John Shearman's
 Liberal Lectionary Analysis

Rev. John Shearman

 INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE

[A more complete analysis follows this brief summary for church bulletins.]

ACTS 1:1-11 The author of the Acts of the Apostles, traditionally believed to have been Luke, intended his work to be the completion of the story he had to tell. The main character, however, was not Jesus but the Holy Spirit. In order for the narrative to continue, the hero of the gospel had to leave the scene.

Not fully understanding the messianic message, the disciples wanted to know what lay ahead. Jesus had to repeat his counsel that the future was known only to God. Their role was to wait for gift of the Spirit and to be witnesses to what they had seen and heard while he had been with them. They stand amazed as the risen Christ ascends to the clouds symbolizing his sovereignty.

PSALM 47 or PSALM 93 Both of these psalms came from a small collection celebrating the sovereignty of God. They were probably used at the annual celebration of the enthronement of God as Israel’s true monarch.

EPHESIANS 1:15-23 This is the heart of a typical Hebrew berakah, or celebratory prayer of praise and thanksgiving. Here Paul, or some other author writing in his name, celebrates the sovereignty of God represented by the redemptive work of Christ.

LUKE 24:44-53 Jesus’ final appearance to his disciples included a slightly different account of the ascension. Before leaving, he taught them how the Jewish scriptures told of his messianic mission for which he now commissioned them. Before beginning their witness, they were to await the gift of the Spirit.

ACTS 1:1-11 As the first paragraph points out, the author of the Acts of Apostles intended his work to be the completion of the story he had to tell. The main character, however, was not Jesus of Nazareth, as in the Gospel of Luke, but the Holy Spirit. In order for the narrative to continue, the hero of the gospel had to leave the scene.

It should be noted, however, that the details in this passage differ from those in the concluding paragraph of the gospel. In the latter instance, the departure took place immediately after Jesus’ final appearance. In this instance, there have been many appearances over a period of forty days. According to this narrative, the apostles had to wait several more days before being baptized by the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ instructions to wait in Jerusalem until they received the Spirit provided the necessary linkage between the two versions.

Ever wishing to know what lay ahead and still thinking in earthly terms, the disciples asked if this was the time for the restoration of the Israel’s kingdom. The messianic message had still not fully dawned on them. So Jesus had to repeat his counsel that the future was known only to God. Their role was to receive the Spirit and to be witnesses to what they had seen and heard while he had been with them.

In vss. 7-8, Jesus further stated the inclusive, universal nature of their mission. As Galileans, most of the apostles would have recognized this when he named Samaria. But the hyperbole "to the ends of the earth" would have been stretching their minds to a considerable extent. Are we fully aware even yet of what that commission means? Does it mean merely telling of Jesus and preaching the gospel in distant lands? That was the evangelical goal at the beginning of the 20th century when the slogan (winning the world for Christ in this century) was bruited throughout North America. We definitely failed to do that, didn’t we? So what does the mission look like now that our missionary evangelism, widely condemned as religious imperialism, has brought about a resurgence of other traditions of faith?

As in these opening paragraphs of Acts, this is no time for standing gazing at the clouds. We have work to do between the ascension of Christ and his promised return. Of this we can be certain, this incident is all the assurance we need that Jesus Christ is sovereign Lord over all.

PSALM 47 This psalm is often included with Pss. 93, and 96-98 as Psalms of Yahweh’s Enthronement. Just as in the Babylonian liturgy, the god Marduk was installed to exercise dominion over the nations at the beginning of the new year, so also post-exilic Israel adopted a similar liturgical celebration for the new year’s festival.

The psalmist celebrates the sovereignty of Yahweh over all nations, but supremely over Israel whom Yahweh loves. The opening verse summons all peoples to join Israel in rejoicing. This has been interpreted as a triumphal song of victory over the Canaanite gods whom Yahweh displaced after the conquest of the land by the Israelites. The supreme Canaanite god, Ras Shamra, also received the distinction of being called the Most High. The term quickly became a significant designation for Yahweh in the Israelite ideology.

In vs. 5-7, the image of Yahweh "going up" amid a fanfare of trumpets described a procession of Yahweh as represented by the monarch amid enthusiastic applause of the multitude. The pageantry of the coronation of the British monarchy follows a very similar pattern. The monarchs and heads of state of the world’s many nations gathered when Elizabeth II was crowned in 1953. More recently, we have seen heads of many states gather for the funerals of national figures like King Hussein of Jordan, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, and Presidents of the United States of America.

The last image of vs. 9, the shields of the earth, symbolizes the role of monarchs as the protectors of their people. In like manner, the psalmist claims that those shields for Yahweh, Sovereign above all others.

PSALM 93 (Alternate) This psalm belongs to the same group of enthronement psalms identified by the early 20th century German scholar Mowinckle. The idea of the kingship attributed to the chief god had a long and well established history in other near Eastern traditions. The New Year festival of enthronement provided a necessary reiteration of this myth. Israel adopted this myth early in its religious history, hence the references to creation in vss. 2-4. The concept came to the fore in the post-exilic period when the human monarchy no longer existed. This psalm reflects both periods. In vs. 5, the reconstructed temple of Yahweh and the Torah displaced the human monarch as the symbolic representative of Yahweh(s sovereignty.

EPHESIANS 1:15 23 According to one scholar, John C. Kirby, the first three chapters of the letter take the form of a typical Hebrew berakah, or celebratory prayer of praise and thanksgiving. This passage forms the heart of that prayer. Here Paul, or some other author writing in his name, celebrates the sovereignty of God represented by the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Some of the psalms follow the same pattern and contain the same basic ingredients: God as creator and deliverer of Israel. (Cf. Ps. 105) Similar prayers have also been found in the Dead Sea scrolls from Qumran written in the 1st century CE with which Paul may well have been familiar.

Primarily, the faith of the apostle and the Ephesians in the absolute sovereignty of Christ finds expression in this prayer. On the other hand, there is a narrative aspect to the passage. It is addressed not to God, but to the recipient community. As Kirby pointed out, what may have begun as a liturgy and a sermon for baptismal candidates at Pentecost was later re-written as a formal letter in somewhat traditional style. This would account for the narrative of vss. 15-16 where the apostle speaks directly to his intended audience. The succeeding verses of the passage give the content of his prayer for them lifting up his essential message of absolute divine sovereignty exercised through Christ.

Many scholars have noted the similarities between this letter and the Letter to the Colossians. Colossians 1:4 has an almost identical phrase to the phrase in vs. 15, "your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints." Eduard Schweizer wrote that this can only mean that faith must be lived out as love in the same way that Jesus lived and died. This characteristic distinguishes the church community from its secular environment. "Knowledge of Christ is characterized so emphatically as something that must be lived out in an ethical way.... Christ is the place in which the community lives, the atmosphere in which it thrives, and which does indeed permeate it." (Schweizer, Eduard. The Letter to the Colossians: A Commentary. Augsburg, 1982)

The special gift Paul prays these Christians receive through their faith and the love they embody is the wisdom and revelation of God, a knowledge of God, the source of all life and truth. Significantly, the Greek text uses the word sophia rather than gnosis thus distinguishing the true Christian revelation from the Gnostic mysteries that so plagued the church during the 2^nd century CE. Yet the apostle does claim that an "enlightenment" does occur, but in the heart, not merely the intellect. The knowledge received comes in the form of a hope and an awareness of the future inheritance to which God’s power destines the believers. This power is evident in the resurrection and ascension of Christ to the right hand of God - i.e. to the place of divine sovereignty. Being now in Christ, as his body, Christians can be assured of sharing in the same inheritance as their Lord and Saviour.

The power of faith is not only oriented to the distant future or even to life beyond death for each one of us. The gift is also for living in the present. It is as if the future had already happened. In Christ, the apostle is saying, it already has happened for those who have been baptized. In a very elaborate way, he reiterates exactly what baptism symbolized for him: to die and be buried with Christ then raised with Christ to live entirely committed in love for God and for others.

LUKE 24:44 - 53 In this passage, Luke tells us that as he took his final leave of the disciples, he did several things. He confirmed what the Hebrew scriptures had prophesied about him. He taught them what those scriptures meant in reference to his messianic mission of revealing God’s love for all humanity. He commissioned them to undertake this same mission in his name. He bid them wait in Jerusalem until they had been empowered for their mission. He gave them his blessing. While waiting, the disciples engaged in their traditional worship in the temple (vs. 53).

It is obvious that as late as the 80s CE when Luke’s Gospel was written, Christians still regarded themselves as a part of historic Israel. On the other hand, they had no scriptures other than those with which they were familiar. So it was natural that they should look to the sacred literature of Judaism, whether in Hebrew or more probably in Greek, for a foreshadowing of what they had witnessed and were now commissioned to spread throughout the world. Not only the words of Jesus of Nazareth whom they now called the Messiah/Christ , but the wisdom of the ancient writings of the prophets of Israel, the Psalms and the Torah were to guide them in their witness.

The ascension receives only a brief sentence in this account. It is no more than a quiet exit with a prayer of blessing. Did the author already have in mind the sequel to his narrative and keep the more dramatic departure for that story? Professor George Caird noted that this quiet leaving has a close resemblance to the account in John 20:19-29. Some manuscripts of Luke were even amplified by interpolations from John. The stress on witness and the command to remain in Jerusalem provide a significant link to the more expanded version in the early chapters of Acts. The apostolic witness remained centred in Jerusalem until the Sanhedrin undertook a severe persecution after the martyrdom of Stephen.

Note also the absence of any mention in this passing of the Spirit to the apostles. For the early church, the Spirit was not a doctrine or a person as the later Trinitarian creeds stated, but to quote Caird "an access to power to be received (cf. Acts 19:2, 1 Thess. 1:5, Heb. 2:4). In effect, Luke’s narrative ends with Jesus having departed to heaven and the disciples in the temple, the same place where the narrative began in 1:5.