Scriptural accuracy, spelling, or grammar the wisdom of the wise

THE WISDOM OF GOD

THE LORD’S PRAYER: GOD’S HOLINESS

The six request to God:

1. 
   Hallowed be your name,
   
2. 
   Your kingdom come,
   
3. 
   Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
   
4. 
   Give us this day our daily bread;
   
5. 
   And forgive us our debts, as we also HAVE FORGIVEN our debtors;
   
6. 
   And led us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
   

The first three are called “Thou petitions” in that they focus on the eagle-eye view, the metanarrative and remind the worshiper that he or she is a part of the great sweep of history. These are the great lofty themes of”

1. 
   Making holy the name of God
   
2. 
   The coming of the kingdom of God [Luke 17:21 the infilling of the Holy Spirit]
   
3. 
   The fulfilling of the will of God
   

The prayer then focuses on the contemporary world of the worshiper with his or her specific needs. We will call these “Our petitions” and they focus on:

4. 
   Our daily bread
   
5. 
   Our forgiveness by God according to our forgiveness of others
   
6. 
   Our being free from evil
   

Each of these six petitions involves an act of God, and each specifies or implies participation on the part of the believer in Jesus. That is, each will involve the sovereignty of God and the freedom and responsibility of the human person who is praying:

GOD’S PART MY PART

1. 
   God makes his own name holy. And I am expected to live a holy life.
   
2. 
   God brings in the kingdom. And by receiving the Holy Spirit it comes.
   
3. 
   God fulfills His will. And I am to obey His will in my daily life.
   
4. 
   God gives the gift of daily bread. And I must work to earn it.
   
5. 
   God forgives if I ask Him to. And I must forgive in order to receive it.
   
6. 
   God guides me away from evil if I listen. And I must live daily a life of righteousness.
   

“The Lord’s Prayer is the clearest and richest summary of Jesus’ proclamation”. Jeremias

THE WISDOM OF GOD

HALLOWED BE YOUR NAME

In Ezekiel 36:16-23 Israel is told that it had defiled the land by shedding blood and worshiping idols. God then drove the people out of the Promise Land, and in the process God ‘own holy name was defiled in the eyes of the Gentiles / nations because God seemed to be too weak to save them. The concept that God makes his own name holy is summarized in Ezekiel 20:41-42 which reads, “I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. And you shall know that I am the Lord – (YHVH =Yeshua (Jesus), when I bring you into the land of Israel.”

“…and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in the world which is to come.” Ephesians 1:21 Peshitta text

THE LORD’S PRAYER: GOD’S KINGDOM AND OUR BREAD

Now we will look at the second and third request, which are:

Let it come – your kingdom,

Let it be done – your will.

Three Kingdom Paradoxes

1. 
   The first paradox is the kingdom has already come in the person of Jesus but we also find that the kingdom of God is still in the future. Jesus tells his opponents, “If it is by the finger of God I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Luke 11:20). This text affirms that the kingdom is already here. At the same time in the Lord’s Prayer, we are told to pray “Thy kingdom come,” which looks to a future that has not yet taken place. So the kingdom is both “now” and “not yet.” See Acts 2 IT CAME
   
2. 
   The second paradox affirms that the kingdom of God is near and yet far away. Jesus tells the parable about the man who calls his servant together, gives each of them a sum of money and tells them to get to work. This shows that even though the kingdom of God is within a person, we still look for the literal kingdom to come when the King returns.
   
3. 
   The third paradox is that in Luke 21:5-36 Jesus describes signs of the coming of the kingdom and then tells his disciples that they can never determine the time of the coming of the kingdom because “only the Father” knows such mysteries (Matthew 24:36). Jesus and the angels are not given these secrets (Mark 13:32).
   

THE WISDOM OF GOD

THE DEFINITION GIVEN

By definition, a paradox affirms the truth of two opposing ideas that cannot logically be reconciled. Such truth is greater than either of the two sides of the paradox. To summarize, the kingdom of God gives purpose and direction to history. In the New Testament the kingdom is affirmed to have come and yet it lies in the future. It is just about to happen and yet it is still far off. There are signs, but the timing of the fulfillment of the kingdom is to us unknown and also unknowable.

A POSSIBLE SOLUTION NOW GIVEN

1. 
   The Great Tribulation where around three billion people die.
   

“In those days, AFTER that suffering, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the universe will be shaken. Mark 13:24, 25 Revelation 6:12 speaks about the sun and moon and an earthquake in the sixth seal.

2. 
   THEN they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds, with a great army.
   

“Then they will see [those who are left alive] the Son of man coming in the clouds, with a great army and with glory.” Mark 13:26

3. 
   Then the angels gather his chosen ones from heaven and the earth.
   

“Then he will send his angels, and gather his chosen ones from the four winds, from the utmost part of the earth to the utmost part of HEAVEN.” Mark 13:27

Note: when the church complete is gathered in heaven there is the judgment of the works of the believers and the marriage of the Lamb to come to pass. In this section of Mark we find that Jesus is coming back to earth to fight the great battle of Armageddon according to Ezekiel 38, 39; Revelation 16:16; 19:11-16 you will find that when the Lord gathers His believers that He will send angels for that purpose. Now we still do not know the day or hour that Jesus is coming back, all we can tell is when these signs come to pass know that it is near. Paul the learner

THE FOURTH PETITION

“Give us this day our daily bread.

THE WISDOM OF GOD

This petition occurs at the center of the prayer. In the middle of the eighteen Jewish daily prayers there is a petition for God’s blessing on the agricultural year. [Reference #9 Birkat ha-Shanim (The petition that the year may be fruitful)] Bread is the staple food for Middle Easterners, and in the Bible it symbolizes all that we eat.

But the word daily presents a problem. In English it is traditionally translated “Give us this day our daily bread.” The phrase this day is clear. We are not asking for bread for next year or for our retirement, but rather for “this day.”

THE PROBLEM

The problem lies in the Greek word epiousios, which for century’s English versions have translated as the word “daily.” The trouble is that this particular word appears nowhere else in the Greek language. [Reference W.D. Davies and D.C. Allison Jr., the Gospel According to Saint Matthew (New York T & T Clark. 1988), 1:607] Origen, a famous Greek scholar of the early third century, wrote that he did not find this word in use among the Greeks, nor was it used by private individuals. He concluded that it must have been created by the Evangelists. [Reference Origen De Oratione 27.7]

The only way to discover the meaning of a word in any language is to see how it is used. But if a particular word appears only once in the entire history of that language, the translator has a special problem. This is the problem with the word epiousios in the Lord’s Prayer. If in the third century Origen did not know what this word meant, what hope is there for us in the twenty-first century? Keep in mind that Origen lived in Alexandria, Egypt, which was one of the two great centers of Greek learning in the ancient world. Is the problem unsolvable?

The only open door is to examine how commentators, preachers and translators in the various early Christian communities understood the word. Perhaps some of them caught the meaning of epiousios before the word and its meaning evaporated out of the Greek language. The early fathers of the church had two basic solutions to the mystery of this word’s meaning, and each solution contained two alternatives.

Solution one – On the one side, some early Christian writers thought that this word referred to time. But what kind of time?

1a: Some interpreted epiousios as referring to today. English translations follow this understanding with the well-known reading: “Give us this day our daily bread.” In the fourth century Cyril of Jerusalem and many others championed this view.

THE WISDOM OF GOD

1b: Other early fathers said, “Yes, epiousios has to do with time, but it refers to tomorrow and not today.” Their translation is, “Give us today our bread for tomorrow.” In the early fifth century the Latin scholar Jerome claimed he had a “Gospel of the Hebrews” and in Hebrew it read, “Give us our bread of tomorrow.”

I like what the Syriac Peshitta of the 1^st century says, “Give us bread for our needs from day to day.” Matthew 6:11 Peshitta text

THE ANSWER

Jesus, of course, spoke Aramaic, and Syriac is closely related to Aramaic. Syriac Christians, as they translated the Gospels into Syriac, were therefore taking the words of Jesus OUT OF THE GREEK and returning them to a language very close to his native Aramaic. Most words are the same in these two languages and the Old Syriac translation of the Lord’s Prayer reads: Lahmo ameno diyomo hah lan (literally “Amen bread today give to us”)

Lahmo means, “bread.” Ameno has the same root as the word amen, and in Syriac ameno is an adjective that means “lasting, never-ceasing, never-ending, or perpetual.” [Reference J. Payne Smith, edition A Compendious Syriac Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon, 1990), page 19.] This Old Syriac second-century translation means, therefore, “Give us today the bread that doesn’t run out.” Does this provide the clue to the mysterious Greek word epiousios? I think it does.

Note: I spent time to give you but a few pages on the Greek understanding of this word, to show you the difference from the Syriac to the Greek. Paul the Learner

A THOUGHT TO CONSIDER
our writer Kenneth B. Bailey gives this story of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

‘I will never forget the night an old gentleman came to our house and said that there was a family with eight children and they had not eaten, and could we do something for them. So I took some rice and went there. The mother took the rice from my hands, and then she divided it into two and went out. I could see the faces of the children shining with hunger. When she came back I asked her where she had gone. She gave me a very simple answer: “They are hungry also.” And “they” were the family next door and she knew that they were hungry. I was not surprised that she gave, but I was surprised that she knew they were hungry also.’ Page 122 Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes by K.E. Bailey

THE WISDOM OF GOD

THE LORD’S PRAYER: OUR SINS AND EVIL

The Forgiveness of Debts and Sins

Forgive us our debts, AS WE HAVE FORGIVEN OUR DEBTORS. Matthew 6:12

Note: in our daily life as we ask God to forgive us of our transgression, and then go about our daily life thinking well that was easy, one day when we come before the judgment of Jesus and He says to us ‘depart from me you that do evil’ we will of course say to Him, Lord I asked for your forgiveness at such and such a time, and He will answer BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOT FORGIVEN THOSE THAT HAVE DONE YOU WRONG, I WILL ALSO NOT FORGIVE YOU FOR YOUR WRONG. Paul the Learner

Once more, our relationship with God and with our neighbors is closely TIED. This connection is a departure from the tradition in which Jesus was raised [again God’s wisdom overrides man’s tradition]. The Tefillah (the eighteen prayers) include a prayer for forgiveness from God (#6), but that forgiveness is not connected to forgiveness for others. Jesus makes such a connection in this prayer and elsewhere.

In this petition the believer in Jesus Christ comes before God asking for forgiveness while affirming that forgiveness of others has been accomplished. One of Jesus’ parables expands on this theme. Matthew 18:23-34 recounts the story of a servant whose master forgives an enormous debt. Afterward, the servant turns to his fellow servant and refuses to forgive a very small debt. The master learning of this, now in anger, consigns the unforgiving servant to prison. In like manner, at the end of this prayer (verses 14-15), the interconnectedness between our forgiveness of others and God’s forgiveness of us is reaffirmed as Jesus says:

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; BUT if you do not forgive others their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

WHAT ABOUT INJUSTICE AND WHAT IS TO BE DONE ABOUT IT?

It is a common human assumption that the violator of the rights of others must ask for forgiveness before the wronged party can be expected to accept the apology and grant forgiveness. When the wrong is HUGE, this is often thought to be impossible. The cry “Never forget and never forgive” has echoed many times down the corridors of history. But here Jesus asks the person wronged to forgive the one responsible for the wrongdoing even when there is no confession of guilt. Is this really possible?

THE WISDOM OF GOD

The Example Given

And Jesus said, O Father, FORGIVE THEM, for they know not what they are doing. And they divided his garments and cast lots over them.” Luke 23:34 Peshitta text

If Jesus could forgive them, then is the disciple now above His master and cannot forgive others for what they have done against you? If this is the case, prepare for the judgment of God.

Paul the Learner

TEMPTATION AND EVIL

And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one. (NRSV)

This petition is fraught with difficulty. The word traditionally translated “temptation” can also be read, as “trial.” The Arabic word for a scientific experiment is tajriba, which also means “temptation.” The Greek word and the Semitic words behind it unite “trial” and “temptation.” The difference is subtle yet important. God tried / tested Abraham and he did not tempt him (Genesis 22:1-19), for God never leads his followers into temptation (James 1:13). This clarification is helpful, but the petition remains mysterious. How can it be understood?

THE THREE SOLUTIONS GIVEN

Kenneth E. Bailey says:

1. 
   One solution comes from Jeremias, whose scholarship focused on recovering the Aramaic and Jewish background to the New Testament.
   
2. 
   The second solution is his.
   
3. 
   The third is the word of Father Mattah al-Miskin of Egypt.
   

Each may be of some help in understanding this petition. Now the first will be from Dr. Bailey. When travelers take long camel trips into the deserts of the Middle East, they must have a guide. The guide knows how to reach the destination. Without that information the traveling party will die. The phrase in the Lord’s Prayer expresses the confidence of an earthly pilgrim traveling with a divine guide. The journey requires the believer to affirm daily, “Lord, we trust you to guide us, because you alone know the way that we must go.” This affirmation of the trusting traveler reflects the confidence of the community that prays this prayer.

THE WISDOM OF GOD

Jeremias’s solution has to do with language rather than culture. At times it is helpful to try to catch the fine tuning of the Aramaic that lies behind the Greek of the New Testament. Jeremias thinks that this is one of those occasions. His argument is that the Greek word for “lead us” that appears in this petition is eisphero. The Aramaic equivalent to this Greek word is nisyon, which has two shades of meaning. One is causative and the other is permissive. The causative means “Do not cause us to go into temptation” (that is: do not lead us).

By endorsing the permissive the text would mean, “Do not permit us to go into temptations / trials. [Joachim Jeremias, the Lord’s Prayer (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1969), Page 29] On our faith journey, the tendency is to turn aside into trials / temptations, and thus we are instructed to pray, as it were, “Oh, Lord, hold us back and do not let us take that path.” We catch overtones of this view in Mark’s account of the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus says to the sleepy Peter, “Watch and pray that you may not ENTER INTO TEMPTATION.” (Mark 14:38).

Father Matta al-Miskin offer a third view [Reference al-Injil beHasab al-Qiddis Matta (Cairo: Dayr al-Qiddis Anba Maqar, 1998) Pages 273-274] He begins by reflecting on the story of Job, a righteous man who was severely tested by Satan with God’s permission. Satan’s name means “the accuser,” and in the book of Job the reader sees him at work. Then turning to Holy Week, Father Matta notes that Jesus warns Peter, saying, “Satan wants to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith might not fail” (Luke 22:31-32).

Jesus does not promise Peter that there will be no time of trial. Peter pledges loyalty even unto death, but falls asleep in the garden. Jesus then awakens Peter and tells him to watch and pray lest he enters into temptation, but Peter does not pray and soon thereafter fails in his time of trial by denying Jesus three times. When we pray, argues Father Matta, we are protected by Jesus and his cross from Satan and his attacks. Satan the accuser is not prevented from is work as “the accuser,” but the disciples are instructed not only to pray in general but to pray for deliverance from the times of trial that evil brings.

Perhaps the larger truth lies in some combination of these three possibilities. The final phrase is the other side of the coin, which combines, “Keep us out of Satan’s courtroom” and “We are not ready for what Abraham had to face.”

DELIVER US FROM THE EVIL ONE / EVIL

The above can be translated “deliver us from the evil one” or “deliver us from evil” The Greek text can be understood either way. Syriac and Arabic translations have unanimously translated it as “the evil one.”

THE WISDOM OF GOD

THE INAUGURATION OF JESUS’ MINISTRY

Text Luke 4:16-31

HISTORICAL SETTING

After the delightful story of Jesus as a boy in the temple, Luke provides no further information about what Jesus was doing from ages twelve to thirty. In Mark 6:3 “Is he not the CARPENTER, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And behold, are not his sisters here with us? And they denounced him.” Peshitta Text So during that time Jesus followed Joseph’s footsteps in working as a carpenter. In all likelihood he was at home in Nazareth, employed as a carpenter / builder and joining nightly in discussion of the law with the local haberim “the friends” and was the name of a lay movement that sprang up in the villages of the Holy Land around the time of Jesus.

The Archko Volume – Archeological Writings of the Sanhedrim and Talmuds of the Jews

Jesus as a child as recorded by Gamaliel’s report to the Sanhedrim

1. 
   His mother says that he is bashful and shuns company. Pg. 79
   
2. 
   Was Jesus healthy? She said he was perfectly healthy; that she never heard him complain of any pain or dissatisfaction; his food always agreed with him. Pg. 84
   
3. 
   I asked her if she had seen him angry or out of humor? She said she had seen him apparently vexed and grieved at the disputes and follies of others, but had never seen him angry. Pg. 84
   
4. 
   Mary found that Jesus took so little interest in the things of the world and the great questions of the day.
   
5. 
   I asked Mary if Jesus had any found ness for female society. She said she had not. And even thought the women were all very fond of him, if they appeared too fond of him, he treated them almost with scorn. He will often get up and leave them, and wonder away and spend his time in meditation and prayer. Pg. 85
   
6. 
   Massalian who had been a priest and who spent time with him reading the law and prophets said of Jesus, ‘He was a young man of the finest thought and feeling he ever saw in his life; that he was the most apt in his answers and solutions of difficult problems of any man of his age he had ever seen; that his answers seem to give more universal satisfaction – so much so that the oldest philosopher would not dispute with him, or in any manner join issue with him, or ask the second time.’ Pg. 87
   

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THE WISDOM OF GOD

After his baptism and a period of temptation in the wilderness, Jesus returned to Galilee to begin a popular public ministry (Luke 4:14-15). Apparently part of that ministry was a number of unrecorded works of healing in Capernaum. Then, abruptly, Jesus returned to his home village of Nazareth and attended Sabbath worship in the local synagogue. It was customary for worship leaders to invite a worthy person in the congregation to read from the Scriptures and comment on the reading.

Luke states simply that Jesus “stood up to read,” yet it appears that some things had been arranged. The book of Isaiah was given to him, Jesus may have quietly requested to have a scroll of Isaiah ready for him to use, or perhaps the synagogue was following a lectionary that necessitated reading from Isaiah. At any rate, Jesus took the scroll, selected an obviously prepared text and read it to the congregation. This led to an interchange with the congregation after which Jesus invoked two heroes of faith from the Old Testament tradition to support his views. The scene closes with a foiled attempt to kill him.