Mountain Top Theology

Dear Friends,

It's been a while since I've posted a new blog. Here's an update of sorts.

I'm currently working on a book called Mountain Top Theology. It's essentially a selection of basic biblical doctrine organized around and based on events that took place on mountains in the biblical world. Each chapter first surveys the geographical-historical background of the mountain and then discusses the continuing theological significance of what happened or was said there.

Here is a snippet from my chapter on Mount Ararat, the mountain in Turkey that is traditionally connected with Noah's great flood.

Significance

The wrath of God is real. This sinks in when you stand on top of Mt. Ararat. It’s like surveying the scene of a historic battlefield like Gettysburg. From the heights of Ararat, one recalls the great flood of Noah as recorded in Genesis 6–8. You try to comprehend the awful loss of life. You ask yourself, Why? Grappling with this question is what the metaphorical climb is all about.

The Righteous Wrath of God

Judge Judy puts things to right and people in their place with panache! But I’d rather not think of God sitting on the bench, because, frankly, he knows too much incriminating stuff about me. He’s got me dead to rights. Anyone who’s in their right mind admits the same. And he carries a lot more clout than Judge Judy! For obvious reasons, I’d rather focus on God’s love and forgiveness than his righteous wrath against sin.

Ascending Mt Ararat, however, reminds me that God gets angry and sometimes he lets that be known—big time. The landscape of redemptive history is pockmarked by some pretty big divine craters, the biggest being Noah’s flood. Readers may be familiar with the as yet unsolved mystery that occurred in Siberia, Russia on June 30, 1908, called the Tunguska Event. A vast area (about 830 square miles) of this isolated (thankfully!) landscape was devastated by something extremely powerful. The majority opinion is that a huge meteor or comet slammed into earth’s atmosphere and exploded over this region. The resulting explosion, the equivalent of 1,000 Hiroshimas, obliterated everything, leveling about 80 million trees in the process. As extensive as that destruction was, it pales in comparison to the flood. The Bible uses expansive terms to describe its extent (“all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered . . . . Every living thing that moved on the earth perished . . . . Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark” (Genesis 7:19, 21, 23). On any reckoning, it involved a massive loss of life.

Mount Ararat reminds me just how fortunate the human race is to be alive on good old planet earth. Several modern explorers recount harrowing stories of near disaster on the slopes of Mt. Ararat. But on a vastly larger scale, this mountain recalls a very close call for the entire race. Noah’s flood didn’t happen because of global warming; it happened because of global sinning. The movie “Evan Almighty” trivializes the biblical account.

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If you like this and think it might be a helpful book, drop me a line. In the meantime, everytime you see a rainbow, thank the Lord for his mercy and grace.

 

Dear fellow pilgrims,

Shalom from Jerusalem! We have had nearly continual rain, and even snow, from Thursday until today (Sunday). The photo is taken from JUC looking across the Hinnom Valley during the height of the snowfall.

I'm glad you folks got to experience something special on our last walk out of Jerusalem to the bus. The storm that blew in was a nice example of the spring rains that are so important for the crops in Israel, especially during biblical times. In Deuteronomy 11:13-14 the Lord promises that if Israel faithfully obeys him, he will send rain on the land in its season, both autumn (called yoreh in Hebrew) and spring rains (malqosh in Hebrew). The autumn rains begin usually in October-November. The heavy rains occur during December-February. The spring rains fall in March-April and are essential for a good harvest. So, on March 1, as we exited the city, the malqosh rains (spring rains) began falling in earnest and you got a feel (a rather wet feel!) of them.

It is interesting to read the Day of Pentecost in light of the malqosh rains. According to the prophet Joel, the Lord promises to send both the autumn and spring rains as before (Joel 2:23(). The the prophet says, "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days" (Joel 2:28-29). The Apostle Peter said the powerful demonstration of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost "is what was spoken of by the prophet Joel" Acts 2:16-21). In other words, the blessings of the malqosh rains were a type of the Lord's saving work in the last days, which began in about the year AD 30 with the descent of the Holy Spirit. We are living in the last days! Of course, the "last days" are concluded with the "Day of the Lord" when he returns in glory and establishes his visible kingdom reign.

May your pilgrimage in Israel give you a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit and may the Spirit produce in you a rich harvest of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Blessings from Mt Zion on all of you!

Larry

Location, Location, Location

In real estate and pitching a baseball, location is everything. But can the same be said for biblical sites?

The last field trip in connection with my prophets' class was a visit to the Temple Mount on November 18. Among other things, I wanted to show the students the three leading candidates for the location of the first and second temples (Solomon's and Herod's), and to relive some important moments in the lives of Jeremiah and Ezekiel that either took place there or were the setting for some of their prophecies.

The reader may be surprised that the question of location even arises. Isn't the splendid building called the Dome of the Rock (Qubbat As-Sahkra in Arabic), the crown jewel of Islamic architecture, standing on the site of the first and second temples? In my opinion, yes. But, perhaps not surprisingly, there is considerable scholarly debate about the precise location of both sanctuaries.

Let's review the possibilities. In the slide below we see an aerial view of the Temple Mount or Haram esh-Sharif ("Noble Sanctuary") as muslims call it. This esplanade of some 35 acres owes its present shape and dimensions to Herod the Great who in B.C. 19 began a massive rebuilding project on the Second Temple. What is today called the Western Wall where Jews offer prayers is really part of the Herodian retaining wall that supported the enlarged area of the temple courtyards on top of ancient Mount Moriah. Yes, this is probably the mountain on which Abram was prepared to sacrifice his only son, Isaac (Genesis 22; 2 Chronicles 3:1). Both Jewish and Islamic tradition affirm this identification, although the Samaritans dissented and insisted it was on Mount Gerizim. Jesus had little patience with this deviant view (John 4:22)!

The next three slides visually illustrate the remarkable expansion of the original Solomonic Temple platform and courtyards. These slides are taken from Leen Ritmeyer's excellent website (http://www.ritmeyer.com) 1. Solomon had to build retaining walls for the First Temple because the summit of Mount Moriah provided insufficient space for the temple complex. 2. The Second Temple of Zerubabbel (dedicated in 517 B.C.) was refurbished and the courtyards surrounding it were enlarged in the second and first centuries B.C. by the Hasmoneans (better known as the Maccabees). In order to accommodate the enlarged area, the Hasmoneans extended the platform to the south as can be seen. This also allowed for the building of a fortress, the Akra, that served to protect the temple on the south. It also enabled the Seleucids (Hellenistic kings reigning in Syria) to police and control the large crowds of Jews who flooded the area during the festivals. 3. But as the third slide shows, Herod the Great expanded the temple platform to its largest extent by building retaining walls further to the north, south and west. This basic configuration has endured to this day through the vicissitudes of destruction by the Romans in A.D. 70, the neglect and paganization of the site during the late Roman and early Byzantine eras, the Islamic conquest, the Crusader Kingdom, the reconquest by the Muslims, and finally the finishing touches by the Ottoman Turks beginning in the 16th century. Add to that the many refurbishings and repairs necessitated by the wear and tear of time and you end up with a very complex site spanning nearly three millennia!

The next slide is marked by three letters. These letters are placed at the approximate location of the three leading candidates. Letter C is called the southern location and is approximately where the Islamic al-Kas fountain is located. This fountain, dating from the Ayyubid period is the largest of the fountains on the Haram. Muslims ritually wash here before entering either the Al-Aksa mosque to the south (A.D. 701) or the Qubbat As-Sahkra, the shrine that in later Islamic tradition marks the place where Muhammad ascended to heaven (A.D. 691). An Israeli architect, Tuvia Sagiv, champions this location. Letter B is the traditional site, the Dome of the Rock, also called the central location. This view holds that beneath its splendid dome where the bedrock of Mount Moriah rises above the floor level, either the Holy of Holies or the great bronze altar once stood. This is the majority view and is ably argued by Dan Bahat, an Israeli archaeologist, and Leen Ritmyer, a draftsman who has worked with leading Israeli archaeologists such as Benjamin Mazar, Yigal Shiloh, Ronny Reich, among others. Letter A is placed right next to a small Islamic dome called Qubbat Al-Arwa (Dome of the Spirits) or Qubbat Al-Louwa (Dome of the Tablets). This location is backed by another Israeli, Asher Kaufman, a physicist who has studied the problem for years. These are the primary contenders. Let's examine briefly their arguments.

Location C, the fountain of al-Kas, shown in the slide below, has in its favor the fact that it seems to answer several problems that arise with the traditional view. For example, how does one account for the fact that an aqueduct (remains of which may still be seen today) bringing water from south of Bethlehem (the so-called Pools of Solomon) to the Temple Mount appears to be about 20 meters too low in elevation if the tradition site of the temple is assumed. On the other hand, the fountain of al-Kas would nicely accommodate the existing level of the aqueduct. As you can see from the slide, al-Kas is some 20 meters lower in elevation than the Qubbat as-Sahkra, or Dome of the Rock.

Another argument for location C is that Josephus tells us a northern hill called Bizitha (probably to be identified with Gordon's Calvary just beside the Garden Tomb) blocked the view of the Temple from the north. Actually, the Temple could have been seen from as far north as Ramallah, assuming the traditional location of the Temple. If, however, one moves it to location C, a view from the north would indeed be obstructed.

There are also some sophisticated radar imaging studies that suggest underground structures to the south of the present Dome of the Rock. These are assumed by Sagiv to be related to the First and Second Temples.

In my opinion, each of these objections may be adequately answered by the traditional view. Rather than bore the reader with more detail than already given (!), I'll just refer the reader to an excellent website by Lambert Dolphin and Michael Kollen that covers all these arguments and you can decide for yourself (http://www.templemount.org/). But just one brief comment on the supposed problem of the elevation of the aqueduct. The Romans were skilled engineers and quite often, in a closed siphon system, lifted water up inclines so long as the initial starting point was higher than its ending point. Herod the Great incorporated the best of Roman technology in his masterpiece.

Let's jump to location A, the northern option as seen in the slide below. Kaufman has several arguments in support of his theory. First, and most obviously, he is right to point out that the Eastern or Golden Gate does not align nicely with the present Dome of the Rock, the latter being well south of the gate entrance. This assumes, of course, that the eastern gate complex was there during the First and Second Temple periods. In fact, there is some evidence that they were, but that doesn't require that the eastern gate be symmetrically aligned with the mikdash (the sanctuary). Kaufman also suggests that the Arabic names for this small unimposing dome recalls the fact that either the Spirit of God (al-Arwa means the wind or spirit of God) resided there or the Ten Commandments (al-Louwa means tablets) were inshrined there in the Ark of the Covenant. This linguistic argument is fanciful and not very convincing in my opinion. Other architectural features that Kaufman calls attention to are just as easily accounted for by the traditional view as his northern view. A major objection to the northern view is reconciling this location with the clear literary and archaeological evidence for the position of the Tower of Antonia. The northern option simply doesn't allow enough space for this imposing structure within the topographic confines of the Temple Mount.

The central view has the weight of historical tradition and some interesting architectural features in its favor. Shown below is the extraordinary Islamic shrine built by Abd al-Malik in A.D. 691 and which according to tradition was the location of the First and Second Temples. Historically, it hardly seems likely that the actual location was ever forgotten. Added to this is the fact that the Romans deliberately built a pagan shrine over the site after the destruction of A.D. 70 in order to defile it and discourage Jews from any efforts to rebuild. This in itself simply served to mark where the temple itself once stood! Beyond this Leen Ritmeyer has convincingly shown that the Mishnah's description of the sacred enclosure as a 500 cubit square can be nicely correlated with the existing platform and various architectural features that define this area. Most notable is a portion of a stairway on the northwest corner of the present Islamic platform that would have been the western side of the sacred enclosure. Once again, more detailed arguments may be found in Ritmeyer and his wonderful web site.

All things considered, the traditional site is still the most likely candidate. The rock scarp exposed beneath its dome may well have been where the Holy of Holies was once located. Seen below is a fish-eye lens view looking down from the dome to the floor of the Dome of the Rock. Notice the indentations on the rock surface. Ritmeyer notes that these conform to the dimensions of the Ark of the Covenant! If so, you may be looking at the exact location. Truly amazing!

Unfortunately, certainty is not possible. For one thing, archaeological excavations are not even remotely possible to determine which site is actually the authentic one. Excavation by Israeli archaelogists is strictly forbidden by the Waqf (the Islamic religious trust that overseers the Haram). On the other hand, in contravention of International Law, they have themselves engaged in massive building operations, such as the construction of a new mosque in the area known at Solomon's Stables, and have systematically removed or destroyed any visible evidence of the First and Second Temple periods. That there were such remains has been dramatically demonstrated by Gabriel Barkay, an Israeli archaeologist who has sifted the piles of rubble removed from the Temple Mount and dumped in the Kidron Valley by the Waqf workmen. The official position of the Waqf is that there never was a Jewish temple on the site! It is and always shall be an Islamic holy site. In this case, Middle Eastern politics and religion dictate what is historically possible!

In reality of course, the First and Second Temples stood somewhere on the Haram esh-Sharif or Har Habayt (Mountain of the House, i.e., Temple). Here Jeremiah stood at the entrance to the sacred enclosure and preached his famous Temple Sermon (Jeremiah 7, 26). Nearby, perhaps somewhere beneath the present Temple Mount platform, Jeremiah was incarcerated in a muddy cistern (Jeremiah 38:6). There are in fact a number of underground cisterns beneath the platform which have been investigated and measured by Captain Charles Warren back in the 19th century. His amazingly accurate plans may be consulted today be those interested. Below is a slide showing the locations of these cisterns.

Here too, Ezekiel, in a remarkable visionary experience, toured the temple courts and sanctuary and saw the abominations being perpetrated by apostate Jews (Ezekiel 8-11). In connection with this experience, Ezekiel also witnessed the symbolic departure of the glory of God from the Holy of Holies, exiting out the eastern gate and heading toward the eastern desert in the direction of Babylon (not too far from present day Baghdad). This was an ominous sign of the impending judgment that befell the First Temple in 586 B.C. Much to his surprise, Ezekiel saw the glory of God at the Chebar canal not far from Babylon (Ezekiel 1). The message was unmistakable: the sovereign God is not limited by geography. He is with his faithful people wherever they are, even in an alien, pagan land!

That brings me to my concluding point. Where is the Temple of God located today? The Christian answer is unmistakably clear: The individual body of believers and believers viewed corporately as the body of Christ constitute the new Temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:15-20; 1 Peter 2:4-10). The Holy Spirit indwells each and every genuine Christian. Redemptive history has come near its apex. The Triune God actually takes up residence in the Holy of Holies, the heart of every child of God. This presence is a source of inexpressible joy and unshakable hope. The next great moment of redemptive history, the grand finale, features a face to face encounter with the true and living God (Revelation 21:3). This last encounter fuflills what Ezekiel the prophet saw in symbolic form: the return of the glory of God (Ezekiel 43).

I return to my starting point in this blog. It would appear that the exact, geographical locations of biblical sites are not of highest importance. What is of utmost importance, however, is the question of spiritual location. If one is not part of the body of Christ and thus indwelt by the Triune God, one's spiritual location is a matter of urgent concern. By no means do you want to miss out living in the New Jerusalem. In this case, location is everything!

From Jerusalem to Upland

It is, to be precise, 40 miles by Sherut from Jerusalem to Ben Gurion Airport in Lod, Israel, 7,000 airmiles from Ben Gurion to Indy by way of Philly, and about 75 miles by shuttle from Indy to Cracker Barrel just off I-69 at Exit 59. That all transpired during a time frame beginning 7:00PM Sunday night in Jerusalem and ending 12:30PM Monday Eastern Standard Time at Cracker Barrel, in good old Upland, Indiana. It took just over 24 hours to travel that distance. Amazing! Seven time zones and literally a world apart! We left with the temperatures daily in the 70's and were welcomed by a frigid 12 degrees. But we don't mind. It's good to be home!

Our dear friends, Tim and Pat Kirkpatrick, met us at Cracker Barrel with our car. Then they invited us for a bite to eat and Dwight and Karin Jessup, more dear friends, joined us. What a special welcome home!

It's going to take a few days to readjust to being home. Lots of errands and projects in order to catch up for missed days. Christmas decorations and shopping head the list since both our daughter and family and son and wife are coming for brief holiday visits. It will be great to be together once again.

So much has been experienced in the Holy Land. So much more that I wanted to convey to readers of this blog. Please be patient. I do indeed have a few more blogs planned about insights and observations on our time in haaretz (Hebrew word meaning "the land") This is the favored expression by Isrealis to refer to their country. You don't need to specify which land; for them there can only be one land, THE LAND, the land that the LORD himself described as "the most beautiful of all lands" (Ezkiel 20:6). Our recent visit has further strengthened our special affection for this unique land.

May all my readers have a wonderful Christmas!

"So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son." (Luke 2:4-6).

Random thoughts about our Jordan trip

Several times the Gospels mention that Jesus spent some time "beyond the Jordan" (Mark 8:8; 10:1). I recalled from studying the historical geography of Israel that during New Testament times that there was a district called Perea (Greek for "area beyond") along the east bank of the Jordan Valley, but I had never actually visited the area until this trip. I remember seeing it from the west bank of the Jordan (the Israeli side), but never really thinking about its importance for understanding Jesus' ministry in the Gospels. What I hadn't realized was how much more hospitable it is than the barren and desolate stretch of the west bank from Beth Shan to Jericho. The reason is simple enough: it has better soil and water resources. Silt from the highlands of Gilead to the east and springs and perennial streams like the Yarmuk and Jabbok combine to create a very viable living space. I was surprised to learn that the east bank of the Jordan from the sea of Galilee almost all the way to the Dead Sea is heavily populated and produces a wide variety of crops and vegetables.

All of this to say, in Jesus' day Perea was an important center of Jewish life and economy. It was also a major artery for Jewish traffic going from Galilee to Jerusalem. Rather than hazard the direct and shorter route down the water shed route that passed through Samaritan territory, most Jews of the first century crossed over to Perea and traveled along the east bank of the Jordan. When they were opposite Jericho, they re-crossed the Jordan, passed through Jericho and trekked up the ascent to Jerusalem (a climb of about 4,000 feet in some 12 miles!).

Besides the more congenial environment of the east bank, there were social and political factors. Tensions were extremely high between Samaritans and Jews during this period, punctuated by occasional bloody encounters. For this reason, Samaritans and Jews avoided each other if at all possible, as the account of Jesus and the Samaritan woman dramatically illustrates: "Jews do not associate with Samaritans" (John 4:9). The Jews of Jesus' day of course couldn't build a separation wall (!), but they could minimize contact. One can't fail to see striking but sad similarities to the modern Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

At any rate, the ministry of John the Baptist and Jesus in the region of Perea was as productive as the land itself. It was "at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan" (John 1:28) where John carried out his preaching and baptizing ministry. And it was there, from the circle of John's followers, that Jesus called his first disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter and an unnamed individual. Later on we learn that after a particularly difficult encounter with the religious leaders in Jerusalem (John 10:22-39), during the winter Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah), Jesus "went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days" (John 10: 40). Here his Jewish listeners responded to his preaching much more favorably: "And in that place many believed in Jesus" (John 10:42). Remains of churches from the Byzantine era in Perea testify to the fact that Christianity did indeed take hold "beyond the Jordan."

This trip also reinforced the importance of the Decapolis in the early spread of the gospel. The Decapolis was a district composed of ten (hence the name) important Hellenistic cities that were semi-autonomous and not under Jewish control as was the case in Galilee, Perea, and Judea. This region was located for the most part south of the Sea of Galilee and east of Perea, covering upper and lower Gilead. As you may recall, the first to evangelize the region was an unlikely candidate: the Geresene demoniac. After Jesus exorcised a "legion" of demons from this poor, tormented man, he begged Jesus to go with him. Instead, Jesus commissioned him to be a missionary: "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you" (Mark 5:19). Not only did he tell his family, Mark tells us he "began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed" (Mark 5:20). Not surprisingly, this area later became an important center of Christianity, as we learn from the church historian Eusebius, and today one may admire the remains of many magnificent basilicas in the Decapolis.

These are just a few of the fresh insights that came to me after visiting the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. I think it important to inform my readers that a new day is dawning in Jordan as regards the gospel. The Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary in Amman, the capital of Jordan, is training young men and women to share the gospel and minister to the spiritual needs of Christians not only in Jordan but in the entire Middle East. Pray for this ministry and ask whether you might contribute financially. Just Google the name of the seminary to find their website. As you might expect, Muslims make up over 90% of the population of Jordan and sharing the gospel is a challenge. But just like the Geresene demoniac, there are a few Jordanian Christians who are telling their families and friends how much the Lord has done for them. Like a mustard seed, the good news is being sown. The Lord of the harvest will do the rest. Have you told anyone today how much the Lord has done for you?

Jeremiah and Jesus

Another prophet who surely influenced our Lord was Jeremiah of Anathoth. Although Jeremiah was born and lived just a short distance from Jerusalem and Jesus grew up some 70 miles to the north in the small village of Nazareth in the region of Galilee, there are a number of fascinating parallels between these two prophets.

As a jumping off point (recall our previous blog!), it's worth calling to mind that many of Jesus' contemporaries thought he might in fact be Jeremiah come back from the dead. While in the region of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples: "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"(Matt 16:13). Their reply is fascinating: "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." (Matt 16:14). What was it about Jeremiah and Jesus that caused some to make this identification? I want to offer a couple of responses to this question, especially since I've now begun teaching on the book of Jeremiah in my class at JUC.

Jeremiah and Jesus do share some common characteristics. For example, both prophets were not afraid to take on popular but mistaken views at variance with God's revealed will. In fact, Scripture records a sermon by both prophets that cuts against the grain of cherished belief and incensed the listeners.

In the case of Jeremiah, we have two versions of the same sermon, chapters 7 and 26. Whereas chapter 7 provides the essential content of Jeremiah's famous "Temple Sermon," chapter 26 narrates the outraged response of those who heard it. Jeremiah sounds an urgent alarm: unless there is genuine repentance, the city and its temple are doomed (Jer 7:14-15, 20, 32-34). The people held out hope that just as the LORD had spared Jerusalem in the days of Sennacherib the Assyrian (See Isaiah 36-37), so too the LORD would deter Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army. Jeremiah dashes this vain hope by reminding them of what happened in the days of Eli to Shiloh and the Ark of the Covenant (Jer 7:14; cf. 1 Sam 4). This was precisely what the people didn't want to hear! They clung in desperation to any words of hope thrown out by false prophets like life lines tossed to sailors whose ship has sunk. Jeremiah cuts off all such false hopes of deliverance. It takes real chutzpah to do this sort of thing! As you might expect, the initial reaction of the audience was to put him to death: "You must die!" (Jer 26:8). Had not the LORD provided a few friends in high places, Jeremiah would almost certainly have perished that day (Jer 26:17, 24). This episode strikes a similar note to Jesus' sermon in his hometown of Nazareth (Luke 4) that I mentioned in my last blog.

But even more strikingly, Jesus also challenged the religious leadership of his day in the very place where Jeremiah had done so centuries before, only this time in the splendid Second Temple. After his entry on what we now call "Palm Sunday," (Matt 21:1-11), he proceeded to the Temple Mount and "drove out all who were buying and selling" and "overturned the tables of the money changers" (Matt 21:12). Significantly, he justified his actions by quoting none other than Jeremiah the prophet, indeed, from Jeremiah's Temple Sermon: "My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers." (Jer 7:11). Matthew tersely comments that the chief priests and teachers of the law "were indignant" (Mat 21:15). This time, however, the Lord did not provide human protectors for his beloved Servant; five days later the religious authorities arranged to have Jesus of Nazareth crucified. As we recall from Isaiah 53:9, "it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer."

Jeremiah, like Jesus, faced bitter opposition. Poor Jeremiah found himself a lonely voice shouted down by the numerous false prophets who condemned and ridiculed him all the while offering the people delusions and platitudes (Jer 23). Similarly, John's Gospel vividly portrays the contempt heaped upon Jesus by the religious leadership of Jerusalem. For example, in John 5:16 it says "the Jews persecuted him."[Note carefully that John typically uses the term "the Jews" in his Gospel to refer to the religious leaders and not the Jewish people as a whole. This must be constantly kept in mind when reading John's Gospel lest anti-Jewish or even anti-Semitic sentiments be encouraged or entertained] On another occasion, a crowd, largely in sympathy with the religious leaders in Jerusalem, accused Jesus of being demon-possessed (John 7:20). One time the Pharisees, in frustration at the power and impact of Jesus' works and words upon the ordinary people of Jerusalem, dismiss this admiration with utter disdain: "Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But his mob that knows nothing of the law--there is a curse on them." (John 7:48). The rhetoric reaches a fever-pitch in the eighth chapter of John when the religious leaders indirectly accuse him of being an illegitimate son (John 8:41), being a Samaritan [whom most Jews bitterly hated] and being demon-possessed!(John 8:48). Jeremiah and Jesus knew what it was like "to be despised and rejected by men" (Isaiah 53:3).

There are so many fascinating parallels between these two prophets I could fill several blogs, but I'll be content with two more links. The first, in fact, links together three famous prophets, Samuel, Jeremiah and Jesus. The Hebrew Bible uses the term na'ar for both Samuel and Jeremiah when the LORD called them to be prophets (1 Sam 3:1; Jer 1:6). There is general agreement that a na'ar would be in the range of 12-17 years of age, that is, before being on one's own and still dependent upon a father for support. Jeremiah actually lived only 3 miles, the way the crow flies, from the home of Samuel in modern al Ram. Remarkably, Dr. Luke tells us that, like Samuel and Jeremiah, at the tender age of 12, Jesus already displayed a profound understanding of spiritual matters (Luke 2:42). Interestingly, most believers come to personal faith during this same time frame. I was baptized when I was ten years old.

Finally, Matthew finds what at first sight seems a most obscure connection between Jeremiah and Jesus. It has to do with Judas' betrayal of Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, his tossing the coins into the temple treasury in remorse, and the religious leaders purchase of a field in which to bury foreigners outside Jerusalem with this "blood money" (Matt 27:6-10). Matthew says: "Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: 'They took the thirty sliver coins, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter's field, as the LORD commanded me" (Matt 27:10).

A quick check to discover the source of this quotation reveals an interesting fact. Matthew has apparently brought together in one quotation two passages, Zechariah 11:12, 13 and Jeremiah 32:6-9. This illustrates a technique found in rabbinic exegetical tradition whereby two passages having common terms or concepts are conflated into one citation with only one source being actually cited. What we have in these two passages are the notions of buying a potter's field, paying a price which is so low as to be insulting, and throwing the coins to a potter in the temple precincts. Because Matthew sees the Old Testament prophets as foreshadowing and anticipating the coming of the Messiah, he sees here a correspondence between what happened in Jeremiah and Zechariah's day with what happened in Jesus' day. Jeremiah bought a potter's field for a price set by the people of Israel. Jesus was "sold out" by Judas for a price agreed upon by the leaders of the people of Israel.

Here is a bit of irony. Jeremiah never took possession of his property; he was forced into exile in Egypt and died there. Neither was Jesus buried in the field for foreigners (Acts 1:18-19). In fact, Jesus borrowed the tomb of a rich man for a few days--three as it turns out--and then he was exalted to the right hand of his heavenly father.

Reflections on Isaiah the Prophet

Today I held my last class on the prophet Isaiah. I regret that we had such a short time to examine the thought of this giant among the servants of the LORD, a recurring feeling each time I teach on the Hebrew prophets.

Here is a another prophet who greatly influenced our Lord Jesus. In fact, Jesus believed that the prophet Isaiah actually forecast his entire career! This is remarkable and requires a bit of unpacking.

There are five passages in the second half of the book of Isaiah displaying a distinct character and seemingly standing apart from their surrounding contexts. Scholars have labeled these passages as "the servant songs" because they feature a person who does the will of the LORD in a unique and unparalleled way. The passages in question are 42:1-9; 49:1-7; 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12; 61:1-3. The climactic song, the Mount Everest of the Old Testament, is without doubt 52:13-53:12. Here we have a sketch of the entire career of this choice servant of the LORD.

The passage begins on a note of triumph and exaltation: "See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted" (52:13). But suddenly the song takes a surprising turn and plunges into descending levels of humiliation and suffering. This exalted figure is now a person at whom many are appalled and "his form is marred beyond human likeness." His background is lowly and unimpressive; he is "like a root out of dry ground" having little prospect, so it would seem, for the success the world craves. He is apparently not from the circles of the movers and shakers of his day. He was certainly not born with a "silver spoon in his mouth."

Beyond that, he "was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering." Popularity and fame are not his game. At this point, something almost inexplicable and unheard of happens. He becomes the scapegoat, the sin offering for "our" iniquities. I pointed out to my students the absolutely unparalleled circumstances that now unfold. "The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Nowhere else in the Old Testament does an individual serve in this way. To be sure, animals were sacrificed without number during this period as a means of covering over the multitudinous sins of humanity. But nowhere does the LORD ordain that a human being stand in for sinners and actually pay the price for their transgressions--except here.

The mystery deepens. The text speaks of his undergoing a vicarious and substitutionary atonement like a lamb led to slaughter and a sheep before her shearers, yet he uttered not a word in protest or outrage. He willingly endured this punishment. There can be no doubt: he died. "He was cut off from the land of the living." This is confirmed by the following statement that "he was assigned a grave with the wicked." How very tragic and senseless this all seems because "he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth." If ever there was an innocent victim, he was it. Confounding us is this unequivocal judgment: "it was the LORD'S will to crush him and cause him to suffer." How can this be?

Then the greatest mystery of all confronts us. The servant comes back to life! "Yet he will see his offspring and prolong his days . . . after the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities." How else can we describe this than a veritable resurrection from the dead?

The song now takes another dramatic turn. With the word "therefore" (53:12) the song soars and returns to the beginning point of triumph and exaltation: "I will give him a portion among the great and he will divide the spoils with the strong."

Christians, of course, know who this servant is. The Holy Spirit witnesses with our spirits that this is the song of the Savior, our great suffering servant, who "poured out his life unto death" and "bore the sin of many."

The New Testament testifies in numerous places concerning the belief of the earliest Christians about the identity of this servant (John 8:38; Matthew 8:17; Luke 22;37; Acts 8:32-33; 1 Peter 2:22; among others). They were not unaided in this identification. The Lord himself made it quite clear that he was in fact the suffering servant.

The most dramatic instance of this self-identification took place in his home town of Nazareth. On a Sabbath, the local boy came home and his reputation as a teacher and healer led to his being invited to read the Scripture reading for the Sabbath. The text that day was Isaiah 61:1-4. He read most of it and then stopped mid-sentence: "to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:19). He then rolled up the scroll and sat down. You can be sure he had everybody's attention! He had stopped reading in mid-sentence, something not to be done. Rather than start over again, he simply said: "Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:20). Too bad we don't have an audio recording of the congregational response. It must have been one of the most amazing collective gasps you've ever heard! Jesus of Nazareth virtually proclaimed that he was the prophesied servant of the LORD.

What he did next is revealing. The synagogue was doubtless caught up in messianic fervor of a pronounced nationalistic brand. They would have joined a revolutionary movement in a moment behind his leadership. They could taste national liberation from the oppressive rule of Caesar and his minions. Jesus bitterly disappointed them. He spoke instead of two times in the Old Testament, significantly, during the days of Elijah and Elisha respectively, when God showed mercy to Gentiles. This is not what that patriotic Jewish congregation wanted to hear. They didn't want Gentiles in their midst at all. They wanted to rid the land of them! It was painfully and immediately obvious that Jesus' agenda was not compatible with Jewish nationalism. Their admiration turned quickly to hatred and they sought to cast him over the precipice of "Jumping Mountain" that we showed on our blog last time. "But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way" (Luke 4:30). Dr. Luke has just given us in a nutshell the storyline of his Gospel. The Christian reader knows where it goes and ends.

I break off at this point and return to the fourth servant song, Isaiah 52:13-53:12. I pointed out to my students that if you lay out the passage in the form of a parabola, you have a visual representation of what Jesus did for us. The storyline in short is this: From glory to glory. But in between the beginning and ending points of this parabola, you have the deep descent into humiliation and suffering. This pattern, what I called "the divine parabola," is captured precisely in Paul's great hymnic passage in Philippians 2:5-11. It follows the same pattern of moving from glory ("who being in very nature God") to humiliation and suffering ("made himself nothing, taking the very form of a servant . . humbled himself . . . became obedient unto death--even death on a cross!). But just like in Isaiah 53:12, in Philippians 2:11, the word "therefore" signals a dramatic reversal of fortune: "God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name . . Jesus Christ is Lord." The Apostle Paul grasped what the prophet Isaiah was saying and memorably passed it along for the ongoing Christian community.

Yes, Jesus knew he was Isaiah's suffering servant. And just like the servant sketched in Isaiah 50:7, he set his face like flint (Luke 9:51), determined to accomplish his destiny with this assurance: "I know I will not be put to shame." And he was not.