Fall Study - Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes

(I wanted to post this quick idea before I forgot) The Introduction to Parables and the Parable of the Good Samaritan was/is Jesus being brilliantly modest!  How Bailey unpacks Jesus' use of parables reminded me of culture point #11 - Modesty.  11.  MODESTY (I Cor. 14:6) - “Now, brothers, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction?”  Brilliance is not possessing knowledge.   Brilliance is dispensing knowledge in a simple, applicable, and easy to follow manner.  The possession of knowledge is useless.  The simple communication of knowledge is brilliance.  The application of knowledge is a new heaven and a new earth.  The force and power of applied knowledge is beyond imagination.  A temptation/test exists for students of the bible to flaunt knowledge.   The temptation occurs when the disciple desires for people to lus...

Confession, I just finished the LAST reading and so I’m going to comment on that. I’m working on catching up! In the chapter on the woman brought to Jesus by the Pharisees who had caught her in the act of adultery, I was struck by the way that Bailey explained Jesus’ response as a commentary on his own cross. Jesus says, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again”.   In saying this, Jesus breaks the cultural expectation of shame that surround the culture, especially surrounding women and sexuality. The pure perspective of Christ sees this woman, whom he doesn’t even know, as greater than the sins she has committed. His response both affirms the law and the reality of good and evil, while affirming the value of His people apart from their behaviors. Understanding the culture of the middle-east continues to reveal to me the radical nature of the freedom that Christ offers people at every turn. He challenges EVERYTHING. Jesus doesn’t play by the rules that we cre...

Happy Thanksgiving you TURKEYS!  I am super thankful for this fall reading-blog journey.  I am even more thankful for the community that has "partic-a-related" (Steve made up that word years ago......EPIC) alongside me.  Thank you all for your discipline in reading and your hunger and thirst for righteousness.  It spurs me on to Jesus. The last three chapters were again fantastic.  The women in the house of Simon the Pharisee has a particular special place in my heart.  From 2008-2012, I would use Bailey's insights in this story to teach the trainees about forgiveness, love, sin, the cross, faith, obedience, salvation, and peace.  While reading through the chapter, I revisited many faces and feeling in my mind from Tuesday nights in that seminar boat. I would quote Bailey and say, "Either Jesus is an outrageous egotist or he is THE unique agent of God who mediates forgiveness and is the appropriate one to whom a forgiven sinner offers thanks." So t...

I completely agree with everything everyone wrote concerning the chapters of women and Jesus.  Incredible stuff for today's day and age.  Even the liberal left of America and their attempt to "elevate those who choose to identify as women," can't touch the depths of freedom Jesus offers men and women in any culture and in any time period. The part that really "made sense of my story" was page 213 "The Surprise of the invisible food." "The women comes seeking well water and carries divine living water with her back to the village.  But before she leaves the well, the disciples return bringing human food from the village, only to discover that Jesus has been renewed by divine food that they as yet do not adequately understand.  It is the sustaining nourishment one receives when one is engaged in fulfilling the will of God and accomplishing his task.  Two kinds of drink and two kinds of food are woven into the story for the reader to note a...

When people say they aspire to be like Jesus, I can't help but agree that the ultimate goal is to be as COOL as Jesus! The guy's a stud. A few notes: 1. Woman at the well and Jesus' self-emptying: Sonshine theme that is hit over and over again. The idea of emptying oneself in order to 1) be filled with Jesus and 2) model to campers the importance of humility and pruning (I will always think of poor Kelly Kurtenbach when I hear that word now) is huge! Jesus is the ultimate archetype for all things but I believe that the way he shatters expectations of a Messiah and makes a fool of himself, the more perfect of a Messiah he becomes. 2. Woman at Simon's house/the well/stoning: Here again, Jesus defies all expectations, social norms, culture, gender separations, class separations. With each story of a woman, one of the main points drilled in is that Jesus is a man in the business of breaking the molds. He discards the religious taboos and instead replaces it with love...

Jesus and Women – Exposing the Divine Taboo Nature of Sonshine Misfit Girls and Boys Quotes from the reading that stuck out: Mary’s song…..three themes appear: “praise, salvation, and humiliation/exaltation.”   - These three elements of Mary’s song are the same elements that I feel create what we call out on the water as an experience of “laughter and tears.” Love the drama and suspense of how he sets up the cosmic tomb raider scene when he writes – “But in the resurrection the only male is the angel, and the women are the central figures all through the story as it appears in Mark. They step out of the shadows to the center of the stage and everything hangs on the question, Will the women overcome their fear? The reader knows that the resounding answer is yes!” “He breaks the social taboo against talking to a woman, particularly in an uninhabited place with no witnesses.”   - I always like these types of explanations of Christ’s behavior because I (like many o...

This chapter profoundly displays the scandalous Love of God that we have received through Christ-- a Love that tears walls and barriers down and cuts right to our hearts. Something I noticed as I was reading this chapter were a few aspects of the interactions between Jesus and women that were repeated. The social abnormality of the interactions and the disciples' response to this The way that Jesus uses tests to prove (and improve) a relationship with Him The willingness of Jesus to heal I still find it hard to relate to the societal norms that were present when Jesus was here doing his ministry. All I know is that in a society where humiliation was avoided at all costs, Jesus risks public humiliation over and over again in his interactions with women. In front of his disciples! Bailey talks about the disciples wanting to respond to Jesus' behavior with something like: "Do you want help getting her away from you?" Instead of responding in this way put their ...

Fishermen catch living fish and kill them in the process. Fishers of men catch "living" people and kill them in the process....mind blown! Thoughts: 1) " He addressed that whole person rather than mentally decapitating his listeners with a head trip" - Meet people where they are! I, for one, get wrapped up in the knowledge of it all. Of the huge extravagant story or some times sitting on an elevated seat of my own because I already "know God". To know Him is to know the servant's heart and to step down and place our buddies/campers/peers on an elevated seat in order to reach them. - Same goes for the humility of asking for genuine help. Involving the person/camper in the tasks or discussion is your way in! 2) "Listen BOSS MAN! My boys and I are professionals..." - Yew-we this is me. I love this chapter of the Call of Peter because of all the disciples, Peter is my dude. The control-freak, know-it-all, prideful, denying, loser...this ...