Category Archives: Easter

Holy Week–Hosanna!

Michael Snow's avatarTextsInContext

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you;
He is just and having salvation,
Lowly and riding on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.
–Zechariah 9

Jerusalem and The Passover Feast

The ISBE sets the scene:

Pilgrimage was made annually to Jerusalem for the Passover sacrifice…
Passover in NT temple days was a spectacle of excitement and devotion. Pilgrims near and far ascended to the holy city…
Days before Passover began, Jerusalem was a hubbub…Many pilgrims…arrived early to sell or barter their wares…

And numbers? Josephus’ assessment of 3 million Jews (including the city residents) is considered an “extreme exaggeration” or symbolic. But the throngs of pilgrims would have swelled to well over one hundred thousand.

Jesus and the Crowds

John tells us that “six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus was…” (John…

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Two Swords: Enough

Here is a blazing example of what happens when Christians pay little attention to context in the Bible. I have seen several forum discussions in the last months where Christians said, ‘…but Jesus told his disciples to buy swords.”

On the Way to the Mt. Of Olives

Luke 22

35 And he said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” 36 He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one. 37 For I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors.’ For what is written about me has its fulfillment.” 38 And they said, “Look, Lord, here are two swords.” And he said to them, “It is enough” [ESV].

First, we might note the hyperbole of selling an essential garment in order to buy a sword.  “A garment for wear at night was an utter necessity” (NIGCT *).  What is being emphasized is the critical situation that is developing.

THIS “brings to a climax the misunderstanding and earthly mindedness of the disciples which has already figured three times in the dialogue…” (NIGTC*). The context of this setting is immediately before they go to the Mount of Olives where Jesus will be arrested and where Peter will use one of those swords (John 18). “Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matt. 26).

But back to the immediate context of the “swords”—there are clear clues in this hard saying for us to follow. We are told that the disciples possess “two.”  Jesus reply, “It is enough,” can only mean either 1) that two swords are sufficient to fill the prescription [that the Scripture about being “numbered with the transgressors” must be fulfilled] (Marshall thinks this not “probable”)  or 2) that “enough” is a rebuke to the disciples for not understanding him.

EITHER way, “TWO swords” points to the fact that Jesus was NOT telling all who had no sword to buy one!

“The words, ‘It is enough’, may imply that that is enough of that kind of talk”–The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology

Norval Geldenhuys, Luke (NICNT) thinks that, rather than a rebuke, this “ends the discussion sorrowfully.”

I. Howard Marshall, in Luke (NIGTC*), says, “It is most probable that this simply means  ‘That’s enough (sc. of this conversation) and is meant as a rebuke….This is the final conversation-piece in the extended dialogue…It brings to a climax the misunderstanding and earthly-mindedness of the disciples [how contemporary for us disciples today!] which has already figured three times in the dialogue…the disciples fail to understand; taking Jesus literally, they produce two swords, and Jesus has to rebuke them for their lack of comprehension…” *

[It is incredible that many Americans who claim the name “Christian” use this saying to justify their own beliefs about war.  On this side of the Resurrection, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the Canon, we are without excuse for such nonsense.]

**[A note on “enough” from another scholar:  ‘Jesus words, “It is enough” are interesting. This is an idiom, and as an idiom is difficult to trace throughout the Bible, but a few references are illuminating. In Deuteronomy 3:26 the NIV (among other translations) render God’s rebuke to Moses as, “That is enough.” In other words, “Be quiet – the discussion is over.” In 1 Samuel 15:16, Samuel cuts King Saul’s excuse off with a brisk, “Stop!” In 2 Samuel 24:16, God stays the hand of the destroying angel with an emphatic, “Enough!” Interjections such as these have both a disjunctive and a corrective sense. They are used to stop the present flow of words or actions, and they indicate a different path of action or discourse will follow. Viewed in this manner, Jesus is simply telling his disciples to shut up; they have utterly misunderstood him yet again,. . .’]

[Link on Romans ’13’]

*New International Greek Testament Commentary, I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke, Eerdmans, 1978.

The Easter Message and John 3:16

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[Photo taken in Verona, Italy]

John 3:16…Keeping the Easter Message

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” ESV

Many [a vast understatement!] Christians have lost their grade school grammar and so [thus] have lost the focus of this verse.  A few weeks ago, I heard a pastor, using this text, emphasizing that God sooooooo loved the world.  The main focus of the verse was not even acknowledged [‘love’ replaced Christ as the focus, for further reading, (be a disciple/learner) see my book on Love, Prayer, and Forgiveness].

‘So’ or ‘Thus’: ‘in a manner or way indicated,’ hence, “God thus loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son…”

Or “This is how God loved the world, he gave his son…”  He gave him up to the cross, for you, for me.  This is how God loved the world.  And the great confirmation of this act of love came on the third day with the greatest event in all history: The Resurrection.

“For God so [thus; in this manner] loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

[John repeats the same thought in 1 John 4:9  “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.” ESV]

jesus-resurrection-easter-sunday

Addendum: Delighted to find this translation!

NLT: “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

Holy Week–Hosanna!

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you;
He is just and having salvation,
Lowly and riding on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.
–Zechariah 9

Jerusalem and The Passover Feast

The ISBE sets the scene:

Pilgrimage was made annually to Jerusalem for the Passover sacrifice…
Passover in NT temple days was a spectacle of excitement and devotion. Pilgrims near and far ascended to the holy city…
Days before Passover began, Jerusalem was a hubbub…Many pilgrims…arrived early to sell or barter their wares…

And numbers? Josephus’ assessment of 3 million Jews (including the city residents) is considered an “extreme exaggeration” or symbolic. But the throngs of pilgrims would have swelled to well over one hundred thousand.

Jesus and the Crowds

John tells us that “six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus was…” (John 12:1), and dined with him and his sisters. This event attracted its own crowd of disciples and others.
“Now [on the next day] when they drew near Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples” (Mat. 21), to fetch a donkey.
And then, “a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him…” (John 12:12).

So, here is the scene. With crowds of pilgrims converging on Jerusalem from every direction, some pilgrims who have heard of his approach meet Jesus, accompanied by a crowd of disciples, on the road outside of Jerusalem.

[Looking Ahead: As an important side note, let us not overlook the false claim that we may hear about the “crowds” accompanying Jesus outside the city, shouting, “Hosanna”  being  the same people in the “crowd” in the city before Pilate’s seat, shouting “crucify.” Though a popular refrain, it is poor gossip, which pays no attention to the setting, and has no foundation in the text itself. See Holy Week, Beware of Idle Conjecture-Link]

Hosanna

Hosanna is a transliteration [“to represent or spell in the characters of another alphabet” a word from a different language in one’s own language] of the Hebrew word in Psalm 118:25 which is translated, “Save now, I pray, O LORD;…”

W.F. Albright notes, in Matthew (AB) that it “is a prayer for deliverance (“Save now!”); it is not in any way a cry of praise….The meaning of the vocative [“a grammatical case in certain inflected languages to indicate the person…being addressed.”] la was misunderstood quite early, and the Greek translation therefore rendered the vocative O son of David as “to the son of David,”…[italic mine] What we have here, therefore, is an ancient liturgical text, a cry to the anointed king for deliverance”.

Thus, Matthew 21 verse 9: “Hosanna! [Save now!] O son of David…”

We see the same picture in the episode immediately preceding the Triumphal Entry, in the plea of the Two Blind Men (Mat. 20:29-34): “Take pity on us, son of David!”

“Sir, let our eyes be opened.”

Addendum

In the NT, palm branches are only mentioned here on ‘Palm Sunday’ in John, and in Revelation:

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with **palm branches** in their hands,  and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!

Here are key texts for Holy Week (Link)…from John for Maundy Thursday…Isaiah for Messiah Suffering…Romans for Good friday…