August 2019 – What Does This Mean?

How Good is Good Enough?

Encore Post: One day, a sincere rich young man came to ask Jesus a common question — perhaps you have asked yourself the same question: “What do I have to do to get into heaven?” (Mark 10:17) From the way Jesus responded to him, we know the man wasn’t arrogant, looking for an easy way out or looking for a loophole in God’s law. He truly wanted to live with God forever. Yet he was asking the wrong question. He thought salvation was something you earn, even though his own polite words should have told him that. You do not earn an inheritance. It is something given to you by your father.

The young man was likely a Pharisee, but not an opponent of Jesus. He called Jesus a good teacher. Jesus reminds him gently what he should already know — there is no good person. Only God is good. He then set out to show him this path was a dead end. If someone was going to earn salvation, Jesus in so many words said, you needed to obey the Ten Commandments. The young man still didn’t get it. He told Jesus he always had kept these.

The fellow must have been very good at it, for Jesus did not challenge him directly. He dodged the question entirely. Rather than talk about what someone can do to be saved, Jesus told him how he could make his obedience to God’s law complete — he could become his disciples — sell all his goods, give it to the poor and become Jesus’ disciple. This is was not ready to do, because he was very rich. The scripture does not tell us if the man ever conquered his trust in riches to trust in God. Some people think this man might even have been the Evangelist Mark himself. But at this moment, he was not able to do this.

Eternal life, after all, is not something we purchase, but something we inherit from God. It is a gift that comes in Jesus’ last will and testament — the New Testament in his blood, shed upon the cross. Jesus is good because he is God himself. So he was able and willing to take all our evil upon himself and pay the price for it — death. Now that he has done so, he gives us that inheritance — his body to eat with bread and his blood to drink with wine. With this gift, God writes his law upon our hearts, so that we want to follow him now and forever.

The Four Ways of Interpreting Scripture

Encore Post: Pastor Smith has spoken a little about the four fold sense of interpreting Scripture. The Alexandrian theologians (at least some of them) followed this four fold sense method. Antioch held just to the literal or historical sense.

Those four are: Literal, Allegorical, Tropological, and the Anagogical senses. Below, I will try to explain them. I hope it proves to be a helpful primer. I do not believe I have a full grasp on each of these senses, but again I hope this gives some idea as to how the senses of interpretation were used to “get deeper into the meaning.”

The literal or historical sense is applicable to both a historical event and literary text. The literal sense is emphasized insofar as it historically grounds subsequent spiritual interpretation. Every subsequent sense was supposed to be connected then to the literal sense.

The allegorical sense then is used after the literal sense. The allegorical sense has been argued to go all the way back to St. Paul, even Jesus uses allegory in some of this parables. The allegorical sense of Scripture has been understood as referring to the mysteries of Christ and the Church as prefigured in Scripture. So then in the allegorical sense the object of allegory is properly Christ and the Church. Another principal of the allegorical sense in light of the Old Testament is that the object of allegory in reference of the Old Testament is a reality in the future.

The tropological sense applies a Scriptural text to the moral life. This sense, historically, has been a contributing factor for Christian anthropology and spirituality. The tropological and allegorical senses are united because while the allegorical sense refers to Christ and Church, the tropological sense refers to the individual members of the Body of Christ.

Finally the analogical sense is the eschatological sense of Scripture that looks forward to the consummation of everything in Christ at his final coming. In light of this we can kinda begin to see how these senses work all together. For instance, the anagogical sense represents the fulfillment of allegorical sense.

This was all supposed to find Christ, but more often than not, theologians went much further afield. This is why Luther was very weary of it. The medieval Church came up with some fanciful interpretations that had absolutely nothing to do with Christ.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

Bread From Heaven Five Ways

Encore Post: From the time that people began to plant crops until this very day, bread has been a basic food for people. God fed His people in the wilderness with manna to teach them to trust their Heavenly Father for daily bread. Later Satan would tempt Jesus to make stones into bread rather than trust Him. Jesus quoted what Moses said to Israel about Manna: “people do not live only on bread but on every word that God speaks.” (Deuteronomy 8:3)

Later, God would do other miracles with bread. The Prophet Elijah would feed the widow and her son with bread — their flour and oil did not run out for years. Elisha would feed one hundred men with a few loaves. Jesus would feed crowds in the desert with a few loaves and fishes. The crowds knew what it meant — Jesus was the Messiah and like Moses and Elijah.

Jesus also used bread in another way. During His Last Supper, Jesus took bread, broke it, blessed it and gave His body for them to eat. To this day, when we gather for communion, Jesus feeds us with His body — the true Bread from Heaven. When we receive this bread, we are given strength for our journey through this life to life everlasting.

When Jesus Walked Through a Storm…

Encore Post: It had been a long day. Jesus had just fed the five thousand. The people had tried to grab him and make him king, so they would always have bread. He sent the disciples ahead, while He went to a mountain to pray. (Mark 6:45-60)

The apostles worked hard all night to row against the wind. As professional fishermen that worked at night, they were very familiar with this kind of labor. Yet this night was particularly difficult. What they did not expect was to meet someone walking on the whitecaps.

So, when they saw Jesus coming, that was the last straw. They thought Jesus was a ghost. When Jesus told them who he was, they were no longer afraid.

Peter, who was known to rush in where angels fear to tread, asked Jesus to call on him to walk on the water to meet the Lord. (Matthew 14:28-31) When Jesus called Peter, the disciple walked on the water. As long as he focused on Jesus, he was fine. The moment he focused on the wind and the waves, he began to sink. It was all a member of trust. Peter called out to Jesus to save him. Jesus pulled Peter out of the water. Jesus scolded his star pupil for his lack of faith.

When Jesus returned to the boat, the wind stopped. The disciples then worshipped Jesus as God.

We should be careful how critically we view Peter. We like to think we have everything under control, especially in areas we are experts. When events demonstrate we really are not in control, we panic rather than trust God. To us God says “do not be afraid.” He cares for us now and forever.

A Keg full of Beer, a Purse full of Money

The publication of the Bible in everyday language stuck a chord throughout German speaking lands. For the first time in history, middle class families could afford to own a Bible and one they could read with their children! The investment was about what a modern American household spends on a car. Even his opponents recognized the high literary quality of its phrases and sound. Luther translated so it sounded good read out loud. Where his enemies faulted him was where he changed Greek and Hebrew figures of speech and added words not in the original texts to make the result sound like a German wrote it.

While in Coburg Castle waiting for the presentation of the Augsburg Confession, Luther wrote a letter now known as On Translating. In it he explained his method. The goal was to be faithful to the meaning of the original text while making it understandable in German. This is a very difficult thing to do. Translate idioms word for word and it will sound like nonsense. Here is how Luther describes what happens when you translate that way the greeting of the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary:

When the angel greets Mary, he says, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” (Luke 1:28) … When does a German speak like that, “You are full of grace”? What German understands what that is, to be “full of grace”? He would have to think of a keg “full of” beer or a purse “full of” money. Therefore I have translated it, “Thou gracious one,” so that a German can at least think his way through to what the angel meant by this greeting … Suppose I had taken the best German, and translated the salutation thus: “Hello there, Mary!”
Martin Luther, On Translating, AE 35:190-191

So the Reformer picked words and figures of speech common in spoken German. No, he didn’t go as far as translate: “Hello, Mary!” He wrote: “Greetings, blessed one!” When Luther translated this way, he overturned much ancient churchly language. Over the centuries the words of translations obscured the gospel and the new translation brought to everyone the discoveries he found when studying the Scripture in their original language. It touched hearts, changed the way people spoke to each other and created in a few short years a standard form of the language. More than anything else, Luther taught scholars to translate and translations that follow were better for it.

Why do Pastors Baptize?

Encore Post: Because God calls the church to organize its work in an orderly fashion, the church has designated those God has called to bring his word to them to be the usual baptizer. Their pastor represents God, who is actually the one who baptizes, and represents them, acting on their behalf. They welcome new Christians into the church and into the congregation to which they now belong. Pastors maintain a record, so there is assurance, even years later, that they were baptize.

Since the days of the apostles, pastors have baptized new Christians. We see this in the book of Acts, in the letters of St. Paul and in the writings of the earliest leaders of the church. Pastors need to know whom God has placed in their care. When they baptise, they know the new Christian bears the cross of Christ and is in their flock. They will faithfully nourish them and hand their care to the next pastor when their ministry in a place comes to an end. Finally, when pastors baptize a new Christian in a regular service of a congregation, those believers brothers and sisters get to know them. They recognize their fellow laborers in Christ, with whom they live, grow and will likely die.

When an emergency threatens the life of someone not baptized and a person is brought to its waters without a pastor or away from worship, their pastor will announce that baptism in church with a rite of thanksgiving, so their congregation can rejoice that God has found his lost sheep and brought him or her home.

Jesus Does What God Does

Encore Post: The New Testament calls Jesus God in many ways. It uses the name “God” and “Lord” and applies titles the Old Testament uses for God to Jesus. (see The Bible Calls Jesus God) Jesus also has qualities that belong to God alone and demonstrated them. (John 3:2) There was little doubt on the part of either his disciples (Matthew 14:33) or his opponents that he claimed to be God. (John 10:33)

According to the Scripture, Jesus is almighty or omnipotent. (Matthew 28:18, John 3:35, Revelation 5:12) He controls the weather. (Matthew 8:23-27) He heals the sick and raises the dead. (John 11:38-44) He created everything. (John 1:3, Colossians 1:16) Jesus is present everywhere his people are. (Matthew 18:20, Matthew 28:20, John 14:23) He is with us forever and never changes. (Matthew 28:20, John 8:56-59, Hebrew 1:12 Hebrews 13:8, John 17:5) Jesus allows people to worship him. (Matthew 28:9, John 9:35) Jesus forgives sins by his own authority. (Mark 2:5-11)

Because of this witness of the Scriptures, the church believed and confessed from the very beginning that Jesus is both God and Lord. They also continued to believe what the scripture told them about the nature of God — that only one God exists. Concluding that human reason would never understand how this could be so, they trusted God and his word instead. They continued to confess the mystery in the face of one heresy or another that changed doctrine in order to make sense of God’s nature.

The Father and the Son: The Greatest Relationship of Them All

Encore Post: If you watch carefully, you may observe great beauty in unexpected places. An elderly couple, slowly walking hand-in-hand in the park is one such sight. Their marriage has grown through decades of life, thriving in times of great joy and unimaginable grief. If you have the privilege of speaking with them, asking about their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, you will have the sense that you are speaking to one individual, yet two persons. They complete each other’s sentences, think the same thoughts and share a lifetime of memories.

God the Father and God the Son have an eternal relationship. Their love is perfect and profound beyond our ability to understand. No one understands the Father better than the Son. They have been together since the beginning. The Father made the world through the Son. Because He loved us, the Father sent the Son to seek and save the lost. No one has seen the Father and would die if they did. But the Son has always been seen by God’s people and he makes the Father known. (John 1:18)

The Father and the Son share everything. The titles given the Father are given the Son. The Father is the only God, the First and the Last, the only Savior (Isaiah 44:6-8, Isaiah 43:11) The Son is God, (John 1:1) the First and the Last (Revelation 22:13) and the Savior (Luke 2:11). What the Father does, the Son does. (John 5:18-29) Together, and with the Holy Spirit, they are life itself.

So, the depth of his love for us is beyond our understanding. To redeem us, the Father did what he did not require of Abraham. He sacrificed his Son, his only Son, whom he loves, for our redemption. By his death on the cross, he won eternal life for us so that we might live with him forever.

Translation is Treason? Tradition?

St. Jerome was born into a wealthy Italian family just a few decades after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. As a young man, he became a Christian and was baptized in his twenties. He devoted himself to study and became a devoted to the monastic life. He was ordained a priest in Constantinople in the 380s and came to serve as the personal secretary of Pope Damascus I. The pope commissioned him to revise the Old Latin translations of the Bible to produce an accurate version of the Scriptures in the common (Vulgatus) language. The finished translation became known as the Vulgate, and eventually became used as the universal translation of the Bible in the Western Christian Church. He is respected as the father of the art of translation and the patron saint of librarians.

St. Jerome, known for his wit, is often given credit for a Latin pun: translatio traditio est. The phrase can mean “translation is treason” or “translation is tradition.” It captures the truth that no translation can perfectly capture the meaning of its original text in another language. A translator simply cannot avoid interpreting the text he or she expresses in a new language. So, in a sense, every translation betrays its original author. Yet without translations, readers would need to learn Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and to some extent Latin to understand the Bible. A good translation “hands down” the text to speakers of other languages.

This is why Lutherans insist that their pastors learn at least Greek and Hebrew. For the most part, the Bible was written in Koine (common) Greek and Biblical Hebrew. This allows them to see what God said without the filter of 2000-3500 years of interpretation. The result is much like watching a TV in high definition color after watching programs in standard black-and-white. It is the same text, but another dimension opens when you see the text as it was written down. They, in turn, have been sent to us by God to “hand down” his word to us.

So, if a person does not have the time or skills to learn these languages, how can you tell if the translation you use is accurate or whether to some extent it is colored by the translator’s views? For English speakers, who are blessed with hundreds of translations in their language, it helps to have several respected versions available. ([http://biblegateway.com)] puts many versions at your fingertips.) When your reading a passage, compare several to each other. If they say more or less the same thing, you know the passage is very clear in the original language. If they differ, ask your pastor to help with it. That way translation will pass down the word of God to you and not lead you astray.

Abraham and His Fear

One day, when God came to visit, Abram appears to be having a crisis. The life of faith in this world is never mountaintop after mountaintop experience. After a time of great triumph and glorifying of God, Abraham is now low. He is worried that God had not given him a son. I do not why this is the case for God’s faithful, perhaps it happens to keep us from getting too puffed up in ourselves. The situation certainly happened to Abram and it still happens to us now.

In such times, we fear that God has abandoned us one way or another or when His promise has faded we should remember this prayer: “Lord I believe, help my unbelief!” Only when we are made free from this sinful world by our physical death and brought into the new heaven and new earth on the last day will we finally see the fullness of the things which we hope for in faith, just as Abraham. And so here we are with Abram being told now to fear not. Do not be anxious, but make known your petitions and supplications to the Lord in prayer.

The external word of God is spoken into Abraham’s ears, just as it spoken into your own when you hear your pastor proclaim God’s Word. By God’s grace Abraham had faith in God’s promise, just as you believe in the promises of God. Abraham knew how God had spoken and fulfilled what He promised in the past. The one who speaks is faithful to His Word.

Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Abraham received the physical son, Isaac, but as the author of the book of Hebrews and Paul tell us Abraham trusted in the promise of the physical One seed who would come, that being Jesus Christ, who would save Abraham and the whole world from the wrath of sin and eternal death by his own sacrificial death on the cross. Jesus himself tells the Jews that Abraham rejoiced at Jesus’ day. For the city which Abraham desired to enter was not a physical city, but the Holy city of God — the heavenly Jerusalem.

Let’s not be anxious about the trials in our lives, for God does and will provide. He who has spoken is faithful to His Word. Like Abraham, who did not see all the promises fulfilled in his lifetime, let us not fear. Rather let us rejoice in the Lord for what He has done and continues to do for us that we might be considered His children.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO