Matthew 21:18-22
18 Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.
20 When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.
21 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Before we jump into the text we need some background information on Jewish culture. First lets look at the scriptures and other texts that the anchient Jews (and many current Jews) would have been intimatly familiar with.
The Tanakh is a accronym for the Torah (The Law aks: first 5 books of the bible), Nebi'im (The Prophets) and Ketuvim (The Writtings) which is what Christians know as the Old Testiment.
The Talmud is a collection of rabbinical writtings that are known as the Oral Torah, believed to have been given to Moses with the Torah, and were preserved orally untill they were written sometime between the second and fith century. The Talmud interpreted, explained and applied the Torah Scriptures. The Talmud has two parts, the Mishnah and the Gemara. The Mishnah is considered the Law book and consists of legal rulings, teachings of rabbi's between the first and third centuries. The Gemara is a comentary on the Mishnah.
The Midrash is comprised of rabbinical teachings fron fourth through sixth centuries.
My pastor was talking about how in the Mishnah's discussion of Isaiah 44:9-20 in which the Prophet Isaiah is discussing the idiocity of worshiping a thing created by human hands. In the Mishnah Rabbi Simeon ben Gamaliel says "If one finds a vessel that has on it the shape of the sun, moon, or a dragon he should throw them into the Dead Sea." This was a common known saying and practice to throw idols into the Dead Sea. Why? Because nothing can live in the Dead Sea it is 8.6 times as salty as the ocean, has 13.7% Salinity, to drink the water of the Dead Sea will kill you. So to throw a Idol into the Dead sea was to destroy it.
Now that we have a basic understanding of Jewish religous texts we need an understanding of Jewish history, specifically surrounding Herod the Great. Herod was the King of the Jews ruling from 37-4 BC, and was both a brilliant architect, and a crazy man. Herod built extravigant fortresses throughout Israel. He rebuilt the Temple to gain favor of the Jews, built an extravigant castle like fortress known as Ceasarea Maretema. He built a fortress in the middle of the desert known as Masada where he burried his favorite (only Jewish) wife after executing her at a banquet because he believed she cheated on him while he was away at war. He also built another fortress on the outskirts of Bethlehem which he named after himself... the Herodion. Now all of his projects were extravigant, but most had architectual engineering that was before its time, such as swimming pools in the middle of the desert, a fresh water swimming pool in the mediteratian sea, hot and cold baths, fresh water availability where there is no fresh water. For the construction of the Herodion, Herod had chosen one of two twin mountains to put his fortress, but wanted his palace to be the highest place, so everyone would have to look up to him. He leveled the adjacent mountain and put it ontop of the other, and built his fortress within and ontop of the mountain.
There is much more in the history of Herod, that caused the Jewish people to both fear and admire him, but this should be sufficient background to jump into Matthew 21:21-22,
"21 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” "
This scene takes place on the way from Bethany to Jerusalem which is just on the other side of the Mt. of Olives. The Herodion is visible from the Mt. of Olives and likely Jesus was either pointing to or it was culturally known that He was talking about the Herodion and how Herod has moved his mountain. The pastor linked this to the Jewish people being able to let go of the idolatry and fear of Herod and throw that into the sea. Now the nearest large body of water to Jerusalem that is referred to as a Sea in Israel is the Dead Sea.
I would agree with the pastors interpretation, but I think there is a modern lesson to be learned as well beyond moving the mountains and idols we have in our own lifes. While touring Israel, anywhere that something significant happened, or was the location that Emperor Constantine thought something significant happened, the Crusaders built a Catholic shrine on. Many generations have build shrine upon shrine on biblical locations, and people from all around the world come to worship those location. These locations have become Idols to much of the world. I think it could be possible that Jesus being God, and all knowing, knew that someday people would come to worship the Mt. of Olives among other locations that Jesus's ministry impacted.
The Mt. of Olives was a significant place outlined in prophecy that it would be an important landmark in the coming of the Messiah, and is suppose to be an important landmark in the second coming of Christ. But I think that Jesus could have also been referring to the Mt. of Olives, saying in essence, if this place becomes an idol to you, where you worship these places rather than worshiping God, then cast them into the Sea. If the Mt. of Olives is forced into the Sea by those who struggle with worshiping the place, it will not hinder the return of Christ. Do not worship places. Remember the things that happened, but this earth will pass away. God did not intend for us to worship the land, but to worship IN the land. He did not intend to worship Nature, but to be in awe of Gods power through Nature and to Worship Him alone.
Whatever mountain is getting between you and worshiping the Almighty.... cast it into the sea.
To listen the original sermon go to http://www.crossroadsnampa.com/category/sermons and select the sermon from 1.26.12
References:
http://www.religionfacts.com/judaism/texts.htm
http://deadseaglory-us.com/index.php?link=dead
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+21:18-22&version=NIV
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Herod_the_Great
http://www.biblewalks.com/Sites/Herodion.html
http://www.crossroadsnampa.com/category/sermons
No comments:
Post a Comment