An excerpt from "The Divine Conspiracy" by Dallas Wilalrd

The Beatitudes as Kingdom Proclamation What then does Jesus say with his Beatitudes?How are we to live in response to them? That is the question we asked at the outset of this chapter, and it is now time to answer it.

We have already indicated the key to understanding the Beatitudes. They serve to clarify Jesus’ fundamental message: the free availability of God’s rule and righteousness to all of humanity through reliance upon Jesus himself, the person now loose in the world among us. They do this simply by taking those who, from the human point of view, are regarded as most helpless, most beyond all possibility of God’s blessing or even interest, and exhibiting them as enjoying God’s touch and abundant provision for their lives.

This fact of God’s care and provision proves to all that no human condition excludes blessedness, that God may come to any person with his care and deliverance. God does sometimes help those who cannot, or perhaps just do not, help themselves. (So much for another well known generalization!) The religious system of his day left the multitudes out, but Jesus welcomed them all into his kingdom. Anyone could come as well as any other….

And on Your list of the Blessed? You are really waling in the good news of the kingdom if you can go with confidence to any of the hopeless people around you and effortlessly convey assurance that they can now enter a blessed life with God.

Who would be on your list of “hopeless blessables” as found in today’s world? Certainly all of those on Jesus’ lists, for though they are merely illustrative, they are also timeless. But can we, following his lead as a teacher, concretize the gospel even more for those around us? Who would you regard as the most unfortunate people around you?

A Silly Side of Salvation? There is first of all, a silly side to this question-which turns suddenly somber. If you look at advertising and current events in print and other media-for example, as you encounter them in supermarket checkouts, newsstands, and bookstores or even on television and radio-you might think that the most unfortunate people in the world today are the fat, the misshapen, the bald, the ugly, the old, and those not relentlessly engaged in romance, sex and fashionably equipped physical activities….

Instead Jesus took time in his teaching to point out the natural beauty of every human being (Matt 6:30)…

This is the gospel for a silly world, all the more needed because the silly is made a matter of life and death for many. Sin, for that matter, is silly. If the kingdom did not reach us in our silliness who would be saved? Lostness does not have to wear a stuffed shirt to find redemption.

So we must see from our heart that:

• Blessed are the physically repulsive,


• Blessed are those who smell bad,


• The twisted, misshapen, deformed,


• The too big, too little, too loud,


• The bald, the fat, and the old -


• For they are all riotously celebrated in the party of Jesus.

And the more serious side Then there are the seriously crushed ones: The flunk-outs and drop-outs and burn-outs. The broke and the broken. The drug heads and the divorced. The HIV-positive and herpes-ridden. The brain-damaged, the incurably ill. The barren and pregnant too-many-times or at the wrong time. The overemployed, the underemployed, the unemployed. The unemployable. The swindled the shoved aside, the replaced. The parents with children living on the street, the children with parents not dying in the “rest” home. The lonely, the incompetent, the stupid. The emotionally starved or emotionally dead. And on and on and on. Is it true that “Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal?” It is true! That is precisely the gospel of heaven’s availability that comes to us through the Beatitudes. And you don’t have to wait until you’re dead. Jesus offers to all such people as these the present blessedness of the present kingdom - regardless of circumstances. The condition of life sought for human beings through the ages is attained in the quietly transforming friendship of Jesus.

And the Immoral Even the moral disasters will be received by God as they come to rely on Jesus, count on him, and make him their companion in his kingdom. Murders and child-molesters. The brutal and bigoted. Drug lords and pornographers. War criminals and sadists. Terrorists. The perverted and the filthy and the filthy rich. The David Berkowitzs (Son of Sam), Jeffery Dahmers, and Colonel Noriegas….

If, as a recovering sinner myself, accept Jesus’ good new, I can go to the mass murderer and say, “you can be blessed in the kingdoms of the heavens. There is forgiveness that knows no limits.” To the pederast and the perpetrator of incest. To the worshiper of Satan. To those who rob the aged and weak. To the cheat and the liar, the bloodsucker and the vengeful: Blessed! Blessed! Blessed! As they flee into the arms of the Kingdom Among Us.

Lectionary Blog: Markan Distinctives

Lectionary Blog: Markan Distinctives: Here is a synoptic study of this pericope from proper 9b, when the story came up in mark.

• Position
• Mark alone places this pericope right after a collection of miracle stories – directly connecting the power in those situations with the lack of power in his home town. Matthew has it after a collection of parables.
• His disciples followed him
• Luke places this pericope before the calling of the disciples, as an introduction to his power.
• The placing of the commissioning of the disciples immediately after Jesus is rejected in his hometown in Mark puts the emphasis on the disciples reaction to those who reject them in their ministry. It has been suggested that a preacher preach one or the other parts of this lection, but only in Mark do we get the force of them together.
• On the Sabbath
• Mark, in comparison with Matthew, includes the timing of the Sabbath, making this the congregations regular time of teaching (as in Luke)
• What mighty works are wrought by his hands!
• This sentence is difficult in placement in Mark. The other Matthew makes it part of the questioning and Luke simply implies their unbelief. Perhaps Hooker is right when stating that the force of the statement is a question. Where does he get this power?
• Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?
• Matthew and Luke make reference to Jesus being the son of the carpenter Joseph. In this reading of Mark, Jesus is a carpenter, perhaps the other evangelists thought it too base that Jesus worked with his hands (so Origen).
• Also if the villagers did not mention Joseph as his father, it may be a derogatory reference to rumors surrounding his conception. – Hooker
• And he could do no mighty works there
• Matthew frames it that he would not. Here the lack of faith actually limits Jesus’ ability. If they rejected his teaching at the synagogue, and had no faith, his ability was hampered. Here, as with the woman with the issue of blood, the Markan theme of Jesus’ authority is contrasted with the efficacy of faith.
• Except that he laid his hands upon a few sick people and healed them.
• Presumably those who received his teaching were able to receive healing.
• Not the great works of power demonstrated in Capernaum.

Joy

The Journey with Jesus Foundation takes a great look at Nehemiah and subversive acts of joy.

" In his poem The Revival the Welsh poet and physician Henry Vaughan (1621–1695) challenges us to open our 'drowsy eyes' to experience 'the drops and dews of future bliss.' This is a choice we can make or refuse.

Unfold! Unfold! Take in His light,
Who makes thy cares more short than night.
The joys which with His day-star rise
He deals to all but drowsy eyes;
And, what the men of this world miss
Some drops and dews of future bliss.

Hark! How His winds have chang’d their note!
And with warm whispers call thee out;
The frosts are past, the storms are gone,
And backward life at last comes on.
The lofty groves in express joys
Reply unto the turtle’s voice;
And here in dust and dirt, O here
The lilies of His love appear!

'The greatest honor we can give Almighty God,' wrote the English mystic Juliana of Norwich, 'is to live gladly because of the knowledge of his love.' No matter how bleak the tragic course of history, how unnerving our personal circumstances, or how pessimistic the forecasts of cultural historians, with joy we can expect his love to blossom even in the dust and dirt of our lives."

The Importance of the Word

How do we respond to the word of God? Is it good news? Do we respond to it in that way?

And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn or weep." For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, "Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions of them to those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our LORD; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

Nehemiah 8:9-10

The joy in the word is describe by the psalmist,

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the LORD are sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

Psalm 19:7-9

Jesus declares that he has come to fulfill the scripture, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free...

And he said, Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Have we heard him? Do we rejoice in the fulfiller of the scripture? Do we still hear, do we allow the Spirit to move among us in his way to speak to us?

And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues...

I Cor 12:28

Lord, may we see your word as more to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb. Open our ears to your fulfilled word.

Light and Delight

Jesus' sign gave light to the disciples. They saw a glimpse of his coming glory. In his actions, Jesus proclaimed his message, the kingdom has come, it is near, and it provides where the old system ran out. It provides a better and abundant mercy.

The psalmist declares, "They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light."

Isaiah says,

"For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give.... you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married."

I am reminded of the Westminster Catechism: Man’s chief end is to glorify God,[1] and to enjoy him forever.[2] We shine his light as we delight in him as he delights in us, lavishing his gifts upon us like the over abundance of wine. We show his glory in using his gifts for the good of the body.

Common thread

Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee:

Today’s readings speak of the revelation of hidden glory breaking through and inviting celebration. Isaiah announces the coming glory of God’s vindicated people when they return to rebuild their shattered homeland. Paul describes the amazing results of spiritual gifts, given to all God’s people “for the common good.” Today’s gospel, the story of the wedding feast at Cana, relates the first “sign” of Jesus’ identity and ministry that “revealed his glory.”

Paul doesn't specifically speak of glory, but rather of the common Good. In function the Spirit brings glory to Christ.

The symbolic refreshment of the Christian wine is glorified in the Psalm. "...you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light."

Sign in Cana

“Plainly he records the miracle because he believes that it happened. But for him the Miracles are all ‘signs’: they point beyond themselves. This particular miracle signifies that there is a transforming power associated with Jesus. He changes the water of Judaism into the wine of Christianity, the water of Christlessness into the wine of the richness and the fullness of eternal life in Christ, the water of the law into the wine of the gospel.”

I’ve never thought before that this passage makes a partial parallel to the wine and wineskins of Luke. John’s use of signs, explaining the truth allegorically, like a live action parable is a little new to me. I guess I owe that to my fundamentalist background. Reading the church fathers, most recently Augustine, I begin to appreciate more the ancient exegesis of texts. I am less likely to see the significance of the miracle in that it happened, as a bit of historical information about the life of Christ. Rather I see the significance in the mystical and spiritual realities they present, these are completely independent of their historicity. Not that I believe them to not have happened (i.e. attempts to de-mystify Jesus) but rather I think it really doesn’t matter at all to the reading.

Happened-in-reality or not – not skin off our collective noses. It is real and true regardless. So I choose to believe it happened. Why not? What is far more important is: what is the reality and significance? What does it really tell us about Jesus?

Here we see the first glimpse of his glory in John. His time has not yet come to be glorified, but we see a sign (first of many) of what will culminate on the cross of glory.