week 2

--

What if a real congressman really didn't know the real ten commandments?

What did you learn about interpreting a text watching this video?  How did you decide on genre etc?

P

--- CHIASMS

Finish these sentences.  How did you know what to say?  

• ------
• The first shall be last...
• When the going gets tough....
• I am stuck on Band-Aid...
• It's not the size of the dog in the fight..
• You should do unto others...
• God is good all the time
• John F Kennedy; "Ask not what your country can do for you...."
• Am I drinking wine, or is..
• Accept rejection..
• Whoever exalts themself will be humbled.
• Never let a fool kiss you....
• Zaccheus was a wee little man...
• There's no understanding without...
• Woe to those who call good evil..
• They don't care about how much you know until ...
• The right to bear arms is slightly less ridiculous than ...
• Let us never negotiate out of fear..
• The sabbath is made for man..
• You come to be baptized by me, when..

CHIASM 

From the ridiculous:

• "I am stuck on Band Aid..
• "Never let a kiss fool you..

To the sublime:

• "Ask not what your country can do for you..
• "God is good all the time.."
• "When the going gets tough.."
• "Accept rejection.."

To the biblical:

• The first shall be last...
• Whoever humbles themself will be exalted...
• You do unto others...

 Who found the chiasm on p74 of Grimsrud book ?

   

Chiasm(definition) ).. once you are attuned to seeing them in Scripture (and most ancient literature) it seems they are everywhere.

Sometimes they are.

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CHIASMs they can grow larger, and the parallelism can be more general, thematic.

And getting over VERSE-ITIS helps a lot in seeing chiasm in the big sweep.  This is Genesis 6:

Or the tower of Babel in Genesis 11:

link

And we're only in the FIRST book of the Bible (:

Sometimes chiasms  are are so large that they  almost become a genre..or encompass an entire book.

In fact, they can become as large as life,  See
James B. Jordan, “Chiasm and Life” in Biblical Theology Basics:

“Very much of human life is ‘there and back again,’ or chiastic. This is how God has designed human beings to live in the world. It is so obvious that we don’t notice it. But it is everywhere. This shape of human life arises ultimately from the give and take of the three Persons of God, as the Father sends the Spirit to the Son and the Son sends the Spirit back to the Father. We can see that literary chiasm is not a mere curiosity, a mere poetic device to structure the text. It arises from the very life of God, and is played out in the structure of the lives of the images of God in many ways and at many levels. It is because human beings live and move so often chiastically, that poets often find themselves drawn to chiastic writing. God creates chiasms out of His inner life, and so do the images of God.

Biblical chiasms are perfect. That is, they are perfectly matched to the human  chiasms they address and transform. As we become more and more sensitive to Biblical chiasms, we will become more and more sensitive to one aspect of the true nature of human life under God. We will be transformed from bad human chiasms into good human chiasms. In this way, becoming sensitive to chiasm can be of practical transformative value to human life, though in deep ways that probably cannot be explained or preached very well.

One further thought. We saw in our previous essay that chiasms often have a double climax, one in the middle and the greatest at the end. The food we bought at market is put away in the cupboard and refrigerator when we get back home. Moving forward to a final climax is what all literature does, whether it has a middle climax or not. (Shakespeare’s five-act plays always move to a climax in the third and in the fifth acts.) This is just another way that human life matches literary production, in the Bible as well as in uninspired human literature. Becoming familiar with the shape and flow of Biblical texts will have a transforming effect on human life.”

James B. Jordan, “Chiasm and Life” in Biblical Theology Basics.

-link, Michael Bull’s blog: Theology you can eat and drink

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Mike Rinaldi, a Visalian, and filmmaker (and Fresno Pacific grad) told this   story at the first "Gathering to Bless Christians in the Arts":
Blake Snyder, the screenwriter behind the classicSave The Cat"  book became a Christian not long before he died. 

Often at this point in such a story, folks ask "Who led him to Christ?" 

Go ahead and ask. 

The answer is: 

Chiasm. 

It happened in large part because Mike, not even knowing if such a well-known and busy writer would respond to his email,  asked him if he had heard about chiasm. 

Turns out Snyder was fascinated with it all, and Mike was able to point out chiastic structure and shape in scriptwriting....and one thing led to another...and then in Scripture. 

All roads, and all chiasms, lead to the Center and Source. 


Mike, of course, learned chiasm in THIS CLASS.

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PHILEMON: 

              Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus,

      and Timothy our brother,

        To  Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker

   also to Apphia our sister and

               Archippus our fellow soldier

                                            —and to the church 

                                    that meets in your home:

³ Grace and peace 

to you ^(plural) 

                                                  from God our Father

                                               and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴ I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers,

          ⁵ because I hear about your  

                                   love               and                          faith

     towards                 Lord Jesus     and               all the saints 

⁶ I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective 

                in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.

⁷ Your love has given me great       joy

                                         and        encouragement,

 because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints. 

⁸ Therefore

 although in Christ I could be bold, and order you to do what you ought to do,

                                                                         ⁹ yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love.

 It is as none other than Paul—                   an old man (elder)

  and now also                                             a prisoner of Christ Jesus—  

¹⁰ that I appeal to you for my son--

                                          Onesimus,^["Useful"]" 

                  

 who became my son while I was in chains.

¹¹ Formerly he was                           useless                                  to you,

 but now he has become                   useful                            both to you and to me.

¹² I am sending                         him

                    —who is my very heart

                                                    —back to you.  

¹³ I would have liked to keep him with me

 so that 

                                           he                  could take 

                                           your                   place 

                 in helping          me 

while I am in chains for the gospel.  

¹⁴ But I did not want to do anything without your consent, 

so that any favor you do would not seem                forced 

                                            but would be             voluntary.  

¹⁵ Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while

 was that you might have him back forever—

        ¹⁶ no longer as a slave,

                  but more than a slave, 

                               as a dear brother. 

He is that to                                  me, 

             but even more so to         you, 

both                         in the flesh

 and                         in the Lord.

¹⁷ So..

 if                                            you consider me a partner, 

                               welcome  him

          as you would welcome me.

 ¹⁸ If he has done you any wrong or owes          you                      anything,

                                           charge it to                me.

¹⁹ I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand:

                      I will pay it back!

                         (not to mention that you owe me your very self)

 ²⁰ I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit or usefulness from you in the Lord;

                                   refresh my heart in Christ.

 ²¹ Confident of your obedience, 

              I write to you,

                          knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

²² And one thing more: 

             Prepare a guest room for me, 

                            because I hope to be restored to you  ^(plural) 

                                                   in answer to your  (^plural) prayers.

²³ Epaphras,

 my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, 

sends you greetings. 

 ²⁴ And so do Mark,

                       Aristarchus,

                        Demas 

                  and Luke, 

                                      my fellow workers.

²⁵ The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your  ^(plural) spirit.

Some comments from class discussion on Philemon:

-

1) Don't trip on  the word "saints."  In the Bible it just means "Christians."  Even Dave is a saint, not just holy people like Michelle.  Remember Paul wrote two letters to some bad Christians who were getting drunk at communion and having sex with relatives (1 and 2 Californians, I mean Corinthians), and he called even them "SAINTS."

-2) 

Don't trip on "the church that meets in your house."   The Bible knows nothing of official church buildings; they didn't exist yet.  They met in homes, and churches were small.  This doesn't mean Philemon had a large house, or was necessarily wealthy.

-
3)Remember how important it is to use our class translation (NRSV), especially for verse 16.  We noted how one translation (NLT) changes the meaning.

Click this to see how our translation and three others compare.  Extra credit if you text Dave by beginning of Week 3 and explain how they change it.

--

4)

Could Philemon and Onesimus were  BOTH master/slave  AND literal brothers?

Not likely, unless they were half-brothers.  

Hmm.  See this from Tim Gombis:

F. F. Bruce suggests that the two may be related in just this way.  He says, “Such a state of affairs would be not at all unusual: if, for example, Onesimus were the son of Philemon’s father by a slave-girl, then Onesimus and Philemon would be half-brothers, but Onesimus (unless emancipated) would still be a slave.”
.. Paul does not say that the “in the flesh” relationship is one of master-slave.  They are related “in the flesh” as beloved brothers.  The interpretive debate is whether this means “fellow human” or “actual brother.”
If Philemon and Onesimus are in fact half-brothers, then much of the consensus view is unthreatened.  Onesimus is still regarded as a slave in the household of Philemon and in some way brought harm to Philemon and has made his way to Paul.  Paul sends Onesimus back to Philemon urging the latter to receive the former as Paul himself.  The consensus view would need modification, however, to recognize the additional factor that while Philemon is the freeborn master of the household, Onesimus is now Philemon’s brother in the Lord, having been converted to Christian discipleship by the Apostle.  This new relationship in the realm of “the faith” goes beyond the already-existing relationship in the realm of natural relations, in which they are also brothers, sharing a common earthly father.
My main contention in these posts is that commentators must take Paul’s reference to Philemon and Onesimus as  "BROTHERS IN THE FLESH" (adelphoi en sarki )with greater seriousness.  It is highly unlikely that Paul regards the two as sharing in a common humanity.  It is far more likely that they are actual brothers.  -TIM GOMBIS

5) We hinted there could be a helpful chiasm in Philemon..Further hint: check verse 5 in our class translation

----------------------------------------

Here's an extra credit  assignment,  We didn't do this section (in yellow) in class.

Read the following, and then post in the comments section below your 1-3 sentence response by Sun night. Then try hard to find one funny or ironic thing (by any stretch of the imagination) not mentioned here, and mention it. 

Post your answer at the bottom of this summary page  where it says "post a comment." If you don't have one of the accounts listed, just sign in as "Anonymous" (but be sure  to put your name or initials in the actual post, so you get extra credit.

.  

HUMOR IN PHILEMON??

"I could command you, but I appeal to you out of love”? 

“Any decision you make will be spontaneous and not forced”? 

“Oh, by the way, I won;t mention....actually I will...that  you owe me your own self” ?

Paul’s language and literary approach in Philemon  have been much maligned, yet little understood.  He has been read as being (at best) disingenuous and passive-aggressive, or (at worst) sycophantic and manipulative to a degree that borders on messianic complex.   I believe a third way unpacks the dilemma and makes salient sense of the intuitive embarrassment and discomfort we feel overhearing Paul’s appeal.   In a word: humor.   In several words: a mosaic (and not at all prosaic) humor based loosely (?) on the “holy fool”  tradition and rhetorical device of prosopeion; a holy humor laced liberally with a playful but profound twist of (almost) irony and mimetic self-reference.   All of this is of course at great risk, and presupposes a deep, abiding and adamantine trust between sender and recipient.

Is Paul being authoritarian to a fault, all the while claiming the opposite?   No, St. Paul is smarter…and not smarmier… than that.  He is more humble than he has been given credit for; and decidedly not proud of his own humility.  Per McLuhan, his medium masterfully matches—even equals and incarnates—his message.

On humor in Philemon, consider Marcus Barth:

"Humor is, according to Wilhelm Busch, 'where one laughs, in spite of it,' even in the face of grave situations...Indeed, Philemon has a hard choice to make, but the decision-making process is sweetened as much as possible--by humor.

In contrast to the doctrinal style of Romans;  the irony and sarcasm found in Galatians; to the apologetic, wailing, and aggressive passages of Second Corinthians; and to other idiosyncrasies of other letters, in Philemon the use of contrasts is a sign and means of underlying good humor. Humor is, according to Wilhelm Busch, where one laughs, “in spite of it," even in the face of grave situations.

 The mighty apostle of the omnipotent Lord Christ is a prisoner in Roman hands (w. 1, 9-10) and chooses the role of a beggar before Philemon (vv. 8-9). 

The child Onesimus was created by a father in chains (v. 10), who was, according to some versions of verse 9, an old man! 

A pun is made on the name Onesimus ("Useful") in verse 11.

 God's purpose in permitting separation was to establish eternal union (v. 15).

 Paul and Philemon are business partners, and Onesimus can substitute for Paul by being the third man in the association (v.17)

 Philemon is much deeper in debt to Paul than the apostle eventually is to the slave  owner (vv 18-19). Paul hopes confidentially that he will benefit from Philemon — not only materially but by finding rest for his troubled heart (v 20).

.... Overflowing obedience is the sum of complete voluntariness (v. 21.)

 A man whose chances for quick release from prison were less than certain invites himself to a private home for the near future (v. 22).

  All or at least a part of these elements can be considered, or are, humorous.

It is not certain whether Paul intended this impression, and whether Philemon was capable and willing to appreciate jokes pertaining to his relationship to Onesimus and to Paul. But together with other earliest hearers and readers of PHM, modern readers are by no means prevented from responding with a smile or a chuckle. The dreadfully serious issue of the slave Onesimus's future is treated  lightly — a fact that reminds of the role of slaves in Greek and Latin comedies. Obviously bitterness is neither the only nor the best way of reacting to grave issues. Indeed, Philemon has a hard choice to make, but the decision-making process is sweetened as much as possible — by humor. (Barth and Blanke, 2000, pp. 1115; 18-19)

Read this section in context here

And this   from Sarah Ruden, in Paul Among the People :

The letter to Philemon...is full of inside jokes and high-as-a-kite invocations of the transcendent...Paul joyfully mocks the notion that any person placing himself in the hands of God can be limited or degraded in any way that matters.  The

letter must represent the most fun anyone ever had writing while incarcerated. link

Finally, see this from   David Barr:

Interesting..

Biblical Perspectives Signature Assignment (final paper)

Due: 3 days following this module

TASK

The signature assignment (final paper) for Biblical Perspectives is designated as a significant 5-7 page paper that is designed addresses the meaning of a biblical text. Using the skills gained in the course, develop a paper that combines an understanding of the historical, literary and contemporary worlds of the text. (Don’t resign the class until you are done.  Resignation often comes too soon).

PURPOSE

The paper is meant to demonstrate the student’s own analysis and ability to work with a biblical text and as such need not utilize other resources as in a traditional research paper.

This is a NOT a research paper; it is a SEARCH paper, where you search out what you think is the meaning/message of Philemon.

However, it could be hugely helpful (and improve your grade) to draw in one (or perhaps more) lessons from class to build your thesis.

FORM

Thesis:              The paper should include a clear thesis statement in the form of “the book of Philemon is about…” Note: by “about,” we mean not just “about” in the sense of storyline and characters—though you definitely include that somewhere in your paper, as well.    We mean what the book is ultimately “about”—life lesson, message, moral, sermon point or Contemporary World “app.”  Make it general; do not include characters from the story in your statement. Be as specific and concise as possible.

Body:            The body of the paper should demonstrate a recognizable structure that argues from the text of Philemon and articulates why the thesis is viable. The body of the paper may take the form of a verse by verse analysis, follow the categories of historical/literary/contemporary worlds, or use any thematic analysis that is most useful.

Conclusion:    The conclusion should restate the thesis and the support in summary fashion. The conclusion is also a place for reflection on the implications for your life and work.

SIGB:            Throughout this course we have been using signs.  Based on your study of the book of Philemon, develop your own symbol/sign that you feel adequately conveys the message of the book and explain it in a paragraph. Papers will not be accepted without the sign and explanation.  (The sign is something you draw or create, not anything you find online or elsewhere)

Be sure to also include:  Evidence from the text re: whether the slavery (of Onesimus) and brotherhood of Philemon and Onesimus are literal, metaphorical, or both.   Evidence from the text re: whether Onesimus ran away.

GRADING

Grading is based upon how well the thesis is stated and supported, by the clarity of the structure, by the depth of thought and by the quality of mechanics (spelling, grammar, grandpa).

If there are red marks in every paragraph (or nearly every) for grammar/spelling/mechanics, the paper will not pass. Big rules: no “you”/”your” words/language or contractions

All papers must be submitted to turnitin.com (instructions on next page).

From FPU HANDBOOK:

A=Superior. The student has demonstrated a quality of work and accomplishment far beyond the formal requirements and shown originality of thought and mastery of material.

B=Above Average.

The student’s achievement exceeds the usual accomplishment, showing a clear

indication of initiative and grasp of subject.

C=Average. The student has met the formal requirements and has demonstrated good comprehension of the subject and reasonable ability to handle ideas.

D=Below Average. The student’s accomplishment leaves much to be desired. Minimum requirements have been met but were inadequate.

==

One of the most helpful ways of understanding the Bible...and life..is SET THEORY.

You will need to know the three sets for Moodle 2.1  and other assignments.

Many successful signature papers incorporate set theory.

TO ILLUSTRATE SET THEORY, WE DID AN IN'CLASS EXERCISE. STUDENTS HAD TO DECIDE WHICH SIDE OF THE RPPM TO STAND ON. BASED ON WHICH OF EACH PAIR THEY PREFERRED.

Pick a side of the room to stand on for each pair:

• 
  
• Target or Wal-Mart
• 
  
• Jew or Gentile
•   extrovert or introvert
• Lenno or McCartney
• rock or country

• innocent or depraved? (text me for extra credit  if you can explain this reference---that is where have you heard those two terms before in class material.  Deadline : 6:10 PM Week 3 class)
• 
  
• FUNERAL OR WEDDING?

All three sets explained with examples in this video:

We didn't show this clip in class yet, but it is helpful:

FUZZY SET:

Great examples of Fuzzy Set from Rob Bell: The Marker Trick AKA "Yup!":

These illustrations come from Dave's video/Rob Bell's video:

-When does a mountain begin?

-Is it about predestination or free will?

-Faith or science?

These can be debated...as the border can be fuzzy...Thus :
"Fuzzy sets"

Here below is some help on Fuzzy Sets. These readings will help:

• new nets: bounded sets, fuzzy sets, or centered-sets?
• 
  

Centered set illustration:

A man I know well had just gotten in a classic "first fight" with his wife. He did something uncharacteristic of him: He jumped in his car, and began speeding (literally) away from the situation.
Because he was a believer, he at least had the sense to pray; even as in his fast car he was contradicting his belief. But he prayed, for some reason this prayer; "Lord, I really need to hear from you!"
At that precise moment, a moment he was to remember the rest of his life, the man was strangely prompted to turn on the car radio. Immediately, a voice came over the radio:"Hey Leadfoot! Turn around, go back to your wife, and tell her you’re sorry!"Let me tell you, gentle reader;

When that happened to me….
…I turned around, went back to my wife, and told her I was sorry!
And it doesn’t change my theology of "God was speaking audibly and directly to me" at all to reveal the way God spoke. At the exact moment I was speeding away from home, and shot up that prayer while turning the dial on, a Christian disc jockey who was broadcasting live felt prompted to say:
"Hey Leadfoot! Turn around, go back to your wife, and tell her you’re sorry!" link

==

----------------------

THESIS: The Ten Commandments are a ________

.

Off the top of your head, list words and ideas that come to mind when you think of the story of the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mt Sinai.

Then scroll down for the question..

Was "wedding" on your list?

                                        .....or "love"?

What does all this have to do with a wedding?

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AS A WEDDING:

We watched "HE LED YOU LIKE A BRIDE," a  Ray Vander Laan "Faith Lessons" video  from Mount Sinai.  Here is the complete video, which elaborates on this

thesis.  You'll be writing on this for Moodle  2.1.

Here's a study guide for the video:..

see pp.197-251  here

"Waffly Wedded Wife":



Bonus: the processional: (didn't show in class):

FROM GRIMSRUD BOOK:

Why when asked for examples of commandments ,  why do 9 out of 1o students answer with  one of the negatives: Thou shalt NOTs?

WHY DO WE  THINK OF THE COMMANDMENTS MORE LIKE  FUNERAL THAN A WEDDING?

Often when I officiate weddings, and the groom is nervous, I try to lighten the mood. I pull out my little black book in front of all the groomsmen and fake a shocking, "Oh my goodness, I accidentally brought my funeral book by mistake!! But I'll just read from it anyway..i mean it's the same idea. Is that OK?" Then there is a laugh of relief when they realize I'm kidding!

But at Margaret and Paul's wedding.....

for the first time, I couldn'tfind my wedding book right away, so i did actually bring the funeral book instead. It didn't really matter, as after doing years of weddings I don't need the book, I just use it to stick little sticky notes in for the sermon, prompts, names etc....oh, and to look pastoral and cool.

So I just crossed out the big title "FUNERAL" on the spine with a black marker, so folks wouldn't see it while I was up front (:

Then for a laugh and a few pics, after the service, I rubbed off the ink so you could read it.

 

SERMON ON THE MOUNT, Mathew chapter  5 

Remember: 

• Who was the sermon addressed to?
• Why did he teach on a MOUNTAIN?
• Why did Jesus sit down to teach?

When we read the "beatitudes," the first section of the Sermon on the Mount: -- do you catch anyinclusio? (Note the first and last beatitudes (only) of chapter 5 end

with a promise of the kingdom of heaven, implying that the other promises in between "being filled," "inherit the earth," "be comforted" all have to do with Kingdom

3)iINCLUSIO(N)):

 inclusio (definition)

 a literary device in which a word, phrase, or idea is included at the beginning and ened of a  text (and sometimes in the middle).  Example: the "with you"s of Matthew 1:23 , 18:20 and 28:20

Len Sweet is on to something, suggesting a Bible-wide inclusio. How wide and big can these things get? Wouldn't this cue us and clue us in to the heart message of the whole Book?
Check it out!

Ever notice Matthew starts with "His name will be called Emmanuel, which means 'God with us.'
And ends...very last sentence...with "I will be with you."?

No accident.
And neither is the midpoint and message of the gospel: "I will be with you" (18:20).
In Jesus, God is with us.
Jesus is the With-Us God.

F--and if Jesus is a NEW MOSES of sorts, then we should look at 

SERMON ON THE MOUNT:
Discussion on how Jesus was interpreting/reinterpreting the law of Moses/Torah(Matt 5:17-48).
Some would suggest that he is using the rabbi's technique of "Building a fence around the law (Torah)>

For example, if you are tempted to overeat, one strategy would be to build a literal fence around the refrigerator...or the equivalent: don't keep snacks around.

See:

What does building a fence around the Torah mean? 

Some wonder of this is what Jesus is doing here.  See:
Jesus' Antitheses - Could they be his attempt to build a fence around the Torah?

One can see how this could turn to legalism...and when do you stop building fences? See:

A Fence Around the Law

Greg Camp and Laura Roberts write:

In each of the five examples, Jesus begins by citing an existing commandment. His following statement may be translated as either "And I say to you... " or as "But I say to you ...” The first option shows Jesus' comments to be in keeping with the commandments, therefore his words will be an expansion or commentary on the law. This is good, standard rabbinic technique. He is offering his authoritative interpretation, or amplification, to God's torah, as rabbis would do after reading the torah aloud in the synagogue. The second translation puts Jesus in tension with the law, or at least with the contemporary 

interpretations that were being offered. Jesus is being established as an authoritative teacher who stands in the same rabbinic tradition of other rabbis, but is being portrayed as qualitatively superior to their legal reasoning.

After citing a law Jesus then proceeds to amplify, or "build a hedge" around the law. This was a common practice of commenting on how to put a law into practice or on how to take steps to avoid breaking the law. The idea was that if you built a safe wall of auxiliary laws around the central law, then you would have ample warning before you ever came close to breaking the central law. A modern example might be that if you were trying to diet you would need to exercise more and eat less. In order to make sure that that happened you might dispose of all fats and sweets in the house so as not to be tempted. Additionally, you might begin to carry other types of snacks or drink with you so as to have a substitute if temptation came around, and so forth. In the first example of not killing, Jesus builds a hedge that involves not being angry and not using certain types of language about others. One of the difficulties is that it becomes very difficult not to break his hedges. This might drive his hearers to believe that he is a hyper-Pharisee. Some interpreters have wanted to argue that Jesus does this in order to drive us to grace—except grace is never mentioned in this context. This is a wrong-headed approach to get out of the clear message that Jesus is proclaiming: you must have a transformed life. By building his hedges, Jesus is really getting to the heart of what the law was about. In the first example, the intent is not just to get people not to kill each other (though that is a good thing to avoid), rather it is there to promote a different attitude about how to live together. Taken together, the 10 Words (Commandments) and the other laws which follow in Exodus-Numbers paint a picture of a people who will look out for one another rather than just avoiding doing injury to one another. This becomes clear in Jesus’ solution at the end of the first example. The solution is not to throw  yourself on grace or to become paralyzed by fear, but to seek right relations with the other person. There seems to be an implicit acknowledgment that problems will arise. The solution is to seek the best for the other person and for the relationship. This is the heart of the law.  The problem with the law is that it can only keep you from sin, but it cannot make you do good.  The rabbi Hillel said “what is hateful to you, do not do to others.”  In 7:12, Jesus provides his own interpretation “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you.”  He changes the saying from refraining from sin, to actively doing good.  The thesis statement in 5:20 is “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” This then is how to exceed, or go beyond the law.  In each of the five examples, the way to exceed the law is to make the relationship right.

Instead of drawing a new line in the sand that you are not supposed to cross before you are considered guilty, Jesus, confirms that the center is "love your neighbor" and then just draws an arrow (vector) and tells you to go do it. There is never a point at which you are able to finally fulfill the commandment to love. You can never say that you have loved enough. In the gospel of Matthew, the supreme example of this is Jesus' own life and death. His obedience and love knew no boundaries.  --by Greg Camp and Laura Roberts

Ted Grimsrud,  in your "God's Healing Strategy"  book suggests:

 "A better way [as opposed to legalistically legislating morality] to approach [the commandments] would be to ask first, 'What does this commandment teach us about God?'...Hence, the point of the commandments is not establishing absolute, impersonal, even coercive rules which must never be violated.  The point rather is that a loving God desires ongoing relationships of care and respect....Paul's interpretation of the Law in Romans 13 makes clear the deepest meaning of the law not as rule-following, but as being open to God's love and finding ways to express that love towards others: 'The commandments..are summed up in this word, Love your neighbor as yourself.'"  (pp. 33-34)

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on the 6 antitheses  (caws studies) of the Sermon on The Mount, I didn't have time to tell my Paraguay stories about:

 "Ever committed adultery, Bob?"
 (oops...) 

will tell next week.

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OK,  below is the backstory of the "LAUGHING BRIDE," which illustrates "building a fence around the Torah":

How do you name the difference in the shift of the 6 antitheses?  What does it feel like Jesus is doing?  He's making the law______:

• harder?
• easier?

Is he making it impossible on purpose? 

Where do you see bounded and/or centered sets in the Sermon on Mount?Is it addressed to a bounded or centered set?  Hmm, see the beginning:

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,  and he began to teach them.

And the end:

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because to them he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

Would you say it's BOTH?   (FUZZY?)

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 What do you remember about the prayer shawl (tallit) and the most important number in the Bible?

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