Seeds For Thinking

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

* Scared Speechless
* Scripture: "Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the alter of incense."
Luke 1: 11, NKJV

Few things get your attention as much as someone suddenly appearing beside you when you think you are alone. Talk about an adrenaline spike! Blood pressure probably goes out the top, too. The effect is all the more heightened if you are the only person supposed to be there, such as a night watchman in a locked building. Or a priest serving in the temple at Jerusalem.
Most of the activity that we read about involving the temple in The New Testament took place in a large, open courtyard surrounding the sacred enclosure. This area was open to all, and was called the Court of the Gentiles.
The temple was enclosed with walls defining the Women's Court and the Court of Israel, or Men's Court. The great altar and vessels holding water for the rituals of washing and sacrifice were located in the Court of Priests, at the eastern end of the temple.
The temple proper contained two rooms. The first room, the Holy Place, contained a golden alter for burning incense, a table for showbread, and a lampstand.
It was separated from the Holy of Holies by a veil. It was this veil, dividing the two rooms, that was torn on the day of Christ's crucifixion.
The Holy of Holies was entered only by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement, and then only after purification rituals. Still, it must have been an awe inspiring moment for any priest to stand just outside that curtain, knowing that you were representing the entire nation of Israel before the Lord.
Imagine for a moment that you are a priest, and you have finally been chosen by lot to burn incense in the Holy Place. It is possibly a once in a lifetime event for any priest. You arrive at the temple complex, ascending the steps leading to the great court. The temple rises above you, gleaming golden and shining white in the sunlight. You make your way through the throng, conspicuous in your white linen garments and cap. You enter the court of Israel through one of the six sanctuary gates, and proceed to the great altar in the Court of the Priests.
The familiar rituals of preparation and cleansing seem extra special today. This is where you have spent much of your life, serving God and the Nation of Israel, praying, praising, accepting offerings, and ministering in the ritual of sacrifice. Today is different, though, for you will walk up those twelve steps, beneath the portico, and through those enormous, golden doors.
The sound of the multitudes praying in the outer courts behind you recedes as you enter the Holy Place. The curtain veiling the Holy of Holies hangs before you, but you can go no farther.
You are alone, in the presence of God.
The smoke from the burning incense rises slowly in the still air, carrying the prayers of priest and people.
People! You have heard no one enter; no one else is permitted to so much as ascend those steps leading to the only door, but a man is standing there by the altar of incense! In the presence of God, in this Holy Place. . .
Scared speechless? Well, fearful and trembling, anyway. Actually, a holy visitor in this holiest of places announces the beginning of a new age, the coming of the Christ, the Messiah, and you, Zacharias, will be the father of one who will make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Elizabeth, your long-barren wife, will bear you a son, John, the Forerunner of Christ. He will be great in the sight of the Lord.
The angel Gabriel not only delivers these glad tidings, but also takes away your power of speech. You will not be able to speak until the day these things take place.
Centuries have passed since God spoke through the prophets. But now:
"Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people."
Luke 1:68, NKJV

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

* Holy Language
* Scripture: Jesus said: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . ."
Matthew 28:19a, NKJV

I have retained at least a few snippets from my two-year study of high school Latin, including one short, non-Latin, poem:

"Latin is a dead, dead language,
As dead as dead can be.
It killed off all the Romans,
And now it's killing me. "

Some kindred soul, the previous guardian of the textbook, had expressed the sentiments of many a youth struggling through the conjugations and declentions of what was, without question, a foreign language to most of us.
Granted, many of our English words derive from Latin roots, as do many words of other national languages, the so-called "Romance" languages. Granted, also, that the scriptures of Holy Writ were preserved for centuries in Latin, and, even into the mid 20th Century, remained the language of the mass in the Roman Catholic Church. The fact remains that the scriptures were not originally written in Latin, but in Hebrew and Greek, for the most part, all 'foreign' to most of us.
Jesus and the people of Galilee commonly spoke Aramaic, a Semitic language used extensively in southwest Asia as a commercial and governmental language and adopted by the Jews after the Babylonian exile.
Jesus' cry from the cross, in Matthew 27:46, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani," is Aramaic. The title Pilate placed on the cross was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, the languages of the temple and synagogue, of commerce, and of the Roman Empire.
"Living" languages change over time. Words come and go, often shifting in meaning. Greek is still written using the alphabet used by the New Testament authors, but the pronunciation is different in modern Greek. Many languages, including English, use the letter forms developed by the Romans, but Latin itself is distinctively 'foreign' to most of the people of the nations of the world.
I think we can rightly say that the 'messenger' or 'carrier' has changed over the centuries, at least as far as the spoken or written word is concerned. And that is as it should be.
Suppose that religious authorities declared that the "Word of God" was so Revered, Holy, and Untouchable, that only the original words and languages could be used to expound the scriptures.
Think about the many, many would-be Christians struggling like first-year Latin scholars, just to experience God's Word!
Think about trying to make disciples of all the nations without being able to use their native language.
Praise Be! God transcends time, borders, nationalities, and languages.
October 22, 2006

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: Paul said, “If God is for us, who can be against us.”
Romans 8:31,
The Disciples were with Jesus in midst of a very popular ministry; they experienced the crowds following him everywhere he went.
And why shouldn’t people seek him out! For one thing, Jesus had the power of healing.
The gospels gives us many examples:
The lame walk; the blind see;
Hearing and power of speech are restored -
The paralyzed were given full mobility. They ‘took up their beds, and walked.’ after encountering Jesus. In some cases, this marked the first time ever, in their lives, to be able to hear, to talk, to walk.
The Disciples have seen: shriveled hands made functional;
Leprosy cured . . .
The outcasts, the ‘unclean’, the untouchables - restored to live full lives in society.
Jesus had the power to exorcise demons, to drive out evil spirits - spirits who recognized Jesus as the Son of God - when most people didn’t know who he truly was.
People crowded around just to see Jesus, to touch him.
Mark records that a woman in the press of a crowd was healed of an issue of blood that had been going on for many years - after touching him.
Jairus’ daughter was brought back to life.
They experienced all these things - and more - first hand. However, all these things did not make the Disciples into the Apostles we see in the Book of Acts. What brought about the Big Change?
Let’s turn to a man who came face to face with Jesus ... and lost his sight.
Saul of Tarsus, whom we know best as Paul,
writing to the church at Rome - advises:
Set your priorities on the most important thing of all; Think of the best that can happen;
Nothing else will matter!
His actual words contained in his letter to the Romans, Ch. 8:31-39 are these:
“If God is for us, who can be against us.
He goes on to say, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels or demons, nor the present nor the future, neither height or depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The Holy Spirit is a helper: “The spirit helps us in our weakness” - vs 26 - “We do not know what we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.“
So what is the very last thing you want to lose? Hopefully you will say. ”The love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
How much do other things matter?
March 9, 2003