I am not a scholar, but..
As I was reading this morning in John 5, I started to get a glimpse of how revolutionary Jesus was to the Jews. After he healed the man by the pool on the Sabbath, the Jews got bent out of shape. First, he made himself equal to God; "For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him... [because it made him] equal with God" (v. 18). Then, he told them that the God that they had been serving at the Temple of the Meeting for several hundred years, was no longer the God that judged them-- Jesus is the judge now. Finally, he tells them of a time when all who have done "good" and all who have done "evil" (v. 28-9) will rise to be judged, which probably scares the sweet mannah out of them, because this is such a cermonily unlcean event to have so many dead bodies all of the place. Jesus was a rebel that broke down several of the walls that Judaism set up between people and God. It is no wonder that the "law keepers" were so anxious to get rid of him.
Also, as I was reading a few chapters out of Numbers today (5-10), I realized how few times in the Bible it talks about the laymans life. We get the story of creation (pretty big), the story of the flood (again), the rise and geneology of the Arabics (ibid.), Moses and the huge nation, little things here and there about the most powerful priest in the Hebrew order, all the kings, the foreshadowing of the destruction of a nation, the destruction, then a lull, then we get the King of Kings, letters to several churches, and an extended allegory. There is not a whole lot talking about Aaron when he comes home from a long day at work, or what it was like for one of the workers erecting Solomon's temple, or the conversations on the walk home after a pair of freinds had just heard a bunch of "Blessed are those who...". If we are going to talk about the perspective of the Bible, we would all have to agree that it is a very universal and huge view of the events leading to universal salvation.
Q. So, the question for myself, is how do I fit this huge book into my little life, 2000-3000 years detached from these "stories?"
A. Perhaps the things that we can hold on to are universal Truths that have existed from the beginning of it all- (ie Justice, the human experience, how we relate with Divinity, holiness, spiritual/physical, salvation, eternal life, sin, etc.). Which in some ways means that, perhaps, some things need to stay in their context which is 2000 years ago. (Enter Holy Spirit stage right.)
I am not sure, but maybe in Macabees II I can find out if I should do my shopping at a mom-n-pop grocer or Wal-Mart. Who knows.
Also, as I was reading a few chapters out of Numbers today (5-10), I realized how few times in the Bible it talks about the laymans life. We get the story of creation (pretty big), the story of the flood (again), the rise and geneology of the Arabics (ibid.), Moses and the huge nation, little things here and there about the most powerful priest in the Hebrew order, all the kings, the foreshadowing of the destruction of a nation, the destruction, then a lull, then we get the King of Kings, letters to several churches, and an extended allegory. There is not a whole lot talking about Aaron when he comes home from a long day at work, or what it was like for one of the workers erecting Solomon's temple, or the conversations on the walk home after a pair of freinds had just heard a bunch of "Blessed are those who...". If we are going to talk about the perspective of the Bible, we would all have to agree that it is a very universal and huge view of the events leading to universal salvation.
Q. So, the question for myself, is how do I fit this huge book into my little life, 2000-3000 years detached from these "stories?"
A. Perhaps the things that we can hold on to are universal Truths that have existed from the beginning of it all- (ie Justice, the human experience, how we relate with Divinity, holiness, spiritual/physical, salvation, eternal life, sin, etc.). Which in some ways means that, perhaps, some things need to stay in their context which is 2000 years ago. (Enter Holy Spirit stage right.)
I am not sure, but maybe in Macabees II I can find out if I should do my shopping at a mom-n-pop grocer or Wal-Mart. Who knows.
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