I was reminded of a story told about Martin Luther in the early years of the Reformation. It was no longer possible for me to play the role of the faithful priest with the same certainty.
This Hebrew Lord by John Shelby Spong Part 1: Developing Hebrew Eyes
Learning to Think Biblically
If the Jews had found faith in an organ of the body, it would have been in the heart. It must have a voice of the past, because it is not part of the present.
The Transition into Religion
Thirteenth-century life was centered in the realm of spirit beyond life, but twentieth-century life is blatantly earth-centered. The realm of the spiritual inherited from the dualism of ancient Greece has dwindled to non-existence.
Sin -- A Description of Our Being
If you can be aware of the self you are, you can also dream of the self you want to be. Our status symbols arise out of the gap between the self-conscious "is" and the self-conscious. In fact, the analogy of birth is itself a parable not unlike the parable of the Garden of Eden.
The use of the word sin to cover all three concepts is the source of most misunderstandings. Did he say that you will not eat from the tree in the middle of the garden?" So when the coolness of the evening came and the Lord came to walk with his friends, they hid in the bushes.
This Hebrew Lord by John Shelby Spong Part 2: Some Hebrew Images
The New Moses
This, indeed, was one of the main images underlying the Gospel story: Jesus, the young Moses, the greater Moses. The giving of the law was accompanied by a theophany -- an experience of God's presence (Ex. 19). Only Matthew, consciously seeking to present in Jesus the image of the young Moses, used the mountain background.
It was more subtle in the events of the passion, but perhaps even more important. It was an exodus from the universal human slavery of "sin" to the new kingdom of God, where the fullness of life could be known. In the second episode (Luke 9:181f), Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the top of the mountain to pray.
The New Elijah
In this context, it is of utmost importance to be able to grasp the images of the Hebrew heritage used by the Gospel writers. The image of Jesus as the new Elijah was one of the most provocative, enlightening as nothing else does. If the inner meaning of the ascension is to be seen, we must isolate Luke's portrayal of Jesus as the new Elijah.
34;received," analypsis, was the same word used in the Greek version of the Hebrew. This was the meaning depicted in the story of the Ascension -- a story that Luke purposely contrasts with the Old Testament story of Elijah is compared Perhaps now we can begin to see that the story of the Ascension is not an absurd pre-scientific fantasy.
The Suffering Servant -- Part I
Perhaps Cyrus had conquered Babylon while he was writing, and some of the exiled Jews were allowed to go home to Judah before a large-scale return. Perhaps this unknown prophet made such a journey; at least this assumption seems reasonable from the data. Israel is supposed to be a servant people, through whom all the nations of the world will be blessed and created.
They were not dark people, for the seeming tragedy of the Servant's life was played out on the vast scene of the whole world. Nowhere else in the Old Testament is the portrait drawn of the vicarious sacrifice of the innocent out of love for the guilty. It was the biblical image cut from the tradition of the Hebrew people that deeply underpinned everything Jesus said and did.
The Suffering Servant -- Part II
This Jesus is next encountered when he burst onto the world stage in the story of the Baptism. The model of the servant from Second Isaiah, however, was never far from his consciousness. There was no doubt that Isaiah's portrait of God's servant was the primary writing of the prophets that Jesus had in mind.
In any case, Jesus' journey to Jerusalem was precisely such a dramatic immersion in the role of the Suffering Servant. This is a gospel dramatically shaped by the most beautiful and profound image in the Hebrew heritage - the Servant of the Lord found in the Second Book of Isaiah. These words are windows into the heart of the New Testament that deserve our serious attention.
This Hebrew Lord by John Shelby Spong Part 3: Some Interpretive Words
I Give Rest -- I Give Peace
Man is a creature unwilling to be an animal and yet unable to be a god. To be human is to imagine a self greater than the self we are, a world greater than the world we experience. Being who we are and becoming who we will be are always our realities.
These are just some of the boundaries we must cross on our pilgrimage to get from what we are to what we need to be. What we have decided to be is judged by what we refused to entertain or incorporate into our lives. Biblical peace is the child's joy and contentment in being a child in all the exuberance and vitality of childishness.
Loneliness and Destiny
We only exist until we know ourselves and plan our path, discover our Jerusalem where we are revealed, and set our faces steadfast to walk in that direction. This solitude of existence was the hallmark of the one called the Christ. That doesn't mean we try to be “little Jesuses,” or try to become like the Christ.
Rather, imitating Christ means that as Jesus became all that he was capable of, so we—touched by his life, called into his power—seek to become all that we are capable of. It means that we dare to be free, to dream, to cling to what is our Jerusalem and to allow ourselves to be drawn to ourselves through that lonely path. We begin to know our depth and realize that we are not alone, for the source of life, the ground of existence, the holy God is with us.
If the Son Shall Set You Free
The secret of life was discovered when one realized that his true nature lived everywhere at once. It was in the kingdom to be, not to do; it transcended time and space and was unbound by tradition or expectation. But how could he show those who never looked up what it was like to fly a thousand miles beyond the ordinary limits of life.
If one speaks of freedom to those who do not want to be free, one's words inevitably sound like judgment. Through the symbol of the seagull, it is impossible not to see Jesus of Nazareth again: to see beyond the description given by the words of men; to see the meaning of his promised freedom; to see again the magnetic power of his life. We are freed to push back the boundaries of life until we see the purpose of life created, giving us the courage to do so.
Chapter12: I Am Resurrection -- I Am Life!
This Christ power, the author of the fourth Gospel, found in the one historical life - the man, Jesus of Nazareth. He was Jesus of Nazareth, of whom men made the startling and revolutionary claim, "Thou art the Christ." In Jesus of Nazareth, men saw the fullness of life lived, the depth of love shared, the courage revealed.
This was the truth that the author of the fourth Gospel came to after many years of meditating on the power in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. This is the power that the people saw in Jesus of Nazareth, that is why they called Him the Christ. I am the life." Our world longs to know this Christ; to find joy in new union; to become new creatures; to shed our fears, our fantasies, our need for status symbols, our prejudices.
Chapter13: I Am Light
I Am Bread
Christ's claim to be the bread of life was thus a claim to be the power that fulfills the deepest needs of human life. It is not found in seeking escape from the tensions of life; one need only ask those who own a boat, a holiday paradise, a mountain retreat, and they will be eloquent witnesses that these do not ultimately satisfy. Life hungers for the food that does not perish - the affirmation of our being, the power of love, the bread of life.
This was the meaning that the fourth Gospel found in Jesus, so John's Jesus could say: "I am the bread of life. Then you can hear the power of the fourth Gospel's claim to Jesus the Christ: "I am the bread of life." We worship Him by living in His freedom, sharing in His being, giving of His love, and we call Him Lord, Savior, because He is bread -- the bread of life.
This Hebrew Lord by John Shelby Spong Part 4: Return to the Center
The Nonreligious Christ
Self-negation was described as the result of the insufficiency of love in human life. Insecurity, a sense of brokenness and the search for status were identified as symptoms of the human condition. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, he revealed that love crosses such ego-serving barriers as race and nationality.
Jesus therefore decided to supplement his teaching with specific action based on the life-giving power of love. He had struck the church power structure at the heart of its vested interests, the financial rewards of the temple trade (Luke 19:45ff). By following the path of the servant, Jesus placed the fate of his life in the hands of the disciples.
My Christ -- A Concluding Word
In this process, I have always hoped that you would first see yourself as you are and then see yourself as you are in Him, which would force you to make a decision about who you really want to be. I hope you have been forced to make a serious decision: respond to a real Christ or give up the stereotypical religious facade. To respond to this Christ is precious because it means being open to the new being that you are in Him.
For me, therefore, the worship of this Christ is a call to life, to love, to compassion, to sensitivity and to the search for justice. Worshiping this Christ means celebrating the present life and hoping for fulfillment that must lie beyond this life. I share this Christ with you in the hope that He can draw you to worship and to life as He has drawn me.