Fresh Thoughts For Sunday Issue 134 18/9/16

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In Partnership with SPCK and contributions from BRF Issue 134
Fresh Thoughts
For Su nda y
18th September 2016
A selection of commentary, reflection and prayer ideas from various
Christian authors for this week’s lectionary Bible passages:
Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 1 Timothy 2:1-7
Psalm 79:1-9 Luke 16:1-13
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Contents
18/09/16
Bible Texts
Commentary
Does God Really Punish? by John Goldingay 9
Proper 20 by NT Wright 11
Proper 20 by Judith Dimond 12
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time by Susan Thorne 13
It’s Your Soul, Stupid by David Perry 14
Lectionary Resources
Good News by Marjorie Dobson 16
Proper 20 by David Adam 17
Proper 20 by John Birch 19
Discipleship Resources
Simply Jesus by Tom Wright 21
Theology Resources
Four Gospels, One Jesus? by Richard A. Burridge 26
‘Fresh Thoughts for Sunday’ is compiled and produced by twelvebaskets from the resources available
on www.theworshipcloud.com.
The following resources are a small selection of what is available. Many more resources and
inspiration for this week’s lectionary, leading worship and other church use are available on The
Worship Cloud.
All resources featured can be downloaded as separate files from the website as part of a subscription.
Copyright for each resource is retained by the original author / contributor.
Bible Texts are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

BIBLE TEXTS
Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 1 Timothy 2:1-7
Psalm 79:1-9 Luke 16:1-13

Jeremiah 18 You who are my Comforter in sorrow, my heart is faint within
8:18-9:1 me.
19 Listen to the cry of my
people from a land far away:
“Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her
King no longer there?” “Why
have they aroused my anger
with their images, with their
worthless foreign idols?”
20 “The harvest is past, the
summer has ended, and we
are not saved.”
21 Since my people are
crushed, I am crushed; I
mourn, and horror grips me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing
for the wound of my people?
9
1 Oh, that my head were a
spring of water and my eyes a
fountain of tears! I would weep
day and night for the slain of
my people.
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Psalm 1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they
79:1-9 have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem
to rubble.
2 They have left the dead
bodies of your servants as
food for the birds of the sky,
the flesh of your own people
for the animals of the wild.
3 They have poured out
blood like water all around
Jerusalem, and there is no one
to bury the dead.
4 We are objects of contempt
to our neighbors, of scorn and
derision to those around us.
5 How long, Lord? Will you be
angry forever? How long will
your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on
the nations that do not
acknowledge you, on the
kingdoms that do not call on
your name;
7 for they have devoured Jacob
and devastated his homeland.
8 Do not hold against us the
sins of past generations; may
your mercy come quickly
to meet us, for we are in
desperate need.
9 Help us, God our Savior, for
the glory of your name; deliver
us and forgive our sins for your
name’s sake.
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1 Timothy 1 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession
2:1-7 and thanksgiving be made for all people—
2 for kings and all those in
authority, that we may live
peaceful and quiet lives in all
godliness and holiness.
3 This is good, and pleases
God our Savior,
4 who wants all people to
be saved and to come to a
knowledge of the truth.
5 For there is one God and
one mediator between God
and mankind, the man Christ
Jesus,
6 who gave himself as a
ransom for all people. This has
now been witnessed to at the
proper time.
7 And for this purpose I was
appointed a herald and an
apostle—I am telling the truth,
I am not lying—and a true and
faithful teacher of the Gentiles.
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Luke 1 Jesus told his disciples: 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth “There was a rich man whose to gain friends for yourselves,
16:1-13 manager was accused of so that when it is gone, you wasting his possessions. will be welcomed into eternal
dwellings.
2 So he called him in and
asked him, ‘What is this I hear 10 “Whoever can be trusted
about you? Give an account with very little can also be
of your management, because trusted with much, and
you cannot be manager any whoever is dishonest with very
longer.’ little will also be dishonest with
much.
3 “The manager said to himself,
‘What shall I do now? My 11 So if you have not been
master is taking away my job. trustworthy in handling worldly
I’m not strong enough to dig, wealth, who will trust you with
and I’m ashamed to beg— true riches?
4 I know what I’ll do so that, 12 And if you have not been
when I lose my job here, trustworthy with someone
people will welcome me into else’s property, who will give
their houses.’ you property of your own?
5 “So he called in each one of 13 “No one can serve two
his master’s debtors. He asked masters. Either you will hate
the first, ‘How much do you the one and love the other, or
owe my master?’ you will be devoted to the one
and despise the other. You
6 “‘Nine hundred gallons[a] cannot serve both God and
of olive oil,’ he replied. “The money.”
manager told him, ‘Take your
bill, sit down quickly, and make
it four hundred and fifty.’
7 “Then he asked the second,
‘And how much do you owe?’
“‘A thousand bushels[b] of
wheat,’ he replied. “He told
him, ‘Take your bill and make it
eight hundred.’
8 “The master commended the
dishonest manager because
he had acted shrewdly. For the
people of this world are more
shrewd in dealing with their
own kind than are the people
of the light.
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oCOMMENTARY
John Goldingay Susan Thorne
NT Wright David Perry
Judith Dimond

Does God Really at the way his “wife” has abandoned him, the fountain of living water, and made herself rely
Punish? on second-rate and uncertain water supplies.
The warnings Jeremiah issues on Yahweh’s
by John Goldingay behalf are designed to break through people’s
stupidity to get them to turn back to Yahweh.
Taken from Jeremiah for Everyone* * The declaration that the men will see their wives taken by other men doesn’t take into
by John Goldingay - Copyright SPCK 2015 account what this action will mean for the
Click to purchase full book from SPCK wives. To Western readers it will seem less
important that the men will also have their
land taken over, but the Scriptures themselves
would also see this event as horrifying because
the gift of the land to Israel was key to the
fulfilment of God’s purpose for the world.
At dinner last night, one of our friends was The warnings are designed to avoid these
troubled by the way the Old Testament predictable results of enemy invasion and
speaks of God’s exercising violent judgment victory, but warnings have teeth only if the
by means of Israel. I tried my usual ploy of person issuing them is prepared to implement
asking whether she was as troubled by Jesus’ the threats.
speaking of millions of people being thrown
into outer darkness where there’ll be weeping The attempt to break through continues in
and gnashing of teeth. She wondered if he the imaginary conversation occupying the
meant that people would pay the price for third paragraph. Reporting the conversation
their own decisions rather than God’s actively is another way of trying to get through to
sending them to hell. Her husband wondered if people (though in the context of the book, it
it was a strong way of urging people to repent. explains why catastrophe became inevitable).
Someone else at the dinner party thought God Jeremiah’s own spirit is sick. His people are
was mainly concerned with purifying us. distraught and crying out. Given that summer
and harvest mark the end of the year, the
I think Jeremiah would affirm all these four saying about them resembles the gloomy
ways of seeing God’s words. They’re a comment we might make at the end of a year
warning of punishment, a warning of where when nothing seems to have gone right or
people’s acts may lead them, a warning we have accomplished nothing. When people
designed to elicit change and a declaration wonder why Yahweh doesn’t rescue them,
about chastisement, and a warning that even they speak as if he hasn’t made the reason
God’s acts to save us may be painful. One clear. He does so again in his question “Why?”
of Jeremiah’s distinctive characteristics as a The question about medicine has similar
prophet is the way he identifies with God and implications. It, too, may be a popular saying;
with Israel. Indeed, it can be difficult to tell it refers to a healing ointment from a tree in the
whether he’s talking about his own feelings or area east of the Jordan. Its implication is that
about God’s feelings. Jeremiah is filled with there’s treatment available (that is, in Yahweh)
a sense of wrath at the way his people have but people won’t avail themselves of it.
broken faith with God; he and God both want
that wrath to be poured out on the people. Jeremiah’s anguish also reflects his awareness
Yet Jeremiah is also filled with brokenness, that the Judahites cannot be forced to turn
desolation, and tears at what he sees in the back. They seem hell-bent on jumping over the
people and what he knows is in store for them. cliff; he talks about their falling and collapsing,
Perhaps he’s speaking of Yahweh’s weeping as not just about being pushed. Their experience
well as his own. Whether or not this is so, his of catastrophe will be something they bring
prophecies have made clear Yahweh’s sorrow on themselves, yet it will also be something
God brings on them. God plans to “send”
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them trouble, to “deal with” them. The Hebrew
verb for “deal with” is traditionally translated
“visit”; in effect it means “punish,” so it has the
chilling overtones of the idea that people will
receive a “visit” from the mafia intent on dealing
with a matter. But our use of words such as
punishment or judgment in English easily gives
a misleading impression of the significance
of the Old Testament’s words. In the Old
Testament, punish relates more to the way a
parent treats a child or a teacher treats a pupil
than the way a court treats a criminal. It indeed
suggests a discipline designed to reform and
transform.
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Proper 20 What should they do? Throw caution to the winds, and embody the generous love of the
master for all and sundry. The parable may
hint at some local colour: the steward was
by NT Wright perhaps remitting interest (which the master
should not have been levying) rather than
capital. The master could not charge him with
Taken from Twelve Months of Sundays - Year C
by NT Wright - Copyright SPCK 2001 fraud without exposing himself as a usurer.
But the thrust remains: judgement is coming
Click to purchase full book from SPCK upon God’s steward-people, and it is time for
them to make what arrangements they can
with the wider world, with the outcasts and the
Gentiles, forgetting the minutiae of the law,
and the commitment to family and property.
Ancestral land, no longer ‘holy’, has become
‘unrighteous mammon’, and is best used
for the good of the new community, the one
which the master is paradoxically calling into
being through the gospel.
The moral teaching that follows (vv. 10–13)
applies this more specifically. The early
Church shared property, not simply as an
The first thing to get clear about the exercise in ancient communism, but as a
‘parable of the wicked mammon’ is that symbolic act: God’s people were no longer
it is precisely a parable. It is not advice defined by sacred land. Luke’s fusion of
about financial management: Jesus is this material (what was the elder brother
not telling people to cheat their bosses. It really cross about?) throws into sharp relief
makes sense within Jesus’ Jewish context his continuing challenge to the Christian
on the one hand and Luke’s on the other. community to embody God’s generous
welcome to all those who need the good
Rabbinic parables about a master and a news.
steward are about God and Israel. Jesus
regularly charges his contemporaries with The overtones ring through into 1 Timothy.
infidelity to their commission: called to be First-century Jews and Christians faced the
the light of the world, they have kept the question: granted that, as good monotheists,
light for themselves, and have turned it into we must not offer sacrifice to the Emperor,
darkness. One symptom of this, evidenced in what line should we take? Call down a curse
the previous chapter, is that Jesus’ opponents on him instead? The mainstream early Church
have become so concerned about keeping (like many Jews) said: no, we must pray
what they see as their master’s regulations for him, and for all officials. This is not just
that they cannot accept that Jesus’ welcome political prudence. It is based on the same
of the poor and the outcast reflects the covenantal monotheism that underlies Luke
master’s real intentions. Like the elder brother 16. The master loves the world outside, and
in the previous parable, or the hardhearted wants stewards who will seek its salvation,
miser in the next one, they risk being shut out not merely their own.
from the master’s household, being put out
of their stewardship. Jesus, like Jeremiah, is
warning of an awesome imminent disaster,
whose approach calls all standard practice
into question.
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Meditation
Luke 16: 1-13
by Judith Dimond
Gaze .on an old B-movie of cowboys and indeed. At first reading we may shudder and
Indians. The Wells Fargo stagecoach gallops read swiftly on. But perhaps we should pause
over the barren Wild West of America. It has a while and consider whether at times we
been ambushed and the driver has been shot don’t behave like the steward, and manipulate
by the bandits; he is slumped over and has systems for our own benefit.
dropped the reins. He can steer the coach no
longer. There is a chance of safety if the horses Contemplate how faithful you are in the little
keep together. But they dash along the rocky things – in visiting a sick friend, perhaps?
road and in their panic their harness snaps.
They career off in different directions – one Contemplate how trustworthy you are in the
veers to the left while the other dashes to the little things – getting a piece of work in by the
right. Now all hope is lost. The stagecoach is deadline, perhaps?
heading for disaster and soon crashes to the Contemplate how honest you are in the little
ground. The passengers tumble out, their bones things – do you ever use a white lie for your
broken, heads concussed, and their luggage own convenience, or to protect your dignity?
strewn across the hillside. The journey has
ended in disaster. They will ever reach their Contemplate how often we squander God’s
destination now. grace and tarnish the reputation of his disciples.
Consider how puzzling this whole reading
is. Does Jesus really expect us to admire the
dishonesty of this steward? It may be that our As you desire to imitate him
difficulties can be explained by a mistranslation
of ancient Jewish usury laws and arcane Dear Master, I have promised to serve you and
business practices, which we can no longer you alone.
unravel. But however confusing it is, if we Help me to travel the straight path and reach
realize that this comes straight after the story my destination,
of the Prodigal Son, and just before the story Which is your kingdom of peace and unity.
of Lazarus at the gate, it is clear that the part May my conduct fully mirror my ideals,
to concentrate on comes at the end – ‘You So that I will become fit to be entrusted With
cannot serve both God and Money’. You cannot your true riches.
place your trust in two horses that are driving in
different directions. If we try, the coach that is Amen.
our life will overturn and crash.
All three of these stories are stressing how our Taken from Gazing on the Gospels Year C
worldly concern for rank and wealth prevents by Judith Dimond - Copyright SPCK 2010
our full access to God’s love. For God’s world
runs on quite different rules to our present Click to purchase full book from SPCK
age. God’s economy is a compassionate one,
where we should always be prepared for the
unexpected.
Reading this passage puts us in a very
uncomfortable place, on the boundary between
honesty and dishonesty, and Jesus seems to
compare us with very disreputable characters
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25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
by Susan Thorne

God wants all people to be saved and to know never acknowledged him (5-6). Above all he
the truth (1st Timothy 2:4). God alone has asks for forgiveness, and is concerned for the
provided salvation “for all men”. He is the one glory of God’s name and the reputation of his
God, and Jesus is “the one mediator between chosen nation (8- 9).
God and men”, being both human and divine
(5-6). The apostle Paul recognised this as the It all makes sense, but it is still difficult to see
message of the true faith with which he was the God whom we have come to know in all
charged (7). this bloodshed, violence and retribution. Some
passages of the Bible are very hard to fathom.
Throughout history, God has been working to Another difficult passage is the parable of
bring about salvation for humans. His hand the shrewd manager (Luke 16:1- 13). Jesus
was evident even in the appalling devastation told this parable to his disciples, but in the
suffered by the city of Jerusalem before it fell hearing of the Pharisees “who loved money”
to the Babylonians. Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 looks (16:14). It is, as far as we can see, a story of
like nothing more than an account of divine a man, dismissed for “wasting his master’s
retribution. God is mourning – and causing possessions” who – in order to prepare the way
Jeremiah to mourn – over the people of Judah, for the time when he was no longer employed
foreseeing their exile in Babylon (8:19a) and – discounted the debts owed to his master,
having been “provoked to anger with [the so that the debtors would be grateful and
people’s] images, with their worthless foreign obliged to him. The master then “commended
idols” (18:19b). It seems there is no salvation the dishonest manager because he had acted
or healing for these unfaithful people (18:20- shrewdly” (8). It all sounds most unlikely, and
22). This prophecy was given, though, to even more surprising is Jesus’ interpretation
warn God’s people, and although it failed of the parable; “use worldly wealth”, he says,
in its initial purpose, God’s overall purpose “to gain friends for yourselves, so that when
succeeded – to check Judah’s move towards it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal
complete apostasy and ruin, and to preserve dwellings” (9). We can only assume it is a
his chosen people as a distinct race into which message to use our resources, including
the Messiah would be born. Jeremiah grieved wealth, wisely in this present life, perhaps to
over the message he had to deliver and over prove our trustworthiness (11). Verse 13 re-
the suffering of his compatriots (9:1), but he no establishes our perspective, however, when
doubt trusted in God’s ultimate purpose. Jesus states that we “cannot serve both God
and Money”. Clearly, whatever our financial
The writer of psalm 79 provides a graphic situation, our focus must be on God and the
description of Jerusalem at its fall, amid his salvation that only he can provide.
anguished prayer for God to show mercy on his
people. He speaks of the temple being defiled, Ultimately, all we can do is to trust God; through
the city reduced to rubble, the dead bodies personal challenges and national disasters,
providing food for birds and beasts, the blood he provides the only true security, and it is his
flowing like water, and – probably hardest to desire that all humans come to salvation in him
bear – the scorn of their neighbours (1-4). The (1st Timothy 2:4).
psalmist pleads for God’s anger to end, and
begs God to “pour out his wrath” no longer
on Judah but on the pagan nations who have
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starting point and signposts a warning and an
It’s Your Soul, Stupid alternative direction.
Jesus warns us of the dangers which confront
by David Perry us and makes plain the choices facing us,
dangers and choices which we might not
** otherwise be mindful of in such an acutely and profoundly personal manner. His soul-making
teaching says “and this means you”; each of
you and all of you, without exception.
Taking all the soul-making paradigms of the
Jewish experience of God, Jesus makes plain
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will the direction we should take and follows it
hate the one and love the other, or you will be himself; he makes clear again the ancient
devoted to the one and despise the other. You pathways of loving-kindness which lead us to
cannot serve both God and money.” Luke 16:13 God and walks them himself.
At its beating heart the teaching of Jesus is Following Jesus our feet then tread those same
simply about the cure of souls. That ancient well-worn and faith-burnished cobbled stones
phrase ‘cure of souls’ deserves to be lifted out of faith which lead us towards the cure of our
of any narrow clericalised understanding and souls.
set free within our imaginations as holding
within its traceries of meaning the luminous
essence of discipleship itself. Jesus wants to
bring our souls alive with all the vibrant colours
of godly love so that we can light up the world
around us with the transformative brilliance of
God’s creative presence.
The cure of our souls demands an
uncompromising acceptance of our truth
before God, the truth that sets us free, as
Jesus himself says. That means that his
teaching, however tangential and obtuse it may
sometimes seem to be at first hearing of his
parables and sayings, is always expertly and
unerringly targeted at our soul-making, so that
we can more closely be who God wants us to
be in the world. You cannot serve both God
and money is one such utterly unambiguous
warning that he places across our direction of
travel. It is meant to shock us and stop us in
our tracks.
Jesus means what he says. This is not up for
negotiation. There is no wriggle room. The
story he tells is a sad tale of characters whose
integrity and wellbeing have been woefully
distorted to the detriment of themselves and
others. Sharp practice and deceitful and
exploitative motives for personal gain form
the warp and weft of the narrative he weaves
from the experiences of everyday life. Jesus
takes such damaged souls as his familiar
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LECTIONARY RESOURCES
Marjorie Dobson John Birch
David Adam

Good News
A Poem by Marjorie Dobson
Bad news stories hit the headlines:
crime and evil every day.
and if there’s no bad news story,
speculation will hold sway.
Tweets and twitters full of fury fuel aggression,
stir up hate and when this erupts in violence,
action comes, but far too late.
Worry merchants fire anxiety;
set the scene for doom and gloom.
Make predictions for disaster
from the cradle to the tomb.
Rarely do the good news stories make it to the headline page.
Peaceful days and calm serenity must give way to tales of rage.
Yet there is one good news story all the world deserves to hear
of a God whose love and mercy changes lives and conquers fear.
If the headlines will not tell it, who is there to spread the word?
Those of us who live the story must make sure it can be heard.
By our care and through our actions; by our witness to God’s grace;
by our telling of Christ’s story,
WE must give Good News its place.
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Proper 20
by David Adam
Taken from Glimpses of Glory by David Adam
Copyright SPCK 2013
Click to purchase full book from SPCK
Holy God, as you have called us to serve you, guide us and make us worthy of
our calling. Give us wisdom to use our talents and resources to your glory and the
benefit of all who are in need; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Father, we give you thanks for your love and forgiveness.
Teach us to forgive as you have forgiven us,
to be merciful and yet to maintain justice.
We pray for all penitents, all who seek forgiveness.
Lord, guide all who are spiritual counsellors and confessors.
We pray for all who lead retreats and who look after conference centres.
Help us, O Lord our God.
Save us for the glory of your Name.
We ask you to strengthen and guide all who are in positions of trust,
all in places of authority, all who make decisions concerning our future.
We pray for integrity and fair dealing in world trade,
that no one is counted as cheap labour or as of little importance.
We remember all who are impoverished, all who cry for justice,
all who work for freedom and dignity.
Help us, O Lord our God.
Save us for the glory of your Name.
We give thanks for all you have given to us.
We ask you to bless our homes and families with your presence, love and peace.
We pray for homes where there is unrest, fearfulness and violence,
for all who have suffered abuse or neglect,
for children taken into care and for those who are left at risk.
Help us, O Lord our God.
Save us for the glory of your Name.
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We remember before you all whose wounds find no cure.
We pray for the chronically ill, the pathologically disturbed,
for all who suffer from schizophrenia, all who are deeply distressed,
any who are troubled in body, mind or spirit.
We remember loved ones who are ill at this time.
Help us, O Lord our God.
Save us for the glory of your Name.
We give thanks for all who have triumphed over the troubles of this world and are
now at rest and at peace in your kingdom.
We pray for friends and loved ones departed from us.
Help us, O Lord our God.
Save us for the glory of your Name.
THE PEACE
Christ Jesus, himself human, gave his life as ransom for all,
that in him we may find newness of life, forgiveness and peace.
The peace of the Lord be always with you
and also with you.
THE BLESSING
May your life be filled with dignity and peace, your heart with the joy and love of the
Lord; and the blessing…
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Proper 20
Year C
by John Birch
The Act of Prayer
Praying through the lectionary
JEREMIAH 8:18–9:1,
PSALM 79: 1-9;
1 TIMOTHY 2:1–7;
LUKE 16:1–13
Opening Prayer
God of today and all days, be with us as we meet—
the love that binds us,
the peace that calms us,
the touch that heals us, the joy that fills us,
the arms that hold us.
Be with us as we meet, God of today and all days.
Adoration
In a world that has so much to say
and no time for listening,
you love to hear your people’s prayers,
that sweet and fragrant offering
rising upward to your throne.
In a world that asks so many questions in its search for meaning,
you are the answer they seek,
living water that quenches thirst,
creator and source of all.
In a world that is searching for love
and a sense of purpose,
you welcome your prodigal children back into a Father’s loving arms
and to your family home.
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Confession
If our neighbour does not know your name because you have not been introduced,
forgive us.
If a friend or colleague is still searching
for the answers we already know, forgive us.
If this world has yet to see the change that lies hidden in our hearts,
forgive us.
If we have yet to find the courage
to talk about our faith,
forgive us, revive us,
and empower us to become the disciples we ought to be,
that your name may be glorified as it ought to be.
Thanksgiving
There is only one God, who made all things and creates within us the image of the
divine.
Leader: Good news to all
All: We proclaim with thanks.
There is only one Christ, who died for us,
rose to life again
and now intercedes for us.
Leader: Good news to all
All: We proclaim with thanks.
There is only one Spirit,
who lives in us,
inspires our thoughts
and warms our hearts for service.
Leader: Good news to all
All: We proclaim with thanks.
God the Father, Spirit, Son, glorious Trinity, three in one.
Leader: Good news to all
All: We proclaim with thanks.
Taken from The Act of Prayer
by John Birch - Copyright BRF 2014
Click to purchase full book from BRF
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DISCIPLESHIP RESOURCES
Tom Wright

Simply Jesus
Tom Wright
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
Part Two
At the Heart of the Storm (part two)
Daniel’s son of man ‘little horn’ that grows up in place of some of its
original ones; and the horn speaks arrogantly
The second book in which these themes against God and his people. But then the vision
emerge, as once again the perfect storm changes:
ripped through the story of the people of God,
is Daniel. Nowhere in scripture is it set out As I watched, thrones were set in place, and
more clearly that the kingdom of the one true an Ancient One took his throne; his clothing
God stands over against the kingdoms of the was white as snow, and the hair of his head like
world, judging them, calling them to account, pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, and its
condemning them, and vindicating God’s wheels were burning fire . . . The court sat in
people. Story after story in Daniel has that judgement, and the books were opened.
theme, whether it be the almost lighthearted
dispute about eating (or not eating) pagan food I watched then because of the noise of the
(ch. 1), the terrifying ordeals of Daniel’s friends arrogant words that the horn was speaking.
(ch. 3), or Daniel himself in the den of lions (ch. And as I watched, the beast was put to death,
6). We know that this book was a favourite of and its body destroyed and given over to be
many Jews in the time of Jesus. There is every burned with fire . . . As I watched in the night
sign that, as with Isaiah, it was a book Jesus visions, I saw one like a son of man coming
himself drew on heavily for his understanding with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the
of what God was up to and what his own role Ancient One and was presented before him.
might be within that drama.
To him was given dominion and glory and
Jesus was not the only person in the period kingship, that all peoples, nations, and
who made Daniel 7 thematic in his vocation. languages should serve him. His dominion is
A hundred years after his day, the great Rabbi an everlasting dominion that shall not pass
Akiba hailed bar-Kochba, Simon Son-of-the- away, And his kingship is one that shall never
Star, as Messiah. Akiba is reputed to have be destroyed. (7.9 –11, 13 –14)
explained his view with reference to the famous
passage in Daniel 7. This chapter is very The interpretation of the vision is given in a
important, and we must look at it in a little more short form (7.15 –18) and a longer version
detail. (7.19 –27):
In this chapter, the prophet, who up to now has As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within
been able to interpret the dreams and visions me, and the visions of my head terrified me. I
of others, has a dream of his own. He sees a approached one of the attendants to ask him
vision of four horrible monsters causing havoc the truth concerning all this. So he said that
on earth, climaxing in a terrible monster with a he would disclose to me the interpretation of
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the matter: ‘As for these four great beasts, four people. But then, in a great heavenly court
kings shall arise out of the earth. But the holy scene, God will take his seat and pronounce
ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom judgment, which will result in God’s people, ‘the
and possess the kingdom for ever – for ever holy ones of the Most High’, being vindicated
and ever.’ (7.15 –18) and themselves being given ‘the kingdom’
(7.18, 22, 27). The figure who is seen, in the
Then I desired to know the truth concerning original vision, as ‘one like a son of man’ – one,
the fourth beast, which was different from all in other words, like a human being – is to be
the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of interpreted as a symbol for the whole faithful
iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured people of God, the people who will be rescued
and broke in pieces, and stamped what was and vindicated.
left with its feet; and concerning the ten horns
that were on its head, and concerning the But how will this happen? How will this
other horn, which came up and to make room vindication take place? Akiba, in the second
for which three of them fell out – the horn that century, thought that the ‘one like a son of man’
had eyes and a mouth that spoke arrogantly, referred to the Messiah, the representative of
and that seemed greater than the others. As I the whole people of God. Akiba then picked
looked, this horn made war with the holy ones up the word ‘thrones’ in verse 9. There are at
and was prevailing over them, until the Ancient least two thrones; the Ancient One sits on one
One came; then judgement was given for the of them, and it seems as though the ‘one like
holy ones of the Most High, and the time arrived a son of man’ is to sit on the other one. This
when the holy ones gained possession of the interpretation was shocking at the time, partly
kingdom. no doubt because Akiba had a candidate in
mind: he saw bar-Kochba as the ‘one like a
This is what he said: ‘As for the fourth beast, son of man’, embodying God’s people, winning
there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth that God’s victory over the pagan nations (the
shall be different from all the other kingdoms; ‘monsters’). When God becomes king and (as
it shall devour the whole earth, and trample it in Psalm 2) the wicked nations are finally put
down, and break it to pieces. in their place, this will be done through the
human figure who represents God’s faithful
As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten people, who will thus sit on a throne next to
kings shall arise and another shall arise after God himself. We thus have, a hundred years
them. This one shall be different from the former after the time of Jesus, an example of a would-
ones, and shall put down three kings. He shall be royal and prophetic movement that drew
speak words against the Most High, shall wear together the theme of God’s kingdom with the
out the holy ones of the Most High, and shall theme of a messianic kingdom and rooted
attempt to change the sacred seasons and the these in a prophecy that, as we know from other
law; and they shall be given into his power for writings, had been important throughout the
a time, two times, and half a time. Then the period.
court shall sit in judgement and his dominion
shall be taken away, to be consumed and totally Like the ‘servant’ in Isaiah, the phrase ‘son of
destroyed. man’ – or, more properly, ‘one like a son of man’
– has been endlessly discussed and debated
The kingship and dominion and the greatness in itself as well as in relation to the sayings
of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall attributed to Jesus. I have taken what seems
be given to the people of the holy ones of the to me the commonsense view of the chapter
Most High; their kingdom shall be an everlasting as a whole: that the vision and interpretations
kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and of chapter 7 are telling substantially the same
obey them.’ (7.19 –27) story as chapters 1—6, namely, the story of
From these it becomes clear, in case it wasn’t pagan empire reaching its height and Israel’s
already, that the ‘monsters’ or ‘beasts’ are God then stepping in to call ‘time’ on the
pagan kingdoms, who – especially the final king whole sequence, to bring arrogant paganism
of the final kingdom – will rage against God’s to judgment, and to establish instead his own
kingdom in and through his faithful people.
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This is the story, in other words, of how God in vindication after intense suffering. But the
becomes king, overcoming the kingdoms of kingdom, the authority, the supreme power that
the world and establishing, through his faithful is then given to the ‘one like a son of man’ is,
people, his own sovereign rule over the whole remarkably, something Jesus already claimed
world instead. Exactly as in Isaiah, we should during his short public career (Mark 2.10). Along
expect (rather than be surprised by) a certain with Isaiah, Daniel was one of the key elements
fluidity between the people of Israel and a in Jesus’ understanding of how the ‘perfect
single representative. storm’ would work out.
I have taken too what seems to me the Zechariah’s king
commonsense view of the fresh use of Daniel
7 in the gospel accounts of Jesus. The parallel The third book, more mysterious though still
between the sequence of events in Daniel very important, is Zechariah. Unlike Daniel,
7 and the very similar sequence in Daniel 2, there is no steady sequence of oracles here
where it is the ‘stone’ that becomes the new, to enable us to get a quick and clear sense of
God-given kingdom, enables us to link this what the prophecy as a whole is about. Israel,
reading of Daniel quite closely with Jesus of clearly, is still in trouble, even though the
Nazareth, who not only spoke repeatedly of geographical exile in Babylon is over. There are
the ‘son of man’, but also used the figure of the promises of a great future under the leadership
‘stone’ to describe his own role, his own fate, of the Messiah, ‘my servant the Branch’ (3.8),
and his own coming kingdom at the end of a not echoing Isaiah 4.2; 11.1 and Jeremiah 23.5;
dissimilar story of several stages of wickedness 33.15 as well as the servant theme of Isaiah
ending in a moment of judgment. When the 42. This royal ‘Branch’ will, as we should have
‘wicked tenants’ kill the ‘son’ and throw him out guessed by now, rebuild the Temple (Zechariah
of the vineyard, the owner will come and take 6.12–13). When that happens, the days of
vengeance on them; and this will fulfiil the text fasting for the various desolations of Israel will
from Psalm 118.22, which declares that ‘the be turned into feastings (8.18 –19), a theme
stone that the builders rejected has become echoed by Jesus in his refusal to fast on the
the chief corner stone’ (Mark 12.10 –11). The normal occasions (Mark 2.18 –20).
rejected and vindicated stone, the rejected
and vindicated ‘son’, and the suffering and But it is in the second half of the book, chapters
vindicated ‘son of man’ – it’s all of a piece, all 9—14, that we find the material drawn on by
resonating within the same overall scriptural Jesus as he himself went to meet the ultimate
narrative. perfect storm. We have already seen the
oracle about the king coming on a donkey (9.9
This does not mean that every time Jesus is –10). There follow promises of God’s coming
reported to have used the phrase ‘son of man’ in person to rescue his people (9.11–17). But
he was intending a coded reference to Daniel then there are warnings: Israel’s shepherds

1. The phrase, by itself, is cryptic and could have led the people astray, and God will act to
   simply mean ‘I’ or ‘someone like me’. But when punish them (10.3; 11.3 –17). As in Ezekiel 34,
   we find on Jesus’ lips actual quotations of the we are to understand the ‘shepherds’ to be the
   chapter in question (Mark 13.26; 14.62), we official leaders of the people, specifically the
   should be prepared to interpret them, and the priests and the aristocracy. The picture then
   phrase ‘son of man’ itself, in the light of Daniel widens, and we glimpse the nations of the world
   7 and of the book of Daniel as a whole. We coming to fight against the Jewish people, with
   should think of Jesus tapping directly into this, God winning a victory over them (12.1– 9). But
   one of the most central and vivid prophetic this will also be a time of mourning, mourning
   accounts of the ‘perfect storm’, of Israel’s God in the royal house of David, mourning as for
   sweeping in like a cyclone where the pagans a firstborn child, though concluding with a
   were doing their worst and Israel was unable to promise of cleansing from sin (12.10— 13.1).
   rescue itself. This is a vision of the kingdom of The prophets will then join the other leaders in
   God, the kingdom in which God’s people ‘come’ being ashamed for the lies they have spoken
   to the Ancient One (the ‘coming’, we note, (13.2– 6). And, before God can purify and refine
   is in an upward, not a downward, direction) his true people, they must first be scattered as
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their shepherd goes to his death: main thing to notice here is that Zechariah, like
Isaiah and Daniel, envisages the same three
‘Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against lines all converging: the wicked pagan nations
the man who is my associate,’ says yhwh of who fight against God and his people; the failed
hosts. Strike the shepherd, that the sheep may Jewish leadership; and God himself coming
be scattered; I will turn my hand against the to do what nobody else can do. These are the
little ones. (13.7) three elements that, as seen by Jesus himself,
constituted the perfect storm into which he rode,
This strange picture then broadens once sorrowful but determined, for that final Passover
again. All the nations will come to fight against in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, but as the battle reaches its height
‘yhwh my God will come, and all the holy ones I said there were three main scriptural passages
with him’ (14.5). This will be the great moment that seem to have contributed to Jesus’ sense
of renewal, when, as in Ezekiel, living waters of vocation as he undertook this final journey.
will flow out from Jerusalem, this time not only I mentioned then, and now recall, a fourth
down to the Dead Sea, but also westward to the element we should factor in as well: the Psalms.
Mediterranean (14.8). And then, the climax of it We should assume that Jesus knew the Psalms
all: as well as anyone and that they formed his
natural prayer book and, as such, played a
And YHWH will become king over all the earth; major role in shaping his worldview. And it is in
on that day YHWH will be one and his name the Psalms that we find, once more, the major
one. (14.9) themes of YHWH becoming king, installing his
The book then closes with warnings to the Messiah – his ‘son’! – in Jerusalem, and bidding
nations, if they wage war against Jerusalem, the surrounding nations pay him homage
or if they then do not come and take part (e.g. Psalms 2; 72). But it is in the Psalms too
appropriately in the festivals. But at the centre that we find, even in a Psalm that speaks so
of it all is the renewal of holiness in the Temple powerfully of God’s kingdom coming, the sense
itself. ‘There shall no longer be traders in the of utter desolation, of being abandoned by God
house of yhwh of hosts on that day’ (14.21). to horrible and shameful suffering and death
(Psalm 22). These themes come together in
Putting together this strange, apparently jerky many different ways in these ancient poems,
and disjointed set of oracles, we begin to see a and we are on utterly safe ground in assuming
pattern emerging. Israel’s exile is to be reversed that Jesus not only knew them and reflected
under the rule of the anointed king, who will end on them, but made them the very stuff of
up ruling the whole world. The pagan nations his vocation. He found himself in them and
will do their worst, but God himself will come to determined to act accordingly.
fight against them, and he will be king over all
the earth. Meanwhile, however, Israel’s official All of this means that we can at last approach
rulers and guardians, the ‘shepherds’, have the central questions of who, what and why.
failed hopelessly in their task. But YHWH’s Who did Jesus think he was, what was he
own ‘shepherd’ is to be killed and the sheep intending to do, and why? What did he think
scattered in order that somehow – the prophet it would all accomplish? What did he think it
doesn’t explain how – the victory can be won. would all mean?
All of this seems to have helped to shape
Jesus’ own sense of vocation. His actions in Taken from Simply Jesus
Jerusalem – riding in on a donkey and then by Tom Wright SPCK 2011
driving the traders out of the Temple – seem Click to purchase full book from SPCK
to hold together Zechariah 9.9 –10 and 14.21.
He seems then to have applied the passage
about the shepherds both to his own critique of
Israel’s leadership and, more strikingly still, to
his own forthcoming fate. For our purposes, the
www.theworshipcloud.com 25

THEOLOGY RESOURCES
Richard A. Burridge

Four of wealth, important enough to be included in the Tenth Commandment, ‘You shall not covet your neighbour’s . . . ox’ (Exod. 20.17).
Gospels, The Israelites also knew that such a powerful animal could be dangerous – hence the Mosaic laws about goring and compensation (e.g.
One Jesus? Exod. 21.28–32)!The ox was nothing less than king of the
domestic animals. However, as well as the
by Richard A. Burridge literal bearer of burdens, the ox was also used
by the ancient Israelites to bear the burden
** of sin as a sacrificial animal (Lev. 4.3–21; Ps. 69.31). Oxen were sacrificed by David on the
The Bearer of threshing floor of Araunah to avert the plague (2 Sam. 24.18–25), while Solomon sacrificed
Burdens – 22,000 to dedicate the Temple (1 Kings 8.63),
which must have kept them busy; the priests
Luke’s Jesus had enough difficulty with the 600 sacrificed by
Hezekiah (2 Chron. 29.33)!
The powerful ox So, while we use the modern plodding image
a little, we also need to bear in mind all these
After the human face of God in Matthew’s ancient ideas of power and strength, work and
Teacher of Israel and the bounding lion of wealth, sacrifice and the Temple; for Luke’s
Mark, the next symbol for Jesus might seem portrait of Jesus is supremely the bearer of
odd: to us, the ox seems somewhat slow and burdens, caring for all those who are burdened
stupid – and, indeed, some commentators have or suffering, and ultimately giving himself
been known to call Luke, with his long-drawn- willingly as a sacrifice.
out two volumes (the Gospel and Acts), a bit
of a ‘plodder’! However, in biblical times things
were different. In the absence of machinery,
the ox was the ancient world’s most powerful
engine, a symbol of divine strength in ancient Taken from Four Gospels, One Jesus?
representations from Assyria to Egypt. Even by Richard A. Burridge - Copyright SPCK 2013
the Pentateuch likens God to ‘the horns of Click to purchase full book from SPCK
a wild ox’ (Num. 23.22; 24.8). The common
description of the Lord as ’abir, ‘the Mighty
One’ of Jacob or of Israel (e.g. Gen. 49.24; Ps.
132.2, 5; Is. 1.24; 49.26; 60.16), has a verbal
pun on ’abbir, the mighty ox. Human kings, like
Pharaoh, could be likened to an ox, and the
final blessing of Moses on the Twelve Tribes
calls Joseph ‘a firstborn bull . . . the horns of a
wild ox’ (Deut. 33.17).
The ox was the universal beast of burden –
pulling carts (Num. 7.3), carrying heavy loads
(1 Chron. 12.40), ploughing (Deut. 22.10; 1
Kings 19.19), treading grain (Deut. 25.4; Hos.
10.11) – the ox did it all. Proverbs is bluntly
realistic: ‘Where there are no oxen, there is no
grain; abundant crops come by the strength of
the ox’ (Prov. 14.4). The ox was thus a symbol
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Titles of Resources in this issue:
Written
Does God Really Punish? - John Goldingay
Proper 20 - NT Wright
Proper 20 - Judith Dimond
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Susan Thorne
It’s Your Soul, Stupid - David Perry
Good News - Marjorie Dobson
Proper 20 - David Adam
Proper 20 - John Birch
Simply Jesus - Tom Wright
Four Gospels, One Jesus? - Richard A. Burridge
Images
Pink flower background - Don Stott
Saint Paul - Colin Smith
Well worn cobbled path - David Perry
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