Swallow No Camels

I may strain a few gnats every now and then…..

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  • 70 weeks with Jesus – Study beginning Feb. 16

    Have you ever had trouble figuring out what happened when in Jesus’ ministry?  Have you ever wondered how much traveling Jesus did?  Have you ever wondered how certain stories and teachings are related to their physical location?  I have.  

    We have 4 separate gospel accounts of the ministry of Jesus.  Sometimes it is hard to put them together and understand what happens where and in what order because they all mention different events.  Some scholars have combined the stories into a single timeline of Jesus’ ministry. Even reading these combined gospels still left me struggling with a real understanding of how rapidly some events followed others and a realization of how much Jesus traveled and where these stories took place.

    My Tuesday morning Bible study group has decided to spend a little over a year following Jesus through the story of his ministry.  We will go week by week, not only looking at the events and lessons of that week in Jesus’ ministry from all 4 gospels but also at the culture and geography presented in that week.  How far did they walk that week?  What kind of journey was it?  We will attempt to estimate the miles Jesus traveled and some in our group may choose to make that their exercise goal for the week. We call that ‘learning with your feet’.   All of this is to better immerse ourselves in the gospel story for better understanding.  

    Most who have done a compilation of the gospels have used the idea that Jesus’ ministry lasted 3-and-a-half years.  But others believe the ministry of Jesus, from his baptism until the baptism of his followers with the Holy Spirit was 70 weeks. We will follow the 70-week model, for many reasons that I will enumerate later.  We will use “The Chronological Gospels” by Michael Rood.  I think Rood has done the best job putting the gospels together and has some interesting insights.  

    If you want to join us, we will make our study available online.  I will send out an email for each week with the Scripture reading for that week as well as some cultural and geographic information.  I will also include the estimated number of miles Jesus traveled that week for those who want to follow with their feet.  We will have an interactive blog with a lesson for each week to stimulate discussion online. The blog will be here at http://www.swallownocamels.com. (For those who have followed this blog in the past, note that I have temporarily removed the past 100 posts as we begin this project.)  If you are interested in going on this journey with us, comment below with an “I’m in!” and your email address. The journey will begin the week of February 11-17.  That Saturday, on a Sabbath, Jesus began his ministry being baptized by John.  

    I look forward to walking along with you and Jesus through the gospels.

    David

  • Swallow No Camels

    Matthew 23:23-24

    Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

    Gnats and camels are both on the list of living things that are not food (Leviticus 11:4 and Leviticus 11:20-23).  Jesus humorously paints a picture of someone straining their water to make sure there were no gnats in it so they don’t accidentally break the law, but then swallowing a whole camel.

    This verse falls in the middle of a bunch of woes.  Jesus was pointing out the problems of the Pharisees.  They were tithing even the herbs in their gardens, just as commanded in Lev. 27:30 and Deut. 14.22.  Jesus doesn’t condemn them for doing this, rather he accepts it as he does all parts of the law (“These you ought to have done”).  The problem was that they ignored the “weightier matters”.  As a Jewish Rabbi, Jesus used the principle of ‘heavy’ and ‘light’ commandments.  He uses the light/heavy contrast several times in his sermon in Matthew 5, for example comparing adultery (considered a ‘heavy commandment’) with looking at a woman with lust (a ‘light’ commandment) or comparing murder with anger.  Jesus, while admitting the idea of the weight of the commandments, says the result of breaking either is the same; it makes you “liable to judgment” (Mt 5:22).  He began this section of the sermon by saying “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”  (Mt 5:19)  All laws are to be kept, but some are weightier than others.

    So what did Jesus call the heavier or ‘weightier’ commandments?  Justice, mercy, and faithfulness.  He was echoing the prophet in Micah 6:8.  “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”  We all get on soapboxes at times and rail against things that bother us.  The organized church at times picks out certain sins and rants on and on.  If the church becomes known for this rather than for our justice, mercy, and faithfulness, then we go into the ‘blind guide’ category.  If our daily lives are not full of these heavier things, then listen carefully, you may hear the sound of camels laughing.