The Gift - Part 3
December 18, 2022Pastor Patrick presented today's message which was the last in a series called "The Gift." A video of the message is here.
[Conversation Starters will begin again with the start of the next official life groups session on February 1, 2023.]
The first thing Patrick mentioned this morning was Christmas movies. "Haven't we all been watching them for weeks?" YES! We are definitely a Christmas movie family. And here's our 2016 Christmas Movie List to prove it. We haven't updated the list since then, but here are a couple new ones we'd add for this year: "Catering Christmas" and "A Christmas Movie Christmas." These were early on this season and we've seen plenty more new ones since. It's a bit overwhelming. Oh, and "The Santa Clauses" series this year was fun, too!
Patrick made a point in passing that probably few people remember or would consider at all important, and that was "we don't know how many wise men there were, we only know there were three gifts." Ask anyone on the street, religious or not, how many wise men came bearing gifts to Baby Jesus" and if they answer at all they'll say three. This is case in point where studying the scriptures is important, not just reading the scriptures. Too much meaning and actually important details and lessons escape us with just a reading.
Here's a Torah example. Who sold Joseph into slavery? The vast majority of people would say his brothers sold him into slavery. But most likely, they didn't. They merely put him in a pit and went off at a distance to have dinner and talk about what to do. Then, Genesis 37:28, "And there passed by Midianites, merchants; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they brought Joseph to Egypt." Many translations say "the brothers" pulled him up, but the Hebrew does not use any form of the word "brother" but rather the pronoun "they" is used. Most of the debate rides on to whom "they" refers, the brothers or the Midianites. There is no reference to the brothers in this particular sentence, only the Midianites. It would be a stretch to reach back to previous sentences rather than take a proximate antecedent. Think "Occam's Razor" (paraphrased, the simpler is more likely). Also, when Reuben discovers Joseph is missing from the pit, he runs to tell his brothers who did not know. How could they not know if "they" pulled him out and sold him to the Midianites? Almost in any case, the Midianites sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt.
I admit, it's not totally clear. But it does underscore my point that you can't just read right through this stuff. There's a certain amount of pondering, digesting, research, etc. that goes into understanding what scripture is trying to tell us.
Let me continue with "word talk" as I did with the first two gift items. Today it's gold. There are seven Hebrew words that mean gold. And Biblical references go back to Genesis 2:11-12 (Garden of Eden). Here are the seven Hebrew words (Strong's Concordance):
- za-hab: most common, root = shimmer/shine
- paz: mineral in pure state, sometimes spiritual purity
- bet-ser: gold when broken up (Job)
- charuts: gold when chopped off
- kethem: pure, as originally mined
- sagar: gold as a solid (Job)
- dehab: gold (in Daniel and Ezra)
As best I can tell, there's only one classical Greek word in the New Testament for gold: khroo-sos'. This refers to gold as well as anything made of gold and may come from khrah'-om-ahee which generally refers to the use of something; gold is very useful. Biblical references to gold go all the way through the New Testament to Revelation 21:21 when a New Jerusalem is built with streets of gold ("as pure as glass transparent"). Interestingly then, the use of gold as a gift for Jesus traverses all of scripture.
Patrick hit on a key issue between Judaism and Christianity: the divinity of Jesus. The reason Judaism opposes or dismisses (to use Patrick's words) Jesus as the Messiah is that the Old Testament view of what the coming of the Messiah would do or be did not match what Jesus did or was in the eyes of many Jews. Most Old Testament references to a messiah (mashiah) are to a priest or a king. The word mashiah refers to "annointed one" which certainly fit both priests and kings. The first use of mashiah is in Leviticus 4:3 and 5:16-17 where priests and offerings are discussed. The sense of an apocalyptic messiah comes only later in the Old Testament (e.g. Daniel 9:25-26) when the Jews feared for their own existence and looked to a "savior." Since Jesus did not immediately conquer evil and bring peace and happiness to the Jews, he was not their savior.
Bonus
Deuteronomy 4:1, "Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you." Remember, Deuteronomy is Moses speaking, basically his fairwell address to the Israelites, where he shares his perspective and theology.
Let's take note of a few points Moses is making in this one verse:
- Hearing is better than seeing. The eye is too easily deceived.
- The laws are to enhance your life.
- The laws are NOT to die for. In Judaism, all laws may be broken to save a life.
- "decrees and laws," sometimes "statutes and judgements," are translations of hoo-kim and mish-pat. Essentially, they refer to laws (hoo-kim) between Man and God (M-G) and laws (mish-pat) between Man and Man (M-M).
- If you don't, you'll die. Life is sacred, but not an end in itself. You have a purpose: follow my laws, be good (and spread the word).