Author Archives: snoh3@uoregon.edu

Noh, Team 6, Question 2, 5/31

Posted on by under thomas

Although the Gospel of Thomas had access to the Q source just like a few of the canonized gospel books did, it is not one of the four canonical gospels in the Bible (and was not canonized at all). Yet the Gospel of Thomas still provides an in-depth insight into early Christian communities and more specifically into the life and specific sayings of Jesus. White argues that Didymus Judas Thomas (Jesus’ twin brother) was explicitly attributed the authorship of The Gospel of Thomas. Didymus Judas Thomas can be translated into English as “Twin Judas Twin.” Thomas approaches Jesus’s identity in a more heavenly, spiritual, holy, and wisdom engraved type of way, which is much different from the divine man who is portrayed in aretologies within the first three synoptic gospels. Although inherently counteracting each other’s beliefs and theology, the Gospel of Thomas draws similarities to the book of John which helps readers to draw insights about the more spiritual and abstract aspects of Jesus. And after reading about Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas, it is also important realize that there are no mentions of birth narratives, miracle stories, and travel chronicles. In addition, some of the most significant things that notably missing from the Gospel of Thomas is any mention of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Based off the chapters (1, 13, 17, 28, 38, 52, 59, 77, 90, 108) Jesus is not being portrayed as a suffering messiah but rather as a wisdom-loving sage who is extremely strict and secretive towards his disciples because they “have disregarded the living one who is in your presence, and have spoken of the dead” (Thomas 52).

The collections of Jesus sayings and dialogue with his disciples were complicated and hard to follow and comprehend at times, but it eventually paved the way to create an image of Jesus as a heavenly being who could only be understood at a level much above humanity. Jesus urges the importance of understanding his sayings in order to gain eternal life. In verse one of the sayings, Jesus says that “Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death” (Thomas 1). Thomas sets up the gospel with having Jesus inform his followers that the words of Jesus have the key to eternal life. What Jesus says is truth, and ultimately the law of the kingdom. Understanding what Jesus says, and emulating his words and ways by how one lives their life is ultimately the key into the kingdom of heaven. And in verse two, Jesus explains what it takes to “reign over all.” Jesus explicitly says that “those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all” (Thomas 2).

Jesus speaks to his disciples as if he were a prophet (specifically in verses 13 and 17). Jesus has come to lead and usher the new age. And in the new age, the old things and those who have passed away are not relevant. Jesus is a figure that puts forth optimism to looking ahead and living life on earth following the instructions of the heavenly kingdom, which Jesus as messenger delivers. Jesus is a prophet and a messenger, here and now. He corrects his disciples and makes clear that he is omnipresent. Thomas chooses to make Jesus an approachable messenger when he integrates Jesus as gentle and someone in whom one can take rest, in addition to Jesus’s divinity. Jesus’s suffering and death is not mentioned in Thomas, instead, Thomas chooses to focus on the relationship that Jesus has into the eternal life and how in which to make life on earth one full of discipleship and love that most closely mirrors that of the divine and heavenly kingdom which Jesus portrays as the ultimate goal and idea of perfection.

Thomas portrays that the kingdom of heaven is a part of each of Jesus’s followers by nature and through the faith they gain and spread to new followers, with Jesus explicitly saying that “the kingdom is within you and it is outside you” (Thomas 3). The actual physical human condition is not what Jesus and the kingdom of heaven is concerned about. The human condition, as well as the earthly world is drunk and flawed within these sayings, as even nursing babies are within means of reaching the kingdom of heaven (Thomas 22). But when questions regarding the physicality and actions of humans are revealed, Jesus talks about the flaws of humanity for as a way of concentrating and placing strict laws on the human condition. Regardless, it is obvious that Jesus cares much more for the souls of humanity. The disciples ask Jesus in verse 53, “‘is circumcision useful or not?’”, (Thomas 53) in which Jesus responds, “‘If it were useful, their father would produce children already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become profitable in every respect’” (Thomas 53). Over and over, throughout the sayings with the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus clearly disregards and takes the focus away from human and worldly things and puts it on the character of Jesus, the spirit and understanding of an individual. This is what truly makes an individual most like the image of Christ and kingdom of heaven. There is less importance on what someone eats or wears or does to his physical body. In addition, entering the kingdom of heaven according to Christ depends on an understanding of one’s own spiritual heart and relationship with Jesus. The earthly world and all its worries about the physical body, riches, and material possessions are intrinsically flawed; concluding that the only way to be obedient and Christ-like is to put all efforts on the spirit and finding your identity in Christ.

Thomas presents the exclusiveness of Jesus’ teaching to his insiders. The disciples know more than most due to their relationship with Christ and Christ makes it clear that “I am not your teacher. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring that I have tended” (Thomas 13). In addition, the following part of verse 13 makes it clear (through Thomas) that any secret revealed is not to be shared. Jesus reveals to his closest followers the keys and insights to achieve a place in the kingdom of heaven and to be reunited with Jesus again. This idea is also supported in verse 108 when Jesus says that “whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him” (Thomas 108). Jesus implicitly makes it clear that those who are closest to him and listening to his teachings will become like him. And this would lead to gaining the knowledge of Jesus and gaining a spot in the kingdom of heaven just like Jesus.

White seems to paint the picture that Thomas is developing a form of Christianity that seems to go hand in hand to that of asceticism. This particular form of Christianity that is developed in the Gospel of Thomas appeals directly to the nature driven and overall spiritual individual. It could also be desirable to an individual and/or community that greatly lack physical/material possessions. In addition, it was probably an attraction and light of hope to those who doubted Jesus or lost faith post-crucifixion. Thomas and his representation of Jesus seem to extend the divine kingdom to anyone who can fully understand and articulate the words of Christ. The physical body and identity has no significance or value in these Jesus sayings. It is solely the role of the human soul and spiritual relationship with Jesus, God the Father, and the people on earth.

Team 6, Question 2, 5/12

Posted on by under mark

Looking from the scope of Mark noting that Jesus gave his disciples special instructions not available to outsiders and the struggle to comprehend Jesus’ instructions, Mark 4:41 shows the disciples lack of faith in times of adversity (in this case it was the windstorm and uncontrollable waves) but also how they strengthened their faith in Jesus’ because of his amazing ability to control the sea, which was a divine characteristic (cf. Psalm 89:25). As for Mark 6:12-13, it seems that the disciples finally understood Jesus’ message of emphasizing repentance and being born again. Jesus commands his disciples to take a staff and wear sandals.  This may imply the length of their journey. Dependence on hosts would be important in each Gospel strategy, and in the Markan missionary plan the disciples were prepared. The disciples were to continue the Jesus movement in households.  This was not unanticipated, in light of Jesus’ own successful activity in the homes surrounding Galilee. The disciples, clueless in several earlier stories, apparently understood enough to carry out this mission effectively. However, once again in Mark 6:51-52, the disciples appear to lack faith in Jesus. They did not understand how Jesus fed 5000 people with simply five loaves of bread, meaning they did not understand who Jesus was and his miracle. Jesus also gets onto a boat in verse 51 following the feeding of the 5000; the wind stops, and once again (as seen in earlier passages in Mark), the disciples are amazed, showing a lack of faith. But on top of that, the disciples hearts are hardened, which is something that is done to enemies in the Old Testament (Ex. 7:3, Deut. 2:30, Josh 11:20, 1 Sam 6:6). And Mark 7:17-18, the disciples ask Jesus because they are unable to comprehend his parable in the previous verses. Jesus explains the parable in similar terms, showing that the disciples initially did not understand Jesus’ message through the parable.

In Mark 8:14-21, the disciples worry about only having one loaf of bread, even after seeing the 5000 being fed with five loaves of bread and the 4000 with seven loaves of bread. The disciples misunderstand Jesus’ message of having divine attributes and lack faith despite being in middle of many miracles done through Jesus. Now in Mark 8:33, we see that Peter rebukes Jesus about having to be killed, and in turn Jesus rebukes Peter for his misunderstanding and not seeing God’s purpose for human beings as opposed to human beings purpose for themselves. Jesus’ message is to show that he will be a martyr-messiah and Peter fails to see this, showing no understanding of Jesus’ message. Mark 9:32 shows that the misunderstanding Peter had in 8:33, is still a misunderstanding that is present in all the disciples. Jesus teaches (once again) that the Son of Man will be killed and rise again, yet the disciples still do not understand that Jesus is the greatest man and will be a martyr-messiah. In Mark 10:35-40, James and John request privileged places of high authority in seats at Jesus’ right and left. By doing this, they have shown that they missed everything Jesus has said and done because they are conspiring to capitalize on Jesus’ royalty and glory. The disciples do not see that Jesus’ message and movement is the exact opposite of seeking out position and power. Jesus’ message and movement is about leaders taking on the role of servants in the same way that Jesus’s martyrdom will be a ransom of many. Mark 14:50 shows explicitly that the disciples had little faith in Jesus (following his arrest) in times of adversity and conflict, showing that they had no understanding of Jesus’ teachings and purpose to be a martyr-messiah. Finally, Mark 14:66-72 is probably the greatest example of Peter (representing the disciples as a whole) lacking faith and understanding about who Jesus really is. Three times, not twice, not once, but three times Peter denied knowing Jesus to the point where he cursed and swore an oath. Despite seeing Jesus perform miracles and hearing his teachings, the disciples still did not have an idea of who Jesus really was and his messages for them.

Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus), a blind man, hears that Jesus is coming by and cries out to Jesus with persistence despite many telling him to stay quiet. Jesus calls the blind man to come to him and then asks what the blind man needs. The blind responds “My teacher, let me see again” (NRSV Mark 10:51). Jesus responds to him and says that his faith has made him well, and immediately the blind man is healed and follows Jesus. This story of Bartimaeus is completely different from stories with Jesus’ disciples because Bartimaeus believes the power and authority that Jesus has, and he fully understands that Jesus is the Son of God. The disciples were side by side with Jesus, hearing all of his teachings, yet could still not understand that Jesus was the Son of God. The disciples also had seen Jesus perform many miracles, yet even after seeing the miraculous deeds they did not have faith in Jesus and did not understand his power. The blind man did not need sight to see who Jesus really. The unnamed woman in Mark 14:3-9 pours a costly ointment on Jesus’ head. Anointing Jesus’ head with oil showed that the woman not only had faith in Jesus, but that she knew he was the messiah. She also appears to be doing this (verse 8) for preparing Jesus for his burial. The woman understood that Jesus was a martyr-messiah, something not even the disciples understood. The disciples were ignorant to this fact to the point where they got angry at the woman for pouring such expensive ointment on Jesus. But even when the disciples troubled, the woman showed persistence and persevered through faith. This woman is completely different from the disciples because the disciples would lose their faith in the time of hardship and persecution.

In the parable of the sower (4:4:3-9, 13-20), Jesus creates a parable that shows the process and results of spreading the Word to the masses. Jesus says that the seed sown is the Word of God. I would put the disciples in the category of those people who land on the rocky soil. The description of those who land on rocky grounds seen in verse 16-17, says that “the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away” (NRSV Mark 4:16-17). This description is fitting for the disciples. They admire and receive Jesus’ teachings with joy and follow him but only when everything is going well and their safety is in check. But when it comes to strong faith and fighting through persecution and hardship, the disciples fall away from Jesus, like when the disciples flee at Jesus’ arrest or when Peter denies Christ three times. The disciples endure only until their faith is tested. And much different from the 12 disciples, Bartimaeus and the unnamed woman would probably be put in the category of being sown on good soil because they “hear the word and accept it and bear fruit” (Mark 4:20 NRSV). Bartimaeus and the unnamed woman both realized that Jesus is the Son of God, a martyr-messiah, and believed in his ability and power to perform miraculous deeds. And even though their faith is tested through difficulties (such as blindness) and persecution (being verbally abused by Jesus’ disciples), they stay strong with their foundation and maintain their full faith in Jesus.

Discipleship for Mark seems to entail a combination of understanding who Jesus really is, giving up their life for Jesus, seeking to hear and understand Jesus’ teachings, and living out his teachings in spite of persecution and hardship. But none of this meant that a disciple of Jesus had to copy and live out Jesus’ teachings and actions perfectly. But the disciples all lacked faith in times of persecution and conflict. To Mark, Bartimaeus and the unnamed woman seem to be great examples of what it takes to be a disciple of Jesus. They showed understanding of who Jesus was and his teachings, as well as preserving through their faith being tested. Jesus’ 12 disciples were too caught up in the traditional laws from Judaism society and the Judaic idea of what it meant to be messiah. The Judaic law and messiah was different then Jesus and his teachings because Jesus called all kinds of people to follow him, whether that was broken, sick or poor people, no restrictions. But the clear thing was that Jesus said “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34 NRSV). The NIV translation uses the word “disciple” instead of “followers.” So anyone who wanted to be a true disciple of Jesus had to rebuke themselves, turn from their selfish ways and then follow Jesus to understand more about him and learn from his teachings.

Team 6, Question 3 (4/19)

Posted on by under oral tradition

1 Thessalonians was a book in the Bible that was written by Paul and intended for the church of the Thessalonians as a thanksgiving for the Thessalonians’ faith and their example of transformed lives in Christ. Specifically focusing on verse 9 and 10, where it says “9 For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, 10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10, NRSV). Analyzing verse 9, it appears that third parties from other areas had told Paul about the effects of the gospel-centered team in Thessalonica. The verse is also emphasizing how Paul’s gospel-centered team moved into Thessalonica with such impact, impact to the point where the Thessalonians had caught on to the fire and passion of Paul’s team that they turned from their idols and began to live transformed lives in serving the one and only God. Verse 10 goes on to talk about Jesus, his resurrection, and his ability to rescue those from the wrath that is soon to come. So from these two verses, it seems evident that the core message is to put emphasis on the truth that Jesus was in fact resurrected from the grave by God, and those who believe in Him will be rescued from wrath (not specifically mentioned as to what the wrath is but perhaps a reference to the end times and/or trials and tribulations). The book of Philippians is a book of letters that Paul is writing to the Philippians. Specifically looking at Chapter 2:5-11, we can see that Paul writes about Jesus Christ, saying that he was in the form of God but humbled himself, taking on the life of a human slave where he sacrificed himself for the world, eventually being exalted by God and rightly deserving and receiving glory by being worshiped by everyone on earth. So it appears that the core message of this passage is (specifically meant for the Philippians) to imitate Jesus’s model of humility, realizing that Jesus went out of his way to give up all his “rights” for God and offered himself as a living sacrifice in human form, being crucified, but in the end, being exalted and rightly deserving of everyone’s worship and praise.

Crucifixion was an absolutely shameful and disgraceful way to die.  The Romans would use it on slaves and foreigners, not on their own citizens.  The Jews regarded crucifixion as a curse, believing that victims of crucifixion were cut off from their connection with God as seen in Deuteronomy 21:23 when it says “23 his corpse must not remain all night upon the tree; you shall bury him that same day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the Lord your God is giving you for possession” (Deuteronomy 21:23, NRSV). So the Christ hymn can be seen as describing Christ’s humiliation, degradation and alienation to an extreme and disgraceful extent in regards to Jewish scriptures. Jesus’ obedience meant that he never went outside of God’s will.  Jesus never eased his situation with his own divine abilities.  Jesus remained humble and obedient to death – even crucifixion. For the Romans at Philippi, Philippians 2:8 would have made a profound and almost incomprehensible statement. This is because cultural ideas of divinity found in the Greco-Roman world considered honor, glory and pride as valuable virtues. Shame and humility was seen as a despised weakness.  The humility and obedience that the New Testament teaches, specifically in the Christ hymn, would have been a completely counter-cultural concept for the Philippian Christians. Furthermore, the word, “Lord,” used throughout the New Testament in reference to Jesus and also specifically in the Christ Hymn, was used in the Greek Old Testament as referring to Yahweh. Jesus is Yahweh, with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  These three are the one true God, affirming the Trinity. And according to White, the Christ Hymn reflects early engagement with the Jewish scriptures and draws upon cultural ideas of divinity found in the Greco-Roman world by “calling Jesus ‘Lord’ here in the hymn as a reference to his exalted heavenly status was itself a Pauline adaptation based on another allusion to scripture, specifically Isaiah 45:23, as paraphrased in the last stanza of the hymn” (White 121).

In light of the fact that Jesus’ death was problematic for his followers because they had to work hard to convince people that his death was a positive event rather than a negative one, the Christ hymn probably served as a powerful and positive message for those who had negative views on Jesus’ death. The Christ hymn showed that Jesus’ death and crucifixion was intentional and used as a way to show how he humbled himself and died on the cross as a service to God, and how it eventually led to a reward for his service. The reward was that God exalted him “to a superior position (in heaven) and gave him the confessional title ‘Lord’” (White 121). So the Christ hymn served a great service to the Christian community in showing Jesus as Messiah, his ability to show humility, his free choice to die on a cross, and his reward to glory through God, who highly exalted him and graced him to the name Lord. This ultimately helped show that Jesus’ death was in fact a positive event and not a negative one.

Paul addresses his Thessalonian community (Thessalonians 4:13-18) in the time of mourning a death of a community member. The community is fearful that those who pass away before the end times will not able to be a part of the kingdom of God because they were not on Earth at the time of the apocalypse. But Paul addresses this fear and reassures the community by relating Jesus’ resurrection story and the ability of God to take those who have already died with him to the kingdom of heaven. In addition, Paul talks about how the dead will rise first, and will not be forgotten when it is time to join the kingdom of God. This teaching was important for the early followers of Jesus because it gave the assurance of life after death and decreased fear in the midst of death because of the promise of a reunion with Christ regardless of whether someone died before the end times. Paul urged that everyone in the community who had heard his message to encourage others with this truth.

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