When God destroyed His Temple,
To punish ritual lies,
He promised through His prophet
Another would arise.
A carpenter from Heaven,
With linen string and rod,
Recorded the dimensions
Of the new house of God.
God then said to His Prophet
—The Carpenter as well —
Forever, in this temple,
With Israel, He’d dwell.
Hands made that home, then razed it,
One made without saw birth,
That Carpenter’s Raised temple
Still lives, and fills the earth.
***********
Even after two millennia of study, there are details included in the Bible that leave us mystified. For instance, in the book of Ezekiel, starting with chapter 40 to the end, that prophet is shown a vision of a new temple that could be built in Jerusalem, if the people of the promise would repent. He is then shown around the structure by a man with a measuring tape and a measuring stick, and takes down its sizes and dimensions. Whether this visionary temple ever reached actual existence is uncertain, though I understand Herod the Great's builders may have used the description when planning their renovation. If the vision was meant to be metaphorical -- and some of it clearly is -- how much of the description of the temple was figurative, and what it was supposed to signify still gives scholars interpretative muscle cramps.
And then there's the man. When biblical prophets have visions, generally an angel escorts them through the scenes. That Ezekiel should be accompanied by someone plainly described as a man is unusual. And what's more, he is a working man: although he is not labeled a carpenter, or building contractor (which, I understand, was one of the functions of a carpenter in the ancient world), or architect, he is carrying the tools those professionals would use to make sure their work was up to specifications.
The oddest part of the section, though, is in chapter 43, when Ezekiel sees God enter this temple. While Ezekiel and "the man" stand and listen, God indicates "Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever …" (Ezekiel 43:7). It sounds like God is referring to the visionary temple as his dwelling place, yet, if that temple was built, it has since been destroyed. If the temple has yet to be built, why should it be necessary? According to Christian doctrine, and practical observation, God has been dwelling with men since the days of Jesus Christ.
And that's when it hit me. What if God wasn't referring to the building when He talked about where He would dwell with Israel? What if he was referring to "the man?" One of the foundations of Christian faith is that Jesus Christ was God on earth; another being that, after He was executed for claiming to be God on earth (John 5:18), He rose from the dead. Another charge made against Him was that He claimed He would destroy the Temple, and rebuild it. What He had, in fact, said was "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up," referring to His body (John 2:19-21). So, if God on Earth referred to His body as a temple, perhaps God in Ezekiel's vision was doing the same.
And He was a carpenter, too.
I've never seen any commentators make these points, but, whether my exposition is right or wrong, it is something to think about. Either way, we can be eternally grateful for the peace with God we can now enjoy forever, through that Divine Carpenter.
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Friday, April 14, 2017
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Christ's Henchmen
They asked to flank Him when He claimed His crown.
The reignless Sons of Thunder were denied.
Those right- and left-hand honors, and renown,
Were not positions to be sought for pride.
The Son of God would take a brigand’s blame.
His henchmen would be at His left and right.
God’s victory soon glorified by shame;
God’s triumph by a noonday dark as night.
No thug or chum, what may their temper be,
Would get demanded liberty or rest.
The thief who only asked, "Remember me,"
All-Knowing Mercy granted his request.
The man who, to the last, was slave to vice,
Humility made first in Paradise!
==================
Explaining a poem may take away part of its charm, but clarity has its own attractions.
The reignless Sons of Thunder were denied.
Those right- and left-hand honors, and renown,
Were not positions to be sought for pride.
The Son of God would take a brigand’s blame.
His henchmen would be at His left and right.
God’s victory soon glorified by shame;
God’s triumph by a noonday dark as night.
No thug or chum, what may their temper be,
Would get demanded liberty or rest.
The thief who only asked, "Remember me,"
All-Knowing Mercy granted his request.
The man who, to the last, was slave to vice,
Humility made first in Paradise!
==================
Explaining a poem may take away part of its charm, but clarity has its own attractions.
"Sons of Thunder" was Jesus's nickname for the disciples James and John (Mark 3:17). Matthew 20:20-23 relates what happened when they asked Jesus, initially through their mother, to sit at His right and left hand when His kingdom came.
Now, none of the descriptions of Jesus's crucifixion identify the two thieves crucified with Him as Barabbas's lieutenants (Barabbas being the robber and insurrectionist whom Pilate had actually wanted to eliminate). However, I have seen commentators speculate that, because they were to have been executed in a group, it is possible the two thieves were associated with Barabbas's crimes.
In John 13:23-24, Jesus identified His glorification with His coming crucifixion; and most of the Gospels mention the darkness at the sixth hour (noon) on the day of the Crucifixion (Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33, Luke 23:44).
Most of the Gospels also describe the mockery Jesus endured, including that from the criminals with whom He was executed. Luke 23:39-43, however, includes the penitent reaction of one of the thieves, and Jesus's words of assurance that, after two thousand years, are still a comfort:
"Surely I say to you, today you shall be with Me in paradise."
Wishing you a Hopeful Good Friday, and a Joyful Resurrection Sunday!
Friday, April 3, 2015
The Emptiest of Days
“We have not king but Caesar!”
It was an empty boast:
Thus heretics wrung empty justice
From their Roman host.
And empty-hearted followers
Grieved empty prophesy:
An empty throne. The empty king
Instead had filled a tree.
But empty exposition,
Assumed in empty pride,
Keep them from recognizing
The Peacemaker who died:
The Emptied God who overcame
The Self-willed’s empty doom.
And peace with God is now restored.
The proof? The Empty Tomb.
Sources:
John 19:15 ❦ Luke 24:17-27 ❦ Luke 7:19-23
Hebrews 1:1-2 ❦ Psalm 22 ❦ Philippians 2:5-11
John 3:16 ❦ Romans 5:1-2
One of the things that impresses me most about the story of Jesus is the prophetic aspect. According to Christian understanding, Jesus fulfilled all the prophesies associated with the snake-stamping deliverer first promised in Genesis 3, yet even his own disciples couldn’t see the connection until He explained it (Luke 24:17-27). The main reason they didn’t recognize the fulfillment was because, over the previous four hundred years of prophetic silence, the commentators had figured out exactly what their Messiah would be like and what He would do. They were certain of their interpretation’s correctness – after all, they had scripture on their side! But, when the Messiah actually did turn up, He was everything prophesy had predicted, and not at all what they had expected. The commentators had put more faith in their interpretation of scripture than they had in the scriptures themselves. (That’s one reason I don’t get too excited about eschatology: so many interpreters were positive that their exposition of Revelations was the right one, and lived to be disappointed. When the time does come, it’ll be exactly what was predicted, and, as with Jesus, not necessarily what we expect.) In the coming year, I hope we all can hear God speak through the Bible: that we can see what it says, and not be misled by what we think it says!
He is Risen Indeed!
It was an empty boast:
Thus heretics wrung empty justice
From their Roman host.
And empty-hearted followers
Grieved empty prophesy:
An empty throne. The empty king
Instead had filled a tree.
But empty exposition,
Assumed in empty pride,
Keep them from recognizing
The Peacemaker who died:
The Emptied God who overcame
The Self-willed’s empty doom.
And peace with God is now restored.
The proof? The Empty Tomb.
Sources:
John 19:15 ❦ Luke 24:17-27 ❦ Luke 7:19-23
Hebrews 1:1-2 ❦ Psalm 22 ❦ Philippians 2:5-11
John 3:16 ❦ Romans 5:1-2
One of the things that impresses me most about the story of Jesus is the prophetic aspect. According to Christian understanding, Jesus fulfilled all the prophesies associated with the snake-stamping deliverer first promised in Genesis 3, yet even his own disciples couldn’t see the connection until He explained it (Luke 24:17-27). The main reason they didn’t recognize the fulfillment was because, over the previous four hundred years of prophetic silence, the commentators had figured out exactly what their Messiah would be like and what He would do. They were certain of their interpretation’s correctness – after all, they had scripture on their side! But, when the Messiah actually did turn up, He was everything prophesy had predicted, and not at all what they had expected. The commentators had put more faith in their interpretation of scripture than they had in the scriptures themselves. (That’s one reason I don’t get too excited about eschatology: so many interpreters were positive that their exposition of Revelations was the right one, and lived to be disappointed. When the time does come, it’ll be exactly what was predicted, and, as with Jesus, not necessarily what we expect.) In the coming year, I hope we all can hear God speak through the Bible: that we can see what it says, and not be misled by what we think it says!
He is Risen Indeed!
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
A Modern Easter Carol
"Spring bursts today!
For Christ is Risen and all the earth’s at play,"
Christina signed.
Yet brutal men strive as if their god had died.
There is no fun
Where Eden once bloomed, but bomb and blood and gun.
The peace on earth
Longfellow’s bells rang is not where Christ saw birth.
Yet the One Light
That played in Eden there rises just as bright.
He will suffice,
Who, through His eclipse, has assured Paradise.
That Christmas chime
Still reminds the faint the Live God acts in Time:
For Easter said
There is no god but God, Whose Son rose from the dead.
-------------------------------------
Referenced Hymns:
An Easter Carol (Before 1896) Christina Rossetti : http://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=1062
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (1863) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Heard_the_Bells_on_Christmas_Day
Morning Has Broken (Circa 1931) Eleanor Farjeon : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_Has_Broken
--------------------------------
For years, our church had a banner that read: "Spring bursts today! For Christ is Risen and all the earth’s at play." And I thought it was as sappy a sentiment as I had ever seen. Years later, I looked through a book of Christina Rossetti’s poems, and was stunned to discover that saccharine observation was the opening of one of her Easter Carols. That banner rose considerably in my estimation, but not for the reason you may think. I was not moved by the poem, and still thought that stanza sounded silly, but it stands a an reassuring reminder that even great poets have off days.
Longfellow wrote his Christmas poem during the fiercest days of the American Civil War. He understood that, at such times, the sweeter sentiments of holiday celebrations are more likely to nauseate the heartsick, instead of encouraging them. But the bells’ essential song – "God is not dead, nor does He sleep" – remains truer than any pretty word pictures.
Morning Has Broken is another pretty song that, in my circles anyway, is considered too sentimental to be used in a worship service. Such dogmatic thinking deprives a congregation of the inspiration of a genuinely beautiful melody, and the artfully expressed doctrine and praise it supports. As with that funny old banner (which I wheedled away from the banner ladies when they were going to throw it out), what appears to be threadbare frivolity in grim times, can be, in fact, eternal Joy dressed in lace.
Wishing you undisguised joy this Easter! He is Risen, Indeed!
For Christ is Risen and all the earth’s at play,"
Christina signed.
Yet brutal men strive as if their god had died.
There is no fun
Where Eden once bloomed, but bomb and blood and gun.
The peace on earth
Longfellow’s bells rang is not where Christ saw birth.
Yet the One Light
That played in Eden there rises just as bright.
He will suffice,
Who, through His eclipse, has assured Paradise.
That Christmas chime
Still reminds the faint the Live God acts in Time:
For Easter said
There is no god but God, Whose Son rose from the dead.
-------------------------------------
Referenced Hymns:
An Easter Carol (Before 1896) Christina Rossetti : http://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=1062
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (1863) Henry Wadsworth Longfellow : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Heard_the_Bells_on_Christmas_Day
Morning Has Broken (Circa 1931) Eleanor Farjeon : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_Has_Broken
--------------------------------
For years, our church had a banner that read: "Spring bursts today! For Christ is Risen and all the earth’s at play." And I thought it was as sappy a sentiment as I had ever seen. Years later, I looked through a book of Christina Rossetti’s poems, and was stunned to discover that saccharine observation was the opening of one of her Easter Carols. That banner rose considerably in my estimation, but not for the reason you may think. I was not moved by the poem, and still thought that stanza sounded silly, but it stands a an reassuring reminder that even great poets have off days.
Longfellow wrote his Christmas poem during the fiercest days of the American Civil War. He understood that, at such times, the sweeter sentiments of holiday celebrations are more likely to nauseate the heartsick, instead of encouraging them. But the bells’ essential song – "God is not dead, nor does He sleep" – remains truer than any pretty word pictures.
Morning Has Broken is another pretty song that, in my circles anyway, is considered too sentimental to be used in a worship service. Such dogmatic thinking deprives a congregation of the inspiration of a genuinely beautiful melody, and the artfully expressed doctrine and praise it supports. As with that funny old banner (which I wheedled away from the banner ladies when they were going to throw it out), what appears to be threadbare frivolity in grim times, can be, in fact, eternal Joy dressed in lace.
Wishing you undisguised joy this Easter! He is Risen, Indeed!
Thursday, March 21, 2013
"Awake, Sleeper" — A Poem for Easter
Maybe I don’t shop at the right stores, but, this year, I couldn’t find enough suitable Easter cards fro all the friends, relatives, church people and shut-ins to whom I send cards. Well, when you care enough to send, and can’t send Hallmark’s very best, you may end up sending your very best. Here is the verse from the cards I ended up making this year. Christina Rossetti and Adelaide Proctor have nothing to fear, but it was my best. With it goes my best wishes that you a lovely Holy Week, and that you’ll keep the joy of Easter all year long!
* * * * *
The wailing filled the doleful night.
The daughter never stirred.
Then spoke the Voice that first roused light,
And then Talitha heard:
Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead,
And the sun will shine on you!
Leave myrrh in the forest,
No need for it here.
Let nard scent a wedding
Instead of a bier.
Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead,
And the sun will shine on you!
In stony cell the captive lay.
Outside, his sisters grieve.
Parole denied, but the fourth day
The Judge read the reprieve:
Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead,
And the sun will shine on you!
Come forth, be untied
From that grim robe of fate!
When I buy the pardon
It’s never too late!
Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead,
And the sun will shine on you!
To all us stillborn spirits who
In deadly darkness grope,
The Judge and Maker calls us to
Life, Light, and Mercy’s hope:
Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead,
And the Son will shine on you!
Your passions are bondage,
Delusions are lies!
Don’t study the dungheap;
Look up to the skies!
Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead,
And the Son will shine on you!
Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you!
* * * * *
As we say at our church, He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed!
* * * * *
The wailing filled the doleful night.
The daughter never stirred.
Then spoke the Voice that first roused light,
And then Talitha heard:
Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead,
And the sun will shine on you!
Leave myrrh in the forest,
No need for it here.
Let nard scent a wedding
Instead of a bier.
Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead,
And the sun will shine on you!
In stony cell the captive lay.
Outside, his sisters grieve.
Parole denied, but the fourth day
The Judge read the reprieve:
Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead,
And the sun will shine on you!
Come forth, be untied
From that grim robe of fate!
When I buy the pardon
It’s never too late!
Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead,
And the sun will shine on you!
To all us stillborn spirits who
In deadly darkness grope,
The Judge and Maker calls us to
Life, Light, and Mercy’s hope:
Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead,
And the Son will shine on you!
Your passions are bondage,
Delusions are lies!
Don’t study the dungheap;
Look up to the skies!
Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead,
And the Son will shine on you!
Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you!
* * * * *
As we say at our church, He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed!
Monday, April 9, 2012
Soar We NOW – Not Later – Where Christ Hath Lead
Whether you call it Easter or Resurrection Sunday, it's still the commemoration of that glorious proof that the unjust death of a perfect man was a satisfactory substitute for what should have been the eternal death of defiant, self-pleasing humanity.* But God's Holy One did not see corruption¶, and God's raising Him from the dead is what we celebrate, particularly with music. On that Sunday, we get our annual opportunity to sing all those great Resurrection hymns, including one of Charles Wesley's greatest lyrics, "Chris the Lord is Risen Today**." To whatever tune they are set, they remain a beautiful assurance of the blessings of redemption.
You may know the verse normally sung last:
It sums up the fulfillment of the hope described in the previous verses: that we will follow our Redeemer beyond the grip of death, to Heaven. No one would debate that conclusion. However, I have been made to realize that it means so much more than that.
At the end of 2011, I noticed a Twitter post from someone traveling in India, describing smoke rising from funeral pyres along the Ganges. That grim scene was followed by another post about toy kites local children were playing with. The dancing of the kites in the sky, for a moment at least, released the children who held them from the dust and dung around them. Those soaring kites, for whatever reason, had made me think of soaring where Christ had led. Then it hit me: Wesley had written, "Soar we NOW," not "Soar we soon." I had always associated that verse with following Him to heaven, but the redemption Christ bought is not merely about getting to Heaven> It includes how we live on Earth. We don't have to wait until we get to Heaven to live heaven-like lives. Christ enables us to live like someone from Heaven right now even in the spiritual, moral (yes, and sometimes physical) dung and dust of a bitter world of change and decay. After all, eternal life isn't about mere perpetual existence, but about life as God had intended it to be lived.
And His ways are not the ways we choose on our own. Look at the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7). What a radical approach to life – and what an impossibility to live out! Yet, through Christ's resurrection spirit, now living in those who trust Him, we children of dust are able to do it, because He lives through us. Only through him can we truly set our minds on things above, and not on the vanishing things of this earth.§
Because Christ has risen, we may live among the dust and dung, but we are no longer part of it. Like those children watching the kites, our minds are now set on things above, not merely for a moment, but forever! By faith, we are made like Him, and like Him, we do rise; above our daily crosses, beyond the grave and the smoky funeral pyre, and, always, to the skies.
Hie is Risen! And, therefore, We arr Risen, Indeed! Alleluia!
Notes:
*Romans 4:23-25: Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
¶ Psalm 16:10: For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
"Christ the Lord is Risen Today" http://hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh302.sht
§ Colossians 3:1-2: If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
(The posts referred to above require, not merely a HT (Hat Tip), but a star-sweeping flourish of a salute to @ADaniels3PO, who posted them. I don' know where he might stand in relation to my reflection on them, but no one posts thought-provoking observations to Twitter more gracefully than he does.)
You may know the verse normally sung last:
Soar we now where Christ hath led,
Following our Exalted Head. \
Made like Him, like Him we rise!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies!
Following our Exalted Head. \
Made like Him, like Him we rise!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies!
It sums up the fulfillment of the hope described in the previous verses: that we will follow our Redeemer beyond the grip of death, to Heaven. No one would debate that conclusion. However, I have been made to realize that it means so much more than that.
At the end of 2011, I noticed a Twitter post from someone traveling in India, describing smoke rising from funeral pyres along the Ganges. That grim scene was followed by another post about toy kites local children were playing with. The dancing of the kites in the sky, for a moment at least, released the children who held them from the dust and dung around them. Those soaring kites, for whatever reason, had made me think of soaring where Christ had led. Then it hit me: Wesley had written, "Soar we NOW," not "Soar we soon." I had always associated that verse with following Him to heaven, but the redemption Christ bought is not merely about getting to Heaven> It includes how we live on Earth. We don't have to wait until we get to Heaven to live heaven-like lives. Christ enables us to live like someone from Heaven right now even in the spiritual, moral (yes, and sometimes physical) dung and dust of a bitter world of change and decay. After all, eternal life isn't about mere perpetual existence, but about life as God had intended it to be lived.
And His ways are not the ways we choose on our own. Look at the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7). What a radical approach to life – and what an impossibility to live out! Yet, through Christ's resurrection spirit, now living in those who trust Him, we children of dust are able to do it, because He lives through us. Only through him can we truly set our minds on things above, and not on the vanishing things of this earth.§
Because Christ has risen, we may live among the dust and dung, but we are no longer part of it. Like those children watching the kites, our minds are now set on things above, not merely for a moment, but forever! By faith, we are made like Him, and like Him, we do rise; above our daily crosses, beyond the grave and the smoky funeral pyre, and, always, to the skies.
Hie is Risen! And, therefore, We arr Risen, Indeed! Alleluia!
Notes:
*Romans 4:23-25: Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
¶ Psalm 16:10: For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
"Christ the Lord is Risen Today" http://hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh302.sht
§ Colossians 3:1-2: If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
(The posts referred to above require, not merely a HT (Hat Tip), but a star-sweeping flourish of a salute to @ADaniels3PO, who posted them. I don' know where he might stand in relation to my reflection on them, but no one posts thought-provoking observations to Twitter more gracefully than he does.)
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Thoughts on Spring and Easter
The Spring reminds a bitter land
Of Eden's long-lost glade:
Of where the Lord walked close at hand
With those whom He had made.
But Adam doubted God's kind care
And chose defiant pride.
By light exposed and truth made bare,
In darkness, friendship died.
Again, Earth saw God's Truth and Light
His Life became the Way,
His death replaced doubt's endless night
With Resurrection's day.
So Spring reminds a joyous land,
Freed from grim snow and ice,
In trust, we'll walk as God first planned:
Christ restored Paradise.
(Well, at least I didn't fall asleep during the sermon!)
Of Eden's long-lost glade:
Of where the Lord walked close at hand
With those whom He had made.
But Adam doubted God's kind care
And chose defiant pride.
By light exposed and truth made bare,
In darkness, friendship died.
Again, Earth saw God's Truth and Light
His Life became the Way,
His death replaced doubt's endless night
With Resurrection's day.
So Spring reminds a joyous land,
Freed from grim snow and ice,
In trust, we'll walk as God first planned:
Christ restored Paradise.
(Well, at least I didn't fall asleep during the sermon!)
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