A August 14, 2009
I must admit I thought that introducing lesson might be fun and perhaps rather easy. But as is most often the case I found myself wanting to dig deeper into the passages. I thought by doing so I would be able to provide each of you with a more meaningful preparation for our time together Sunday. Yet, as I begin to draft this summary I realize that it is not my doing but God's doing and I’m once again “feared” by the presence of the Lord and therefore remain humbled. I’m not sure I have acquired wisdom in this process but I’m thankful that today I can spend hours focusing on His Holy Word. Let’s begin.
The Bible verses this week focus on wisdom. In 1 Kings 2:10-12 is Solomon's request that God provide him the “wisdom to govern (God’s) people and discern between good and evil.” God is pleased with his unselfish requests and grants him a wise and discerning mind as well as riches and long life so long as he continues to keeps Gods “commandments and statutes.” Most of us know that Solomon remained wise but did not reap the benefit of long life because he failed in keeping Gods commandments and statutes.
So how do we acquire a heart of wisdom that will guide our response as parents, professionals, citizens, and persons of faith?
Psalms 111 and Ephesians 5:15-20
These verses supply the reader with two thoughts to ponder. First, the “beginning of wisdom” comes from knowing Gods omnipotent character. This is witnessed by the wise daily as Yahweh moves about in all aspects of life. Second, make the most of time by focusing on Yahweh’s guiding light in all one does. Praising his name all the while.
Can you think of a time or period when you have focused on Yahweh with all your heart? Have you ever spent a day trying to see his workings in the world around you? How is he at work now, with us, today this moment?
John 6:51-58
I read a few commentaries on this passage and was struck by the debate that Christians have had in the past concerning transubstantiation or what is commonly referred to as the “Eucharist”. Transubstantiation is the changing of the substance of bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. In that even though the senses experience bread and wine this is considered an accident and is not the essence of the matter. In a nut shell the Roman Catholic denomination believes that a change in substance actually occurs during the Eucharist. That is to say that the bread, although it has the appearance of bread, actually contains the elements of Christ’s body and the same is true for the wine. Now, I’m sure this would make people feel uneasy. Christians are cannibals? What on earth? Martin Luther and others did not dig this interpretation and so today most protestant faiths believe the sacraments to be a symbolic memorial of sorts. Even today the debate about whether or not the passage is to be a literal interpretation or not continues among protestant denominations. This all made me think about what food truly is. Is this where "We are what we eat." comes from? What does John really want the reader to infer from the following passages?:
6:54 “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them
up on the last day;
6:55 for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.
6:56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.”
Abide means to be within. Nice, That sounds great Jesus living with in me. Hold on a second. If he resides in me, then he is present even when I sin. Hmm. In Luke 22 19-20 it states that Jesus gave thanks, broke the bread, acknowledged it was his body and asked that they eat it in remembrance of him and he did likewise with the wine saying it is his blood shed for them. There is one difference in this passage. The use of the greek word for “eat”. I discovered that the greek word for eat used in John’s text is one used to describe the “gnawing upon”. The text does not just convey we ingest Jesus’ body and drink his blood but savor it by gnawing on it. Gross ,right? But give it some consideration.
What does gnawing on Jesus’ body have to do with wisdom?
What does it mean for Jesus to abide in you? What about when we commit sin? Is he still present?
What about transubstantiation? Is modern science able to prove it’s existence? If so how does this change our view on Jesus abiding within us?
My final thoughts are that we contemplate what we have learned from studying the word today. That we consider, like Solomon, what we would truly want from God to make our lives the best they can be. That we think about how being thankful, and mindful of God in all we do will help us to remain in awe of him. I pray that each of you have the time to read this weeks' verses. I also pray that you are each at a place this moment full of peace and joy that can only come from abiding in Him.
See You Sunday,
Dan
For fun visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ42IMu7HIQ
PS: For some interesting background on the history and controversies related to this passage, check out these Wikipedia articles:
- Transubstantiation
- Consubstantiation
- Real Presence
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