{"id":71566,"date":"2019-03-15T00:25:12","date_gmt":"2019-03-15T06:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=71566"},"modified":"2019-03-19T23:08:54","modified_gmt":"2019-03-20T05:08:54","slug":"new-testament-notes-108-111","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/03\/new-testament-notes-108-111.html","title":{"rendered":"New Testament Notes 108-111"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Sea<\/a>
A political map of the Sea of Galilee at roughly the time of Christ<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matthew 11:20-24<\/a><\/p>\n

Luke 10:12-15<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It surprises people to see how small the area is in which the Galilean ministry of Jesus was concentrated:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Magdala, from which Mary Magdalene derived her name, is on the western shore of the lake, and its ruins are still plainly visible today. \u00a0(Whenever we bring a tour group to Israel, we always drive by Magdala two or three times.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Magdala<\/a>
The so-called \u201cMagdala Stone\u201d \u00a0\u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bethsaida, possibly the birthplace of the apostle Peter, is at the north, while Chorazin and Capernaum are in between.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Really big stories don\u2019t necessarily require really big areas in which to take place.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

We should all remember this, as we create our own stories.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Verrocchio, \"Baptism of Christ\"<\/a>
\u201cThe Baptism of Christ,\u201d by Andrea del Verrocchio (1472). Note the presence not only of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (represented by the dove), but of the Father, whose two hands appear at the top of the painting. \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matthew 11:25-27<\/a><\/p>\n

Luke 10:21-22<\/a><\/p>\n

Compare John 3:35; 7:29; 10:14-15; 13:3; 17:2, 25<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I understand that orthodox Nicene Trinitarians can read these verses without seeing a contradiction of their notion of a Triune God. \u00a0But, seriously, it seems to me that the Latter-day Saint understanding of the Father and the Son as two distinct divine personages (rather than as two persons within a single metaphysical \u201csubstance,\u201d whatever that might actually mean) is far and away the more natural way to read it (and many other such passages).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
Jesus as the Good Shepherd (from the third century AD crypt of Lucina, in the Roman catacomb of Domatilla \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matthew 11:28-30<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

These are three of the most pleasant and reassuring verses in the gospels.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perhaps something of the nature of the \u201clearning\u201d that Jesus wants us to receive from him (\u201clearn from me\u201d) can be discerned in the fact that the Greek imperative verb \u201clearn!\u201d used here (mathete<\/em>\/\u03bc\u03ac\u03b8\u03b5\u03c4\u03b5<\/span>) derives from the same root as the Greek word \u201cdisciples\u201d (mathetai<\/em>\/\u03bc\u03b1\u03b8\u03b7\u03c4\u03b1\u1f76<\/span>), as in Matthew 12:1, which follows immediately.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Israeli<\/a>
A field of grain in Israel \u00a0 \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Matthew 12:1-8<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark 2:23-28<\/a><\/p>\n

Luke 6:1-5<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Latter-day Saints take the concept of the Sabbath very seriously, though I sometimes think that we can easily clutter it up far too much and often do so.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But we don\u2019t make a fetish of it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

For that matter, I might add, neither do many Orthodox Jews, whose punctilious observance of the Sabbath some non-Jews like to mock as merely formal and legalistic. \u00a0Such mockery is unfair. \u00a0I\u2019ve seen examples of passionate Jewish love for the Sabbath that have moved me, and from which we Latter-day Saints could learn a great deal.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 claim, in these passages, to be \u201clord of the Sabbath\u201d is extremely important, as is his statement, preserved in Mark, that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The teachings of the Gospel don\u2019t exist for their own sake. \u00a0They exist for the sake of God\u2019s children.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor behold,\u201d the Lord has said, \u201cthis is my\u00a0work\u00a0and my\u00a0glory\u2014to bring to pass the\u00a0immortality\u00a0and\u00a0eternal\u00a0life\u00a0of man\u201d (Moses 1:39). \u00a0\u201cI am come that they might have life,\u201d Jesus declared, \u201cand that they might have\u00a0<\/span>it\u00a0more abundantly\u201d (John 10:10).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Matthew 11:20-24 Luke 10:12-15 \u00a0 It surprises people to see how small the area is in which the Galilean ministry of Jesus was concentrated: \u00a0 Magdala, from which Mary Magdalene derived her name, is on the western shore of the lake, and its ruins are still plainly visible today. \u00a0(Whenever we bring a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3844,3502,3325,4285,2625,3007,3499,1851,1848],"class_list":["post-71566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christian-discipleship","tag-discipleship","tag-galilee","tag-magdala","tag-new-testament","tag-new-testament-commentary","tag-sabbath","tag-trinitarianism","tag-trinity"],"yoast_head":"\nNew Testament Notes 108-111<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    Matthew 11:20-24 Luke 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