new millennium. Campolo was attending a Christian conference in Honolulu, Hawaii. Since there was a six-hour time differential between Honolulu and his hometown in Pennsylvania, on his first night there Campolo experienced some confusion in his sleep pattern. He woke up about 3 o’clock in the morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. So he got up, got dressed, and left the hotel where he was staying, searching for a place to get something to eat. Eventually he found a tiny coffee shop that was open. Here is his description of what happened there:
"The fat guy behind the counter came over and asked me what I wanted. I told him I wanted a cup of coffee and a donut. As I sat there munching my donut and sipping my coffee at 3:30 in the morning, the door suddenly opened, swung wide, and to my discomfort in marched 8 or 9 provocatively dressed and rather boisterous prostitutes. It was a small place and they sat on either side of me. Their talk was garrulous, loud, and crude. I felt completely out of place. I was just about to make my getaway when I heard the woman next to me say, ‘You know, tomorrow is my birthday. I’m going to be 39.’ Her friend responded in a rather nasty tone, ‘So what do you want from me? A birthday party? What do you want? You want me to get a cake, and sing happy birthday to you?’ ‘Come on,’ the woman sitting next to me said, ‘why do you have tobe so mean? I’m just telling you that it’s my birthday. Why do you have to put me down? I don’t want anything from you. I mean, why should I have a birthday party? I’ve never had a birthday party in my whole life. Why should I have one now?’
Campolo says, "When I heard that, I made a decision. I sat and waited until the women left, and then I called over to the fat guy behind the counter and asked him, ‘Do they come in here every night?’ He answered, ‘Yeah.’ ‘The one who was sitting right next to me, does she come in every night?’ ‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘that’s Agnes. Yeah, she comes in every night. Why do you want to know?’ ‘Because,’ I replied, ‘I heard her say that tomorrow is her birthday. What do you say we do something special for her? What do you think about throwing a birthday party for her right here in the coffee shop?’ A cute kind of smile crept over that fat man’s chubby cheeks. ‘That’s a great idea,’ he said. ‘I like it. That’s great. Agnes is one of those people who is really nice and kind. I don’t think anybody has ever done anything nice and kind for her.’
‘Well, look,’ I told him, ‘if it’s okay with you, I’ll be back here tomorrow morning at 2:30. I’ll decorate the place. I’ll even get a birthday cake for her,’ ‘No way!’ he replied. ‘The birthday cake, that’s my thing. I’ll bake the birthday cake myself.’
"At two thirty the next morning," Campolo says, "I was back at that coffee shop. I picked up some crepe paper and other decorations at the store, and made a sign of big pieces of cardboard that said ‘Happy Birthday, Agnes!’ I decorated that diner from one end to the other. I had it really looking great. The word must have gotten out on the street, because by 3:15 that morning every prostitute in Honolulu was in that place. There was wall-to-wall prostitutes – and me. At 3:30 on the dot, the door of the diner swung open and in came Agnes and her friend. I had everybody ready… When they came in we all jumped up and screamed, ‘Happy Birthday, Agnes!" Then we sang to her. And you know, I’ve never seen a person so flabbergasted, so stunned, so shaken. Her mouth fell open, her knees started to buckle, her friend had to offer her arm to steady her, and I noticed she had started to cry. When the birthday cake with all the candles was carried out, that’s when she lost it. She started sobbing. Harry, the fat guy behind the counter, gruffly mumbled, ‘Blow out the candles, Agnes, blow out the candles.’ Then he handed her a knife and said, ‘Cut the cake, Agnes, cut the cake.’
Agnes looked down at that cake, and without taking her eyes off it, she slowly and softly said, ‘Look, Harry, is it okay with you if I, I mean, if I don’t, what I want to ask, is it okay if I keep the cake for a little while? Is it okay if we don’t eat it right away?’ Harry shrugged and answered, ‘Well, sure, Agnes, that’s fine. You want to keep the cake, keep the cake. Take it home if you want to.’ ‘Oh, could I?’ she asked. Looking at me, she said, ‘I just live down the street a couple of doors. I want to take the cake home, okay? I’ll be right back, honest.’ She got off her stool, she picked up that cake, and she carried it out of the diner like it was the Holy Grail. She walked slowly toward the door, and we all just stood there, speechless. When the door closed behind her, there was stunned silence in the place.
Not knowing what else to do, I broke the silence by saying, ‘What do you say we pray together?’ Looking back on it now, it seems more than a little strange that a sociologist from eastern PA would be leading a prayer meeting with a bunch of prostitutes in a diner in Honolulu at 3:30 in the morning. But I prayed. I prayed for Agnes. I prayed for her salvation. I prayed that her life would be changed, and that God would be good to her. And when I finished, Harry leaned over, and with a trace of hostility in his voice, he said, ‘Hey, you never told me you were a preacher! What kind of preacher are you anyway? What church do you belong to?’
In one of those moments when just the right words come, I answered him quietly, ‘I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for prostitutes at 3:30 in the morning.’ Harry thought for a minute, and then almost sneered as he answered, ‘No you don’t! There is no church like that. In fact,’ he concluded, ‘if there was, I’d join it.’"
Maybe Harry was right. Maybe there is no church that is open enough to the leading of the Holy Spirit to be that kind of church. But if the church is to continue to provide a witness to the world about the unconditional love of God in the next millennium and beyond, that’s the kind of church we’re going to have to become.
48. A Double Recipe
Illustration
CSS
Karenza picked up the telephone for her study. It was Mr. Edwards calling about the summer parish meals. Each year they had chosen a theme for five weeks of supper gatherings. It had been a way to maintain fellowship during the summer months. He was writing a piece for the parish newsletter and wondered what the committee had decided on the theme.
"It will be bread," she replied. He was silent for a moment.
"Bread?" "Yes. Jesus calls himself 'the living bread' and there is a lot in that phrase that will keep us busy. I can think of several things; the program called 'Bread for the World,' the meanings of the daily bread we pray for in the Lord's Prayer, the role of bread in our lives. The list is a long one."
After the phone call was over, Karenza pondered the issue of bread. She remembered smelling the wonderful scent of baking bread when she was a child. But time and efficiency and schedules had made baking bread a thing of the past. She grinned to herself. Her husband, John, however, had been given a bread baking machine for Christmas and had discovered baking bread was a great way to relax after a busy work day. Their household had tasted some wonderful recipes lately.
But how to speak about bread to the congregation? She planned out the program and together with some other parishioners focused particularly on the last of their summer suppers.
On the final Wednesday when the congregation gathered for the evening meal, they sampled a variety of homebaked breads parishioners had brought; pita bread from the Spiros household, lefse from the Johnsons, nine-grain bread from the Sullivans. People joked together about eating every Wednesday night meal as a congregation.
Finally, several parishioners, including the teenage author of the play, enacted the scene of the last supper, creatively, reverently and thoughtfully. It concluded by the departure of the disciples and Jesus to the Mount of Olives.
As Jesus turned to leave he asked who had provided the bread for their meal. Two young women stepped forward and said they had. Jesus smiled and said, "Your bread filled us and has strengthened our spirits. Remember how much I enjoyed it."
49. A Spirit of Unity
Illustration
Staff
During World War II, Hitler commanded all religious groups to unite so that he could control them. Among the Brethren assemblies, half complied and half refused. Those who went along with the order had a much easier time. Those who did not, faced harsh persecution. In almost every family of those who resisted, someone died in a concentration camp. When the war was over, feelings of bitterness ran deep between the groups and there was much tension. Finally they decided that the situation had to be healed. Leaders from each group met at a quiet retreat. For several days, each person spent time in prayer, examining his own heart in the light of Christ's commands. Then they came together.
Francis Schaeffer, who told of the incident, asked a friend who was there, "What did you do then?" "We were just one," he replied. As they confessed their hostility and bitterness to God and yielded to His control, the Holy Spirit created a spirit of unity among them. Love filled their hearts and dissolved their hatred.
When love prevails among believers, especially in times of strong disagreement, it presents to the world an indisputable mark of a true follower of Jesus Christ.
50. The Prayer of Cyrus Brown
Illustration
Sam Walter Foss
Years ago Sam Walter Foss wrote a poem expressing the unimportance of the posture of prayer. He called it, The Prayer of Cyrus Brown:
"The proper way for a man to pray,"
Said Deacon Lemuel Keyes
"And the only proper attitude
Is down upon his knees."
"Nay, I should say the way to pray,"
Said Reverend Doctor Wise,
"Is standing straight with outstretched arms
And rapt and upturned eyes."
"Oh, no, no, no,"
said Elder Slow,
Such posture is too proud.
"A man should pray with eyes fast-closed
And head contritely bowed."
"It seems to me his hands should be
Austerely clasped in front
With both thumbs pointing toward the ground."
Said Reverend Doctor Blunt.
"Last year I fell in Hidgekin's well
Headfirst," said Cyrus Brown,
"With both my heels a-stickin' up
And my head a-pointin' down.
And I made a prayer right then and there,
The best prayer I ever said,
The prayingest prayer I ever prayed,
A-standin' on my head."
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