The question I was working out of was “Why exactly was Jesus so pissed off with the Pharisees?” and “Why exactly were the Pharisees so pissed off at Jesus?”

My best friend and I had talked about it for a bit. One might think that it is a pretty obvious thing. I feel like most of us in the church have had a variety of experiences in which someone talked about the Pharisees as trying to earn their salvation through works of righteousness whereas Jesus was not about that at all.  They’re typically cast as the party-poopers of the Gospel. The ones who throw off Jesus’ groove and hold back the work of the Kingdom.

But why?

I mean really, there are repeated scenes in the Gospels where the pharisees become enraged because Jesus heals someone on the sabbath. At one point they accuse Jesus of driving out demons by the power of Satan. What could possibly make people so irrationally angry?

Furthermore, on Jesus’ end there is no quarter given in how strongly He rebukes them. Check the” Woe to You, Pharisees” part of Matthew 23. The question that comes with this is why do they deserve the tongue lashing they receive from the Messiah? What exactly makes Him so mad about what they’re doing?

Let me summarize a bit of the research I did to try and provide a context with which to engage with these questions.

The Background

In 1st century Palestine the Jewish people had gone through a lot in the 500 years prior. They had lost their homeland around 560BC. The centralized means by which they lived out their faith (the temple) had been destroyed. The people were exiled to Babylon. A generation later they came back and rebuilt the temple. Then they were conquered by Alexander the Great.

In the polarized movement between an orthodox Jewish culture and an increasingly Greek (hellenized) culture there were significant tensions. The power structures grew corrupt. When Alexander’s empire split after his death the general who ruled Palestine became increasingly oppressive of the Jews. The selling of the position of the Jewish High priest prompted an uprising which then prompted a large scale oppression of the Jews. They were forbidden by law to practice their faith. Period.

As you might imagine, this didn’t go over well. A revolt ensued (Check out the book of Maccabees in the Apocrypha for details. Yep, that’s right. You may have to buy a new bible.). Thanks to regional tensions the Jewish people came out on top with their own country again. First they received autonomy, then they had their own kingdom. The Hasmonean dynasty–named for the people who started the revolt–lasted 150 years. Political and religious power was centralized in these people. One of their member was named high priest after the revolt.

At the end of their crumbling rule, Palestine became a part of the Roman empire. 100 years after that, the temple in Jerusalem was officially destroyed. Never to be rebuilt.

That’s the history in a broad summary. Each of these sentences could probably (and mostly like does) have a book written on it. For our purposes though, I want to highlight a few things of interest:

A) Without a temple, the Jews in Exile had to start decentralizing their worship. The synagogue began in earnest at this point. Along with it, came Rabbis who had varying interpretations of how best to live Torah. This carried through all of history following it.

B) There was a sharp divide in the Jewish people when Alexander the Great conquered Palestine. Hellenized Jews Vs Orthodox Jews. To follow Torah was a big deal. Other options abounded. To associate with non-Jews or unrighteous (not following Torah) Jews was frowned upon. Think  Dr. Seuss’ Sneetches. The ones with the stars didn’t associate with the ones that didn’t have stars.

B) The rule of the temple by what was essentially aristocracy created an environment in which the people were skeptical of the temple. By the time of the Gospels, the priests (read Sadducees) had lost much of their authority outside of ritual sacrifice. They atoned for things, but living out the Torah in every day life was the Pharisees’ sphere of influence.

The Next Part

Essentially the Pharisees were occupying the seat of Moses with regard to living by Torah.  They interpreted Torah so that the people might live it in their every day lives. They were the authorities on scripture. They used scripture, but also what was referred to as the “oral Torah” or the oral tradition of interpretation that came from the Rabbis before them.

They were the big shots. They were the ones roaming Israel who told people how to live righteously (i.e. Following the ethical and purity laws of the Torah).

So here we have it. They were the arms of the existing religious power structure in the areas that Jesus preached in. He didn’t go to Jerusalem too much and as such He hit a lot of pressure from the Pharisees.

I’ve been sitting on this for awhile now. Hoping to finish all at once, but for the moment I shall let you sit with this. Here’s some context for the rest of the discussion. Part 2 is on the way.

until your heart
could break no more

so you came to us . . .

in a stable
where no one noticed you;

by a well
where you welcomed the outsider;

on a hillside
where you fed hungry souls;

on a cross
when you died for us

in love,
you came to us.

in silence
we watch,
we wait, we yearn.

come, Lord Jesus,
that we might rejoice
once again.
Amen.

I turned 25 today. I am now a quarter of a century old.

I got accepted to graduate school yesterday. This signals the eventual return to papers, reading lists, exams, and academic inquiry. This time it’s all focused around theology–the subject that kept me excited enough to drop 6 hours in the library while being happy about it.

I get to spend Christmas with my best friend this year. It’s the first time that I’ve been away from Bellingham for Christmas. I’m very excited.

There’s so much happening that’s wonderful. So much that I’ve waited for, so much that I couldn’t possibly have expected God to grant me. His faithfulness and love is really amazing.

I find that all I can really do is to receive all this with the awe, excitement, and humility that it deserves.

My friend Michael described the sensation as “overflowing”. That’s a pretty accurate description.

When it feels like you’re having a river poured into your open hands…all you can do is receive and share.

Thanks to everyone who edited my essays, talked to me, encouraged me, and helped me out in the process!

God is good.

Man oh man…Is He ever.

Comfort my people, comfort,’ says your God,
‘Speak to the heart of those who cannot feel
The measure of my tenderness for them,
Or understand my eagerness to heal.’

Into your arms subsiding, loving God,
We found our darkness losing all its fears,
As death became a womb of waking life
And joy was watered by our bitter tears.

Against your gentle breast we laid our heads;
Your arms were tightly round us, so secure,
Until the hurt that brought us running home
Became a blessing, making faith more sure.

Too immature in love to live in peace,
Too weak to struggle on alone, we curled
As wounded children in your lap, until
You set us on our feet to face the world.

You ask us now to voice your tenderness;
To touch hard hearts that spare no love at all;
To show the weak how strong love makes them be.
We hear, and we must heed, your yearning call.

That elephant would be sexuality.

Most Christians don’t hear anything about it growing up or if they do it’s an entirely negative frame of reference that only shifts dramatically once the word marriage is attached to it.

I’m unsure how young adults who grow up without healthy conversation regarding sexuality are going to be able to participate in a healthy expression of it.

I’m convinced that our methods of discourse and teaching surrounding this subject need to shift dramatically.

Here’s an article I enjoy:

http://theotherjournal.com/2006/04/02/christians-caught-between-the-sheets-how-%E2%80%98abstinence-only%E2%80%99-ideology-hurts-us/

What do you think?

I’m fully expecting charged responses of one sort or another. I just wanted to point at the elephant that somehow is able to be present in so many of our rooms.

O God, you are filled with possibility and mystery.
You hold our anxieties and our hopes. 

Your faithful forget to praise you, consumed by selfcentered busyness,
O God of stillness, come into our hearts.

Your beloved community is baffled and broken,
O God of healing, come into our churches.

Your people wander in the streets without a place to lay their head,
O God our resting place, come into our neighborhoods.

Your world is torn apart by war and conflict,
O God of Peace, come into our world.

Night and day, we wait and pray, for you, our Emmanuel. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ,
you are for me medicine when I am sick;
you are my strength when I need help;
you are life itself when I fear death;
you are the way when I long for heaven;
you are light when all is dark;
you are my food when I need nourishment. Amen.

God of mercy and justice,
in a time of danger and confusion
you called your servant Ambrose
to bring stability to your church;
give us discipline and wisdom in our trials,
that we may affirm with courage
the faith that we believe;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.

Awaiting his coming in glory,
let us pray as our Savior has taught us:

- The Lord’s Prayer

May God the Son
give us grace to live
in the light of his coming as redeemer and judge. Amen.

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/12/2011-the-year-in-photos-part-1-of-3/100203/

It seems to me that 2011 was a hard year for lots of folks. I wish I had some kind of clever thing to say that would lessen the darkness of things like earthquakes and tsunamis. Unfortunately, words seem a bit pointless in the face of certain things.

At this point I’m reminded of the rosary in my car. It’s mostly there for me to be reminded to pray. Other times though it reminds me of the nature of the God I worship. The One who shares in our sufferings.

By no means does it explain the sufferings away. I guess if anything it gives me hope knowing that there is One who knows and shares the burdens we bear. That we are not alone in grief, loss, and tragedy may be the one comforting thing that I am able to say about all this.

God is with us.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16000331

The article mentions the Mayan calendar. The calendar ends in 2012. As some of you have been made aware through various sources, people have feared this to be the end of the world. According to people who actually know things, the mayans just ended the regular rotation on their calendar.

Someone in the office mentioned that the modern-day Mayans find this all terribly absurd. He said their thought was, “What do you do when your calendar at home runs out? Get a new one.”

It’s a strange thought that the end of a calendar 2000 years in advance of a civilization would be interpreted as “the end of the world”. I think it could have easily gone a lot like this (with different names):

Steve: Well, that’s 2000 years from now…we did it.

Miguel: Let’s do something else!

Steve: Yeah, that’s a long time from now!

All that said, I think folks are very much more inclined to fear the end of the world tomorrow than to hash out the real stuff today. Don’t worry, I’m one of them too. I love to think about/plan for tomorrow more than I love to live today.

If the apocalypse (zombie, robot, or standard), the rapture, the mayan end of the world, or World War Three happen this afternoon I’ll be sure to be giving it the appropriate amount of attention. For the moment I think my attention is better suited to other things that are happening now.

I’ve got a pretty full day ahead of me, I’ll be waiting to see where Jesus shows up….while I stock my cellar with guns, water, and canned goods…those zombies could come at any moment

http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html