Later in the service this morning, we will ordain two new deacons, Rick Schumaker and Brendan O’Donnell. Both have gone through a period of apprenticeship with our two deacons, and both have been elected by the congregation. But the ordination is no mere formality. Ordination is not just a symbol of something that has already happened, but an effective action of Jesus Christ. (more…) Read more
Solomon’s temple had windows, but they are mentioned only once, in 1 Kings 6:4. Ezekiel’s description of the visionary temple uses the word “window” twelve times. One can see out of, and look into, Solomon’s temple. From Ezekiel’s temple, Israel can look out the twelve windows to the world, and the temple is opened to the world. This seems new: How strange is it to have the temple wall perforated with windows? Pretty strange, I suspect. Temples are supposed... Read more
The spies at Jericho are released through Rahab’s window. Then David escapes through a window from his wife’s rooms. Saul is the King of Jericho; David will return later to take the city. Then Paul too escapes through a window in a basket. He too is God’s spy, checking out the city prior to a conquest. Read more
The spies at Jericho are released through Rahab’s window. Then David escapes through a window from his wife’s rooms. Saul is the King of Jericho; David will return later to take the city. Then Paul too escapes through a window in a basket. He too is God’s spy, checking out the city prior to a conquest. Read more
Isaiah 35 shares a number of fairly rare terms with Song of Songs 2. Both refer to the crocus or rose (Isaiah 35:1; Song of Songs 2:1). Both have people leaping (Isaiah 35:6; Song of Songs 2:8) and in both the leaping person is compared to a stag (Isaiah 35:6; Song of Songs 2:9). Isaiah 35 prophesies the outbreak of life in the wilderness of Israel that will occur when “they see the glory of Yahweh, the majesty of our... Read more
“Voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes!” says the excited bride in the Song of Songs 2:8. As the older commentators noted, this is redemptive history in a nutshell: First the voice, then the Lover in flesh. So long as the prophets speak, Israel knows that the Lover is coming, just over the hill, leaping on the mountains, ready to draw near to His beloved. Read more
The first verses of Song of Songs 2 repeatedly return to military imagery. The fact that there is a “battle standard” (2:4; cf. Numbers 1:52; 2:2, 3, 10, 17, 18, etc.) over the “house of wine” suggests that the feast is a victory feast as much as a love feast. Perhaps, even, she’s something of a war bride, captured and enthralled to the king. The odd oath of 2:7 plays on military language as well. The strangeness of an oath... Read more
Solid, opaque things cast shadows. Our presence is not confined to the solid and defined outline of our body. Our presence spreads out, casting a shadow and providing shade. That’s the phenomenological basis behind the Bible’s use of shade/shadow imagery. Shadows symbolize protection. Lot invites the angels to enter the “shadow” of his house (Gen 19:8), we come under the shadow of the Lord’s wings, kings are trees or rocks in whose shadow people find refreshment (ironically in Judges 9:15),... Read more
Robert Barron (in an essay in Sacramental Presence in a Postmodern Context ) writes of the “radical non-violence” in Thomas’s theory of casuality and especially of creation: “In any causal relationship between finite things, there is some sort of intrusion of one being upon another, some influence that comes from the outside. And given the mutual exclusivity characteristic of finite reality, this influence, even when gentle, moderate or welcome, involves a kind of rupture or invasion. The act by which... Read more
Eckhart writes, “This image is the Son of the Father and I myself am this image and this image is wisdom.” It is a characteristic formulation: The Son of God is born in believers such that the Son and believer become “identical.” At the same time, Eckhart insists that he is not blurring the Creator-creature distinction. How can this be. In the same sermon, he explains by using the image of a mirror: “Imagine that a mirror is held up... Read more
Leithart
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