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Bible Readings for Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

– The Week of The Second Sunday of Advent *Click on each bible passage to expand the text. Psalm 27 1. The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?

2. When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.

3. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.

4. One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.

5. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.

6. Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord.

7. Hear my voice when I call, O Lord; be merciful to me and answer me.

8. My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.

9. Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior.

10. Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.

11. Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.

12. Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence.

13. I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

14. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Malachi 2:10—3:1 Malachi 2 10. Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another?11. Judah has broken faith. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves, by marrying the daughter of a foreign god. 12. As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord cut him off from the tents of Jacob—even though he brings offerings to the Lord Almighty. 13. Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer pays attention to your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. 14. You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. 15. Has not [the Lord] made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring.e So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. 16. “I hate divorce,” says the Lord God of Israel, “and I hate a man’s covering himself with violence as well as with his garment,” says the Lord Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith. 17. You have wearied the Lord with your words.

“How have we wearied him?” you ask.

By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?” Malachi 3 1. “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. Luke 1:5-17 5. In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. 7. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years. 8. Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9. he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. 11. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. 14. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15. for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. 16. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. 17. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. – Psalm 27:4

“See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. – Malachi 3:1

“And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” – Luke 1:17

A Holy Messenger, Set Apart

John the Baptist was really something special: heralded by angels, born to a barren old woman, and holy from birth. Most interestingly, he was declared a permanent Nazirite (consecrated one) from birth by God, which is unique to only John the Baptist and the Old Testament’s Samson (Judges 13:2-7). Whereas most Nazirite vows lasted for a finite period of time, usually 30 days or more, John and Samson’s were permanent. One could argue that by default that Yeshua was also a Nazirite (consecrated one) at birth, yet his affinity for wine was rather infamous (Mt 11:19), so he could not have been a true Nazirite (which is often confused with a Nazarene, or one who is from Nazareth).

A Nazirite is a man or woman who voluntary takes upon themselves the special vows of consecration, to become on of God’s “separated”:

Numbers 6 1. The Lord said to Moses, 2. “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man or woman wants to make a special vow, a vow of separation to the Lord as a Nazirite, 3. he must abstain from wine and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar made from wine or from other fermented drink. He must not drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins. 4. As long as he is a Nazirite, he must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins. 5. “‘During the entire period of his vow of separation no razor may be used on his head. He must be holy until the period of his separation to the Lord is over; he must let the hair of his head grow long. 6. Throughout the period of his separation to the Lord he must not go near a dead body. 7. Even if his own father or mother or brother or sister dies, he must not make himself ceremonially unclean on account of them, because the symbol of his separation to God is on his head. 8. Throughout the period of his separation he is consecrated to the Lord.

Then there’s the shocking revelation from the Angel of the Lord to Zechariah that John the Baptist “…will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth“. While Yeshua, the Word made flesh, may have been conceived by the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit did not actually descend upon him and fill him until his baptism at the hands of John!

Luke 3 21. When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22. and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

The Criterion of Embarrassment

And so we are now introduced to The Criterion of Embarrassment, which is a fascinating argument for authenticity and consists of this simple proposition:

The Gospel authors were writing about their hero, Jesus. The criterion of embarrassment posits that any material that seems embarrassing to the evangelists or the early church is likely to be authentic. The reasoning being; Why would the evangelists create material that was problematic to them? Why create their own embarrassment? The rationale here is obvious. Embarrassing material was retained because it was firmly embedded tradition. -Vincent Sapone, “The Embarrassment Criterion and Jesus’ Baptism”

Why would the Gospels include these exceedingly problematic details?

John the Baptist’s birth was heralded by the Angel of the Lord, just like Yeshua’s.

Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John the Baptist was a miraculous one, just as improbable as Mary’s: one a barren old woman, the latter a virgin.

John the Baptist was born first, before Yeshua. In ancient society, as cousins, he would be the senior male between the two of them.

John the Baptist was born filled with the Holy Spirit. Yeshua did not receive the Spirit of God until his baptism.

In order to fulfill all righteousness (to attain “holiness”, Mt 3:15), Yeshua had to baptized by John, which implies John had more authority.

Yeshua proclaims that John the Baptist is “greatest amongst men born of a woman”… which includes Yeshua himself, who was born of Mary (Mt 11:11).

John’s ministry was clearly more popular than Yeshua’s for a long time, evidenced by the fact that Yeshua was often mistaken for John the Baptist by the public (Mk 8:27-28)

The Criterion of Embarassment argues that these details must be rooted in some kind of historical fact because what writer would purposefully include such confusing and complicating details about what is tantamount to a rival to Yeshua’s authority? I find this to be a very compelling and fascinating argument that these details are rooted in historical truth, personally.

What The Baptist Means to Us

Some accuse me of making humans “too close to divine”, of ignoring our sinful nature as fallen creatures: embarassing to God, and desperately in need of Grace.

When I argue for the power of human agency, and how our choices and actions are the only means of our physical salvation in the now, of the future of this planet, the redemption of our way of life and the key to the Kingdom of God, they cry, “But, we are unable to save ourselves!”

I say they are wrong: it is by the Grace of God, it is by the providence of God, and the power of the Spirit, that we are capable of all things, even greater things that John the Baptist or even Yeshua: preparing the way of the Kingdom, leveling the inequity, planting the seeds of compassion, instilling the Law of Love in the hearts of all humankind, and ushering in the Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven. As given to us in example by John the Baptist, and the Son of God, Yeshua the Anointed: