OneLife Nashville: Rare but vital conversations about Jesus

In this episode we look at God's presence on Mt. Sinai and how this event was intedned to shape the roles and expectations of the developing relationship between God and Israel. God wants to establish himself as their Father so that they will respect him and follow his leadership. Ultimately, God wants to Father them into the fullness of who he created them to be. However, in order for them to enter into that kind of relationship with him, they will need to view God, Moses, and themselves, in a specific way. The closer God moves towards Israel, the more intense the relationship becomes.

The New Testament uses this event as a point of contrast to say that we do not start off with God in the same way that the Israelites did. We actually start our relationship with God on a different mountain, what the writer of Hebrews terms as Mt. Zion. And it's kind of exciting to think about how we get to step into relationship with God at a different point in the story. But just Iike Israel, God wants to Father us into to maturity, and that means his coming close to us will also intensify our relationship with him. This can be a good and sobering reality. The closer he gets, the more change it produces in us.

Key Passages:

Exodus 19:9-20:21

Hebrews 12:18-29

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In this episode we return to the story of Israel's exodus from Egypt and arrival at Mt. Sinai where God reveals the kind of relationship he wants to have with Israel, and the kind of relationship Israel is to have with God. God wants to bring them to himself so that he can Father them into maturity, training and developing them to be a kingdom of priests and holy nation. The amazing thing is that God wants them to obey his voice and be a special treasure to him above all the peoples of the world. But it's not just about Israel - God wants to do what he does in Israel in the rest of the world, too. Israel is ilke a focus group where he will seek to solve a widespread problem in a narrowly focused group of people, which in turn would enable God and Israel to partner together in taking that solution to the rest of the world. This is a great vision God has for Israel and the world, and it starts taking on very practical expressions in the book of Exodus with the giving of the law. 

The amazing thing is that we, some 3,500 years later, have been brought to share in this same story! We have been grafted into the commonwealth of Israel and share in the covenant promises of Israel through our faith in the Messiah. We, too, have been called out of the darkness and into God's marvelous light, and have become a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a special people to God. We, like Israel, are called to partner with God in advancing our human nature and being a blessing to the nations. 

Key Passages:

Exodus 19:1-8

1 Peter 2:9-10

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In this episode we keep exploring how we can participate in the life-giving relationship between the Father and the Son. Jesus said that the words that he speaks to us are spirit and life, which means there is something about his words spoken to us that can bring us to share in the life he receives from the Father.  We talk about why Jesus would speak to us, what he would say, how he would say it, how to know if it is actually Jesus speaking to us, and how to respond.  

Key Passages:

John 6:60-63

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In this episode we continue to explore Jesus' teaching in John 6 about him being the bread of life. Specifically, we focus on Jesus identifying his flesh and blood as a source of life, and how that life is not only located in Jesus' own humanity, but ultimately flows from the Father into Jesus' flesh and blood. Jesus in turn invites us to abide in him so that we can participate in his life-giving relationship with the Father (and the Spirit). 

As a practical way of helping us do that, we share an exercise called Entering the Story developed by Ignatius of Loyola. This exercise is widely known and used by those in the contemplative tradition of Christian spirituality. We talk about the basic steps of the exercise, and some of our experiences with it. 

Key Passages

John 6:47-57

Instructions for how to do the Entering the Story exercise by Ignatius of Loyola

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In this episode we go deeper into the story of Jesus identifying himself as the bread that came down from heaven, and why Jesus calls himself the Bread of Life. We're all seeking something, but the question we have to ask ourselves is: what are we seeking instead of Jesus? Our desires for products, people, places, and purposes are really pointing us to our deeper desire for sustainable, more life-giving versions of those things. In other words, the things we seek are mere symbols of a deeper and greater reality beyond those things, and Jesus identifies himself as the reality that all symbols point to. 

Key Passages:

Exodus 16

John 6:26-35

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In this episode we move with the Israelites into the wilderness where they are complaining against Moses and Aaron about not having any meat or bread to eat. God responds by giving them quail for meat, but he surprises them in the way he gives them bread. He miraculously provides "manna" which in Hebrew means "What is it?" However, there's more going on in this story than God satisfying hungry stomachs. The rules about not gathering more than you can eat in a day, as well as not going out to gather on the Sabbath, function as a test for Israel. God wants Israel to pass this test and develop their trust in God as their provider, which will be evidenced by following those guidelines. 

Jesus identifies himself in John 6 as the Bread from Heaven, and directly relates this story in Exodus 16 with his identity as the Son of Man. And it is through Jesus' teaching in John 6 that we will see how this story about manna from heaven applies to our understanding of Jesus and the atonement.

Key Passages:

Exodus 16

John 6:32-35 

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In this episode we go deeper into Israel's journey through the "Sea of Reeds" and how it was a reenactment of the Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis 15. In the same way that Abraham cut animals in half, with God passing through those animals in a smoking pot of fire, God cuts the sea serpent "Apep" aka. Rahab or Leviathan, in half and passes through - with the Israelites - in a pillar of cloud and fire. By doing so, God not only cuts the realities of his covenant with Abraham into the forces that would seek to stop that covenant from being fulfilled, he also demonstrate to the Israelites that Yahweh - not Amun-Ra - has the ultimate power over the realm of the dead. 

Jesus, of course, fulfills this imagery when he passes through death and comes out on the other side victorious, cutting through the serpent's power of death over humanity to make a way out - exodus - of death for all who will join him in his death and resurrection. 

Key Passages:

Exodus 14:13-31

Psalm 74:12-17

A blog article by Michel Heiser that explores the significance of Rahab, Leviathan, and the crossing of the "Sea of Reeds" as spiritual warfare.

Isaiah 51:9-11 

A blog article the explores what it means to "cut Rahab in pieces." 

Revelation 1:18

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In this episode we move on from passover and into Israel crossing the Red Sea. We look at the various terms used for the body of water Israel crossed, such as "Sea of Reeds" and "Sea at the End", and how those terms relate to the way Egyptians saw death, the underworld, and the afterlife. We also explore how Amun-Ra, symbolized by the Sun, would have been connected to the "Sea of Reeds", along with the Egyptian serpentine figure of Apep who ruled the underworld. All of these places and spiritual figures are directly related to the story of Israel crossing the "Sea of Reeds", and the more we know about them the more we appreciate what God is doing in this monumental event.

The crossing of the "Sea of Reeds" is a paradigmatic story that creates an interpretive lens for how God delivers from death. Luke understands this, which is why he calls Jesus' death and resurrection an "exodus" in Luke 9:31. Isn't it interesting that Moses and Elijah - two people who had "exodus" type experiences show up to encourage Jesus as he is about to pass through death? 

Key Passages:

Exodus 3:17-4:12

For an article explaining The Sea of Reeds as the realm of the dead click here 

Luke 9:27-31

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In this episode we look more closely at the context of Jesus' statement in Mark 10:45 "For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but so serve, and give his life as a ransom for many." The Old Testament background for interpreting this statement is found in Numbers 3 and the redemption of the firstborn, which in turn is connected with the Passover in Exodus 12-13. Yes...it's all connected! 

Unfortunately, because the Old Testament background has mostly been "passed over", this passage has often been misinterpreted. We discuss some of those misinterpretations and why they can be harmful to our relationship with God. 

To help us understand what his statement is actually referring to, we look at the larger context of Mark 10. In the stories leading up to Jesus' statement, we are introduced to various obstacles that Israelites faced as they encountered Jesus and his way of discipleship. For example, Mark 10 starts out with the difficulties of marriage and divorce, then moves to difficulties about our attitude towards children, then on to the rich young ruler and his struggle with worldly possessions, and finally to the disciples and their struggle with seeking status and power. (Notice the progression from marriage, to children, to a rich young ruler who is an Israelite aspiring to receive an inheritance of eternal life - think firstborn who receives double inheritance. I think Mark is wanting us to think of the firstborn and being completely devoted to God in this chapter). Each one of these obstacles were preventing Israelites from being completely devoted to serving God - like every firstborn was intended to do. 

We also notice the way the term "many" is used in Jesus' teaching to the disciples about riches, and how this frames the way Jesus uses "many" in Mark 10:45, along with the role of suffering in Jesus' way of discipleship and how that helps us understand what Jesus means by giving his life as a "ransom" for many.  

Key Passages

Mark 10

Numbers 3

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In this episode we fast forward to look at a point in Israel's story where God gives more detailed and practical instructions about redeeming the firstborn sons of the Israelites from God. All the firstborn sons of Israel belonged to God, which means they were to be exclusively devoted to serving God. But God does soemthing interesting int he book of Numbers. He allows the the first generation of men who came out of Egypt from the tribe of Levi to take the place - be a substitute - for the first generation of firstborn Israelites in their service to God. 

The interesting thing is that this substitution of Levites for the firstborn was a one-for-one substitute. the 22,000 Levites were literally substituted for 22,000 of the firstborn of Israel. The only problem was that there were 273 more firstborn than there were Levites. So God's soution for those firstborn was for the families to pay 5 shekels of silver to the high priest Aaron and his priestly sons. The remaining 273 were called "the many" and the the payment of 5 shekels was acalled a "ransom" or "redemption". 

This is important for us because this is the exact same language Jesus uses when he says, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for the many." Jesus was indeed a subsitute, but he as not a penal substitute. He was an ontological - being - substitute. Like the Levite who served in the place of the firstborn, Jesus dedicated his entire life to wholly serving and carrying out God's mission. But he didn't just do it for God, or even for himself. He gave his entire life to God "for the many." in other words, his complete and faithful service to God is "payment" to God for our lack of service to him. 

Key Passages:

Numbers 3:5-13; 39-51

Mark 10:35-45

Septuagint for Numbers 3 - https://biblehub.com/sepd/numbers/3.htm The Greek words for "instead of" (anti) "excess number" (polus) and ransom/redeem (lutron) are also found in Mark 10:45. We don't find this same combination anywhere else in the Old Testament. 

Interlinear for Mark 10:45 - https://biblehub.com/interlinear/mark/10-45.htm   

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