Stephen
Terry, Director
The Promised Son
Commentary
for the January 15, 2022, Sabbath School Lesson
“In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been
made.” John 1:1-3, NIV
We live in a time of deep
divisions in western society. A global pandemic has only heightened those
divisions. Far too many would rather fight their neighbor whom they can see
rather than the invisible viral plague that stalks the land. While the airlines
experienced lengthy shutdowns to control the spread of contagion, once they
were back in service, the greater danger seems to be from violent passengers
jeopardizing everyone on the flight by acting out their aggressions over minor
issues. It reminds me of family road trips with children squabbling in the rear
seat over who touched whom and the father hollering that if he has to pullover
and go back there, they will regret it. Too often, we seem more gifted at
modeling the dysfunctions of the families on “The Simpsons” or “Family Guy.”
We refuse to accept that others
have the same rights and basic needs as we do. Instead, we relegate them to a
lesser standing than ourselves. Logically, if we are human, then they must
therefore be subhuman. We do this based on race, nationality, gender, income, educational
level, or even simply the part of town they live in. Then we take it a step
further and see every opportunity, every step up gained by those “others” as
something taken away from us. It does not help that a few individuals are
engaged in hoarding all the world’s wealth, leaving the rest of us to squabble
over the remains. The artificial shortages created by such behavior help to
light the powder keg of conflict on the streets of our cities and towns. Marie
Antoinette and her royal spouse began their march to the guillotine with their
disdain for the starving poor while the few wealthy nobles had used obscene riches
taxed from the people to build Versailles and the numerous
chateaus of France. In our own time, we hear similar rumblings from the people when
the grossly wealthy go for jaunts into space, reveling in their accomplishments
while on this planet, people are dying from starvation, thirst, and disease because
they have no access to the treasure storehouses of the rich that could easily
purchase food, water, and medicines that would ease their suffering. Even
though the taxes we pay are a means to fund those services for the poor, the
wealthy seek every means to avoid paying those taxes and then plunder the poor
even further by raking in federal subsidies approved by a Congress whose
elections are bankrolled by those same billionaires. Seeing those services to
the poor as a threat to those subsidies, they also do all they can to curtail,
or if possible, end those services.
One wonders how society gets to
such a state of inequality and division. One cause may be that we no longer see
ourselves as a species having an intrinsic value. Humanity has become little
more than another consumable resource, like timber or natural gas. A human
being only has value based on the ability to produce goods and services. Once
that ability slips, so does their value. But the Bible tells a different story.
That is why in totalitarian regimes, they suppress it. Contrary to a system
that uses up people and tosses them aside when they are no longer productive,
the Bible teaches that every human being is of immense value, so great that God
was willing to incarnate and die to purchase the life of everyone. It teaches that
we are not trash, the crumbs of an alien picnic on our planet that eventually
evolved into homosapiens. We are the special creation of God in his image. The
rejection of that idea is the basis for defacing that image and its value in
each of us.
We quibble over the possibility
of Creation, but the Bible states its case plainly in a take-it-or-leave-it
manner. It tells us that God’s word has creative and restorative power. In
doing so, it is not referring to itself. We often call the Bible the word of
God, but we misspeak in doing so. We read in Genesis, chapter one[i]
that God spoke each day and the various parts of our world came into being,
including humanity. It also assures us that the same creative word brought the entire
universe into being, for it says, “he made the stars, also” in verse sixteen. When
God speaks, things happen. The Ten Commandments, referred to as the ten words
of God, have similar creative power. In the Zohar, Rabbi Shimon bar Yocha, ties
those words to ten words of Creation,[ii]
pointing out for us a foundational existence of the Decalogue all the way back
to Creation.
However, the deeper we go, the
profounder it gets. In our study of Hebrews this week we learn from the very first
verses of that epistle that Jesus was the creative agent for our world and the
universe. Those who believe that Jesus himself was created may miss that point
and Hebrews not only identifies Jesus as Creator, but also states that, like
Melchizedek (who was likely Jesus), he has no beginning or end.[iii]
He is eternally co-existent with the Father. As we see from our guiding text
for this week’s commentary, Jesus is the Word. That being the case, it is
logically impossible for the Bible and Jesus to both be the word of God. Jesus
himself said that scripture testifies about him.[iv]
Therefore, the Bible is not the Word of God, but is the word testifying about
the Word, about Jesus. There is little power in the Bible apart from Jesus. It
simply becomes a collection of stories and platitudes with little more import
than Aesop’s Fables.
Please do not misunderstand me.
This is not an argument that supports literalism when it comes to the Bible.
Rather, metaphor is even more likely to be present as human efforts over the
centuries attempt to relate what is ineffable. Even Christ reduced things to
parables as he spoke of profound truths. In our humanity, we can catch glimpses
of the character and power of the Word expressed in the incarnation of deity in
Jesus Christ. On a simple level we see this even in the most perverse among us,
we see in their speech, the power of words to uplift or destroy. That is
manifest so widely that few of us have not experienced that power. Just as we
abuse Creation, we also abuse one another with little regard that it disrespects
the Creator behind it all. It also shows a separation from the Creator’s image when
we abandon empathy and compassion in favor of selfishness and greed.
When faced with a need to
address poverty and need, more Christians are able to quote Paul’s statement that
if a person does not work, they should not eat[v]
than are able to quote relevant words of Christ from the Sermon on the Mount.[vi] Sadly,
even some clerics, who know it is the rich who pay their salaries, are
reluctant to call out the abuse of the poor for fear of alienating those who
pay them. Those who do are labeled “socialist” or “communist” and their careers
go nowhere for the wealthy parishes do not want to hear sermons that highlight their
greed. Nonetheless, those parishioners may consider themselves progressive and
liberal because they support eliminating gender-based ordination or have gay or
ethnic family members or friends. But the truth is seen in the way they live,
wearing the latest fashions, spending hundreds on personal grooming, or often buying
new vehicles when the average age of cars on the road is 12 years.[vii]
They think they are in the Kingdom of God, and they may come very close, like
the rich young man, but few cross over into that kingdom for fear that it will
cost all they have.[viii]
The wealthy, who do not want to hear
this, make up stories about there being a gate called the Eye of the Needle
where camels have to take off their load to get through. There is no such gate,
and this myth ignores that it is not riches that keep a person from the Kingdom
of God but a love of those riches that prevents their loving use on behalf of
their neighbor. Paul wrote in his first letter to Timothy that the love of
money is the root of many evils.[ix]
People supplant the love for their neighbor with their love for money.
The basis for the divisiveness
that exists among us is our failure to honor the created image of God in each
of us and the intrinsic value that asserts. We have replaced our love of God
and neighbor with a reverence for power, wealth, and control over the lives of
others to our benefit. We have chosen not to rely on God as our Creator and
benefactor. Hardening our hearts, we determine to make our way in the world and
God help those who stand in our way. May God have mercy on our blindness and
heal us as he passes by.[x]