"To You It Has Been Given to See"

The mornings this week have been delightfully occupied with a low-stress, confidence-boosting Greek translation class.  Armed with our Greek readers’ edition New Testaments and a couple of translation aids, the professor, the other student, and I read selected passages from the New Testament .  By Friday, we will have translated [fut pft act ind] selections from every New Testament author except Jude.  Part of the beauty of the class has been seeing connections between passages I wouldn’t have imaged were connected, such as Matthew 13 and I Peter 1.

Matthew 13:10-17

And the disciples, approaching him, said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given….For this reason I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor understand.  And the prophecy of Isaiah has come true in them, saying: ‘Hearing you will hear and never ever understand, and seeing you will see and never ever perceive.  For the hearts of this people are insensitive, their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes are closed: Lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’  But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear.  For truly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous ones longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” [author’s translation]

The parable of the soils and the interpretation of the parable of the soils bracket this paragraph.  The different types of soils represent different kinds of people, some to whom it was given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven and some to whom it was not given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven.  We can see examples of these two types of people in Matthew.  The disciples do not initially understand Christ’s teaching that He will die and rise again, but as He continues to explain His words to them, they understand that He will die for sin and rise again.  They were able to understand Christ’s teaching because God had given them sight and hearing.  In contrast, the Pharisees listened a great deal to Christ’s words, but never saw or heard what He was saying because God had not given them sight or hearing.

Christ uses a play on words with see and hear.  Through most of the paragraph, those who don’t see and hear are not God’s people.  The disciples are different because they are God’s people who see and hear.  However, in the final sentence of the paragraph, Jesus speaks of sight and hearing in a technical sense meaning to see the fulfillment of what was promised in the past.  The prophets did not see the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, not because they did not believe them, but because they did not see it happen during their lifetime.  They believed that God would provide a sacrifice for sin, but they did not see it happen.  The disciples see and hear not only in the sense that they understand mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but also in the sense that they see the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven fulfilled. This kind of sight and hearing was desired but never experienced by God’s people in the Old Testament. 

Roughly 30 years later, one of the seeing and hearing disciples, Peter, wrote these words:

“Concerning which salvation, the  prophets, having prophesied, sought out and inquired concerning the grace which is for you, trying to find out at what time and in what circumstances the spirit of Christ in them was predicting the suffering for Christ and the subsequent glories.  To the prophets it was revealed that they were not serving themselves but you….” [I Peter 1:10-12, author’s translation]

Peter comforts the suffering believers by reminding them of their salvation.  This salvation, he explains, was something that the prophets tried very hard to understand.  They desired to know when and how Christ would suffer and be glorified.  But, in God’s plan, the prophets were ministering to God’s people in the future who would understand.  The prophets longed to see and hear what the disciples saw and heard, the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Here we are: New Covenant believers who are blessed with an understanding of God’s plan that the prophets only dreamed of.  Look what God has opened our eyes to!  See how much of His plan He has shown to us!  Are we not greatly blessed?  And ought we not to praise the Father for opening our eyes?

Church Music: My Jesus Fair

Also on my list of favorite doctrinal church music is the hymn "My Jesus Fair."  I haven't found any information on the story behind its writing, but it's message is great.  Some friends introduced it to me at CYIA several years ago, and it has become a avorite.  Since it might be unfamiliar, I've included a recording at the bottom of the page.  It's a bit "choral," but will an idea of the melody.

 My Jesus, fair, was pierced by thorns,
By thorns grown from the fall.
Thus He who gave the curse was torn
To end that curse for all.

My Jesus, meek, was scorned by men,
By men in blasphemy.
“Father, forgive their senseless sin!”
He prayed, for them, for me.

Chorus:
O love divine, O matchless grace-
That God should die for men!
With joyful grief I lift my praise,
Abhorring all my sin,
Adoring only Him.

My Jesus, kind, was torn by nails,
By nails of cruel men.
And to His cross, as grace prevailed,
God pinned my wretched sin.

My Jesus, pure, was crushed by God,
By God, in judgment just.
The Father grieved, yet turned His rod
On Christ, made sin for us.

My Jesus, strong, shall come to reign,
To reign in majesty.
The Lamb arose, and death is slain.
Lord, come in victory!

Chorus:
O love divine, O matchless grace-
That God should die for men!
With joyful grief I lift my praise,
Abhorring all my sin,
Adoring only Him.

Church Music: "And Can It Be?"

Doctrinal church music expressing proper response to the character of God has been a subject of many thoughts since reading a surprisingly good book on church music which will probably be the subject of a post later in the summer.  Recently, several friends brought to mind some favorite hymns which I wanted to pass on to you.  Most of these hymns are older, but don't think that the only good church music was written prior to 1960...maybe another time I'll look at some great church music composed recently:)

Charles Wesley wrote And Can It Be two days after his conversion in May, 1738.  It was published that same year in his brother John's hymnal.  Originally, the words were set to a melody called "Crucifixion" which was much slower than the melody we sing in church today.  It was not until the mid-1800s that it was set to the melody we know, "Sagina."  The melody's strength and energy parallel the text's marvel over God's sacrifice for sin on the cross applied to the believer.  The text moves from the speaker's wonder at his salvation, to his description of Christ's work, his personal experience of salvation, and the freedom he has to approach the Father because of Christ's work.  May your mind be informed again of the greatness of Christ's forgiveness, and may your affections be awakened to rejoice in the sufficiency of His forgiveness for everything you need. 

And can it be that I should gain
An int'rest in the Savior's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

'Tis mystery all! The Immortal dies!
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love Divine!
'Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
'Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father's throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love*,
And bled for Adam's helpless race:
'Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.
'Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness Divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." - Philippians 2:5-8

"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." - Hebrews 4:16

____________________

* Since one of the purposes of church music is to teach Christian doctrine, it should be noted that Christ did not empty Himself of His Deity as the song stages.  His incarnation added humanity to His Deity, rather than subtracting His Deity to make Him human.  Some congregations substitute the words "Humbled Himself and came in love."

God Made Small Fish

Figaro, my male half-moon betta fish, has lived with me for the last six months.  Neither of these pictures are of him (he would not stay still), but he's virtually identical to both of these.  I am a rather bad fish owner - the whole point of getting a fish as opposed to some other pet was that he would be "low maintenance."  (Actually, there wasn't much option because fish are the only animals allowed in the dorm:)  This afternoon, I googled how I should take care of him and decided change his water more often.
 
Figaro does many interesting things.  As I write, he is playing in his bowl on my desk and has just folded himself in half in a U-shape upside down.  Sometimes, he buries his head in the glass beads at the bottom and stands upside down.  Sometimes, he twitches his fins convulsively and shoots across his bowl.  Often he's after a bit of food that has lodged at the bottom of the bowl.  When I put my finger on his bowl, he comes over and stairs at me, swishing his fins.  Sometimes, he puts his head straight down and dives.


Genesis 1:20-22 says, "And God said, 'Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life...'  And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly...And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas..."  When Figaro flits around his world busily fulfilling the tasks for which God created him, he reminds me of what a wonderful creator God is.  He made such an intricate little fish - a body that is so flexible he can fold himself in half, fins that are so filmy that you can see the tiniest ripple in them, scales that sheen iridescence turquoise or blue depending on the light.  

If you have ever wanted to know more about God's creativity, get a fish and spend time watching it.

Eschetological Living

This post is a follow-up to The Cross in Redemptive History (May 24, 2012).  That post detailed some changes in my thinking regarding the centrality of Christ and the cross not only to salvation and sanctification, but to theology.  The cross was The Fundamental Shift in God's plan for His people.  The changes that took place there were more dramatic than the changes which will take place in the future when our bodies are raised and we enjoy the presence of God in heaven.  The cross began the process of the re-creation of God's people and world.  The cross fulfilled God's promises, some of which we have yet to experience fully.

It seems in Scripture, that the fulfillment of God's promises is tied to what we term eschatology.  Eschatology is defined as the study of last things - and "last things" is generally defined to mean the judgment and end of the world and the return of Christ.  Other terms which can be used synonymously with "last days" are "latter days," "those days," and "the days are coming."  Scripture does use "last days" terminology to refer to the wickedness of the world (2 Timothy 3:1, 2 Peter 3:3), but often, Scripture ties "last days" terminology to the fulfillment of God's promises.

"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah." (Jeremiah 31:31)
"But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD." (Jeremiah 31:33)
"Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit." (Joel 2:29)
"And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh...even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit and they shall prophesy." (Acts 2:17-18)
"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD" (Hebrews 8:10)
"This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the LORD." (Hebrews 10:16)
"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son." (Hebrews 1:1-2)

When reading these verses, and others like them, it seems that the New Testament writers meant more by "last days" than simply chronology.  It seems that they saw the "last days" as the time when God fulfills His promises.

Today, we often hear that we are "living in the last days."  This can be presented to mean that we are living chronologically near the end of the world and the return of Christ.  However, the phrase is packed with much greater significance.  To live in the last days means to experience the fulfillment of God's promises.  To live in the last days means to receive revelation from God through the living Word, Jesus Christ as recorded in Scripture.  To live in the last days means to have the permanently indwelling Holy Spirit.  To live in the last days means to enjoy a covenant relationship with God as His people through the salvation provided by the New Covenant.  Much of Christianity views the "last days" as a terrible time of godlessness which believers fear, but in the "last days", God gives to His people such glorious blessings as would have been unimaginable before the cross.

In Celebration of Graduation!

Graduation was 2 months ago, so this blog post is overdue, but sufficient to say, I graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Advanced Biblical Studies.  They actually gave me the paper and let me out without a heresy trial (!!!).  This post is for all my blogging friends (ahem, Liz and Leah:) who have this idea that blog posts must always be accompanied with pictures, which I fail at dreadfully.  However, my friends Clara and Melinda photographically documented the events, so there are plenty of pictures to share.  The celebrations began when Clara and Jemima, Jenna, and Liz visited the weekend before as a pre-graduation treat.  As you can see from the pictures, the dorm became a place of high entertainment...

The week consisted of frantically finishing up Greek exegeticals, learning Mail Merge for a random computer class, enjoying Voltron-Kara-Jenna-Joel-Paul-Liz-Celeste-Bekah-Clara chill time in the cafeteria, supper at Steak-and Shake, running around the Plaza at night, invading Barns and Noble, and consuming a significant amount of coffee.

Several days later, Melinda flew in and joined the group for many adventures, one of which consisted of a pilgrimage to a library.  The library trip had a number of sub-adventures, including the stone structure overlooking Hwy 670, the river, the train tracks, and the airport.  Another sub-adventures was a small theater inside a vault complete with red velvet curtains and a large round door.  Upon reaching the roof of the library, we finished off with a chess game with life-size chess pieces.  We attempted to take creepy stalker pictures on Melinda's camera while she was away, but she returned and we barely had time to look innocent...:)  On Sunday evening we escaped campus between tornado warnings to go eat Indian food.  If you have never experienced 20+ people all enjoying Indian food together, you should arrange to experience it.  Oh, and the food tastes better if you eat it with your fingers!

Graduation was a very exciting day in the life of Celeste Mamie Franklin...not like I had been working towards it for five years or anything.

The two female traditional BAs

Rebekah and her aunt also graduated.

 The time with Melinda wasn't long enough...

Free, happy graduates partying!

Most of the CBI peeps...all looking quite typical.  

The Lord was good, and graduation was just one more expression of that.  There were several times when I wasn't sure if I would get that little piece of paper, and I thank God often for the strength and wisdom He gave to complete the coursework.  SDG

Shakespeare and Satisfaction

Last weekend, I attended a free production of a Shakespeare play held outdoors.  A big group of friends went, and there are few things in the world so comfortable and happy as spending time with good friends.  Two productions were running: A Midsummer Night's Dream and Antony and Cleopatra.  Not being a big tragedy fan, I planned on seeing Midsummer.  However, the organized side of my personality was pre-occupied with Hebrew and didn't check which show was running that night.  The result was that when we arrived at the park, Antony and Cleopatra was running. 


It was an entertaining show - quite funny on many levels.  I couldn't endorse it and probably won't see it again because it was quite a bit more descriptive than necessary (one of those times when it's not edifying to be familiar with Elizabethan English!).  But the value of seeing it was that it highighted the world's best.  Theater is a high form of art.  Antony and Cleopatra is great literature.  Shakespeare is considered to be the finest expression of love in the English languages.  But after the play, I thought, "Is this it?  Did I really just  spend 2.5 hours watching the highest form of English culture?"  Don't get me wrong, I had a wonderful time and hope to see the next Shakespeare production, but the whole thing had a hollow feeling about it.


Part of the reaction probably comes from not studying Shakespeare, but part of the reaction is similar to Solomon's in Ecclesiastes 2:4-11:

"I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.  I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees.  I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.  I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem.  I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I got singers, both men and women, and many concubines, the delight of the children of man.  So I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.  And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.  Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun."

Solomon recognized that the world's best did not satisfy.  Trying to find satisfaction in landscaping, livestock, wealth, art, relationships, and Shakespeare is empty.  The world's best does not satisfy us because God did not make us to be satisfied by it.  God created man for fellowship with Himself, and nothing less than that will satisfy him.  Man's problem is that he looks for satisfaction in things and people instead of God.


C. S. Lewis wrote in "The Weight of Glory":

"...If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.  We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.  We are far too easily pleased."

When a person has been united with Christ in a saving relationship with God, he is satisfied in that relationship.  Then, he may enjoy the things that Solomon and Lewis mention because he is first satisfied in God.

More Philly Hall Adventures!

Since my last post about apartment life, several random things have happened, and it's high time for another series of snapshots.  All these tidbits have to do with appliances of various sorts and sizes.

1. The Stove.  I was sitting in a chair minding my own business after church one evening.  Lelia and Emily (my roommates) were moving stuff our to the car and had left the door open.  Suddenly, I looked up to find the manager of Philly Hall in my living room.  (This is not the usual place to find the Philly manager!)  He and his wife came the rest of the way into the house and informed us that our gas stove was leaking and we needed to move out of the apartment immediately.  (It was nearly eleven o'clock at night.)  They seemed quite concerned about us, called maintenance, and unlocked another apartment for us to move into.  Maintenance turned off all the gas to the stove, opened the windows, and told us that we could stay in the apartment providing that we aired it out.  One difficulty was that we had no way to cook food.  Fortunately, there were enough carrots and oatmeal in the house to sustain life...  The other difficulty was that in the scuffle, the folder with my Hebrew homework got lost and didn't turn up for a week.  It was hiding under a couch cushion...:)

2. The Air Conditioner.  Living on the second floor can be quite warm during the summertime.  Our apartment was short one air conditioner, and it was getting pretty miserable.  After chasing several rabbit trails that were supposed to lead to air conditioners, Lelia and I made a trek to the basement ourselves, braved potential spiders, selected the air conditioning unit closest to the door, and carried it up two flights of stairs to its new home.  Once safely in our apartment, we commenced the delicate task of inserting it into the window.  After several adjustments, the unit was finally fitted into the window, but, alas, the window would not seal properly.  So we kept trying, filling our heads with grand illusions of our home improvement skills.  Finally, the great moment came: we turned the unit on.  And nothing happened.  So we pushed some buttons.  And nothing happened.  So we turned some knobs.  And still nothing happened.  So Lelia cleaned the filter.  We did eventually get air conditioning, but not until our friends Phil and Paul dismantled the unit, pronounced it dead (maybe that's why it had been sitting closest to the door), and brought us a new one from the basement.  Now, the apartment is a cool retreat from the warm outdoors (when I remember to turn it on when I leave for work).

3.  The Stereo.  The stereo system that I'm babysitting for Isaac over the summer has suddenly decided to play the radio instead of whatever music is on my computer.  I decided not to fight with it...

This post may seem a bit dismal, but cheer up!  The one thing I have been successful at is washing the large pile of dishes in the sink!

Simple Answers

A good way to apply a theological question down to real life is to teach a pre-readers' Sunday School class.  My class at The Master's Community Church (themcc.org) is full of little people who have a great deal of energy, love to tell about all the things God made, and are learning how God keeps His promises to His people (amazingly, the exact same thing their teacher is learning!).  The class has put feet on a number of questions that have been in my mind for some time.

1) How do you teach Old Testament Bible stories of God's just punishment for sin and reward for faith without implanting a performance-based mentality in a child's mind?  This past week, the Bible lessons was from Numbers 21:4-9, the story of the Brazen Serpent.  Over the past several weeks we've been looking at the wilderness wanderings and noting how God blesses belief and disciplines unbelief.  On Sunday, I explained to the children that there was nothing magical about the snake on the pole; it was believing in God's promise that healed Israelites.  Someone asked if a person would be healed if he believed God but didn't look at the snake.  And here we were back at the performance vs. faith question.

2) How do you teach an Old Testament passage that the New Testament expands on?  Should you stick to the OT text or highlight the NT explanation of the OT passage?  The Brazen Serpent's significance is highlighted by Christ's reference to it in John 3:14-15: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."  All the big questions of the New Testament's use of the Old Testament rushed into my mind.  Should I bring in the NT or stick to the OT?  If Christ used the Bronze Serpent as a picture of Himself, wouldn't it be doing the story injustice to leave out Christ's use of it?

3) What about passages whose meaning is dependent on your theological paradigm?  Upon further investigation, I discovered this was one of those passages.  What did Christ mean when He said that He would be "lifted up"?  Was it a reference to the Cross (John 8:28, 12:32-34), or was it also a reference to His glorification (Isaiah 6:1, 52:13).  There was a neat string of theology behind both views, and I wasn't ready to pick a position.

In the end, all three questions had much simpler answers than I was prepared for.  1) Someone who believed God's promises would look at the snake.  A person who believes God's promises obeys His commands.  2) Since Jesus used the Bronze Serpent to picture Himself, we should use the same picture when we teach the story.  3) Since John would have been familiar with Isaiah's use of "lifted up," it's possible that his use of the term included the Messiah's glorification from Isaiah.

The purpose of this post is not to say that these questions are not legitimately difficult or that I've found amazing answers to them, but that when it comes right down to explaining to pre-readers what the Bible means, the answers are amazingly simple.  Through prayer, submission to the Holy Spirit, and exegesis it is possible to know what Scripture means by what it says.

Creation, Light, and Re-Creation

Here is a beautiful theme in Scripture that I ran into yesterday while studying Christ's kingship.  It reminded me of God's creative use of word pictures to communicate something that is bigger than words.  The following paragraph came from a fat book of theology, so pardon the author's long sentences and enjoy the his content:)

Arise, shine, for you light has come,

And the glory of the LORD has risen upon  you.

For behold, darkness will cover the earth,

And deep darkness the peoples;

But the LORD will rise upon you,

And His glory will appear upon you.

Nations will come to your light,

And kings to the brightness of your rising.

Isaiah 60:1-3

"...Why is light underscored in Isaiah?  ...  The reference that "darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples," likely alludes to Gen. 1:2-4: "And darkness was over the surface of the deep....Then God said 'Let there be light'; and there was light.  And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness."  Isaiah 60:1-3 is depicting the coming restoration and redemption of Israel [New Covenant salvation, ed.] against the background of Gen. 1:2-4.  The reason for doing this is that Isaiah understands the future blessing on Israel and the world to be a recapitulation of the first creation, so that Israel's and the nations' salvation is painted as a new creation and emergence from spiritual darkness.  The same notion of new-creational light presumably is also in the mind of the NT allusions to these Isaiah verses.  The idea of new creation is conveyed in the NT uses is also indicated by Paul's statement in 2 Cor. 4:6: "For God, who said, 'Light shall shine out of darkness,' is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.""

- "Resurrection as New Creation and Kingdom in the Gospels and Acts" from 

A New Testament Biblical Theology by G. K. Beale