John 1:35-51
For the next three days, we shift to New Testament gospel call stories. I try to picture where Jesus might go and what approach Jesus would use if he were gathering disciples today. Would he go to a college campus at the student union? Would he join a local "Facebook" group on the internet? Would he rent a billboard on the freeway? One thing is clear, Jesus "networked" his disciples. Most of them were friends and relatives with one another.
John, the gospel writer's approach to the call of Jesus emphasizes a previous relationship many of the disciples had with another Jewish revolutionary and cousin of Jesus, John the Baptist. I invite you to read the entire first chapter of John and see just how pronounced this is. The verses previous to today's passage draw a picture of a handoff in a ministry relay, signaled at Jesus' baptism, between the forerunner and the Messiah. As we look at verse 35, who might the two disciples of John the Baptist who become followers be? While no one can say for sure, John, the writer tends to talk about himself in his gospel without using his name (the disciple whom Jesus loved, the other disciple). My guess is that these two disciples are none other than the "Sons of Thunder," James and John. Andrew was also a follower of the Baptist, and he leads Peter to become a follower of Jesus. We know all four of these were in the fishing business together. Phillip and Nathanael are friends, two of the more skeptically oriented disciples, and Phillip is from the same home town as Peter and Andrew. So half of the disciples come from a very small circle of folks.
Two of the disciples are given special mention in this passage. Simon is given the name "Cephas" or "Peter" which means 'rock.' I guess we could call him "Rocky." I guess that would make his New Testament letters, Rocky I and Rocky II? lol. The "rock" nickname seems to have two different meanings in Christian tradition. One emphasizes his strength and greatness, a potential Jesus sees in him. The other emphasizes that a lithos was usually the word for a larger stone, while a "petros" referred to a smaller one. Later in I Peter, he would describe the church as a house of living stones built on one another.
The extended discussion of Nathanael is interesting. He is not mentioned again in the New Testament until John 21, where he is listed as being from Cana (the place of Jesus' miracle in John 2). Nathanael's choice to follow Jesus is what precedes that miracle. In the other gospels, he is refered to as Bartholomew. In John 21, his name is listed next to Thomas, another skeptic. So we have two circles that emerge - the fishermen and the skeptics. Another circle could be the political revoluntionaries -Simeon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot among others. Back to Nathanael. Jesus seems to enjoy countering the questioning and bluntly honest style of Nathanael. "Behold an Israelite in whom there is no guile." The reference to the angels ascending and descending on Jesus recalls the image of Jacob's ladder in Genesis. But Jacob was one in whom there was much duplicity, trickery and guile. It makes me wonder what prompted this angle from Jesus. This is one of the places where I see the role of positive doubt in the growth of our faith. Our questioning does not disqualify us from following Jesus. But even despite his skepticism, his experience of Christ frees him to follow Jesus. We still follow Jesus step by step, even amidst our questions. Have a blessed day.
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sábado 12 de septiembre de 2009
THE AH1N1 AND THE 11TH OF SEPTEMBER
In memory of the people of the United States still remains fresh suffered the fatal attack this nation in the hands of terrorists, and which claimed the lives of thousands of people and many places were destroyed, as are the buildings known as "The Twin Towers, "and was also damaged the Pentagon.
But quite apart from the coverage that was given to this subject from the earthly prespective, there are some questions from a spiritual perspective on What was on September 11?, Was God's punishment on the United States?
Yes, although many evangelical leaders refuse to accept it.
This is a very grim decade for the American nation. Since the disaster that Hurricane Katrina ocacion THEREFORE with loss of thousands of lives, passing on September 11, and now with the AH1N1 influenza pandemic which has already caused hundreds of deaths and putting the United States as one of the countries with the highest rate of deaths in the world, all this suggests that even if God is punishing this nation.
But this punishment could be accentuated now approaching the winter season.
The United States were a nation at a time reflecting the glory of God now seems to be a nation defiled by sin, had been a nation that reflected blessing but now seems to reflect a curse on her, had been a hospitable nation, but now it seems be a nation full of pride. The Bible says that "God resists the proud" (James 4, 6) and the only way to resist a nation pride is punished.
The terror, hunger, and death, seem to be a trilogy of punishing blows that are the pride of this nation, and would be tragic if the U.S. persists in its arrogance, rather than humble themselves before God.
The future of the United States is not in their intelligence services to protect them from future terrorist attacks or political reforms to curb unemployment and hunger, or health systems to protect them from death by influenza AH1N1, but rather in Christian churches they call God tirelessly to stop his punishment.
But if the evangelical denominations are spiritually poor is likely that the future of the United States in the next few years is of a darker hue.
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