Tag: Jesus

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Bible

Onesimus, the Useful One

The focus of Paul’s letter to Philemon is Onesimus, the runaway slave.  Ironically, Onesimus means “useful.”

After Onesimus flees, he encounters Jesus through Paul.  Paul mentors Onesimus and the two begin working together.  However, it is not right for Onesimus to remain with Paul — even though what they are doing is important.  To do so would be to defraud Philemon of Onesimus’s labor.

So Paul encourages Onesimus to return to his master, despite the risk it involves.  A recaptured slave could have been punished or imprisoned for an attempted escape.  To facilitate a positive reunion, Paul writes a letter to Philemon, pleading that mercy be accorded Onesimus.

While we don’t explicitly know the outcome of this drama, we can reasonably deduce it.

First, Paul’s petition on Onesimus’s behalf is so powerfully worded that it is hard to image anyone not complying.

Second, in the only other mention of Onesimus in the Bible, Paul announces that he is sending Tychicus and Onesimus to the people of Colossi.

Paul also affirms Onesimus as being faithful and a dear brother.  Since this trip could not have reasonably occurred prior to Onesimus returning to Philemon, it can be safely assumed that Philemon did as Paul requested, allowing Onesimus to return to Paul to work with him on Philemon’s behalf. 

This would put Onesimus in a position to take a trip to Colossi.

At last Onesimus can be useful indeed — to both Paul and Philemon, as well as to the Colossians and to God.  This all happened because he did the right thing, returning to his master despite the risk.

[Colossians 4:7-9]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Philemon and His Friends

The short, often overlooked book of Philemon is tucked towards the end of the New Testament, nestled between letters to Titus and to the Hebrews.

Philemon is a letter written by Paul to his friend Philemon about a man of mutual interest, Onesimus.

The short version is that Onesimus is a slave who runs away from his master, Philemon.  Onesimus meets Paul, who tells him about Jesus, mentors him, and encourages him to do the right thing by returning to his master.

To help facilitate the reunion, Paul jots a quick note to Philemon, which has been preserved for us in the Bible.

In addition to Paul, Philemon, and Onesimus, there are eight other names mentioned in this brief correspondence: Timothy, Apphia, Archippus, Epaphras, Aristarchus, Mark, Demas, and Luke.  For each there is a story to be told and insight to be gained.

Of course, Jesus is also rightly mentioned in Paul’s letter to Philemon, a total of six times.  Jesus is actually the central character in this story, for it all revolves around him.

Is Jesus the central character in your story, does your life all revolve around him?

[Philemon]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Blessed are the Meek

Do you aspire to be meek?  Not likely.  Who would?

When I think of meek, I think of spineless, compliant, and easily imposed upon.

While that is a correct understanding of what it is to be meek, it is also the secondary definition for the word.

The first definition for meek is patient, humble, gentle, and long-suffering.

Even with that perspective, meekness is not a trait that many in our world today desire.

Consider, however, that Moses, the great leader of ancient Israel, was characterized as being meek.  Even more so, Jesus himself claimed to be meek.  Plus, Paul taught that we should all be meek.

Given that Moses and Jesus were meek, and Paul taught it, perhaps we need to give this trait some serious consideration.

After all, Jesus promised that the meek will inherit the earth.

[See Numbers 12:3, Matthew 11:29, Colossians 3:12, and Matthew 5:5.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

An Army of Angels

The young girl gazes out into the desert; something is coming towards her.  It is Solomon, her lover, traveling by carriage. 

He is accompanied by a protective band of weapon wielding warriors, tested and poised for whatever threat awaits them.  With Solomon — and his army — she will be protected.

In a spiritual sense, this is how it is with God and us.  He is coming towards us; with him, we will be protected.  (That doesn’t mean there won’t be risks as we journey with him, because there will.)  

We will also be afforded a band of warriors, ready to battle on our behalf.  In the spiritual realm, this is an army of angels.

Centuries later, Jesus tells Satan, “Don’t you know that I could ask my Father, and right away he would send me more than twelve armies of angels?”

While we might not see angels, we have good reason to believe that they are nearby, ready to protect us from both physical threats and spiritual foes.

Our God, who loves us, will make sure we are protected.

[See Song of Solomon 3:6-8 and Matthew 26:53.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Pursuing God Can be Risky

I have heard some claim that if you follow Jesus, all your problems will be solved and life will become an idyllic and blissful existence.

While I suppose that could be the case, I don’t reach that conclusion when I read my Bible.

In one of the more obscure passages, this is shown figuratively in The Song of Songs.

Twice, overcome in desperation to be with her lover (the king), the girl makes an ill-advised nighttime foray into the dark to find him.  Both times, she encounters watchmen. 

The first occurs without incident, but the second time she is mistreated by them.  The degree of abuse is unclear, but it could be understood as severe.

Just as she is willing to risk much to be with the king she loves, so to do God’s followers take risks to be with the King they love.

And if we truly love him, no risk is too great.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

The Song of Songs

After my prior post about the number one hit that used the Bible for lyrics, you may think that it is the “song of songs.”  Not so.  There is another.  You may have heard the book in the Bible, Song of Solomon. 

It is sometimes called the “Song of Songs”  (A more comprehensive title might be “Solomon’s Song of Songs.”)

Song of Songs can be thought of as a “biblical erotica,” albeit a PG 13 version.  It is a bit explicit and somewhat suggestive, but in a literary way.

Song of Songs is a tale a passionate love affair between the king and his lover.  The king is Solomon and his lover is foreign royalty (she is described has a “Shulammite” and a “prince’s daughter).

However, in addition to this real life drama, Song of Songs is also points to a passionate spiritual love affair between God and his people.  (In the New Testament, this love affair is even more specific, being between Jesus and the church, who is his spiritual bride.)

As such, Song of Songs can be read and appreciated on two levels: a personal love story between two people and a spiritual saga of God’s desire for his people (us) and the way he longs for us to respond.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

A Frustrating Verse

There’s a verse in the Bible that frustrates me — not for what it says, but for what it doesn’t say.  Here’s the background:

Jesus dies and rises from the dead, but his followers are slow to catch on.  Two of them are on a road trip and Jesus begins walking with them, but they don’t recognize him.  As they walk, he begins to remind them what the Bible says about the coming savior.  Here’s how Luke tells it:

“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he [Jesus] explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (Luke 24:27).

That’s the verse that frustrates me.  It’s good to know that Jesus explained this, but I want to know exactly what he said.

True, there are a finite number of verses in the Old Testament that point to Jesus, so we could study them and reasonably guess at which ones he picked.  But speculating about this leaves me wanting more.  I want to know what verses Jesus used and to hear him explain it.

Anything short of that leaves me wanting more.  And that’s why this verse frustrates me.

[See Luke 24:13-32.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

In or Out?

While the New Testament of the Bible has small phrases or scattered verses that are not found in all of the ancient manuscripts, the Old Testament has a slightly different issue of inclusion or exclusion, which mostly relates to entire books.

Here’s the short version of what happened.  The Old Testament was written in Hebrew.  It was translated to Greek a couple of centuries before Jesus.  The Greek translation is used when the New Testament quotes from the Old.

For some of the books in the Greek Old Testament, either the original Hebrew version was lost or it was first written in Greek.  It is these books that are in question. 

For most of history, Christians have accepted and embraced these writings, but during the modern era, some have opted to remove them from the Bible, in part because there are no original Hebrew manuscripts, viewing them as superfluous or even heretical.  (Jews likewise dismiss these books.)

It has been only recently that I have discovered these books, feeling sad for what I have missed over the years.

The question becomes is it wrong to include them or wrong to exclude them?  Again, as with the New Testament consideration, I opt to include them. 

I do this primarily because most Christians, for most of the past 2,000 years have deemed them as part of the Bible, so I feel safe to do so as well.  As a result, my appreciation for God’s word and understanding of him is heightened in the process.

Perhaps these have likewise been missing in your Bible; future posts will provide an introduction to these fascinating books.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

Omission or Addition?

After prior discussions about adding to or taking away from the Bible, it gives one pause in considering footnotes in some translations, which effectively note that a certain phrase or verse is “not found in all manuscripts.”

Consider the Lord’s Prayer.  The end is one such example: “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”

Or when the disciples can’t cast out a demon and Jesus says, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”  The footnote adds “…and fasting.”  Which is it?  Prayer or prayer and fasting?

The largest such passage is the conclusion to Mark’s gospel, where the last 12 verses are not included in all manuscripts.

So is it an error to include them or an error to exclude them?  In these, and all other instances, I think that it is wise to include them.  Here is why.

As a writer, I often revise my own work to improve it, such as adding something that I forgot or to correct imprecise wording.  Sometimes this occurs after it its initial publication.  It is likely that Biblical writers did the same.

As an editor I sometimes change a writer’s words to clarify what is unclear or confusing.  Scribes who made copies of the Bible may have done the same, albeit with much more care and consideration.

So I am not concerned with minor differences between the ancient manuscripts; the overall message remains unaltered and the additional text adds clarity and fullness.

[See Matthew 6:9-13, Mark 9:29, and Mark 16:8–20.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Bible

The Error of the Sadducees

In The Error of the Sadducees and Pharisees, it was noted that the Sadducees’ error was taking away from the Bible, dismissing or ignoring certain sections. 

Paul notes that the Sadducees did not believe in resurrection, angels, and spirits, even though all are addressed in the Old Testament.

In order to challenge or trick Jesus, the Sadducees smugly present him with a hypothetical situation.  Jesus pointedly tells them they are in error because they do not know the Bible.  He then corrects their errant thinking, amazing the crowd and silencing his critics.

Few followers of Jesus would admit to ignoring parts of the Bible or dismissing sections as irrelevant, but it is actually a common occurrence. 

When we read the Bible, it is naturally all too easy to focus on the parts we like and understand, while quickly skimming or even skipping the confusing and confounding passages.  As a result, our understanding of God is diminished in the process.

It is the error of the Sadducees.

[See Acts 23:8 and Mark 12:18-27, also in Luke 20:27-40 and Matthew 22:23-33.]

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.