Turning the cheek

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:50 pm By Peter Leithart

In his book Reading Matthew , David Garland discusses the significance of “turning the other cheek”: “W. Wink argues that the issue for Jesus is not simply resistance or surrender but what kind of resistance. He claims that turning the other cheek is a third way, which he labels ‘nonviolent direct action,’ a ‘practical, strategic measure for empowering the oppressed.’ By turning the other cheek, for example, the victim ‘robs the oppressor of his power to humiliate.’ The oppressor must... Read more

Taking and Partaking

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:56 pm By Peter Leithart

“Partake” is a fuzzily Platonic word, but we pierce the fuzziness a bit by contrasting “partake” to “take.” When we “take” something, it’s no longer with the one we took it from; it’s with us. Tim Duncan might take a rebound away from an opposing player, or a child might take a toy from his sister. Taking means exchange. Partaking happens when something can be taken without being lost by the takee. We can partake of someone’s words because he... Read more

Sermon outline, Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:01 am By Peter Leithart

INTRODUCTION John concludes his epistle by encouraging his reader to have confidence in prayer, but warning them about sins leading to death. These final instructions are part of his overall purpose in the letter, to confirm that the Son of God has come and that He brings life (v. 20). THE TEXT “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that... Read more

Eucharistic meditation, Fifth Sunday After Epiphany

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:39 pm By Peter Leithart

1 John 5: For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are one. John’s language in this verse is a little different from most English translations. The last clause is usually translated, “the three are one” or “the three are in agreement,” but in the Greek there’s a preposition before “one” – “the three are to one” or “toward one” or “unto one.” The last part does not say that... Read more

Exhortation, Fifth Sunday after Epiphany

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:40 pm By Peter Leithart

In the gospel of John, Jesus says that the Father bears witness by giving Jesus works to do (5:36). The Father also bears witness through declaring Jesus His Son at Jesus’ baptism. Finally, the Father bears witness of Jesus by raising Him from the dead. If you saw Jesus perform a miracle, you would see God bearing witness to the Son. If you had been present at Jesus’ baptism and heard the voice from heaven, you would hear the Father... Read more

The Faith of Jesus

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:56 pm By Peter Leithart

Did Jesus exercise faith? Yes. That is inexplicably controversial today. Among many other indications that Jesus exercised surpassing faith, the account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness stands out. Eat bread, Satan says. Man lives by the Word of God, not by bread alone, Jesus answers, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3. In the original setting of this quotation, Moses was exhorting Israel to trust Yahweh when they entered the land. Jesus refuses to eat because He does what Israel didn’t do –... Read more

Democratized sociology

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 10:53 pm By Peter Leithart

Sociologists have known for a long time about the social constraints on knowledge, ethics, beliefs. It’s the sociologist’s stock in trade. What we have witnessed in the past couple of decades is the democratization of sociology. Now everyone’s a sociologist, and even, unlike some obfuscating sociologists, turns sociology back on himself to become self-conscious of the social conditions of his own beliefs. Hence our shyness about stating beliefs; even the most obvious observations tremble before the recognition that we observe... Read more

Three into the one

Last updated on: September 6, 2017 at 11:51 pm By Peter Leithart

Brown makes the interesting observation that the phrase at the end of 1 John 5:8 is not “the three are one” but “the three are into one” (Greek, eis to hen ). Spirit, water, and blood are not quite a united witness but three witnesses tending toward one end, one conclusion. They are witnesses “toward” or “into” the one. This could be an eschatological reference – the three are eschatologically united. Or, it could be an ecclesiological reference, similar to... Read more

Outpoured Spirit

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:05 am By Peter Leithart

Raymond Brown helpfully observes, “For the Christian the life-giving moment of the Spirit was not simply the descent of the Spirit upon Jesus in the form of a dove, but the Spirit flowing from within Jesus after his death. And the flowing blood, the sign of the sacrificial victim, showed that Jesus’ death was an atoning sacrifice for sin.” If Jesus is just a container of Spirit, the life He has remains His alone. He has to be opened up,... Read more

New Creation

Last updated on: September 7, 2017 at 12:09 am By Peter Leithart

Spirit and water are the agents of the first creation. Jesus doesn’t come that way. He doesn’t come by water only. Neither did renewal under the law. Cleansing came by water baths and also by shedding and distributing blood. Neither does the church. It doesn’t grow by water only, but by water and blood, when the witness of the Spirit at the water is confirmed by the witness of the Spirit of the martyrs. Creation comes by water. New creation... Read more