The portrait of God as judge is not one that
sits altogether well among many modern Christ-followers, yet this image is at
the heart of several portraits about God in the Old Testament. . .
Our benefit is that Christ serves as a
proactive mediator who not only summons wayward sheep back to him, but seeks
them out from their recesses of sinful choices and confusing chaos. – Thomas
Boone
Luke 15:1-10
The whole of chapter 15 is about God's joy at
the restoration of the lost. Luke indicates that Jesus told these stories in
response to complaints regarding his practice of welcoming those outside the
purity system, the tax collectors and sinners. . .
One must marvel at the audacity of Jesus'
choice of images. The parables ask the listeners to identify with a shepherd
and a woman, yet shepherds were regarded as dishonest and unclean, while women
were regarded as inferior and unreliable. When Jesus asked, “Which one of you,
having a hundred sheep,” surely the answer was, “We're not shepherds. Shepherds
are dishonest and unclean.” And when Jesus asked about leaving the ninety-nine
in the wilderness to go in search of the missing one, the listeners must have
wondered about the recklessness of leaving the ninety-nine. Likewise, when
Jesus asked about the woman, his listeners would certainly have resisted
identifying with her. The twist for both stories comes at the end. By linking
the rejoicing of God with the rejoicing of the shepherd and the woman, Jesus
has called into question the purity distinctions that gave religious sanction
to social prejudice. – Aaron J. Couch
Exodus 32:7-14
Speculation
abounds on the relationship between this story and the account of King
Jeroboam's golden calves in the royal sanctuaries of Bethel and Dan (1 Kings
12:25–33). It is not difficult to imagine that this story was created in
Jerusalem as a reaction against the competing sanctuaries in the north. The
calf seems to be identified with the LORD, to some extent, in that it is referred to as the gods who brought the
people out of Egypt. It is likely that, consistent with ancient Canaanite
religious symbolism, the calf itself was imagined as a throne for the invisible
gods. – Aaron J. Couch
1 Timothy 1:12-17
The
post-Pauline author offers Paul as an example of one who has received God's
great mercy. Paul has been chosen to serve God, even though he was formerly the
worst of sinners. The author's rhetorical skills are a joy to observe.
Describing how Paul received mercy, the author offers two different reasons.
God showed mercy because Paul acted ignorantly (v 13) and because Paul's
formerly wicked life serves as an indication of the expansive greatness of
God's patience and goodness (v 16). These two reasons are not truly
complementary, since the first suggests a lack of moral culpability, while the
second requires it. In between the two reasons for God's mercy, the author
calls to the reader's memory a creedal affirmation: “Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners.” The rhetorical effect of this affirmation is to
underscore and accentuate and highlight the breathtaking greatness of God's
generosity and mercy. – Aaron J. Couch
Aaron Couch
is a co-pastor of First Immanuel Lutheran Church in Portland, Oregon.
Thomas Boone is Transitional Pastor at
Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Marietta, Georgia. His PhD from Loyola
University of Chicago, focussed on Johannine literature.
Homily
Service 40, no. 10 (2007): 30-40.
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