1 in Faith: A Christian Bible Study

July 1, Baruch 4:36-37

The Lord says to his people: "Look and see the joy that is coming to you from God."

This passage is not in Protestant Bibles, but it is in Roman Catholic Bibles where it is placed among the Prophets, after Lamentations and before Ezekiel. Protestant and Catholic Bibles differ in this respect, because the Catholic Bible uses as the Old Testament the Jewish scriptures (the Septuagint) read in Greek by Paul and the early church, whereas the Protestant Bible translates its Old Testament from the Hebrew scriptures approved around 100 CE by the ruling Jewish rabbis. The official Hebrew Bible omits some of the books of the Septuagint, because these books were understood to have been written after the revelation of God had ended during the time of the second temple. Baruch was part of every Christian Bible until the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, and the book continues to be part of the Christian Bible for all Roman Catholics.

The Book of Baruch is ascribed to the secretary of the prophet Jeremiah, but much of it appears to have been written later. Chapter 4 contains a lament for the captured children of Jerusalem, which ends with an affirmation of hope for the restoration of the holy city. This is the hope that is expressed in verses 36 and 37. The prophet proclaims that the suffering of the people will come to an end and they will return home, because God is merciful and just.

July 2, John 17:6-11

Jesus prayed to his Father for his disciples, saying: "I am no longer in the world; they are in the world and I am coming to you, Holy Father. Keep those you have given me true to your name, so that they may be one as we are one."

This prayer is unique to the gospel of John. It comes after Jesus has given his disciples instructions, just before he is arrested. In the other three gospels of the New Testament, Jesus is reported before his arrest to be praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, asking that his suffering might be prevented, but the Jesus in the gospel of John prays confidently about his coming glorification. In the Garden of Gethsemane, the other three gospels tell us, the disciples of Jesus fall asleep, seem not to understand what is happening, and then desert Jesus. But, in the gospel of John, Jesus prays for his disciples and says they know all about his message and purpose.

This is one of many examples in the New Testament of stories concerning the same events that are so different they cannot be diverse memories of eyewitnesses. Moreover, the way that Jesus speaks and prays in the gospel of John is so unlike the way he is presented in the other three gospels, that it is clear the speech of Jesus in the gospel of John is the creation of the author. Of course, the author may be relating memories within the early church and merely putting these into his own words, in order to present Jesus in the way that seems best to him. But the creative genius of the author of the gospel of John is clearly evident here and throughout the gospel.

Does this make the gospel less true? There is no way to say that the events related in any of the four gospels of the New Testament or the words attributed to Jesus in these gospels are factually true. All four gospels are written in Greek, and surely Jesus spoke in Aramaic or in Hebrew. Even the translation into Greek of traditions remembered in Aramaic or in Hebrew would require interpretation and, of course, different words. But the four gospels of the New Testament reveal much more diversity in understanding among the first century Christians than merely the differences that exist in modern translations of the Bible. Yet, each gospel is witnessing to the truth, as understood by the author and the community of faith to which the author belongs. And stories, whether factually true or not, may yet be true in their meanings for us. So, we can say with confidence that the gospel of John is true in that it reveals the love of God in Jesus for all those who respond in faith and love. That is the gospel truth!

July 3, John 20:24-29

Risen from the dead, Jesus said to Thomas who doubted, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"

The story of doubting Thomas appears only in the gospel of John, which suggests that it is the creation of the author of the fourth gospel. If such a story had been remembered from the time of Jesus, would not all the gospels have reported it? No more powerful evidence of the resurrection is available, so it is hard to imagine the authors of the other three New Testament gospels overlooking this account of doubting Thomas. Almost certainly the other gospel writers did not know this story. The author of the gospel of John inserts it in order to emphasize the truth of the resurrection of Jesus.

Must every Christian believe that Thomas actually touched the wounds of Jesus? The gospel of John is a story about the powerful reality of the risen Christ, which has been experienced within the early church of the author. That is the truth, and this story is presented as verification of that truth. The author is not writing a history or biography of Jesus, nor is he limited by the distinctions we might make today between fact and faith. The author of the gospel of John is witnessing to the Son of God and proclaiming salvation through faith in him. This is the truth of faith, regardless of the facts.

July 4, Matthew 11:25-30

Jesus said: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

In this prayer Jesus addresses God as "father." At times the gospels leave this in the Aramaic, as "Abba," which is a very familiar word for addressing one's father - more like "Papa" or "Dad" in contemporary English-than "father." Such a way of addressing God was not unknown among the Jewish rabbis, but it was not common. There is a familiarity and intimacy suggested here that implies a special relationship. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus says that no one knows the Father except the Son, which is very similar to words in the gospel of John. Both these witnesses to the gospel proclaimed by the early church emphasize that no one comes to the Father except by the one Son, Jesus.

In the first century churches were not of one mind. The letters of Paul reveal that conflicts threatened the very survival of the Christian movement. The gospel of Matthew and the gospel of John emphasize the unifying symbol of the Son of the Father as a way of promoting unity in the church. For them, and for the early church, they proclaim one God, one Son, one faith, one baptism. This has been the orthodoxy of the church to this day, despite the different forms of faith and the different practices of baptism. Clearly, the desire for unity in the church has not meant a lack of diversity, and today much of what is different among the churches is understood as the work of the Spirit of God. If, as the gospel of Matthew attests, no one comes to the Father except by the Son, there appear to be many ways of affirming faith in the Son. Can we be grateful for that? Can we be glad that there are four gospels in the New Testament rather than only one? Can we be open to a variety of gifts of the Spirit?

July 5, Deuteronomy 30:11-14

Moses told the people: "What I command you today is not too difficult for you nor beyond your reach. The word is very near you, it is on your lips and in your heart for you to put it into practice."

Deuteronomy presents three sermons attributed to Moses, and this passage comes from the third sermon. Clearly, however, Deuteronomy was not written by Moses, because the book contains an account of his death. Most likely Deuteronomy is the book mentioned in 2 Kings 22-23, which was used by Josiah in 621 BCE to justify eliminating local shrine worship in Judah and restricting sacrifices to the temple in Jerusalem.

When we read these words today, however, we do not think about animal sacrifice or the temple in Jerusalem, which was destroyed for the second time in 70 CE. The words of Moses seem very personal and easily accepted. The commandments of God, as we understand them, are a part of us. They are on our lips and in our heart. We need only put them into practice. This passage reminds us that the Old Testament is not so different from the New Testament, as the church has often taught. Paul rejects the application of Jewish law in the life of the church, but the gospel of Matthew does not agree. And, as we see in this passage, the Old Testament speaks of the law of the covenant not merely as a set of rules but as a personal dimension of the faith of the people of Israel. Jesus was a Jew, so we should not be surprised that he found in the scriptures of his people a witness to the loving Father that called him to proclaim the presence of the kingdom of heaven in his own time.

July 6, Luke 4:14-30

The Lord has sent me to bring good news to the poor and to proclaim freedom to those in captivity.

In the gospel of Luke the ministry of Jesus begins when he comes home after being in the wilderness for forty days and on the sabbath in the synagogue reads from Isaiah 61:1-2. "The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to announce pardon for prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind; to set free the oppressed, [and] to proclaim the year of the Lord's amnesty." (Lk. 4:18-19) In the gospel of Luke this reading becomes an occasion for reminding the reader that Jesus was rejected by his own people, and in Acts of the Apostles the author of the gospel of Luke describes how the church grew from a small band of Galilean disciples to a network of churches throughout the Roman Empire. This story, therefore, sets the stage for the entire two-volume saga of the saving life of Jesus and the missionary outreach of the apostles.

The three other gospels in the New Testament, however, do not begin this way, and surely that is significant. This story in the fourth chapter of the gospel of Luke is not a part of the Jesus legend that must be included, as are the stories of John the Baptist and the feeding of the five thousand, for these other accounts are in all four gospels. The story of Jesus reading from Isaiah 61 in his home synagogue is only in the gospel of Luke, and the author of the third gospel clearly uses this tale to foreshadow all that follows. The story does not merely relate how Jesus in Nazareth announced the good news. The story is an announcement of the good news.

The story of Jesus reading from Isaiah in the synagogue of Nazareth presents Jesus as the fulfillment of prophecy. The hope of the people of Israel, we are told, is fulfilled in him. Jesus is the messiah, which means "the anointed one," because he has been "anointed" by God (or specially chosen) to preach good news to the poor. In the gospel of Matthew we read (in the "beatitudes") that the poor in spirit are blessed and will receive the kingdom of heaven (Mt. 5:3), but in the gospel of Luke the good news brought by Jesus is proclaimed for the poor. And what is this good news? Not that the poor will become rich, or that the poor will go to heaven after they die, or that the poor will avenge the suffering inflicted upon them. Their good news is that prisoners will be pardoned, the blind will see, and the oppressed will be freed - because the year of God's amnesty has arrived. Some translations call this year of amnesty "the acceptable year of the Lord" or "the year of God's favor." Understanding what these phrases mean is the key to understanding the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.

Chapters 40-66 of Isaiah were probably written just before the Persians seized Babylon in 539 BCE and allowed the Israelite leaders from Jerusalem, who had been exiled to Babylon by the Babylonian conquerors, to return home. Isaiah was writing to encourage his exiled countrymen, and so "the year of the Lord's favor" and the release of captives held in bondage meant for many Israelites the end of their exile and captivity and, at last, a return to Jerusalem.

In the gospel of Luke, however, when Jesus says these words from Isaiah have been fulfilled in him, the meaning has nothing to do with returning to Jerusalem from captivity elsewhere. The author of Luke and Acts is writing from within the Greek-speaking church, and he knows that the ministry of Jesus has somehow led to Gentiles and Greek-speaking Jews forming new communities of faith throughout the Roman Empire. Furthermore, the author of Luke and Acts also knows that these communities of faith include poor as well as rich members, and he sees this as the true fulfillment of the faith in God proclaimed by Isaiah and the other prophets of ancient Israel. In the church that remembers Jesus as the Christ, which is the Greek word for messiah, somehow Jew and Gentile as well as rich and poor have been united by faith. The author of Luke and Acts sees the church, which Paul calls the "body of Christ," as evidence that the "acceptable year of the Lord" has come.

July 7, Mark 1:12-15

After being tempted in the desert, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God. "The time has come," he said, "the kingdom of God is at hand. Turn to God and have faith in the good news of the gospel."

This is the proclamation that opens the ministry of Jesus in the gospel of Mark. It announces that what was awaited has now begun, for the kingdom of God is now open to all who have the faith to turn to God and embrace this good news. The proclamation serves as a bridge between the hope of ancient Israel that was preserved in the scriptures of the Jews and the ministry of the church to both Jews and Gentiles, in urban congregations throughout the Roman Empire. The old hope is being understood in a new way, and thus its fulfillment requires a new story. The gospel of Mark presents the story of Jesus as the good news that Jews and all God-fearing Gentiles have been awaiting, but even as he writes he knows that many Jews have not accepted Jesus as the fulfillment of Israelite prophecy.

The gospel of Mark was written after the letters of Paul, and we see from Paul's letters how differently the apostles understand the gospel. In the second chapter of Galations Paul relates his argument with Peter about enforcing Jewish laws in Christian communities, and clearly the gospel of Matthew presents a view of Jewish law that is not the same as Paul's. These differences of opinion within the early church are written back into the gospels, and the gospel of Mark will present a story written more for Gentile readers than the gospel of Matthew, which is concerned with interpreting Jesus for a primarily Jewish audience. But Paul and all the gospels will agree that the key to salvation is in Jesus. Thus, they all can support this brief statement in the gospel of Mark, that in Jesus Christ the hopes of the past are fulfilled for both Jews and Gentiles, even if they differ in their understanding of how that is so.

July 8, John 6:28-35

Jesus said: "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

This well-known passage from scripture is unique to the gospel of John and comes in the middle of an argument between Jesus and those that the gospel of John names only as "the Jews." They refer to Jesus as "rabbi," thus designating him as a Jewish teacher of the law of Moses, and they ask him questions, as they would ask any rabbi. Jesus says he will give them the bread of heaven, like the manna that God gave their ancestors to eat when they were starving in the wilderness. "The Jews" ask for this bread, but when Jesus says he is the bread and invites them to eat his flesh and blood, they are repelled. And, in verse 66 we read, "After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him."

To understand what is happening here, we need to recall that the gospel of John (like all the gospels in the New Testament) is addressing issues of concern to its readers, who are living more than two generations after the time of Jesus when Christian Jews are pushing for changes in the synagogues that other Jews are opposing. The argument that Jesus is having with "the Jews" that causes even some of his disciples to draw back from him is not actually a disagreement among the disciples of Jesus, but an argument within the synagogue of the author. There is a split in the synagogue, and the position of those who are being rejected by the synagogue leadership is presented by the gospel author as the words of Jesus. This reminds us that the church began in the synagogues of the Roman Empire with Jews and God-fearing Gentiles. The latter were contributors to the synagogues and participated in many of the synagogue activities. As followers of Jesus (like Paul) began to urge that the commandments of the law of Moses be set aside, which was an attractive change for Gentile participants in the life of the synagogues, other Jews resisted this change by emphasizing more strict adherence to the law of Moses.

The conflict in the gospel of John is between Christian Jews and other Jews, not between Christians and Jews. It reflects a split among Jews who have been drawn to the teachings of Jesus, but who have different interpretations of what these teachings mean for the life of the community of faith. The words attributed to Jesus in this argument, which are not reported in any other gospel of the New Testament, should be understood as the position of the Christian Jews of this particular community of faith. The harsh denunciations of "the Jews" in the gospel of John are not the words of Jesus and are certainly not the word of God. This attack of Christian Jews on other Jews simply reveals that our ancestors in the church were as capable of anger and resentment as we are today.

July 9, Hosea 6:3-4, 6

The LORD says: "I desire faithful love, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings."

Hosea is writing in the middle of the eighth century BCE in the northern kingdom of Israel when it is at war with Assyria. Hosea marries Gomer, a prostitute, and she bears him three children before leaving him. But he brings her back into his home and proclaims that God will have compassion on Israel in much the same way. Hosea says that Israel has been like a prostitute, because she has gone after other gods. But the LORD will be faithful to her, nonetheless, if she will return. Clearly, the people are sacrificing animals to local gods, but Hosea says the LORD does not require sacrifice and burnt offerings. Rather, God wants only that Israel be faithful.

What are the idols that tempt us today? We are not sacrificing animals, but are we turning away from God in other ways? How are we to be faithful?

July 10, Mark 6:7-13

"Calling the twelve to him, Jesus sent them out two by two. And they went preaching the need to change one's heart and they drove out many evil spirits."

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells the disciples not to take with them even a staff or sandals (Mt. 10:10), but Jesus in the gospel of Mark tells the disciples to take a staff and to wear sandals. (Mk. 6:8-9) How are we to explain such a factual discrepancy between the two gospel accounts? If these are different memories of what actually happened, then at least one is wrong. (Both might be wrong.) It seems, however, that the author of the gospel of Matthew followed the gospel of Mark word for word, at times, but also added teachings and other stories. In this instance, however, the author of the gospel of Matthew changed the gospel of Mark in order to put sandals on the feet of the disciples and staffs in their hands.

Because we think of the New Testament books as scripture, it is hard to imagine the author of the gospel of Matthew altering the gospel of Mark, as he creates his own narrative account of the life of Jesus and his disciples. Perhaps, however, he did not think the gospel of Mark was history, but realized that it was a story created within the life of the church to witness to faith in Christ. If that is what the author of the gospel of Matthew was thinking, as he wrote his narrative in order to strengthen the faith of his community, then he might have put sandals on the feet of the disciples to make them a little less poor, so his affluent readers could identify more fully with them. The main point of the story, of course, is that Jesus sent out his disciples, and both gospels attest to this development in the ministry of Jesus. For, after the death of Jesus, it is these disciples who spread the faith that becomes the church.

July 11, Matthew 13:1-23

In a parable, Jesus said: "The seed which was sown in good soil is like someone who hears the word and understands it; that person bears fruit."

The parable of the sower is related in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. In the gospels of Mark and Luke the disciples ask about the meaning of the parable, as if they did not understand. (Mk. 4:10, Lk. 8:9) In the gospel of Matthew, however, the disciples ask Jesus why he speaks in parables. They seem to understand the parable, and Jesus responds as though they do. In all three gospels, Jesus explains that he teaches in parables because the meaning of his teaching is a secret that is being made known to the disciples but not to the other people. However, in the gospel of Matthew the author has Jesus explain his reason for this by quoting from Isaiah 6:9-10, a passage that says the people do not understand because they have become inattentive to the LORD.

If the gospel of Mark was written earlier than the gospels of Matthew and Luke, and if the authors of the latter two gospels had a copy of the gospel of Mark as they wrote their own gospels, which seems to be the best explanation for the similarities and differences among these three gospels, then the authors of the gospels of Matthew and Luke each changed the version of this story in the gospel of Mark in a different way. The author of the gospel of Matthew added the reference to Isaiah, but also indicated that the disciples understood the teaching before Jesus explained it. The explanation in the gospel of Matthew, therefore, is for the reader and not for the disciples. The gospel of Luke, however, follows the account in the gospel of Mark more closely by simply relating the parable, the question by the disciples for an explanation of its meaning, and the explanation given by Jesus. These differences suggest that the gospels of Mark and Luke present the disciples as more obtuse than they are in the gospel of Matthew, and that the gospel of Matthew is written for a more Jewish audience than the gospels of Mark and Luke.

July 12, Psalm 40

"I waited, I waited for the LORD, and he heard my cry. He put a fresh song in my mouth: a hymn of praise to our God."

Imagine Paul reading this psalm. Paul is confronting persecution, as he preaches the gospel. He is attacked and thrown out of towns, arrested and beaten in others. Here he reads, "Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust." (v. 4) And, "Sacrifice and offering thou dost not desire . . . burnt offering and sin offering thou has not required." (v. 6) Moreover, the psalmist says, "I delight to do thy will, O my God; thy law is within my heart." (v. 8) Paul, and other Jews as well as God-fearing Gentiles attending synagogues throughout the Roman Empire, could turn to this psalm and find support for the idea that the law of Moses in all its details was not what God really wanted from Israel.

How shall we read this psalm today? Are we waiting for the LORD's response to our cry? In our distress, are there words of praise on our lips? Are we singing a new song unto the LORD?

July 13, Romans 14:13-19

Paul writes: "Let us stop judging one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any obstacle in the way of another."

This passage from Paul's letter to the church in Rome reminds us of the conflict within the early churches about keeping the kosher rules of the law of Moses. As this is the concern of Jews, clearly the members of the church in Rome are primarily Jews, as were most of the first Christians. Paul's position is that "nothing is unclean in itself," which rejects entirely the dietary restrictions accepted by Jews as the commandments of God. But Paul argues that Christians should consider the views of others in the community of faith, and if there are members who believe in keeping the kosher rules others should follow these rules so as not to cause offense. Peace within the community of faith, Paul affirms, is the highest priority.

The author of the gospel of Mark agrees with Paul that Christians need not keep kosher, for he includes in his gospel account the comment that Jesus "declared all foods clean." (Mk. 7:19) This cannot be true, however, because if Jesus had renounced the dietary restrictions of Jewish law then Paul would simply appeal to Jesus to argue for his position. The gospel of Matthew deletes this comment from the gospel of Mark, when it presents the same material in its narrative (Mt. 15:10-11), and has Jesus say that every item of the law is to be kept until the end comes (Mt. 5:17-18). The author of Luke and Acts addresses this issue primarily in Acts 15, where an agreement between Paul and the leaders of the church in Jerusalem requires that Gentiles "abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled." (Acts 15:29) This compromise implies that Jewish members of the church are to keep the kosher laws in their entirety, whereas Gentile members only need observe these particular restrictions.

Among the early churches in the first century there were clearly differences of opinion about enforcing Jewish kosher laws within the life of the church. Almost certainly Jesus kept these laws and did not say anything about applying these dietary rules to Gentiles in the community that would keep alive his memory and teachings after his death, because his ministry was only to Jews. This issue only arose in the life of the church in the middle and later part of the first century, when God-fearing Gentiles in synagogues were drawn to the preaching of Paul and other apostles active in the cities of the Roman Empire.

July 14, Psalm 42

"In the day, God sends his faithful love, and even at night the song it inspires in me is a prayer to the God of my life."

The psalmist, who is prevented by illness from making his regular pilgrimage to Jerusalem, longs to come again to the temple to praise God. His soul thirsts for God, as a "deer longs for flowing streams." (v. 1) He hears within him the songs of praise and the prayers of thanksgiving, and he proclaims his continuing faith and hope in God despite his inability to take part in worship in the temple.

Can we "hear" within the songs of praise and the prayers of thanksgiving that give voice to our faith? Call to mind each day a song or a prayer that stirs your soul, and let the sound of that song or prayer resonate within you. This will give you peace.

July 15, Galatians 6:7-10

"Let us not become tired of doing good. The harvest will come in good time if we persevere."

Paul writes: "God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." (v. 7) Therefore, he urges the Christians in Galatia to be unstinting in their efforts to do good. "He who sows to the Spirit," Paul asserts, "will from the Spirit reap eternal life." (v. 8)

It is easy to become tired of doing good. Often we receive little reward for serving others, and the attention of the world seems to be more on whatever will make a person rich. This, and not the particular beliefs we may have, is the real test of faith. Can we be steadfast in our love for our neighbors? Can we show our love for God by caring for the least among us? This is what is means to be Christian.

July 16, Romans 14:7-15

"While we live, as when we die, we belong to the Lord. For Christ died and returned to life that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living."

In verses 5-6 of this chapter, Paul notes that in the church some set aside the sabbath day and others do not, whereas some observe fast days and others do not. He says that these differences are not important, because "none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself." (v. 8) In the life of the church, each member belongs to Christ, and so each lives and dies in the Lord. The teaching is sublime, but the reasons for the teaching are mundane. There is quarreling in the church about keeping the sabbath on Saturday (the Jewish custom) and about observing Jewish feast and fast days. In the cities of the Roman Empire, the churches are observing Sunday as a day of rest and worship (because they do not have to work that day, as they do on Saturday), and they are generally not observing the festivals of the Jewish calendar, as these do not make sense to the Gentile members of the church. But in churches largely made up of Jews, there is controversy over these changes, so Paul writes to remind the Christians in Galatia of their high calling to live and die in the Lord.

Might we take Paul's teaching to heart and set aside some of the petty quarrels that divide churches today? Can we put all our attention on living and dying in the Lord and on serving one another in the spirit of love that we confess is the mark of our Lord for us?

July 17, Mark 3:31-35

Jesus said: "Whoever does God's will is a brother, a sister and a mother to me."

As Jesus is teaching, his mother and brothers come looking for him. When he is told that they are outside the house, he tells those listening to him that whoever does the will of God is part of his family. The gospels of Matthew and Luke contain the same statement with only minor revisions that do not alter the meaning. Does this make it more likely that Jesus actually said this? No. It only means that the authors of the gospels of Matthew and Luke wanted to express the same meaning that the author of the gospel of Mark expressed.

The church may have begun in Jerusalem, but with Paul's ministry it spread into cities that spoke Greek and were dominated by Romans. In these urban areas individuals and families entered into voluntary associations, such as the synagogue, and when a fellowship of Christians moved out of the synagogue it also took this form. As Jews divided over the meaning of Jesus, the church became the new family of those who, in some cases, were cut off from relatives choosing to remain in the synagogue. The teaching that the church was a new family was of comfort to many and also set high expectations among its members.

July 18, Matthew 13:31-32

Jesus said: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which someone took and sowed in their field. Of all seeds it is the smallest, yet once it has grown it is the biggest of plants."

This is presented as a parable of the kingdom of heaven ("kingdom of God" in the gospel of Luke, where this teaching is also found). It is a good example of material used only in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. If it comes from the ministry of Jesus, it may be ironic, because Jesus was teaching farmers and they would generally not want mustard in their fields where birds (that will eat the seeds) can roost. If this is what the kingdom is like, then it is subversive. It undermines the plans and actions of others. But the gospels of Matthew and Luke were written for urban congregations, and the meaning derived from this teaching might have been different there. On the face of it, the parable of the mustard seed seems to suggest that the kingdom of heaven (God) will flourish on its own. It need not be understood as subversive, but might simply be an image of the abundant life that will come with the growth of the kingdom.

What does this mean for us? We are far removed from the time of Jesus, when it seems the expectation of the end of the world was very real for most of those who joined the church. Shall we think of the kingdom of God as subverting the present order of the world? Or, will we see in this parable an image promising the flourishing of the church?

July 19, Micah 4:1-3

Days will come when many peoples will come and say, "Let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, so that he may teach us his ways." And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks."

Micah was a younger contemporary of Isaiah. He was writing at the end of the 8^th century BCE, when the northern kingdom of Israel had been conquered by Assyria and the southern kingdom (Judah) was under threat. Unlike Isaiah, however, Micah lived outside Jerusalem in a small village, and perhaps his prediction of the fall of Jerusalem reflects the critical attitude of the rural population toward the corruption that was rampant in the capital city. This passage comes after his prophecy of the downfall of Jerusalem, as Micah proclaims his faith in the LORD and the coming of a time of peace "in the latter days."

The image of a time of peace after years of warfare has inspired men and women throughout the ages. We long for peace, and we want to embrace what is required for peace. What can the church do to bring this vision to the forefront of our time? How can we proclaim and present through our way of life a gospel of peace to the world?

July 20, 1 John 4:16-19

"There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear."

This letter is really a sermon, and the point of the sermon is that the love of God has been passed on to the church through the Spirit of God that was manifested in Jesus. The "perfect love" that can drive out fear is the love that comes from God and abides within faithful Christians, through the indwelling of the Spirit of God. This letter, however, makes it clear that not all those following Jesus have embraced the truth about him, and thus this message of love follows a warning about obeying the teachings of those who are the guardians of the truth. "We are of God," the writer says of his community, and thus: "Whoever knows God listens to us." (v. 6) Clearly, there must be others preaching about Christ who have a different message and, therefore, pose a threat to the authority of the author and his community of faith.

Conflicts among Christians are evident in the New Testament to any careful reader. These should not be understood as the will of God, but they also should not be covered up. The church is and was a very human institution, and thus it is marked by differences of opinion among its members. The books of the New Testament were written by leaders of early churches, so these, too, reflect human understanding and differences of interpretation. We can admit this, for it is obvious, and also proclaim that the scriptures of the New Testament convey the will of God to the discerning reader. It is the will of God that we know the love manifested in Christ and available to us through the Spirit of God, if we have faith and live in trust. It is true, that perfect love drives out fear. That is the witness of the church and scripture, and that witness can also be our own.

July 21, Exodus 14:5-31

Moses said to the people: "Do not be afraid! Stand firm and you will see what God will do to save you today."

This is the story of the escape of the Israelites from Egypt across the Red Sea. The people have murmured against Moses, but he promises that the LORD will save them from the pursuing Egyptian army. The LORD directs Moses to stretch out his rod over the sea, and the sea divides to allow the people to pass through. But the sea closes upon the Egyptian troops, and they are drowned.

If we think of this as a story rather than as history, it represents the faith of the people of Israel that they were saved by God from their oppression in Egypt and led to a new land for a special purpose. If the waters of the Red Sea did not actually part, and if God did not actually make the waters rush back to drown the Egyptians, does that mean that God does not actually save? No. The story may be true, even if it is not history. God may save, even if God did not save Israel in history the way the story suggests. God's saving love is not disproved, even if the exodus story is not history and even if resurrection story in the New Testament is not a factual report. The love of God and the resurrection of Jesus are proved by the life of the church and its continuing witness. That fact is the foundation of our faith.

July 22, Jeremiah 29:11-14

"The plans I have for you," says the LORD, "are plans not for disaster but for peace, to give you a future and a hope."

Jeremiah was a descendant of the priest Abiathar, who has banished by Solomon to Anathoth (1 Kings 2:26-27). Jeremiah's ministry began in 627 BCE and ended about 580 BCE, probably in Egypt. The book of Jeremiah consists of a series of oracles that the prophet dictated to his aide, Baruch. The version of Jeremiah in Protestant Bibles is different than the version in Catholic Bibles, because the Greek version of Jeremiah in the Septuagint was different than the Hebrew version that the rabbis accepted into the Jewish canon about 100 CE. Protestants used the official Hebrew Bible, when they prepared translations of the Bible for their congregations, whereas the ancient Catholic Church used the Septuagint for the Old Testament, although it changed the order of the books.

In chapter 29 of the book of Jeremiah, the prophet is writing to the leaders of Judah taken from Jerusalem into exile in Babylon. On behalf of the LORD, the prophet proclaims to these exiles: "When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, says the LORD." (v. 13-14) Furthermore, the prophet says, the LORD, who has sent them into exile as a punishment for their lack of faith, will restore them to their homes in Jerusalem. This hope is fulfilled in 539 BCE, for when Cyrus of Persia conquers Babylon he allows the leaders of Jerusalem to return to their homeland. The message of Jeremiah and of the other prophets of ancient Israel urges hope and faith, and this message can be for us today the word of God.

July 23, Isaiah 58:6-8

"If you break unjust chains to let the oppressed go free, if you share your food with the hungry and shelter the homeless, then your light will break forth like the dawn and your wound will be quickly healed."

Isaiah 40-66 was written just before the fall of Babylon to the Persians in 539 BCE. It promised the leaders of Jerusalem in exile in Babylon a time of return and restoration, but it also demanded that they be prepared to deal justly with the people in their charge. Chapter 58 clarifies that the LORD does not require fasting, but rather kindness and justice. Clearly, the early church read this prophecy as a background for the teachings of Jesus and a mandate for the church to include and care for the poor.

The faith of the church today is subject to the same test. Are we breaking the chains that hold the poor in bondage? In our time that might mean supporting forgiveness for the loans that the poor countries owe the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Are Christians sharing their food with the hungry and their shelter with the homeless? In many instances churches are in the forefront in helping to meet these needs, but are we also seeking a just distribution of government services? Christians cannot simply pray for the poor; Christians must also act on their behalf in order to live up to the word of God, as we read it in the Christian Bible.

Jesus said: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."

Chapter 13 of the gospel of Mark presents a vision of the end of the age. This vision incorporates much of what is presented by Paul in his first letter to the church at Thessalonica (I Th. 13-5:11). As Paul wrote his letter before the gospel of Mark was written, it may well be that the words attributed to Jesus by the author of the gospel of Mark are actually a revision of Paul's vision of the end of the age. The gospel of Mark adds, however, the statement by Jesus that "this generation will not pass away before all these things take place." (v. 30) The gospels of Matthew and Luke also present this material and each of them has Jesus make this same statement. (Mt. 24:34, Lk. 21:32) As we know this did not happen, we must conclude that either Jesus did not say this or he did say this and was wrong. Either conclusion demonstrates that the New Testament is not the literal, infallible or inerrant word of God, because the promise expressed in each of the first three gospels was not fulfilled. The generation hearing Jesus did, in fact, pass away although the end had not yet come.

Clearly, however, the words of Jesus, as conveyed to us through the narratives of the gospels of the Christian Bible, have not passed away. We continue to read the New Testament gospels with hope that we might discern there the will of God. It was not the will of God to bring about the end of the world in the middle of the first century CE, as the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke affirm. But that does not mean that the New Testament is unable to convey to us the word of God, if we have ears to hear and eyes to see. Facts may confirm what is not the word of God, but only faith can discern what is God's word.

July 25, Matthew 13:44-46

Jesus said: "The kingdom of heaven is like a trader looking for precious pearls, who on finding one of great value, goes, sells everything he has and buys it."

This parable about the kingdom of heaven is only recorded by the author of the gospel of Matthew. It is part of a collection of parables presented in chapter 13. The author of the gospel has Jesus teaching these parables one after another, but clearly this is a literary device that the author is using to present a lot of teaching material. This reminds us that each gospel was composed by a person, who selected materials and put these into an order. The author of the gospel of Matthew uses the plot of the gospel of Mark and virtually all the material in that gospel, but he also adds teachings and interjects comments. This parable is an example of that.

"In my distress, I called to the LORD. God heard me and set me free."

Verses 10-14 in this psalm suggest that the king is giving thanks for achieving victory in battle. But, of course, the passage quoted above may be read with a much more general meaning. This psalm also contains the statement: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the head of the corner." (v. 22) The church saw in this statement a prophecy of Jesus, who was rejected by the leaders of his time but nonetheless became the foundation of the church.

We all want to believe that God will hear our prayers and set us free from our fears and our distress. Yet, each of us should pray "not my will but thy will, O God," for this was the prayer attributed to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane by the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.

July 27, 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

"God chose things that by human standards are weak to confound the strong. God chose what is lowly and despised in the eyes of the world."

Paul says that preaching Christ crucified is "a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles" (v. 23) but, nonetheless, the good news of the gospel for both Jews and Gentiles who are called to receive it. Apparently, many Jews were looking for a triumphant king, and some Gentiles were expecting a philosophical truth, so neither was prepared for the gospel. Yet, Paul argues, God chose what is foolish to shame the wise and what is weak to shame the strong.

July 28, Isaiah 55:6-11

"Seek the LORD while he is near. Turn to our God, who pardons freely."

This passage in the prophecy of Isaiah presents a call to repentance. "Let the wicked forsake his way," the prophet writes, "and the unrighteous man his thoughts." (v. 7) The ways of the LORD, the prophet reminds his reader, are not the same as human ways. Therefore, the prophet encourages the people of Israel, who have wandered away from being faithful, to return and seek God's pardon.

July 29, Psalm 9

"The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in time of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you, LORD. For you never forsake those who seek you."

July 30, 1 John 1:1-7

"God is light, in him there is no darkness at all. If we walk in the light, we are in communion with one another."

The first few verses of this letter remind us of why it is attributed to the author of the fourth gospel, even though the author of the letter does not mention his name. The images are very similar. Even as the gospel of John affirms that the light of the Word, that was in the beginning with God, shines in the darkness and is not overcome by it, so the author of this letter asserts that God is all light and without any darkness. Therefore, walking in the light is being one with God.

July 31, Matthew 5:44-48

Jesus said: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. You must set no bounds to your love, just as your heavenly Father sets none to his."

This teaching attributed to Jesus is presented in what has come to be known as "The Sermon on the Mount," which presents Jesus as teaching that he has come to fulfill the law of Moses, not to set it aside. "For truly," he says, "till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished." (v. 18) Then Jesus urges his followers to keep not simply the letter of the law but also its spirit. That is why he teaches them to love their enemies. They are to follow the ways of God, who loves all people - even those who have gone astray.

The church, of course, has rarely lived up to this teaching, yet that does not make these words meaningless. Christians confess that they have fallen short of the call of God and the teachings of Jesus, and affirm the need to repent. We can reaffirm our commitment to an ideal that seems to elude realization in history but draws us, nonetheless, to embrace life with faith, hope and love.