booo!!
Sunday April 23rd, John 20: 19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you. First of all, you need to visualize this. Close your eyes and try to imagine that you are one of the disciples. The doors are locked, the shades drawn, the lights are out, and you and your friends and huddled together in fear of the Jews who killed you friend and teacher. Into this scene someone new enters and utters the Jewish word “Shalom.” It means hello, or good-bye or more precisely, Peace be with you. In that situation I would hear it more as “Booo!!” In the midst of our fear, in the midst of our hiding, Jesus comes to us. It might not always seem like good news, it might even be scary, but it is always life giving and it can take you on some pretty amazing adventures.
posted by Dan at 12:17 PM
2 Comments:
This is an odd commentary.
Here I thought all along that Jesus and his disciples were Jews.
Why use the terms Jew and Jewish as if those hiding were not Jews?
I probably won't get a reply but I had to ask.
Judith said...
This is an odd commentary.
Here I thought all along that Jesus and his disciples were Jews.
Why use the terms Jew and Jewish as if those hiding were not Jews?
I probably won't get a reply but I had to ask.
You are right, it is odd. Sometimes it is hard to get all the historical context in a few short sentences. The Gospel of John was one of the later ones written that is included in the canonized scripture. Most put it between 100 and 110 CE. It was around 70 that the split took place between the Jewish community and the immerging Jewish Christian community. Even then, Johns use of the terms Jews and Jewish is not inclusive of all followers of the Jewish faith, as is the case with the other Gospels, but rather refers to the Jewish authorities who were in positions of power having capitulated some of the aspects of their faith in exchange for maintaining that power under Roman rule. As someone of Scandinavian heritage, John is referring to the Quislings of the time. The disciples were very connected to their Jewish roots as was the early church. For the first 40 or so years after the resurrection, the early Christians considered themselves part of the Jewish faith and met in the Synagogues for worship. Once again in 70 it was political pressure that caused the split as the Romans were looking for scapegoats and were pointing their fingers at the Jews and the Jews were pointing their fingers at the Christians. When the disciples were hiding for fear of the Jews, it was a specific group of Jews, the ones connected to the political power structure, as opposed to the followers of Jesus, the Jews not connected to the power structure who greeted Jesus as he entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. An excellent book is “The Last Week” by Marcus Borg. There is also some excellent reading on the link in my blog “from Jesus to Christ” Feel free to contact me again and if you wish you can use my email: bollerud@gci.net
Thank you for your response
Pastor Dan
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