2008 July

Greetings to all on 10 JUL 2008

Word for the Day
Historical-critical scholarship
The attempt to locate the meaning of a text in its literary and historical context. [1]

Quote for the Day
One reason we do not understand each other ... is that our words mean different things to us. [2]

Website for the Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvDDc5RB6FQ
Watch this poignant video from Hillside Community Church.

Thought for the Day
The Gospel of John is one of my favorite letters, so over the next couple of months, we’ll consider some texts from John. I concur with the scholars who place this gospel around 85 - 90 C.E. Therefore, John would have been written to second generation Christians and was probably written from Ephesus to the church in Asia Minor. If Revelation was written in reference to Rome rather than the destruction of Jerusalem (70 C.E.), then John penned both letters within just a few years of each other and to the same audience.

Here’s a trivia tidbit. According to most traditions, John was the youngest apostle [MAR 14.51] and the only one to live a long life and die a natural death. If John was only 15 when Jesus was crucified, then he would have been 70 in 88 C.E. [3] Very few people lived to age 70 in the first century.

The text for today is John 15. You will remember this analogy about the vine and the branches. Those of you who grew up in my tribe (fellowship) were repeatedly subjected to a misapplication of this illustration as we used it to beat up on our “denominational friends.” It was also used to scare our own people with the fear of being “cut off” and thrown into the fire if one was not a soul winner.

The word for “cut off” is airo (Greek) and may be translated as lift up or carry away. In Mark 8.34, it is translated as “take up” his cross and in John 11.41 as “lifted up” his eyes in prayer. Ray Vander Laan tells the story of a vine dresser that he met on one of his tours in the Near East. [4] Instead of training the vines to grow along wires, the vines just run along the ground. If the fruit is left touching the soil, it will spoil. To prevent this, the vine dresser props up (airo) that part of the vine with small y-shaped twigs. The fruit can then mature into succulent grapes.

God is the vine dresser and will prop us up when we are at risk of being ruined. David spoke of the Lord lifting him up from the miry clay and putting a new song in his mouth. [PSA 40.1-3] We can grow to maturity, like the grape cluster, with the support of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Now, he could do this directly, and sometimes does, but I believe you’ll often find that he acts through the sister or brother who speaks a word of correction or encouragement to us.

Do you see how this transforms a “God is out to get you” story into a “God loves you” story? Truly, he is the lifter of my soul.

May God Bless
Mike Toole
Lori Moores, ed.

Next month, we’ll look at John’s development of a theology of the Holy Spirit. Why is it found only in John’s gospel? Hint: the answer is in what you just read.

1. Carroll Osburn, Women In The Church, ACU Press, 2001, p.xvii

2. John G. Stackhouse, Jr., Making The Best Of It, Oxford University Press, New York NY, 2008, p.28 Stackhouse is actually quoting a remark from Richard Niebuhr directed toward his brother Reinhold.

3. Ray Vander Laan, www.followtherabbi.com, RVL makes a good case that all the disciples (the 12) were between the age of 12-15, with the exception of Peter who was at least 19.

4. Ray Vander Laan, When the Rabbi Says, That The World May Know, Holland MI, 2004