Character in Context

Have we forgotten His tangible and costly act of love in all our focus on the Torah?The Passover week is upon us, and in all of our celebrations of the Exodus from Egypt, sometimes we forget the greater Exodus enacted on behalf of the world at the Cross of Messiah/Christ. In the Bible, Yeshua/Jesus tells His disciples over and over again about being a slave to all, being a servant, about the servant of all being the greatest. That kind of language can sneak by us when we are not aware of how crucifixion was regarded in the Roman Empire. What does servitutis extremum summumque supplicium mean, and how does it relate to I Cor 1:21-25?

One of my favorite things to teach is the “five vindications” of Matthew chapter 1, where we see some surprising women included in Yeshua’s/Jesus’s genealogy during a time when women were considered irrelevant in such lists. Were the matriarchs included? No way! Instead, we see an oppressed widow, a pagan prostitute, a Moabitess (gasp!), an adulteress (or was she), and a suspiciously pregnant teenager. What on earth is going on here, and what does it teach us about the mission of the Messiah?

Last week I taught about the low status of children in the ancient world, and how the perception of them differed from our idealized "Leave it to Beaver" views of children and childhood. This week is much darker. Why would the disciples have been eager to get little children and infants away from Yeshua/Jesus? We might find our answers in the Roman era statistical data on the severely high infant and child mortality rates--as well as those for adults.

In the modern world, children are viewed in some truly idealistic ways regarding inherent innocence and honesty. Does that POV carry any weight in the Bible or in biblical times? What exactly did Yeshua/Jesus mean when He told His disciples that they must become like little children? Was He preaching what many see as an impossible ideal, or something altogether attainable based on the role assigned to children in the ancient world?

Understanding what phrases meant during Bible times can help us to avoid the sometimes tragic consequences of reading our own agendas into the text. Exactly what would the phrase "Greedy for gain" mean in Bible times? Was it a condemnation of capitalism? Or maybe a moratorium on the acquisition of wealth? Something entirely different? This week we are going to find out and we will use this context to explore how we can avoid being greedy for gain in our own lives in a world where such behavior is celebrated and even admired.