What’s Your Problem?
Hearers of the gospel often put too much emphasis on Jesus’ death as death. In Scripture, death itself is not an issue since all are dust to dust. What carries more weight is the shameful way he was put to death - by crucifixion. While some deaths can be seen as noble and dignified, even heroic and glorious, crucifixion was abject and shameful. When Jesus says that anyone who comes after him must take up his cross and follow him (Mark 8:34), he doesn’t means to death per se, and not to the cross specifically, but in accepting the shame in full obedience, trusting only in God to vindicate him in his own time. This understanding of the Gospel sheds light on Jesus’ teaching that one should turn the other cheek when someone strikes you on one side. Included in my discussion of Romans 1:1-7 and 16-17 is an excerpt from Fr. Paul Tarazi’s audio commentary on Romans: “When someone wrongs you…let it go for heaven’s sake. The only Son of God was put to death on a cross, and you want to sue someone when they insult you? What’s your problem?”

Notes:
Exodus 40:34-38
Isaiah 53:10
Mark 8:34, 38
John 12:23, 32
Romans 1:1-7, 16-7; 3:21-22; 8:2
ὑπακοὴν - hypakōe (obedience)
δόξαν - doxa (glory)
וּכְב֣וֹד - ū-ke-bō-wd (and the glory)

Orthodox Audio Bible Commentary by Fr. Paul Tarazi.
“Passing Clouds” performed by Roger Limb.
“Sing A New Song” composed and performed by Raphael Shaheen.
Photo by Alem Sánchez: https://www.pexels.com/photo/grayscale-photo-of-the-crucifix-977659/

When we insist on historicizing the biblical text, we diminish its value as a teaching. “Did that really happen?” we often ask and then look for verification. It is likewise a calamity when we hear Scripture as a philosophy, in Greek, the “love of wisdom.” The Bible was written against human wisdom, and its teaching is that true wisdom is to found in the words of instruction which proceed out of the mouth of God. Scripture is self-referential: to understand its teaching, our only reference can be the text itself. Only in the promise that it offers do we have hope (Romans 15:4).

Join me in a discussion of Luke 17:12-19.

“Sing A New Song Unto Me” composed and performed by Raphael Shaheen.

Scripture In Four Parts.

In the Torah, when the Lord delivers Israel out of Egypt, he gives commandments and statutes which they are required to keep; this Law is understood to be the expression of his will, instructions on how to live if the Lord is indeed your God. (and since it is he who delivered them from the hand of Pharaoh and is bringing them into a land of promise to serve him; how could it be otherwise?). In the Latter Prophets, in which Israel is again in captivity, the message sounds like this: the Lord will come and deliver you, but it was in fact the same Lord who sent your enemy to carry you away in the first place…as punishment because you sinned against the Lord. The hearers are hit with this message of hope, coupled with a reminder that the cause of their condition was their own sin. And because they were not completely destroyed, the Babylonian captivity is understood as a punishment unto instruction. And since this time the Lord decided to be merciful, they had better take the instruction seriously and change their ways. The next time, he may not come back to deliver them. This is, in nutshell, the teaching at the heart of scripture. And the commandments and statutes of the Lord, his Torah, by which his people fail repeatedly to abide, is the reference point in all three parts: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. Even in the New Testament, in which the Mosaic Law is fulfilled in the Law of Christ (Galatians 6:2), the sole reference remains the will of God.

Notes:
περιπατοῦσιν - walking
φρονοῦσιν - mind (verb)
ὑπακοὴν - obedience
Isaiah 49:10;24
Malachi 4:4
Psalms 119:1; 12; 105
Matthew 22:40
Luke 10:25-37; 24:27; 44-45
Romans 1:1-5; 8:2; 4-5
Galatians 6:2

The Slow Bible Study Episode 11: Friends of Enmity https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-slow-bible-study/id1743711322?i=1000671273103

Rhumeta performed by 3rd Eye Girl.

Photo by cottonbro studio.

Naked Deception! part 2:

Nothing New Under The Sun.

Recently my son, who is 10, was asking about God - does he love us and does he punish us? I said yes, both of those are true. I reminded him of the story of Noah and the flood. Then he asked, how could God love us if he wanted to wipe us out from the face of the earth? But son, I asked, don’t you see? You and I are still here. Did God send a flood to wipe us out from the face of the earth? Clearly he did not. But precisely because he loves us he gave us instead the story of the flood as an instruction.

That’s how the biblical story works for us. Since the teaching is written and since we are its recipients, whenever we hear the instruction as a punishment, it is still grace. Because we are given yet another opportunity to go forward and correct our behavior.

In part one of this episode, we discussed the functionality of some terms in the original Hebrew of Genesis chapter 3, particularly how the play on arum (naked) and arum (subtil/crafty) literarily underscores the susceptibility of Adam and his wife to the deception of the serpent. In the story, the consequence of that deception was a series of curses issued by the Lord God. In this episode, part 2, we will look at how some of the same terminology re-appears in chapter 27 of Genesis.

Indeed, “that which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

Notes
sadeh - field
hereb - sword
Genesis 6:5-6; 27:1-17; 39-40

Decoding Genesis 1-11 by Paul Nadim Tarazi (OCBS, 2020)

Music: “Brand New Orleans” performed by Prince

Artwork: “Isaac Blessing Jacob” by Assereto

Naked Deception, Part 1:
Smooth Criminal.

You don’t need a theological degree to understand the Bible. If you have ears to hear what the text is saying, the message can be quite clear. That’s why, in the Gospels, Jesus teaches in parables - to make the message so straightforward that the only excuse people could have for not getting it is their own unwillingness to hear and to submit: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” The problem is that the Bible wasn’t written in our language. What we read and hear are translations. Yet even the King James English can’t convey what the authors of the Bible are saying in their language, which is Hebrew. Even if we can’t or don’t want to study ancient languages, we should at least acknowledge the fact that the Bible wasn’t written in English. Then we might be willing to learn from people who do know Biblical Hebrew how the language works so that we could better understand the text so we could do what it commands.

In part 1 of this special episode, we take a look at some wordplay in Genesis 2:25-3:1 that really sheds light on the meaning of the text, but that can only be captured in the original Hebrew.

Notes:
עֲרוּמִּ֔ים - a-rũm-mîm (naked)
עָר֔וּם - a-rūm (subtle/cunning)
הָֽאֲדָמָ֗ה - hā-ǎ-dā-māh (ground)
Genesis 2:4-6
Isaiah 47:2-3
Job 5:8-13; 15:4-5

Brand New Orleans performed by Prince.

You know what he said. So what are you doing here?

In the Gospel of Luke, the women go to the tomb and do not find Jesus; they meet two men who remind them what Jesus said; they remember what he said; and they go and report all to the eleven and all the rest. The “all” here refers to everything Jesus said while he was still with them. The phrase “he is not here; he is risen” is not found in all manuscripts; as such, its addition may be understood as a clarifying statement. In Luke, the solution is not the resurrection per se, but the reaffirmation of what Jesus had been teaching throughout the gospel, specifically about the suffering of the Son of Man. As Son of Man, Jesus is first and foremost a teacher. And although in the Gospel of Luke, there is a literary movement pointing towards his return in glory, as hearers we are commanded not to get excited about it. Yes, there is a kingdom ahead, and judgment. But until it comes, the thing to do is await it patiently and continue to hear and obey all the teacher said while he was still with us.
Join me in a discussion of Luke 8:49-56.

Notes:
Luke 16:31; 21:27; 24:6-7, 27
Ezekiel 6:1-4
ἀναλήμψεως (analēmpseōs) - ascension

“Brand New Orleans” performed by Prince.

Episode 43 - A Common Table.

In the culture of the ancient Near East, to sit at a table and share a meal with someone means you are at one with that person. It is with this understanding, which is still prevalent in middle eastern culture today, that we hear the Pharisee’s complaints against Jesus in the Gospel: why would he accept “unclean” tax collectors and sinners at his table? And yet when Jesus said to Levi, “Follow me,” it says that he left all, rose up and followed him. It is Jesus’ word of teaching, which Levi accepts, that cleanses him and allows him a place at the table. The corollary to “all are one” at the table is that all are under the house rule of the host, the one master at whose table they are seated. In their inability see their own need to be fed, the scribes and Pharisees separate themselves from the one table to which the Lord has invited all; and through whose teaching, all are made clean.

Join me in a discussion of Luke 5:27-31.

Notes:
Leviticus 19:34
Deuteronomy 8:3
Matthew 22:36-40
Luke 9:11
Romans 1:5-6; 11:29-32;14:15
Galatians 2:11-12

Original music composed and performed by Raphael Shaheen.
Photo by Askar Abayev.

“The Lordship of Jesus is on you if you trust in the word of the gospel and you become doulos xristou.”

This is an extract from an audio commentary on the Gospel of Mark by the Rev. Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi. In his reading of Mark 3:11-12, Fr. Paul makes an aside about what the titles “Son of God,” “Christ” and “Lord” mean and why, in the narrative, Jesus systematically rejects them.

Fr. Paul’s audio commentaries on the New Testament are available from the Orthodox Center for The Advancement of Biblical Studies (OCABS). See the link below to access.
https://www.ocabspress.org/new-testament

Original intro and outro music composed and performed by Raphael Shaheen.