INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE

Year B - Second Sunday After Epiphany

 

1 SAMUEL 3:1-10.   This story of Samuel's call to be God's prophet in Israel has the flavor of an ancient folktale.  Before being written down, it was told and retold by one generation to another because Samuel was such a towering figure in Israel's religious and political history. The story reveals yet another instance when God was believed to have intervened to change in the direction of the nation's history.  This was interpreted as God keeping the covenant made long before with Abraham and with Moses.

 

PSALM 139:1-6, 13-18.   God's intimate knowledge of all we are, all we think and do may be very frightening, but it also gives a security which faith can celebrate. Yet this constant awareness of God's presence is both comforting and empowering.

 

1 CORINTHIANS 6:12-20.   Corinth was a seaport city famous for its immoral life. Prostitution was rampant, apparently even among the Christians it would seem.  As this passage points out, Paul dealt bluntly with the problem.

The apostle's counsel is still valid in our own time when sexually transmitted diseases are still so prevalent and dangerous.  Paul's attitude toward sex is based on the faith that our bodies are not merely for our own pleasure, but like a temple, to serve and glorify God.

 

JOHN 1:43-51.  John's Gospel tells of many incidents in Jesus' ministry not found in the other gospels.  Some actually conflict with what the other gospels say.  The way Jesus gathered his disciples in one such instance. The reason for this discrepancy is made clear in this passage. Those who followed Jesus did so solely because they were convinced that he was God's Messiah. This exchange between Jesus and Nathanael established this important motif in the John's Gospel. Starkly evident throughout Jesus' ministry were those who believed in him and those who didn't.

 

 

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS.

 


1 SAMUEL 3:1-10.  This story of Samuel's call to be God's prophet in Israel has the flavor of an ancient folktale.  Before being written down as part of the nation’s religious literature, it was told and retold by one generation to another because Samuel was such a towering figure in Israel's religious and political history. Why should it be so important in our time as to be included as one of a limited collection of scripture passages to be read for worship?

 

The story reveals yet another instance when God was believed to have intervened to change in the direction of the nation's history.  The Israelites interpreted this as another instance of Yahweh keeping the covenant made long before with Abraham and with Moses. Hence, it must be seen as a confirmation of Israel's faith as the chosen people of a God whose revelations came in a variety of ways and on whose providence Israel's whole existence depended.

 

The passage ends too quickly. It would have been more balanced to have the reason for Yahweh's call to Samuel explained as does the prophecy of vss. 11-14. To make best use of the lesson, this will need to be done in an introductory exposition. Otherwise, the story appears to have no relevance to the actual religious and political situation in Israel in the 11th century BCE.

 

The Books of Samuel and Kings consist of narrative history written with theological purpose. The story of Samuel as a great spiritual leader and theocrat at the time both Saul and David became monarchs of Israel probably does contain some historical data, sparse though it be in modern terms. By no means, however, should we that all the details of his story are factual. The narratives about him lead us to conclude how much he towered over all the other figures of his time and hence influenced the development of Israel as a nation and as the elect people of Yahweh.

 

For this lesson to be relevant to a congregation more three thousand years after the events it narrates, it might be wise to draw a parallel between the religious atmosphere so vividly described in vs. 1b: "the word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread" (NRSV) and the present day spiritual environment. The whole point of the story, however, is to reassure the audience that Yahweh has not deserted those who have faith nor forgotten the purpose for the call of Israel as the elect nation. As a new president of the USA takes office amid economic and political distress on a global scale, such a message could bring lasting hope to a beleagured congregation.

 

 


PSALM 139:1-6, 13-18.   God’s omniscience and omnipresence may be metaphysical concepts, but they were unknown to the Jews six centuries BCE when this psalm was probably written. Yet the psalm still has great meaning and power for personal devotion and public worship. If a devotional type sermon is warranted near the start of a new year, this surely is an appropriate passage. God's intimate knowledge of all we are, all we think and do may be very frightening, but it also gives a security which faith can celebrate. This constant awareness of God's presence can be both comforting and empowering.

 

It remains puzzling why the intermediary verses (vss. 7-12) have been omitted between the two segments of this reading. Those verses give a very personal experience of divine presence, far beyond any theological reasoning. This is what a humble walk with God has shown the poet. In actual use in worship, they could well be included.

 

The latter segment (vss. 13-18) points to God as creator, but also in a very personal reflection. The thoughts expressed in the whole psalm are to be found elsewhere in the prophetic literature, notably Isaiah 55:8-9 (omniscience); Jeremiah 23:23-24 (omnipresence); and Job 10:8-11 (personal creation). The psalmist appears to be indifferent to the God of history and the great acts of salvation during Israel's crises of the past. Instead, he concentrates on the present moment which gives the poem a sense universalism applicable to every generation. It conveys a faith which many have carried to their deathbeds.

 

In his Everyday Psalms (Wood Lake Books, 1994), Jim Taylor has two poignant titles for two segments of the psalm (not the same as in this reading). He calls them "Transparent to God" and "The Inescapable God." The Scottish divines, George Matheson and Francis Thomson knew whereof the psalmist spoke and penned their faith into such great poetry as Matheson's "O Love that will not let me go" and Thomson's "The Hound of Heaven."

 

Perhaps one has to have been through such trying times as this unknown voice from the 6th century BCE had experienced to know the full peace and joy comes with knowing and being known by such a loving God.

 

 

1 CORINTHIANS 6:12-20.   Corinth was a seaport city famous for its immoral life. Prostitution was rampant, apparently even among the Christians there it would seem.  As this passage and preceding verses point out, Paul dealt bluntly with the problem. In vss. 9-10 he had identified the sexually promiscuous people who would be excluded from the kingdom of God. In vs. 11 he contrasted promiscuity and drunkenness with the effects of Christian baptism, sanctification and justification - undoubtedly a moral revolution for many. Then, in the present reading, he moved on to discuss the arguments he had heard against this necessary transformation. The essence of the passage is a comparison of Christian liberty and the moral license which many had interpreted it to mean. The debate continues to this day.

 


Paul, a devout Jew and strict Pharisee, lived in the Graeco-Roman world that did not share the restrictive standards of the Holiness Code of the Book of Leviticus. Was he expressing culturally biased attitudes to human sexuality? Or was he laying down a moral standard by which Christians are bound? Another point of view suggests that Paul was determined that the Christians’ life should be exemplary so that they would find favour with Roman authorities despite refusing to worship the emperor.

 

In a biography of the noted Canadian physician, Sir William Osler, this quotation from the famous doctor is worth noting. It referred to the Greek physician Aesculapius who originated the medical profession: "'In the old Greek there was deeply ingrained the idea of the moral and spiritual profit of bodily health.' (William Osler: A Life in Medicine by Michael Bliss. University of Toronto Press, 1999) Did Paul not also honour the highest values of contemporary culture is eschewing the promiscuity of the Corinthian community to which he had brought a different quality of life?

 

In fact, Paul proposed several bases for his views: 1) utilitarian (vs. 12a); 2) legal (vs. 12b); 3) spiritual commitment (vss. 13-14). But chiefly, his attitude toward sexuality and other addictions was based on the faith that our bodies "are members of Christ" (vs. 15). We should not use them merely for our own pleasure, but like a temple, to serve and glorify God. The in-dwelling Holy Spirit made this possible (vs. 19).

 

Finally, he linked these constraints placed upon promiscuous behavior with the death and resurrection of Christ. Because of the price paid for our freedom from human sinfulness, we must always live to glorify God. "Being bought with a price" (vs. 20) referred to the practice of purchasing a slave or redeeming someone from slavery. He had used the metaphor again in 1 Cor. 1:30; Gal. 3:13 and 4:5. A slave so redeemed belonged, body and soul, to the one who had paid the price. Thus the Christian belonged to Christ. William Barclay put a very practical interpretation on that reality: "(The Christian) can never do what he likes, because he never belongs to himself; he must always do what Christ likes, because Christ bought him at the cost of his own life." (The Letters to the Corinthians. The Daily Study Bible. Edinburgh: The St. Andrew Press, 1954.) It has been said that whenever he felt particularly assailed by temptation, Martin Luther would drive the storm from his soul and body by repeating, "I have been baptized. I have been baptized" This is exactly what Paul was saying to the Corinthians.

 

 


JOHN 1:43-51.  John's Gospel tells of many incidents in Jesus' ministry not found in the other gospels.  Some actually conflict with what the other gospels say. The way Jesus gathered his disciples in one such instance. The reason for this discrepancy is made clear in this passage. Those who followed Jesus did so solely because they were convinced that he was God's Messiah.

 

Certain details found in John's Gospel often give us a different synoptic view than do the so-called Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. The figure of Nathanael stands out in this passage as a disciple who does not appear elsewhere in the gospels, yet one who obviously had attracted Jesus' special attention. Inconclusive attempts have been made to identify him with Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, John the son of Zebedee, and Simon the Canaanaean. For good reason he remains unique. His appearance here symbolizes the pious Israelite, who though good as he is, is still incomplete. His confession that Jesus is the Son of God and King of Israel is nothing short of a full messianic declaration of faith. Despite his deeply sincere religious life and faith as a Jew, he was willing to set aside his intellectual doubts and difficulties to put his trust in Jesus.

 

John's Gospel has frequently been cited as the most anti-Semitic of the NT. Christians may well have so regarded it through the ages and used it to motivate violent pogroms against Jews. The Holocaust of Hitler's Nazis in the 20th century was only the latest of a long series of assaults on Jews cast in the role of a particularly evil people. One hears similar anti-Semitism from more fundamentalist Islamic groups. Nor can all Jews or the nation of Israel always be free from criticism for immoral or unjust behaviour. No one would deny that the author of John’s Gospel had his sharp edge. Jews were frequently depicted as the enemies of Jesus. But is it as simple as a "good guys vs. bad guys" formula we so often use as an intellectual and moral crutch?

 

There is a better way to view John's attitude toward the Jews.  At the end of the lst century CE, Jews and Christians were seen as distinct religious groups. That was due to nearly fifty years of evangelism by Jewish Christians among the Gentiles of the Greek-speaking world beyond the limited landscape of Palestine from which the stories of Jesus had emanated. Yet almost all of the personalities who appeared in John's Gospel were Jews. (It is not until John 12:20 that we meet any Greeks at all!) While written for an audience of both Jew and Greek, this gospel is definitely Jewish in most respects. From its very first words, it declares its Jewishness by referring back to the very beginning of the Hebrew scriptures. It does not denigrate the law in any respect (cf. 1:17), but makes clear that Jesus as the promised Messiah is the full revelation of divine grace and truth. Judaism may have contributed to the world the knowledge of moral right and wrong; but Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has made God fully known (1:18).

 


This is not anti-Semitism, but the declaration of the gospel as believed and proclaimed by the apostolic church. That subsequent generations of Christian believers fell victim to a brutal and despicable misinterpretation of this gospel is not to be blamed on the messenger or the message. Human sinfulness will find its deceitful ways of doing evil where none is required. Such is the sad history of anti-Semitism through the centuries, and should bring prayers for repentance from the hearts of faithful Christians today. Neither should misunderstanding of Christian scripture cause anyone to accuse any other person of prejudicial xenophobia.  The world of the 21st century needs people who can see beyond the narrow confines of such limited thinking and believing to appreciate what people of faith from other traditions have given and will yet give to a world where there are fewer and fewer barriers to communication

among close neighbors.

 

This is the future for which Nathanael stands as the gracious symbol. This pious Jew turned from his meditative moment under a fig tree to confess Jesus as Son of God and Messiah. Jesus rejoiced and exuberantly promised that he would yet see greater things. Nathanael had caught sight of the eschaton as clearly as Israel's patriarch Jacob had seen a vision of angels (vs. 51). Nathanael's vision was the fulfillment of Jacob's dream at Bethel. Israel's covenant with God was being fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, the man who also was the Son of God. The process of fulfillment is still going on as we build toward a global village as ordinary as Nazareth and a beautiful as Bethel.

 

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