On Line Bible Study - For the Week August 19 - 25, 2013

Lesson 572
Jesus Before the Jewish Authorities

First, we have to acknowledge that the passion of Jesus has been used to create and perpetuate anti-Jewish antagonism.
Second, we have to exercise caution with regard to any comparison between contemporary legal systems and the ancient legal traditions of both the Jewish religion authorities and the Roman provincial governments.
There is a line in Deuteronomy 17:7 that reads: The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death, and then the hands of all the people.  In the revealed tradition of the Jews, accusation, trial, and the execution of the sentence were all part of a public process.
Father Raymond Brown offers a series of questions based on how scholars have dealt with this scene:

1. Was Jesus justly and legally condemned to death by men acting in good faith, believing that Jesus was a blasphemer who had intentionally misled the people?
2. Was the Jewish trial of Jesus illegal because witnesses had been forced to perjure themselves?
3. Were Jewish religious authorities acting ignobly for political and self-protective purposes?
4. Were they men who felt forced to act improperly, convinced of Jesus guilt but unable to prove it by legal means?

Legal systems are complicated.  We could easily get lost in the nuts and bolts surrounding questions of identity and authority.  What exactly happened after Jesus was seized?  Exactly who comprised the Sanhedrin?  How were they convened?  What was their authority?  What was the relationship between the Sanhedrin and Roman authorities?
St. Luke tells us Jesus was first taken to the home of the high priest where he was questioned, mocked and beaten.  Only later was he taken to the "council".
St. John reports that Jesus was first taken to the home of Annas, who was the father-in-law of the high priest.  He was questioned there, and then sent - bound - to Caiaphas for further interrogation.  There is no mention of a "council" or the Sanhedrin.
  One thing seems certain, and is consistent in the Biblical record: the time between accusation, verdict, sentencing, and the execution of the sentence regarding Jesus was brief.  Whether the Sanhedrin was a "preliminary hearing", or functioning as a legal arm of the Jews under the umbrella of Roman legal authority, it didn't take those gathered much time to arrive at their conclusion.
Regardless of whether the motives were pure on behalf of the people, or self-protective to save their own skins, the charge is stated consistently throughout by way of the question:  Are you the Christ?  Are you a king?
The gospels have an agenda.  The question boomerangs back on those asking it.  Who do you say I am?  Everything Jesus has said and done now enters the narrow point in the hourglass of his life.  Not only does Jesus have to be crystal clear about his identity; we do, too.

On Line Bible Study - For the Week August 12 - 18, 2013

Lesson 571

Scene Two: The Arrest.

Judas.  A tragic figure.  He is mentioned 22 times in the Christian Testament.  Father Raymond Brown makes an interesting observation.  In the Gospel tradition, remembering that Mark is chronologically the earliest of the four, note the frequency of reference to Judas:

1.      Mark mentions Judas 3 times.  (3:19, 14:10, 14:43.)

2.      Matthew mentions Judas 5 times.  (10:4, 26:14, 26:25, 26:47, 27:3.  He is also listed among the 12 in 13:55, but with no reference to his act of betrayal.)

3.      Luke/Acts mentions Judas 6 times.  (6:16, 22:3, 22:47, 22:48.  Acts 1:16-17, 1:25.)

4.      John mentions Judas 8 times.  (6:71, 12:14, 13:2, 13:26, 13:29, 14:22, 18:2, 18:3.)

Fr. Brown wonders if this doesn't suggest an interest in Judas that grew over the decades as the gospel story came together, represented by the increase over time of the mention of Judas.

Did Judas “betray” Jesus, or “hand him over”?  Is there a difference?  Recalling that Jerusalem and surrounding areas were busy during the time of the feast, and recalling that Jesus managed at other times to evade the crowd, Judas agrees to do two things (Brown).  He knows where Jesus will be, so he can lead the authorities to him.  And, in a crowd, he can quickly pick Jesus out, assuring a valid identification.

Swords.  Such irony.  The “Prince of Peace” is arrested in the midst of the threat of increased violence.  The crowd came with swords and clubs; the followers of Jesus were armed (?).  With tempers fueled by a curious mix of fear and self-righteousness, the situation was extremely volatile.  Would that the authority of Jesus – and his word to “Put away your sword” (Matthew and John), and his even stronger command – “No more of this!” (Luke) – would that his word might ring in the streets of Cairo and the halls of America’s congress.  It is hard to imagine Jesus being anything but thoroughly disgusted with the United States’ arsenal of weapons.  In Luke’s telling of the arrest, Jesus doesn’t just give a command; he reverses the effect of violence.  That is both the example to us and the way for us – We must say: No more! to the violence in this world; but we must also be diligent now to reverse the effects of the violence that erupts every day.

Abandonment.  What happened to the impulse to stand their ground and fight?  The disciples of Jesus, so ready at first to draw their sword, are now looking to put as much distance between themselves and Jesus as possible.  It’s not likely that Jesus wanted them to put away your sword and then run away as fast as they could.  So frightening has the present and future become, and so toxic is it to be in proximity to Jesus that it is preferable to be naked.  Being “naked” in the Bible is never a good thing.  Is this what it has come to?  Are we like the proverbial emperor, refusing to acknowledge just how naked our sin is to the world?  Jesus takes hold of us, and we run.  Indeed, he 'stands his ground' - armed with nothing but love.

On Line Bible Study - For the Week August 5-11, 2013

Lesson 570

Scene One:  The Garden

We have spent 18 lessons giving background information and painting with broad strokes the picture of Jesus' passion.  With that canvass established, we will take this one scene at a time, acknowledging at the outset that we still will only be seeing a cursory snapshot of what is actually there.

We are going to consider this scene as presented to us by Mark/Matthew.  You recall from looking at the Gospel Parallels that John simply tells us the disciples and Jesus went across the Kidron Valley and entered it.  Luke goes into a bit more detail.  Jesus instructs the disciples to pray.  He then withdrew from them and prayed: Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.  Jesus then returned to his disciples, found them asleep and told them to get up that you might not enter into temptation.
Mark and Matthew offer us more details with regard to what happened in the Garden.  We are going to focus on the movement that these two evangelists record.
The disciples enter the garden with Jesus.  But then, Jesus chooses three of them to enter deeper into the experience with him.  Peter, James and John (the two sons of Zebedee) walk more fully into the "sorrowful and troubled" experience with Christ.  Finally, we read that Jesus goes even deeper - and this time, he has to go alone.
Mark and Matthew paint a picture of motion - back and forth between the darkest recesses of the garden and the places where the disciples are.  We read of the disciples' struggle even to stay awake in all of this, to say nothing of being empathetic with the suffering Jesus is undergoing.
Are the evangelists trying to tell us something?  Trying to teach us something about the spiritual life?  Where in the gospel narrative does Jesus tell us following him will be easy?  What is the difference between "ease of life" and a "fruitful life"?  Which has the stronger pull on us?
Jesus told a story of a man who leaves his house in the care of the servants (Mark 13:35-36).  The servants are warned to "watch".  If he [the owner of the house] comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.  Spiritual wakefulness is a discipline, and not one that comes easily.
We are invited to follow Jesus, to walk with him, to be "on the way" with him.  It is a journey that promises amazing joy; but it is fraught with peril.  There is no immunity from sorrow.  The presence of God is also the guarantee that we will be most human.  The "glory" that Jesus experiences is not the result of a life of ease; it issue forth from a life of obedience.  The Garden of Gethsemane is the scene in which the evangelists paint with vivid colors the reality of what it means to be called to walk with Jesus.  How far are we capable of going with him?