Selective seeing, hearing and remembering (Mark 8:14-21)

(This sermon was originally preached on Sunday, February 14, 2021 AKA Valentine's Day)

Sorry, no Valentine’s Day sermon on love today. Yes, Valentine’s Day actually falls on a Sunday, and I have no Valentine’s Day sermon on love. I have nothing against the holiday (well, I do have my reserves). As I have said in the past, all holidays, whether the holiday had a sacred or secular origin, have an important role in the Christian life for spiritual growth. The holiday allows the Christian to reflect on how he or she can improve in that aspect of his or her life. In regard to Valentine’s Day, Christians should not only reflect about the people that love them, but they should also reflect on how they love people and how they can improve on loving people.

This Valentine’s Day, I reflect on how I can love my wife Carrie more. After reflecting, I know how I can love Carrie more. I need to work on actively listening to here. Quite often, more often than I like to admit, Carrie has to call me out for not listening or selective hearing. To be fair to me, however, I think sometimes it is less of selecting hearing and more of selective memory. If she says something to me, and I cannot repeat what she just said, that’s selective hearing. If she tells me something on Monday about something she will do on the upcoming weekend, and she asks me on Wednesday or Friday, “Do you remember what I’m doing this weekend?” and I cannot remember, that might be selective memory (although I’m not sure that selective memory is a much better excuse than selective hearing).

In this account of Jesus’s life, it would seem that Jesus’s disciples have selective seeing, selective hearing, selective remembering or some combination of all of them.

Turn to Mark 8:14-21. Before studying in-depth the passage at hand, the passage needs the context set, especially how Mark 8:14-21 contributes to Mark 8 as a whole. The two accounts found in Mark 8:1-13 set the scene for Mark 8:14-21. Mark 8 begins with the feeding of four thousand. Yes, the feeding of the four thousand, not the feeding of the five thousand. In this narrative, Jesus takes seven loaves of bread and a few fish, breaks them apart, and he feeds four thousand people, with seven baskets full of leftover pieces. Now if Jesus fed the four thousand first and the five thousand second, that would make sense because Jesus would break his own record. Jesus feeding five thousand with less and then feeding four thousand with more does not make sense. It leaves the audience questioning why Mark talked about this miracle of feeding four thousand if the audience already knows Jesus can feed five thousand with little food. For starters, the pericope at hand mentions this miracle by name, so the audience needs to know about it, so they do not feel unaware. Also, without going into a mini sermon within a sermon, the feeding of the four thousand differs from the feeding of the five thousand in the initial action which sets the miracle in action. In the feeding of the five thousand, the disciples have to make Jesus aware of the problem: the people are in a desolate place for a long time, and the people need something to eat. In the feeding of the four thousand, Jesus makes the disciples aware of the problem: the people are far away for a long time with nothing to eat. It is as if Jesus says, “Oh no! Have I been talking all this time in a faraway place? These people must be hungry! What should we do?” Sadly, instead of the apostle answering, “Don’t worry, Jesus, you got this like you got it last time,” the disciples reply with how much of a herculean task feeding four thousand would be. While the numbers may differ, Jesus pretty much repeats the miracle, providing the crowd enough to eat, until they reached satisfaction. Based off of John’s experience of how the people responding to the feeding of the five thousand, I imagine Jesus caused quite the stir, so much so that it required Jesus and the disciples to retreat by getting in a boat and crossing to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus feeds 4,000

The second story has Jesus and his disciples arrive in the district of Dalmanutha, where they do not encounter a crowd but Pharisees, who demand a sign from heaven. The reader might wonder why the Pharisees need a sign. The book of Mark has tons of miracles, which should work as a sign enough. The Gospel of Mark even explicitly points out Pharisees present for some of the miracle. Even if the Pharisees did not attend some of these miracles, they are quite possible heard about them from eyewitnesses. Still, they demand some kind of sign from heaven, perhaps sunrays shining directly down on Jesus, or maybe a choir of angels praising his name. Jesus must have felt the same way about the ridiculous request, for he outright denies them their request. He hops back into the boat to sail across to another side of the Sea of Galilee.

The Pharisees demand a sign

Both accounts, the story of the feeding of the four thousand and the pericope about the Pharisees demanding a sign, setup the narrative at hand.

8:14. The conflict of this story appears immediately in the beginning of story. Mark 8:14 ESV reads, “Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat,” but the Greek text literally says, “And they forgot to take bread, [and] if not [for] one loaf they had, with them in the boat.” The strange wording emphasizes may factors. First, it emphasizes the apostles forgot to bring loaves of bread, for if they did remember, they would have brought more than one. Second, it highlights how much food the disciples lacked. One loaf was so little, the disciples might as well have no loaves. Third, the wording may stress Jesus is the bread of life, making him that one loaf. Speaking of loaf, prior to this narrative, “loaves,” the plural of “loaf,” has only appeared in the feeding of the five thousand and the feeding of the four thousand. This clues the reader into where this account will go. Speaking of the feeding of the five thousand and four thousand, the disciples find themselves with the problem that those crowds had. They find themselves with no bread and far away from the nearest food. With the literary context, it makes sense why the disciples forgot to pack break. Constantly having to leave one place to move on to the next, it became all too easy for the disciples to keep track of their belongings, even their rations.

8:15. Probably over their last contact with the Pharisees, and possibly overhearing the disciples talk about bread, Jesus takes advantage of the opportunity to present a new teaching with a new illustration. Jesus’s warning has a double command of “watch out” (ὁρᾶτε, orate) and “beware” (βλέπετε ἀπό, blepete apo). This double order merely draws emphasis to the warning Jesus will give. In other words, Jesus says to disciples, “Pay attention! This is a warning you really need to heed.”

The metaphor Jesus uses here involves “leaven” (ζύμη, zymē). Ironically, the Greek noun for “leaven” (ζύμη, zymē) in the New Testament is never literal and always figurative. Sometimes the Greek term has positive connotations. For example, in Matthew 13:33 and Luke 13:21, Jesus compares the kingdom of God to “leaven” (ζύμη, zymē) in flour, representing how the kingdom of God can grow like a rising dough. Other times the Greek word for “leaven” (ζύμη, zymē) has negative connotations. For example, in both 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 and Galatians 5:9, Paul uses “leaven” (ζύμη, zymē) to symbolize sin running rampart within the Christian community. Clearly, the common denominator here involves something growing uncontrollably. What makes the illustration good or bad  depends on what grows uncontrollably, whether the kingdom of God or sin. Therefore, what leaven means in Mark 8:15 will determine the positive or negative connotations.

The parallel passages in the other synoptic Gospels may yield clues to the figurative meaning of “leaven” (ζύμη, zymē), which will in turn yield either a positive or negative connotation of it. Matthew 16:11&12 says the leaven is teachings, which is a little more specific but still a lot broad. Luke 12:1 tells the reader that the leaven is hypocrisy, which gets more specific, but hypocrisy in regard to what? The problem with cross referencing the Mark passage at hand with its counterparts in Matthew and Luke comes down another difference, which is who the leaven belongs to. Matthew says the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Luke just speaks of the Pharisees. Meanwhile, Mark speaks of the Pharisees and Herod or the Pharisees and the Herodians. These seem like three different groups, so Jesus may have used “leaven” (ζύμη, zymē) to describe these three different groups in three different ways.

Even the question to whether Jesus pairs Herod or Herodians with the Pharisees causes problems figuring out the metaphorical meaning of “leaven” (ζύμη, zymē). It seems like an odd pairing, to talk about a religious party and a vassal king in the same sentence. The literary context may help here. Immediately preceding this passage, the Pharisees demanded a sign, and Jesus denied it. Earlier in the Gospel of Mark, Mark introduces Herod in Mark 6. In fact, twice Mark repeats the phrase “Herod heard of it” in Mark 6:14-16. Heard of what? What is “it”? Well, the phrase in Mark 6:16 points back to the phrase Mark 6:14, and the verse prior to Mark 6:14, Mark 6:13, talks about Jesus sending out the Twelve apostles with the power to do what he can do: cast out demons and anoint with oil many who are sick to heal them. What seems unclean now become clear. Just like the Pharisees, Herod got more caught up in the signs and wonders Jesus could do, not the message Jesus proclaimed (cf. Mark 6:12&13 to Mark 8:11&12). Therefore, the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod in Mark 8:15 refers to belief based off signs and wonders. In fact, belief on the foundation of signs and wonder is not real, true belief; it is unbelief. The Pharisees did not believe because they saw the miracles, and they claimed it did not do enough. They declared they wanted more. For Herod, the miracles confused Herod, causing him to think more about John the Baptist and less about Jesus. Both the Pharisees and Herod saw and heard the miracles Jesus performed, yet none of them came to faith in Jesus. For belief to fully mature into faith, it must do so without the aid of signs.

8:16. The conversation shifts from the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod back to the bread, or rather, the lack thereof bread. This conversational shift may have come about in a few ways. First, the apostles could have merely ignored Jesus, focused too much on their provisions than listening to Jesus’s admonishment. Second, the disciples may have thought too deeply. They expect “leaven” to have a deep and complex figurative meaning, when in reality, they can take it more literally. Third, the term “leaven” (ζύμη, zymē) can simply be shorthand for “leavened bread,” which easily aids the transition from talking about leaven to talking about bread. Their “discussion” could have easily evolved into a debate about who to blame for lack of bread. Ironically, this puts the disciples in a worse position than the Pharisees or Herod, for quite a few reasons. First of all, the apostles had more of an insider view of all the miracles, whereas the Pharisees and Herod had to watch things from the outside, yet the disciples from the inside had the same faith as the Pharisees and Herod on the outside. Second, while the Pharisees and Herodians saw the signs and wonders. They wanted more. The Twelve, on the other hand, could not even recall the signs and wonders they had seen for themselves. For if they did, they would know that having one loaf of bread really did not cause that much of an issue.

8:17&18. For the third time in this account, the narrative brings up that the apostles did not have enough bread in the boat with them. Again, Mark here draws emphasis on their lack of supplies. As sharp as Christ’s reproach may seem, the disciples totally deserved it. Despite witnessing everything Jesus had done, they failed to understand what it really meant for the fourth time (see Mark 4:13, 6:52 and 7:18). Thus, this group of twelve disciples could easily belong with the Pharisees or Herod because they too saw and heard what Jesus did, but they could not perceive or understand what Jesus did. The inspiration for Christ’s rhetorical questions in Mark 8:17&18 comes from the major prophets, more specifically, Isaiah 6:9, Jeremiah 5:21 and Ezekiel 12:2. All three major prophets describe those outside God’s covenantal people as people who have eyes yet cannot see and who have ears yet cannot hear. This illustration has a clear meaning. The eyes have the job to see, so an eye that cannot see has no use. The ears have the job to hear. Ears that cannot here have no purpose. As a matter of fact, Isaiah does the best job with this wordplay in Isaiah 6:9. In Isaiah 6:9, Isaiah pretty much says, “They can see, but they can never say, ‘Oh, I see’ (as in “Oh I get it”); they can hear, but they are not listening.” In essence, the major prophets prophesy to their original audience, who are the people of Israel and Judah who are about to go into exile, that they have become a useless people in their covenant with God. Now Jesus uses the same words to describe the apostles. They have become useless disciples if they cannot perceive and understand what Jesus does. This must have pained Jesus, who had intentions for his disciples to both see and perceive and hear and understand, even if the outside crowd could not (see Mark 4:12&13). Jesus desired to make the disciples the inside group, yet they acted like the outside group.

8:19&20. Just in case the disciples truly forgot what they saw and heard, Jesus quizzes them on two miracles, more specifically, the feeding of the five thousand and the feeding of the four thousand. Jesus hopes that by knowing the facts, the apostles can comprehend what happened and apply it to their lives. Clearly, the disciples have not forgotten, as they ace their test! In reality, though, the Twelve did not ace their test; they actually failed it because they did not get what the miracles meant! Remember that this narrative centers around the lack of bread. Jesus precisely picks the miracles of feeding the five thousand and feeding the four thousand because they too deal with bread. If Jesus can feed five thousand men with five loaves and have twelve baskets of leftovers, and if Jesus can feed four thousand with seven loaves and have seven baskets of leftovers, then Jesus can feed thirteen adult men (the twelve disciples plus Jesus) with one loaf of bread. The clear moral of the story for both the feeding of the five thousand and the feeding of the four thousand is that Jesus is Yahweh Yireh (you probably know it as “Jehovah Jireh”), the Lord who provides, yet the disciples did not get that because they act like they will run out of provisions. Again, the disciples act just like those outside. They got caught up so much in what Jesus did that they did not get what Jesus meant. More specifically, they got too caught up in what Jesus did and missed who Jesus was.

8:21. This account on the life of Jesus concludes again with a rhetorical question, and it also addresses the apostles’ ability to understand. Thus, the rhetorical question becomes a call for the Twelve to deepen their discipleship with Jesus. They should not merely see and hear what Jesus does; they should perceive and understand who Jesus is. Note also how the rhetorical includes the two words “not yet” in the middle. This wording provides hope that the disciples will eventually and ultimately understand.

Exiting this account of the life of Jesus, the context brings even more light to the narrative. This pericope takes place between two miracles: one in which Jesus makes a deaf man hear (7:31-37) and the other in which Jesus makes a blind man see (8:22-26). This context gives the reader hope that Jesus can make the spiritually deaf disciples hear and the spiritually blind disciples see. Even more fitting, Mark 8 closes with Peter’s confession of Jesus as Christ, for it will demonstrate that the disciples did take that call to perceive and understand who Jesus is seriously.

After studying this story, the question remains, “How do modern-day disciples of Jesus make sure they do not fall into the same mistake as Jesus’s twelve disciples back then?” Three applications will help safeguard twenty-first century disciples of Jesus from becoming like the first century disciples of Jesus.

First, see and hear what God has done! Unfortunately, no Christian today can see and hear firsthand the works of Jesus like the twelve apostles did. Fortunately, today’s Christians do have a very reliable account of the works and words of Jesus, the four Gospel books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Nobody can perceive unless that person first sees, and no one can first understand unless that person hears. Anybody who wants to perceive and understand what Jesus does in this world must start will seeing and hearing what Jesus did, as found in the Gospels. That not only applies to Jesus in the Gospels, but it also applies to God in the whole Bible. Take some time out of the day, whether in the beginning of the day before breakfast or at the end of the day before bed or any time in between, to read about what the Lord has done. The sixty-six books of the Bible are sixty-six love letters from the Lord. If you do not take the time to read those love letters your loving God gave you, then shame on you!

See and hear what God has done!

Second, marinate in the Word of God. Maybe I am just hungry for a nice steak, but I really think marinate is the best verb to describe what the Christian should do with the Bible. Sure you can quickly throw juices and spices on a piece of meat and throw it in the oven, but if you really want the most flavorful meat, you will let the meat sit in those juices and spices for hours, even days, before cooking it. The most professional chefs have marinating meat down a science to get the most flavorful meats. Believers need to have the same approach in their Bible study. Before I go on any further, let me quickly include a disclaimer. I know many brothers and sisters in Christ who do the read through the Bible in year, and they do it every year. Because they do it every year, their knowledge and wisdom on the Bible matches anybody who has graduated from a seminary. My only problem with reading through the Bible in a year comes down to the fact that it comes with a very strict schedule, and it can sometimes force a reader to move on to the next passage without making sure the reader has fully grasped what he or she had read in the prior passage. Bible quizzing, on the other hand, has the quizzer read over the same section over and over again for a whole week. This repetition leads to what I call “subconscious memorization.” Repeating the same chapter over and over again result in “accidently” remember it. Anyone inexperienced with Bible quizzing will watch one of the top quizzers quiz and think, “Wow, that quizzer must have memorized all those chapters!” Nope. The quizzer has merely repeated those chapters over and over again until it sunk into memory. That’s what happened to me. When I quizzed as a quizzer, I learned and memorized so much through mere repetition. Not only did I read the Scripture passage daily, but I also listened to it daily on an audio version of the Bible, which further cemented what I wanted to learn. I found this memorization by repetition so beneficial, even though I no longer quiz as a quizzer, I still practice it. Yes, from the beginning of the new year to the end of March, I read and listen to the same Bible passage over and over again. No matter how many times I see or hear the same Bible passage, I always pick up on a new detail. Try it yourself. The Holy Spirit may teach you things you never thought about in Bible stories quite familiar to you.

Marinate in the Word of God!

For a third application, read Mark 4:25. In Mark 4:25, Jesus says, “For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” Christians, like the Pharisees, sometimes wish that the Lord would just reveal God’s will for the Christian life from heaven, perhaps sun rays shining down from the sky, or maybe a choir of angels. Getting visions and dreams does sound cool, too, but the Lord will not hand out that kind of revelation unless the Christian has proven himself or herself faithful in the revelation God has provided for all people, the Bible. I will tell you that I have had dreams, in which the Lord wanted me to know something. For example, in 2019, I kept having a recurring dream that I missed the invitational Bible quizzing tournament in Ohio. Those dreams felt more like nightmares, often waking me up in night sweats or even tears. Back in 2019, I merely dismissed those dreams, but now that both the 2020 and 2021 invitational Bible quizzing tournament have been cancelled, I wonder if God wanted to warn me about the cancellation to prepare me for it. For certain, every time I had a dream in which the Lord wanted me to know something, it happened when I was on top of my Bible study and devotions. It all goes back to Mark 4:25. For the one who has Bible study and devotions, the Lord deems it fit to be given even more revelation. For the one who has no Bible study or devotion, not only does God take away unique revelation, that person will also miss out on what God wants to reveal to him or her in the Bible. Do not miss out on what God wants to speak to you. Cherish your devotional time, and you will find the Lord speaking to you.

Prior to Mark 4:25, in Mark 4:24, Jesus says, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.” The Bible has revealed so much about God the Father and his Son Jesus. May believers all around the world prove themselves worthy to have it, not by merely seeing or hearing it, but by perceiving and understanding it.

Bibliography:

Guelich, Robert A. Mark 1–8:26. Vol. 34A. Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1989.

Lane, William L. The Gospel of Mark. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1974.

Valentine's Day Quizzing at Petra

 While the quizzing schedule was back on track, quizzing was far from back for normal...well, at least for this year. Because the postponed week landed on what was scheduled on an off week, the next quiz meet would be on the following Sunday. The quizzers would only have a week to prepare. While a single week to prepare is closer to a typical, traditional year for veteran quizzers, for rookie quizzers, who are use to quizmeets every other week a single week to prepare is a brand new experience. For Stony Brook, a team of rookie quizzers, it was a brand new experience for everybody. Furthermore, with quiz practice on Friday nights, the quizzers would only have a single day to fix what they needed to fix.

Of course, the Stony Brook quiz team came together on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. to practice. Caleb had to step out at 2:30 p.m. for choir practice, so we started with a practice match instead of our usual reading, just so Caleb could at least get a practice match in before leaving. That practice match did not go well. In the first third of match, there was 3 errors, and a 4th question absolutely nobody knew. At that point, I, as their coach, decided we needed to stop the practices matches and read. Caleb started off the reading, so he could do his part right before leaving. He read his part and exited. The rest of the quiz team wrapped up reading, and then they went back to practices matches. These practice matches went a whole lot better. Even moving quizzing out to 4 question quiz outs because Caleb was out, the rest of quizzers could still quiz out easily. They were ready. The quiz team wrapped up practice by going over lists, like the current week's longest list of the 13 evils that come from within and defile a man, and review lists like the 12 disciples. While the quiz team waited for dinner to cook, they took a break by playing Mario Chase, a minigame on the Wii U game Nintendo Land. Everybody got the opportunity to play as "it" on the Wii U game pad, running away from the players playing with the Wiimote. It was a lot of fun. Around 4:15 p.m., dinner was ready, and the quiz team sat down to eat some lasagna made by Karen Hershey. Caleb rejoined the team at 4:30 p.m. for dinner. Once everybody finished eating, the quizzers loaded into the Metzler van to leave. After a quick pit stop at Stony Brook Mennonite Church to take our team photo, we drove off to Petra Church for our quiz meet.

The Stony Brook team photo

The Stony Brook quiz team arrived at Petra Church, so the team went into their nook to do a few rounds of questions. As their coach, I did not want to overdo it, so the team headed into the sanctuary to wait for worship.  After a few worship songs and announcements, Stony Brook had to exit the sanctuary immediately, for the team had the first match of the first round.

Waiting for worship

For the first match, Stony Brook faced off against Petra 9, a team at the time last place in our league. Despite Petra 9 dominating buzzing in for every question the first half of match, they errored on a quarter on them, and Stony Brook got all the bonuses correct, keeping the match close. Stony Brook had a bit of a score when Petra 9 answered 3 questions correctly in a row, including one of their quizzers quizzing out, putting Petra 9 a solid 35 points in the lead. Stony Brook would answer with their own streak of 3 correct answers, helping the team catch up, yet they still fell short 5 points due to the Petra 9 quizzer quizzing out back on question 7. It didn't help when a Petra 9 quizzers buizzed in and answered correctly on question 13, putting Petra 9 ahead 15 points. On question 14, Petra 9 buzzed in and errored, but Stony Brook could not pick up the bonus and answered it incorrectly. On question 15, Olivia buzzed in, answered correctly and quizzed out, tying the match! Yes, the final score was 75-75. The highlight of the match was Olivia getting her second quiz out of the year.

After an hour of wait time, Stony Brook had their second match of the night, this time facing off against Hinkletown 4, the 3rd Hinkletown team for the year. Now Hinkletown 4 had Rebekah Showalter and Hannah Martin, 2 perfect quizzers, meaning they had quizzed out every match this year so far. At the same time, however, I noticed how the rest of the quizzers on Hinkletown 4 hadn't done much. Before the quizmatch started, I, as their quiz coach, reminded the quizzers that the beginning of the quiz match may become the Hannah and Rebekah show, but Stony Brook could sweep in at the end and take the match. Man, I hate it when I'm right. For the first 9 questions, Rebekah and Hannah buzzed in on 8 of them, answering three-quarters correctly and erroring on the other quarter, which Stony Brook picked up all the bonuses correctly. Then, after both Hannah and Rebekah quizzed out, a 3rd Hinkletown 4 quizzer by the name of Elisabeth buzzed in and answered correctly, extending their lead even further. Two-thirds the way through the match, and Hinkletown 4 had the lead 80-30. During a timeout, I, their quiz coach, reminded the quizzers that Rebekah and Hannah quizzed out, and now Stony Brook could take control of the match. Stony Brook definitely did try. On question 11, Kate buzzed in and errored. Fortunately, Elisabeth could not answer the bonus correctly. On question 12, Olivia buzzed in and answered correctly, her first action of the quizmatch. Unfortunately, she followed up on question 13 with and error, but fortunately, Elisabeth got the bonus incorrect again. With 2 questions left, Stony Brook was behind 40-80. As their quiz coach, I was unsure if I should leave in the 4 quizzers of the starting lineup, who each had 1 question correct, so they had the opportunity to quiz out, or to pull a quizzer out for our substitute Caleb to increase our chance for team bonus. As their coach, I was indecisive on what to do. Then Hinkletown 4 called their final timeout. I took it as a sign. Since Kaylee and Olivia already had a buzz in, I made a coach's decision to pull Olivia and put in Caleb. Now with Caleb, Kate and Lauren all in, if 2 of the 3 of them buzzed in and answered correctly, Stony Brook would get team bonus! On question 14, Caleb buzzed in and answered correctly. Now it came down to either Kate or Lauren buzzing in and answering correctly for team bonus. On question 15, Kate buzzed in and answered correctly, giving Stony Brook team bonus! If you're keeping score, yes, Stony Brook tied again, this time with a score of 80-80.

At the halfway point of the quizzing season, Stony Brook has a record of 1-2-3. Yes, Stony Brook has 1 win, 2 losses and 3 ties! More importantly, since standings go by points, Stony Brook now has a grand total of 420 points, bumping their point average up to 70 points/match. Hopefully, the increase in total points and point average will result in the team moving up the rankings.

Quizmeet at Hinkletown: Quizmatches vs. Hinkletown 2 & Gehman 2

 The previous week's quizzing had been cancelled due to the snow. In reality, quizzing had just postponed. The material studied for that Sunday, January 31, would be quizzed on the next Sunday, February 7 at 2:00 p.m. Furthermore, the quiz meet location and quiz match opponents had been swapped with the 3rd week. Now Stony Brook would head to Hinkletown to quiz against Hinkletown 2 and Gehman 2. This caused so many problems. Lauren had a choir recital on Sunday, February 7 at 2:00 p.m. Caleb had choir practice that afternoon, too, which, at best, meant he would miss the first quiz match and only make the second quiz match. Furthermore, Stony Brook's opponents changed from 2 equally strengthed opponents to 2 top 10 teams in our league. While the Stony Brook quiz team would appreciate the extra week to study and practice, it looked Stony Brook would have to face off against a 9th place team with only 3 quizzers and and a 10th place team with only 4 quizzers. Well, Jesus be praised, for he would provide solutions to all our problems, and in ways we could not comprehend.

The Sunday morning of February 7 looked a lot like the Sunday morning of January 31. Snow coated the ground. This time, however, it started earlier, and it did not snow as much. While Stony Brook Mennonite Church would transition from an in-person worship service at the church building to an online church service via Zoom, quizzing had not been called off. You know what had been called off though? Caleb's choir practice and Lauren's choir recital. Yes, the Stony Brook quiz team was back at full strength!

The Stony Brook quiz team met at the Metzlers at noon for lunch and practice. They scarfed down tacos, provided by Pastor Brenden and Sarah Colla, while going over rounds of questions. Even without buzzer practicing, the quiz team proved they knew the material. To boost confidence, the quiz team even went over rounds of questions in the car ride up to Hinkletown. Again, their answers proved they knew their stuff. They just had to think and feel as confidence and prove it to themselves.

The Stony Brook quiz team entered into Hinkletown sanctuary to join the rest of the quiz teams in a time of praise and worship, lead by Hinkletown quizzers. After the praise and worship time, the matches began. Fortunately, since Hinkletown does not a large lobby or a lot of large rooms, the quiz team could stay in the sanctuary to watch the matches taking place there. It gave them the opportunity to see 2 other teams quiz against each other. It also allowed them to eliminate questions, for the likelihood of a question asked in an earlier match to be asked in their matches dropped. After watching the first match in the sanctuary, the team exited for the lobby, waiting for their first match.

For the first match of the afternoon, Stony Brook faced off with Hinkletown 2, 9th place in their league, in the fellowship hall. Halfway through the match, it did not feel like Stony Brook versus a 9th place team. Hinkletown 2 had gotten 5 errors, 3 of which came from a single quizzer erroring out. Hinkletown 2 was losing points due to errors, and they had killed a seat. Furthermore, Stony Brook had picked up a majority of those bonuses correctly. It even gave Kaylee her first points, right on question 1! Halfway through the match, Stony Brook was winning the match, 30 to 15. During a time out, the coach reminded the quiz team that the Lord had shown Stony Brook grace and favor, and they needed to embrace it with confidence. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. Hinkletown 2 would not slow down, and they would dominate the second half of the match, with 3 quizzers quizzing out by the end of the match. Only Caleb could get in on the Stony Brook side for the second half with a correct buzz-in, giving the team 10 more points. Stony Brook lost the match, 40 to 100.

An hour later, Stony Brook went downstairs to the youth room to quiz Gehman 2. Not only was Gehman 2 in 10th place in our League, they had 2 perfect quizzers (meaning 2 quizzers quizzed out in both their matches last meet). Furthermore, of these 2 perfect quizzers was Hannah Gockley, a 3-time top 50 Bible quizzer and 1-time perfect quizzer (quizzing out every match in a single year). Things did not look good for Stony Brook, yet things were about to look up and fast. On question 1, Hannah buzzed in on an easy question and answered...incorrectly! The bonus went to Kaylee, and she easily got it correct. Hannah would answer 3 of the next 4 question correctly (with Olivia buzzing in and answering correctly to disrupt her flow), proceeding to quiz out at question 5. Now with Hannah done, Stony Brook only had to worry about Elvin, the other perfect quizzer from Gehman. On question 6, Elvin buzzes in on an easy question, and he answers...wrong! The bonus goes to Kate, which she easily answers right. During the next timeout, the coach again reminded the quiz team that God has given them grace and favor, and they need to embrace it. This time they do! On question 11, Olivia quizzes out, earning her first quiz out of the season. Caleb takes the seat. On question 12, Kaylee quizzes out, getting her first quiz out of the season. The remaining 3 quizzers of the team, now feeling confidence, give their coach permission to pull out Kaylee. With 2 questions left, Kate could quiz out in those last 2 questions and Stony Brook could get team bonus on those last 2 questions. On question 14, Caleb buzzed in and answered correctly! (Remember, Caleb should have just arrived at quizzing from his choir practice) On question 15, Lauren buzzed in and answered correctly, giving Stony Brook team bonus! (And remember, Lauren is supposed to be at a choir recital right about now!) Final score: Stony Brook - 120, Gehman 2 - 70. So many firsts happened this match. Olivia and Kaylee got their first quiz outs! Lauren got her first quiz match question correct, and a correct buzz-in at that! Stony Brook got its first team bonus and its first win!

Now that Stony Brook has quizzed 4 matches, Stony Brook has scored a grand total of 265 points, averaging 66 points per match. Internally, Stony Brook has a 3-way tie for its top quizzer, with 3 quizzers having an individual score of 65 points. We will see where that lands Stony Brook on the standings. Speaking of standings, make sure you keep an eye out for all 5 Stony Brook quizzers on the individual standings. Now that Lauren scored points, all of them will be on there!

Quizmeet at Petra: Quizmatches vs. Hinkletown 6 & Strasburg 3

 The Stony Brook quiz team had a very busy Sunday for their season opener!

At 10:00 a.m., the Stony Brook quiz team worshipped together at Stony Brook Mennonite Church. Halfway through the worship service, the congregation blessed/commissioned/dedicated the quizzers to the Lord by the COVID-friendly version of "laying of hands" (extending their arms towards the quizzers) and praying over them. The quiz team then gave the church a special treat by reading the Scripture of the sermon right out of their quiz book. Their quiz coach then preached on part of the quizzing material. Now the quizzers didn't have to worry about being tempted to read their quiz book instead of listening to the sermon 😉! After the worship service concluded, the quizzers did not leave empty-handed because they each received their secret sponsor gift.

The quizzers arrived for quiz practice at 2:00 p.m. at their quiz coach's home. As they arrived, their coach received an important text message from the Bible quizzing coordinator. Due to sickness, quizzing was short staffed. Quizzing had to remove a room and staff and add an extra round. Instead of having back-to-back matches, the Stony Brook quiz team now had a match in the new last round. While it would not affect the quiz team immediately, they would be staying later than normal. This was the 3rd practice, with the 8th, 9th and 10th practice quiz match. At first, it did not go so hot. While Kate managed to quiz out by question 5, by question 8, there were 6 errors, of which 4 of the bonuses were dropped (incorrect). By the last practice match, however, the team got hot. The first 6 questions were correct buzz-ins, there were only 3 errors the whole match, and the rest of the match were correct buzz-ins. True, that last practice match was going over missed questions over the past 2 Friday practices, but it demonstrated that the quizzers had learned from their mistakes. It would come in handy. Quizzing practice went so smoothly, the quiz team had dinner early, consisting of spaghetti, meatballs, salad and garlic knots, made by Carrie, sponsored by Dwayne and Teri. With an early dinner, the quizzers got some free time to relax. They played some Ring Fit Adventure on the Nintendo Switch, seeing if they could beat their coach's high score. At 5 o'clock, they departed for Petra church for their quiz meet.

The quiz team reached Petra church at 6 o'clock. After everybody went for a bathroom break, the quiz team found a nook, where the quiz coach did a round of questions with the quizzers over the missed questions from that afternoon and last Friday. The quizzers were ready as they would ever be! The quiz team entered the sanctuary as the worship music began for a time of worship. When worship ended, the quizzing coordinator went through some announcements. During the announcements, he announced all the churches and all the team. As he went down the S part of the list, he announced, "We have 1 new church: Stony Brook!" The team received quite a hearty applause! Due to social distancing during the pandemic, the only ones attending the quiz matches were the quizzers, coaches, staff and immediate family. Therefore, the rest of teams had to wait for their matches in the sanctuary or the lobby. The Stony Brook quiz team retreated back to their nook to wait for their matches.

Before they knew it, it was 7:40 p.m., and Stony Brook made their way to room 301 for their first quiz match, versus Hinkletown 6. The whole match between Hinkletown 6 and Stony Brook was neck and neck. Whenever Hinkletown 6 would answer a question correctly and get ahead, Stony Brook would catch up by answering a question correctly. Whenever Stony Brook would take the lead by answering a question correctly, Hinkletown 6 would follow up by answering a question correctly, and tie up the score again. After the first 2 questions, the score was tied at 10. After 4 questions, the score was tied at 20. After 6 questions, the score was tied at 30. Trevor from Hinkletown 6 would answer question 6 correctly and quiz out, giving Hinkletown 6 a 15 point lead. Stony Brook would take the lead back by answering back-to-back questions correctly, but then Hinkletown 6 would take lead back with their own back-to-back correct answers. Caleb would help turn Hinkletown 6's odd 15 point lead into a tie again with his quiz out on question 13, but Jordan from Hinkletown 6 would quiz out himself, giving Hinkletown 6 their 15 point lead back. A win was out of the question, but a tie would be possible with Kate, who was 1 correct answer away from a quiz out. Knowing this, her quiz coach called out the words of encouragement his coach once gave him: "Kate, this next question is yours!" Those words of encouragement is just wait Kate needed. Kate buzzed in, answered correctly and quizzed out. The quiz match ended in a tie, with a final score of 80-80. The quiz team retreated back to their nook in the foyer to reflect on their first quiz match.

Before they knew it, an hour had passed, and the Stony Brook quiz team made their way to the "oasis" (the Petra youth group room) for their second quiz match, versus Strasburg 3. Strasburg 3 consisted of a team of veterans, and it showed. Strasburg 3 buzzed in on all the first 13 questions, only answering incorrectly twice the whole time. Fortunately, the Stony Brook team only managed to get 1 of those 2 bonuses correct. To make matter worse, those 11 of 13 buzz ins gave Strasburg 3 team bonus and 3 quiz outs. After two-thirds the way through the quiz match, their coach called a time out. He reminded them that standings go by points, not by win-loss record, so don't get to hung up on losing, but focus on racking up some point. That pep talk may have taken a few questions to kick in, but it worked! On the last 2 questions, Olivia buzzed in and answered the questions correctly. Stony Brook would lose 25-145, but Olivia would add 20 points to her individual score, and Kate would add 10 points to her individual score, and Stony Brook would add 25 points to its score.

After their first quizmeet, Stony Brook has a record of 0-1-1, and a total of 105 points, which averages 52.5 per match. Stay tuned to pabiblequizzing.org to see where that lands Stony Brook in the standings!

JESUS: The Prince of the Second Week of Advent (Isaiah 9:6&7)

Introduction 

In 2020, NBC rebooted the game show The Weakest Link. If not familiar with the show, think Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? meets Survivor. Like Who Wants To be A Millionaire, contestants bank money by answering trivia questions. Like Survivor, at the end of every round, contestants vote on who they would like to see removed from the game. The contestant with the most votes indeed gets removed from the show, and the last player standing wins the money. Most of the questions are basic, common, general knowledge (assuming you are somewhat familiar with pop culture). I highly doubt that anybody has any problems with any questions, but when you ask a question about the biblical languages, you might have a Biblical studies PhD candidate and former quizzer contest.

In one of the reboot episodes, one of the questions asked, “What Hebrew word means hello, goodbye, and peace?” The answer they were looking for was “shalom.” I really wanted to stand and yell, “I contest!” The word’s definition does mean peace, but the word’s definition within itself does not mean “hello” or “goodbye.” Rather, peace became both a salutation and valediction. In Old Testament times, a Hebrew running into a stranger did not know whether the stranger was friend or foe. By shouting “Shalom!” or “Peace!” the stranger made sure his peaceful intentions were made known, putting his fellow Hebrew at ease. On the flipside, shalom or “peace” became well wishes in leaving, like “Have a good day!” or “Have a nice week!” One could say, “Have a peaceful day!” or “Have a peaceful week!” To summarize, the Hebrew word shalom itself only means “peace,” but it became a greeting for arriving and departing.

The game show did get something right, though. The Hebrew word shalom does means more than just “peace.” As anyone fluent in multiple languages will tell you, rarely do words between languages have a perfect one-to-one correspondence. Translators end up picking the best, closest translation, with the insinuation that it may lack in some certain areas. Likewise, “peace” is the best, closest translation for shalom, but recognize that “peace” is an incomplete definition, lacking in some areas. Therefore, shalom needs a fuller definition.

In 2005, MennoMedia, a media agency of Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada, created the Peace DVD, a DVD with 6-sessions of youth Bible study to encourage youth to think about how they could bring peace to the world. If you’re doing the math, yes, that was 2 years after the United States of America entered into war/conflict with Iraq, but no, all 6 sessions did not merely rant about the evils of war. As a matter of fact, the DVD did not even touch war until session 5 of 6. Sessions included peace with God, peace with the earth and people within the community. At the beginning of every session, the leaders of the video would start off with a definition of peace, which actually works well with shalom.

"Peace is when everything is the best it can be." -Peace DVD

Now my Sunday school leaders had the class memorize this definition on top of our Bible memory. I came close, but I could never say it right. Every time I tried, I would say, "Peace is when the world’s all as it should be." If you didn’t recognize it, my definition comes from the contemporary praise and worship song "Blessed be Your Name." But isn’t that the same thing? If the world’s all as it should be, as God intended it, without sin, then everything would be at the best. That's shalom, that’s “peace.” Shalom appears in the garden of Eden. The garden has shalom because the garden had everything God planned, nothing wrong or out of place. Adam and Eve walked with God. They had shalom with their maker, with each other and the earth on which they lived. When Satan came in and Eve fell to his temptation, that peace was gone. When God promised them a messiah, not only was he providing a way to get out of the sin, but a promise of restoring the peace. Genesis 3:15 implicitly says that the offspring would restore the shalom once found in the Garden, but Isaiah 9:6-7 explicitly speaks of a chosen child ruling with peace.

Isaiah 9:6

In the previous chapter, Isaiah 8, Yahweh, through Isaiah, has pronounced judgment upon the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The Assyrian Empire would conquer and subdue the Northern Kingdom, until they are no more. While such news sounds like gloom to Israel, Isaiah actually prophesies glory for Israel in Isaiah 9! The Lord would save and deliver Israel from their oppressors, bringing glory to both God and Israel. This salvation would come from the Messiah. Perhaps Isaiah can see even further than it, seeing the eschaton, in which Israel would never ever have to worry about foreign oppressors because all people and all nations fall in subjugation to Yahweh and his Messiah.

While Jewish scholars acknowledge Isaiah speaks prophetically about the future, Jewish scholars have attempted to argue this prophesy has fulfillment in the immediate or near future, prophesying the birth of one of Isaiah’s sons or Ahaz’s sons (or descendant). Christian scholars, however, have proven none of those work, meaning it has to refer to the Messiah. At best, the Jewish scholars can argue that one of Isaiah’s or Ahaz’s son might have partially fulfilled the prophecy, but the prophecy will only have complete fulfillment in the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 9:6 begins with “for” (כִּי, kî), the third of a chain of three. Primarily, the conjunction “for” links together Isaiah 9:6 all the way back Isaiah 9:3. Back in Isaiah 9:3, Isaiah declares that Yahweh has given the nation joy. The joy is possible because the Lord has freed the nation from oppressing. The freedom of oppression is possible because God brought an end to war. The end of war is possible because someone is coming to end it. Thus, the grand conclusion of all God’s plan for his people come down to not to a place, a thing, an event or an idea, but a person.

In this passage, the conjunction “for” has a secondary function of indicating a feature of salvation, so the chain of three “for”s marks three traits of salvation. From the third “for,” Isaiah 9:6 teaches that a part of salvation involves a coming chosen one, the Messiah. In the times of Isaiah, messianic hopes included that the Messiah would reunite the Northern Kingdom of Israel and Southern Kingdom of Judah into one nation. The Messiah would rule over all the tribes, just like his ancestors David and Solomon did. Therefore, the “us” that follows the third “for” includes all the tribes of Israel. Some scholars, like Jameison, Fausset and Brown, notice Isaiah says “us” instead of “you,” as in his fellow Jew, so the “us” must refer to the Jews and Gentiles alike. Other scholars, like J.M. Roberts, take even a step further, claiming the “us” refers to all God’s creation, in heaven and in earth. The coming Messiah is the Messiah for all of humanity, both Jew and Gentiles, and all of creation, both in the heavens and on the earth!

This human God has in mind will not descend from the heavens as fully-grown adult. No, he will be a child, or more specifically, a son. For the two previous chapters, Isaiah has implied child, not adult. Now in this chapter, Isaiah emphasizes child, and he will do so again in the eleventh chapter. So much emphasis on a child, not an adult, has a two-fold meaning. First, the coming one is not solely divine. Rather, he is fully human, including experiencing birth and childhood. The coming one is both divine and human. Second, it reveals how the coming one will rescue the nation from oppression and war. If the coming one solely came as divine, he would simply overpower the oppressors, which could come off as making God look like the oppressor and the Warhawk. God’s way involves humility, submission and love, thus breaking the cycle of violence.

The verbs “is born” (ילד, yālǎḏ) and “is given” (נתן, nāṯǎn) may seem like a synonymous parallelism, but here it functions better as a synthetic parallelism. The second verb prophesies that the birth of the child is not a fluke, but rather, the son come from the Lord’s sovereign plan.

Isaiah 9:6 gives a clue to who or what type of person this may be. Notice all the political words throughout Isaiah 9:6&7 – government, prince, throne, kingdom (even “justice” could be considered a political term if “justice” is considered the job of the government). Interesting enough, the political term “king” seems absent. Some scholars, like Harrelson and Von Rad, believe that Isaiah sees the kings of Israel and Judah so wicked that for this person to share the same time as these evil men would be an insult!

The first of these political phrases announces this born child, this given son, will have the government upon his shoulders. The Hebrew term “government” (מִשְׂרָה, misrah) is actually a rare word in the Hebrew Old Testament, only appearing here in Isaiah 9:6 and next in Isaiah 9:7 verse out of the entire Hebrew Old Testament! Isaiah 9:6 uses this rare word in very poetic imagery of being or resting “upon the shoulders” (עַל־שִׁכְמ֑וֹ, al shekem). Quite possibly, this poetic imagery comes from the king’s robe. A king’s robe, rested on the wearer’s shoulders, indicated that the wearer ruled over the nation. More likely, however, this poetic imagery paints the picture of a burden, like a yoke, placed on the shoulders. A king bears a burden to rule a people, like sustaining the nation and keeping the citizens safe and at peace, free from oppressors. How fitting that, instead of the king taking on the burden of protecting the people from foreign countries, the foreign nations have put on burden on Israel. The figurative language relays the message that this born child, this given son would be the true king of Israel. Again, whereas the wicked kings of Israel and Judah failed to reign as a godly king, this child would succeed as a good, godly king. He would throw off the oppressive burdens and give the people peace.

At the end of Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah gives this coming child four titles. Some scholars, like Wilberger, attempt to parallel to the Egyptian coronation ceremony, in which the new king receive five titles to reflect five divine attributes. This parallel falls flat on a few factors. First, Egyptian kings received five titles, but Isaiah 9:6 only has four. Second, Isaiah announces a birth, not a coronation. Third, the five divine titles of the Egyptians recognized the new king as becoming divine, as the Jews would have seen this practice as blasphemy. Other scholars, like R.A. Carson, believe that these titles intend to mock the Assyrian kings, who would give themselves exaggerated titles. While more possible than the Egyptian titles, this option still seems less likely, as Israelite kings normally didn’t practice anything similar, knowing their God preferred humility in his kings. This part of Isaiah 9:6 hints at the divine nature of the coming son. If an Israelite king would not receive such titles, then the coming child must be greater than just a king, like God.

The first two titles define who this Messiah is, like his attributes, characteristics and personality. The last two describe what the Messiah will do, like how he will rules as a king. Now all four titles deserve attention on their own, so much so that each title deserves its own sermon! For the sake of the topic at hand, the second week of advent, let’s jump to the last title, the prince of peace.

The “prince of peace” (שַׂר־שָׁלֽוֹם, sar-shâlōm), a phrase combining peace with a political word, should come as no surprise. Any good king would want peace for his people. Kings would try to appeal to their people by promoting peace in their campaigns. At the surface level, peace means the opposite of war. Such thinking draws to the ancestors of the kingly line, David and Solomon. While a man of war, David secured solid borders for Israel, giving the Israelite people within those borders peace from oppressors or raiders. Solomon, a man of peace, achieved peace with the surrounding nation by entering into alliances and peace treaties with the rulers of the surrounding nations. The people of Isaiah’s time long for those times to return because, in their days, they constantly experienced oppressors and raiders. For this reason, the prophecy in Isaiah 9 cannot refer to a son of Isaiah or Ahaz, for  God had promised David in the Davidic covenant that the people under the Davidic would experience peace from their foes (see 2 Samuel 7:10&11). The true Messiah would have to champion peace for his people! He would have to remove anyone or anything that would threaten peace to truly bring peace on the earth, to his country and the surrounding nations.

Isaiah may have left the Prince of Peace for last on purpose. It works kind of climatically. This coming child will not become an oppressing king or a Warhawk king, like so many kings before him. He will turn into a peaceful ruler, bringing peace by means of peace, not of oppression or war. No one will defy him because his transparency and vulnerability will reveal him of innocent of any wrongdoing. In essence, the Prince of Peace has to be the personification of peace. Not only will he bring peace by ending oppression and war, he will bring peace by bring reconciliation between God and man through love. To simply limit the Prince of Peace as the Prince of the opposite of war, however, would do the prince a disservice. Peace means more than that. Peace means calmness and success. This prince’s reign will not only bring a calm to the land, the calm will allow the people to shift from surviving in a hostile world to thriving in a calm world. Again, the Prince of Peace has to become the champion of peace, a leader of spiritual peace and calmness.

Isaiah 9:7

It only makes sense that a Prince of Peace will establish a government of peace. Isaiah 9:7 reveals a few elements of this government of peace. Not only will the prince of peace create a government of peace, but he will establish it so that it increases into all of eternity. The kingdom will have limitless growth increase in quantity and in quality. It shall touch all the land on the earth, and it will last for all time into eternity. Earthly kingdoms come and go, but this kingdom, the kingdom of heaven on earth, will last forever. Again, this means that Isaiah cannot think of new or recent person, like Ahaz’s son or grandson, for this kingdom extends into the distant future. The prince of peace will the final king, not just final in the sense of last, but also final in the sense that he is the best. No other king will need to come because no greater king would come than the Prince of Peace. The Prince of Peace will become the ideal Davidic king Yahweh envisioned for Israel. While the Lord may have rejected the current kings, he had not rejected David or his descendants. As a matter of fact, God fulfilling his promise by having the Messiah come from David’s line proves that God still faithfully loves David and his descendants. Dynasties of the earthly kingdoms come and go, but the Davidic king will reign forever.

Unlike David, though, the Prince of Peace will not establish his government through brute strength, conquering, intimidation or bloodshed. Instead, the Prince of Peace will establish his throne through justice and through righteousness. “Justice” (מִשְׁפָּט, mishpât) and “righteousness” (צְדָקָה, tsedâkâh) will become anchors to this kingdom. Everything that the Prince of Peace orders for his kingdom and his people rest in justice and in righteousness. The Prince of Peace himself will live under those standards of justice and righteousness, too. Just as the kingdom itself will last for eternity, as just the Davidic king will last for eternity, so will its justice and righteousness last for eternity.

The final colon of Isaiah 9:7 explains how Yahweh will fulfill what Isaiah just prophesied. The Hebrew term קִנְאָה (qēnā̊́) gets translated into both “jealous” and “zeal.” If you think about it, both terms have the same denotation, but they have different connotations. Both terms connotate wanting a person’s affection and attention. Jealousy denotes a selfish desire, wanting to make others’ affection and attention centered around the self. Zeal denotes actively pursuing others for the benefit of the other person’s sake. The Lord loved his people passionately. This strong love for his people would drive God to make sure his people lived safe and peaceful lives. If only a Messiah could give his people the good life he wanted them to have, then God would see it through that the Messiah would establish a government of peace. God’s glory links to the fate of his people. When God’s people live in a peaceful kingdom, his glory will shine the brightest. No matter an Israelite in the Northern Kingdom of Israel or a Jew in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, all hoped for the Prince of Peace to establish his government of peace, and Yahweh’s zeal assured their faith. What blessed assurance that the fulfillment of the promise comes down to the Lord’s work, not Israel’s work. If dependent on Israel’s intercession, not God’s, the kingdom would never come. All Israel had to do was put their faith and hope in Yahweh.

Concluding the exegesis of Isaiah 9:6&7, the fact becomes evident that it was necessary for the Messiah to be a Prince of Peace. It was not optional, it was not voluntarily, it was not something the Messiah could do if he had extra time or when he got around to it. The Messiah must be a Prince of Peace. It was mandatory; it was required. Anyone who claims to be the Messiah but is not a Prince of Peace is a liar. He is a false messiah, an antichrist. As a Prince of Peace, the Messiah must reflect the embodiment of peace. He must become the best a peace, a champion of peace. He must demonstrate peace and lead by an example. He must also rule by peace, establishing a kingdom of peace. By doing so, the Messiah will return his people to the shalom that God intended the world to have, as seen in the Garden of Eden.

The New Testament

The New Testament apostles understood the importance of the Messiah as the Prince of Peace. Therefore, the New Testament authors made sure to portray Jesus as the Prince of Peace that he was. That is why Luke records the angels announcing at the birth of Jesus in Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” The angels recognized that the coming of the Christ was the coming of the Prince of Peace, and they wanted the shepherds to realize this, too. One of my favorite Christmas carols, if not my absolute favorite Christmas carol, is “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” because Charles Wesley has packed it so full of theology. The hymn "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" rewords the words of Luke 2:14 when it says "Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconcile." Wesley has captured both what Luke 2:14 says and means. When God promised them a messiah, not only was he providing a way to get out of the sin, but a promise of restoring the shalom.

That is why John records Jesus declaring in John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” Jesus himself acknowledge the missing shalom on the earth, and he knew it would not get any better for disciples who decided to follow him. In exchange for the chaos and disruption the world would give them, Jesus offered them shalom, through him and through his kingdom. As crazy and as hectic as this world may get, shalom always existed within Jesus and within the kingdom of God.

That is why Peter proclaims to Cornelius and his family in Acts 10:36, “As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all).”  Notice how Peter adds peace to the good news or gospel. Cornelius would have known what gospel meant, so why bother to add peace to it? Peter wanted Cornelius, and Luke wanted the readers of Acts, to know the importance of peace to the gospel and that Jesus, as the Christ, was that Prince of Peace. That’s good news indeed!

That is why Paul says in Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Again, Paul tells the saints in Ephesus it in Ephesians 2:14, “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.” This last one probably stands out the most of all these New Testament verses, for in this Ephesians 4 passage, Paul speaks of how Jesus removed the division between Jews and Gentiles. Connecting Isaiah 9:6 to Ephesians 2:14 solidifies that the “us” in Isaiah 9:6 cannot merely refer to the Jews. It must refer to at least all humanity and at most all of creation.

Conclusion

Since Jesus is the Prince of Peace, people have a few ways they should respond. First, recall that Israel’s judgment, told in the previous chapter and some of the current chapter, came about because Israel refused to submit to Yahweh. Because Israel refused to submit to the Lord, the found themselves submitting to foreign powers. When Jesus comes again, he will ultimately bring peace by uniting the people, tribes and nations into his kingdom, the kingdom of God, under him. Those who refuse to surrender to Jesus are antagonists of the peace, and Jesus will not tolerate that in his kingdom. They will not experience the glory that Israel will experience in the future. They will experience the gloom Israel experienced in the past. Submit to King Jesus to experience his glory, or else you will experience gloom.

Second, a nation of peace and justice will never come about through a king, an emperor, a president or a prime minister. It will not come from any politician or any political party. A nation of peace, justice and righteousness will only come from Yahweh and his Anointed One, the Messiah,  Jesus Christ. That nation of peace, justice and righteousness must come about through God’s plans, not man’s plans. Only the foolish trust in politics, but the wise and mature Christian will trust in the Lord, not a man.

Third, remember that the Beatitudes in Matthew 6:9 reads, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” You know who else is a peacemaker and a Son of God (notice the capital S and capital G)? Jesus, the Prince of Peace! God has called all disciples of Jesus to reflect Jesus. In fact, the term Christian means “little Christian.” To call oneself a Christian, one must become a little prince of peace. To become a little prince of peace, Christians must become peacemakers. As the Peace DVD challenged Mennonite youth fellowships back in 2005, Christians should think about how they could bring peace to the world and then do it! David put it best when he penned in Psalm 34:14 “Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” Peter found David’s words as such good advice that he wrote it again in 1 Peter 3:11.

Speaking of Peter, notice how Peter opens his second epistle in 2 Peter 1:2, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,” and he closes his second epistle in 2 Peter 3:14, “Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.” Just like Peter, may peace be the first thought as you begin your days, and the last thought as you end your days. May you feel the peace of the Prince of Peace in your life, and may it encourage you to pass that peace to others.

Bibliography

Barry, John D., Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, Michael S. Heiser, Miles Custis, Elliot Ritzema, Matthew M. Whitehead, Michael R. Grigoni, and David Bomar. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016.

Biblical Studies Press. The NET Bible First Edition Notes. Biblical Studies Press, 2006.

Brooks, Keith. Summarized Bible: Complete Summary of the Old Testament. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009.

Cabal, Ted, Chad Owen Brand, E. Ray Clendenen, Paul Copan, J.P. Moreland, and Doug Powell. The Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2007.

Carter, James E., and Peter McLeod. “Isaiah.” The Teacher’s Bible Commentary. Edited by H. Franklin Paschall and Herschel H. Hobbs. Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1972.

Chisholm, Robert B. “The Major Prophets.” Holman Concise Bible Commentary. Edited by David S. Dockery. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998.

Hughes, Robert B., and J. Carl Laney. Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary. The Tyndale reference library. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001.

Martin, John A. “Isaiah.” The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Edited by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985.

Jamieson, Robert, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997.

Keil, Carl Friedrich, and Franz Delitzsch. Commentary on the Old Testament. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996.

Kidner, F. Derek. “Isaiah.” Pages 629–70 in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition. Edited by D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, and G. J. Wenham. 4th ed. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994.

Longman, Tremper, III. “Isaiah.” Pages 1039–1136 in CSB Study Bible: Notes. Edited by Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017.

Oswalt, John N. The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 1–39. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1986.

Richards, Lawrence O. The Bible Reader’s Companion. Electronic ed. Wheaton: Victor Books, 1991.

Smith, Gary V. Isaiah 1–39. Edited by E. Ray Clendenen. The New American Commentary. Nashville: B & H Publishing Group, 2007.

Smith, James E. The Major Prophets. Old Testament Survey Series. Joplin, MO: College Press, 1992.

Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. Isaiah. Vol. 1. The Pulpit Commentary. London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1910.

Watts, John D. W. Isaiah 1–33. Vol. 24. Revised Edition. Word Biblical Commentary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc, 2005.

Wiersbe, Warren W. Be Comforted. “Be” Commentary Series. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996.

Willmington, H. L. Willmington’s Bible Handbook. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1997.

Practicing the Positive Presence of People (Psalm 133)

Some people will erroneously attempt to put Christianity and Islam together, claiming Islam and Christianity are similar or the same religion. While numerous approaches can prove such a belief as completely false, one of those ways involves looking at the five pillars of Islam, the five basic yet mandatory acts required by all Muslims to be part of the Muslim religion. One of these pillars Muslim call the hajj, or “the pilgrimage.” Sometime during their lifetime, all Muslims have the requirement to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, and the “good” Muslims make this trip annually. Christianity has no equivalent on this and for good reason. Christians rightfully believes that our bodies are temples of God the Holy Spirit. Therefore, in essence, Christians do not have to go to God because God comes to them. While Christians could not relate at all to Muslims in regard to a pilgrimage, ironically, the ancient Jews could. A few of the Jewish holidays, like Passover and Pentecost, mandated all the Jews report before the Lord, whether at the tabernacle or at the temple. Therefore, the holiday became just as much a pilgrimage. Indeed, the Jews could truly say about these holidays that the journey had just as much importance as the destination.

An examination of Psalm 133 will reveal that the psalmist learned piece of a wisdom from his pilgrimage, which he willingly shares with anyone pursuing wisdom. Therefore, when observing Psalm 133, imagine an ancient Israel making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, like Passover or Pentecost. It will make Psalm 133 clearer.

In ancient times, the book of Psalms consisted of five scrolls or books. Psalm 133 lies within the fifth book or scroll. This fifth book or scroll has a group of psalms nicknamed Songs of Ascents. This group of psalms received its nickname because most, if not all, of the psalms in this section of the scroll were sung by pilgrims ascending Mount Zion to Jerusalem (hence the “Ascent” in “Songs of Ascents”) for those three holidays requiring pilgrimage. Psalm 133 joins Psalms 127 & 128 as one of three wisdom psalms in the fifth scroll commemorating the family unit and society. Indeed, this psalm falls under the category of a wisdom psalm, for this psalm aims more to teach about the Lord and less of adoration towards the Lord. One can see the psalm as an extended proverb, more specifically, an emblematic proverb. Some have even gone as far as suggesting this psalm as possible greeting for distant relatives joining up with the family. The psalm begins with piece a wisdom: the positive experience of dwelling with family. The middle of the psalm utilizes two metaphors which highlight the positivity. The psalm ends with another wise statement to tie together positive impact of family together under God. 

133:1. The psalmist begins by exclaiming “behold” to get the attention of the audience. He wants his audience to observe something carefully. He follows up with the adjectives “good” (טוֹב, tov) and “pleasant” (נָעִים, nāʿîm) , which should not come across as redundant. Each has its own meaning. The adjective “good” (טוֹב, tov) reminds the audience of the creation account in Genesis 1, in which God declares every aspect of his creation as “good.” The family and community are part of God’s good creation. The adjective “pleasant” (נָעִים, nāʿîm) comes from the root נעם, and from this root comes Hebrew words meaning “attractive,” “friendly,” “good,” “joyous” and “lovely.” It constantly pairs with “good” (טוֹב, tov) throughout the Old Testament. Therefore, the two adjectives do not come off as redundant, but rather, as emphasis. These two adjectives together declare something positive as something very positive. Then why not just say “very good” (ט֖וֹב מְאֹ֑ד, tov meod)? When “good” (טוֹב, tov) and “pleasant” (נָעִים, nāʿîm) do distinguish in meaning, “good” (טוֹב, tov)  means positive in an objective way, and “pleasant” (נָעִים, nāʿîm)  means good in a subjective way. Family dwelling together is both objectively and subjectively positive, further cementing the very positive nature of family dwelling together.

In this case, the very positive thing would be brothers, or families, dwelling together. In ancient Israel, nuclear families would live together with their extended family. When sons married, the son would bring his newlywed wife back home to live with in his father’s house until the time of his father’s death, in which the eldest son would inherit the house, and the other sons would move away to build houses of their own. Daughters, when married, would move into their husband’s father’s house. Even when the father died, the oldest son inherited the house and the younger songs moved away, the younger brothers did not move far. Therefore, quite commonly, the family’s neighbors also shared a common ancestor with his neighbors. As seen in the first verse alone, the psalmist seems to praise this practice, both nuclear families continuing to live with extended family and communities consisting of related families. Not only did the people living in community have nationality ties, they also had blood ties. Soon, we will learn they had a third tie: religious ties.

See, keep in mind that, back in ancient times, no one could guarantee safe and secure long-distance travel. Therefore, when the holidays required pilgrimages to far off lands, no one left alone. The whole family unit, and sometimes the whole community, would travel together because traveling in numbers created safety and security. Again, the psalmist seems to praise such a practice because of unity it brings. Not only do these people have nationality ties and blood ties, they have religious ties because they all embark toward Jerusalem for the same cause: to worship the Lord. This imagery of people tied together in three aspects paints a picture of hope that a perfect peaceful unity can happen.

Concluding Psalm 133:1, imagine somebody, like the psalmist, traveling with his family and with his community up to Jerusalem for the holiday. Quite possibly, the stressors that happened in the ancient caravan match the same stressors that could happen in the modern-day Dodge Caravan. Babies crying. Children annoying and teasing one another. Slowing down for the elderly to allow them to catch up with the rest. Unexpected bathroom stops. While the psalmist probably experienced the like, he also observes, however, people helping each other. People protecting one another. People providing for one another. Therefore, he can confidently say, “What a wonderful time traveling with family and with community!”

133:2. The Holy Land had an abundant amount of olive trees, so Israelites learned to utilize olives to their fullest capabilities. One of these uses involved mixing olive oil with scented spices, like calamus, cassia, cinnamon and myrrh, to create a lotion for body care, especially for hair and skin. In a way, it kind of acted as a shampoo to wash hair, and for men, beards. Therefore, when a guest visited a home, the host would follow up the washing of feet by washing with oil. More specifically to this case, anointing oil consecrated the high priest to serve as the high priest. Moses anointing Aaron as the first high priest (see Exodus 29:7 and Leviticus 8:10-12), and every high priest after him followed that law. Therefore, in this case, Aaron represents the high priest. Before the high priest would perform any important ritual on any of these significant holidays, he underwent consecration, including anointing by oil. This anointing in the presence of the people would remind the people that the Lord had established the priesthood as man’s arbiter to God. The consecration of the high priest demonstrated that the people had the utmost respect for God and entering his dwelling place, the temple. On the flip side of that, the priests anointing the high priest with oil represents Yahweh as a good host, taking care of his guest as he enters the house. Thus, the anointing of oil served as a two-fold reminder that the people of Israel dwelled in community with God himself, and they themselves, as a community, dwelled with God.

Twice Psalm 133:2 has the verb “going down” (יָרַד, yārǎḏ) to describe the flow of the oil. The verse ends with the oil reaching literally the “mouth of the robe,” in essence, the collar. If anointed with a healthy heaping of oil, which is probable, the oil would flow down to the breast place of the high priest, which had twelve gemstones representing the twelve tribes of Israel. If the case, connecting the imagery of anointing oil flowing down the high priest to brothers dwelling together makes clearer sense. It paints a picture of God’s blessing flowing down from heaven and touching the entire community, the entire nation.  Do not take for granted the direction of flow for the anointing oil. Obviously gravity will drag the oil down the head, over the face, down the beard and down to the collar. When the psalmist observed this very literal downward movement, he also saw it could have symbolic downward movement. Some have argued for a more social justice downward flow, as in the richer or older brother helping a poorer or younger brother. Other believe in a more spiritual downward, as in God from heaven pouring down blessing on the earth below.

Concluding Psalm 133:2, imagine someone, like the psalmist, has finally arrived in Jerusalem for festival. He or she find himself or herself in a large crowd gathered at the front of the temple to watch the high priest. The opening ceremonies begin the priests consecrating the high priest to begin the rituals and sacrifice, which would include anointing the priest with oil. Now remember, Leviticus 19:27 forbid shaving the corners of the beard. Sometimes priests so afraid of accidently snipping these corners would avoid shaving altogether. Thus, the high priest’s beard could grow quite long, rivaling that or a hippy or a civil war general. Therefore, imagine someone with the longest, most epic beard anointed with oil. The oil gushes down the head and over the face like a waterfall. Each drop of oil clings to every follicle of beard hair, sliding down drop by drop, until it reaches the collar. When the psalmist sees this in the crowd, so many thoughts go through his mind. He sees a priest honored to represent humanity before God, and he sees the Lord as hospitable host. He remembers the abundant blessings of Yahweh, like the abundant oil on the head of the high priest, whether the blessings directly from the Lord or indirectly through his family and through his community.

133:3a. For the second simile to illustrate the positive benefits, the psalmist utilizes dew on Mount Hermon as a simile. In between April and October, Mount Hermon had thick layers of dew, so thick a person wearing socks and shoes would still have wet feet walking through it. Mount Zion, however, usually experienced a dry spell during that same time period. Without a supply of moisture, Judah would experience deadly droughts.  If Mount Zion could somehow gain Mount Hermon’s dew, it would bring relief to Jerusalem. Mount Hermon, however, locates itself about 125 miles north of Mount Zion. Dew normally does not migrate, and even if it could, it would have a long distance to go. Some have proposed that טַל (tal) better translates to “light rain,” which makes slightly more sense. Rain on Mount Hermon would roll down into tributary rivers to the Sea of Galilee, which empties into the Jordan, which, through irrigation, would make its way to Jerusalem. Others suggest, however, that the psalmist sets up a hypothetical scenario to colorfully illustrate relief and refreshment, which seems more probable. Someone might assume the Lord would make his dwelling on a naturally blessed mountain (as some Canaanite associated Mount Hermon as Baal’s home), yet God made Mount Zion his home. Since Yahweh resided on Mount Zion, not Mount Hermon, Jerusalem, in reality, had the real blessing. Again, the Lord’s presence on Mount Zion compares to Mount Hebron’s dew suddenly ending up on Zion during its dry season. It paints a picture of refreshment. The psalmist uses this metaphor to argue brother dwelling in worship together bring the same refreshment and invigoration.

Again, imagine a pilgrim in Jerusalem for one of these Jewish festivals, like the psalmist. Quite possibly, the psalmist pilgrimed during the Judean summer, and in this year, Jerusalem suffers from drought. He feels hot and sweaty, yet he has a hard time securing water to think. He remembers Mount Hermon, whether he lives close to there or he just visited there one time, and he recalls how much dew gathers on the plants. He thinks to himself, “Man, if we could just take the dew on Mount Hermon and put it on Mount Zion, that would bring so much relief from this heat and drought. Then he remembers something, or rather someone, better dwells on Mount Zion: Yahweh. While hot and parched, he remembers he pilgrimed to Jerusalem to celebrate God’s blessing to the Israelites, like God blesses Mount Hermon with dew.

133:3b. From Zion, Yahweh dwelled. From there, the Lord would give blessing his people. The Hebrew noun “blessing” (בְּרָכָה, b^erāḵâ) reminds the audience of what God gave Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (see Gen 12:3 & 32:29) and what God gave the Israelites when wandering in the desert (see Deut 2:7). The people of Israel have rightly communed in their desire for blessing. If the Israelites wanted blessing, it only made sense to go to the place where Yahweh resided.

Once again, imagine a pilgrim, like the psalmist on the long journey back home. Just like the journey up to Jerusalem, the family might have driven him crazy, especially traveling in close proximity. This time, however, the pilgrim sings Psalm 133. That person would have remembered that their family brought pleasantness to their lives. Even if that person couldn’t picture family as good and pleasing at the moment, the metaphors in Psalm 133 would remind them that just like oil is good, and dew on a dry land is good, so family is also good. The closing colon further teaches that tighter than blood relation, the community ties together under their God. As the family ascents toward Jerusalem to celebrate the holidays, they should celebrate the greatest blessing God has given them: their family and their community. God calls his people to come together for three festivals for a reason: to promote unity of family and community. These three holidays reminded those gathered in Jerusalem of the common unity of religion, nationality and blood, and this common unity made them a true community. On the next pilgrimage for a holiday, that person will remember to sing Psalm 133 to prepare his or her mind for worship when the family and the community arrives in Jerusalem.

To review, the psalm begins with piece a wisdom: the positive experience of dwelling with family. The middle of the psalm utilizes two metaphors which highlight the positivity. The psalm ends with another wise statement to tie together positive impact of family together under God. While structurally this forms a chiasm, logically it does not make sense. Typically, the main point falls in the middle of the chiasm, yet here, the middle of the chiasm has similes. Analogies usually support the main point. No way would typical secondary information become the primary information. Quite possibly, the psalmist anticipated that expectation, and he “tricks” the audience. He flips it around so that that outside pieces become the emphasis. The most important of the psalm lies within the outside points, not the inside points. That opening and closing colon, the brothers dwelling together and Yahweh’s blessings become the focal point. Then what does brothers dwelling together have to do with the blessing of Yahweh? They connection has to do with worship. Because the foundation of the psalm lies within that first verse and the last colon in the third verse, and because of the chiastic structure, the brothers dwelling together in one must specifically refer to brothers coming together to worship the Lord.

I have problem with Christians who view themselves as “Christian islands.” These Christians call themselves “non-practicing” Christian or “self-practicing” Christians. According to them, they can sign off on mentally agreeing with the doctrines of Christianity, but they don’t act out their faith, especially in terms of worshipping at a church. “Non-practicing” Christians or “self-practicing” Christians really throw off secular surveys. When secular surveys ask about religion, they mark down a person who says “Christian” as a Christian just because that person said “Christian” with no further qualifications needed. (Christian surveys typically fix this problem by requiring affirming certain beliefs to qualify as Christian.)

See, I understand how Christianity got this point. Earlier in modern church history, some legitimately thought of themselves as good, born-again, saved Christians because they saw in the pew for an hour a week. Pastors had to do a lot of work to teach people that salvation comes by grace, through faith alone, and not by works (Eph 2:8-9), which includes going to church. Unfortunately, the pendulum swung to the other extreme. Some people conclude, “If I can become a saved, born-again Christian by grace through faith, and works does not save, why do works?” which would include going to church. Thus, church attendance dropped.

Psalm 133 reminds Christians of the importance of communal worship. First, God commands it. All the feasts and festivals in the Torah Yahweh mandates. A few of those holidays, like Passover and Pentecost, require the Israelites to assemble before the tabernacle or temple to properly celebrate them. Failing to assemble results in a failure to celebrate appropriately. With all the blessing the Lord gives humanity, from salvation to protection and provisions, God has the right to demand Christians to gather for worship. Second, worshipping in community builds unity. Remember the exegesis of Psalm 133 revealed that the pilgrimage strengthened the bonds of blood times, nationality ties and religious ties. No wonder the New Testament uses the same metaphors to describe the church! The New Testament calls Christians brothers and sisters and Christ to create “blood ties” or “family ties.” The New Testament calls Christians “fellow citizens” (Eph 2:19) of the kingdom of God, creating “national ties.” Christians who do not worship together do not build the religious ties God desires his people to have. Third, Psalm 133 also reveals that God has designated the church, the community of believers, as a blessing to Christians. Yes, part of the purpose of the church should involve blessing Christians. As a matter of fact, sometimes the Lord sends blessing to individual Christians by blessing the community of the church. Christians denying themselves church deny themselves God’s blessing!

These three points I can illustrate the best with a [heated] conversation I had with a Unitarian Universalist. Unitarian Universalists believe in universal salvation, meaning they believe God will ultimately save everybody in the universe in the end. In our [heated] discussion, I contested his claims by asking, “Well, if God will save everybody in the end, why bother becoming a Christian?” His rebuttal went along the lines of, “You sound like you’re selling spiritual fire insurance. Becoming a Christian should have more positive benefits than escaping hell and entering heaven. How about having a loving community to support you through the hardships of this life?” While I still ultimately disagree with universal salvation, this unitarian universalist did make a good point. Christianity should have more positive benefits than just escaping hell bound for heaven. As his example, he named the church as a loving and supporting community. Quite possibly, his example came from his experience. His Unitarian Universalist church loved and supported him. If the Unitarian Universalist church can promote this love and support, Christian churches of all denominations need to both speak of and act out this love and support. Again, Christians communing in worship both promotes unity and blesses the Christian, just like it blesses the Lord.

The Early Church understood the importance of community in celebrating the blessings of God. In the Early Church, Psalm 133 would circulate as one of the Eucharist readings because it brought together people in the family of Christ. Early Church Father St. Augustine used Psalm 133 as a defense of monasteries because monasteries developed brotherhoods that blessed the men who joined them. Do not think that this means the Early Church had the perfect churches, with no inner conflict. Trust me, the Early Church knew how conflicting the church could get. That same Early Church Father Augustine once blatantly put it, “The church is a whore, but she’s my mother.” Augustine knew that sometimes Christian in the church could struggle with sin, but also knew how much the church had taken care of him and blessed him. Christian philosopher and scholar Erasmus once put it more nicely when he said, “I put up with this church, in the hope that one day it will become better, just as it is constrained to put up with me in the hope that I will become better.” If I may paraphrase, Erasmus said, “I put up with the church because the church puts up with me.” People commonly will point out the faults in others, but they rarely will point out the faults in themselves. If Christians could focus less on how the congregation members upset them, frustrate them and disappoint them, and focus more on how they themselves have fallen short and work on that, Christians would more easily see themselves as that blessing of a loving and kind family.

Instead of a closing prayer, listen to this closing worship sons “Hineh Ma Tov (Psalm 133)” by Joshua Aaron. Some people call Joshua Aaron the modern-day Chris Tomlin, most likely to the fact he has translated many of Chris Tomlin’s songs to his native Hebrew tongue. More importantly, Joshua Aaron has put many psalms to music, using a combination of classic Hebrew music and modern Hebrew music because, honestly, discovering the original music may never happen. Indeed, Joshua Aaron has put Psalm 133 to music, and he did an excellent job, for the upbeat music captures the joy of the psalm. May the music also put you in a joyful mood to commune with your fellow believers.

Bibliography

Allen, Leslie C. Psalms 101–150 (Revised). Vol. 21. Word Biblical Commentary. Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002.

DeClaissé-Walford, Nancy, Rolf A. Jacobson, and Beth LaNeel Tanner. “The Songs of the Ascents: Psalms.” The Book of Psalms. Edited by E. J. Young, R. K. Harrison, and Robert L. Hubbard Jr. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014.

Garrett, Duane A. “The Poetic and Wisdom Books.” Holman Concise Bible Commentary. Edited by David S. Dockery. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998.

Motyer, J. A. “The Psalms.” Pages 485–583 in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition. Edited by D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, and G. J. Wenham. 4th ed. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994.

Ross, Allen P. “Psalms.” The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Edited by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985.

Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. Psalms. Vol. 3. The Pulpit Commentary. London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909.