Big Ideas Simply Explained - The Bible Book

["WISDOM AND PROPHETS 149 See also: The Ten Commandments 78\u201383 \u25a0 The Wisdom of Solomon 120\u201323 \u25a0 Sermon on the Mount 204\u201309 \u25a0 The Golden Rule 210\u201311 \u25a0 Parables of Jesus 214\u201315 example, says: \u201cGo to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!\u201d (Proverbs 6:6). Many of the book\u2019s maxims date back millennia, and a number come from outside the Israelite tradition\u2014some, for example, are borrowed from Egyptian wisdom literature. Historical collection the post-Exile period, although it is Idleness is one of many vices that the Authorship of much of the book of labeled \u201cThe Proverbs of Solomon.\u201d proverbs warn against. In Proverb 6, Proverbs is attributed to King Next comes a long section (10:1\u2013 sluggards are advised to follow the Solomon, although this is unlikely. 22:16) of short, mostly two-line productive ways of the ant. It is more probable that the Proverbs proverbs, attributed to Solomon, were gathered into collections at and then the section entitled \u201cthe This is followed by another short various times in Israelite history sayings of the wise\u201d (22:17\u201324:22), section on the same theme (24:23\u2013 and then copied at the Judean which shows Egyptian influence. 34), and then another longer section court of King Hezekiah in the late (chapters 25\u201329) attributed to 8th century bce. In view of the Solomon. The appendices make customs mentioned and the pure up the last two chapters and monotheism espoused by the conclude with a famous poem text, the book as it appears today extolling the virtues of \u201cThe Wife almost certainly dates from the of Noble Character\u201d (see p. 151). late 6th century or 5th century bce, after the Judeans had returned Twin strands from exile in Babylon. Wisdom in Proverbs is delivered through two voices. One is that of The scribes organized Proverbs an elder\u2014a parent, teacher, or into five sections with four short sage\u2014giving instruction to a appendices at the end. The first younger person. The book\u2019s very section or prologue (chapters 1\u20139) first exhortation is in this style: most obviously bears the imprint of \u201cListen, my son, to your father\u2019s instruction and do not forsake your Wisdom literature written down around 1000 bce mother\u2019s teaching\u201d (1:8). The \u276f\u276f but probably older than that\u2014 Proverbs, along with the Books also follows a similar format. of Job and Ecclesiastes, belongs The section in Proverbs entitled to a well-established genre of \u201csayings of the wise\u201d is clearly the ancient Near East: wisdom modeled on Amenemopet\u2019s writing. Consisting of maxims maxims and includes some that and tales that reflect upon life are almost identical. Similarities wisely lived, this body of also exist with a Mesopotamian literature has deep roots. One work: the Story of Ahikar. The of the oldest known works is the tale of a chief counselor at the Maxims of Ptahhotep, from the Assyrian court, it is peppered end of the 3rd millennium bce, with wise sayings. The sayings which details the instructions include an earlier version of the of a vizier to his son. The Bible\u2019s famous \u201cspare the rod, Instruction of Amenemopet\u2014 spoil the child\u201d proverb.","150 PROVERBS figurewho conveys teaching is and good sense, the teachings a few lines long. The saying, the Wisdom, personified as a woman. of personified Wisdom are more form that dominates most later \u201cOut in the open Wisdom calls emotive, approaching at times the chapters, is more succinct. It is a aloud, in the street, she raises her admonishing tones of the biblical statement, usually of two lines, that voice in the public square\u201d (1:20), the prophet: \u201cHow long will you who presents a truth in a way intended first proverb in the book relates. are simple love your simple ways?\u201d to stay in the mind, often by virtue Wisdom cries out. \u201cHow long will of a paradox. Possibly the most There is a contrast in tone mockers delight in mockery and famous proverb of all works like between the two strands. While fools hate knowledge?\u201d (1:22). this: \u201cWhoever spares the rod hates the maxims of the elder, the bulk their children, but the one who of the book, tend to appeal to reason Teaching in the proverbs is loves their children is careful to mostly presented in one of two discipline them\u201d (13:24). St. Sophia the divine wisdom is forms: the instruction and the depicted in this 16th-century Russian saying. Used in the first nine A variation on the paradox is icon. In some forms of Christianity, her chapters, the former develops an the numerical proverb, which lists figure of personified wisdom is seen idea\u2014the perils of idleness, for items that have something in as the second part of the Holy Trinity. example\u2014in a poetic paragraph common and then ends with an ironic twist. One example is this reflection: \u201cThere are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a young woman\u201d (30:19). Domestic focus Perhaps because of its place within the wider wisdom tradition of the Near East, the Book of Proverbs differs from much of the rest of the Hebrew Bible in that it never mentions Israel\u2019s history. Its approach is for the most part Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. Proverbs 3:13\u201314","WISDOM AND PROPHETS 151 Familiar Proverbs Eshet Hayil \u201cOpen your mouth \u201cPride goes before Proverbs\u2019 final half chapter for the mute, for the rights destruction, a haughty is an acrostic poem\u2014one in of all who are destitute.\u201d which each stanza begins spirit before a fall.\u201d with a succeeding letter of the Proverbs 31:8 Proverbs 16.18 Hebrew alphabet\u2014extolling Help those who cannot Be humble before the virtues of a woman of \u201cvalor\u201d or \u201cnoble character.\u201d help themselves. the Lord. Eshet Hayil in Hebrew, this woman is the perfect wife and \u201cPonder the path of \u201cBetter a patient mother, whose \u201cworth is far your feet; then all your person than a warrior, more than rubies\u201d (31:10). one with self-control than By no means confined to the ways will be sure.\u201d one who takes a city.\u201d home, she works hard, has Proverbs 4:26 a good business head, and Proverbs 16:32 is generous to the poor. Know the road you Seek inner peace before Presiding over her household are taking. with dignity, she brings honor the peace of others. to her husband, who finds himself \u201crespected at the observational. Proverbs is clear when He set the heavens in place\u201d city gate, where he takes his that God lies at the heart of reality (8:27). She even claims to have seat among the elders of the and about the need to be humble been a craftsperson at God\u2019s side land\u201d (31:23). as a result. \u201cTrust in the Lord with during creation. all your heart and lean not on your The portrait the Eshet own understanding\u201d (3:5) is one This idea would be later Hayil creates has resonated of its admonitions. Wisdom, it picked up and developed by over the centuries, and in suggests, is learned through God. New Testament writers, notably devout Jewish households it The maxims it offers on human the author of John\u2019s Gospel. is often sung or recited at affairs focus on areas such as He sets out the idea of the Logos, the start of the Kiddush, the family, anger, poverty, and or Word, who \u201cwas with God in Friday evening ceremony righteousness, but cannot be truly the beginning,\u201d through whom that ushers in the Sabbath. heeded without fear of the Lord. \u201call things were made\u201d and who According to the mystical became incarnate as Jesus. kabbalistic tradition of Wisdom incarnate Proverbs\u2019 personified Wisdom Judaism, it refers to God\u2019s Proverbs makes intriguing claims contributed to the idea of God\u2019s Shekhinah, or divine presence, about God and heaven in the voice wisdom incarnate being a part associated with a maternal, of personified Wisdom. She speaks of of the Holy Trinity, leading to nurturing role. In other how she is \u201cthe first of His works\u201d the establishment of the later interpretations, it can be seen (8:22), continuing: \u201cI was there doctrine of Jesus\u2019s incarnation more simply as the family (see pp. 298\u201399). \u25a0 paying tribute to the mother. The passage that proceeds the acrostic narrates the lessons King Lemuel has received from his mother, so the poem may also be his own glorifying eulogy for her in return. In some households the Eshet Hayil is balanced with a recital of Psalm 112: \u201cBlessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands.\u201d","152 IBBAEELLMOOMVVEEYDD\u2019SIS\u2026MINMEY. IN BRIEF 6:3, SONG OF SONGS PASSAGE S ong of Songs is one of the Whoever the author was, Song Song of Songs 6:3 Bible\u2019s sweetest sections: of Songs is considered to be a THEME a paean to marital ardor. masterpiece of erotic literature God\u2019s love for His people The book opens with the line that captures the yearning of SETTING \u201cSolomon\u2019s Song of Songs\u201d and love. It is a conversation between c.970\u2013930 bce, Solomon\u2019s goes on to mention the ancient \u201cHe\u201d (the \u201cking\u201d) and \u201cShe\u201d (a kingdom Israelite king six more times woman sometimes referred to KEY FIGURES (Song of Songs 1:5; 3:7; 3:9; 3:11; as Shulammite). The couple He An unspecified king. 8:11\u201312), leading some scholars to are occasionally interrupted by It could be Solomon himself, believe that the book was penned interjections from \u201cfriends,\u201d who but it is not clear whether by Solomon himself. This theory is perform the role of an audience. he wrote the poem or if it supported by 1 Kings 4:32, which is about him. says that Solomon composed 1,005 Celebration of sexuality She A dark-skinned woman songs. Others believe the link with Early in the piece, the woman and the king\u2019s new bride, Solomon is an editorial intervention entreats the king to take her sometimes referred to as to enhance the status of the poems. to his bedchambers. Explicit \u201cShulammite\u201d \u2013 either the female form of \u201cSolomon\u201d Sensuality in Song of Songs or possibly a reference to her place of origin. \u201cLet him kiss me with the kisses longing that exists between Friends An unnamed of his mouth\u201d (1:1). From the the two narrators, while the chorus of commentators. opening verse of Song of Songs, multiple references to vineyards sex, love, and the senses are at and wine help build the its heart. Throughout the book impression of lovers who are the narrators\u2014the Beloved intoxicated with one another. and her companion, the Lover\u2014 The image of the vineyard in convey their love for one another bloom is just one of many with sensual imagery: perfumes metaphors drawn from nature. incomparable to her smell, his Twenty-five different plants, kisses more delightful than many fruit or perfume-bearing, wine, her breasts like clusters of are mentioned in the Songs, fruit, his fruit sweet to her taste. underlining the relationship This tantalizing imagery brings between nature and fertility into vivid clarity the tension and and sexual desire.","WISDOM AND PROPHETS 153 See also: The Psalms 138\u201343 \u25a0 Proverbs 148\u201351 \u25a0 The Way of Love 296\u201397 As a celebration As an allegory As an allegory of marital love, intended for God\u2019s love for the anticipating the coming Israelites expressed in to be recited at of Christ, whom wedding ceremonies. the covenants. Christians sometimes call As a paean to the Different \u201cthe bridegroom.\u201d universal presence of interpretations of love, which is \u201cas strong Song of Songs as death\u201d (8:6). As a dramatic script that was originally intended to be sung. sexual references follow, with the like a flock of sheep, coming up book as resembling \u201clocks to which woman\u2019s body compared to a palm from the washing. Each has its the keys have been lost.\u201d God is tree, her neck a rounded goblet, twin, not one of them is missing.\u201d not mentioned once in the poem. her breasts like twin fawns of a However, some commentators gazelle. Subsequent analogies In the course of the book, the believe that the \u201cking\u201d in the poem and a series of similarly explicit woman describes herself to the symbolizes God, and the woman the metaphors make it clear that \u201cdaughters of Jerusalem,\u201d likening Israelites, and what appears to be sexual love is the principal subject her dark skin to the \u201ctents of Kadar\u201d an erotic ode is an allegorical piece of discussion. Some of these and the \u201ccurtains of Solomon,\u201d describing God\u2019s love for Israel. comparisons may be amusing while the king describes his lover\u2019s At the same time, Christians have to a modern audience: 6:6, for great beauty and her visits to him. viewed the song as a celebration of example, says: \u201cYour teeth are The book is further embellished the love of Jesus for the Church. \u25a0 by the sighting of a royal wedding procession and third-party accounts of the woman\u2019s beauty. Interpreting the Song Many waters cannot The meaning and purpose of Song quench love; rivers of Songs is a matter of debate. Rabbi cannot sweep it away. Saadia Gaon al-Fayyumi, a medieval Song of Songs 8:7 Jewish commentator, described the A bride and groom exchange vows during an Armenian wedding. Viewed by many as an ode to physical love within marriage, the Song of Songs is often chosen as a reading at weddings.","154 UOSAPNUUDRROEUCSLRAOYRRIHNRREFIOEITWRDOMSOIKTIES ISAIAH 53:4, THE SUFFERING SERVANT IN BRIEF B iblical scholars divide the from exile in Babylon in the 6th book of Isaiah into three century bce, after Jerusalem has PASSAGE sections. The first, believed fallen; a third section (56\u201366), Isaiah 40\u201355 to be the work of Isaiah himself, Third Isaiah, is believed to date was written when Assyria was from after the Exile. THEME expanding westward, threatening Suffering Judah. The book fulminates against God\u2019s chosen one the sinful leaders of Jerusalem and Central to the Second Isaiah are SETTING urges reform to avert calamity. The the Servant Songs: four poems that 6th century bce second section (chapters 40\u201355), by present a mysterious servant of The Babylonian empire, which an anonymous source known as the God, His \u201cchosen one.\u201d The poems is under threat from the Second Isaiah, or Deutero-Isaiah, have the same themes as First Persians led by King Cyrus. is believed to have been written Isaiah, but preach a message of greater hope and comfort. KEY FIGURES The Suffering Servant The Servant Songs revolve A metaphorical character around the wretched character of who symbolizes the the \u201cSuffering Servant.\u201d There is Israelites\u2019 suffering. nothing majestic or beautiful about him. Far from treating him with \u201cSecond Isaiah\u201d Unnamed respect, people despise and reject prophet who is thought to him, beating him and plucking out have authored chapters 40\u201355 his beard. He utters no words of of the book of Isaiah in the protest. Instead, he sets his face 6th century bce. \u201clike flint\u201d (50:7) and endures. He does this for the sake of God and Cyrus King of Persia from of others, even his very tormentors. 558 to 530 bce. Seen by He is: a \u201cman of sorrows\u201d who takes Second Isaiah and his up and carries the failings of others. disciples as a savior and Yahweh\u2019s \u201cshepherd.\u201d Isaiah is one of seven Old Testament prophets painted by Michelangelo in the Vatican\u2019s Sistine Chapel (1508\u20131512). Isaiah (Greek \u201cEsaias\u201d) holds the Book of Isaiah under his arm.","See also: The Suffering of Job 146\u201347 \u25a0 The Coming of Salvation 189 WISDOM AND PROPHETS 155 Jesus Christ: the servant savior The Suffering Servant The image of the Suffering Servant sank deep into the The Suffering Servant Rejected by others, the Jewish imagination, enduring is called by God to be Suffering Servant does into the early Christian one. His \u201cchosen one\u201d. not defend himself. In Luke\u2019s Gospel, Jesus announces His public ministry He allows himself to be The Suffering Servant is with a passage from Isaiah wounded for others\u2019 called to spread the closely associated with the Servant passages. \u201cToday this transgressions. message of salvation. scripture is fulfilled in your hearing,\u201d Jesus tells the His suffering is an synagogue in His hometown atonement for the sins of Nazareth. The people promptly reject Him, as was of humankind. the case for the Suffering Servant. The servant theme Anointed with God\u2019s spirit, the would be a friend and savior to comes up time and again in man is gentle and unassuming\u2014a the Jews, allowing them to return Jesus\u2019s teaching. He tells His \u201cbruised reed he will not break, and home and rebuild Jerusalem and disciples that \u201cthe Son of Man a smoldering wick he will not snuff their temple. Many Christians, did not come to be served, but out\u201d (42:3). He is the one God calls however, view the Suffering to serve, and to give His life not only to restore the exiled and Servant as a prophecy of Christ, as a ransom for many.\u201d dispersed people of Israel, but also in line with other messianic to carry out an even wider task: to references in Isaiah. Most rabbinic Echoes of the Servant be \u201ca light for the Gentiles,\u201d scholars believe he is a metaphor Songs are unmistakable. spreading God\u2019s salvation to the for Israel itself, or rather those Peter writes about Jesus\u2019s world. The life of the Suffering Israelites who have stayed true to silence in the face of His Servant is an atonement for sin. In God through humiliation and accusers. \u201cWhen they hurled exchange for him bearing \u201cthe sins suffering. They are the \u201cfaithful their insults at Him \u2026 He did of many,\u201d God will raise him up. He remnant\u201d (Malachi 3:15\u201316) of not retaliate.\u201d will \u201cgive him a portion among the prophetic tradition, who have great\u201d; kings and princes will one endured persecution not just from The face of Christ on a statue day bow down before him. foreign oppressors but from the in Paris. The Book of Isaiah Israelites who rejected the message contains so many messianic A mysterious figure of repentance. Suffering has references that it is sometimes The identity of the Suffering become part of their identity, but called the fifth Gospel. Servant has long been debated. in the Servant Songs this is not a One theory is that he could be negative thing: it is redemptive Cyrus, the Persian king, who would and transforming. Through their overthrow the Israelites\u2019 hated suffering for the failings of others, Babylonian oppressors. Cyrus humankind will be healed. \u25a0","156 IN BRIEF IIBFNOKEFRTNOHMEREWEEDWYIYOOOMUUB PASSAGE Jeremiah 1\u201352 JEREMIAH 1:5, THE PROPHET JEREMIAH THEME Predestination SETTING Around 626\u2013570 bce Jerusalem. KEY FIGURES Jeremiah Selected by God to be a prophet \u201cto the nations.\u201d Born in Anathoth, a few miles north of Jerusalem, where his father Hilkiah was a priest. Hananiah A false prophet preaching against Jeremiah. W hen God declares Jeremiah a prophet He assigns him an unenviable mission: Jeremiah must make the people of Judah repent for years of bad behavior. Though faced with hatred and adversity, the reluctant prophet continues to discharge his task and spread the word of God right up until the end of his life. Jeremiah is regarded, after Isaiah, as the second major prophet of the latter \u201cwriting\u201d prophets in Judaism (earlier figures, such as Elijah, were \u201coral\u201d prophets, who did not record their words). He is also known as the \u201cWeeping Prophet,\u201d as his eponymous book, written around 585 bce, with the help of the scribe Baruch, is deeply melancholic. The epithet is apt, given the nature of the prophet\u2019s lifelong travails. Such is the notoriety of Jeremiah\u2019s thankless struggles that to this day an angry or miserable person is often referred to as a \u201cJeremiah.\u201d","WISDOM AND PROPHETS 157 See also: Moses and the Burning Bush 66\u201369 \u25a0 The Golden Calf 84\u201385 \u25a0 Elijah and the Prophets of Baal 125 \u25a0 The Fall of Jerusalem 128\u201331 \u25a0 Rebuilding Jerusalem 133 The desolation of Jeremiah is Israelites out of Egypt, the young Call to Me and captured with dramatic intensity in Jeremiah makes excuses as to why I will answer you Cry of prophet Jeremiah on the Ruins he is not fit to extract the repentance and tell you great and of Jerusalem, painted in 1870 by the of the people of Judah and fulfill the unsearchable things Russian artist Ilya Yefimovich Repin. mission that God has assigned to you do not know. him. He protests to God that he is Jeremiah 33:3 God selected Jeremiah before too young to take on such a role he was even born to exhort the and, like Moses, is not a sufficiently calling on him to prophesy a people of Judah to mend their good speaker to cope with such a severe, cataclysmic event to idolatrous and disrespectful ways. weighty task. In response, God the people\u2014the destruction of He later tells Jeremiah He made reassures Jeremiah, as He did their holy city Jerusalem by the him a prophet \u201cin the womb\u201d Moses, telling the prophet not to Babylonians. Jeremiah\u2019s task was (Jeremiah 1:5). Despite an initial fear, as He will support and rescue to remind the people of their reluctance to accept his role, him. The Lord then touches covenant with God and to dissuade Jeremiah ultimately accepts that Jeremiah\u2019s mouth and says them from breaking the laws his life\u2019s work is predestined, and to him, \u201cI have put my words in associated with it, despite any faithfully follows God\u2019s carefully your mouth. See, today I appoint opposition he faced. Of their many mapped plan throughout his life. you over nations and kingdoms to crimes, the idolatrous worship of uproot and tear down, to destroy the false god Baal represented a Called to God\u2019s work and overthrow, to build and to particularly disturbing offense. \u276f\u276f Jeremiah was born in Anathoth, plant\u201d (1:9\u201310). a small village 4 miles (6km) north of Jerusalem, the son of Hilkiah, a A dangerous mission priest. His lineage can be traced Won over by God\u2019s words, Jeremiah back to Moses, and there are prepares to try and reconvert the several parallels in the two men\u2019s errant sons and daughters of Judah. lives. Just as Moses demurs when He begins his ministry around God instructs him to lead the 626 bce, in what was a tumultuous period for the people of Israel. The message was dire. God was Predestination determinism or predeterminism. The dilemma that Christians The theological concept of face is whether they are able to \\\"predestination\\\" holds that freely make choices of their own all events are willed and volition, as opposed to choices predetermined by God. The that are predetermined by God. theory is aired in the Bible in Scholars have labored over the Jeremiah 1:5, Romans 8:29, question for centuries. The and Ephesians 1:5\u201314. The general consensus is that not \u201cparadox of free will,\u201d long a all people live predestined lives subject of theological debate, and therefore enjoy free will. is the apparent incompatibility However, in Jeremiah\u2019s case, he between God\u2019s omniscience had little choice in the path that and the free will of a human his life would take; the events being. In the ways shown in the shaping his existence were Bible, predestination usually preordained by God when he amounts to a form of religious was in his mother\u2019s womb.","158 THE PROPHET JEREMIAH Angry officials of King Zedekiah lower Jeremiah into a well for daring to prophesy the capture of Jerusalem. The punishment is illustrated here in a 19th-century engraving by T.O. Barlow. They had constructed high altars the stocks for a day (20:2), and at coming enslavement of the Israelite to Baal, in which they burned their one point is thrown into a dark people to the Babylonians. The own children as sacrificial offerings. and muddy well (38:6). prophet then goes to Zedekiah, wearing the yoke, and says, \u201cBow Jeremiah\u2019s prophecies of doom Battles with false prophets your neck under the yoke of the and destruction are unpopular and While Jeremiah is busy spreading king of Babylon\u201d (27:12\u201313), so that he becomes the target of much his apocalyptic messages, other he and the nation might not die by mockery, and several attempts are prophets are at work, sending out \u201cthe sword, famine, and plague.\u201d made to kill him. When Jeremiah a more positive message of peace Jeremiah denounces the false complains to God that he has and prosperity (Jeremiah 27\u201328). prophets who favor opposition to become a laughing stock for The most famous of these is Babylon, as God has told him that spreading the word of the Lord, Hananiah, with whom Jeremiah can only lead to Judah\u2019s downfall. he is told that he is destined to clashes throughout much of the He goes on to tell the priest and endure more painful attacks over central part of his narrative. people, \u201cServe the king of Babylon the course of his mission. He cries and you will live. Why should this and laments (the following biblical Things come to a head early city become a ruin?\u201d (27:17). book, Lamentations, is a further in the reign of King Zedekiah in highly poetic expression of grief). Jerusalem. Jeremiah is determined The people, angry and afraid, Still God insists that the prophet to ensure Jerusalem\u2019s surrender in react badly to Jeremiah\u2019s words. must continue to disseminate the face of the rapidly advancing Later, the false prophet Hananiah His dire warnings to the people of Babylonian forces. He puts on a seizes his chance and tears the Judah. Further misfortunes befall yoke, or oxen harness, to symbolize yoke from Jeremiah\u2019s neck and Jeremiah; he is beaten and held in what God has told him about the breaks it on the ground, declaring that the Lord will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar II within two years. As in many other parts of his story, Jeremiah continues his mission despite his humiliation. The Lord tells him to go to Hananiah and say that in place of a wooden yoke, he will get a yoke of iron. Jeremiah also prophesies that Hananiah will be dead within a year, for inciting rebellion against the Lord\u2014a statement that proves accurate. Destruction foretold Jeremiah\u2019s terrible prophecies do eventually come true; the people witness their city being completely destroyed by the Babylonians and most of their people are taken into captivity. The survivors go to Jeremiah and ask for forgiveness. They acknowledge that they should","WISDOM AND PROPHETS 159 have listened to him and repented through Jeremiah, telling him Jeremiah of their wrongdoing. They also ask he will bring them back after 70 his advice for where to go next. years and promising them a new The Prophet Jeremiah was However, when he tells them \u201cDo covenant. This covenant will the last prophet that God not go to Egypt\u201d (42:19), Jeremiah succeed because God will put it in sent to preach to the southern is once more maligned by the people their mind, \u201cwrite it on their hearts\u201d kingdom, home to the tribes he is trying to save: he is branded and \u201cforgive their wickedness and of Benjamin and Judah. God a liar and taken to Egypt with the will remember their sins no more\u201d had repeatedly warned the Israelites, where he dies soon (Jeremiah 31:33\u201334). Israelites to cease their afterward. Some extra-biblical idolatrous worship and evil sources suggest that he was stoned This prophecy at the heart deeds, but his preaching had to death by his angry countrymen. of the Book of Jeremiah gave the been continually ignored. With Jewish people great hope after the 12 tribes split, and the 10 A new covenant the fall of Jerusalem in 586 bce. northern tribes lost among Not all of the Book of Jeremiah Early Christians often applied the Assyrians, God's decision prophesies misery and despair. the prophecy to Jesus. His death to appoint Jeremiah as His Chapters 29\u201331 strike a fresh tone on the cross was seen to herald prophet constituted His final of positivity. In a letter to those the promised new covenant, as attempt to bring the errant exiled in Babylon, God speaks it showed God\u2019s forgiveness of southern tribes back into His their sins (Luke 22:20). \u25a0 fold. Jeremiah was around 17 years old when God called Like Moses, Jeremiah initially rejects God's call to prophesy. upon him. Privy to God\u2019s most terrible plans for his Moses says: \u201c\u2026 I have Jeremiah says: \u201cI do not compatriots, he cried tears of never been eloquent\u2026 know how to speak; sadness, because not only did I am slow of speech and I am too young\u201d he know what was going to (Jeremiah 1:6). happen to the Israelites, he tongue\u201d (Exodus 4:10). was unable to convince them of his knowledge. Although \u2026 but God reassures \u2026 but God reassures he preached for 40 years, Moses \u2026 \u201cI will help you Jeremiah \u2026 \u201cStand up and often entirely unaided, he was speak and will teach you unable to change or soften the what to say\u201d (Exodus 3:12). say to them whatever stubborn hearts and minds of I command you\u201d the Israelite people. In the face (Jeremiah 1:17). of great hardships, Jeremiah's legacy lies in the courage he Despite their initial reluctance, neither showed by teaching the word of the prophets can resist God's purpose. of God despite the significant aversion to His message.","160 PMOONYUTHRHEEEADRGOTRUOITSUND LAMENTATIONS 2:11, LAMENT FOR THE EXILES IN BRIEF T he aptly named Book of during the Babylonian invasion, Lamentations concerns the which culminated in the siege PASSAGE destruction of Jerusalem of the holy city in 586 bce. Lamentations 1\u20135 at God\u2019s behest. The book is traditionally attributed to Jeremiah, Lamentations opens with the THEME known as the \u201cWeeping Prophet,\u201d foreboding words \u201cHow deserted God suffers when His and it serves as a postscript to the lies the city, once so full of people!\u201d people suffer Book of Jeremiah. However, most From this gloomy start, the scholars believe that it is by an narrative becomes progressively SETTING anonymous source. darker, describing the Babylonian 586 bce, Jerusalem army breaching the city walls of The book comprises five poems, Jerusalem, killing or enslaving KEY FIGURES each arranged in a series of short, Narrator Widely believed to rhymeless stanzas, describing By the Waters of Babylon (1882\u20131883), be Jeremiah, the \u201cWeeping the state of Jerusalem after its an oil painting by Evelyn De Morgan, Prophet,\u201d to whom the Book annihilation by the Babylonians depicts an exiled patriarch (under the of Lamentations is attributed. under Nebuchadnezzar II. The tree) with other exiles weeping over prophet Jeremiah lived in Judah the loss of their Promised Land. The people of Jerusalem Survivors of the Babylonian invasion, desperately trying to remain alive. Nebuchadnezzar II King of Babylon, who leads his army in destroying the holy city of Jerusalem and is supported by God as punishment for the Judeans\u2019 unfaithful behavior.","WISDOM AND PROPHETS 161 See also: Entering the Promised Land 96\u201397 \u25a0 The Fall of Jerusalem 128\u201331 \u25a0 The Prophet Jeremiah 156\u201359 \u25a0 Daniel in Babylon 164\u201365 all the people, and burning the city Lamentations is full of references City of Babylon to the ground. The survivors are to tears and crying, including the described in detail, with harrowing agonizing and despair of Jeremiah Babylon, where the Israelites accounts of how mothers ate their himself. Lamentations 4:6 states were taken as slaves and own children in order to survive, that the punishment of the people exiles, was the capital city of children beg for bread but no one of Jerusalem is greater even than Babylonia in southwest Asia, gives them any, and young and that of the people of Sodom. The now southern Iraq. The city sat old lie in the dust of the streets extent of God\u2019s wrath is made on the Euphrates River, north (Lamentations 2:20\u201321 and 4:4). abundantly clear as the narrative of the modern town of Hillah. unfolds. However, the underlying Terrible punishments tone throughout the book is that, The fall of the city, and After the fall of Jerusalem, worldly though His anger knows no limits, the end of the neo-Babylonian possessions and wealth now mean God suffers Himself at having to empire with it, is predicted nothing: Chapter 4:1 describes how wreak such terrible carnage in by the prophets in Isaiah 14:4 gold has lost its luster and precious the first place. and 21:9, as well as Jeremiah stones are scattered on every street 50\u201351. The city was under corner. It appears that all hope is At the heart of Lamentations Babylonian control until 539 lost, such is the misery and despair is an important message of peace bce, when Cyrus the Great that is recounted. Nevertheless, and reconciliation, which points of Persia invaded and killed despite inflicting such a terrible to the inexhaustible possibilities king Belshazzar. However, punishment on His people, Jeremiah for redemption and forgiveness if Babylon was fairly unscathed suggests that there is still reason to the exiles maintain their faith in by the invasion and continued hope: \u201cFor no one is cast off by the God. He is angry\u2014but He also to flourish under Persian rule. Lord for ever. Though He brings grieves that the longstanding grief, He will show compassion, so heinous behavior by the Israelite great is His unfailing love. For He people has forced Him to punish does not willingly bring affliction them so harshly. The message of or grief to anyone\u201d (3:32\u201333). Lamentations is clear: when God\u2019s people suffer, God suffers, too. \u25a0 Genesis 6:6: Hosea 11:8 Luke 19:41 God grieves over God cannot bear to Jesus weeps for the lost punish His people for the wickedness souls of Jerusalem. of humankind. rejecting Him. John 11:35 Jeremiah 14:17 God suffers God\u2019s eyes overflow with His people. Jesus weeps when with tears for the He sees Mary grieving Israelites\u2019 suffering. over Lazarus.","162 ISAYWOTHOUEILNRALERHRTAEENAOMDRFTOGFVOILVEFEE\u2026SYHOU EZEKIEL 36:26, THE PROPHET EZEKIEL IN BRIEF T he Book of Ezekiel charts In Raphael\u2019s Ezekiel\u2019s Vision (c.1518), the lives and experiences the prophet sees God in all His majesty PASSAGE of the Israelites during raised by cherubim\u2014fantastical Ezekiel 1\u201348 Babylonian captivity. For most winged creatures that perform a of the book, the picture is bleak protective role in the Bible. THEME but the last section (Ezekiel 33\u201338) God\u2019s people will offers hope and the prospect of of a man, yet from the \u201cwaist up be restored revival and redemption in the wake He looked like glowing metal, of the destruction of Jerusalem. as if full of fire \u2026 and brilliant SETTING light surrounded Him\u201d (1:27). c.590s\u2013570s bce Babylon, Ezekiel was a contemporary of God is standing astride a throne- Mesopotamia. the prophet Jeremiah and a priest like chariot made of lapis lazuli at the Temple of Jerusalem, prior with wheels that resemble topaz. KEY FIGURES to the destruction of the city. He The chariot flies through the air at Ezekiel A priest from the therefore occupied a prominent great speed and is surrounded by a Temple in Jerusalem, now role in Israelite society. Owing ring of fire. It is borne by cherubim exiled in Babylon. He is a to his elevated status, Ezekiel with lions\u2019 bodies and eagles\u2019 prophet of the Lord, appointed was among the first wave of exiles to help instruct the exiles. that went to Babylon with King Jehoiachin and his court in The Israelites God\u2019s chosen around 597 bce, nine years prior people, now living in exile in to Jerusalem\u2019s final destruction Babylon, Mesopotamia. in 586 bce. This meant that, while Jeremiah stayed in Jerusalem, trying to persuade the Israelites to reform their ways, Ezekiel was prophet to the exiles, 1,000 miles (1,600km) away in Babylon. Amazing illusions Ezekiel\u2019s strange, intensely mystical career as a prophet begins when he experiences an incredible vision beside the River Chebar. God appears before him in the form","WISDOM AND PROPHETS 163 See also: Entering the Promised Land 96\u201397 \u25a0 The Fall of Jerusalem 128\u201331 \u25a0 Lament for the Exiles 160\u201361 \u25a0 The New Jerusalem 322\u201329 wings, each of which have four spokesman\u2014which is forcefully Visions of Ezekiel aspects to their faces\u2014one of a underlined by His command to eat human, one of a lion, one of an ox, the scroll\u2014shows that the Lord The wheels of Crawling things and one of an eagle. is leaving an important prophet, God\u2019s chariot are and unclean animals whose word is true, with the exiles. able to move \u201cin (Ezekiel 8:10) are God hands Ezekiel a scroll with Thus, the Israelites are assured that any one of four symbolic of the the words, \u201cSon of man, eat what if they follow Ezekiel\u2019s prophecies directions.\u201d This false idolatry that is before you, eat this scroll; then go and return to God, their nation will is a metaphor for led to the downfall and speak to the people of Israel\u201d ultimately be restored. His omnipresence. of the Israelites. (3:1). He tells Ezekiel to eat the scroll, so that his words will literally be This message is reinforced by The dry bones of Jerusalem\u2019s those of God. Ezekiel does as he three more significant visions. In \u201cthe people of Israel\u201d future temple is bidden and then climbs aboard the first, Ezekiel is taken to the are given life in will be measured God\u2019s incredible flaming chariot. Temple of Jerusalem, and finds it Ezekiel\u2019s visions, according to God\u2019s He is then transported to Babylon, covered in crawling things and which represent law. Once restored, where Ezekiel joins the exiles and unclean animals. As he stands their ultimate return it will be honest, begins his life\u2019s work preaching there, the \u201cglory of God\u201d rises to their own land. pure, and true. about the restoration of the Jewish from the sanctuary and leaves people and nation. the temple and Jerusalem. In the second, however, he is shown a Coming redemption valley of dried human skeletons, Ezekiel\u2019s strange vision is designed called \u201cthe people of Israel,\u201d whom to emphasize two key points at this God restores to full life before important stage in the plight of the his eyes (37:11). The third is a Jewish people. First, it is made profoundly positive vision of the clear that although God\u2019s chosen future. Ezekiel sees Jerusalem\u2019s people are in exile in Babylon, He Temple\u2014huge and magnificent\u2014 will still be with them. This is why and imagines a \u201cNew Jerusalem,\u201d He flies in His flaming chariot from a fully restored Israelite kingdom Jerusalem to Babylon. Second, that henceforth will be ruled only God\u2019s appointment of Ezekiel as His by God (40\u201348). \u25a0 A tetragrammaton as depicted in Glory of God However, due to the fact that the window of the Karlskirche, Vienna. human beings are created in His Often translated as Yahweh, this In the Christian religion, \u201cglory\u201d\u2014 image, they can share (albeit symbol asserts God\u2019s omnipotence. derived from the Latin gloria, imperfectly) in disseminating meaning \u201crenown\u201d\u2014is used divine glory as \u201cimage bearers.\u201d to describe the manifestation They cannot match the glory of of God\u2019s presence when it is God Himself, but can spread it actively perceived by human among others. This concept is beings. In Ezekiel, and elsewhere best explained in Matthew 5:16, in the Bible, God appears in many which states: \u201clet your light different guises and various shine before others, that they fantastical forms\u2014or is merely may see your good deeds and heard or sensed by His subjects. glorify your Father in heaven.\u201d Divine glory is an extremely important motif in theology, in In religious media today, which God is the most glorious glory is often conveyed by the being in existence. use of a halo, or white robes, crowns, jewels, gold, or stars.","164 MOSANHFYGUTGETHOLETD,HLASEINOEDMNNOTSHUEHTISHS DANIEL 6:22, DANIEL IN BABYLON IN BRIEF T he eventful Book of Daniel resolving to \u201cnot defile himself\u201d celebrates people of vision (Daniel 1:8) by eating food the PASSAGE and courage\u2014those who Israelites considered unclean. Daniel 1\u201312 dare to stand steadfast in their faith in the Lord, whoever the adversary Although he is a Judean exile, THEME and no matter how bad the situation. Daniel is made \u201cruler of the entire God\u2019s protection province of Babylon\u201d (2:48) after In 586 bce, Nebuchadnezzar II he interprets a mystifying dream SETTING of Babylon destroys Jerusalem of Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s. Daniel\u2019s c.605\u2013538 bce Babylon. and deports many of its citizens elevated status lasts into the reign to Babylon. Several of the exiled of the king\u2019s successor, Belshazzar. KEY FIGURES aristocrats are given official Daniel Wise man and prophet positions, including the Judean Writing on the wall in exile from Judea and Daniel. Despite being offered choice In Daniel 5, a hand appears from interpreter of dreams. food and wine from the royal table, thin air to write on the wall as Daniel remains true to his religion, King Belshazzar holds a banquet. Nebuchadnezzar II King Daniel is brought in to translate of Babylon, patron of Daniel, and interpret the four Hebrew and destroyer of Jerusalem. words for the astonished king: \u201cGod has numbered the days Belshazzar Son of King of your reign \u2026 You have been Nabonidus and the final weighed on the scales and found documented ruler of Babylon. wanting \u2026 Your kingdom is divided\u201d (5:26\u201328). Daniel is again Darius the Mede Successor rewarded for his efforts and to Belshazzar as King of becomes the third highest ruler Babylon, according to the in the kingdom. King Belshazzar Book of Daniel. His historical is slain \u201cthat very night\u201d (5:30). existence is doubted by Darius the Mede becomes the new most researchers. Blessed with the protection of an angel of the Lord, Daniel is saved from the lions\u2019 mouths in the den. He is replaced by King Darius\u2019s jealous advisers, who are all eaten alive.","WISDOM AND PROPHETS 165 See also: \u25a0 Joseph the Dreamer 58\u201361 \u25a0 The Fall of Jerusalem 128\u201331 \u25a0 The Prophet Jeremiah 156\u201359 \u25a0 Lament for the Exiles 160\u201361 Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s dream The episode of Daniel in the lions\u2019 Daniel den is thus seen as proof that God Head protects those who honor Him. The name Daniel means (Babylonian \u201cGod is my Judge.\u201d He is said empire)\u2014gold Purpose and meaning to have been selected to be Chest and arms After Daniel 6, the book shifts and an official for Nebuchadnezzar (Medo Persian becomes apocalyptic in tone. Daniel because he was handsome, empire)\u2014silver interprets his visions and describes without blemish, and \u201cquick events in which empires will fall to understand\u201d (Daniel 1:4). Belly and and the kingdom of heaven will However, Daniel believes he thighs (Grecian be established forever. For many derives all of his abilities from empire)\u2014bronze readers, this signifies the literal the Lord. As an interpreter end of the world. of dreams for a foreign king, Legs (Roman Daniel\u2019s experience echoes empire)\u2014iron Notably, in the Hebrew canon that of Joseph in Genesis Daniel is not regarded as a prophet. (37\u201350), who interprets Feet (divided However, in the Christian Bible the dreams for Pharaoh in Egypt. kingdoms)\u2014iron book of Daniel is included among and clay the Major Prophets. As the Book Daniel is considered a of Daniel was largely written in prophet by Christians and Rock\u2014God Aramaic, and explicitly describes the his apocalyptic visions are Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a coming of Alexander (10\u201312) and mentioned in the Apocryphal statue made of various materials that the wars that followed, scholars date book 2 Esdras and in Matthew crumbled as a rock struck its base. it to the period after the region was 24. In Judaism, Daniel is often Daniel interpreted the dream as the conquered by Alexander the Great. represented as a wise man, impending destruction of all kingdoms. For this reason, some believe the but his book is not included Book of Daniel essentially functions in those of the prophets in the as propaganda, describing the fall Jewish canon. In pre-Israelite of an oppressive empire and the Canaanite literature, there rise of an Israelite kingdom. \u25a0 was a figure named Daniel, who was a wise man and king. Advisers jealous of Daniel\u2019s No wise man, adjudicator of justice. Scholars growing power dupe King Darius enchanter, magician, liken the biblical Daniel to into decreeing that all should pray or diviner can explain to this figure. only to him, knowing that Daniel the king the mystery he would refuse. When Daniel violates has asked about, but Regardless of the slightly the decree by continuing to pray there is a God in heaven differing views of his status, to God, Darius reluctantly has him who reveals mysteries. Daniel is consistently described thrown into the lion\u2019s den overnight as being devout, morally as punishment. The king returns to Daniel 2:27\u201328 astute, and unwavering in his his palace and frets over Daniel\u2019s fate. devotion to God. When Darius returns the next morning, he finds Daniel unharmed. Daniel tells him, \u201cMy God sent His angel, and He shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in His sight\u201d (6:22). Darius issues a decree that praises both God and Daniel.","166 BJTTOHHELNRRLEEAYEEHODNWFIAGAYTHSSHTEIASNNFTDISHHE JONAH 1:17, THE DISOBEDIENT PROPHET IN BRIEF T he story of Jonah, which also occurs in the Qur\u2019an, PASSAGE is found among the short Jonah 1\u20134 prophet books, often called the Minor Prophets or the Twelve THEME Prophets. Most biblical scholars God\u2019s omnipresence extrapolate two major themes from the story of Jonah: first, the SETTING omnipresence of God, and second, 786\u2013746 bce The reign of His willingness to forgive those Jeroboam. The Mediterranean who repent. Although Jonah hears Sea; Nineveh, the capital God, he does not want to listen. of Assyria. Punished prophet Jonah is devoured by a \u201chuge fish\u201d KEY FIGURES The story opens with God telling with gills in this 15th-century French Jonah Reluctant prophet, Jonah to go to Nineveh, the capital miniature from the Bible of St. John son of Amittai. of Assyria, to preach against sin. XXII. Contrary to popular myth, the Instead, Jonah runs away to Bible does not specify a whale. Sailors The polytheistic crew Joppa (Jaffa) and boards a ship of a ship that Jonah boards sailing to Tarshish, whose location sea calms and the sailors offer to escape God\u2019s command to is unknown today. However, he a sacrifice to the Lord. God then preach in Nineveh. cannot run from an omnipresent sends a fish to swallow Jonah, God. While Jonah is on the boat, who stays in the belly of the fish Fish or whale An instrument the Lord sends a violent storm. for three days and nights. of God. When the sailors discover that Jonah\u2019s prayer The Ninevites Enemies of Jonah is a Hebrew, and that the While in the fish, Jonah says a Israel whose wickedness has Lord is angry with him, they ask prayer in poetic form similar to that drawn the attention of God. Jonah what to do to calm the of many of the Psalms of lament. He sea. Jonah tells them to throw him into the water. At first, they ignore Jonah\u2019s advice, as they do not want to kill an innocent man, but when their attempts to row back to land fail, they throw him overboard. The","WISDOM AND PROPHETS 167 See also: The Tower of Babel 42\u201343 \u25a0 Sodom and Gomorrah 48\u201349 \u25a0 The Ten Commandments 78\u201383 \u25a0 The Psalms 138\u201343 \u25a0 The Empty Tomb 268\u201371 describes how he has been brought The disobedience of Jonah low, but the power of the Lord will save him, suggesting he is willing Jonah shirks God\u2019s command to preach in Nineveh and flees. to do what is commanded of him. He is angry that God is compassionate toward Nineveh. Jonah appears to allude to the He then asserts his own prophecy and judgment. Psalms in the prayer. He includes the word sheol in Hebrew, which is Jonah is rebuked by God for wanting typically translated in the Psalms, to influence what only He controls. and elsewhere, as the grave, or abode of the dead. Little is known about the ancient concept of sheol, but scholars believe it is a place where the presence of the Lord cannot be felt. Jonah ends the prayer by vowing to reform. Echoing Psalm 3:8, he says: \u201cSalvation comes from the Lord\u201d (Jonah 2:9). After this, the fish spits Jonah out. God\u2019s compassion To teach Jonah a lesson\u2014prophets Through this act, God both forgives Chastised by his experience, Jonah are the messengers of the Lord; and punishes Jonah. But Jonah travels to Nineveh, where he fulfills they are not supposed to punish or remains angry. God then says to God\u2019s command. He tells the sinful act independently\u2014God grows a Jonah, \u201cShould I not have concern Ninevites to repent and prophesies vine (generally thought to be a for the great city of Nineveh, in their destruction. However, when gourd) over Jonah to provide shade which there are more than a they do repent, and the Lord while he waits near Nineveh, but hundred and twenty thousand?\u201d forgives them, Jonah is angry that then commands a worm to eat the (4:10). While Jonah believes God should show mercy to enemies vine, and sends a scorching east salvation should be for the Israelites of Israel and deny his prophecy. wind so that Jonah grows faint. alone, God\u2019s mercy extends to all. \u25a0 He obstinately sits outside the city, waiting for its destruction. Interpretations of the story of Jonah For many, it is puzzling to see also mentions that, just as Jonah A 4th-century mosaic in the a prophet of the Lord being was in the fish for three days, He Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta, disobedient and the enemies will be three days and nights \u201cin Aquileia, Italy, shows Jonah resting of Israel receiving forgiveness. the heart of the earth.\u201d under the gourd vine sent by God. However, God mentions that all nations are under the Lord\u2019s Many readers focus on the dominion and Ezekiel 21 states fish, or whale, but what all the that even Babylon is the tool of interpretations show is the the Lord. In Matthew 12:39\u201341, centrality of repentance and Jesus equates Himself to Jonah: forgiveness. In Judaism, Jonah He applauds that the people of is read during Yom Kippur (Day Nineveh repented, but says that of Atonement) in remembrance of His work will be greater. Jesus God\u2019s forgiveness, even to the enemies of Israel.","168 IN BRIEF LDOAOONFREDYSDOWUTRH?HEAQETUIRE PASSAGE Book of Micah MICAH 6:8, THE PROPHET MICAH THEME Forgiveness through repentence for sinning SETTING c.750\u2013700 bce The Southern Kingdom of Judah. KEY FIGURES Micah A prophet from Moresheth in the Shephelah region of southwest Judah. Jotham King of Judah until 742 bce. Micah\u2019s earliest prophecies are said to date from his reign. Hezekiah King of Judah from 727\u2013698 bce. He repels the Assyrian King Sennacherib\u2019s attempt to destroy Jerusalem in 701 bce, but loses territory and remains a vassal. Hoshea Last king of the Northern Kingdom, Israel. After his reign, the Assyrians destroy the northern capital, Samaria, in 722 bce and deport large parts of the population. F or hundreds of years, the ancient Assyrian Empire, based in the northeast of what is now Iraq, posed a constant threat to smaller, neighboring nations, including the two Israelite kingdoms of Israel and Judah. In 722 bce, during the prophet Micah\u2019s lifetime, the Assyrians destroyed Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and deported the","WISDOM AND PROPHETS 169 See also: The Fall of Jerusalem 128\u201331 \u25a0 The Suffering Servant 154\u201355 \u25a0 Lament for the Exiles 160\u201361 \u25a0 The Birth of Jesus 180\u201385 bulk of its population. In 701 bce, An 1865 engraving of Micah by cause or of an abstract concept of they came close to doing the same Gustave Dor\u00e9. The prophet reproaches justice. Instead, he speaks to the to the Judean kingdom and its the Israelites for idolatry in the days of people on behalf of God. He has capital, Jerusalem, in the south. Jotham and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, holy visions, and is \u201cfilled\u201d with and exhorts the people to repent. God\u2019s power and spirit (Micah 3:8). Micah was from Judah. Unlike the urban aristocrat Isaiah, Micah village of Moresheth, southwest of Micah paints a disturbing was a country dweller from the Jerusalem. Micah was aware of the picture of Judah. He describes how, Assyrian threat to Judah, but his in the early hours of the morning, main concern was the suffering people who are already rich and he saw in the farmsteads, villages, powerful lie in bed plotting ways and small towns of Judah, caused in which to further increase their not by foreign oppressors, but by wealth. The moment dawn breaks, his people\u2019s own rulers and leaders. they start executing their plans, seizing the fields and houses of Inspired by God the poor and weak. Micah describes The book that bears Micah\u2019s name how the women of Judah are driven alternates between threats of doom onto the streets, their children and promises of God\u2019s mercy. As a deprived of a secure home; social prophet, Micah speaks not in his dysfunction and injustice are own name, nor even in the name of a rampant as the rich get away with murder; and the poor and \u276f\u276f The Book of the Twelve The Hebrew Bible\u2019s 12 short Hosea Prophesies to the Northern Kingdom, Israel. writings known as the \u201cMinor Prophets\u201d were kept on a Joel Prophesies after the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple. single scroll and regarded as one book, the Book of the Amos Prophesies to Israel, though he was from Judah. Twelve. These writings clearly reflect the historical context Obadiah Prophesies against the Edomites. in which each prophet was active. Hosea, Amos, and Jonah Disobeys God\u2019s command to prophesy to the city of Nineveh. Micah, for example, are contemporaries of Isaiah, and Micah Prophesies to the Southern Kingdom, Judah. date from the 8th century bce\u2014a time dominated by the Nahum Prophesies against the city of Nineveh. threat of the Assyrian Empire, which destroyed Israel\u2019s Habakkuk Dialogues with God about injustice in the world. capital of Samaria in 722 bce. Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Zephaniah Prophesies to Judah. Nahum prophesied just prior to the fall of Nineveh in 612 Haggai Exhorts returned exiles to finish rebuilding Jerusalem\u2019s temple. bce. By this time, Assyria was in decline and a renewed Zechariah Foretells the coming of a savior or Messiah. Babylon now threatened the southern Kingdom of Judah. Malachi Prophesies a catacylsmic future Day of Judgment.","170 THE PROPHET MICAH Battle scenes depicted on a relief in King Sennacherib\u2019s palace in Nineveh, in present-day northern Iraq, show the conquest of the Judean city of Lachish by the Assyrian Army in 701 bce. vulnerable have no redress. Crying delivers this judgment through in Judah try to silence Micah, out in God\u2019s name, the prophet the foreign, Assyrian oppressor. convinced that his message of compares his nation\u2019s rulers to In Micah\u2019s prophecy, God promises doom is exaggerated. They ask, cannibals \u201cwho eat my people\u2019s to turn Samaria into rubble: \u201cI will \u201cIs not the Lord among us?\u201d (3:11) flesh, strip off their skin, and break pour her stones into the valley and and give bland, empty assurances their bones in pieces\u201d (3:3). lay bare her foundations\u201d (1:6). This that no disaster would befall the reference to the brutal destruction nation. Micah, however, is adamant. Nation of sin of the Northern Kingdom shows Through its sins, the nation is God\u2019s feelings toward the sinful what could also happen to Judah: treating God as an enemy. Judah people of Judah are expressed in an society itself is broken, so judgment could not expect Him to continue alarming vision at the start of the will come from an outside source. to give His protection. Book of Micah, in which, enraged, He comes \u201cfrom his dwelling-place\u201d The sins of Judah are myriad: Repentance and mercy treading the \u201cheights of the earth\u201d; they include idolatry; the rich By Micah\u2019s final chapter, Judah this causes mountains to melt and dispossessing the poor of land and is depicted as a dystopia: a valleys to split asunder (1:3). houses; cheating by merchants society in which \u201cthe powerful and traders; judges who take dictate what they desire\u201d (7:3). Micah warns that the Israelites\u2019 bribes; and thuggery. Religious People cannot trust their neighbors sins have mounted to the point leaders are as venal as the rest, or friends, even spouses have to be where God can no longer ignore with priests teaching \u201cfor a price\u201d careful what they say to each other, them. Divine judgment has and so-called prophets telling and family members turn on each become necessary, and God fortunes for money.Other prophets other and become enemies. Yet judgment alternates with mercy, or the possibility of it, arrived at through repentance. God asks His people to explain themselves: \u201cWhat have I done I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression, to Israel his sin. Micah 3:8","WISDOM AND PROPHETS 171 Your rich people are violent; showed you, O man, what is good,\u201d Who is a God like you, your inhabitants are Micah announces. The answer who pardons sin and liars and their tongues is simple: to \u201cact justly and to love forgives the transgression speak deceitfully. mercy and to walk humbly with of the remnant of his your God\u201d (Micah 6:8). Sincere inheritance? You do not Therefore, I have begun internal repentance reaches God, stay angry for ever but to destroy you, to ruin not empty external displays. delight to show mercy. you because of your sins. Scholarly interpretation Micah 7:18 Micah 6:12\u201313 The Book of Micah is not confined to the words of the prophet alone. message, but provided it with to you? How have I burdened you?\u201d For the ancient Israelites, prophecy a setting. Judgment leading to a (6:3). He reminds them how He was for all time. The words of a change of heart and repentance brought them out of Egypt and prophet would be reflected upon, came to be seen as evidence of into the Promised Land. edited, reinterpreted, and added to God\u2019s love for His people. The final over generations in the light of time verses of Micah, almost certainly a The people do not know how to and unfolding circumstances. Key later addition, show this: \u201cYou will respond. Should they come before later events that affected the text of again have compassion on us; you the Lord with extravagant ritual Micah were the fall of Jerusalem to will tread our sins underfoot and sacrifices: burnt offerings, calves a the Babylonians in 587\u2013586 bce, the hurl all our iniquities into the \u2026 year old, thousands of rams, whole Jews\u2019 subsequent exile in Babylon, sea. You will be faithful to Jacob, rivers of olive oil? They even go as and their return from exile 50 years and show love to Abraham, as you far as to suggest child sacrifice after the fall of the capital. It is thus pledged on oath to our ancestors as a means of regaining God\u2019s impossible to fully disentangle in days long ago\u201d (7:19\u201320). \u25a0 favor. Nothing could be farther Micah\u2019s original prophecies from from God\u2019s mind, however. \u201cHe has later editing and additions. Generally, however, it seems that the messages of doom are Micah\u2019s. Many, but not all, of the messages of hope were added later. The experience of divine mercy in the return from exile did not detract from the prophet\u2019s original stern The Bethlehem Micah prophesies that the Messiah or later), the prophecy was prophecy will be born in Bethlehem. But part of a growing expectation after Jesus\u2019s birth, wise men, or among the Jews that a new magi, arrive in Jerusalem from ruler would emerge to restore the east asking for \u201cthe one who the nation\u2019s greatness. In the has been born king of the Jews.\u201d Micah prophecy, he would be They have seen his star and come a true shepherd under whom to worship him. Puzzled, Jewish Israel would live peacefully. priests and scholars inform them that, according to prophecy, Bethlehem was significant. Israel\u2019s expected savior will It was King David\u2019s birthplace, be born in Bethlehem. suggesting a new ruler from the same royal line, and it was small The magi head to Bethlehem, and rural. For Micah and the where they find the baby Jesus tradition he represented, that and his parents. While it may have was important. Like David, the been elaborated after Micah\u2019s new ruler would be from the time (during the Babylonian exile fringes, not the center of society.","172 NOTTHRAFMUEISSERRTEOAMIFNENLTTAHWHNEETILLLORD ZEPHANIAH 3:17, CALL FOR REPENTANCE IN BRIEF The book probably formed part and the Babylonian exile because of the religious reforms of Josiah, it mentions the \u201cremnant\u201d of Israel PASSAGE who outlawed the non-Yahwistic and gathering those who have been Zephaniah 1\u20133 cults that had sprung up during scattered. It describes how the Lord Assyrian domination of Judah. It will punish Israel\u2019s enemies and THEME calls Judah \u201cyou shameful nation\u201d save the righteous, who are now God\u2019s righteous remnant (2:1) and berates Jerusalem whose purged from sin. Chapter 3:14\u201320, priests \u201cprofane the sanctuary beginning \u201cSing daughter Zion; SETTING and do violence to the Law\u201d (3:4). shout aloud Israel\u201d tells how the 640\u2013609 bce Jerusalem. Lord will remove sorrow and The text, modeled on many punishment from the Israelites. \u25a0 KEY FIGURE other prophecies and structured Zephaniah Prophet in a similar way to other biblical \u2018I will sweep away the birds of Judah. narratives, is about destruction of the air and the fish of and restoration. The people of the sea. The wicked will T he Book of Zephaniah is Judah and its neighbors Philistia, have only heaps of rubble the ninth book within the Moab, Ammon, Cush, and Assyria when I cut off man short prophetic texts called have angered the Lord. Their the Minor Prophets, or the Twelve prophesied destruction on the Day from the face of the earth,\u2019 Prophets. The book was written of Judgment, the \u201cgreat day of the declares the Lord. during the reign of King Josiah Lord,\u201d is described in words that Zephaniah 1:3 (640\u2013609 bce) by, it says, the son centuries later will be turned into of Cushi and a descendant of the somber Latin hymn Dies israe King Hezekiah. This has led (Day of Wrath) used in the mass some scholars to believe that the for the dead. author may have been from Cush in Ethiopia or a descendant of King Rising from the ashes Hezekiah, a former ruler of Judah. The restoration portion of the book begins at Zephaniah 3:9. Some scholars believe this section was written after the fall of Jerusalem See also: The Fall 30\u201335 \u25a0 The Flood 40\u201341 \u25a0 Sodom and Gomorrah 48\u201349 \u25a0 The Fall of Jerusalem 128\u201331 \u25a0 The Final Judgment 316\u201321","WISDOM AND PROPHETS 173 IBSSUUCRRONELMLYIINKTGEH;EAITDFAWUYRILNLACE MALACHI 4, THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT IN BRIEF will prepare the way before me.\u201d covenant with the faithful and Some believe this \u201cmessenger\u201d is states that He will send the prophet PASSAGE Malachi, although the phrase is Elijah\u2014a precursor to the Messiah Malachi 1\u20134 also used by Jesus to describe John in Judaism and to Jesus Christ in the Baptist (Luke 7:27), leading Christianity\u2014before striking the THEME Christian commentators to see the land with \u201ctotal destruction\u201d (4:6). \u25a0 Wrath and judgment promised messenger as Christ. Christ sits above a rainbow in Crispin SETTING Catalogue of rebukes van den Broeck\u2019s The Last Judgment 500\u2013600 bce Judah. The text begins by invoking the (1560), recalling the rainbow that God Genesis story of Jacob and his created as a symbol of his covenant KEY FIGURE brother Esau (see pp. 54\u201355), in with Noah after the Flood. Malachi Prophet of Judah. which Jacob is loved by God, and receives His blessing, while Esau M alachi is the last book of is rejected. This sets the stage for the Minor Prophets, or the the remainder of the text, in which Twelve Prophets, and for God reminds the Israelites of His Christians, it is the last book of the covenants with the ancestors and Old Testament. It is hard to know asks \u201cWhere is the respect due when it was written, but use of me?\u201d (1:6). He rebukes the priests the word pechah (governor) in for not keeping the Law and the 1:8 fits the period after the Persian people for disobedience; taking conquest of Judah (539 bce) and the wives who worship foreign gods; building of the Second Temple. and sacrificing blind, lame, or diseased animals as offerings. Malachi means \u201cmy messenger,\u201d or \u201cangel,\u201d and Malachi says that The book ends with a \u201cGod will send a messenger who proclamation that the Day of the Lord will come, when \u201cevery evil- doer will be stubble\u201d (4:1) to be set on fire. However, God renews His See also: The Flood 40\u201341 \u25a0 Covenants 44\u201347 \u25a0 Esau and Jacob 54\u201355 \u25a0 The Ten Commandments 78\u201383 \u25a0 The Coming of Salvation 189 \u25a0 The Final Judgment 316\u201321","THE GOS","PELS","176 INTRODUCTION The angel Gabriel The magi visit Satan tempts Jesus Jesus delivers the visits Mary and the infant Jesus in the desert after Sermon on the tells her that her with gifts of gold, 40 days of fasting. Mount, and with it, the Lord\u2019s Prayer. child is the frankincense, Son of God. and myrrh. LUKE MATTHEW MATTHEW MATTHEW 1:26\u201338 2:1\u201312 4:1\u201311 5:1\u20137:29 LUKE MATTHEW MARK JOHN 2:1\u20137 3:13\u201317 1:16\u201320 11:38\u201343 Jesus is born Jesus is baptized Jesus calls the first Jesus raises in a stable in by John the of His disciples to Lazarus from Bethlehem. Baptist, beginning follow Him and the dead. His ministry. teach with Him. C hristians first used the occupation of Israel and prophecies conversations with His disciples. Greek word euangelion of a divinely anointed leader, a Through sermons and parables, (\u201cgospel\u201d or \u201cgood news\u201d) Messiah. Although the details Jesus repeatedly called for His to refer to the message of salvation of this expectation varied widely, followers to repent and submit from sin and judgment through popular belief looked for a military- to the coming Kingdom of God. faith in Jesus Christ. By the middle political leader such as Moses of the 2nd century CE, however, or David, who would liberate Disputes between Jesus and it was also used to refer to the Israel from Roman control and Jerusalem\u2019s religious leaders four canonical books of the New reestablish the Davidic monarchy. punctuate the Gospels. In private Testament written in the second Jesus\u2019s claim to be the Messiah and public settings, these leaders half of the 1st century CE. While combined many of these ideas, but show a growing concern over none of the four Gospels names its rejected the establishment of an His fellowship with \u201csinners\u201d author directly, two are traditionally earthly kingdom as His immediate (Jews who did not obey God\u2019s attributed to the Apostles Matthew goal. Instead, it seems Jesus saw commandments) and His seeming and John, and two are associated sin and alienation from God as the blasphemy by claiming a status with the Apostles Peter (Mark) primary enemy to be defeated. equal to God and the authority and Paul (Luke). to forgive sins. Jesus, in turn, All four Gospels relate the rebuked the religious leaders by The central figure in the Gospels miracles that Jesus performed\u2014 cleansing the Temple, warning is Jesus, an itinerant preacher feeding the hungry, healing the against their teaching and the born in Bethlehem and raised in sick, casting out demons, calming example they set, and declaring Nazareth, a small town in Galilee. storms, and even raising the dead. God\u2019s judgment on them. This His life and ministry are set against They also report His teaching, conflict, along with alarm at His the background of the Roman public preaching, and His private popularity, led the religious leaders","In the midst of a Peter, James, and Judas betrays THE GOSPELS 177 great storm, Jesus John witness the Jesus with a kiss walks on water. transfiguration in the Garden of Jesus rises Gethsemane. from the dead of Jesus. after three days. MATTHEW MATTHEW MATTHEW MARK 14:22\u201333 17:1\u201313 26:47\u201349 16:1\u201310 LUKE LUKE MARK MATTHEW 9:10\u201317 22:7\u201338 15:21\u201347 28:16\u201320 Jesus feeds a Jesus gathers His Jesus is Jesus sends His crowd of 5,000 12 disciples crucified, dies disciples to spread with five loaves of together for the alongside two bread and two fish. Last Supper. criminals, and the Christian message to is buried. all nations. to try Jesus for blasphemy, and many of the same events in much different audiences or theological then pressure the Roman governor the same order, often using similar themes present in Jesus\u2019s life and Pilate to crucify Him. or even identical language. Such teaching. While Matthew stresses similarities have led many scholars Jesus\u2019s fulfillment of Old Testament The Gospels all indicate that to the view that one Gospel, and prophecy, Mark depicts Him as Jesus expected His betrayal and possibly other documents, was the \u201cSuffering Servant.\u201d Luke\u2019s crucifixion. This confused His the primary source for the others. account primarily appeals to disciples, who could not grasp Debate about which Gospel was Gentile audiences, while John, how Jesus\u2019s execution could be the written first, the exact nature of whose account is markedly different culmination of God\u2019s plan for the their relationship to one another, from the Synoptic Gospels, often one they regarded as the Messiah. and related issues, are known as elaborates on Christ\u2019s divinity. the \u201cSynoptic problem.\u201d The climax of the Gospels is Scholars have also debated Jesus\u2019s resurrection. Luke and Differences between the the literary genre of the four books. John report the incredulity of the Gospels have also been intensely The traditional view of the Gospels disciples, and how Jesus overcame analyzed. Ancient scholars tended as biographies lost favor among their doubts and prepared them to see these as harmonious rather 20th-century scholars, who pointed for their own mission to preach than contradictory, collectively out that as a genre, biographies the \u201cgood news\u201d to all nations. painting a richer picture of Jesus\u2019s tend to explore the personality, life and teaching than any single psychology, and forming influences Similarities and differences account. Some modern scholars see of their subject. In the Bible, these The first three Gospels\u2014Matthew, the differences as conflicting and aspects are secondary to the Mark, and Luke\u2014are called the evidence of myth-making. Others depiction of Jesus as divine and Synoptic Gospels (literally, \u201clooking see them as an attempt to address the espousal of His teachings. \u25a0 together\u201d) because they relate","178 BWYAOENIAUDLRLRBCAWEOHSONOOMCLNBDEI,AVYNEODIUN IN BRIEF LUKE 1:31, THE ANNUNCIATION PASSAGE T he Gospel of Luke is the Elsewhere in the Gospels\u2014in Luke 1:31 only place in the Bible in Matthew 1:20\u2014Joseph is informed THEME which the announcement by another angel that his wife-to-be The Annunciation to Mary of Jesus\u2019s birth is recorded. is expecting a child of the Lord. SETTING In an event now known as the The angel tells Joseph, who has c.7 bce Nazareth, a town Annunciation, the angel Gabriel been considering breaking his of Galilee. visits a young woman named engagement to Mary because KEY FIGURES Mary in Nazareth and declares she has become pregnant, that Mary A young Galilean that she will soon bear a son. She the pregnancy has been divinely Jewish woman. Luke\u2019s is surprised to hear that she is orchestrated and that he should Gospel traces her lineage going to give birth, as she is a marry her without delay and name from King David. virgin, not yet married to her their child Jesus, which means Joseph Betrothed to Mary betrothed, Joseph. In reassurance, \u201cthe Lord saves.\u201d The significance and, according to Matthew\u2019s the angel Gabriel tells her: \u201cThe of this name is confirmed by the Gospel, a descendant of Holy Spirit will come on you, and angel, who states that \u201che will King David. the power of the Most High will save his people from their sins.\u201d The angel Gabriel God\u2019s overshadow you. So the holy one heavenly messenger and the to be born will be called the Son Davidic inheritance bearer of the Annunciation. of God\u201d (Luke 1:35). One of the most important aspects of Jesus\u2019s birth is His ancestry\u2014 the lineage of both His parents. Although Joseph and Mary are of humble means, they are of noble birth, as descendants of the Israelite King David. This connection is of great significance in Judaic culture and religion, because many Jews at the time expected not only a Messiah but Gabriel appears to Mary in the central panel of this oil on oak triptych. This depiction of the Annunciation was painted by Carlo Crivelli c.1440.","See also: The Birth of Jesus 180\u201385 \u25a0 The Magi 186 \u25a0 Herod\u2019s Infanticide 187 \u25a0 THE GOSPELS 179 The Divinity of Jesus 190\u201393 Mary Angels announce Mary\u2019s conception An obscure young woman Luke\u2019s Gospel Matthew\u2019s Gospel living in Nazareth and focuses on Mary. focuses on Joseph. betrothed to Joseph, Mary rises to everlasting adoration Mary, a virgin, is pledged Mary is pledged to Joseph by the Annunciation of the to marry Joseph. but becomes pregnant. angel Gabriel. Mary humbly accepts her extraordinary Gabriel tells Mary she has Joseph, \u201cson of David,\u201d situation without challenge found favor with God. decides to leave her quietly. and immediately prepares herself to deliver the son of the Gabriel says she will conceive An angel explains that Mary Lord. She gives birth to Jesus a child by the Holy Spirit. conceived by the Holy Spirit. in a stable in Bethlehem. Mary accepts Gabriel\u2019s word Joseph marries Mary but the Mary encourages Jesus and promises to serve God. union is not consummated. to perform His first miracle at Cana. After Jesus leaves home to begin His ministry, Mary rarely appears in the Bible, but she is present at the foot of the cross during the crucifixion and continues to meet with the disciples after this and the resurrection. Mary\u2019s devotion to God is attested to by her psalm of thanksgiving (canticle) in Luke 1:46\u201355. This \u201cSong of Mary\u201d is also called the Magnificat, and is incorporated into the liturgical services of the Catholic Church. It is one of the most ancient of all Christian hymns. Jesus is born in Bethlehem. a Davidic Messiah, or king, who chosen people\u2014and translates The Virgin of Guadalupe, in would deliver them from their as Christos in Greek, hence the a clay wall hanging in Metepec, enemies\u2014at that time, the Romans. English name \u201cJesus Christ.\u201d Mexico. The name dates back to As Isaiah had prophesied: \u201cHe 1851, when a peasant saw a vision will reign on David\u2019s throne and Son of Man of Mary near Villa de Guadalupe. over his kingdom, establishing While the Bible is full of miraculous and upholding it with justice and signs, it is noteworthy that the righteousness\u201d (Isaiah 9:7). means of Jesus coming to earth is genuinely human: through A common name given to Mary\u2019s pregnancy and childbirth. Jesus refers back to this idea of Although Jesus proves Himself to Him as the prophesied savior. be the Son of God, His conception Messiah means \u201canointed one\u201d in Mary by the Holy Spirit makes in Hebrew\u2014that is, Jesus has Him both human and divine. \u25a0 been blessed by God to lead His","A SAVIOR MESSIAHHTOASYOBUE;EHNE IBSOTRHNE THE BIRTH OF JESUS, LUKE 2:11","","182 THE BIRTH OF JESUS IN BRIEF narratives in the Hebrew Bible\u2014 The Nativity scene in Joan Mates\u2019s notably, the story of the birth and Altarpiece of St. James (c.1400) from PASSAGE infancy of the prophet Samuel. Vallespinosa, Spain, depicts a troubled Luke 2:1\u201340 Matthew\u2019s account stresses the Joseph struggling to come to terms fulfillment of Old Testament with the divine birth. THEME prophecies and begins with a Christ\u2019s humble origins genealogy tracing Jesus\u2019s ancestry town\u2019s outskirts. In these unlikely to Abraham through King David. surroundings, Mary gives birth to SETTING a son. Like all mothers of the time, c.6\u20134 bce A cave or barn on The birth of Jesus she wraps her newborn baby with the outskirts of Bethlehem. When the Roman emperor orders swaddling cloths. She then places a census requiring the heads of her child in the only crib available: KEY FIGURES all households to register in their a feeding trough for animals. The Mary A young woman from ancestral communities, Joseph modest birth story of God\u2019s son Nazareth, Galilee. needs to return to the town of serves to indicate how Jesus was Bethlehem. He travels there with born as an ordinary member of Joseph Husband of Mary, a his heavily pregnant wife Mary, mankind\u2014a status that would carpenter, possibly descended finally arriving at an inn. enable Him to establish His close from the royal House of David. relationship with the people of God. Mary and Joseph arrive too Jesus Mary\u2019s newborn baby, late in the evening to find suitable Like the author of Matthew\u2019s who is the Messiah and accommodations\u2014the Greek phrase Gospel, the writer of Luke also Son of God. in Luke 2:7 translates as \u201cthere was places the birth in Bethlehem, no room at the inn\u201d\u2014and they must about 6 miles (10km) south of Three shepherds Herdsmen find makeshift shelter elsewhere: a Jerusalem. This has symbolic watching their sheep through stable, or possibly a cave, on the significance, as it links Jesus with the night near Bethlehem. Simeon An old and devout man in Jerusalem. Anna An 84-year-old widow in Jerusalem. T he story of the birth of Jesus, widely known as the Nativity, is presented as a simple tale in the Gospel of Luke. Probably writing in the early 80s ce, the author draws on earlier written accounts of Jesus\u2019s life alongside oral traditions handed down in various 1st-century Christian communities. It is believed that the author was also highlighting parallels with birth","THE GOSPELS 183 See also: The Prophet Samuel 110\u201315 \u25a0 The Suffering Servant 154\u201355 \u25a0 The Prophet Micah 168\u201371 \u25a0 The Annunciation 178\u201379 \u25a0 The Magi 186 \u25a0 Herod\u2019s Infanticide 187 \u25a0 The Coming of Salvation 189 \u25a0 The Divinity of Jesus 190\u201393 Mary, a Mary and With no Mary gives virgin, becomes Joseph travel to room at the birth to pregnant by the inn, the couple Bethlehem find a stable. Jesus, the Holy Spirit. to register for Messiah. a census. Jesus\u2019s birth The An angel tells demonstrates His humanity, shepherds shepherds news and that His message is for all, express their adoration. of a Savior regardless of wealth born that day. or status. King David, who was also born in as the one that was ordered by own realms. Although still contested, Bethlehem, and with the prophet Quirinius, the Roman governor scholars generally place the birth Micah\u2019s foretelling that a savior, of Syria, in 6\u20137 ce. This census of Jesus between 6\u20134 bce. or Messiah, of David\u2019s line would provoked a revolt among the Jews. be born there. Ascribing Jesus\u2019s However, this does not fit with later The news spreads birthplace to Bethlehem is not references in the Gospels. Both Rejoicing at the birth of Jesus purely symbolic, however, as Luke and Matthew make clear that extends beyond Mary and Joseph. traditions in the early Church also Jesus was born during the reign Just as the birth is preceded in say that Jesus was born there. of King Herod the Great of Judea, Luke\u2019s account by the annunciation who died in 4 bce. Luke may have of the angel Gabriel, who appears Luke\u2019s dating of the birth is confused the census that took place to Mary in her home village of more uncertain. He identifies the under Quirinius with an earlier one Nazareth, so it is followed by an census that obliges Mary and carried out by Herod within his another annunciation. An angel \u276f\u276f Joseph to travel to Bethlehem Joseph is mentioned only in the Joseph does not feature in the Joseph, husband Gospels of Matthew and Luke, ministry of Jesus, perhaps of Mary where he is said to be descended because he had died by then. from King David. This is not He must have died by the time impossible: although a humble of the crucifixion, as John 19:26 carpenter, he might come from states that Mary went to live a minor, impoverished branch with the \u201cdisciple whom He of the former royal house. loved.\u201d From the 2nd century ce, tradition portrayed Joseph as a Matthew\u2019s Gospel\u2014in which widower when he married Mary, an annunciation happens to with children from a previous Joseph rather than Mary\u2014shows marriage. This preserved the a very human figure caught in a doctrine of Mary\u2019s perpetual struggle between his sense of virginity while also helping to justice and his compassion for explain the brothers and sisters Mary. According to Law, Mary, of Jesus mentioned in Mark 6:3 if guilty of adultery, should be and Matthew 13:55\u201356. stoned to death. Unlike Mary,","184 THE BIRTH OF JESUS appears to shepherds in the fields had to deal regularly with animal A Savior has been nearby, as they watch over their carcasses, making them ritually born to you; He is the sheep during the night. The angel unclean in Jewish eyes. Messiah, the Lord. This announces the birth of a \u201cSavior,\u201d will be a sign to you: a word with double significance. Like other marginalized You will find a baby In Jewish minds, it would recall figures in Luke, the shepherds, wrapped in cloths and Moses, who saved the Israelites although initially afraid, are open by leading them out of slavery in and trusting, and their response lying in a manger. Egypt. On another level, it would to the angel is immediate. They Luke 2:11\u201312 also evoke the Roman Emperor hurry off to find the baby, and then Augustus, a self-proclaimed share all that they have heard whereby all firstborn males were \u201csavior\u201d who had brought much- and experienced with Mary and redeemed\u2014effectively, bought back needed peace to the empire. This Joseph. Mary is described as from God\u2014through the payment of child, the angel is saying, born \u201ctreasuring up\u201d the things they money to the religious authorities. in such lowly circumstances and tell her and \u201cpondering\u201d them in This did not necessarily involve announced to such humble people, her heart (Luke 2:19). going to Jerusalem. The second will come to be a savior to all required a mother to go to the of humankind. A humble sacrifice Temple for her ritual purification On the eighth day after the birth, just over a month after childbirth. In the eyes of many at the time, the baby is circumcised, as is There, the mother would make a shepherds would be regarded customary, and named Jesus, sacrificial offering. For those unable as unworthy of receiving a divine meaning \u201cthe Lord saves.\u201d Later, to afford anything more elaborate, revelation. Although King David He is taken to the Temple in this consisted of \u201ca pair of doves started life as a shepherd, and Jerusalem, in an episode which or two young pigeons\u201d (Luke 2:24). kings in the ancient Near East recalls the earlier story in the This is the approach Mary takes, generally liked to describe Hebrew Bible of the young Samuel\u2019s again emphasizing the family\u2019s themselves as shepherds of their presentation by his mother Hannah humble background. people, in everyday life shepherds at the \u201chouse of the Lord\u201d in Shiloh were despised and shunned. (1 Samuel 1:24). Here, Luke seems Blessing the child Spending so much time in the to have conflated two different While they are in the Temple, Mary fields with animals, they were dirty rituals. The first concerns the and Joseph encounter two people, and foul-smelling, and they also redemption of the firstborn, a man named Simeon and a woman called Anna. Luke often pairs men and women in this way, perhaps to indicate that they are equal and complementary before God. Both Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo\u2019s Adoration of the Shepherds (c.1530s) depicts the shepherds and the Virgin Mary bathed in the luminous and symbolic light of the Christ child.","THE GOSPELS 185 Celebrating Christmas are old, righteous, and devout, The traditional place of Christ\u2019s The Bible gives no indication belonging to a recognizable group birth, Bethlehem\u2019s Church of the as to the year of Jesus\u2019s birth, known in the Bible as the \u201cfaithful Nativity, is an important pilgrimage and many leaders of the early remnant,\u201d described by Zephaniah, site for Christians. A silver star marks Church disapproved of marking Malachi, and other prophets. They the supposed birthplace. the event, preferring to honor care passionately about the martyrs on the anniversary of redemption of Jerusalem and Israel. the Latin Bible, Nunc Dimittis. their martyrdom. In spite of Years earlier, God had revealed to this, efforts were made to Simeon arrives first, divine Simeon that he would not die until assign a date to the Nativity, inspiration leading him to the he had seen the promised Messiah. using the seasons as a guide. couple from provincial Galilee. He Now the old man declares that takes the child Jesus in his arms promise has been fulfilled. He can The spring equinox in and utters the song, or canticle, die peacefully, for in the child he March was associated with known by its first two words in holds in his arms he sees God\u2019s creation, the emergence of salvation. This, he proclaims, is new life. This seemed right for This child is destined for the whole world, not just Israel, the date of Jesus\u2019s conception. to cause the falling and saying the child will be \u201ca light for Nine months later came the rising of many in Israel, revelation to the Gentiles\u201d (Luke winter solstice\u2014December 25, and to be a sign that will 2:32). This universalism is another in the Julian calendar of the be spoken against, so that characteristic of the Gospel of Luke, time. In Rome this was also the thoughts of many which was written chiefly for a the feast of the invincible sun, hearts will be revealed. Christian audience from a Gentile, Sol Invictus, the turning point rather than a Jewish, background. at which light starts to drive Luke 2:34\u201335 back darkness. Jesus had long Simeon then adds two warnings: been identified as the \u201cSun of people\u2019s responses to Jesus will be righteousness\u201d; the symbolism mixed. Not all shall welcome Him; was compelling and the date many will reject Him. In an aside gradually gained acceptance. to Mary, he tells her that a sword There is evidence that, by will one day pierce her soul. This 336 ce, the feast of the Nativity\u2014 may be a foretelling of Mary\u2019s later Christmas\u2014was already being sufferings at the crucifixion, or it celebrated liturgically in Rome may refer to her need, when the on December 25. Within a century, the holy festival had become widespread. adult Jesus embarks upon His public ministry, to let go of her son for the greater good. Anna, an 84-year-old widow, joins the group, also recognizing that the child is the one promised by God. She gives loud thanks for what she is seeing. Having fulfilled all that is required of them and their baby by \u201cthe Law of the Lord\u201d, and marveling at what they have seen and heard, Mary and Joseph set off home to Nazareth. The child Jesus grows and becomes strong, \u201cfilled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him\u201d (Luke 2:40). \u25a0","186 HGTAHINOMEDLYDWM,\u2026IYFTRRHRAPGNHRIKEFSITNESCNEOTNFESDE, MATTHEW 2:11, THE MAGI IN BRIEF A lthough divination was forbidden in the Jewish PASSAGE scriptures, it was common Matthew 2:1\u201312 in other Greco-Roman and ancient Near Eastern societies. Magi THEME were respected professionals, who Glorification of the studied the constellations and then Messiah interpreted the movements of the stars as divine portents. SETTING 6\u20134 bce During the reign of A new king The Adoration of the Magi by King Herod. The Judean cities The journey of the magi is recorded Quentin Matsys shows the magi with of Bethlehem and Jerusalem. only in Matthew\u2019s Gospel. In his a huge retinue. None of the Gospels account, the magi travel from the suggest this was the case. KEY FIGURES east to Judea searching for the Herod King of Judea, newly born \u201cking of the Jews.\u201d and myrrh. Finally, on account notorious for the ruthless On hearing of the magis\u2019 quest, of a dream warning them against elimination of his enemies. King Herod is alarmed by the returning to Jerusalem, they potential threat to his rule. When journey back home to the east. Magi Astrologers from the his chief priests tell him that the east who come to worship the Christ is to be born in Bethlehem, The story of the magi shows newborn Jesus in Bethlehem. he tells the magi to go to that city that Jesus is not only fulfilling and return with the exact location Jewish prophecies but also Mary The mother of Jesus of the baby, on the pretense that Gentile predictions. As such, and wife of Joseph. he wishes to pay his respects. Jesus is depicted as a divinely chosen ruler whom all peoples Joseph The adoptive father The magi follow a unique star and nations should glorify. \u25a0 of Jesus and husband of Mary. to Bethlehem and find Jesus with His mother, Mary. Overjoyed, the Jesus The son of Mary and magi kneel down before the child the adopted son of Joseph, and offer gifts of gold, frankincense, who is the Messiah and Son of God. See also: The Birth of Jesus 180\u201385 \u25a0 Herod\u2019s Infanticide 187 \u25a0 The Council of Jerusalem 292\u201393","THE GOSPELS 187 IHKNEILBGLEAATVLHELLOETRHHDEEMEBROSYTSO MATTHEW 2:16, HEROD\u2019S INFANTICIDE IN BRIEF T he first two chapters in The author builds on these the Gospel of Matthew connections between Jesus and PASSAGE recount the early years the Exodus story by proclaiming Matthew 2:13\u201318 of Jesus\u2019s life. In each scene, the that Jesus\u2019s stay in Egypt fulfills author calls on the words of the a text in Hosea in which God calls THEME prophets, including Jeremiah and His son out of Egypt: \u201cWhen Israel Persecution Hosea, to demonstrate how Jesus was a child, I loved him, and out of is the anticipated Messiah. Egypt I called my son\u201d (Hosea 11:1). SETTING The original passage referred to 6\u20134 bce During the reign of Exodus reinterpreted God rescuing the people of Israel King Herod. Judea and Egypt. Worried about a prediction that from slavery in Egypt. The author his royal replacement, the Christ, of Matthew\u2019s Gospel reinterprets KEY FIGURES has been born in Bethlehem, Herod the divine claim, making Jesus the Herod King of Judea, orders the killing of all babies Son of God. \u25a0 appointed by the Romans, under the age of 2 in the city. In a who also called him \u201cKing moment of divine intervention, an Escape to Egypt. Stay of the Jews.\u201d angel appears to Joseph and urges there until I tell you, for him to flee with Mary and Jesus. Herod is going to search Joseph The adoptive father Following the angelic command, for the child to kill him. of Jesus and husband of Mary. Joseph resettles his family in Egypt. They do not return to Judea Matthew 2:13 The angel A divine until after the death of King Herod messenger who warns several years later. Joseph of King Herod\u2019s plot to kill the infant Jesus. The king\u2019s actions mirror those of Pharaoh in the Exodus story, who also ordered mass infanticide. Like Moses, Jesus flees from the land of His birth after a king threatens His life, but later returns to become an influential religious teacher. See also: Moses and the Burning Bush 66\u201369 \u25a0 The Ten Plagues 70\u201371 \u25a0 The Exodus 74\u201377 \u25a0 The Prophet Micah 168\u201371 \u25a0 The Birth of Jesus 180\u201385","188 IDFAHIDTANHD\u2019ETTRYO\u2019SOBUHEOKIUNNSOMEW?Y LUKE 2:49, A CHILD IN THE TEMPLE IN BRIEF E very year, Jesus and His three-day absence from His family parents travel to Jerusalem anticipates His three days in the PASSAGE for the feast of Passover. grave after His death, and the Luke 2:41\u201351 One year, when Jesus is 12 years combination of the Passover setting old, He stays in Jerusalem after and Jesus\u2019s claim to be the Son THEME His parents have set out for home. of God allude to the Exodus, in Jesus reveals His Thinking their son is among their which Israel is also called God\u2019s divine lineage fellow travelers, Mary and Joseph son (Exodus 4:22). Such devices, do not realize He is missing until and the fact that this is the only SETTING a whole day has passed, at which depiction of Jesus\u2019s adolescence c.6\u20137 ce Jerusalem. point they return to Jerusalem to in the Gospels, lead some scholars look for Him. After three days of to view the episode as theological KEY FIGURES searching, they find Him debating fiction rather than historical fact, Jesus The 12-year-old son with the rabbis in the Temple. the main purpose of which is to of Mary and adopted son of highlight Jesus\u2019s divinity. \u25a0 Joseph, who is also the Everyone who listens to Jesus is Messiah and Son of God. amazed by Him, but Mary rebukes In William Holman Hunt\u2019s highly her son. In an instant, Jesus turns symbolic The Finding of the Savior in Mary and Joseph Devout from His debate with the rabbis to the Temple (1860), a blind rabbi (bottom Jews from Nazareth, identified address His mother: \u201cWhy were you left) clutches the Torah as though he as the earthly mother and searching for me? Didn\u2019t you know and his religion are under threat. adoptive father of Jesus. I had to be in my Father\u2019s house?\u201d (Luke 2:49). Jesus\u2019s reply confuses The rabbis The teachers of His parents, who do not understand the scriptures, who gathered that He is revealing His knowledge in the Jerusalem Temple to of His divine lineage. debate points of Mosaic Law. The author\u2019s use of dramatic irony was probably intended to amuse early Christian readers of Luke. Other literary devices include foreshadowing and allusion: Jesus\u2019s See also: The Exodus 74\u201377 \u25a0 The Annunciation 178\u201379 \u25a0 The Birth of Jesus 180\u201385 \u25a0 The Magi 186 \u25a0 The Coming of Salvation 189","THE GOSPELS 189 PFORREPTAHREELTOHREDWAY LUKE 3:4, THE COMING OF SALVATION IN BRIEF J ohn the Baptist was a Jewish The ax is \u2026 at the root prophet who heralded Jesus of the trees, and every tree PASSAGE in the Gospel of Luke. In Luke that does not produce good Luke 3:1\u201318 3, John goes out into the country and calls the people to repent and fruit will be cut down. THEME be forgiven. He baptizes those Luke 3:9 The prophecy fulfilled who accept his message in the River Jordan. he is not worthy to untie the sandal SETTING of the one who is to come. He says c.26 ce The country around The author of Luke presents that while he baptizes with water, the River Jordan. John\u2019s actions as the fulfillment of the one more powerful than him a prophecy in the Book of Isaiah. will baptize with the Holy Spirit KEY FIGURES John quotes Isaiah 40:3, in which and fire. John concludes his John the Baptist Son of a voice in the wilderness exhorts message with an image of Christ Elizabeth and Zechariah. listeners to prepare the way for as a winnower, separating the A prophet who baptizes Jesus the Lord. They are to make the wheat from chaff and burning the and is later beheaded by path straight, level, and smooth, chaff with unquenchable fire (3:17), King Herod. and then all will see the coming of symbolizing the Final Judgment. God\u2019s salvation. Although Isaiah\u2019s John hopes that all will hear the Isaiah An ancient Israelite prophecy spoke first about God\u2019s news of the coming Christ, repent, prophet, to whom the Book rescue of the Israelites from exile in and be saved. \u25a0 of Isaiah is ascribed. Babylon, the Gospel of Luke reports that John the Baptist interpreted it Jesus The Messiah and Son to have a further fulfillment in his of God in the period before own ministry. He begins His ministry. Baptism by fire In the next scene, the followers of John begin to wonder if he is the Christ. John affirms his role as messianic precursor, declaring that See also: The Suffering Servant 190\u201393 \u25a0 The Divinity of Jesus 190\u201393 \u25a0 The Baptism of Jesus 194\u201397 \u25a0 The Empty Tomb 268\u201371","190 IN BRIEF HBTAAHIENMSCEDOADNWMMWGAOEEDURLFESDLLIENSGH PASSAGE John 1:1\u201318 JOHN 1:14, THE DIVINITY OF JESUS THEME The Incarnation SETTING c.24\u201327 ce Roman Palestine KEY FIGURES John Author of the fourth Gospel in the New Testament. The Word John\u2019s title for Jesus, emphasizing His divine nature. F or Christians, Jesus of Nazareth is the central figure in the Bible. Although prophets, priests, and kings have come before Him, none taught as He did, nor provoked such loyalty and hostility. Jesus\u2019s life, teaching, death, and resurrection are the substance of Christian teaching. Word of God The Gospel of John is the last of the four Gospels to be written. One of the main concerns in the Apostle John\u2019s New Testament writings, which include the epistles of 1\u20133 John, is to encourage those who believe in Jesus that He is the Son of God. It begins like Genesis 1 with the creation of the world. Just as Genesis 1 assumes the existence of God, \u201cIn the beginning God \u2026\u201d and goes on to assert that this God is the creator, \u201cand God said, \u2018Let there be light,\u2019\u201d John opens with, \u201cIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God \u2026","See also: The Exodus 74\u201377 \u25a0 The Suffering Servant 154\u201355 \u25a0 The Crucifixion THE GOSPELS 191 258\u201365 \u25a0 The Empty Tomb 268\u201371 \u25a0 The Coming of Salvation 301 Awaiting the Messiah Fra Angelico\u2019s fresco Christ the Judge Amongst the Angels, from the The prophet Isaiah had Chapel of San Brizio, Orvieto, Italy, predicted that the Messiah shows Christ presiding in judgment would be born to a virgin and on a heavenly throne. be called \u201cImmanuel\u201d (Isaiah 7:14), meaning \u201cGod with us.\u201d All things came into being through Word became flesh, and dwelt In the New Testament, the Him.\u201d The foundation of all things, among us \u2026\u201d and God exhibited author of the Gospel of John according to John, was the Word, His glory as His \u201cone and only\u201d Son. reports how John the Baptist, who was in some sense God, and proclaiming Jesus\u2019s higher yet somehow distinct from God. John the Apostle\u2019s claim that rank, says, \u201cHe was before Jesus was also the creator did not me\u201d (John 1:15). The In John 1:14\u201318, the Apostle arise with his Gospel nor was the implication is that Jesus, who returns to the connection he made realization that Jesus was, and was younger than John the between the divine Word and claimed to be, something more Baptist, existed eternally. creation. John declares that \u201cthe than a Galilean carpenter or a preacher a late invention. Jesus\u2019s The other Gospels report behavior itself implies divinity. that even during Jesus\u2019s The first three Gospels portray Him lifetime, people see and hear acting in ways that parallel God\u2019s things about Him that are interventions in the Old Testament, extraordinary. When Herod such as feeding the 5,000 with hears that magi from the east loaves and fish (God feeds the are visiting the infant Jesus, Israelites in the wilderness) and \u276f\u276f he sees the child as a threat and asks his chief priests \u201cwhere the Messiah was to be born\u201d (Matthew 2:4). The Messiah would The Messiah would be an A messenger be betrayed. heir to King David\u2019s throne. would prepare the Psalm 41:9 way for the Messiah. 2 Samuel 7:12\u201313 The Messiah would die Isaiah 40:3\u20135 for our sins by crucifixion. Jesus fulfills The Messiah would these prophecies speak in parables. Isaiah 53:5\u201312 and thus proves He is the Messiah. Psalm 78:2\u20134 The Messiah would be resurrected. Matthew 28:2\u20137","192 THE DIVINITY OF JESUS St. Simeon stilling storms (as God does in Christ was not \u2026 a being Jonah when the prophet runs half human and half not, Eight days after His birth, away to sea). like a centaur, but both Mary and Joseph present things at once and both Jesus for circumcision at the Matthew, Mark, and Luke\u2019s things thoroughly, very Temple in Jerusalem. Luke\u2019s Gospels also report incidents in Gospel tells how an elderly which several religious leaders man and very God. priest, Simeon, who was understand Jesus to be claiming G.K. Chesterton longing for the coming of divine status. Most famously, the Israel\u2019s Messiah, is in the night before His crucifixion, Jesus rabbis\u2019 criticism by equating God\u2019s Temple courts that day (Luke faces a trial before a large group of work with His own, calling God His 2:25\u201335). God had promised religious leaders. They demand to Father, and making Himself equal Simeon that he would not die know if He is the Christ, the Son with God. In another dispute, Jesus until he had seen the Messiah. of God. Jesus affirms that He is, states that \u201cbefore Abraham was, Led by the Holy Spirit, Simeon saying they will see Him \u201csitting I AM,\u201d thus making a claim to takes the infant Jesus in his at the right hand of the Mighty preexist Abraham (John 8:58). arms and blesses Him. In One, and coming on the clouds The rabbis understand these Simeon\u2019s Song, he praises of heaven\u201d (Matthew 26:64). words, but deny their truth, and God for keeping His promise, pick up stones to kill Jesus for both to him and to Israel. The Apostle Paul, preaching blasphemy. Later, when pressed He identifies Jesus as the across the Roman Empire after to declare if He is the Messiah, salvation for both Israel and Jesus\u2019s death, writes that Jesus is Jesus says, \u201cI and the Father for the world. divine. He refers to Jesus as God are One\u201d (John 10:30), echoing twice in his letters and calls Jesus Deuteronomy 6:4\u2014\u201cHear O Israel, Simeon\u2019s expectation \u201cLord,\u201d a Hebrew term for God. Paul the Lord our God, the Lord is echoed the universal scope anticipates John\u2019s teaching that all One\u201d\u2014but replacing the second expressed by Isaiah, who talks things are created through Jesus \u201cLord\u201d with \u201cI and the Father.\u201d of the Israelites being a \u201clight (1 Corinthians 8:6) and insists that for the Gentiles\u201d (Isaiah 49:6). Jesus possesses every attribute of Salvation would come first divinity (Colossians 1:19, 2:9), such to the Jews, but would not as omnipotence, eternality, and be for them alone. God\u2019s omnipresence. plan was to save people from all nations. The praise in John\u2019s evidence Simeon\u2019s Song anticipates The Gospel of John provides the an important theme in Luke\u2019s most explicit case for Jesus\u2019s Gospel and in Acts\u2014the divinity. After healing a man on salvation of the wider world. the Sabbath day, Jesus answers the Fully man, fully God Humanity Deity The Chalcedonian Spatial, Omnipresent, Creed asserts that temporal eternal, infinite Jesus Christ has existence, subject existence, with two natures\u2014 to birth, life, human and divine. and death power over Each is complete life and death and distinct, yet \u201cnot parted or divided\u201d into two persons.","THE GOSPELS 193 The supreme act in support of insisted that Jesus could really be The Christ the Redeemer statue Jesus\u2019s claim to be divine is His God because He was the Father in on the Corcovado mountain in Rio resurrection. After His execution disguise. Later teachers affirmed de Janeiro was built in the 1920s, by the Romans for being a rebel, the humanity and deity of Jesus, reputedly in response to a rising Jesus\u2019s resurrection would have but struggled to find a consistent tide of godlessness in the city. stood as God\u2019s vindication of explanation for how He could be Jesus\u2019s words and deeds. When both. In the 5th century some The doctrine of the incarnation Thomas finally sees the resurrected teachers affirmed that Jesus had a arose as a recognition of the Jesus, he addresses Him as \u201cMy human body and soul, but that the validity of Jesus\u2019s claim to be God; Lord and my God\u201d (John 20:28). divine Word took the place of His an assertion vindicated by His human spirit. Others taught that resurrection. Yet it also protected The incarnation the human and divine had merged Christianity from the possibility of Jesus of Nazareth is a man who in Jesus, and that He was neither a fatal internal contradiction. Jesus eats and sleeps, yet He also claims purely divine nor human. accepted worship as God from His to be God. Affirming these two followers and commanded them ideas together is the doctrine of the In 451 ce, Church leaders at to trust in Him for their salvation. incarnation: the Word becoming the Council of Chalcedon in Turkey If Jesus were not God, then His flesh. Some early teachers tried to affirmed that Jesus possessed two followers were guilty of idolatry, resolve this paradox by saying natures, one divine and the other an offense for which there was no Christ was fundamentally human, human, in His one person. Each atoning sacrifice under the Law of but had been \u201cadopted\u201d as God\u2019s of these natures was complete, Moses. But worship of and trust in Son. Others, affirming the genuine not lacking any attribute proper Jesus would not be idolatry if Jesus deity of Jesus, taught that He only to being either divine or human. were God, and salvation in His \u201cseemed\u201d to be human. Yet others The Chalcedonian Creed became name would not be blasphemy. \u25a0 the affirmation of the incarnation.","194 IN BRIEF WWWTHIHEITLSOHLMISHPIILMMLEYOAIVSSAEEOM;DN, PASSAGE Matthew 3:13\u201317 MATTHEW 3:17, THE BAPTISM OF JESUS THEME The beginning of Christ\u2019s ministry SETTING c.26\u201327 ce Judean countryside, alongside the River Jordan. KEY FIGURES Jesus The Messiah and Son of God, who travels from Galilee to the River Jordan to be baptized by John and commence His ministry. John the Baptist A dedicated holy man and preacher who baptizes Jesus, then steps aside to make way for His ministry. N ear the beginning of the Gospel according to Matthew, at the start of the New Testament, Jesus undergoes a baptism (ritual washing by immersion in water) at the hands of a man named John the Baptist. Such is the significance of this event\u2014because it marks the beginning of Jesus\u2019s ministry\u2014that it is mentioned in all four Gospels of the New Testament. In addition to Matthew 3, referenced here, Mark 1 and Luke 3 both give full details of the baptism, while in John 1, it is discussed in passing.","THE GOSPELS 195 See also: The Temptations of Christ 198\u201399 \u25a0 The Transfiguration 234\u201335 \u25a0 The Crucifixion 258\u201365 \u25a0 The Empty Tomb 268\u201371 \u25a0 The Great Commission 274\u201377 Baptisms in the New Testament Baptism by John (Matthew 3:6) Baptism of Jesus (Mathew 3:13\u201317) Baptism by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:12\u201313; Galatians 3:27) Baptism with fire (Luke 3:16) Baptizing believers (Acts 2:41; 8:36) Baptism of the Israelites (1 Corinthians 10:1\u20132) This detail from The Baptism of Christ, by A.H. Philippe Sauvan- Baptism for the dead (1 Corinthians 15:29) Magnet, c.1500, shows John pouring water over Jesus\u2019s head. Matthew\u2019s account suggests He was submerged. According to Luke (3:23), Jesus knows that Jesus is the Messiah. of John\u2019s baptism is a \u201cbaptism of is about 30 years old at the time John exclaims: \u201cI need to be repentance for the forgiveness of the baptism. He travels to the baptized by You, and do You come of sins\u201d (Mark 1:4). However, as the River Jordan from Galilee to meet to me?\u201d (Matthew 3:14). Reassured New Testament confirms, Jesus with John. The latter has gained a by Jesus that there is no mistake, was completely without sin\u2014Paul reputation for the act\u2014exhorting John then lowers Jesus into the writes in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that local people to confess and repent waters and baptizes Him. \u201cGod made Him who had no sin to of their sins, and then washing be sin for us.\u201d Jesus therefore has them clean in the water of the river. Purpose of the act nothing to repent for, yet still asks Biblical scholars have long debated for baptism. The general consensus When the two men first meet, the precise significance of this is that, in this case, the act of John is surprised by Jesus\u2019s event, since the stated purpose cleansing is merely symbolic. \u276f\u276f request to be baptized, because he John the Baptist Like Jesus, John the Baptist is austere and hermitic life in the born in miraculous circumstances. desert. He preaches a message In Luke (1:5\u201323), an angel of the advocating both confession and Lord visits Zechariah, an aged repentance, and offers baptism priest, and his barren wife in the River Jordan to all who Elizabeth. He announces that they heed him. John speaks, above will have a son and that he will all, of a \u201cgreater one\u201d who will become a great man of God. Such come after him\u2014the Messiah is Zechariah\u2019s disbelief at this prophesied in the scriptures. revelation\u2014owing to their age\u2014 that God strikes him dumb. John\u2019s preaching ultimately leads to his downfall, when Zechariah recovers his speech he warns King Herod against when Elizabeth gives birth to marrying his brother\u2019s wife. The their son, John. Luke confirms king marries her anyway, but that the birth occurs just months she never forgives John, and prior to that of Jesus (1:36). John John is eventually beheaded on becomes a preacher, living an the whim of her daughter, Salome.","196 THE BAPTISM OF JESUS Some scholars debate whether or in a series of tests that resonate The dove of the Holy Spirit in not John knew before he baptized with universal human desires and this 14th-century fresco by Giusto Him that Jesus was the Messiah. concerns. Jesus maintains His de\u2019 Menabuoi, in the Baptistery in According to Luke\u2019s account, as resolve\u2014His baptism has been Padua, is a symbol of renewal, like the Jesus comes up out of the river, successful\u2014and He returns to dove sent out by Noah after the Flood. the heavens above Him open society to begin preaching to the and \u201cthe Holy Spirit descended people and working miracles. historical records, that John the on Him in bodily form like a dove\u201d Baptist lived at the same time as (Luke 3:22). A voice from heaven Historical ramifications Jesus. The 1st-century historian simultaneously booms out: \u201cThis The baptism of Jesus is one of five Flavius Josephus attested to the is my Son, whom I love; with Him key events in the Gospel narrative existence of John the Baptist at the I am well pleased\u201d (Matthew 3:17). of the life of the Messiah. The other same time as Jesus in his work John\u2019s Gospel suggests John did four are: the Transfiguration; the Antiquities of the Jews. He stated not know who was in front of him Crucifixion; the Resurrection; and that John\u2019s ministry began around until he saw the dove: \u201cAnd I myself Jesus\u2019s Ascension into heaven. 28\u201329 ce, shortly before that of the did not know Him, but the one who Nearly all denominations of Messiah, and most modern sent me to baptize with water told Christianity celebrate the event, theologians accept this view. me, \u2018The man on whom you see the and the baptism of Jesus shaped Spirit come down and remain is the Christian rite of baptism that Once he has baptized Jesus, the one who will baptize with the is practiced worldwide to this day. John the Baptist\u2019s popularity as Holy Spirit\u2019\u201d (John 1:33). John a preacher begins to wane. This claims to have decided to baptize The majority of theologians is largely due to people beginning Jesus simply because then the man assign a high degree of certainty to follow Jesus instead of him. \u201cmight be revealed to Israel\u201d (1:31). to the actuality of Jesus\u2019s baptism, John\u2019s response to this change using it as a starting point from in his circumstances is typical of The affirmations of God and which to assert Jesus\u2019s historicity. his renowned humility, as well as John the Baptist, made in front of It is also highly likely, based on affirming his role as a precursor the witnessing crowd, both confirm that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah. He is symbolically cleansed in order to commence His ministry and is now ready to encounter the forces of darkness. Immediately after the baptism, Jesus goes into the desert, where He fasts for 40 days. Here, He is tempted by Satan (Matthew 4), He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Matthew 3:11","Methods of baptism THE GOSPELS 197 Denomination Sprinkling Pouring Immersion Do Not Baptism Baptize Adventist The Christian rite of baptism\u2014 Anglican which consists of sprinkling or Baptist pouring water on a person\u2019s Roman Catholic forehead or immersing them Eastern Orthodox in water\u2014symbolizes spiritual Episcopalian and physical purification. Methodist The rite of baptism confers Presbyterian an individual\u2019s admission to Quaker the Christian Church. Before United Church His Ascension, Jesus bids his of Christ disciples to \u201cmake disciples of all nations, baptizing them\u201d to Christ. In John 3:30, John states: times, to symbolize Jesus\u2019s death (Matthew 28:19). \u201cHe [Jesus] must become greater; and resurrection; others favour I must become less.\u201d sprinkling or pouring to represent In many denominations, the Holy Spirit descending from baptism is performed on very Holy waters above. Some Christians believe young children, accompanied Most scholars agree that the that baptism is a sacrament that by name giving. The doctrine baptism took place near the Jordan is necessary for salvation; other of original sin, propounded River, in the countryside of Roman groups, such as Lutheran by St. Paul and developed by Judea. Some accounts suggest that Protestants, associate baptism the early Church, made the the immersion was conducted in with spiritual regeneration. \u25a0 baptism of infants, who might one of the many desert springs die suddenly or unexpectedly, or waterholes in the area, rather Heaven was opened and of vital importance. The early than in the river itself. Specific he saw the Spirit of God church frowned upon the references in the book of John descending like a dove. practice of \u201cbaptism of the point to the town of Bethany on dead,\u201d in which a living person the eastern bank of the Jordan Matthew 3:16 was baptized on behalf of River, near Jericho (1:28), or to the deceased. the settlement of Aenon near Salim \u201cbecause there was plenty Today, some Christian of water, and people were coming denominations, including and being baptized.\u201d (3:23). Baptists, do not baptize children, on the grounds Given the meaning of the word that the basis for baptism is baptize\u2014\u201cto dip\u201d\u2014many Christian a credible profession of faith. denominations insist upon baptism Other groups, including by total immersion, often three Quakers, view baptism as an unnecessary ritual.","198 HMJEIEMS,,US\u201cSAATWSAANAIY!D\u201dFTROOM MATTHEW 4:10, THE TEMPTATIONS OF CHRIST IN BRIEF of his challenges with the words He worships him. Again, Jesus \u201cIf you are the son of God\u201d (Psalm refuses, saying that only God should PASSAGE 91:11, 12), and Jesus to assert His be worshipped. In Matthew, Jesus Matthew 4:1\u201311; Mark divinity: \u201cDo not put the Lord your then cries: \u201cAway from me, Satan!\u201d 1:12\u201313; Luke 4:1\u201313 God to the test\u201d (Deuteronomy 6:16). The encounter is described in Even though Jesus never tells THEME Matthew, Mark, and Luke, although Satan that He is the Son of God, Resisting temptation Mark mentions it in only two verses it is implied that He is not only (Mark 1:12\u201313). Applying the God\u2019s Son, but also the embodiment SETTING scholarly assumption that Mark of God on earth. The Gospels c.26\u201327 ce The Judean is the oldest Gospel, it is likely that suggest that while humans would Desert, near the Dead Sea. Matthew and Luke expanded on succumb to the temptation of the stories using a source known KEY FIGURES as Q\u2014named for the German Christ in the Wilderness (1872), Jesus The Messiah and Son Quelle, meaning source. by Russian artist Ivan Kramskoi, of God at the start of His emphasizes the human in the divine, ministry, recently baptized Satan speaks depicting a figure pondering the heavy by John the Baptist. In all three Gospels, Jesus is sent responsibilities that await Him. or led to the desert by the \u201cSpirit.\u201d Satan The accuser and There, after 40 days and 40 nights tempter, whom early of fasting, Jesus is suddenly Christians later identify as confronted by Satan, who poses the serpent in the Garden of three questions to Him. Eden and the great dragon of Revelation. He first asks Jesus to sate His hunger by turning stone to bread. T he temptations of Jesus In reply, Jesus tells him that man in the wilderness are a shall not live on bread alone. Then theological battle between Satan asks Jesus to demonstrate Jesus and Satan. Both figures quote the extent of His power by throwing the Old Testament\u2014Satan to taunt Himself from a mountain so that Jesus into proving that He is the angels can save Him. Jesus refuses, promised Messiah, beginning each telling him not to put the Lord your God to the test. Finally, Satan tells Jesus he will give Him the world if"]