Random Johannine Exegetical Trajectory for Greek class.

Sinning and sickness (John 5.14)
μηκέτι ἁμάρτανε, ἵνα μὴ χεῖρόν σοί τι γένηται.
“Sin no longer, so that nothing worse might befall you” (NAS) The easy interpretation of this verse is that at least sometimes sickness can be a direct result of sin. The urgency of Jesus’ command in this verse indicates that the man must, in the future, stop sinning, and he should have the purpose of his not sinning in mind: that nothing worse would befall him. (ἵνα purpose subjunctive). “Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries generally held that suffering was a direct result of sin” which adds some clarification to this difficult passage. (Murray, 182). Perhaps this verse is better understood in the context of the next pericope, (vv 17-30): It is Jesus who “carries out the work of God in deliverance from sin and death for eternal life.” (B-M 74). The “something worse that might befall” the man should not be seen as a more tragic illness than being paralyzed, but have a broader view of judgement and hell for those who do not believe. This is the fundamental premise of the passage: that while Jesus healed temporary, though significant, earthly sicknesses, his main purpose was to heal the soul from sin to bring about eternal life.

Brand-new believers Spreading the word of Christ to unbelievers

In John 4.39 there is the ending part of the story of Jesus talking to the woman at the well in Samaria. In the city Jesus and the woman were in, many people came to believe in Christ because the Samaritan woman had such an incredible encouter with Jesus that she testified to others about the conversation they had, namely that Jesus was able to tell her of all the things she had done. As she “testified” there is a question of how to translate the participle, for it is anarthrous. Some would take it to be an adverbial (temporal) usage, which could be translated “because of the word of the woman as she testified.” (Kostenberger, 164). Perhaps a better translation though would be to take the genitive participle as an object of the preposition διὰ. Though this an interesting option, it should rather be taken as a substantival participle, because when a participle is anarthrous it can be either adjectival or verbal. (Wallace, 619) Thus, the better translation is “because of the word of the woman who testified…” Regardless of the choice of interpreting the anarthrous participle, the importance of her testimony or testifying is that the Samaritans believed in Christ as the savior of the world!

Sermon on 1st Peter 1.1-2


Introduction
These two verses are the introduction to the book of 1st Peter. Why a sermon on merely two verses introducing a book? Because they are, in a sense, a casual reminder of the basics of Christianity – (by the way, in case you didn’t know or forgot, this world is not your true home and God has chosen you).

First way of being chosen:
To be chosen means to be selected by God, “generally of those whom God has chosen from the generality of mankind and drawn to himself.” God in his infinite wisdom has decided to pick you and me out of all the people of the world, and chose to draw us into his presence. How amazing is that!

“you have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the father.” There are a couple of different ways at looking at this word ‘foreknowledge.’ The first takes it as meaning a complete knowledge ahead of time. The second, which I prefer, takes it as meaning more of a ‘determination of God’s omniscient wisdom and intention.’ “Regardless of whether one accepts the idea of individual election before creation, ‘the essential point is that Christians are in the church not merely by their own decision, but by the initiative of God who has called them.’”

This foreknowledge of God is not from Jesus Christ, but from the Father. There is a deeply theological and trinitarian feel to this passage – the Father has foreknowledge, the Spirit deeply cleanses and sanctifies, and we are to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood.

Despite the various views on foreknowledge, it cannot be denied that God in his infinite wisdom foresaw and chose you ahead of time. When things aren’t going very well in life, you can look back and trust the foreknowledge of God that he truly knows what he is doing, and that he has specifically chosen you as his child. It is something to take incredible comfort in (after arguing over it theologically of course).
The Baker commentary on 1st Peter puts it so incredibly well that it is worth quoting: “Peter reminds his readers that the God who took the initiative in their lives has drawn them into an intimate, loving, and redemptive relationship with him, but also one in which God claims supreme authority over their lives. Such a reminder is apt at times when Christians are troubled by the circumstances in which they find themselves, confused about how to live, and tempted to doubt God’s goodness or faithfulness.”

Second way of being chosen:
It is through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit that we have been chosen by God the Father. How amazing is that? As the blood of Christ that cleanses us from our sins, the Holy Spirit consecrates us and moulds us into holiness. It is interesting – this is a means of how we were chosen, rather than the expected Christian response to God’s choosing us (in this passage, at least). This sanctification that God has called you to is also described later in this book: 1 Peter 3:15 “5 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.” It is a separation or decision to separate oneself – 3.15 to set apart Christ as Lord. In these two verses though, it is a separation that goes back to the first verse – we are aliens in this world, foreigners, as our citizenship is in heaven. In light of that, there should be some distinction between us and those of the world. It is through that distinctiveness of being a Christian in a non-Christian world, this sanctification, that we have been chosen!

First purpose of being chosen:
You have been chosen…to obey Jesus Christ. Obey means to “being in compliance,(one listens and follows instructions).” If you’re in a situation where you don’t know how to be obedient to God, perhaps it would be a good time to listen first for God’s voice. It is only then you will be able to obey, knowing and
having heard the voice of Jesus Christ. It is what you have been chosen for.

Do you feel like you never read enough of the Bible? Beat yourself up over only reading a chapter every few days, and compare yourself to all those other great Christians out there who read massive amounts every single day and have a perfect life with God? A wise person once said that the answer to that is a question: is there anything in the Bible that you already know about that you’re not obeying? Start there! Start with praying for the convicting presence of God so that you might fulfill the purpose of God choosing you – to obey Jesus Christ. You have been chosen to obey Christ, which might include reading more of scripture, but scripture is a means toward obedience to Christ, and not an end. Read the Bible until God convicts you – one verse, one chapter, it may take 3 seconds or 3 hours – then obey his Word, as is what you have been chosen to do.

Second purpose of being chosen:
God has chosen you not only to obey Jesus Christ, but also to be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ. Perhaps the best explanation of this is scripture itself, for Hebrews 10:18-22 says
18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. 19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Do you ever feel like God could never save someone so messed up as you? God saves other people, he cares about other people, but God doesn’t really, truly care about me. Do you ever say that you believe God loves you, but find yourself in your mind doubting it?

You have been chosen by God to be sprinkled with his blood. You have been chosen by God to have your sins washed away. It is with the blood of Jesus Christ that our hearts are purified, our hearts are cleansed, and it is through his blood that we have salvation. This indeed is the culmination of God’s choosing of us – for us to be both obedient to Christ and to have salvation through him!

Conclusion
Though merely an introduction to the rest of the book of 1st Peter, sometimes it is good to be reminded of the basics of Christianity – while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God in his infinite wisdom knew ahead of time that he would choose you to be obedient to him and to be cleansed by his blood.

In the midst of all the economic crisis in the world, remember: this world is not your home; you only reside here as an alien, because your citizenship is in heaven. As these two verses are only the introduction of the letter to encouragement in the midst of suffering, may grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.

This month's devotional exegesis has been and is a work in progress on James 4:6-10.

Two verbs pop out at me after syntactically analyzing the passage: "he will exalt", and "humble yourselves." Two greek words, that is.

Bauer defines the particular usages of those words as follows:

"humble yourselves": to cause to be or become humble in attitude.

"He will exalt" (you): to cause enhancement in honor, fame, position, power or fortune. This is reminiscent and indeed the same verb used in the Septuagint when Moses "lifted up" the golden snake that people could look at and be healed. John 3:14-15 says "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life."

The significance I found intriguing above all this, however, is in the particular verb tense of "humble yourselves." Any normal person might use a present tense, or imperfect - which would suggest a presently active ongoing humbling of oneself. However, the usage here is Aorist, which to clarify, has a broad range of translational ability. Generally, the rule of thumb is that it refers to a completed action that happened at some point in the past.

Second, which baffles me equally, is that it is a passive, whereas I would have expected a middle. Middle voice means that it is reflexive - I would be the one doing the humbling to myself, in a similiar way as I put on my own shoes on my own feet. Passive, however, indicates that the humbling is done to me. I wouldn't stake a whole lot more significance than that on this, as I'm not sure how much much more grammatical ground it has, but it is indeed significant that the humbling is done to us.

Thirdly, it is an imperative. It is a command. We, as believers, are commanded for humbling of ourselves (in the presence of the Lord as the verse says) to happen to ourselves. We are commanded to be the recipient of humbleness.

It is in light of all this that the verse finishes with "and he will exalt you." Thus, humility comes before exaltation, and it is the Lord who does the exalting, not us.

Indeed. I had cancer, the worst kind too - of the heart. I didn't even know I had a particularly nasty, virtually undetectable kind of cancer - what in some medical textbooks is known as "pride."

It was pretty well covered up. I thought I was going to go to another state and teach at a Bible college, that people would get ministered to, fed the word, and grow in God. True. But...the cancerous prideful motivation was something that God somewhat bluntly and rather unexpectedly pointed out to me at the spiritual warfare retreat with Dr. Blom a couple weeks ago. I never would have thought I was prideful. I don't think too many others would have either. Fortunately, it was a relatively minor surgory - just a few pricks, a couple incisions, and a deep pulling out of the sin of my heart. I say relatively easy because once the shock of finding it was over, repentance came fairly quickly.

In preparation for the spiritual warfare retreat I'm going on this week, perhaps there is a reason this is at one of the most inconvenient times of the semester for me. A spiritual warfare retreat in the critical, pivotal point of large papers due both before and after..but I realized that's not my problem. My problem is...

These are the things I value more than God:
- ability to do homework
- time to do homework
- friends
- control over my body through food
- control over my body through sleep

I renounce these things I have held as idols over God. Through the blood of Jesus Christ I have been cleansed from my sins, and can now live a life victorious in Christ. It is through Christ that I am able to put these things in the proper place in my life.

This is a copy of a reflection I wrote for class. figured I would post it.
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1 John 2:14-17 14 I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.


15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world-- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-- comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.



I don’t want to, but many times I love the things in the world more than God. I love things that don’t come from God. When I choose to love things more than God, and it indeed is a choice, the love of God isn’t in me. When I look back over my life and see the things I’ve chosen over God, to love and to push God aside for, they are extremely insignificant. They have passed away.

I initially thought it was sort of a sliding scale, with the less one loves the world, the more the Father dwells in them. It doesn’t appear that way though, and it seems black and white. If I love lusting and boasting, then I do not love God. I’ve boasted before, and I can look back and say that it indeed did not come from the father, but from the world.

It seems so trivial that we love things of this world, like a particular video game, more than God. A couple years ago I had this incredible desire/lust to play a particular game. It didn’t satisfy my soul, and I look back wondering why in the world I would choose something so trivial to love rather than God. It has passed away, it is no longer popular, and most people have never heard of it. But for a week or two, I loved that video game more than God. I boasted about it, though I doubt anyone cared. I craved it. These things did not come from God. Looking back, I can tell there was a deeper spiritual battle going on over my love for God.

In contrast to the video game I craved and desired so badly, which passed away and I don’t even care about anymore, if I do the will of God I will live forever. As opposed to the month at most of which I was sinning in my heart by loving the things of this world, I will have the expanse of eternity to spend with God if I simply do his will and do not love the world or the things in it. What an amazing trade-off!