James & John - Ambitions

The Gospel of Mark tells the story of James and John’s ambitious request of Jesus that when he became King, they might sit at his right and left hand. Had Jesus granted this request I’m sure there would have been further discussion over which brother would sit on Jesus right hand and who would sit on Jesus left hand. Jesus told them that they had no idea what they were asking of him.
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He asked if they could drink the cup he was drinking from. They both said they could. They had no idea that Jesus was asking them if they were prepared to die along with him, as his own arrest and death was imminent - his death on the Cross was just hours away at this point. Mark’s Gospel shows us that these two disciples were perhaps more interested in personal power, prestige and worldly ambition than they were in Jesus who tried to prepare them for his death.
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As you might imagine the other ten disciples were upset at James and John who it might seem were going behind the other disciples backs to further their own ambitious ends, Mark paints a vivid picture of the disciples -warts and all.
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The Gospel of Matthew records pretty much the same story, only Matthew tells us that it was the mother of James and John who made the request of Jesus that her two boys might have the positions of power when Jesus came into his kingdom. Of course to the critical eye, this poses a question: why does Matthew say it was James & John’s mother who made the request while Mark places the request in the mouths of the two brothers themselves. Big problem.
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Well, first of all, Matthew was one of the 12 disciples and so was one of those upset by the request that James and John - regardless of who made the request. Matthew wrote his gospel 25 years after Mark wrote his gospel. By this time a halo of saintliness was around the disciples and perhaps Matthew did not want to show this worldly side of James & John - which meant Matthew was putting a spin on Mark’s version - which creates difficulty. The other possibility is that it actually was James & John’s mother who really did make the request and Matthew was simply setting the record straight as a participant in this event.
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There is some evidence, which space does not permit me to reproduce here, but the mother of James and John appears to be the sister of Jesus’ mother, which makes her an aunt of Jesus and it would seem reasonable that being such a close relative she might approach Jesus with such a request that he might make his two cousins his top men. Nothing new here - a case of who you know, eh?
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Lastly, Luke’s Gospel carries either the same incident or a continuation of the above incident, but what makes it more "a warts and all picture" is that this incident happens during the celebration of the last supper Jesus had with the disciples. Seems that all the Gospel writers are intent on showing every wart.

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What you see here is Bible Study - which seeks to answer Biblical difficulties.
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M. MATTHEW 20 ....AN EYE WITNESS ACCOUNT OF AMBITION?
T. MARK 10 ...............A SECOND HAND VIEW OF AMBITION?
W. LUKE 21 ...............WARTS AND ALL - ANOTHER DISPUTE?

Empty Rituals

EMPTY RITUALS

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HOME BIBLE STUDY
EMPTY RITUALS OF THE RICH, RELIGIOUS & SELF-RIGHTEOUS

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Amos is God’s spokesman. However, the God for whom Amos speaks is God of more that Israel. He is the God that governs all nations, bringing them into being and calling them to account. He is the God that also uses one nation against another to carry out the divine purpose. He is the Great King who rules over the whole universe. He is all-sovereign and thus holds the histroy and destiny of all peoples and of the world in his hands.
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Amos, as God’s spokesman, proclaims that Israel must know not only that God is Lord of her future, but also that God is Lord over all things, places and people and that God’s purposes and concerns reach far beyond Israel’s borders. Amos reminds the people of Israel that although they have a unique claim to God as being God’s chosen people, this unique relationship is not exclusive claim on God.
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However, the people of Israel are in danger of believing that their unique relationship with God allows them to perform ritualistic worship without commitment. They are dangerously close, right on the line, perhaps one foot over the line where their worship is an empty ritual devoid of any commitment to their covenant relationship.
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They believed that as long as they ‘performed’ their ritual sacrifices that was all that God required of them. Amos reminds them that this is a worldly, pagan point of view and that God not only demands that they worship him, but that they do so with both their hearts and not just their lips speaking empty meaningless words. Without commitment to God’s word, and especially the Covenant Commandments, they thought they could offer their ritual worship and then go off what ever they pleased - a very worldly notion even today.
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Amos, as God’s spokesman, condemns such actions - especially this worship without commitment that leads to injustice and lack of righteousness. Amos condems all who make themselves powerful and rich at the expense of others.
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Amos roundly condemns those who had acquired two splendid houses (3:15) and expensive and richly furnished homes and tables at the expense of others by cheating, perverting justice, and crushing the poor. Amos warns that such injustices would be righted and the rich would lose ever.ything they had.
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Of course, when Jesus arrives on the scene many of those who opposed him were from among the ranks of the rich and the powerful. Jesus would spend most of his ministry with the outcasts and the poor of society while denouncing the rich, religious and powerful who offered only empty ritual words and actions. Amos warned that the rich would be overturned and justice restored.
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M. AMOS 1 & 2 ----GOD’S JUDGEMENT ON THE NATIONS AND ISRAEL
T. AMOS 3 & 4 ----WITNESS SUMMONED AGAINST WAYWARD ISRAEL
W. AMOS 5 & 6 ---CALL TO REPENTANCE - WARNING TO COMPLACENT
T. AMOS 7 & 8 ----POWERFUL METAPHOR - BEING MEASURED UP -
F. AMOS 8 ---------POWERFUL METAPHOR - BASKET OF ROTTING FRUIT
S. JOHN 2:12-25 -JESUS CLEARS THE TEMPLE OF ROBBERS & THEIVES

Judging Job

HOME BIBLE STUDY
JUMPING IN TO JUDGE JOB AND JUSTIFY SUFFERING

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The story of Job provides the reader with a profound statement on the subject of the justice of God in the light of human suffering. Some describe the Book of Job as a "play" but quickly add that Job was someone to really existed. There is much debate among Biblical scholars as to whether Job actually existed. The Book of Job is considered the first of the poetic books of the Bible and is renowned for its difficulty in both translating and understanding.
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The story of Job introduces a new element into the plight of human suffering. Early Israelite understanding concerning the justice of God was very simple - if healthy, wealthy, and prosperous - your were blessed of God. If you suffered illness, or lived in poverty then you had received punishment for sins committed.
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The Book of Job takes this sort of abstract thought that has concrete evidence, ie., prosperity for the good person versus poverty for the "bad" person and turns it on its head. Now we could all perhaps rush in and say that we know people who are ‘bad" and deserve what ever terrible lot in life they have received and perhaps wish more bad things to happen to them. However, the Book of Job deals with the fact that Job was a good person, blameless and upright, yet, he suffered terribly. First the lost of his wealth, then the loss of his children, and then the loss of his health. He suffered great poverty - yet he was a good man.
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The Book of Job also adds another aspect to the problem of God’s justice in the light of human suffering in that the ‘play’ introduces another player in the form of Satan, who bragging that he goes to and fro across the earth unhindered.
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Now the story has many players, the first we are introduced to after God and Satan have their ‘conversation’ and Lot has been reduced to a pile of boils festering all over his body is his wife. She tells Job "to curse God and die".
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Job answers with a response that has rung loud down through the centuries, "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?"
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Satan had effectively backed God into a corner by insinuating that Job was only blameless and upright because it suited his purposes. Take away his wealth, health and prosperity and Job would effectively curse God like all the rest.
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Of course, as the "play" unfolds, Job’s three friends are quick to jump in and ‘accuse’ Job of some great, perhaps even unknown, sin against God. They were of the old school that equated suffering as a punishment for sin. Job’s perseverance, not his patience, finally wins the battle. Job’s perseverance and refusal to curse God eventually silences those closest to him, his wife and three friends, and finally Job’s perseverance silences Satan.
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M. JOB 1 ....A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY PLAYS OUT.
T. JOB 2 .....THOSE CLOSEST TO JOB DON’T HELP.
W. JOB 6 ....JOB SPEAKS OUT IN ANGUISH.
T. JOB 38 ...GOD SPEAKS - BIT IS NO HELP.
F. JOB 42 ...ALL IS WELL THAT ENDS WELL.
S. JOHN 9 ...JESUS SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT.

Worth your Salt?

Are you worth your weight in salt?

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HOME BIBLE STUDY
ARE YOU WORTH YOUR WEIGHT IN SALT?
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The word "Salary" derives from the Middle English "salaire", from the Latin word salarium, meaning a payment made in salt (sal) or for salt, from salarius meaning pertaining to salt. So when someone asked if you were worth your salt, they were in fact asking if you were worth the wages they were paying you.
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Now you can take this with a grain of salt if you wish, but in Biblical times salt was more valuable than gold. It was the food preserver par excellence and was sought after by kings and queens everywhere. Do you ever notice that when you are going to do something you ought not to be doing you look over your shoulder? There is an old saying "throw a grain of salt over your shoulder" that has its basis in an old superstition which said that when you did something you should not have done, throw salt over your shoulder and the salt would blind the devil, who would be either looking over your shoulder or sitting on your left shoulder while hopefully an angel would be sitting on your right shoulder trying to steer you right. Many are able to tune out the angel - and so use a lot of salt.
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Now you can take this with a grain of salt, but to throw salt away in Biblical times would have been the equivalent of throwing gold dust away as it was the most valuable of all the things people might have possessed. It permitted people to travel further from home base and also stock their food larders with out fear of the food - especially meat - spoiling. Not only was it a food preserver but it was used as currency as well. Roman soldiers were often paid in salt - which is where the word salary comes from - they received a salarium.
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Of course when someone is said to have tried to "rub salt in it" we known that they have tried to agitate and old wound that leaves the person smarting from their ‘salty’ remarks. I am sure we all have had salt rubbed in to an old wound.
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Then there are those who are said to be the salt of the earth. We have all met such people. Jesus, teaching his disciples what it meant to be a follower told them that they were to be the ‘salt of the earth’.
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Now this you can’t take with a grain of salt. You are to be worth your salt. Remember that when Jesus spoke about Christians being "salt of the earth" salt was a precious commodity, more precious than gold, and also a life preserver, so when you are among your family, friends and neighbours, you are to bring the flavour of God into conversations and your actions. As Eugene Peterson writes in his version, "You are to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness?" Jesus taught his listeners that God considered them precious, so precious, vital, life sustaining, even life-giving. Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth."
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M. GENESIS 19 ADULT VERSION OF LOT’S WIFE & SALT
T. NUMBERS 18:8-19 EVERLASTING COVENANT OF SALT
W. 2 CHRONICLES 13 DO NOT BREAK THE SALT COVENANT
T. EZEKIEL 16:1-8 UNFAITHFUL, UNSALTED JERUSALEM
F. MATTHEW 5:13 YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH
S. MARK 9:38-50 DO NOT LOSE YOUR SALTINESS.