THREE WORDS THAT WILL ROCK YOUR WORLD
by Bob Wickizer
Scripture: Genesis 9:8-17, Psalms 25:1-9, 1 Peter 3:18-22, Mark 1:9-15
Title: Three Words that Will Rock Your World
Author: Bob Wickizer
Text: Genesis 9:8-17; Psalm 25:1-9; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:9-15
Today's Gospel should be preceded by a warning label - "Warning. This gospel does not mean what modern English speakers think it means. It is full of complicated words and concepts that only native Greek-speaking residents of the first century might understand." If you want to get a Ph.D. in theology, we could spend the next five years unpacking just three words in this.
But we have only ten or fifteen minutes. What are the three words for our quick Ph.D.?
- Repent
- Believe
- Good News (which is only one word in Greek)
The first thing to note is the two verbs, repent and believe, are second person plural. Jesus is not talking to one person at a time or suggesting that following Jesus in faith and repenting during Lent is an individual action done by one person. In Texas-speak, Jesus is proclaiming to the crowd gathered on the banks of the Jordan that day, "You ALL repent and you ALL believe in the Good News." These verbs, these actions, are collective and communal in nature. We do these things TOGETHER as a community, NOT as individuals.
I know that doing things together in community is almost un-American or unpatriotic, but that is how they understood these things when Jesus proclaimed the start of his brief but spectacular ministry.
Our first verb is Repent. A first century person would think you were out of your mind if you told them that your act of repentance was purely religious and based on your faith. The Greek-speaking crowd gathered that day heard Jesus tell them, "µeta??e?te" or "You ALL change your thinking."
Studying physics in graduate school, I distinctly remember the times I changed my thinking about things. I would love to give you at least an appreciation for Relativity, Quantum Field Theory, and Particle Physics, but there is a common thought process in changing my thinking, or repe ...
Author: Bob Wickizer
Text: Genesis 9:8-17; Psalm 25:1-9; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:9-15
Today's Gospel should be preceded by a warning label - "Warning. This gospel does not mean what modern English speakers think it means. It is full of complicated words and concepts that only native Greek-speaking residents of the first century might understand." If you want to get a Ph.D. in theology, we could spend the next five years unpacking just three words in this.
But we have only ten or fifteen minutes. What are the three words for our quick Ph.D.?
- Repent
- Believe
- Good News (which is only one word in Greek)
The first thing to note is the two verbs, repent and believe, are second person plural. Jesus is not talking to one person at a time or suggesting that following Jesus in faith and repenting during Lent is an individual action done by one person. In Texas-speak, Jesus is proclaiming to the crowd gathered on the banks of the Jordan that day, "You ALL repent and you ALL believe in the Good News." These verbs, these actions, are collective and communal in nature. We do these things TOGETHER as a community, NOT as individuals.
I know that doing things together in community is almost un-American or unpatriotic, but that is how they understood these things when Jesus proclaimed the start of his brief but spectacular ministry.
Our first verb is Repent. A first century person would think you were out of your mind if you told them that your act of repentance was purely religious and based on your faith. The Greek-speaking crowd gathered that day heard Jesus tell them, "µeta??e?te" or "You ALL change your thinking."
Studying physics in graduate school, I distinctly remember the times I changed my thinking about things. I would love to give you at least an appreciation for Relativity, Quantum Field Theory, and Particle Physics, but there is a common thought process in changing my thinking, or repe ...
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