Poem about the teachings of Jesus

Last year I was blessed to teach the gospel of Matthew. I concentrated on teaching about the "teachings of Jesus" an incredibly humbling and amazing thing to "teach about". At the end of my time studying Jesus' teachings I wrote this poem without much thought after...it was what came in a spur of a moment as a total reaction... almost a year later I stumbled on them again and agreed even more with my spontaneous reaction, figured I would post it here...

Glorious tensions arise

pouring out from the skies

sun rays rain down

and all this in the vehicle of words

how could vibrations uttered thousands of years ago 

still shake the day

how could questions asked then 

still be unanswered

how could all of man’s progressively triumphant wisdom

be silent in the face of his words

how can I hear such greatness

and defy them knowingly

Repent for the kingdom is at hand

New Testament History by the People (aka. wikipedia)

• Ok let's face it....Wikipedia is here to stay (at least for now). I hear a lot of people hate on wikipedia, but I see way more people using it. I admit it's not the most credible source and I don't let my student's cite it....but....I will admit that when i have a quick question on a date, name, time or basic survey of a topic...often the first place I go is Wikipedia. 

So I love Wikipedia and I love NT history (if you read this blog, you see the gospels and nt history are the two things I am most often writing about)....so what does wikipedia have to say about New Testament history....Wikipedia's page of the "historical background of the New Testament" is shockingly long and thorough. One day I would love to give a full listing of all the different subjects in NT History/Gospel scholarship that Wikipedia covers but for now I just recommend you scan over the link. I enjoyed looking at the tables of content just to see a neat and nice outline of how one could cover NT history. Good idea...cover the sects before Jesus, then Jesus himself and then the christian/jewish story post-resurrection. 

More then just reading Wikipedia's article, contribute to it....thats the whole point!! Don't just read it with your nose stuck up, if theres something that's wildly liberal (or conservative) then simply write in another view on the encyclopedia, add a quote or a thought to balance it out. Add to the conversation don't just glare at it....I love that about wikipedia. 

• 
  
• 1 Factions, groups and cults in the Roman period
  • 1.1 Sadducees and Pharisees in the Roman period
  • 1.2 New Prophets
  • 1.3 Messiahs and Millennial Prophets
  • 1.4 Sicarii, Bandits, and Zealots
• 2 Towards a Historical Jesus
  • 2.1 Analysis of the gospels
• 3 The divergence of early Christians and Rabbinic Jews
  • 3.1 The Great Revolt and the Destruction of the Temple
  • 3.2 Loss of records
  • 3.3 The Emergence of Rabbinic Judaism
  • 3.4 The Emergence of Christianity
• 4 See also
• 5 Endnotes
• 6 Reference Sources
• 6.1 Primary sources
• 6.2 Secondary Sources

Jerusalem in the New Testamant by N.T. Wright

Good introductory article into the social and historical setting of Jerusalem during the time of Jesus by NT Wright. NT Wright's book Simply Jesus opened my eyes up to the beauty of seeing the gospel in the light of it's historical context. His more scholarly work New Testament and the People of God helped to turn my fascination into a deeper understanding and appreciation for the complexities of the 1st century. This article is a good first taste for someone who has not read some of the above works mentioned.

Jerusalem in the NT _Wright_.pdf

Two Sources on the Genealogy of Jesus

From IVP Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels:

GENEALOGY

A genealogy is the record of a person’s ancestral descent. While the word itself is not found in the Gospels (cf. 1 Tim 1:4; Tit 3:9; Heb 7:6), the only extended examples of genealogies in the NT are in Matthew and Luke and trace the ancestry of Jesus.

As Matthew’s and Luke’s infancy narratives differ  [p. 254] from each other, so do their genealogies: each has a different structure, (somewhat) different contents and different purposes, and each is located in a different place in their respective Gospels.

1. Matthew’s Genealogy (Mt 1:1-17)

2. Luke’s Genealogy (Lk 3:23-38)

3. A Comparison of the Genealogies

Christianity in the Roman Empire (Article from George Mason University)

I enjoyed this article on Christianity in the Roman Empire from George Mason University’s Course on History of the Western World. (copied below) It is a good and simple summary of some of the major elements that came together to create the "perfect storm" (wright-simply Jesus). It highlights the roman political and social atmosphere as well as the Jewish religious and political situation that created the atmosphere and background of the New Testament. 

In the Fullness of Time: Christianity in the Roman Empire

"When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son."
Galatians 4:4, KJV

From the first century, Christians have claimed that the world was uniquely prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ and the birth of Christianity. Perhaps it was the phenomenal spread of the new faith that sparked these claims. Indeed, it is estimated that by 312 A.D. one in ten people in the Roman world called themselves Christians.^[1]

Probably no period in the history of the world was better suited to receive the infant church than the first century A.D….By the second century Christians…began to argue that it was a divine providence which had prepared the world for the advent of Christianity.^[2]

What kind of world would allow for such a rapid spread of this new faith? What was the historical context for the advent of Christianity? There are at least three sources of influence that came together in the Roman Empire that seem to have encouraged its early success: the political influence of the Romans, the cultural and intellectual influence of the Greeks, and the religious influence of the Jews.^[3]

Weekly Talk- Hays on the Gospels teaching us how to read the OT

This is a great talk by Richard Hays, dean of duke divinity, on how the gospels teach us to read the OT. This is one of the last talks at the end of a conference, so if you like it there are more on youtube.

My favorite thing about this talk is how he clearly summarizes the unique and distinct aspects of each gospel. It is worth listening just to hear his summary and thoughts about each gospel.

Bonhoeffer and Christology

"Teaching about Christ begins in silence. 'Be still, for that is the absolute', writes Kierkegaard. That has nothing to do with the silence of the mystics, who in their dumbness chatter away secretly in their soul by themselves. The silence of the church is silence before the Word. In so far as the Church proclaims the Word, it falls down silently in truth before the inexpressible: In silence I worship the unutterable' (Cyril of Alexandria). The spoken Word is the inexpressible; this unutterable is the Word. 'It must become spoken, it is the great battle cry' (Luther). Although it is cried out by the Church in the world, it remains the inexpressible. To speak of Christ means to keep silent; to keep silent about Christ means to speak. When the Church speaks rightly out of a proper silence, then Christ is proclaimed." 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 "Christ the Center" 

This is the opening paragraph from the Introduction of Bonhoeffer's christology lectures. I had that tiny but incredibly important book running through my mind as I sat in church this morning. It was not so much the book, as it was the subject of the book: Christology...that was running through my mind. As I thought about why I went to church in a place where I could understand so little of the sermon and all the songs were simply melody without meaning to me because of my lack of knowing the language....the reason came to me: because of Christ, because this is his body and it is good to come and join the body. That alone, is worth it. (However, I do plan to learn the language  to get over the language barrier and be able to communicate better with the body that I meet with every sunday!)

7 Things We Know About Jesus from 'non-biblical' sources

Saw this blog article referenced on Scot mcknight's blog today and liked it. It is is a nice and too the point recording of what "non-christian" sources around the time of Jesus are recorded to have said about Jesus:

These 7 points are nicely summarized by Paul Barnett in his volume Is the New Testament Reliable?(IVP Academic, 2003 [second ed.], p. 34).  Notably, each fact corroborates the record of the New Testament.

1. Jesus Christ was executed (by crucifixion?) in Judea during the period when Tiberius was emperor (A.D. 14-37) and Pontius Pilate was governor (A.D. 26-36).  Tacitus [Annals 15.44.2-5]

2. The movement spread from Judea to Rome. Tacitus [Ibid.]

3. His followers worshipped him as (a) god. Pliny [Letters from Bithynia, c. A.D. 110]

4. He was called “the Christ.” Josephus [Antiquities 20.197-203—an undisputed passage]

5. His followers were called “Christians.” Tacitus, Pliny [see above]

6. They were numerous in Bithynia and Rome. Tacitus, Pliny [see above]

7. His brother was James. Josephus [see above]

Dallas Willard Remembered

This week (May 10) a modern giant of the faith passed away. Dallas Willard was one of the first teachers I listened to and read that really opened up my eyes to the depths and importance of gospel, discipleship and kingdom. His teaching challenged me to think about not just converting people but conforming them to Christ, and for my own life I learned that being converted was a continual process of learning to follow Jesus more and a daily practice of entering into his kingdom and submitting to his lordship. Though I did not know him, here are some words from someone who did know him closely Todd Hunter. (interestingly the first audio teaching I listened too of Dallas Willard was a co-teaching between him and Todd Hunter). Here are some things Tom Hunter had to say about his close friend and mentor: 

Dallas Willard was an old-school Jesus Freak. He had a world-class intellect and passionate curiosity about all things concerning God and his kingdom.

Dallas did not scare people into heaven, nor did he wrestle them down as a philosophical bully. Instead he kindly and humbly set forward Jesus as the one who announced in his teaching, demonstrated in his miracles, and embodied in his life, the gospel of God’s kingdom. It was always so obvious that Jesus was Dallas’ hero in every way...

Dallas knew that much of the evangelical world had reduced Jesus to one thing he did: shed his blood. As unspeakably important as the cross is, valuing it and forgetting the rest of Jesus’ ministry has led untold numbers of people to become, in Dallas’ memorable phrase, “vampire Christians.”

Vampire Christians are people who want a bit of Jesus’ blood so they dodge hell but really don’t want anything to do with him. They had no vision for, or intention of, following him.

Dallas taught and embodied something better. We heard Dallas as a teacher discuss it, but we also witnessed him carry on his life as an apprentice of Jesus — learning how to be a philosophy professor in a major university, an author and a speaker, a husband and father, as Jesus would do it if he were in Dallas’ shoes.

It was this quality of being, more than the towering intellect, skillful teaching and masterful writing that drew those of us close to him, to admire, love, and cherish him so much.

Many people think Jesus Freaks died out with bell-bottoms and disco. I get it. The cultural phenomenon did pass away. But a new-school generation of apprentices to Jesus is rising on the heels of Dallas Willard’s work and his life’s message: Jesus and his kingdom. I want to live the kind of life that makes me counted among them.

This is my true testimony concerning Dallas: No human being taught me more about life in Jesus and his kingdom.

Yesterday morning, having received news of Dallas’ trip to heaven, I whispered a vow in my heart: I want to grow until the day I die, as an apprentice to Jesus, announcing, demonstrating and embodying Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom of God.

To remember Dallas more check out this website that is the official home of his teaching resources:

http://www.dwillard.org/