Can you identify by the picture the religion it represents? I will give you the choices to pick from (in
alphabetical order): Atheist, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jew and Muslim.
Did you get them all right?
If you did, you achieved something I could not do. You see, I can’t tell the Atheist from the
Christian in the photos. In fact, I don’t
know if either of those are Christian or if either of them are Atheist. The point of the test is that outwardly there
is no difference between
them. A Christian doesn’t usually stand out in a
crowd but neither will an Atheist. Every
major world religion stands out in a crowd except Christians, am I right?
Why do all other world religions stand out? Look at them; they dress differently, eat
differently, act differently and sometimes even talk differently. So, why don’t Christians follow this same
pattern? Now, before you go all out with
that, “Well, Jesus set us free! We don’t
have to do all those things,” speech, I want to take you to a place we have
touched on many, many months ago, but I want to show you something new and
exciting about some scripture that is probably very familiar to you.
It has been one year since I began this blog and this coming
year I am going in a brand new direction!
I intend to show you something you have perhaps never noticed
before. I hope to show you how every
verse of the New Testament is actually a commentary on the Old Testament (The
Tanach). So, are you ready to
begin? Something old is about to become
new again!!! Let’s go!
Something very important in Judaism is a thought process
called verbal tallies. These are words
or phrases that connect you back to a section of The Torah. Are you ready for it? Turn to John
1:1-5
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word
was God. He was in the beginning with
God. Everything was made to exist
through Him, and nothing that was made to exist was made to exist except by
Him. There was life in Him and the life
was light for the sons of men. The light
shone in the darkness and the darkness did not overtake it.”
Does anything in this scripture give you a verbal
talley? What jumped out at you when you
read it? Did this verse take you back to
Genesis 1:1-5? Let’s see those verses:
“In the beginning of
God’s creating the heavens and the earth – when the earth was astonishingly
empty, with darkness upon the surface of the deep and the Divine Presence
hovered upon the surface of the waters – God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and
there was light. God saw that the light
was good, and God separated between the light and the darkness. God called to the light: ‘Day,’ and to the
darkness He called: ‘Night.’ And there
was evening and there was morning, one day.”
Wow! Lots of verbal
tallies, wouldn’t you say? If you have
been raised in the Church you have been taught this Word is referring to Jesus
Christ, but what about the Light? Light in Jewish teaching as far back as you
can go is, in it’s simplest terms….Torah!
More in-depth it is spiritual illumination or wisdom.
As we are starting a new year of teaching, the Torah reading
for this week has been Genesis 1:1 – 6:8 so I want to give you more verbal
tallies to that passage. Go a little
deeper into John. Do you remember last
week when I mentioned Jesus speaking up at the water drawing and pouring
ceremony on the last great day of Sukkot?
Well, I had a misprint in that post.
It was on the 7th day of the festival (so sorry, but I wanted
to correct that and will go back and correct it on the actual post). After
making his famous, “If anyone is thirsty” speech he then says the following:
“I am the light of the
world. Anyone who follows me will not
walk in darkness, for he will have the light of life.” John 8:12
Both the “If anyone is thirsty” and “I am the light of the
world” statements are made on the same day at the same festival. It is the Last Great day of the festival of
Sukkot. This day is called the “Great
Salvation.” This day is a “Great” day of
celebration culminating seven days of living in personal booths known as
sukkahs. The entire festival is a fall
festival which is known for its thankfulness for a great harvest and beseeching
God for rain for the coming year, thus the water drawing and pouring out
ceremony every day of the festival. On
the last great day of the festival there is overwhelming joy and special
celebrations containing lots of singing and dancing.
I want to give you a word picture of Jerusalem on this day as
described to us in the Mishna:
“there were four
golden menorahs with four golden bowls at the top of each and four ladders each
leading to a bowl. Four strong young
cohanim (priests) would climb up with pitchers each holding 9 liters of oil
which they would pour into the bowls.
From the worn-out drawers and girdles of the cohanim they made wicks and
with them they lit the menorahs; and there was not a courtyard in Jerusalem
that was not lit up by the light of the Beit-HaSho’evah (festivities). Pious men and men of good deeds would dance
around (the menorahs) with lit torches in their hands, singing songs and
praises, while the Levites played harps, lyres, cymbals, trumpets and
innumerable other musical instruments…” (Sukkah 5:2-4)
In Sukkah 52b it reports that these menorahs were 75 feet
high. Can you get a feel for the
surroundings at the moment Jesus shouted out his famous lines! More like a concert in the middle of a huge
outdoor arena with all the lights on than probably what you have had in your
mind all these years, isn’t it?
Now, if you went to your Bible, you probably noticed the
story of the woman caught in adultery thrown in between the two sections of
Jesus shouting out about living water and being the light. And, if you read it closely it says, “In the
morning” which implies that after Jesus talked about being living water one day
the statement about being the light was on a different day. Well, let me straighten one thing out.
John 8:1-11 from what the experts can figure out is true,
but it is not John’s writing. It is
believed (by many scholars) to be the work of one of Jesus’ other disciples,
but which one is quite the mystery. Along
with that tidbit is the fact that no one is quite certain about the timeline in
Jesus ministry as to when this event took place. It was placed here in John’s Gospel early on
in the Church’s beginnings and has been left there. It is believed to have been an Oral tradition
with the early Church that found its way into the early manuscripts. Now, if you are OCD, like me, don’t get too
hung up on this passage being inserted at this point and just trust what the
experts tell us.
Now, back to our original conversation on the Word and the
Light! John tells us the Word became
flesh and dwelt (tabernacled or sukkahed) among us! Yes He did!!!
The Great Salvation had come: The Torah and Spiritual Illumination had
become flesh and was living among us and would soon be dwelling IN US!!!
Great news! What
could be wrong with that? Well what did
Jesus say about the Light? “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness
but will have the light which gives life.”
If light dispels darkness, where is this light in the world today? All I hear about is the darkness in the world
and how bad the world is becoming, yet the majority of America claims to be
Christian. If Christians have the light
which gives life, shouldn’t we be dispelling the darkness?
Why can’t you pick out a Christian in a crowd of
people? Should Christians not look
different? The fact of the matter is; if
you are a true Christian then you are going to look, think, talk
and act differently and you will eat differently. (That lesson comes much, much later.) If everyone who says they are a Christian actually were a Christian, congress wouldn’t have to be on the verge of a
shutdown. Welfare, food stamps, homelessness would all
be a thing of the past. Our United
States federal income tax rate would drop to an all-time low, because there
would be no need for federal or state programs to take care of those needs I
listed. There would also be no need for
FEMA or mandated health insurance programs.
No child would be falling through the cracks of the court system. Prisons would become desolate wastelands and
there would be NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND!
If we are reflecting the Light of the World, we are His
hands and feet and we will be carrying out the following:
“For I was hungry and
you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I
was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me……Whatever
you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:34-36, 40
Well, how do I know Christians are supposed to have this
light?
“You are the light of
the world. A city that sits on the
mountain will not be hidden, nor do people kindle a lamp just to put it under
the bushel measure, but on the menorah, to illuminate all who are in the
house. So also, shine your light before
sons of men, so that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father who is
in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16
That is you and me, if we have Jesus! It doesn’t say to do these things so they
will praise us. NO! Heaven forbid! It is so they will see the Father in the
Light we reflect out of us! If you have
ever worn a shirt or necklace that had a little mirror type ornament on it, you
know how it catches the light and reflects it onto everything! That is what I want you to take away from
this! When people look at a picture of a
crowd, I want them to be able to pick out the Christians, because they are
reflecting the Light within us!!! May that reflection be so bright the people are blinded by it!!! (I like visuals! lol)
One of the smallest, tiniest almost non-existent slivers of
light can break the darkness, BUT NO
AMOUNT OF DARKNESS, NO MATTER HOW LARGE CAN DISPEL THAT SMALL SLIVER OF
LIGHT!!!! Never ever forget that
concept!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, go spread some
light this week!!!!!! SHALOM!
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