The Woman is a Symbol for God and Jesus (Luke 15:8-10)

1. Why would a story with a woman as the hero be startling, surprising, bold and daring? [In the past, Ruth, Esther, Judith, Deborah and Jael were heroes (Jud 4:4-22). But by the time of Jesus they were clearly inferior (Ben Sirach).]
2. Why would Jesus tell a similar parable when the parable of the good shepherd was already told (Gen 1:27)?
3. How would this parable reclaim the long-neglected female component in Psalm 23:5?
4. Who likely had a major influence on Jesus' attitude toward women as he grew up (Lk 1:26-38, 48)?
5. Did Jesus have women disciples (Lk 8:1-3; 10:38-39; Mt 12:48-50)? If so, did this make a difference in the content and style of his teaching (Lk 4:25-27; 5:36-39; 7:36-50; 18:1-8; 13:18-21; 20:27-36; 21:1-4; Mk 15:40-47; 16:1-8)?
6. What is significant about the coin being lost in the house in contrast to the sheep being lost in the wilderness? How might this suggest two distinct types of "lostness" as in the final parable (Lk 15:11-32)?
7. What is the worth of a drachma (Lk 15:8)? Does the value of the coin ever change?
8. What suggests that the woman is a symbol for both God and Jesus (Lk 15:6, 9)?

1. Introduction (Lk 15:8a)             Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and

2. Lost (8b)                       loses one.

3. Found (8c)           Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?

4. Rejoice (Lk 15:9a)         And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, "Rejoice with me;

5. Found (Lk 15:9b)          I have found

6. Lost (9c)                       my lost coin.

7. Conclusion (Lk 15:10)               In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

I. You One 99 (Lk 15:4a)

1. Lost (Lk 15:4b)

2. Find (Lk 15:5a)

3. Rejoice (Lk 15:5b)

4. Restore (Lk 15:6a)

5. Rejoice (Lk 15:6b)

6. Found (Lk 15:6c)

7. Lost (Lk 15:6d)

III. You One 99 (Lk 15:7)

Jesus Redefines Repentance (Luke 15:1-7)

Jesus Redefines Repentance and Salvation (Luke 15:1-7)

  "…in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent" (Luke 15:7).

The sheep brought back by the shepherd is a symbol of repentance.

The characteristic feature of the parables in Luke 15 is the Divine Love that goes out to seek the sinner before he repents.

• What is repentance? [As we discuss the questions consider how Jesus redefines repentance.]

• How did John the Baptist and Jesus preach repentance (Mk 1:14; Mt 3:2; 4:17; Lk 3:3; 15:1-5)?

• How did Peter preach repentance (Ac 2:38)?

• How did Paul teach salvation (Ac 16:31)?

• How do you help others to repent?

• What do you emphasize when desiring others to repent/change?

• Do you help others repent like Jesus or like the Pharisees leaders? What's the difference?

• Do you stress and smash the sinner or support and supply strength to the sinner to repent?

• Does Jesus/Do the Pharisees/Do you place the burden of repentance on the shepherd or the sheep?

1. How is the parable of the good shepherd (4-7) related to Psalm 23/O.T. (Ps 23:3; Jer 23:3; Eze 34:16; Zach 10:10)?

2. Did Jesus host outcasts (Mt 4:13; Mk 2:1; Jn 1:38-43)? Why would Jesus' loving welcome/eating with tax collectors and sinners upset and anger the Pharisees (Lk 15:1-2; 7:39)? [Their anger eventually led to them killing Jesus.] {Contrast the haberim [friends/elites] with the amhaarets [people of the land/lowest stratum of society].}

3. What is "this parable" (3) that Jesus told? How was this a subtle rebuke (4a; Eze 34:4)? Who are the friends (6)? How are shepherds regarded by the Jews?

4. What is the cost for the shepherd to leave the 99 sheep to go search for one lost sheep (4-6)? What does a sheep do when it realizes that it is lost? What is their only hope? Is the shepherd and sheep active or passive or both (4-5a)?

5. Who are the "99 righteous persons who do not need to repent" (7; Isa 53:6; Eccl 7:20; Rom 3:23)?

6. "..in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents.." (7). What does "the same way" teach about repentance? How is Jesus' teaching about repentance "different" from how the Pharisees think?

7. How is this first of three parables a response/an answer to the Pharisees' murmuring (2)?

Matthew

Mt 28:16-20

1. The 2nd Moses
2. Authority
3. Emmanuel
4. Messiah

The Gospel of Matthew is placed first in the NT canon. This in itself is an indication of the importance the Gospel has had since early Christian times leading up to the formation of the NT canon. That same importance was also accorded to it down the centuries in the diverse Christian traditions. The gospel's dominant presence in the lectionaries from the earliest times is a testimony to this, not to speak of the numerous quotations from Matthew in Patristic works and in theological and spiritual writings from early centuries. A major reason for this importance given to Matthew is the comprehensive nature of the gospel. Thus Matthew has

• a high Christology characterizing Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of the living God, 
• the fulfilment of OT prophecies and expectations; 
• a well-developed ecclesiology delineating the structures, values and outlining the missionary agenda of the Church; 
• a gripping and systematic presentation of Jesus' moral teaching; as well as a well-developed eschatology. 

The fine blend of these crucial aspects of Christian faith gives the gospel its comprehensive and systematic character which not only accounts for the importance accorded to it but also justifies its reputation as the "Teaching Gospel." To ask about the Christology of Matthew's Gospel is to seek Matthew's answer to the question, "Who is Jesus and how he is significant?" To do so form a narrative perspective, it is necessary to identify those elements of Matthew's Gospel in which the shape of the story's plot comes most clearly into focus. Our attention is directed particularly to the "contract" element, which is to be found in the Baptism, temptation and in other significant narratives; and how the central thread of Matthew's plot as having to do with the vindication of the humble, obedient Son of God. [Amit Toppo.]

The Experience of God, David Bentley Hart

We see the mystery, are addressed by it, given a vocation to raise our thoughts beyond the apparent world to the source of its possibility. In time, though, we begin to seek power over reality and so become less willing to submit our minds to its power over us. Curiosity withers, ambition flourishes.

• We turn from the mystery of being to the availability of things, 
• from the mystery of consciousness to the accessible objects of cognition, 
• from the mystery of bliss to the imperatives of appetite and self-interest.

When the Lord is Your Shepherd (Psalm 23)

• Nothing I Lack (Psalm 23:1-2).
• Only God Can Bring Me Back (Psalm 23:3).

• The Valley of Darkness (Psalm 23:4). 

• Blessed in the Presence of My Enemies  (Ps 23:5).

• Followed by Goodness All My Life (Ps 23:6).

1. In Psalm 23 God is a shepherd (Ps 23:1). How else is God described in the O.T. (Ps 18:1-3; Ps 103:13; 131:2)? How did Jesus similarly portray images for God (Lk 15:4, 8, 11-12)?
2. What does it mean practically that "the Lord is my shepherd" (Ps 23:1a; Prov 3:5-6)?
3. What is it to "lack nothing" (Ps 23:1b; Phil 4:11-12)? What are the basic wants that the shepherd provides for his sheep (Ps 23:2-6)? How might commercials and advertising affect our wants? How does beginning (Ps 23:1), end (Ps 23:6) and middle (Ps 23:4a) of this psalm affirm the deepest needs of the psalmist?
4. What does the shepherd need to do before any sheep will lie down (Ps 23:2)? What is provided for the sheep [and the guest (Ps 23:5)]? What kind of life is this (Phil 4:7; Jn 14:27)? Did David know peace in the midst of his turbulent life?
5. English translations say "He restores/refreshes/renews my soul" while Eastern translations say "He brings me back" (Ps 23:3a)? What does the latter translation suggest about our human condition (Isa 53:5)? About what needs to be done (Jer 23:3; Eze 34:16; Zech 10:10; Lk 15:4; Mt 18:12)? What does it mean that she sheep is led in "paths of righteousness" and "for his name's sake" (Ps 23:3b)?
6. Why must the sheep pass through the valley of darkness/death (Ps 23:4a)? Why is there no fear in doing so (Ps 23:4b)? Why is this the center and climax of Psalm 23? What is the role of the rod and staff (Ps 23:4c)? What is the sheep's unique problem?
7. What is the change in metaphor from Ps 23:1 to Ps 23:5 (Isa 42:13; 43:14)? Who usually prepares the table/the meal (Prov 9:1-5)? What is meant by "in the presence of my enemies" (Ps 23:5a)? How is this similar to the story of Zacchaeus (Lk 19:1-10)? What is the meaning of anointing (Ps 23:5b; Mt 26:7; Mk 14:3; Lk 7:38; Jn 12:3)? Of "my cup overflows" (Ps 23:5c)?
8. How does it generally feel to be followed? What is "goodness" and "mercy" [hesed] (Ps 23:6a)? [David personifies them like people who follow him.] "...the length of days" can mean both "my days" and God's days (Ps 23:6b). How could David be so sure and confident of this (Ps 23:1, 4a)?

Are theological discussions unnecessary?

In depth and very detailed theological discussions and differences began with the Jewish rabbis who studied and interpreted the Torah (their Bible) in detail from different angles and perspectives. This was not to create dissent or contention or confusion. Rather, it was to try their best to discern what God is saying through His word/the Torah, so that they can best live in obedience to God. They were godly God fearing people. They were serious Bible students and scholars who wanted to practically live out the Word of God in their daily lives (Ps 1:2; 119:97).

Jesus--regarded and recognized as a rabbi--did the same thing in Matthew 5 in the 6 "antithesis": "You're heard it said ..... but I say to you." Jesus was obviously not trying to confuse but to clarify. So theological discussions are necessary and should lead to edification, clarity and enjoyment of the great mystery of God. But our differences and disagreements should never lead to demonizing or diminishing or disregarding others.

"...his delight is in the Lord's instruction (Torah/"Bible"), and he meditates on it day and night" (Psalm 1:2). "Oh, how I love your law (Torah/"Bible")! I meditate on it all day long" (Psalm 119:97).

Luke 15 questions for reflection

1. Why would Jesus' loving welcome and eating with tax collectors and sinners upset the Pharisees and scribes ( Lk 15:1-2)? What is "this parable" (Lk 15:3) that Jesus told them?
2. What is the cost for the shepherd to leave the 99 sheep to go search for one lost sheep (Lk 15:4-6)? Who are the "99 righteous persons who do not need to repent" (Lk 15:7; Isa 53:6; Eccl 7:20; Rom 3:23a)?
3. What is the cost to the woman looking for her one silver coin she lost (Lk 15:8-9)? What do we learn in these two parables about what it means to repent (Lk 15:7, 10; Ps 23:3)? [The answer is not easy or obvious.] Who does the good shepherd and the good woman represent (Lk 15:1, 2b)?
4. What does the younger son's request mean in a Middle Eastern context (Lk 15:11-12a)? How would the father (and his village) normally respond? What does the father's response show about him (Lk 15:12b; cf. Gal 6:13)?
5. What was the result of his "wild" /extravagant /spendthrift /wasteful living (Lk 15:13-16)? What does "he come to his senses/himself (Lk 15:16-17)? Was he genuinely repenting (Lk 15:18-19)? Who in the O.T. seemed to repent (Exo 10:16)? What was his own plan (Lk 15:19b)? Was this acceptable to the father (Jn 15:15)?
6. What does the father's action upon seeing his younger son show about him (Lk 15:20; 23:34; Mt 11:29; 2 Cor 5:19a)? Why was this shameful and unexpected? How would this protect his son from the village's wrath?
7. Compare the son's prepared and actual speech (Lk 15:18b-19, 21)? Why could he not make his final request (Lk 15:19b)?
8. How did the father restore him to sonship (Lk 15:22-23)? Were they celebrating the son's return home (Lk 15:24)? How was the son found? Did he repent? How? [See Q3 above.]
9. When the older son found out what happened (Lk 15:25-27), why was he so angry (Lk 15:28a)? What does his refusal to join the celebration mean in a Middle Eastern context (Lk 15:28a)? How was this worse than what the younger son did (Lk 15:12)? What does his insulting response (Lk 15:29-30) to the father's plea (Lk 15:28b) show about him? How was he similar to the Pharisees (Lk 15:2)?
10. What does the father's plea (Lk 15:28b) and his response to his son's insult (Lk 15:31-32) show about the father? Who is this father? Did he welcome his father's plea and join the celebration? How is "this parable" (Lk 15:3) the answer to the Pharisees' muttering (2)?

Love God

"The command to love God is a command that presumes God's love of Israel. Such a love is no vague generality, but rather is manifest in the concrete and daily care of God for his people. We know what it means to love God only because of God's love for us through the law and the prophets. This love can be harsh and dreadful, because to be loved by God is to be forced to know ourselves truthfully." Stanley Hauerwas, Matthew.

See & Hear in 2019 & 2020

See Jesus More Clearly in 2019; Hear our Good Shepherd in 2020 (12/19/2019)

2019: "Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes…and he saw everything clearly" (Mk 8:25).

2020: "The sheep hear his voice … for they know his voice" (Jn 10:3b-4).

A wholesome Christian requires orthodoxy (right beliefs), orthopraxy (right practices) and osteopathy (right emotions / feelings). Since I became a Christian in 1980, I focused exclusively on orthodoxy and orthopraxy. Once I even said to my wife to her chagrin, "Feelings don't matter." It took me 3 decades to realize the error and distastefulness of my insensitive statement. So in my attempts to rectify myself…

Hear & Know God's Voice (John 10:3b-4)

"The sheep hear his voice … for they know his voice" (Jn 10:3b-4).

Literally sheep know the voice of their good shepherd. So when they hear his voice, they will follow him.

To hear is to listen and obey. We will hear, listen and obey someone we know. If we do not know (trust) that person, we'll not hear them out, and disregard or ignore what they say.

The Good Shepherd

"Always insightful, always fresh, consistently surprising, Bailey has produced yet another book that will get many of us rethinking beloved passages of Scripture in completely new ways."

"What a feast Ken Bailey has prepared for us in this book, and what an overflowing cupful of insights and illumination."

"Kenneth Bailey refreshes the souls of readers... he deftly introduces us to a fresh understanding of the Good Shepherd. Anyone who loves the 23rd Psalm will love this book."

A Rich Man

Nicholas Wolterstorff, Lament for a Son, 1987

God is not only the God of the sufferers but the God who suffers. The pain and fallenness of humanity have entered into his heart. Through the prism of my tears I have seen a suffering God.

And great mystery: to redeem our brokenness and lovelessness the God who suffers with us did not strike some mighty blow of power but sent his beloved son to suffer like us, through his suffering to redeem us from suffering and evil. Instead of explaining our suffering God shares it.

Lament for a Son by Nicholas Wolterstorff.

Ken Bailey on The Good Shepherd quoting Nicholas Wolterstorff.

Knowing that You Know God

David Benner discusses in "Spirituality and the Awakening Self" (2012) a knowledge of God that is "transrational" and "contemplative" in chapter 5: "Learning from the Christian Mystics."

Christian mysticism should . . . not be confused with experience. Instead, it should be understood as participation in the mystery of the transformational journey toward union with God in love. . . . Mystics are . . . much more defined by their longing than by their experience. They long to know God's love and thereby to be filled with the very fullness of God [Eph 3:17-19].

This sort of knowing is beyond reason, but it is not irrational. It is transrational. It is knowing of a different order. It is a form of knowing often described as contemplative. And this is the connection to mysticism. Contemplation is apprehension uncluttered by thought—particularly preconception and analysis. It is based on direct and personal encounter.

When you know something by means of such encounter, you may not be able to express it verbally, at least not in a compelling, coherent, or exhaustive manner. But you do know that you know because your knowing has a depth and immediacy to it that is never present in simply knowing about things—even merely knowing about God. [pp. 75-76]

Freedom to Reject God's Love

Pride Behind your Resolution; Label and Negate Me - Kierkegaard

Wow!!

Contact: benjamintoh@gmail.com

The Joys and Peace of Silence and Solitude

What will you choose?

A prayer of abandonment

Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916) once wrote a prayer of abandonment that expresses beautifully the spiritual attitude I wish I had.

Father, I abandon myself into your hands,

do with me what you will.

Whatever you may do, I thank you;

I am ready for all, I accept all.

Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures.

I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul;

I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,

for I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,

to surrender myself into your hands without reserve,

and with boundless confidence, for you are my Father.

Christian Life as a Journey and Dialogue

Christian life is a "going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. That is to say, the Christian is simply caught within the dialogue between two voices with which God speaks: the accusing voice of the law and the accepting voice of the gospel. Hearing the law, he flees to the gospel. Hearing the gospel, he is freed to hear what the law requires. But hearing what he law requires, he must again flee to the gospel. Life is experienced as a dialogue between these two divine verdicts, and within human history one cannot escape that dialogue or progress beyond it." 

"Righteousness ... consists ... in becoming (throughout the whole of one's character) the sort of person God wills us to be and commits himself to the making of us. Picturing the Christian life as such a journey, we can confess our sin without thinking that the standard of which we fall short, in its accusation of us, must lead us to doubt the gracious acceptance by which God empowers us to journey toward his goal for our lives." 

"The image of the Christian life as journey makes place for the truth...that God intends to turn us into people who (gladly...) do his will. Yet by encouraging the pilgrim to concentrate on his own progress toward the goal, it also makes possible the twin dangers of presumption and despair. We may forget that the entire journey, empowered by grace, leaves no room for self-confidence or boasting. Or, seeing little progress, we may begin to doubt whether God really intends to do this for us. The image of the Christian life as dialogue stays close to a central truth about experience--that we are often unable to experience our lives as accepted by God and are, therefore, in constant need of hearing the renewing word of the gospel. Yet...by adhering..to...Christian experience, it may blur or ignore the distinction between God-pleasing service to the neighbor and activity which harms the neighbor." Gilbert Meilander (b. 1946), The Place of Ethics in the Theological Task. 1979.

For Luther "life is not the gradual development of a virtuous life; it is a constant return to the promise of grace. The examined life, if honestly examined, will reveal only that the best of our works are sin." Gilbert Meilander. Theory and Practice of Virtue.

The Hauerwas Reader. 2001, pg 84-86.

All of our problems stem from...

Gratitude

...is both a response and a discipline that requires a choice to be made.

The Way to Change

Chronos vs. Kairos

To Study Philosophy is to Learn to Die

That to Study Philosophy is to Learn to Die (1580). Michel de Montaigne. Cicero says, "that to study philosophy is nothing but to prepare one's self to die."

Being human and spiritual

We can't figure out we are sinners

"No sin is more basic than the presumption, the presumption schooled by our pride, that we can know on our own what it means to say that we are sinners. Too often, I fear, our attempt to examine ourselves to discover our sins turns out to be an invitation to narcissism. We do not come to Jesus to because our sins need to be forgiven. Rather, we know we need to be forgiven, because Jesus has come to us as the one alone capable of revealing who we are without that knowledge destroying us." Minding the Web, 2018, Repentance: A Lenten Meditation, p 212.

Stanley Hauerwas on sin.

A Stanley Hauerwas quote on sin from The Peaceable Kingdom.  

We would rather be ruined than changed

Christ is Beautiful - Augustine

"Christ is beautiful wherever he is. He was beautiful in his miracles but just as beautiful under the scourges, beautiful as he invited us to life, but beautiful too in not shrinking from death, beautiful in laying down his life and beautiful in taking it up again, beautiful on the cross, beautiful in the tomb, and beautiful in heaven." Augustine.

I desire to do nothing else other than what I'm delightfully doing

Only God could have thought up the church. I could not have thought the church up. I could not have imagined "church." That we exist, that West Loop Church exists, that our modest collection of people exist, is a miracle. I am honored beyond words to express that you allow me to preach to you each Sunday as we worship God together. Even though I've never been paid for this "job," it is the best job I've ever had, which I would not exchange for anything else in the world. I desire to do nothing else other than what I'm presently doing every week and every day of the year: sharing the Word and living in community with the church. For sure, I did not think this up. For sure, God "thought us up." Only by God's immeasurable grace we are God's imagination for the world.

The beginning of love - Thomas Merton

"Love is the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real." Iris Murdoch.

Love is thankfulness for the existence of the beloved

"Love is gratitude: it is thankfulness for the existence of the beloved; it is the happy acceptance of everything that he gives without jealous feeling that the self ought to be able to do as much; it is a gratitude that does not seek equality; it is wonder over the other's gift of himself in companionship. Love is reverence; it keeps its distance even as it draws near; it does not seek to absorb the other; it desires the beloved to be what he is and does not seek to refashion him into a replica of the self or to make him a means to the self's advancement. As reverence love is and seeks knowledge of the other not by way of curiosity nor for the sake of gaining power, but in rejoicing and wonder. Love is loyalty it is the willingness to let the self be destroyed rather than the other cease to be."  H. Richard Niebuhr

Legalism is the original sin

"Legalism is the attempt to be more God than God." Stanley Hauerwas, commenting on the lectionary reading of Gen 3:1-7 when Eve added to God's command, "...and you must not touch it..." (Gen 3:3). [Legalism is the original sin]

Each of the temptations is an attempt for Jesus to be the kind of God that overcomes death in a manner that seems assured. Top of the temple: End war, have peace, you can't do it with the devil's means. The NT has to be read Christologically, just as the OT has to be. How to overcome our temptations loses the Christological focus.

"Our first sin is our assumption that we know what sin is." Hauerwas quoting Barth. "Barth's language is an ontological impossibility."

If you think that sin is because on the whole we are pretty shitty people, you got it wrong. Sin is not "I've done something I'm ashamed of." Sin really is the refusal of God. Sin is the naming of alienation from God. It's very hard to remember that. We prefer sin to be just another name for being a bad person. 

Non-Pharisee Repentance

To find God we must repent of the things we have done wrong, but if that is all you do, you may remain just an elder brother. To truly become a Christian we must also repent of the reasons we ever did anything right. Pharisees only repent of their sins, but Christians repent for the very roots of their righteousness, too. We must learn how to repent of the sin under all our other sins and under all our righteousness – the sin of seeking to be our own Savior and Lord.