Q&A Session (9)
Notes
Transcript
How do we harmonize the infancy narratives of Matthew 1 and Luke 1-3?
How do we harmonize the infancy narratives of Matthew 1 and Luke 1-3?
Matthew and Luke both agree on the general shape of Jesus’ infancy.
Announced by an angel
Born in Bethlehem to a virgin betrothed to Joseph
During the reign of Herod the Great
Ultimately ends up in Nazareth
But there are plenty of differences as well.
Matthew mentions Herod murdering Bethlehem boys and a visit to Egypt that Luke never does
Luke says Jesus was born in Bethlehem because a census was being taken. Nazareth was the home town
Magi from the East visit Jesus. In Luke shepherds visit him
In each gospel there’s no outright contradiction, but they’re still both very different.
Theological Agenda
Theological Agenda
Each gospel writer has their own agenda in writing about Jesus. They want us to have a specific view of who he is. John says he could have filled books with the signs of Jesus, but chose only a handful to draw a specific portrait of Jesus. In the life of Jesus they often tell the same stories, but with differing details, orders, and contexts. These retellings bring out different points.
If I say the man who was jaywalking got hit by a car, I’m emphasizing that he’s at fault.
If I say the man was hit by a speeding car while crossing the road, now I’m putting more blame on the driver.
Same event - different emphases.
Matthew’s Agenda
Matthew’s Agenda
Matthews agenda comes from verse 1:
1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Matthew wants us to see that Jesus is the promised son of David and the promised son of Abraham. His genealogy traces the promise of succession from David to Jesus - he is the rightful heir to the throne.
Jesus also is the son of Abraham and inherited the promises of God to bless all nations. We see an openness to the Gentiles in the four Gentile women included in the genealogy, and the visit of the Magi from the east.
Moreover, Matthew makes a lot of connections from Jesus to Moses. For example, the Sermon on the Mount is to remind us of Moses going up on the mountain to receive the 10 Commandments. Just as Moses was kept safe from a baby-murdering king so is Jesus. In an ironic twist though Herod is more like Pharaoh and Jesus finds safety in Egypt of all places!
Matthew wants us to understand that everything in the Old testament has been leading up to Jesus with the genealogy and all the times he says Jesus’ life has fulfilled an Old Testament passage.
Luke’s Agenda
Luke’s Agenda
Luke has a different picture in mind. Luke shows off Jesus’s compassion to the poor more than the other three. He’s not visited by wise men from a far off country, but by simple shepherds.
When he tells the story of Jesus’ birth he writes it in a way that reminds us of Samuel’s birth in 1 Samuel 1. After Samuel is born his mother praises God:
3 Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. 4 The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. 5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn.
8 He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world.
She praises God for the great reversals in life, seen in lowly David becoming king of Israel while tall, rich, and impressive Saul is rejected.
Likewise, Mary praises God while pregnant with Jesus.
51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.
The birth of Jesus is going to turn the world upside down.
Jesus’s genealogy is also different in Luke. Matthew has 41 names and has omitted some so he could emphasize Abraham, David, and Jesus. Luke only brings up the ancestry of Jesus after his baptism where he is declared to be the Son of God and traces Jesus’ genealogy all the way back to Adam.…
38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
… who is also the son of God. But whereas Adam failed and brought sin and death into the world, Jesus is going to be the head of a new humanity that will be everything God made us to be.
Conclusions
Conclusions
So the differences lie in the different messages each author has. Instead of seeing them as opposed to each other they simply serve different purposes.
Does Jesus' Death Cover the Sins of Those From the Beginning of Time? How Does Their Salvation Work?
Does Jesus' Death Cover the Sins of Those From the Beginning of Time? How Does Their Salvation Work?
Jesus’ death covers their sins
15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
All of them are saved by faith as we are. Plenty of them had faith in Jesus - though not like we do. They believed in the promise of God:
That the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent
That Abraham’s seed would bless all nations
That David’s seed would sit on the throne forever
In Hebrews 11 we have what is commonly called the Faithful Hall of Fame - they all had faith.
39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
They had faith in a savior who would come, we have faith in the savior who has come.
Is It Scriptural for One Congregation to "Disfellowship" From Another Congregation?
Is It Scriptural for One Congregation to "Disfellowship" From Another Congregation?
Yes.
In Revelation 2-3 we have seven churches. Jesus doesn’t address them as individuals, but as congregations.
5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
Even in a church where there are only a few bad apples, like in Pergamum:
15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.
But that doesn’t mean we throw the baby out with the bath-water.
Speaking to the church in Thyatira
20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. 25 Only hold fast what you have until I come.
I’ve talked to some who said “I won’t consider that a sound church because of five people in it. I’ll stay away from the forty other sound Christians because of the five.”
Practically Speaking
Practically Speaking
We do not have fellowship with the Community of Christ down the road - they’re Mormon.
We believe radically different things
We practice radically different thing
We have radically different books
Suppose we had good relationships with a hypothetical congregation, The Washington County church of Christ.
Would our fellowship continue with them if they stopped preaching baptism?
Would our fellowship continue with them if they tolerated the whole list of sexual sins?
Would our fellowship continue with them if they began to publish a monthly journal that condemned all the other churches we had good relationships with?
We don’t have any formal list of approved and unapproved congregations. But if you asked me about Downtown Rogers or Westside, I’d say they were sound churches and you’d be just fine worshipping with them. I couldn’t say that about the vast majority of other churches in the area.
So I think there’ scriptural warrant for looking at churches as a whole and seeing them as faithful or not - just be careful in those judgments.
Spiritual and Physical Needs
Spiritual and Physical Needs
I know that unity and brotherly/sisterly relationship among the brethren is a crucial part of the church. We talk about, fairly often, the importance of communicating our spiritual shortcomings and trials to help each other achieve a right relationship with God, and reach the kingdom. What about physical, worldly issues? Debt, sickness, etc. that are plaguing our lives? Things that are keeping us attached to this world in order to get by? The First Century Christians were joined together in all things, making sure no one was lacking. (see Acts 2:45; 4:32) I believe this was to eliminate as many issues of the world as possible to focus on spiritual matters, to help everyone to escape the attachment to the world through such things as mentioned above. How does/should communication in the church be accomplished when it comes to struggling to exist in this material world, when so much of our relationship with our brethren (rightly so), is cemented in spiritual matters?
Here’s how I understand the question:
Our priority in the church is about being like God - spiritual matters.
The church was involved in helping provide for life’s physical necessities.
The one who asked believes that the church is involved in providing these physical things so that we don’t get distracted by them and can focus on the spiritual.
How should we communicate our struggle in the material world when it seems so much of our relationship with each other is focused on spiritual things?
The Church Provided
The Church Provided
45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.
We see this with the famine in Jerusalem as well. Christians help other Christians who are in need.
I do not, however, find anywhere that implies we only do this so that they can stop worrying about starving and focus on godly living instead. We take care of people because it is the right thing to do.
Not The Way It’s Supposed To Be
Not The Way It’s Supposed To Be
Sin means that things aren’t the way they’re supposed to be - beginning with our behaviors and affecting each other and the created order.
Adam and Eve sinned and it broke their relationship with each other and with God
They were supposed to be fruitful and multiply but now it’s painful for a multitude of reasons
They were supposed to keep and tend the garden, but now the ground is fighting back
They were supposed to live forever, but were cut off from the Tree of Life
Heaven is where everything gets put the way it’s supposed to be.
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
All things that cause misery, cause death, cause sorrow, or pain will be around - because that’s not how things are supposed to be.
3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.
Anything that is cursed will be done away with.
Our quesiton mentioned debt - that was a curse
44 He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him. He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. 45 “All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you.
Our question mentioned sickness - that was a curse
22 The Lord will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish.
As well as famine, drought, war, death, mental illness (Deut 28:28), theft, slavery, and nakedness.
That’s the hope we’re looking towards - when things are finally made right by God, the way they ought to be.
In the meantime we have an obligation to make things as close to heaven as we can.
We pray:
10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
We’re told
17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
And if we try to say I can’t provide for you because I’m too busy being spiritual
15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?
Just as Jesus came and lived in the flesh we live our religion in the flesh. Christianity is not about thinking the right things, being a monk and praying all day in a monastery, or retreating from the world because it’s all going to burn anyways.
Being a Christian is seeing things that have gone wrong and setting them right.
24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
How Do We Communicate These Needs?
How Do We Communicate These Needs?
You get help when you ask for it.
And when any of us are asked for help in material things:
16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
