Clothesline #10

Greetings to all on 17 NOV 2006
There will be no December issue. Happy Holidays to all!

Word for the Day
S’mikhah - Ordination, transference or authority [Hebrew], literally to “fill their hand”. The Greek equivalent is exousia. [1]

Quote for the Day
Paul distinguishes between the nepioi, those beginners in the faith who are fed only milk, and the teleioi, those more mature Christians who can receive solid food. It often seems many churches today focus so much on the nepioi that the teleioi are left to fend for themselves. They deliver many introductory lectures and not enough nourishment to help the faithful grow to a deeper understanding of the gospel and a more significant relationship with God. [2]

Website for the Day
www.followtherabbi.com
This is Ray Vander Laan’s website and the source for much of the material presented today.

Thought for the Day
Last month we laid some groundwork regarding the tension between the text and reality as seen by the Jewish people. This month we will extend that to our post-modern world.

The towns surrounding the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee were not as “backwoods” as we have been led to believe. This was the land of commerce, synagogues, and rabbis. Capernaum was a center for Jewish theological study. In the first century, Jewish children attended school until age 12. The boys were expected to memorize the Torah (GEN-DEU) and the girls were to learn Deuteronomy, Psalms, and Proverbs. Three times Jesus spoke to a group consisting mostly of women and each time he quoted from the Psalms, knowing it would be familiar to them. [e.g. LUK 10.42]

Girls were finished with school at that point and were ready for marriage after beginning menstruation. Boys could continue schooling with a rabbi if they showed promise and had memorized the Torah. Of course, for most, school was over and it was time to learn a trade - usually the father’s trade. Even those who continued their education would have concurrently learned a trade. Men did not marry until 20 - 25 years of age. During that second level of school a boy would continue to memorize more of the Tanakh (OT) and receive explanations about its meaning from a rabbi.

Finally, at about age 15, only a select few would be considered for the advanced level. Whereas the second group studied to learn about the text, this group not only learned the text but their goal was to become just like the rabbi. The second group studied under a Torah teacher, but the select group followed a rabbi with s’mikhah. These rabbis had the authority to interpret the text, and some could cast out demons and perform miracles; their students were called telmidim (disciples). The Jews trace this authority all the way back to Moses’ selection of the 70 judges. [EXO 18, 24] This ordination was passed along from generation to generation by two rabbis with s’mikhah to the new recipient. Elisha asked Elijah for a double portion. [2KIN 2.9-12]

Recall the account of Jesus’ early teaching where the people marveled that he “taught them as one who had authority (s’mikhah), and not as the scribes.” [MAR 1.21-28] Later in his ministry when Jesus was questioned about where he got his s’mikhah, he used a typical rabbinical technique and answered their question with a question. “Where did John (the immerser) get his s’mikhah - from heaven or from men?” Because the priests and scribes had been trapped in their own game, they refused to continue and so ended it with “we cannot say.” [MAT 21.23-27] From where did Jesus get his authority? One of the two sources was his father, [MAT 17.1-8] and the other plausible source was John. You see, when Jesus answered their question by referring to John’s authority he was affirming that John was recognized as a rabbi with s’mikhah. We have no proof, but it is possible that Jesus studied with John in the desert from about ages 15 to 30. Notice also at the Transfiguration how John is linked to Elijah. [MAT 17.9-13] Perhaps, symbolically, John endows Jesus with a double portion also.

As a rabbi with s’mikhah, Jesus reinterpreted the text on many occasions. For example, most of Matthew 5’s account of the Sermon on the Mount consists of “you have heard it said, but I say unto you...” Last month we also considered some examples regarding the sabbath. We have some of the letters written to the first century church, but since we are no longer receiving apostolic letters, the ongoing task of interpretation falls upon us. Sometimes we can easily understand and adapt what the writer had to say. Even without scholarship we can usually get the point. With help we can, perhaps, understand what the text meant to the first century audience. But then comes the problem. Is that intent frozen in time - something to be viewed like a museum display? Or is it open to reinterpretation in light of our current concerns and culture?

In John 14-17 we find Jesus’ farewell address to his disciples. In the past I’ve been taught that the promises found there only applied to the apostles, but now I’m realizing that we are also the recipients of the Counselor. Just as Jesus was able to open the text to the people of his day, we can and must exercise the same authority today. Jesus promised that “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” [JOH 16.13a]

Today we continue to come up against the same dilemmas as the old rabbis who prioritized the Ten Commandments and disagreed upon the ranking. Numerous NT passages send us conflicting messages. Consider the grace of Romans versus the works of James and Paul’s statement to Corinth that it would be better not to marry versus his command for Timothy that the younger widows should marry. Because of such diversity within the text “we are allowed to exercise the exousia (power/freedom) given by the NT itself with regard to Torah.” Johnson goes on to say that “every Christian stands to one degree or another in disagreement with some part of the New Testament. Anyone who claims otherwise is simply lying.” [3]

The example that immediately sprang to mind is the command to “invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you.” [LUK 14.13-14] Our strong tendency is to invite those just like ourselves who are able to reciprocate. Since we do not live by this text, we must explain why we do not obey this command. “This means that we must find authorization for our position somewhere else in these writings; sometimes we will be given an option by the divergence of another text or by the exousia of reinterpretation in the light of new experiences of God’s work in human lives and events.” [4] Or, in the case of the passage cited, we really don’t have a leg to stand on for lack of obedience.

So how do we remain faithful to the text yet not become culturally irrelevant? Jeff Walling put it this way, “Will the next generation walk into our assembly and think they have entered a museum?” [5] Or more to the point, will the next generation walk into our lives and only observe warning signs like “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch.” [COL 2.21] Not only must we open the word to the world, but we must “reopen” it to ourselves and allow the Spirit to guide us.

May God Bless
Mike Toole
Lori Moores, ed.

1. Rabbi Eric Carlson, www.sidroth.org/jewishroots_main27.htm

2. Howard W. Stone & James O. Duke, How To Think Theologically, Fortress Press, Minneapolis MN, 1996, p.116

3. Luke Timothy Johnson, Scripture and Discernment: Decision Making in the Church, Abingdon Press, Nashville TN, 1996

4. ibid.

5. Jeff Walling, Must We Change To Grow, keynote address delivered at Tulsa International Soul Winning Workshop, 2004